In other news...

Time to catch up on all the other stuff that's happened (besides the big second birthday) since my last post...

I think I mentioned that Cayden has already had two colds this season.  Well, he got another one soon after that second one!  Throw in a short bout with a stomach bug, and I was afraid we should go back to isolation for the rest of the fall and winter!  Once again, the fact that Jamison also shared these same illnesses made me feel better about Cayden's immune status, so we're not on lock down - yet.

I started going to a MOPs (Mothers Of Preschoolers) group in September.  It's a great opportunity to socialize with other moms, and because they provide daycare, the boys get a change of scenery and get to socialize too.  I was worried Cayden wouldn't go for it, but surprisingly, he hasn't been the problem child - it's been Jamison who's cried so long and so hard that I had to go retrieve him and leave the meeting early!  Cayden cries when I drop him off, but before too long, he stops and I think he actually has fun with the other little ones.  

A few weeks ago, I also signed the boys up for daycare at the gym.  Considering I was paying a nanny about thirty bucks each time I wanted to go work out for an hour, it was a deal!  I'm paying about thirty dollars a month for both boys, and they can go for two hours a day every day of the month!  They have a great big, fun-filled area to play in, so I figured they'd love it.  Ha.  Sounds great in theory, but I haven't gotten to work out for more than ten minutes yet.  The first time we went, the Kids Club closed five minutes after I got them signed in.  Cayden was crying when I left him but was happy and smiling when I came back five minutes later.  The second time we went, Cayden screamed and cried the whole ten minutes I left him there, so they had to page me to come get him.  We're going to have to work on this because mommy really needs to get back in the exercise groove! 

Cayden saw Dr. Rosenberg the day after his birthday for his two year check up and was given a clean bill of health!  He weighed 26 pounds, which is in the 25th percentile for his actual (not adjusted!) age.  We are beyond happy with that, especially considering that's right about where Jamison has always been.  Everything else looked good and I was once again assured by the doctor that we don't have to worry so much about germs this winter.  He reiterated that his immune system is strong enough to fight things off normally now, and to some extent, he needs to be exposed to things like all 'normal' kids would.  He got his last Hepatitis A vaccine and we were on our way.  We don't have to go back for another six months, just to check in!

As I mentioned in the birthday post, we had company for Thanksgiving.  Jason was still in Egypt, but my grandma, dad, step mom Xian, and little sister Victoria all came to spend the holiday with us.  Both boys absolutely LOVED their Aunt Vickie, and they got close to PauPau and Grandpa very quickly too.  Of course they always love their Nonna, so it's no surprise they were happy to spend time with her!

Going down the big slide with Aunt Vickie

Story time with Grandpa Ray

More story time with Nonna Lena

Technically, this was Cayden's third Thanksgiving, but it was the first one where he could really indulge in all the yummy food, and indulge he did!  He ate two helpings of everything we made: turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, carrots, and pumpkin pie.

Round one...

Of course the thing I'm most thankful for every year is Cayden's amazing good health.  We've been so lucky.

In early December, we had our 6-month review with our Developmental Pathways coordinator, Alex, and our physical therapist, Deb.  Everyone is just so pleased with and amazed by his progress, and since he's reached all of his developmental milestones, Deb released him from physical therapy.  Since he hasn't had a speech evaluation yet, Alex agreed to arrange a speech therapy consult just to be sure Cayden is progressing satisfactorily in that area as well.  No one is really concerned there will be any issues, but we'll find out for sure this Wednesday at his appointment.  If that goes well, Alex will sign him off and he will be all done with everything!  They do recommend we get in touch with our school district for an evaluation before he starts kindergarten, just to be sure no learning disabilities show up between now and then, but then he'll be in the hands of the public school system and they can help address any needs he may have at that point.

Daddy came home from Egypt the first week in December and both boys were SO happy to see him.  A few days after he got home, we took a trip to Arkansas to visit Jason's family, and Cayden certainly charmed everyone there!  He got to meet his cousins, Tera and Ryan, his Uncle Jeff, his great-grandma Grover, and his great-aunt Pam all for the first time, and got to spend plenty of time with his Grammy Janene, Poppa Dan, and Aunt Karin.  We had an early Christmas celebration, and came home with a suitcase full of gifts!

Loving his cousins!

Getting the hang of ripping open presents

Sneaking a bite of Tera's yogurt bar

With Great-grandma Grover and Daddy

We spent a few hours at the Discovery Museum while we were there and the boys had a ball!  They also spent an evening with Grammy and Poppa babysitting so Jason and I could go out for dinner and a movie.  Of course both boys were complete and total angels for them, doing things without a fuss that they would NEVER do for me.  I think we need to visit the grandparents more often!

Cayden is talking like crazy.  It seems he picks up a dozen new words a day lately.  He's still hard to understand a lot of the time, and he gets a little frustrated when we don't give him what he wants or acknowledge what he says.  He seems to be steadier on his feet and not quite as clumsy.  He's still a fearless daredevil, and his latest favorite thing to do is hold onto the side of Jamison's toddler bed and bounce up and down like a giggling madman!  He's trying to jump off of things now, but he doesn't quite have that skill mastered yet.  It's more of a slide/step/flop, but he keeps trying!

While we were out of town, we noticed that it looks like Cayden has one for sure and maybe two or all three of the other two-year molars poking through his gums.  He's been a little fussy at night with slight fevers at random times for a day or two, and my guess is that his mouth hurts.  Hopefully they'll all be in soon and we can get back to sleeping hard all through the night.  One can dream, can't she?