We have three songs in rotation right now that Kade can't get enough of.  Two of them are in this video, the other is "Baa Baa Black Sheep".  We sing them in the car, at the dinner table, on walks, everywhere!  He loves to say, "How bout twinkie star?"  Then, once you've started singing he'll interrupt half way through and say, "How bout black sheep".  I can't complain though because he's the only person in this world who enjoys my singing!  I'm going to take advantage while I can!

My Little Turkey

A little back story:  Back in high school a friend of mine discovered she could do a fantastic imitation of a dolphin.  While I tried to make a dolphin noise, mine came out sounding like an amazing crow call--as in "ca-caw, ca-caw".  Yup, like a big, ugly blackbird.  Now, whenever you ask Kade what a bird says, instead of responding with a sweet, little "tweet, tweet", you get a big, hearty "ca-caw, ca-caw"!

Last week Erik took Thursday off and we took Kade to Oxbow Zoo.  In the turkey pen there was a male with 3 females.  That male was trying his hardest to get those ladies' attention.  He was strutting, gobbling, puffing up his feathers, nudging them and those gals didn't even bat an eye at the poor guy.  I told Kade that he was learning a valuable life lesson right then.  It doesn't matter how much you strut, most girls aren't even going to notice.

Later, we went to Dairy Queen and sitting a few tables down was a little girl about Kade's age.  He was doing everything he could to get her attention.  He was saying every single word he knew, smiling at her, laughing, waving his arms and she could've cared less.  I said, "Oh Kade, it's just like that male turkey was saw today."  Then he stopped, looked over at the girl and as loud as he could he yelled, "CA-CAW, CA-CAW"!!  Amazingly enough, that got the girl's attention!

A Walk To Remember

A couple of weekends ago we participated in a walk around Silver Lake to raise awareness and funds for Cystic Fibrosis.  One of Kade's little buddies, Braeden, has CF.  I've done a few walks and runs in the past and my only 2 goals have always been:  1.  Don't get lost.  2.  Don't get last.  Unfortunately, in this walk, I failed 1 of my goals.  We got last. 

Somehow we ended up with Ellie which was fine with us because Kade can't get enough of her and her mom had 2 other kids to manage.  Walking with a 1 and 2 year old is not so much walking as it is chasing, stopping, waiting and coaxing.  Although we got left in the dust by the rest of the walkers, we were the lucky ones because we got to see the wildlife that was hiding from the big group.  On our walk we saw, in the eyes,words and imaginations of Kade and Ellie..."A BEAR!", geeses, Ooh, look Kissy (Ellie doesn't quite have Kristi mastered)...A CROCODILE!, monkeys, an alligator, baby ducks, and baby geeses".  I'll give you 1 guess as to which animals we actually saw.

Ellie was still a little sleepy from the car ride but Kade insisted on holding her hand.

We managed to almost catch up when Kade used this method of transportation.  Unfortunately it didn't last long.

Could these 2 be any cuter?!

On a completely different note...

A red tractor pulling a green wagon???  Kade sees no color when it comes to his farm implements!

Count to 10!

I'm always amazed at how fast kids can learn!  We've been playing Hide n' Seek a lot lately and we always count to 10 before we come searching.  Apparently Kade's been paying attention!  Now we just have to work on the hiding part.  He thinks he's only supposed to hide while the person counts, and then once they hit 10 he comes out of his hiding spot with a big grin on his face.  You don't want this little blondie on your Hide n' Seek team just yet!!

Our Weekend in Pictures

This past weekend was a big one for us!  When Kade woke up on Saturday morning he had some special guests to greet him, Baby Vivienne came for the weekend! (so did her parents, but as they'll soon learn-if they haven't already-nobody cares about them anymore!)

Kade and Daddy got the lawn ready.  Although that was a wasted effort since it rained or snowed all day on Saturday.

Then he came in and helped Mommy get the house ready.  This kid works hard!

The Guest of Honor has arrived! 

Every time Kade said something (which was A LOT), Vivienne would follow the sound of his voice.  She's going to learn a lot from her big cousin!

Kade loves her just as much.  I think he wins for the person who gave Viv the most kisses and hugs.

I'm a very proud Auntie!!

And here's her very proud Daddy!!

How did these 3 turkeys end up on the same couch?!

Speaking of turkeys, these 2 are in the middle of calling turkeys with one of Grandpa Ranger's turkey calls.  When we asked Kade if he wanted to sit outside and call turkeys he thought that meant the same way we call Molly in.  So, as he stepped outside, he yelled at the top of his lungs, "TURKEYS...COME!!"  Needless to say, Grandpa Ranger's turkey calling adventure failed.

To top off an already exciting weekend, we had a neighbor come over with his skid loader to prep our driveway for cement.  Kade was so excited to see it, "scoop, dump and lift it's bucket", up close he was shaking and has been talking about it all week.

And, just a little something to embarrass the Kade Man when he gets older...Safety First!!  

He Sings!

Last summer Kade's little buddy, Ellie, could sing some words of "Down By the Bay" and we thought she was a genius!  Turns out Kade, now the same age Ellie was at the time, can sing those same words!  It goes without saying that we think he's a genius too :-)  Although, he seems to get a bit distracted at times.  I can't blame him though, I get distracted when cookies are involved too! 

Judging by these last few videos I've posted , I think I need to start recording some moments other than right after dinner!  Such as right now, when he's supposed to be going down for his nap, he 's jumping in his bed and clapping his hands while yelling, "MOMMY, COME!!".  Which is what I do when I'm trying to get Molly (the dog) to come in the house.   

He Speaks

Now that Kade is more or less capable of holding a conversation, I'm having a hard time keeping a straight face at times when it is necessary to be stern, or at the very least, not smiling.

Our basement is always messy with Kade's toys because it's a battle I choose not to fight.  It normally looks like a tornado swept through but for some reason, yesterday, it looked like a combination of a tornado, an earthquake and a hurricane hit it.  I asked Kade, "Who made this mess?!"  He thought about it for awhile then said, "Umm...Lady A".  For the past 2 days, every time we go downstairs, he points and says, "Lady A's mess."  Granted, Lady A and her mom did just come for a visit this past weekend and we did play downstairs so it's fresh in his mind but I hardly think she can be blamed for it! 

We're having a hard time with teaching Kade to not throw his food, utensils, cups and other various objects off the table.  He knows better, he does it anyway.  Believe me, I remind myself daily that he's only 20 months old and we still have a long road ahead of us.  Yesterday, during dinner, he threw his cup at his plate and food went flying.  I said to Kade, "NO NO! You don't throw your cup!  Look at the mess you made!"  He looked at me, ROLLED HIS EYES while saying in his most exasperated tone, "UGH!  Sorry."  Erik had to turn away because he almost had milk shoot out his nose from laughing!  One of us has to be the strong one but I had to fake a cough so I wouldn't start laughing too!!