Off With the Glue!

 

 

 

 

Bye Colleen!

 

 

 

 

Apple Pickin'

 

 

 

Not Himself Lately

 

 

 

 

Dawson has been going through some changes lately. I'm pretty sure he is okay...I am thinking he is having a growth spurt or possibly some new teeth coming in??? He's been tired and cranky and waking up oh so grumpy (anyone that knows Dawson, knows this is very out of character for him). He has also started to say "no" a lot, in fact, its pretty much his favorite word. I have to admit, the way he says it is so so sweet. It's just a soft no with a little shake of the head. So cute! Here he is lounging on the couch because nothing else made him happy at this particular moment. You can also see his towel that he cleans with (all of the time!). Cayden used to enjoy cleaning, but he never cleaned quite as long as Dawson does. He will do it for a half hour at a time. He has also been taking a towel to bed with him every night, I often have to fight to at least exchange the dirty one for a clean one.

1st of Many - so I've Heard....

 
 
 
Trips to the E.R. that is. Thankfully, this wasn't so bad for the first time. Cayden was running inside at daycare (again!) and hit his eye area into a corner of a bookshelf. He just ended up getting it "glued" together and hasn't complained about it since. For being such a rough and tumble boy, I consider us pretty lucky that we haven't had more accidents than this!

Fishing on the Boat

 
 
 
 
Today, Cayden went fishing on Davis Pond in Gary's boat for the 1st time with Daddy and Pere (gary's dad). Let's just say it was an experience according to daddy. If this gives you any indication, Cayden walked in the door in only underwear and a shirt. He still had a smile on his face though!@ Probably next summer will be a better time to try an adventure like this. Baby wasn't quite sure why he couldn't go! :)

Baby Growing Up

 
 
 
 
I can't believe my baby is 1 and a half years now! I so love this age...he is still sweet, little Dawson, but he has started to really know what he wants, but has a hard time letting us know (if you catch my drift). When they are this age, it is so hard to not just laugh because the fits of "rage" are so cute. He kicked a broom out of the way today because I didn't have a clue what he wanted me to do (after he had said it 4 or 5 times). Cute now, not so cute as a teenager..i think i find it even cuter with Dawson because he really is a laid back kind of guy and so passive--we don't tell him that though! He says lots and lots of words and does a lot of teasing and being silly. He loves books...the same ones over and over and over...Cayden has never been like that. There have been a handful we have definitely read lots over the years, but he has always liked a variety, as opposed to the same book(s) time and time again. But, there is no way to say no when D smiles and lights up at just the mention of the (same, old) book. I try to explain to him the whole learning different things with different books, but he just doesn't seem receptive to that quite yet. ;) Dawson has really followed in Cayden's footsteps with his love of books and reading. (I was starting to wonder because it didn't happen as early). Cayden has begun taken an interest in the written word. He will "read" things and ask me what words say (signs, directions, etc.) and will tell me what he thinks things say and it always "makes sense". He's even begun pointing at words (no, he's not 1 to 1 matching quite yet!) and knows that the words are telling a story. It is so interesting for me as a reading teacher to watch the development and the different stages a learner goes through before they get to me. I actually think it has taken my understanding of a child's ability to learn how to read to a new level and also helped me understand the child who has such difficulty becoming a true reader. Wow, that was a tangent, huh?

Pride

 
 
 
 
This is one of the many reasons Gary is so proud of his eldest son... :)

Time for Fall Already?

 
 
 
 

Pat Short is Born Again

 
 
So, many of you have heard the story of Pat Short. He was the coveted monarch caterpillar that I wanted for my classroom. The first one we found became an instant fascination and love of Cayden's, so, of course, it became his. We kept going back to find just one more and then, low and behold, we did. One for him, one for me. He was completely accepting of this and seemed a little excited that I had my own now, too. Wouldn't you know that when we got home with the new caterpillar, we found that Cayden's had escaped....ugh...we looked EVERYWHERE. I knew it was just about to go into a chrysalis, but knew it would die without milkweed. The new caterpillar was much smaller and Cayden kept calling it a paterpillar (those of you who know C, know he has a hard time with those hard c's and g's...among a few other funny substitutions), so I asked him if he wanted to name him Pat for short and so came the name "Pat Short"--apparently he liked my idea! :) Pat Short went everywhere with us, down to camp, to daycare, over the grammy's, and he even took a trip to St. George to see Great Grammy! Well, a couple of days before Pat's "rebirth" so to speak, we found a monarch caterpillar drying his wings on the kitty litter box (of all places!). Our lost one found its way into a chrysalis under the lip of the box--gross! We set him free and then Cayden and his friends saw Pat turn into a caterpillar that Cayden said my "kids" wanted to see. Jeff (his childcare provider's husband) brought it over to school for my class to enjoy for the rest of the day. We let him dry his wings and sent him on his way to Mexico that evening. Every time I watch the lifecycle of a butterfly, it amazes me. This time was just a tad more amazing to watch my son just as intrigued and full of wonderment through the whole process...