Kaden turned 2 1/2 this week! I look at him now and think, what a big kid! He no longer looks like a toddler and it seems that over night he grows up more and more.
He's now been in school for 2 weeks (with several days off) but he walks in like he's been doing it for years. Nic drops him off, walks him to his class and takes him to the potty. Everyone in the class must wash their hands before sitting down and when he's done, he goes immediately to the table and sits down. He then looks back at Nic and gives him a big smile. I think he loves to learn and play and thinks his new teachers are pretty cool.
I know I always mention it, but he really does say the darnedest things. He uses adverbs!! He and my mom were riding in the car pointing out all the garbage trucks on the road. He said, "There's a garbage truck," and as they got closer to it he said, "Actually, it's a dump truck." At dinner a few nights ago he said, "I love mommy." I said, "I love boo boo." He responded with, "Ohh, that makes me so happy!"
Kaden sings all day long. His favorite songs include Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider and Farmer and the Dell. He makes up his own words to these tunes and sings an entire song this way. He has learned so many songs in camp and at school. I love when he's singing and I know exactly what song it is without ever hearing him sing it before! During the summer he was singing Raffi's Mr. Golden Sun. I knew the song from when I was little and started singing it with him. He thought it was pretty funny that I knew what he was singing. We also sang Raffi's Zoo Tomorrow. Mimi had to take him to school one day last week, and to the tune of Zoo Tomorrow he sang, "Mimi's taking me to school tomorrow, school tomorrow, school tomorrow..."
His memory is crazy good (for example, I tell him to remind me to do something... and he does!) and he's really into talking about what happened "last night" or "yesterday."
I am amazed by how quickly he picks up on technology. He takes CDs out of the case, opens the CD/DVD player and starts videos. He can navigate on my phone including unlocking it, finding the screen with his games and navigating through the start screen to get the games to start.
He's tall and skinny! After years of being a big chunk, I never thought I would say that but he really is tall and skinny. This is just a guess but I would say close to 38 inches, and 33-35 pounds.
He likes art projects and likes to paint pottery with me when I paint. He dabs the paint onto his brush and carefully paints on his pottery. He started to draw things (mostly animals) and not just lines and circles. He will draw something, look at his work and then say, "look, a fish!" When you look at what he has drawn, it looks kind of like a fish!
He had a hard time learning his colors. I was afraid he was either color blind or learned the wrong association for the colors. He knew pink, purple, brown, black, white and orange but could not get the main colors. I am happy to report that he now knows his primary colors too. Orange sometimes gives him trouble. I think his favorite color is purple.
For over a month, Kaden has been waking up dry from naps and over night. We have been putting him in a pull up just in case, but I think when we run out, he will just be in underwear while he's sleeping. Many mornings he wakes up around 5 asking to go potty. We take him potty and then he goes right back to sleep. What a good boy!
He's always been a good eater but his favorite meal of the day is breakfast. He eats 2-3 bowls of cereal and sometimes a banana. I think he would eat straight to lunch if we let him.
I feel like Nic and I have stressed our P's and Q's with Kaden. He has learned to be polite and says thank you often (and please with reminders or if he really wants something). When we leave our parents' house, he will say, "Thank you for playing with me and for dinner!"
As an OT, I am happy to say that Kaden can dress himself with only a little assistance from me. He can put on shoes (sandals but not tennis shoes), underwear and shorts by himself (he can't button his shorts at this time). He can put on a shirt if I get it positioned for him to go over his head.
I love you, Kaden James. Thanks for an adventurous 2 1/2 years!
