School's in session

And while Caden's not quite ready to toddle off to school himself just yet, his group with Early Intervention DID get to go on a bus. Since so many of the kids in the program end up being placed in a preschool of some kind, one of the things they do is take the kids on bus ride to get them used to school buses. This trip was on the 3rd of this month. I'm just a slacker and haven't gotten around to the pictures until now.

I was a little worried about how Caden would handle it, he kind of has issues with enclosed spaces he's not familiar with. Yeah. I shouldn't have worried, hehe. He LOVED IT. He squealed when he saw it in the parking lot. He was so excited to get on it. Not sure that I like how excited he got though....hm. Don't want my baby growing up so fast!

He's so SMALL next to such a big bus:







Scoping out the best possible seat:



Found it!



Watching the other kids get on the bus:



So much seat for so little body:



Special Ed buses have the COOLEST feature; behind the flap of the seat is a carseat harness and the kids just get buckled right into the seat. SO much less 16th century than the harnesses you used to have to strap onto the kids and then clip to the anchors on older buses. Caden LOVED the carseat, thus the 'squeal face' here:



Loved being so close to the window to look out it during the drive:





We stopped at a playground where the kids got to goof around for a bit, have some snacks and popsicles (it was HOT) and juice. There were tears when we had to get off the bus at the playground, and it was pretty much only this horse that consoled him and kept him entertained enough till it was time to get back on the bus and go home.

It's a zoo, and we like it like that

2 weeks ago we went to the zoo. The day was perfect. It was very overcast, so no fear of burning, but warm. Nugget LOVES the zoo. He loves the giraffes (couldn't get a decent picture of him with them) and the elephants and, while the zoo has them, the dinosaurs. Apologies for the scant few pictures, but Caden simply doesn't slow down enough to allow for many photo ops!

Of course everyone who's ever been to Hogle Zoo has to have a lion drinking fountain picture:

Poor bug, you can really see the lordosis (curve) in his lower spine on a side-on shot like this.


One of the animatronic dinosaurs they have throughout the zoo right now - this particular one sprays water at unsuspecting passers-by. Caden loved it.



Diggin in the dirt with Daddy:



The train ride. A little apprehension at first cause he didn't really know why we were so excited about him sitting on a bench that wasn't going anywhere:



And then OMIGOSH I'M ON A TRAIN!!!!! The kid was literally vibrating in his seat the entire train ride he was so excited.


Outings with Caden are always such a treat. Not just because of how much he enjoys them, but because of the joy other people get when they see him. I get comments all the time about how just soulfully happy this child is, comments from strangers about how much they loved watching him on the train, or by the ducks, or around the animals. He just touches everyone who happens to cross his path because he has such pure unadulterated joy for absolutely everything he sees. Love my little man.

The Fourth frivolities

This Forth of July was going to be great. We had a great cabin trip planned, a trip we'd been planning and looking forward to for at least a couple of months. We'd leave Friday right after Branden got off work, and come back Monday night.

Friday night rolled around and this was where we were instead:



And this is where we were come Saturday morning:

Thursday afternoon, Caden woke up from his nap with a fever of 102. I couldn't get it to come down. At bath that night, he screamed when water got in one of his ears. And on the way to the last-minute doctor's appointment Friday morning, he threw up in the car. Out of nowhere, he suddenly had a raging ear infection in his right ear and viral tummy bug. So instead of going home to pack sleeping bags and goodies for the cabin, we went straight for apple juice and prescription antibiotics. Sigh.

But we managed to have fun that weekend regardless. Last year he was kind of too young to understand, or care, what he was seeing when we did family fireworks. This year? Not so. This year at my nephew's birthday party, I was kind of worried about how Caden would handle them. I shouldn't have. We about DIED watching his reactions; the bigger the boom, the bigger the startle it gave him, the more hilarious he found them, and the little stink couldn't catch his breath he was laughing so hard. Little adrenaline junkie. He played hard, laughed hard, stayed up till almost 10 that night, and it was all I could do to keep him from falling asleep and drowning in the tub during a quick hose down to get the firework smell out of his hair before passing out during story time.

Monday morning, he got to watch the parade with "Mama" and "Papa".

He loved the fire engines, the horns and sirens, the horses, pretty much all of it. My little Nugget was so tired when he got back, he fell asleep for his nap at about 1:30.....and I had to wake him up at almost quarter to 5. At one point in checking to make sure he was at least still breathing, he was so out cold he was on his stomach, legs spread, arms splayed out to the sides, big ol' drool spot on the fitted sheet. Totally and completely zonkered. So freaking cute. While this Fourth didn't go exactly as we'd planned, I definitely can't say it was a bad weekend.

I'm so grateful that I can even be writing this. God bless everyone that has ever stood up for, fought for, died for, sacrificed for this country. I am eternally grateful that because of you, my son can grow up in a healthy, stable, and safe environment, where the booms he hears at night this month are fireworks he loves rather than mortars he has to learn to fear. Land of the free, because of the brave.

Now I know my abc's...

Daddy was playing the ABC song on the piano for Caden last night. This morning, Caden decided to try his fancy fingers at it. This is his attempt, with him singing along as he 'plays'.

Just some fun

Nothing much to report, but I got a couple of things on camera in the last couple of days that I found hilarious. Caden's taken to trying on and then walking in my shoes, Branden's shoes, guest's shoes, whatever shoes he can find around the house that aren't his. Couple of nights ago I caught him taking a stroll in my sandals:



He didn't know I was behind him with the camera. Love that 'I didn't do it!' innocent face:



And I would simply die to know what goes through his little brain when he decides to do something like this:


My little Nugget keeps me laughing in sad times and keeps me on my toes during times I think the world is calm (calm, yeah right, that word doesn't exist in a parent's vocab when they have a toddler in the house!).

Easter 2011

Easter has been so much fun (and it's only Saturday!) this year. Caden had a BLAST. We had two families to go to today, first was our friend (and B's 2nd cousin) Tyson and his parents' house. His brother Colby and his wife Rae were there with their 3 boys. Caden had so much fun running around picking up the eggs that me and Branden would point out. He found bubbles and a chocolate bunny that he kept calling "Nunny ook" (Bunny book...we have a Curious George book with bunnies in it we've been reading at night), and after the hunt he had fun first helping Colby's oldest son pull the younger 2 in a wagon, and then getting a ride in the wagon himself. After that we went straight to Branden's mom's where he went on another egg hunt and then colored some eggs in their garage. He was so exhausted by the time we got home (which was about 5:30pm and he'd had no nap or snooze or even a blink all day) that he just kind of dazedly played in the living room with his cars until bath, and then basically passed out in my arms during story time before bed. The weather was a little chilly, but that didn't seem to deter him a bit, and he had an awesome time. He was ridiculously fun to watch and the "*gasp*, wow!" every time he found and then opened an egg was so blasted cute. Can't get over how much I love this boy.

While Easter always has special meaning, it means a little something more to me this year. My Grandpa Bylund (dad's dad) passed away on the 18th of this month. He'd been sick. He'd been...well, not Grandpa.

My fondest memories of my Grandpa will always be of our fishing trips. Him and me and my Aunt Joy and Dad, out wherever we wanted, fishing all day but not necessarily catching anything....and not caring if we didn't. I'll remember him helping to teach me how to fish, how to cast, reminding me not to throw rocks in the lake because it would scare the fish away, and chatting up any groups around us as if he'd known them for years (personally I think he was just trying to soften them up to get them to give up their secrets if they were having better success than we were). I'll remember him teaching me card games, and then getting 'mad' at me when, after the first hand of a game I'd just learned, I'd whomp him and Dad in a sweeping win.

My most recent memory, and now probably one of my most cherished, was just a couple of months ago. I was visiting him at the VA home with my mom, dad, and cousin Rachel in February (I forget the day). Grandpa was in his wheelchair by his bed. He kept acting like he had something in his eye - reaching up and dabbing at it with the back of a finger, blinking a lot - something that he couldn't get out. So I asked him, "Got something in your eye, Grandpa?" His voice was quiet, kind of that dazed quiet he had recently, as he said, "Yeah. Can you look?" So, gullible me, got up and went to him and bent down real close to his face and peered into his eye. You'd think after all these years and knowing the tricks he'd pull to woo the ladies, I'd have known better. The moment I got that close, Grandpa tilted his head back and up and stole a kiss. Rachel was laughing and said "Oooo he's still got it, he got you good!" And he goes, "Yeah, I did," as I'm 'scolding' him for bamboozling me and he's looking at me with this impish grin. For a moment that night, Grandpa was Grandpa again.

I will miss how hard working he was, how excited he was to do ANYthing outdoors, and how much he absolutely loved his family. You could see in his eyes, in his face, at every new baby blessing or birthday party that his kids and his grandkids and his great-grandkids were his pride and joy.

My favorite picture of my Grandpa, holding Caden on his blessing day. Is that the face of a proud man or what? He's almost busting at the seams.

I'm so grateful this Easter for my Savior and for the Resurrection so that I have the knowledge that I will see family on the other side of the veil. I love you, Grandpa, and hope you've found the perfect fishing hole in Heaven (even if you don't necessarily catch anything).

Turning 30 and other scary milestones

Milestones are funny things. You know they're coming. And they either excite you, depress you, or scare the boogies out of you. And sometimes they do it all at the same time.

I turned 30 last Friday. Which of the three did this milestone hit me with? None. Some people have a really hard time with birthdays. Not me. It's just a number. It's coming, there's nothing I can do about it. Do I feel older? A little. I'm pretty aware, for example, that while I'm 30 and have a 2 year old, most of my friends are not 30 yet and are on baby #3 or #4. So I guess I lied. Turning 30 did make me something... it made me anxious to keep the family wagon rolling, hehe. I'm definitely getting 'the itch'.

The milestone of the month that's affected me most, however, is my son's. See below:

Now he's not actually potty-trained yet. Yet. But I know it's coming. He's giving me aaaallll the signs of physical and emotional readiness. He hides from me when he's poopin. He tells me when he needs a bum change (he mixes 'change' and 'bum' into "chum". Freakin hilarious), he knows the order of the bathroom - go in, turn on the light, lift the lid, sit, do yer stuff, close, flush, wash - and loves to do the same on his own potty, he can have a 2 hour nap and wake up dry, and perhaps the biggest reason we're ready to get the training going is that his diapers are starting to irritate his sensitive skin. He's ready to be done with diapers. He's ready. Mommy's not. I'm goin into this kicking and screamin. I don't want my baby's little skinny bum to be in little cute briefs. I don't want him to be independent. I don't want him to not be 'baby' anymore. At the same time, I'm excited to be at this new phase with him. He's growing up so cute, and I love every minute of it. Wish us all luck, cause we're jumpin into this feet first next weekend!


In non-milestone news, this week Caden's PT made my entire month. We, along with his OT, have been discussing ways to help him hold onto zippers; he can't curl his fingers so he can't get or keep a good grip. Two weeks ago the three of us batted around hooking a safety pin to the end of them, molding some putty/clay stuff, had all sorts of ideas. Well then this Tuesday at his class, his teacher handed me this:

Barbara, his PT, had found it somewhere during the week before and had bought it just for him. It's only about an inch long, and just thick enough for him to grab and hold onto. I love it. He definitely has a hold on this therapists' hearts.

Robinson Carusoe day

Ok not nearly as retro as that movie. But we did go up in a faux tree-house, so it's still just as cool.

Caden's Early Intervention preschool group had a field trip today to the Ogden's Treehouse Museum. I'd not taken him there yet so this was his first time. Oh .. my .. goodness. Once he got over the obligatory 'I have to be shy because this is new to me' thing, I could not keep up with him. Hence why a good chunk of the pictures are of his back or taken from the side in a 'hope my fingers are quick enough' snapshot.

The day was so incredibly awesome for him. At the beginning, staffers took the group into the little stage area and sang some songs and had some stories. Caden got all excited when it was time to sing Old McDonald and the guy drug out a bunch of animal puppets. He apparently got the most excited over the donkey because the staffer told him "You got most excited about the donkey, you wanna come hold our donkey for us for the song?" So Caden (mommy in tow of course) got to go sit on the stage and hold a huge donkey puppet through the song. He LOVED IT. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of this as he was sitting on my lap on the stage (and I didn't think in time to have my cousin, who was there with her little boy too, take one for me, d'oh!). After that it was free time, and oh my gosh did Caden take advantage. I'm surprised he didn't sleep like a dead thing during naptime after everything he explored.

First stop. The dinosaur table. How convenient that it was just his height!


Caden's Early Intervention 'girlfriend' Ella. They play so cute together during classes on Tuesdays, why would I expect anything different at a kid's museum?


Up in the big tree-house (spiral staircase) in the center. He loved walking back and forth across this bridge.


Right outside the castle area. My buff little prince Aurthur. Check out those biceps rippling!


Into the chess room. I tried to get him on the throne in the background there, but he would have none of it after he saw what was inside this room.


Some of the chess pieces - the king, queen, and bishops - were as tall as he was. He moved a bunch around for about 10 minutes. He'll be the next Bobbie Fischer, just you wait.


Up to the music room next. He could have stayed in here all day long if I'd let him.



Cabana baby!



But alas, music must take the back seat when you have a country to run. You'll have to excuse him a moment while he takes that call, that's the Secretary of Defense on the phone there..


Can't you see it 30 years from now? He's got his foot in the door, baby.


And of course when you're 2, national security gets shoved to the back burner when you see what's downstairs, so off he goes.


Behold, the fire truck. He stayed longest here, and who can blame him?



Of course just driving isn't enough, we needed the hat.




And then out came the fireman jacket as he ever-so-gentlemanly like slid over to let the lady take the wheel.


But who has time to save the day all day when there are train sets to be played with?


Okay, just one last loop through my district, then I'm done, I'm serious..


We had to stop at the fire truck for a final work-over before going back into the auditorium for a good-bye song and story. All in all we were there for about 2 hours, and they were the funnest 2 hours I've spent in a LONG time. We will definitely be going back.

Unintentional movie night

Caden's love of trains has taken the back burner while he nurses a newfound obsession with cars. Anything cars. Not just what we think of as a 'car', we're talking anything with wheels and a fender or is otherwise generally cozily snuggled under the "vehicle" umbrella. Knowing this, Branden and I decided to see if we could feed this passion and tonight, after he woke up from his nap, we went to Best Buy and picked up this movie:


Disney Pixar's "Cars". We picked up some take-out and got home about 6:45. We figured we'd pop in the movie, see if he liked it. Yeah. 'Like' is a bit of a colossal understatement. We ended up eating dinner on the floor (because we unwisely popped in the movie before we had the take-out set out and ready to go) because he could not take his eyes off the screen. I wound up feeding him half of his own dinner (finger food fare, just so you know) because he was so entranced. All through the movie it was "Is a cah? Is a cah. Cah!" 'Cah' is how he says car because he doesn't put the 'r' on the end. He sat stone still through the whole thing, back against the edge of the futon, head on the cushion. Every now and again he'd say "Done" and stand up like he was ready to go for his bath finally, but then sit back down and push my hand away. Eating and drinking, Mom? Piffle, more Cars please!

All 3 of us wound up sitting on the floor snarfin down a slaved over take-out meal and watching Cars. It didn't finish until 8:45. Nugget was so tired by bath that his eyes were red and he about fell asleep in my arms during sippy of warm milk and bedtime story; didn't wind up getting into bed until about 9:30. I had some things I'd wanted to get done after he went to bed at his normal time. But screw it all :) I wouldn't change a bit of tonight for anything in the world.

Harry Potter wannabe

Ok, he's never actually even seen a Harry Potter movie yet (not for several years yet!). Today we went to his little pre-preschool class that Early Intervention offers every Tuesday, and he found this little Fisher Price doctor kit during free play time. And he found these glasses:

He *loves* glasses. He calls them 'eyes'. In fact when I got out of the shower this morning before we left, he goes "Eyes?" and hands me my glasses from off the bathroom counter. Thank you, Love Bug, for reminding mommy that she needs her 'eyes' before she can leave the house. It is physically impossible to love this little dude any more. But I'll manage.