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!

Sand + Water = F U N

It has been well-established during the recent reports of this blog that our boys love the sandbox. One thing that has lately made it even more exciting and entertaining for them is the addition of...water! I expected them to immediately dump out the bucket of water I gave them one afternoon last week but instead, they sat together and played for probably close to 15 minutes before it was all gone.

Caedmon transferred water to the pitcher, and Isaac transferred it back to the bucket. It was a great system for drawing out the fun as long as possible!

I'm sure it was entirely accidental that this cup full of sloppy wet sand got dumped all over Isaac's hand!

As the guys neared the end of their interest in the sand and water, Caedmon poured the contents of the bucket into the pitcher, with Isaac's assistance. It was such a treat to watch them play together so nicely!

Whew, my mom (Grammy) always said she could tell how much fun we had by how dirty we got after playing. It's pretty evident that Isaac enjoyed himself! Hmm, who gets to clean that up!?

The boys have been up to so much lately, definitely keeping us on our toes. Caedmon's vocabulary and ability to express himself continues to explode and the things he says can be so amusing, as well as amazing. For example, he went through a phase of climbing up in the stroller, pulling the shade down over his eyes and peeking through the corner of it, and announcing, "I want some mayo!" We didn't know what he meant and for several consecutive nights tried to make conversation with him about "mail" or anything else that we could have misunderstood. Finally, after a few episodes of the same thing, he also said something about chicken and I realized what he was doing. He was imitating me in the Chick-fil-a drive through! His hunching over and peeking through the opening of the side of the stroller shade was like leaning out the car window, and I do always ask for mayo. He doesn't miss a thing!

One of his puzzles is a farm scene in which there are pigs playing in the mud. I was chatting with him as he worked on that puzzle one afternoon and he looked up and very seriously informed me that "pigs eat mud pies." Just in case I didn't believe him to be an authority on the matter, he quickly added, "You remember? In my 'I Love You, Goodnight' book, pigs like mud pies." With that, he took his index finger and scanned his bookshelf until he found the aforementioned book, pulled it out and opened to the page containing the information he needed. He's done that again since then but relating to another subject. We may just have a little researcher on our hands!

As we go along, we're also working on the alphabet. There are a handful of letters that Caedmon will consistently identify but his current favorite letter is "d" - "D for DADA!" is what we hear exuberantly announced anytime he sees it, whether it's in a book or on a billboard along the highway!

Isaac doesn't want to be left behind in anything that Caedmon is doing, and he continues to learn new sounds and associations also. Right now his favorite word is "na," meaning "snack." He says it constantly, and knows very well the word's meaning. He'll occasionally include the sign for "eat," except rather than touching his fingertips to his mouth he inserts them up to about the second knuckle while looking at me with pleading, hungry little eyes. If he is awake, he's usually in motion, so I guess he's using a lot of energy...but I'm pretty sure he could eat snacks all day long if given the opportunity!

He also uses consistent and distinguishable words for "drink," "up" (as in, pick me up!!), "book," and, to my surprise, as I don't think I've used this word a lot around him, "baby." That may be the most clear of all the words I just mentioned, since the others use some part of the word but don't really sound like the real word just yet.

Like I said, his favorite word, I think, is "snack." However, that is debatable, and the runner-up word is a close second. It was probably around this age that Caedmon really started paying attention to the sounds that indicated Daniel was home from work. Now Isaac has a keen ear for the sound of the garage door opening and heads that direction as fast as he can go, belting out "Da DAAAA" along the way. He knows lots of tickles and kisses are around the corner and can hardly wait for the fun to begin. If Caedmon or I mention "Dada" during the day, Isaac begins calling for him and looking towards the door, or sometimes if he hears something and wishfully thinks it's his dad, he again will call out his name. I can't think of anything else he vocalizes with such joyful enthusiasm!

Both boys relish their time with Dada and the fun time they have doing boy stuff, like chasing around the backyard, playing hide-and-seek in the house, roaring like dinosaurs, wrestling, and being tossed up into the air so that they can touch the ceiling. It's fun to think of all the adventures that are yet to come with these guys!

Daily sandbox time...

We do go outside every afternoon after the backyard is shaded by the trees behind our house and play in the sandbox. The boys have so much fun!

They just love their time outside, and the hot temperatures don't seem to stifle their spirits much!

Caedmon is very protective and possessive of his little diggers and industriously builds roads, rivers, and "scoops and dumps" sand from one place to another. It's serious business for him!

Isaac also loves to play with the diggers but is more laid back about it than his brother, and enjoys just pushing them all over the place and making the sound effects to accompany them. He is quite entertained, also, by using shovels or cups to scoop up dirt and fill other vessels, such as their buckets or dump trucks.

Puzzles

Our sweet boy, Caedmon, has a new favorite activity (other than playing in the sandbox, which we do at least once a day.) I mentioned a while back that he can almost complete his little digger jigsaw puzzles all by himself...well, now he takes them apart and puts them back together over and over again without any assistance. I've gotten a couple of other little puzzles for him now so that he has some variety, but he really loves those diggers. Both boys often have some playtime in the morning after breakfast and before putting on play clothes - Isaac is so eager to stand up at the table in Caedmon's room and do what he sees his brother doing! He usually looks at books while Caedmon tackles his puzzles. At least initially...

...but then he tries to "help" and sometimes snatches a piece or two, much to Caedmon's frustration...

...which he then will carry around the room (that's a puzzle piece on the floor beside him) or even around the house. And when Caedmon realizes he can't finish the bulldozer, cement truck, excavator (escagator), or dump truck, we go searching for the missing parts. And incredibly, we do still have them all!

Two Toddlers

We officially have two toddlers!

Our Isaac evidently decided the night before his birthday that he was ready to get off his hands and knees and start walking. He just took off, making laps all around the house! If he toppled, he just pushed himself right back up and kept going. It was so surprising for me to see him headed my direction, and rather than diving into my legs and clinging there, he just kept on going. By the end of the evening, walking in itself was no longer enough of a novelty or challenge, so he proudly began carrying items around with him, swiping my dust pan and carting it all over the house!

The day after his actual birthday, we had a wonderful group of family and friends come celebrate with us at a jungle-themed party. Isaac seemed to enjoy having everyone singing to him!

And he was definitely interested in the cake! Although we'd practiced blowing out candles the week or so before, there was too much else going on to distract him and he was more interested in trying to touch the flame than extinguish it, so we helped him out a bit.

Although the candle was a bit of a challenge, Isaac definitely had no hesitation with eating his cake. He knew exactly what to do and very quickly had only a sticky mound of crumbs and icing left on his high chair tray.

Oh, and there were a few crumbs on his sweet little face, too!

Caedmon has been asking for months for someone to have a birthday, as he's evidently figured out that birthdays mean cake for everyone! He was excited for Isaac's celebration and ready to dive in to his treat, as well!

Isaac did really well when we opened his gifts and although he didn't do much unwrapping himself, was very attentive and seemed to enjoy watching us help him open all the packages.

We loved the time we were able to spend with our dear family and friends and thank the Lord for both our precious boys. How blessed we are!

Gardening

When we started preparing our soil for our garden early this spring, the only thing Caedmon really could relate to it was from his "Peter Rabbit" book, so he often referred to our little plot as "Mr. McGregor's garden." How much he's learned this spring! We've gone from trying to eat the green beans straight out of the seed packet to carefully harvesting the fresh green beans for our supper.

It delights me to see his enthusiasm; he's always ready to go check on the plants in the garden and I'll never forget the look on his face the day the tomatoes finally, finally ripened. I called him to come look at them, and his eyes got so wide as his jaw dropped. I'd been trying to convince him to wait to pick the little tomatoes until they turned red, and when he saw the transformation, he was fascinated. Now he's so careful to wait and only select those tomatoes that are nice and ripe, and gets aggravated when Isaac harvests them early. Isaac is enthusiastic too, but isn't as particular about the color of the tomatoes he eagerly pops into his mouth!

Speaking of putting things in his mouth, our Isaac is really honing his self-feeding skills. He'll usually let me spoon-feed him a few bites of oatmeal (or anything messy) but is then ready to take over and do it himself. He's doing pretty well!

Isaac is also starting to take steps on his own, sometimes walking across the entire room by himself, and if he falls he is able to stand up without holding onto anything. He has discovered giving "fives," and is very excited to have any opportunity to do so. He also enjoys throwing balls (as he says, "ba-ows") and then chasing them to throw them again. Rather that just reading books and touching them with his hands, he also tends to try to rub them with his feet (we have one touch-and-feel book that is made for tiny feet to touch the pages, so he thinks all books need to be rubbed with his toes!) Our little one also has a propensity for getting his hands and arms stuck in cabinets and drawers, and holding it that way with the other hand. Frequently, while making supper in the kitchen, I'll hear the typical sounds of his playing in the cabinets interrupted by his frustrated and frightened shrieks, and will turn to see one hand still in the cabinet, with the other one holding the door closed. Poor little guy! But not that little anymore - we can't believe that he'll be a year old in just a few days!

Caedmon has officially had his first day of school. He started a little summer program this week, and although I didn't get a good picture on his first day (it was a little crazy trying to get both boys out the door on time!) I plan to take one next week when he has his new digger backpack and lunch box. He didn't even look back once he entered his classroom and was enthusiastic about going back again, although the only thing I could gather from him that they did during the five hours of our separation was play on the playground. He probably would have been totally content if that actually had been the only thing they had done!

He is amazing us right now with his sharp little mind. We got out some little jigsaw puzzles (with diggers on them, of course) and he's getting close to being able to complete them all by himself, which is the only way he really wants to do anything these days. And he's able to correctly count objects, especially up to 10.

Watching our little boys learn and grow in these amazing ways is such a humbling reminder of the great love and care that our Heavenly Father has for us all. What a precious gift to be allowed the responsibility and pleasure of raising these dear ones!