2010...Here I Come!

I need to back WAY up, to our crazy busy Christmas week. This might be the longest blog post to date, so settle in with some popcorn and hot chocolate and I hope you enjoy the update! Mommy and Daddy said this Christmas was so much fun since I am more "aware" of what the *$&*@ is going on. It still was a blur, to be honest with you! It all began on Christmas Eve....

Mommy insisted that Daddy read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to me, since her Daddy always read this as part of her family tradition. Papa (Grandpa Marty) actually recorded his voice to this book for me, but it was not here on time, oh well, next year! So, Daddy and I nestled in for a little story. After about 8 seconds, I mostly just walked around the bedroom, but Daddy and Mommy continued to read the story (they must like hearing themselves). It was then bedtime for me.

While, I was in bed, it must have gotten quite crazy in our house. I came across this picture of Liberty with Santa's hat on. Maybe she was Santa's helper!

When I woke up and came down the stairs, this is what I saw!

Santa brought me a train table for my Thomas the Train set and the I kept saying, "Ooooh" when I saw it. Of course, I had to climb right up there to test it out. It will make a nice chair as well.

In my Caden bag, Santa also put a kid sized shovel (aren't there child labor protection laws... Grandma???), a John Deere ride along, snow molds for when Daddy and I build forts outside (I think Daddy bought this for himself), and my FISH TANK!!!!

I gave the baby a shirt that says, "Best Buddies" since I know I will be good friends with my little brother or sister. Mommy laid the shirt on her tummy since the baby can't actually wear it quite yet.

Santa is a wise guy. In my stocking, there were books, CD's, a baby Einstein DVD and silverware! Yes, silverware. I think Mommy told Santa that I really need to work on using these more at meal times, so he gave me some new forks and spoons that should be Caden-friendly and easier to manipulate. We shall see!

I had gifts from Mommy and Daddy too (clothes, tractors, shoes, slipper, PJ's, toys, etc..) They decided they only needed to buy me the John Deere tractor above, because I was in LOVE with this "big boy" toy. I pushed it all around the house and Mommy and Daddy basically had to unwrap the remaining gifts for me under the tree.

Here is my new fish tank from Santa. It's hard to see in the picture, but it is a 2.5 gallon Sesame Street tank. I have blue colored gravel rocks and we are going to get two goldfish for it this week. I will post a picture of my new fishy friends next time!

Another exciting gift was this John Deere night light. I have a "baby" one that I am giving to my brother or sister since I am now 19 months and am ready for a big boy light. Mommy is thinking maybe she will convert my room into a John Deere themed room for my 2nd birthday.

Daddy had a special gift that Mommy didn't even know about. She thought maybe it was a pair of hockey skates, and to her surprise, it was a Packers jersey. "Driver" is on the back and Mommy said this was a good guy on the team, so she is "OK" with it. If you don't know, Mommy is a HUGE Vikings fan.

After a busy morning of opening gifts, it was time to head to the cities for our next Christmas gathering. We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the night. I was so tuckered out, that I slept on the way there. Mommy was glad the weather cooperated, since a HUGE snowstorm was predicted. Notice they weren't too concerned since the items in the back of the SUV would have flung forward and knocked me out if we had to stop quickly!

When we got to the house, we visited for a short time, but then got ready for church. Grandpa had a studly Christmas tie for me to wear and Mommy caught me lounging like a little "dude" on the stairs.

Mommy said I will make a great executive some day with my pin-striped pants, shirt and tie. Everyone at church commented on my tie or my hair. We always have to explain that my hair naturally stands up like this on a daily basis.

Our family picture after church and before my bedtime. I heard Santa was coming again that night, so I went right to sleep!

When I woke up.... I found the amazing black pick-up truck! It's the same ones that kids fight over at the Sports Center. It was just for me! It had a little tool kit and hard hat in there for me (to take to work, of course) and a little electronic gas pump, equipped with my own Little Tykes credit card... watch out!

It's great that grandparents don't care if you ride these things around the house and bang into their walls. My parents don't let me have these kinds of toys in the house, they stay in the garage.

Cousins Sam and Lexi came over to celebrate Christmas with us and we all had fun zooming around the house in the truck. I think Sam would have liked one of these too!

Mommy always insists that I try to get a cousins picture when we are all together and I really wasn't in the mood for a picture photo op. Here is a good show of what my fake cry looks like (mouth wide open, no tears, and lots of sound).

Mommy told me to stop, so I did and this is the best I could do. Hey, at least I am not crying!

Everyone gave the baby a Moses basket for transporting the little pumpkin around the house. Mommy loved how soft the fabric was inside and I even climbed in it to check it out. I can even fit inside of it, so I might have to fight the baby on this one. It seems to be a good place for a catnap.

Here I am on Karri's lap (uncle Jim's girlfriend). I was really hoping for a proposal to make this an official auntie deal, but uncle Jim let me down. We are excited to share that Daddy's youngest brother, uncle Matt, proposed to his girlfriend Jill, and they are planning a tropical destination wedding in 2010. So, now the pressure is on my uncle Jim! Anyhow, our Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's house was a busy one, full of family members, food, and presents. I really could get used to having Christmas more often!

We headed home to unload the "sleigh" and sleep in our beds. The next day, we went to great-aunt and great-uncle Anson's house for a little Christmas brunch. They gave me this silly sock monkey that popped out of a box when I turned the handle. I just laughed and laughed at that thing.

We went to Grammy's house next to have Christmas with Daddy's siblings. Grammy's house is only 45 minutes from our home, so it wasn't as big of a trek. We went out on the lake to sled and some people had a snowball fight.

You can see by this picture that I was ready to head in. In the background, you can see my soon-to-be-auntie, Jill. She is probably thinking she does not want to have children anytime soon with uncle Matt. It was kind of a zoo with the cousins around!

One of my favorite things to do at Grammy's house is harass, I mean cuddle, with Rudy, her gigantic cat. He is the largest cat I have ever seen, but he is tolerant and lets me lay on him.

My cousins, Kyra and Bennett, came home for Christmas from Georgia. They were really excited to play in the snow outside. Bennett is one year older than me, and Mommy is just amazed at how quickly I will change in the year ahead.

For those of you who don't know this... I am obsessed with vacuums. I beg Mommy to vacuum the house ("va-um") almost daily. She doesn't always listen, but she says it sure does help when she does have cleaning to do! I just follow behind her and watch her technique. Uncle Matt heard about my love for this device, and bought me my only vacuum! After I opened this gift, it was game over. I didn't care to open up any of my other gifts, although there were lots of great ones from the family!

I vacuumed Grammy's house up and down for the rest of the day. I practiced the forward and back technique that I see Mommy doing. Mommy says she wishes that my vacuum would actually suck up dirt and lint. In my mind, it does, so I will continue taking this job very seriously.

I did take the occasional break from vacuuming to take Bennett's toys away and make him mad. We are both working on sharing right now, which is somewhat easier for me, since I am not quite into the "mine" stage.

Mommy loves this picture of Bennett and I. He was showing me how to bang on the door window like a drum and I thought this was a super neat trick. Monkey See, Monkey Do, is already setting in. Mommy says it is good that I don't have an older sibling right now to copy.

Our fun, new event this year, was to go on a family sleigh ride. Grammy lined up a sleigh ride through the woods with a local family. They had beautiful horses with bell harnesses that took us on a real sleigh ride. We have decided this would be a great tradition from now on.

It was a perfect day for the sleigh ride. We brought hot chocolate and the sun was shining and the wind was still. Auntie Erin took a group picture, which we do not have right now for this post. I will try to post it next time.

Our sleigh ride was about 45 minutes and when we returned, the family even let us see the animals in their barn. I was mostly excited about the big four-wheeler in there and when it was time to go, I had a complete meltdown. I guess this whole running for the holidays all over the place, was getting to me (and my parents). I was ready to head home and have my new toys in my room and play area (newly created in the basement). It sure was busy, but Christmas was a lot of fun too!

Next up... New Year's Eve. During the day, I went to the Sports Center and that night, we went to our neighbor's for a low-key, but fun dinner and New Year's gathering. Earlier in the day, Mommy and Daddy brought me to the Sports Center to have a little fun and to burn some energy. Heather and Finley met us there to play too! We jumped like monkeys in the bouncy castle and it was especially nice how quiet it was for the first 45 minutes or so. We had the place to ourselves during this time, and then it became a zoo!

Finley is showing off his soccer skills here. Notice how I jumped into action (kidding, of course).

Mommy thought it was funny that I would go sit down in a chair and read books when there were lots of busier activities to do. This only lasted for a minute, and it was off to the other areas. My favorite place at the Sports Center is the arcade area, which puzzles my parents since they have never dropped money into a machine for me to play any of these. I nearly have a tantrum when I am ripped away (literally) from these machines.

Here is my "ready or not, 2010, here I come" picture! Mommy and Daddy expect this to be a very busy year with all of the many changes I will make as I head towards the wonderful age of two. We are excited to add baby to our family and celebrate whatever else comes our way!

In closing, Mommy has been hearing lots of talking from me lately, and one day, she snuck up on me while I was carrying a conversation with ? on the phone. Luckily, we do not have long-distance on our land phone, because if we did, I most likely would have been talking to someone in Tokyo! I actually called 3 different people (there is a slight quiet pause while I dial each new number). Notice the big, "Yah" half-way through the conversation. Mommy says it is the "Northerner/Canadian" accent she is already picking up in my speech! Mommy interrupts me about 37 seconds into my conversation and I give her my notorious "naughty" look. Happy 2010 everyone!