16 Months

I still have to update on all the fun that we had in June and on the recent Smutz Family "Campathon", but I wanted to squeeze this one in first:) Caden turned 16 months on July 9. There is no walking for this little man.....He runs EVERYWHERE! He is just a ball of energy. 


He is constantly talking (some we understand, some we definitely don't) and is getting really good at recognizing our family members. Caden LOVES reading! We read a few books before nap, a few books before bed, and several more throughout the day. His favorites right now are "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See" by Eric Carle and a collection of Curious George stories that Omi and Poppi gave him. He enjoys making the animal sounds for many of the animals in Brown Bear and pointing out where George is on each page in those stories:) 

He likes to play hide-and-seek. Hiding in Dad's clothes or the shower curtain (where you can see his feet) are his favorite places:)

Caden is doing really well with the schedule that we have him on:

• 7:00 - 7:30 Wake up (whole milk)
• Walk with Mom (and dad if he is home)
• 10:00 Milk and/or snack     
• 12:00 Lunch
• 12:45 Stories
• 1:00 Nap (he sleeps anywhere from 2-3.5 hours)
• 4:00 Milk and/or snack
• 6:00 Dinner
• Walk or play in the sandbox
• 7:00 (ish) Bedtime routine - Bath, stories, milk, teeth brushing and flossing

He usually gets to sleep between 7:30 and 8:00, depending on how much chatting his does. We usually try to have a morning outing and an afternoon outing each day: park, zoo, Museum of Nature and Science, grocery store, etc. He is doing much better about not falling asleep in the car on the way home from our morning outings, and if he starts to get drowsy I feed him a little snack or turn on a "moo-bee." I gave Justin a hard time for insisting that we have DVD players in our cars, but that thing has come in VERY handy to keep Caden awake for those last 5-8 minutes! As of right now, Caden doesn't watch TV. Sometimes I am tempted in order to take a shower that lasts more than 6 minutes or make dinner, but he is pretty independent and just makes a good mess to clean up:) 

Caden has (unofficially) passed the 20 pound marker! He is a lean little guy - which becomes very obvious when we go to the park, zoo, or museum and he is around other kids his age/size. He's still eating well - tries anything that we put in front of him. His favorites right now are steel cut oats, fruit (especially berries and red grapes), and anything with cheese:)