Cade at 33 months

• We were eating dinner one night and Cade asked me what was in milk.  I told him that's all it is, just milk.  He answered "and green stuff!"  and pulled a green onion out of his cup.
• Cade has had a hard time going to nursery again.  We put him in there in 10-15 minute chunks or Kirk stays for a bit.  He had 3 weeks in a row, though, where he spent the last bit in Kirk's class, asleep.  Last week he made it half of the time without crying.  Yay!
• We were eating breakfast one morning and Cade said "today is Thursday for me."  I asked him what that meant and he said he wanted to mow the lawn. 
• Cade likes to get himself dressed.  Many times his clothes are backwards, but he is getting much better and faster. 
• Sometimes Cade goes in the bathroom and climbs up on the toilet before pulling his pants down.  I have to remind him and he laughs.

Look, my broom is an airplane!

Washing the car

• One morning I went up to get Cami out of bed and found Cade's "baby hope" in the hallway.  He sleeps with her every night.  She wasn't there when I went to bed and Cade was still asleep.  He must have gotten up in the night and realized it wasn't morning or something.  Maybe Baby Hope is learning to walk.
• He says mys and yous instead of my/mine and yours.  He is finally getting how to say the B sound.  For a long time he said didi instead of baby. 
• He likes to make up words.  He is hard enough to understand at times, and then he makes up words!  One of his favorites is saying app instead of applesauce or changing all of the words in a song to start with the same letter.
• We saw a cat when we were at our cabin on the Deschutes river playing.  Cade said "hi" to the cat many times and was very nice to it (not something he gets from me). 
• He takes good care of his sister.  Most of the time, he makes sure that Cami has a toy to play with.  If she tries to take his, he will get her another one.  If he wants what she has, he knows to wait until she puts it down.  When I am making lunch, it is pretty common for Cami to cry. (like she is starving to death or something!)  Cade likes to go get her toys and try to make her happy.  I will often put Cami in her high chair with some quick food while I get the rest ready. One time when I was making grilled cheese, Cade came and stole some cheese off a sandwich and broke off pieces to give Cami.  He kept telling her to say "more." Cade likes to read her stories while she is there.  I told him that was nice.  The next time he did it, he said "Cami, I being really nice to you."  He still calls her Annie.  He is a good brother and pretty patient with her.  He loves to give her hugs and kisses and tackle her or imitate her or try to get her to say words or animal noises. 

• Kirk sings a song called "Whatever She's Got" and Cade loves the chorus "blue jeans painted on tight."  He is quite a little singer.  He and I change the words to other things like muffins painted on tight.  He thinks that is hilarious!
• He sings with us all the time at bedtime.  He can sing all of James Taylor's "Good old boys", "I am a child of God," "I love to see the temple"  "I like to look for rainbows" "Teach me to walk in the light" and many, many more. 

Vacuuming with Cami

• We found a dead potato bug outside.  He asked why it wasn't crawling and I told him it was dead.  He asked if it needed new batteries.
• He was doing a head stand in the lazyboy chair.  He said "You see me mommy?" and I asked him what he was doing.  He said "hanging upside down like Ampa."

• One night he asked my "mommy, Why do you have a nose?"
• Cade has made the sprinkler box in the front yard his "mower truck" and he will put his mower and blower and trimmer on it and "drive" to another house.  His mower is a plastic toy he got last summer.  The blower and trimmer are sticks we find around.  We also play mower truck with his trains and train track.  He gives me 3 cars and keeps 3 cars and tell me which is my mower, trimmer and blower.  We drive around the track and stop at "houses" and do their lawn.  Sometimes we set up books so we can do Elmo's lawn and other characters. 

Mower truck--this day the stroller was a trimmer and his spray bottle was the blower

Train track set-up

• We went to Sesame Street live with some friends.  Cade thought it was pretty cool except when the characters came off the stage to dance.  He was very concerned they were going to come near us.  We were up on the second level though, so they never got close. 
• We also went to a thing called Kids dig Rigs.  It was at the park and had TONS of tractors and big trucks that kids could climb on/in and pretend to drive.  Cade loved the front loader, the fork lift and the fire truck.  There were probably 50 different tractors, semi-trucks, a cement truck, police cars and lots more.  We got to watch a monster truck drive around and we rode on a train through the park too--3 times cuz it was a favorite!

• It is truly amazing how much Cade (and Cami) has changed my life.  3 years ago I was pregnant, finishing up my 4th year of teaching high school and preparing to move from LA to Memphis.  Kirk was about to graduate from dental school.  In some ways life was much simpler then, and in a lot of ways it is simpler now.  Today we went to the grocery store and spent the rest of the day reading stories, having a bubble bath, watching the guys mow our grass and playing trains.  And everyday I remind myself that they won't be little for long and I need to enjoy every minute.  My new favorite quote is "Enjoy the little things because one day we will look back and realize they are the big things."  I love seeing Cade in the morning and getting a big, full body hug--although I would rather it be later that 5:30, I still love it.  He is awesome.  Very sweet, obedient and kind.  He isn't perfect and has his days/moments where I can't do anything right, but he is great kid.