the littlest carscadden

Sunday, February 15, 2015

January/February 2015

There was a point, it seemed like, where Miles was so happy with understanding language that he would pretty much do whatever you asked him to without any trouble or question. That time is most definitely over. We have really had to start dealing with the fact that Miles has figured out that he doesn't always have to do what we ask. Sometimes, he thinks it's a game where he tries to avoid doing whatever you want him to do. Other times, he just doesn't acknowledge our requests at all. It can be very frustrating, but we're learning techniques to deal with it and reminding ourselves that it's a natural part of growing up and development.

Miles has always been pretty fond of his Brio train track set, but lately, it has become an all-consuming obsession for him. Our old morning routine was to wake up and watch cartoons for a little while Miles drinks his milk. Now, he wakes up and immediately wants to play train tracks. We get him in front of the TV for milk, but, as soon as he's finished drinking, he gets up and turns it off himself, where it used to be a struggle to turn it off. Even when he's pretending to be a TV character now, he often pretends to play train tracks as that character. It's a funny little phase.

Anyway, how about pictures and video?

Building a snowman with Frankie.

Miles discovers pho.

"I love soup"

Miles drew a robot!

Pre-Super Bowl Seahawks cookies!

Post-Super Bowl Seahawks cookies.

Direwolf breakfast.

A fine piece of abstract art or - according to Miles - train tracks.

A pretty impressive block tower.

We are box head! We are box head!

Finger paints!

Some of us are sick!

An odd predicament.

Climbing on "Spider Webs"

He's been asking to have his nails re-painted ever since.

Sunday, January 18, 2015

December 2014/January 2015

Happy New Year!

We had our standard "parent of young child" New Year celebration. Colleen fell asleep at 9:30 and I played video games until about 11:58 when Colleen woke up and reminded me it was New Years and we should watch the countdown. So we turned on the TV with the countdown at about 6, said "hooray!" (quietly, of course. Miles is sleeping!), kissed and went to sleep. Happy New Year to us!

Christmas was a lot of fun, too. Miles loved all his Christmas presents. He got a dollhouse from Mimi and O.E., an easel from Granny and Gramps, a Batman cape and sled from us, and all sorts of other fun stuff. I got a ukulele, on which I have already learned the Batman theme, so I can chase Miles around, giving him theme music.

Miles' latest obsession is the planets of the solar system. He started by watching a few little cartoon videos about them, and then he got a game on his new LeapPad, where Wall-E and Eve make a model solar system. He was hooked. We started getting books about planets at the library. We put down a yellow toy in the kitchen to be the sun and we walk around it, like orbiting planets. He likes to be Make Make, which is a dwarf planet that I had never even heard of before this all began. I used to be Neptune (or "Neptoom"), but I've since graduated to Jupiter. Colleen is, of course, the prettiest planet, Saturn. He can tell you what the biggest planet is, what the coldest planet it, what planet rotates on it's side and what Jupiter's Great Red Spot is. It's pretty neat watching him get excited about something so specific.

On to the pictures and videos!