Some of the Things Caden Loves...

Pictures 1&2: Baby Einstein (he also loves his new Baby Einstein cup that has a straw- there is a picture of it)

Pictures 3-5: "The Globe"- a lamp that zaps your finger without hurting you

Picture 6: Being silly :)

Pictures 7&8: Playing with his kitchen set that he got for Christmas. He loves that toy!

Picture 9: The camera! :)

Picture 10: His sippy cup

Pictures 11&12: Coloring. Today I caught him coloring on the fridge after the fact. Luckily they are washable crayons! Picture 12 is showing his poor little innocent face with a look that reads- "It wasn't me, Mommy" :)

Pictures 13&14- Reading either "I'm a Little Teapot" or "Pattacake"

Picture 15- Playing Peek-a-boo

Family Time, Smiles, and Wild Hair :)

I love the pictures of Caden and Jeff! We had to get new tires on our car today so we had to wake Caden early from his nap. He was all snuggly with Daddy and I thought they both looked adorable. :)

Strange Attachment to Vacuum Cleaner

I don't know why, but Caden has grown very fond of one of our vacuum cleaner attachment pieces. The pictures I took were taken only minutes apart. Caden is happy in the first few pictures because he has his beloved connector piece. He carries it around shaking it and goes "Shhhhhhh" pretending to clean. When Mommy takes it away to actually clean he freaks out (he really does- screams, cries, and acts as though he is fearing for his connector piece's life) as you can see in some of the other pictures. And when he gets it back he is happy as you can tell by the last picture. Caden loves that connector piece and it really is strange. He plays with it whenever he can get into the closet where it is and he makes sure to protect his new favourite toy from the dust bunnies in our home! *smiles*

I wrote this post the 28th but these pictures are from today, the 29th. I vacuumed again and thought these pictures better captured the "drama". :)

We're Taking a Trip Soon! Yay!

I am very excited because Jeff, Caden and I are going to California over Jeff's March break. I can't wait! We actually think we are going to drive, and that is going to be fun. Tiring I'm sure, but fun. We'll have about 5 full days in California and we'll get to go through Las Vegas (we might even stay overnight there), Yosemite National Park (if we take that specific route) and all these other interesting places! :) And I've never really been through the states so it'll be nice to see more. I've driven across Canada and now I'll get to see the states. Jeff is really excited too. And Caden will get to go to a beach! And we'll get to see Brad, Kristin and December again. I can't wait! And maybe I'll even get a tan! *lol*

Caden has been very interested in lego lately. He loves to help Mommy or Daddy build a big tower with all the smaller pieces. Today he cried when I took it apart so we built new towers over and over! It is so cute to watch Caden play. We just love our little guy! :)

Back to Normal

I am glad to write that Caden is happy again, and hasn't had any more of those big tantrums. He still has his little attitude, but nothing like the days I wrote about. He is almost over his awful cold and I think he's starting to feel better. Maybe the tantrums were happening because he wasn't feeling well. I'm hopeful! :)

Jeff and I had a great time in Banff- we went to the hotsprings and it was so nice. I have never been there when it was dark. It started snowing too which was nice. We went to a Thai restaurant there and had a nice supper, and then we did some window shopping. It was a fun evening. Caden stayed over at Grammie and Grampie's and he had a lot of fun. He didn't even care to see Mommy when she came over the next day to pick him up! I was glad that he did well. He slept for almost 12 hours straight there. He was a very good boy. :)

I went to Edmonton this weekend and Jeff looked after Caden. I went Saturday night and came back Sunday evening. It was nice to see my sister, Holly, and her fiance, Nathan. We went to a bridal show. :) It almost made me want to get married again- to the same person of course! ;)

Well, that is all the news for now. No more tantrums and that makes us very happy in the Jones household!

Oh- one more thing: I wanted to let you know all of the words Caden can say. He has changed so much in the last 2 weeks it is almost unbelievable! He can say: Momma, Dada, Uh-Oh, Bible, Amen, Ba ba (for sippy cup), Hi, Bye, Doggie, Baby, Up, Nana (for banana), light, All Done, Bubbles, Cat, and Colour. He can also bark like a dog which is very impressive. :)

Reflection

Every so often I have time to reflect on things. Tonight my sweet husband is neither at school nor working- he is out with his brother. :) I hope he has so much fun. He deserves it. So while he is out I thought I'd write a little note. I have been complaining a lot lately- not just to him but to everyone. Mostly just about how I feel I am missing out on things. Or about how I am lonely when my husband is away and I am home alone with my 16 month-old all day and evening. I can complain an awful lot. When I’m tired, I give way to complaining. When my days seem long and mundane, I do the same. Being at home so much sometimes allows me to reflect on things more, and that isn’t always a good thing. Tonight it is, though. :)

I realize that I need to stop complaining. Philippians 2:14-15 reads, “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.” Do everything without complaining or arguing. That means for moms to refrain from complaining if they stay at home with their children all day. That means for moms to refrain from complaining when they can’t be with their friends like they once were. That means for moms to refrain from complaining when they cannot often go out after 7 pm. ;) And that means for moms to refrain from complaining when they feel lonely, because they aren’t alone. Moms who know God are never alone. God is with us and He is all we need. And I know He is proud that moms are taking care of their children- a blessing straight from God.

As a Mom, I have a big responsibility. I need to teach my son about God. And I must confess that I haven’t been doing all that great in that area. The Bible tells us to do as follows: “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates (Deuteronomy 6:5-9).” One way to teach my son is to stop complaining. I need to stop complaining to my husband, my family, my girlfriends. When I put things into perspective, I don’t really have anything to complain about. I am blessed, and I need to start living my life as I should. I also need to teach my little one how to live. I want him to be joyful. I want him to know that I am so happy and content being with him. And I want him to know that God loves Him even more than I do. :)

Tantrums Galore...

Today has not been the greatest day when it comes to little Caden Joshua. I thought he has had tantrums before today, but I was very wrong. Today he DEFINITELY had a tantrum, and it was way worse than the ones his Mommy used to throw! I'm serious, Meredith, and I know- I deserve it! :)

Last night at 11:00 was actually when it all started. Caden decided that he wanted to get up and watch Baby Einstein. We said no, and it all went downhill from there. Caden was flailing his arms, stomping his feet, SCREAMING, hitting, kicking. You name it, he did it. And we tried to put him down and he was crying and crying. I felt bad because he has been sick, and his nose was running and you could hear the scratchiness of his sore throat. So I thought I'd lay him between Jeff and I so he would settle. Well, when I put him in our bed he saw this lamp on our dresser that we let him play with (it has all sorts of colours and zaps your fingers when you touch it without shocking you), and he wanted it. He pointed and did his "Mm?" sound that means "I would like to have that". I said he couldn't have it, and the kicking, screaming, hitting, etc. began. And to top it all off, he threw Morty (his elephant) at me. I was so mad. Back to bed he went and he screamed and screamed and screamed. He did that 3 times last night. It was awful.

This morning was the same thing. He wanted out of his crib so I went in to get him out. He pointed at something and said "Mm?". I had no idea what he wanted, so I picked him up thinking he'd be happy to see Mommy and get out of his crib. Well, he started kicking and flailing and screaming when I picked him up. He had a 15 minute-long tantrum. And then tonight he wanted something that we said he couldn't have and he did the same thing- this time for atleast 30 minutes, half of which was during a time-out. His Grammie Aleta heard it all over the phone. It is her birthday and I had hoped Caden would have talked to her (he can say quite a few words now) instead of screamed. Poor Caden is asleep and we are not getting him up tonight if he cries. He is staying with his Grammie and Grampie Jones tomorrow night because Jeff and I are going to Banff. I am excited but I feel sorry for Grammie and Grampie! *smiles*

I put up 2 pictures of Caden talking nicley to Daddy yesterday. And then I put up 2 pictures that I took tonight during a tantrum. Let's just say our little guy did not go to bed happy... ;) He is in his diaper because he wouldn't let us put his PJ's on. He was too busy kicking and screaming. He was in a time-out, and Jeff eventually did get his PJ's on. Daddy is a no-nonsense type of guy! :)

Get Ready for TONS of Pictures!

Jeff and I watched December today and it was so much fun! Everyone went skiing but I was too tired from working last night, and I have to work tonight and tomorrow. I don't know how to ski and would like to learn when I'm not half asleep. :) Jeff couldn't go because of his back. So we decided to look after December. And when Jeff went to work at 3:00 I was able to spend time with both babies. Caden and December played so well together. And December took great care of our cats, Willow and Felix. She tried to feed them plastic eggs and corn from Caden's kitchen set, kiss them (and Caden!), played string with them, and even covered Willow in her blankies while she was sleeping. And of course Caden played with his kitties too. :) We went outside for a bit, coloured, and just played and played. And Caden needed his Baby Einstein so there was some of that too. I hope we can find a playmate for Caden once December goes back home. We'll see. :) Poor Caden has a bad cold and wasn't 100%, but he loved having his cousin over. Maybe Brad and Kristin can just quit school and come here. Now that's an idea! ;)