September

Welcome Grandma and Grandpa! - September 18 - 24, 2008
Grandma and Grandpa came to visit us for a week. Despite giving Grandma our cold (sorry!) we had a great visit. It was so fun to watch Kaden interact with his grandparents and actually know (and remember) who they are. For the first couple of days he was calling them both Grandpa...but he quickly caught on and gave Grandma her own designation..."Gampa and Gamma"! Craig took a couple days off work to make it a long weekend and we packed everyday with a different adventure.

Grandpa taught Kaden to say "okay", which is now one of his favourite words! He uses it not only to confirm his state of being, but to respond to us instead of saying yes. Kaden will ask for something ("cos-ah doowie") and when we repeat it for clarification ("would you like mommy to close the door?) he responds "okay" like it was our suggestion to begin with and he's onboard with the plan! 

Friday's expedition - Science World (September 19)
We started our whirlwind tour of all of Kaden's favourite haunts with a trip to Science World. Everyone had fun playing with all the interactive exhibits and watching Kaden enjoy himself. At the end of our outing we stopped for some lunch on the way home. Kaden got to eat one of his favourite foods...ketchup! The grilled cheese is just the implement for which to get the ketchup in his mouth without having to use a spoon!

Kaden makes music with his feet!|
 

We bought Kaden a gift while we were at Science World. He took to it like a hammer to nails!
 

Having not showed her off in a while our camera crew also got a few good shots of the pup! Being dog people themselves, Grandma and Grandpa spoiled Ali with their love and attention as well. I think she may have been the saddest when they left ;]

A Lazy Saturday (September 20)
We spent a pretty quiet day on Saturday. Grandma and Grandpa went with Craig to take Ali to her puppy kindergarten class in the morning. Other then that we played around the house and got outside for a couple of walks. Kaden had fun playing with Grandpa's cell phone, he showed them the way to the Choices Market, got a new book (for which he was equally interested to throw the paper in the garbage!), and got to take a spin on Grandpa's back. Good day.

Kaden sports his new raincoat to go for a stroll.
 

Super Sunday (September 21)
We packed a lot into Sunday's adventure. We spent the morning at the aquarium and the afternoon at the park. Each time we go to the aquarium Kaden fascinates about something new and has a completely different experience. This time he really enjoyed watching the sharks, turtle and stingray in the big tank. He also had a blast running through the tunnel at the kids play area. Poor Grandpa was trying to capture the elusive silhouette of Kaden with the beluga, but alas it's hard to get a toddler and a whale to cooperate! The park is always a hit with Kaden and it was great to have Grandpa there to play along as well (Grandma didn't make it this time...she was very kindly getting groceries for dinner)!

To add to the day's excitement, Kaden takes a ride with Daddy!
 

Monday Monday (September 22)
Grandma and Grandpa were so happy to come and visit their west-coast grandson, but like I said earlier, I think they were almost equally happy to meet their new granddog! We couldn't leave Ali out of the fun so we took the whole family down to the dog park...of course Grandma missed Kaden's playtime at the kid's park the day before so we made sure our journey got us to both parks! Everyone was happy!

Grandpa got to experience Kaden's pure joy on the swings!
 

Tuesday's outing (September 23)
Unfortunately Tuesday meant Craig had to go back to work, but that didn't stop our fun. Kaden and I took Grandma and Grandpa to Maplewood farms. This time Grandma got Kaden his very own bag of bird seed. He was in duck heaven. Even today he still talks about feeding the ducks with Grandma as he happily smacks his lips together! This story is often followed by Kaden saying "Gampa okay"! A new experience this time was to feed the bunnies. And a fan favourite of every trip - the hand washing station!

Wednesday's goodbye (September 24)
What a week! We had such a wonderful visit with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma came with Kaden and me to his Kindermusik class in the morning. Everyone napped in the afternoon and then we had a quiet evening before their late-night flight. We're so happy that despite living so far away, Kaden is getting to know all of his grandparents. He talks about them all often and can pick any one of the six of them out of a photo. We're glad it won't be too long until our next visit.

 

Cleanliness is next to godliness - September 20, 2008
Kaden loves to play in the dirt. He has no problem with getting messy. But as it turns out...we somehow appear to be raising quite a conscientious, clean little boy! He always reminds us to turn off the lights, or the computer monitor, or the music when we leave a room. Even more interesting though is his desire to be clean! When he had his cold last week he asked to have his nose wiped! He would just stand in the room and shout "nos-ah wip-ah!" (apparently he is Italian). He loves to have his hands washed in the sink with soap and he's always willing to help wipe up his dinner tray (after we've made a good dent in the mess first). At our Kindermusik class one of the songs is about dusting. He just loves it - he takes his little cloth, says "dust, dust, dust" and walks around the studio dusting the walls and floor! He also picks up random pieces of lint and stuff from our floor and asks to throw it in the garbage! Kaden also tells us when he needs a fresh diaper...sometimes even before he really does! He of course loves his bath ("baf-ah tim-ah"), but squeals in delight when Daddy gets him soaped up and lathers his head with shampoo. Along the lines of his new development of pretend play, Kaden has started to pretend to shampoo his own hair. Fortunately he can't actually squeeze the shampoo out of the bottle yet, but he knows the rest of the routine! I managed to sneak a little video the other day before he noticed and I quickly snapped a few photos. Check it out!

You might not be able to hear it in the video as the dryer was running behind me, but after each cycle Kaden would say "More? Yah." and repeat!
A new addition to this routine is now he seems to need water! He says "More water." and then walks down the hall. He stands outside the bathroom (for some reason he likes to 'shampoo his hair' in his bedroom) holding the shampoo out in front of him towards the sink and makes a "shhhhhh" sound as if he's filling the bottle with water?!? Amazing.
 

Imagine, imagine, you can imagine! - September 19, 2008
We have been noticing lately that Kaden is starting to pretend. It is so interesting to watch. Already this summer if he got a hold of the sunscreen (which he loves to have put on) he would pretend to squeeze the bottle out onto his arms and then he would rub it in. Grandpa showed Kaden how to fill his toy car up at the gas pump on his garage, which he now does while making the sound "ssss, ssss, ssss"! It took us a little while, however, to figure out what Kaden was doing here. After several tries, we finally figured out that Kaden was pretending to write on a wipe board. He watches us take the lid off the dry-erase markers and write messages on the wipe board in the kitchen...here he pretends his finger and fire place make an excellent substitute!

Something new at the park - September 16, 2008
Kaden usually sticks to his favourite three "S's" at the park...swings - slide - sandbox. Today, however, he ventured elsewhere. He happened upon the climbing gym. He of course had no desire to climb, but happily picked up woodchips to dump through the 'hole' in the ropes!

Kaden's new chair - September 15, 2008
Kaden and I made a trip to Ikea this morning. My intention was to buy him one of their cloth tunnels. They were sold out, but as is typical of a visit to Ikea, we left with something anyway! While I was looking around the kid's section for the tunnel, Kaden befriended a chair. It's great. He can get in and out of it himself and although he doesn't stay in it for very long, he loves to sit in it. He seems to have a hard time tucking up or crossing his legs as he usually likes to sit...but he keeps trying!

More fun at the farm - September 14, 2008
Kaden helped to celebrate his friend Stella's second birthday with a trip to Maplewood Farms. We had a great morning and got to catch up with several of our friends. Two new highlights discovered during this visit included feeding the ducks and taking turns with his buddy Graeme to play with a latch on a fence!

Motorin' Munchkins - September 12, 2008
Kaden and I discovered a new play place close to our house. It turns out New Westminster has some excellent drop-in programs for parents and toddlers. We spent Friday morning checking out "controlled chaos"...formally known as Motorin' Munchkins. Basically it is a gymnasium filled with toys and mats and kids of all ages. Kaden had no hesitation. As I was paying our drop-in fee he noticed the big cars and heading straight in. The first two pictures are the greatest, but in the first one I was trying to discretely take a picture to capture some of the background to show the setting we were in...and in the second one I asked Kaden to smile ;] He loved running around and checking out all the goodies. We had fun bouncing on the trampoline and Kaden took the time to show-off his tummy. He especially loved that they had multiple little slides. He could spend all day on a slide. I was particularly impressed that he could climb up the stairs on this one as they were more like a ladder then stairs. Although I'm trying not to link the two, both Kaden and I came down with the sniffles on Monday following this visit. Despite my best hand washing efforts these types of places are germs' best friend I'm sure.

A trip to the North Shore - September 7, 2008
Our friend Karyn had a dream. It was a great dream. A family bike trip in the Lower Semour Conservation Reserve, on the North Shore. We loaded the car with bikes, seats, helmets and snacks (although in hindsight there weren't enough snacks for the adults)! Once we rendezvoused with Karyn and Kaden's buddy Ellis, got all the baby bike gear sorted, we were on our way. It was a gorgeous, sunny Sunday morning and the scenery was nothing short of lovely. We took our time cycling the 10km route (sometimes breaking mid-hill...and occasionally being passed by roller bladers) and eventually stopped for a snack in a picnic area. After the return trip we stopped for a few more nibblies before packing all the kids and gear back into the cars and heading home for a family nap! Each person had a baby in tow...although mine was hidden...and I think we all used some muscles we hadn't checked in with for a while, but it was a great adventure. Kaden loved riding behind Daddy. Even today he was still talking about the bike ride with "Kawa" and "Ess"!

Science World Fun - September 6, 2008
Craig was doubting the need for him to be part of our family membership at Science World. He had yet to go...I think he's had a change of heart! We spent a Saturday morning playing in the kids play area as well as out and about in the other interactive exhibits. Now that Kaden is walking, it makes things even that much more interesting. He really liked walking down the path that when you passed through the light beams funny sounds rang out. He liked anything to do with water or balls and had a great time watching mommy and daddy demonstrate with sound effects some of the trickier tasks.

Baby Talk - September 5, 2008
Not just one of his favourite books, but Kaden's 'baby talk' really is growing. Like August's video, when I tried to capture his speech, it is somewhat lacking (and often comes in whispers), but I thought I would try to showcase a few more words here. Also like August, he threw in the last word unprompted...but obviously a favourite of his! The funny thing is, in our house, the word is more of the arrowroot variety rather than something one might typically think of!