Leaf Jumping Extravaganza

The last few weeks have been quite a whirlwind with Caedmon's birthday and Christmas, but I'm finally getting around to getting some pre-Christmas photos and stories shared. Building up to our celebrations have been fun with the boys, and Caedmon had a lot of fun activities at school to talk about. The day of their Christmas party, they all decorated little gingerbread houses to bring home, and he was so proud of his! Although it was a struggle to keep him from "looking at" (eating) all the gumdrops before supper, we had fun admiring it, then helping him eat it.

Although we see Isaac quickly learning how to be a big boy like his brother there is so much about him that is still baby, and I cherish this time when I get the chance by taking opportunities to rock him to sleep, snuggling him, and putting sweet little outfits on him that he probably won't tolerate much longer. That why, when I found this little doggie hat, I was so excited and put it on him as soon as we had weather cool enough to justify it! I don't think he was quite as delighted as me but didn't really seem to mind too much!

The weekend before Christmas we knew was the last opportunity for us to get our leaves under control for a while, so we prepared for our "Leaf Jumping Extravaganza." Daniel mowed in all but one section of the yard and left that to make a huge pile for the boys. Caedmon seemed to know what leaf jumping was all about - we did it last year and perhaps he remembered, or maybe it just comes naturally - and Isaac definitely had fun but was more interested in grabbing big armloads and dumping them on the mower. It was a great time!

Jumping from the ground is exciting, but it obviously must be more exciting to get tossed into the leaves from up high! Caedmon pleaded to go higher and higher, and Daniel (bruised ribs and all!) graciously accommodated him!

Isaac thought jumping with Dada's assistance was pretty great, too! What a thrill!

We tried to get a shot of Isaac's expression from his level...unfortunately the camera focused on the background but his expression is still discernible, and we thought pretty precious. After watching his brother's belly flops and leaps, Isaac finally took a break from hauling the leaves around to dive in by himself!

Our brave photographer was about to "get it!"

We've been amused and amazed by the other things our little boys are doing lately. Isaac has stopped saying "yeah" and now says "yes" to answer our questions affirmatively...actually, it sounds more like "yas" but it's pretty cute! Caedmon continues to work on his vocabulary with him and has begun breaking words down into syllables - "Isaac, can you say 'balloon?' Ba-loon." Our favorite is when he gets miffed for the way Isaac pronounces his name, which right now sounds like "A-mee." Caedmon says, "No Isaac, not A-MEE. It's 'Cay-men!'" We are working with Caedmon to learn to say "May I" instead of "I want!" and are just starting to see hints of it catching on.

Amid all the fun, it's a challenging time of growth and increased independence which requires much shepherding and guidance, and we're praying daily - hourly? - for wisdom and grace, yet also are constantly reminded of God's grace with us and the great love He shows in allowing us the privilege of having a front-row seat to the lives unfolding before us. I, especially, am humbled by the opportunity to be home and the constant caregiver for these boys, and too see all the little bits of their personalities, the light in their eyes and the twinkles of mischief, to hear their giggles and sprouting conversations, and to feel their sweet little hands in mine, their hugs and snuggles in my lap. I frequently think of Mary, who with all the miraculous events surrounding Jesus' birth, "treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." Now I have a better understanding of what that means! It is such a precious time, every life a miracle in itself, and as much as we look forward to who these boys will become, we cherish all these little moments and events that God has graciously allowed us to share!

Caedmon is THREE!

How did this happen? How did our little firstborn baby get to be such a grown up little boy? In the weeks preceding his birthday, as we celebrated a number of family birthdays, he regularly reminded me that for his party, he wanted "diggers" on his cake. Sometimes he specifically mentioned a crane or excavator, but he never strayed far from his favorite theme. So...we now have another "construction" themed party under our belts, and he loved it! It took a lot of effort to keep him from nabbing the toys right off the top of the cake before the party, though!

To go along with the construction theme (or perhaps it should be demolition - this is what the boys actually seem to prefer at this point!) Daniel was a good sport and wrapped a bunch of big boxes in butcher paper for me to become large "bricks" for the kids to stack...and of course, knock down!

We paused for a quick family shot before singing and digging into the cake...

Caedmon had a little help blowing out his candle. When it came down to actually eating the cake, he didn't really do a lot of damage, as he had finally claimed the little toys that had been decorating it all morning.

Isaac seemed to enjoy the party, too, and all the little construction toys. He's become quite a fan of the big machines himself, frequently pointing them out and exclaiming "Di!" when we're driving.

We had a good sized gathering of family to celebrate (a week early) and so enjoyed their fellowship and continued gifts of love and care for our boys!

Two Peas in a Pod

As we watch the boys growing up together it's clear that the difference in their ages is starting to be less and less of a hindrance in their ability to interact. Caedmon is still stretching his wings in all sorts of new ways - he figured out this morning how to climb up and stand on the windowsill in his room, facing the window. (Now he has to figure out how to get down by himself!) But Isaac is watching his every move and imitating a lot of what he observes.

A couple of weeks ago the boys had a wonderful afternoon of play in the backyard. Caedmon disassembled is tee-ball tee and was using the post as a bat, tossing the ball with one hand then swinging with the other.

Soon he grew tired of that, though, and dropped his ball and "bat." Isaac was right there to pick them up...it's clear from the look on his face that he was really pondering what to do with them, and recalling the demonstration he'd just observed! In the end, he had the right idea, and the necessary eye-hand coordination will come with time.

I just love watching these two guys playing together!

Again, Caedmon takes the lead and steps up to the plate after re-assembling his tee. Isaac was right there in the action - but thankfully not too close - his brother has quite a wind-up.

Another example of "stretching our wings..." Caedmon has figured out how to get up onto the rock columns in the backyard. Once up, how does a little boy get back down? Only one way. He braced himself and counted to three, then counted to three again, and again, probably eight or ten times, then finally leaped off the column. He landed, realized he was all in one piece, and immediately did it again - with much less counting.

Caedmon has become quite the little vocabulary coach for Isaac, as well. He's picked up on our questions to Isaac and now I frequently hear, "Hey Isaac, can you say 'drink?' Say, 'drink.' Can you say, 'digger?' Can you say, 'excagator?' Can you say, 'fiwer truck?'" (Caedmon still has some interesting pronunciations - "fiwer" for "fire" and "craown" for "crayon," to name a few, which makes it that much more delightful for us to hear his instructions.)

Isaac is making tremendous strides in his communication. Who wouldn't, with such an earnest teacher? I've been impressed lately with his mini-sentences. One morning when Daniel took Caedmon to school, he looked at me and said, "A-mon? Dada. A-mon? Dada." My translation: "Where is Caedmon? He went with Dada." Or he'll say "Dada...wuk." (Dada went to work.)

He has also learned somewhat how to tell me what happens when my back is turned. I left the boys playing with blocks yesterday and Isaac cried out as I was walking away. As I turned I saw a block launched in his direction as he followed me, holding his head, crying, and saying, "bump!" I asked Caedmon why Isaac was crying. Up until very recently Caedmon has been very honest, even if that meant he would be in trouble. He's figured that out, though, so although I could see in his eyes that he was guilty, he made up something about Isaac falling down. I asked Isaac where he got bumped and he rubbed his head, saying "head!" I asked him what bumped his head, and he showed me the blocks and said "boks!" then pointed to Caedmon, "A-mon!" Seems pretty clear to me!

It's so neat to see how those little minds work, though! My car battery died this week, and after dropping Caedmon off at school Daniel had to come back home and help me. I ended up taking him back to work and picking up Caedmon in his car. When I explained to him that my car was at home and we were in Dada's car, he thought about it for just a minute then asked, "Did Dada walk to work?" Then I asked him what we should do to fix my car and he said, "Take it to the car shop." And I reminded him that the car battery was dead and it wouldn't go, so how could we take it to the shop? His solution: "Put it on a trailer of a big rig!" He was probably disappointed that didn't actually happen!

A beautiful zoo day and more

The weather lately has been too beautiful to stay indoors, so we've been out and about as much as possible. It's been so great! We've had lots of time in the sandbox and racing in the backyard (this is Caedmon's new big thing - he'll say, "Let's race to the tree...ready, set, go!" and take off, usually somewhere between "ready" and "set," giggling the whole way.)

While strolling, mowing, tricycling, or pulling wagons up and down the sidewalk, we've noticed that the pecans have begun falling. I cracked one for Caedmon and now have plenty of occupation for my hands while we're outside, as he can eat them much faster than I can shell them. Isaac wants to eat them too but is at a distinct disadvantage, having no molars, so he normally works on the little bits I give him for several minutes before giving up and spitting them back out.

Caedmon has tried to shell his own pecans and enthusiastically stomps them, but has yet to break through the tough outer layer. He isn't shy about asking me to help, though!

Isaac has been bringing lots of smiles to our faces lately as he continues to pick up Caedmonisms from his brother. He knows that Doug is not like all the other toys and when he happens to find him unattended, he usually picks him up and cuddles him. The past couple of weeks, he also puts Doug's little "hand" up to his nose exactly the way Caedmon does when he's sucking his thumb, except the smile on his face and in his eyes tells us that he is just imitating.

A few Sundays ago in church he happened to pick up their little yellow feathered friend during the service while sitting in my lap. He first put Doug's hand to his nose, as above, then took Doug's little head in his hand, turned him to face me, and made Doug give me a kiss on the cheek, complete with the sound, then laughed. I laughed too!

We had a great trip to the zoo this week, too. The guys were excited to go and loved checking out the animals and running ahead of me, when the tired of the stroller. Freedom!

The highlight of the trip for them, I think, was a statue of a tortoise outside one of the exhibits. I'm not sure how we've walked right past it numerous times before without stopping...that won't happen again. They climbed the turtle, patted it's head, rode it, slid off, and did it all over again. They thought it was so much fun. And it was! A breather for me too, pushing those guys up and down all the ramps and all around the zoo was a workout, they're getting big!

We've realized that we are in full-fledged question mode with Caedmon. He talks all the time and a lot of what he says are questions. It's so cute and intriguing to hear what's going on in that little mind!

A few recent quotes from Caedmon that have made us laugh:

Neither of us can remember the circumstances, but he very seriously, yet innocently told Daniel, "Dada, shut your mouth." He wasn't being disrespectful, but that's probably the only time he'll get away with saying something like that!

While he examined my wedding ring, I explained to him that I have one and Daniel has one, and we have them because we're married and want to spend our whole lives together. He looked at me with furrowed brows and said, "Oh. Does it hurt?"

And he's working so hard on being polite that he often reciprocates our encouragement. Today, after a big-boy adventure of exercising with his Dad, I told him, "I'm so proud of you!" He said, "Oh, I'm proud of you too!" And I don't remember the reason, but I did something and to encourage his "Thank you," I gave him a hearty, "Oh, you're welcome!" To which he said, with equal enthusiasm, "Oh, you're welcome too!"

Bob the Builder and Huckleberry Finn

Last night was the first Halloween that our guys have dressed up and gone trick-or-treating. I don't think they really understood what we were doing - Isaac especially - but it was fun to see them dressed up! Caedmon did get a kick out of his costume and thought it was fun to pretend to be Bob the Builder.

We had a hard time getting those two guys together for a picture - it's a difficult undertaking under normal circumstances but when they're wearing funny clothes and going outside with buckets instead of eating their supper, while strange-looking people and other creatures are walking down our sidewalk, it's even more challenging!

At first, Bob the Builder was much more interested in the fishin' pole than little Huck. When we went to the last (of five) houses right around us that were handing out candy, he did finally pick up his pole, and started hitting the ground with it until the fish flew off. I think he prefers it as just a stick - he knows exactly what to do with those.


Then we got home and fed the boys some soup, with the piece of candy that they each selected waiting for them in the middle of the table. Isaac doesn't really know about what's inside all those colorful wrappers, but after giving him a section of a Kit-Kat bar, we watched him taste it very carefully and seriously, then stick the whole piece in his mouth and look up with big, wide eyes, asking for more!

Caedmon, on the other hand, knew what to expect and very eagerly selected his package of peanut M&M's. He took a few moments to play with them and watch them roll around on the table, but then lost no time in eating them. He was so excited!

A few tidbits...

It seems every day, at least once, we have some sort of "incident" that makes me think, "Oh, I need to blog about that!" So I'm finally getting around to recording a handful of those little stories and conversations!

A few weeks ago I made smoothies for the boys' afternoon snack. Caedmon was finishing his and as he tilted his cup to get the last bit out, it ran out down his chin and shirt. He was upset and after I wiped him off with a towel, declared, "I need to go take a shower!" He ran off to the bathroom while I cleaned up the floor and I could hear water running in the sink. There is a step stool for the boys to use when they wash their hands so the sound of water running wasn't unusual. A minute later when I peeked in to see if he needed help, I was a bit shocked to see Caedmon standing up in the tiny sink, totally undressed, splashing water on himself! Hygiene had reached a new level of importance I guess!

We've been having construction on one end of our street the last few weeks, so that intersection has been completely blocked off and has been a source of much fascination for our neighbors, especially the children, with lots of construction equipment, piles of dirt and rocks, and cement. One evening I visited for a while with a family that was passing by our house on their way to check out "the hole," as we have been calling it. Their daughter is close to Caedmon's age, and as they left our house to continue their trek to the hole, she said, "Mommy, let's go see the bear caves!" Caedmon looked at me with wide eyes and said, "I want to go see the bear caves!!" I started to explain, confused, that there were no caves, and certainly no bears, when the other mother clarified..."She's talking about the barricades." Oh. It stuck, though...since then we still go see the "bear caves."

And our Isaac is around the age that Caedmon was when he really latched on to Doug, so I've been waiting to see if he'll have an attachment to any of his toys or blankets. I'm really starting to think that he won't, but instead comforts and soothes himself by rubbing his little belly! When he's tired and sucking his thumb or trying to sleep in his bed, he usually has his other hand under his shirt and rubbing his tummy. He was a bit frustrated a while back when I put him in a one-piece outfit, so it will be interesting to see if he'll tolerate the little footie pajamas I usually put on them in the winter - I may have to find something in two pieces!

The park, and other tidbits

I love the fall! The Lord is so kind to refresh us with pleasant weather, especially after enduring such a difficult summer. I guess the awful heat makes us appreciate a cool breeze that much more! And it certainly lifts the boys' spirits to get outdoors more often and do fun things like checking out a playground that we spotted recently!

We spent the better part of a morning at this playground, and they boys had so much fun swinging, sliding, and climbing on equipment that they thought was an exciting adventure - it made my heart race, too, but more out of fear for how high up they were!

Isaac really did enjoy the swings and had lots of big smiles to share, but I absolutely couldn't get a picture of him with his eyes open!

There were several different slides, and every time the guys went down, their hair would be full of static and stand on end. I gave Caedmon a pretty good shock, too, when I reached out to help him down - he was not impressed!

We also made a trip to the zoo one morning a couple of weeks ago. The boys were so enthusiastic about going...but when I asked Caedmon what he wanted to do or see, he said, "The ramp!" (The zoo is built on a hilly area and there are ramps everywhere to make the exhibits wheelchair accessible.) He loves to run up and down the ramps - I think he feels like he's going super-fast when he runs down. And of course, we love seeing all the animals too - I just thought it was funny that "the ramps" were the first thing that came to his mind! And do these guys look like tourists or what?!?

We're in a really fun season for listening to what our guys have to say. Isaac is really picking up a lot of words. In his vocabulary currently: Mama, Dada, A-mon (Caedmon), Pa Pa (Papa), Mammy (Grammy), Na (cat, or snack, depending on how loudly he says it!), Noooooo (must be said with a very sad face and very drawn out. He learned that from his brother), da (that), apple, buh (book), hi, bye-bye, nigh-nigh (night-night), dih (digger. Yep, we have another digger-spotter!), yeah, more, babeeee (baby), moo (moon), babuhl (bubble), bah (ball), aye-duh (all done), noh (nose - his is usually wrinkled when he says this!), maow (mouth), aye (eye), bur (bird), and "I do!" This is in addition to animal sounds: cow, sheep, cat, dog, pig, bird, lion, bear, dinosaur, and even rooster. My favorite is his dog sound, which he practices anytime we see a dog, especially when we're outside or on walks. I don't know if the dogs can translate, but they get an earful of barks and panting sounds!

Why does he say, "I do"? Daniel started asking the guys questions with "I do/did" being the appropriate response. Such as, "Who likes cookies? Who wants to go outside? Who saw the cat today?" Then he raises his hand and says, "I do!" It's amazing what that little 15 month old brain understands and processes...now, if I ask such a question, Isaac immediately pipes up, "I do!" and raises his little hand, even if no one else does!

And Caedmon - oh, that child has such fascinating and often amusing things to share! I was explaining to him this week that at the end of this month, the kids in his school will dress up in costumes and pretend to be other people/animals. I don't care for Halloween at all but think its fun for little kids to get to pretend - so was curious who or what he would like to pretend to be. I gave some suggestions, like a doctor, or a lion, or Bob the Builder. He immediately piped up: "I want to be like Bob the Builder! And Isaac can be Wendy!" How kind of him to include his brother! (Wendy is Bob's assistant.) Our next conversation was about Wendy being a girl...

We were riding in the car one afternoon and I heard Caedmon tell Doug, "When you were really little, you were in my tummy!" We have told the boys on occasion that when they were tiny and growing, they were in my tummy, but he took a leap and applied that same idea to his little duck companion.

Although he's very close to actually running rather than just walking, our Isaac is definitely a toddler and takes some spills from time to time. On one occasion last week he hit his mouth and it started to bleed. I explained to Caedmon what happened as he took it all in and later told me, very seriously, but with his cute little lisp, "Isaac had blub on his teefe. I don't have blub on my teefe!"

And new words are just tricky sometimes. We recently received a Bambi storybook and Caedmon was checking out the picture on the cover. He later asked me to read the story about the deer and the "skump." He was close - "skunk" really is kind of a strange sounding word!

Off to School!

We have officially completed Caedmon's first week of "school!" He attended for six weeks this summer, but has started going to the Parents' Day Out program two days a week at our church. Since this is a more long-term arrangement, it feels like the real deal!

He was only a little apprehensive and seemed comforted by the knowledge of who his teacher would be, and we're excited for him to have the opportunity to stretch his wings a little bit.

He was so sweet the morning of his first day, with his little digger backpack, new school shoes, and of course, Doug! We got some precious pictures of our growing boy.

And from the reports that we've gotten from the teachers, he's had a great time! The only challenge is that he's worn out by mid-morning, and asks to go take a nap - even while they're playing on the playground!

Caedmon, we are SO proud of you!

Curls

We have had a busy few weeks recently, and lots of new things going on for the boys. We still have some pretty solid routines that will probably be with us a long time, though, and enjoy the time we have at home with our guys. I took a few photos a while back during our pre-bedtime play.

Isaac loves pointing out the dinosaurs on these pajamas and roaring for us!

I remember Caedmon going through a phase of looking between his legs, and we're evidently there with our little guy now too. He thinks it's so interesting to check out the world from a different perspective!

Caedmon, as always, is paying close attention to details, and occasionally surprising me with what he discovers. While playing in the front yard one morning (yes, in their pajamas - we saw the cat out the window and there wasn't time to get dressed, he might leave before we got back outside!) he discovered a little june bug and picked it up to show me. He seemed to be pretty interested in the little guy, and I was impressed that he touched it, even though it was dead. Since then he's found another little beetle in the backyard and brought it to me, ready to identify his discovery.

We're rejoicing in the break from the intense heat! The guys are having a wonderful time playing outside, going for walks around the block, and just running around and being boys!

Of course, it's natural for boys to be daring and enjoy physical challenges - climbing, jumping, somersaulting, and the like. This trait is certainly not lost on our Isaac! Rather than riding his little car the other day, he was perched on top of the seat, holding on, and looking like he could almost feel the wind blowing in his hair!

Although his sweet locks weren't as curly as Caedmon's were at this age, Isaac still had some pretty adorable curls! Recently, though, they've seemed to be tickling his ears, getting tangled and hard to comb, and catching a good bit of food when he would put his sticky fingers on his head...so we decided it was time for a haircut. It took a couple of weeks for us to actually find an opportunity, and the willpower, to get out the scissors, but when we did we were a little stunned at what a big, grown-up looking boy we had on our hands!

Although both boys enjoy the outdoors, Caedmon seems to have a stronger pull to the sandbox these days. He has accumulated so many diggers out there, gradually even taking out the ones that are supposed to stay in the house, that some days he barely has room to dig!

What to do when it's triple digits outside?

Although we've still spent our fair share of time outdoors this summer, it's been so hot. With temperatures well into the triple digits in the last couple of weeks, our afternoon sandbox time is sometimes postponed until after dinner, and is sometimes cancelled altogether. We've found some fun things to do indoors, including cutting windows into a huge cardboard box then decorating it with crayons and stickers, playing with lots of blocks and puzzles, making our own smoothies and Isaac's favorite snack, hummus, and playing games that can burn some energy, like doing animal imitations. Caedmon gets a big kick out of practicing the various forms of locomotion of the animals we see at the zoo - waddling like a penguin, sauntering like the gorillas, running like an ostrich, balancing on one leg like a flamingo, and hopping like a frog/kangaroo/rabbit. Isaac enjoys watching and tries to do what his big brother is doing, and he's making progress, too!

Caedmon always wants to see the preview of photos I take on the back of the camera, and today he also wanted to see Doug. He was checking to make sure Doug was smiling for my pictures...it's hard to tell but I'm sure he probably was!

To make sure we get some good "outside time" in before it gets so hot, we've been playing in the front yard during the mornings. I'll set up the sprinkler and the boys have a ball! Sometimes they just stand in it and let it spray them; sometimes they get bowls or cups to fill and haul around the yard, or just select rocks or other objects to "wash"...

...sometimes Caedmon will pause for a quick drink...mmm, so refreshing!

And of course, sometimes they pick up the sprinkler and carry it off, usually surprising themselves when they get sprayed by it as they pick it up!

Playing in the sprinkler is fun for us all but I know Caedmon still misses the hour or more that he's not been spending in the sandbox every afternoon. I didn't realize how much, though, until yesterday. I'd been working in the kitchen to get a meal ready to take to some friends who just had a baby and he'd been inside with me the whole time. Realizing his need to burn some energy before we got in the car to deliver the meal, I sent him in the backyard and encouraged him to play with his trikes, or balls and tee, or just run and play for a few minutes. He asked me to uncover the sandbox, but I didn't want him to get all sandy, and we really didn't have a lot of time before we needed to leave anyway, so I shared that with him and got him started on playing with his tee-ball things. Isaac stayed out too, and I peeked out the back door every minute or so just to make sure all was well, and they seemed to be playing nicely. Then Isaac came and banged on the back door (sounding the alarm, perhaps?) and when I went to get him Caedmon had vanished. I scooped up Isaac and started calling for his brother, and after a few tries heard just a small sound in response. I started for the direction of the sound, seeing neither its source nor a good place that Caedmon could be hiding. Then I spotted his bright orange shirt...under the sandbox cover. He had crawled under and was playing with his diggers, all smushed down in the sand. Despite his obviously uncomfortable posture, he was determined to stay!

We've known for a long time that Caedmon is picking up so many new words from our conversations, but it can be so funny and surprising to hear him incorporate them into his dialogue with us and Isaac. One of his new additions has been recently been used as he offers Isaac a pretend drink with a toy cup: "It's okay, Isaac, it's bee-caf." (Decaf.) I can only think of a handful of occasions that he would have heard that word, so I'm impressed that he's using it so appropriately!

We were thankful to get to go to see Grammy and Papa this past weekend to celebrate Papa's 60th birthday with them! Hopefully there will be pictures to come...but we all had so much fun, and were all especially impressed with our little farm boy, Isaac. He fed the cows cubes right out of his hand with very little hesitation and had a lot of fun feeding, then chasing and petting, Grammy and Papa's chickens. He calls them "Mammy" and "Papa" very consistently, and I think he's trying to say "Caedmon" now too, as well as "outside" and "book."

Whatever we're doing and wherever we go, there is one thing that is constant with our boys - they want to be in motion. They are busy, busy guys and love doing, running, jumping, chasing, exploring, testing their limits, and learning new things...all wholeheartedly. Every situation presents opportunities for them to expand their horizons and they have such a fresh perspective on things that I would otherwise consider to be mundane. I am blessed to be able to watch the light in their eyes as they enthusiastically learn and grow!