Smart Like His Daddy

Caden loves practicing his letters and numbers. I am amazed at how well he knows them. Jeff and I think he's pretty smart for a not quite 2 1/2 year-old. The only letters he has trouble with sometimes are V (he calls it "W" or "half a W") and N. He knows his numbers from 1-10 too, and I'm trying to teach him how to read now. We are working on the sounds of the letters, but I really don't know the best way to teach him to read. So if anyone has any pointers, let me know. :)

Who needs sleep anyway?

Oh what a night last night was. I'm yawning as I'm typing this... I should be folding the laundry and preparing supper while Caden and Cayleigh are asleep, but my energy is next to none at the moment so blogging is the best I can do. Last night Cayleigh only got up once, ate, and went right back to seep. But Caden got up at 11:00, 1:00, 1:30, 2:30... I think you get the picture. Jeff and I think he fell out of bed and bumped his knee, but we also think he played up his "injury" quite a bit. He ended up in our bed because we were too tired to keep getting up. And he never sleeps in our bed so he didn't have a good sleep there either (nor did we). We notice our little angel is getting a little more manipulative... Tonight WILL be better- I guarantee it. ;)

It is a gorgeous day here- or atleast it looks that way. Once my little ones wake up (I took pictures of them sleeping- they look so peaceful you can't help but smile) I hope to go out for a walk. Hmm, maybe I'll go to the Macs and get a coffee or something. Or Starbucks... ;) I don't really drink coffee but I will today. Yesterday Jeff worked all day and then he had a meeting with the Pastor and elders of our church so he was gone pretty much all day. We were both tired by the end of the day, and after last night we are exhausted. And tonight when Jeff gets home he's going to work on the basement. So no nap for me or Jeff. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger I guess. :) If all goes as planned our basement will be done by March. We have someone coming next week to work on it too and that makes me happy. I can't wait to have twice the amount of space in here. And Caden's room will be in the basement so Jeff and I won't fall for his tricks. :) He's excited to go down there and I know he'll love a playroom and all the extra space. Hopefully we can stay on schedule and get it done. We'll see...

Being Silly

Yesterday I had fun with the camera, taking pictures of Caden playing with his little sister and both Caden and Cayleigh with myself. I was trying to see who looks like who, and I really think Caden is the picture of Jeff and Cayleigh looks a little more like me.

Caden is starting to talk to Cayleigh, and he is full of hugs and kisses for her. And she loves him! Caden can make her laugh and it is adorable. :) Yesterday I was getting Cayleigh washed and dressed and Caden jumped up on the bed and started playing with her. He wanted me to cover both of them up and he would pretend to sleep. :)

I have to be more and more careful every day, especially since Caden has finally started to befriend his little sister. I was cleaning the bathroom yesterday and I put Cayleigh in her chair in the dining area so the fumes from the cleaning supplies wouldn't bother her. Caden was going to bowl in the living room and I told him to ask Cayleigh if she wanted to bowl. As I was cleaning I heard him say, "What you doing, Cayleigh? You want to bowl, Cayleigh?". When I came out of the bathroom Cayleigh's chair was in the living room... Caden had pulled the chair (with Cayleigh in it) all the way to the living room so she could bowl with him. I told Caden that he is not allowed to move her again... ;)

There is a picture of Cayleigh in her excersaucer that was taken a few days ago. She is starting to like it and it's so nice to be able to put her in things other than her chair. The pictures of her in her jolly jumper were taken a few days ago as well. She likes that too, and Caden likes it because she's easy to get at! I also put up a picture of Cayleigh lying on the floor watching Sesame Street. I don't know what it is, but both Cayleigh and Caden love that show.

And I also put up a picture of Caden fixing his car. He'll say, "Mommy, red car all broken. Caden go fix it". Grampie Jones' red car was broken and is now fixed, and Caden is still obsessed with that! Grampie used to take Caden in the garage while he worked on the car. Now Caden will get his shovels out and try to climb under the car to fix it. He also puts his socks on his hands... I'm not too sure what that's all about. Maybe Grampie wore gloves...? ;)

I also wanted to mention the picture of Cayleigh with her thumb in her mouth. We have a little thumb sucker. Cayleigh will even put her finger on her nose as she sucks her thumb, just like I did. I won't tell how long I sucked my thumb. So I'm a little worried... ;)

Pictures, Pictures and More Pictures!

We had such a great time in New Brunswick! Jeff and I always love going back, and Caden was exceptional on the plane (as was Cayleigh) which made the trip all the more better. People were telling us how good our kids were to travel with- Jeff and I were pleasantly surprised. :)

So, as always, my pictures uploaded backwards. :) So if you start from the bottom you'll see pictures of Cayleigh that were taken a few days before we left. Mommy loves dressing her. :) Then you'll see Caden with his suitcase all ready to go on the airplane. He was such a big boy and pulled his Diego suitcase all through the airport. He LOVED it! And Pooh enjoyed the airplane ride as well! *smiles* Caden looked so adorable- he had Pooh safely tucked under one arm and pulled his suitcase with the other.

When we got to Hartland we had so much fun! We got to see our very very good friends, Nicole and Betty, and had very nice visit. Jeff picked them up in Fredericton and they came to visit with us in Hartland. Betty was only able to stay for about an hour but it was better than nothing. I missed Nicole a lot so it was great to see her. The first Sunday we were home we also got to see our friends from the church we used to go to in Fredericton. That is where Jeff and I met. :) It was good to see Darren and Steve, our good friends from Smythe Street. We went out for lunch after church and Caden and Cayleigh were very well behaved, surprising us yet again. :)

We got to spend lots of time with my sister, Meredith, and her husband Greg, as we stayed with them. One of the best days I had was a shopping trip when it was just Meredith and I. After leaving I realized how much I miss her and I wish we lived closer. But, if all goes as planned, I'll be able to go back home shortly after her baby arrives (which is only a few months away). Caden LOVED his Auntie Meri and his Uncle Greg. We miss you guys!

Both Caden and Cayleigh LOVED their Grammie and Grampie Fairgrieve. Caden calls them Grammie and Grampie Grieve. :) He always wanted to go over to their house, and he loved the bowling set they got for him. He also loved playing with the guitar and piano they had there. Caden would go up on his own and give them big hugs and kisses. He followed Grampie Grieve around like a lost puppy and bowled the night away with Grammie Grieve. It was really hard taking him away from them. :( And it was also hard leaving Nanny, Great Grammie Fairgrieve- Caden calls her Grammie Jo Jo (Jo Jo is her dog!). Everyone seemed the same and that was special- I felt like everything was as I left it.

The final weekend we were there we went to Oromocto and Jeff's best friend Kevin, his wife Kendis, and their two children, Andrew and Makalah (who are the same age as ours) came to see us. It was SO good to see them- they are just like family to us. Caden loved playing with Andrew and Cayleigh loved to sleep by Makalah *lol*. Both babies are quite carefree and relaxed. Cayleigh is 2 months younger than Makalah but looks like she's older. She's a big girl! ;) We went to Crystal Palace in Moncton that Saturday and it was a lot of fun. Caden and Andrew got tired out pretty quickly but they both had fun, and we all went swimming at the hotel that evening. Jeff and I both feel like we didn't have enough time, but we know we'll go back again. Why does this world have to be so big anyway? I wish everyone was closer...

And at the top are pictures of Caden and Cayleigh who were very happy to be home. They were all smiles when they knew we were done our travels. :)