Kaden

Such a sweet kid.  Some of my favorite things he says/does right now are “I want to hold you.”  I know I should correct him, but I just can’t bring myself to do it.  Every time he says that to me, I drop what I am doing and pick him up and squeeze him.  Sometimes I’m in the middle of something and so I can only hold him for a minute, but I can’t refuse that sweet request.

“I want to cuddle in your bed” is another one that is hard to refuse.  I know it won’t last forever. 

“Mom, you’re so pretty”  I swear I didn’t teach him this one.  He was cuddling with me and playing with my hair and he just said it.  And I think he liked my reaction because he has said it more since then.  He’s just aiming for the “favorite child” position I guess.

“Hi everybody!”  When he comes out of his room in the morning and we are all hustling and bustling around in the getting-ready-for-school rush, he opens his door squinting into the light and says, “hi everybody!”  And he gets plenty of attention all from kids who are supposed to be getting their shoes on and head out the door, but they can’t resist him. 

Speaking of opening his door…  He’s been in a twin bed since February.  He still yelled for me to come get him out for a long time.  I would tell him he can open the door, and eventually he tried it and liked it and so he was always super proud of himself saying, “I opened the door!”  And when I laid him down before his nap he would tell me, “I open the door, I don’t yell.”  He did this for a week or more and one day I put him down for his nap, and he was only in there for a few minutes before he came out.  I put him back down and said he needed to sleep before he opened the door, but I guess he took that to mean he wasn’t allowed to open the door anymore because he started yelling for me again.

That wasn’t a big deal.  I would turn on the camera app and talk to him through the camera to tell him to come out.  It was fine.  Until we potty-trained him.  Then we needed him to know it was okay to come out and use the potty.  He was having dry diapers at night even without coming out until 7:30.  But we convinced him to open his door, so he started coming in my room at 6:30.   I would take him to the bathroom, but then he was awake.  This happened for a few days.  Then he woke up a little before 6 and I took him potty and told him he needed to sleep again.  He could open the door when it was light outside.  Of course it doesn’t get light until 7:15 or later, so he could hear us out there but wouldn’t come out until he could see a little light through his blinds.  Then he would come out and point to the window and say “it’s light outside now!”

The kid is very literal and specific with his boundaries.  I think he has the biggest desire to please us than any of my other kids, even Kylee.  It’s interesting!  He’s so good!  I mean, sure he is naughty sometimes and sits in time out.  But not very often.

One day we were at the pool and he had some trains with him.  When I first gave him the trains he always had a couple with him even in the pool and shower.  So he set them down for a minute and another kid came up and was playing with them.  We eventually got them back and a little while later the kid came up and basically stuck his hand out asking to see them again.  Kaden handed it over, then turned to me and just started crying loudly.  I was like, ‘if you were going to be so upset, why did you hand them over without a fight?’  Well, because he knew I expected him to be nice and share.  It was the sweetest and saddest thing.  The kid’s mom got them back for Kaden since he was so sad.  He will often share a toy and then ask for it back immediately.  Unfortunately toddlers are not always willing to give it right back.

Anyway, he finally got used to coming out for the bathroom (always still needs my help though) and then going back to bed.  And he opens his door and greets us with “Hi everybody” when we are loud enough to wake him up.  I love how pleasant he is in the mornings.  90% of the time he is pleasant, even when he’s tired.  The only time he’s not is if he asks for the ipad and we say no.  Or he is using the ipad and we take it away.  Never fails.  He’s addicted, and he only uses it like once a week.  Same with treats, especially suckers- but not as bad as the ipad.  He just gets mad if he sees someone else with a treat and he doesn’t get any.

He’s quite social, loves going to “mommy’s friends house” and expects every friend to have “trains or lightning mcqueen”.  So far he hasn’t been disappointed.  He loves nursery.  He still loves dogs, or any animal really, and always asks if he can pet them.  He’s gotten good at asking the owner first “I pet that dog?”   Lightning Mcqueen is his current favorite toy that rarely leaves his hand.  He sleeps with it, he showers with it.  He sets it down to use the potty but that’s pretty much it.  I’ve gone through a lot for that little car so far.  We actually lost it for a couple days an Kaden eventually found it himself by chance looking under the couch (in the little Velcro part that catches everything).  He left it in nursery last week and had a melt down when we got home.  I went back and rescued it.  It’s too small and easy to lose.

Kaden is almost too big to fit on my lap to cuddle anymore.  It’s sad!  He has been the sweetest.  But I’m excited for the time when my kids are all independent and we can travel or hike or swim without the stress of a toddler.