• We were having teriyaki chicken for dinner one night and I picked up some fortune cookies to end with.  Kirk and I both read our papers and then Cade pulled his out.  He said "it says. . . Happy birthday Cade!"
• He is pretty excited about birthdays right now because we had Kirk and Cami so close.  He knows his birthday is August 21st, that Scott is in April, Grandma Smith is in  May, Lindsey is in June, and Cami is in March.  If I tell him my birthday is in December, he says "like Kara." or Kirk is in February he says "like Luke." 
• I was making Kirk's PB&J for lunch and Cade was helping me.  About half of the time I make him a snack while I make Kirk's lunch and he "takes it to work" later.  This time I made him a sandwich.  I had the raspberry jam out but he told me he wanted the "new jam." (apricot).  I tried to convince him to just use raspberry because it was already out and said "don't you want to be like Daddy?"  He just said "No, I want to be like me!"
• I showed Cade how to roll on hill near our house.  It sure is fun to listen to a kid giggling while doing something like that.

• Cade sings all of the time.  He will go put his baby to bed and sing her a song and cover her up.  He requests songs and right now his favorites are the Santa song, Baa Baa black sheep and Down Down Baby. 
• We moved Cade to a twin sized bed.  I was scared to death to do it.  We have several trips/family visits coming up over the next few months and I wanted a few weeks of solid, normal home time when we did the switch.  Besides, Cami was still sleeping in a pack-n-play.  We put the mattress for his bed on the floor so he wouldn't have any problems if he rolled off.  He has really done well with it too.  Every night so far (it's been 6) he has stayed in bed when we put him there.  The first day he never took a nap, even though we tried, but he has since.  He has gotten up early (like 4:30-5) the last 2 mornings, thinking it was time to get up, but I took him back up both times and he went back to sleep.  I am very relieved (so far.) I have really been dreading this change and I am glad it's been smooth so far. 
• I wanted to go shopping at Kohls last Saturday and decided to leave Cami home and take Cade.  We had a lot of fun.  He gave me advice on which purse to buy.  Then, he tried on all the shoes I did and walked around with them, admiring his feet in the mirror.  I had fun hanging out with him and not having to think about Cami too.
• Sometimes Cade will get himself dressed.  Often when he does this, he puts his legs in the same pant hole.  The first time this happened, he said "look, Mommy.  It's like you at church day!"

• He is getting more independent.  He wants to know what will happen when he does something and I tell him not to.  Like spraying water in the house, jumping on the couch, throwing things etc.  If I tell him to stop and he doesn't want to, he will do it again and just laugh while looking at me.  What a stinker!  I've started doing short time-outs in my room or just taking his squirt bottle away.
• Cade has been writing letters with sidewalk chalk in the back yard.  He is pretty good with F and also likes to do T, E, M and O.  He tries a few more but can't do them yet. 
• Cade got a letter from Grandpa Morris in the mail.  He was so excited.  We came inside from the mailbox and read it and he was just beaming the whole time. When I finished he said "Read it again Mommy!" So we did.  We sent Grandpa a letter back.
• vacuuming:  Still loves it.  If Kirk asked Cade what we did today his first response is either "we had vacuum day Daddy!" or "no we vacuum today."
• Instead of saying you Cade says "woo"
• We got a book about tractors and trucks from the library.  Cade has since learned the names of almost every vehicle in the book.  He also knows that Grandpa used to drive a combine and that a hay baler makes food for the animals.  I think he remembers everything you tell him!  He really does have a good memory and soaks up stuff. 

That's my guy--in a nutshell!  He loves his sister and helps her all the time and shares food with her.  He loves nursery and playing with friends.  He loves blue and wants to go to the Blue Zoo (?) when it's' summer.  He loves his grandparents and his dad too.  We really got lucky with this one!

A couple of weeks ago, Kirk had a long weekend (which he has about every 3 weeks), meaning he had Thursday and Friday off.  We decided to take a family fishing day and go explore some lakes a couple of hours away.  The lakes had been freshly stocked, so we were hopeful.  We gave Cade the net and started fishing.  It took a little while, but finally I had one on and Cade and Kirk ran over with the net.  Cade stuck the net in the water and got the fish in it.  He thought it was great!  We caught a few more and Cade netted each one.  We did get rained on a bit and Cami didn't get any sleep until the drive home, so it was a little tricky, but all together it was a fun day as a family. 



The next day Kirk headed out with his new pontoon boat to fish another lake.  He called me about an hour after he left.  I knew immediately that something was wrong.  He was driving on the freeway and the wind caught the boat and blew it and the rack off of the top of the car.  Our rack is now ruined, one of the pontoons popped and the boat frame has several scratches on it.  Anyway, Kirk gathered up the pieces and came home, pretty depressed.  It was a gorgeous day so we decided to hike up Badger mountain.  We borrowed a second baby backpack and I carried Cami and Kirk carried Cade.  We had a little snack on the top and hiked down to play at the park.  This was my first time up Badger--even though I  love hiking and you can see it from our house.  We all enjoyed it and I'm sure we'll be doing it again.

Kirk and Cade hiked Badger the week before and it got pretty cold.

from the top--beautiful day

Our cute little girl made it to 1 on March 3!  We had a party for her on March 1.  We invited Scott and Kara.  My parents came via Skype and Kirk's dad and Connor came via facetime.  Love it!  Cami got to open presents first.  She got a new doll stroller, some books and some stacking bowls.  Scott and Kara gave her a cute little summer outfit too.  She had fun ripping the paper and pulling stuff out of bags.



 Then we sang to Cami and gave her a cake.  I made mini cupcakes and built a little tower for her then covered it with frosting.  She picked at the frosting for a bit.  Then I gave her a cupcake and she smashed it in her hands.  She may have taken a bite or two, but didn't really eat much, which is surprising for her. 



I made her a birthday sign too and she was so excited to see it in the morning.  For the next few days when we said birthday, she would point to the sign and grunt.  I hung it up in her bedroom now and she still likes seeing it.  I think it is funny what they get excited about. 

We had a fun day on her birthday too.  We went to playgroup in the morning.  Then I let Cami take a long bath after her nap and eat an orange for her snack.  We had noodles and sauce for dinner and she loved that too. 

I had fun taking her outside a couple of times this week to get some pictures too and she actually cooperated. 

• Cami loves to eat.  She is usually the last one eating at meals.  She will eat anything we put in front of her, but she still has some favorites.  A couple of days ago, she didn't want her oatmeal but was grunting and pointing to Kirk's toast.  She ended up eating a whole piece of toast and loved it.  Some of her favorite foods are applesauce, oranges, bananas, cheese and green veggies.  She really will eat anything though.  Awesome.  She can drink water out of  a cup if you just give her a few drops.  She is still on bottles, 3 times a day 4-6 ounces each.
• Cami is a great sleeper too.  She takes a morning nap, usually 1-1.5 hr around 9:30.  She goes down again around 1:30 for another 1.5-2 hours.  Bedtime is 7 and she generally wakes up around 6:30.  It is really fun to put her to bed.  She takes her binky and then lays on your shoulder and gives you a hug while you sing a couple of songs.  It is really fun to snuggle with a baby. 
• Cami started walking this week!  Last Saturday, March 1, she was taking about 3 steps at a time and then crawling.  Today, March 8, she will walk across the room and around the couch.  if she falls, she stands up and walks again.  She loves to push her stroller around.  When it crashes into something she just picks it up and keeps going.  A few weeks before she started taking steps, she would crawl over to the fireplace and stand up on her own.  We would cheer and Cade would yell "Cami standing up!" and she was so proud of herself. 
  
• Before walking on her own, Cami loved pushing our blue toy car around.  She would go back and forth across the room.  She even had fun pushing Cade on it.
• Cade had a lot of fun holding Cami's hand and helping her walk.  Sometimes she liked this and sometimes she didn't.  One time, he was trying to help her and they both started:  Cami because she wanted to crawl and Cade because she didn't want to walk with him. 
• 
   
• Communication:  Cami is starting to imitate noises like clicking tongue, HHH, da da da, etc.  She says num sometimes when she eats.  (she likes to put a bite in her mouth really fast and say num and look at me.  It is cute.)  She will sign eat and more and sometimes milk and all done.  She loves to blow kisses and wave good bye or good night.  She points to things she wants and definitely cries when she doesn't get her way.
• We went outside to the "trails" which is a small park by our house.  Cami and I walked over the bridge about a thousand times.  As soon as she crossed it, she would turn around and go back.  She can't walk outside in her shoes yet, so I was holding her hand the whole time.  She loves being outside!
• Cami loves clothes.  She will find some in Cade's dresser or on the floor and carry them all over the house.  I call them her treasures. 
• 
  Cami copies everything Cade does.  One day he was helping me clean the kitchen.  Cami was playing in a cupboard and found a sponge and started scrubbing too!
• Cami is very cautious around people.  If we are not at home and I leave the room, she flips out.  She definitely prefers Mom over Dad too, but usually Kirk is ok.  If she is hungry she definitely wants Mom and will cry and fuss unless I am holding her until she gets food.  Makes it a little hard to get the food ready.
• Cami knows where her head, mouth, hair, tummy and feet are.  Sometimes she gets ears.
• Cami gets excited at Walmart when we visit the vacuum aisle.  She points and shows us everything. 
• Cami is definitely different than Cade.  If I don't hold her when she wants it, she will collapse on the floor and cry.  If I don't give her a toy or take something away she thinks she should have, she cries too.  She is a little dramatic!
• We had a big empty box for a while and Cami loved it.  Cade wasn't too thrilled and Cami just wanted someone to sit in the box with her. 
  

Just a couple more I should have put on Cade's list.

• Cade is always asking me what is in different foods.  I tell him and then he adds, and salt to everything. 
• Mommy, what's in pancakes?  "Pancake mix and water."  and salt.
• What's in this orange? (he says it o-nor-ange) "just oranges." and salt.
• What's in ketchup?  "tomatoes, sugar and vinegar"  and salt. 
• When Cade says bulldozer, he's not sure when to stop and it sounds something like buldozererer.