Ok, so I have pictures to post, but they are on my computer in North Carolina, and I am here in Utah, so... I'll post them later. :) Yes, Cache and I are in Utah, and my husband whom I miss so very much is still back in Charlotte selling security. But, good news is-
he is coming back tomorrow! Well, he LEAVES tomorrow. He's driving across the country, so he won't actually be here until probably the weekend. But still, he is coming, and I am
SOOOO excited to see him. Since our original plan was that Alex would be getting here in just enough time to jump back into a busy school schedule, Cache and I came back early so we could get things settled by moving into our apartment, and so that I could get started up on nails again... So if any of you are interested, I'm home now and am taking appointments...give me a call! :) I've survived here without Alex, but, I MISS HIM, and can't WAIT until he's home. He actually is coming home a little earlier than planned too (he wasn't supposed to be back til the end of August), but because he got a job offer back here in Utah, the plan has changed, and he is coming home to get trained. What a relief that he got a job for during the school year! We are so very lucky and blessed. And another plus is that he'll be here soon...yeah!
So, lately
Cache has learned a few new things:
He learned to say car and basketball- "
caus" and "
ba-ball." This kid is ALREADY ADDICTED to basketball. Not even every ball, but also every basketball HOOP! My mom has a hoop around the side of her house, and the other day when we drove up, he hopped out of the car and headed straight to the side of the house. I followed him and there he stood, under the hoop, pointing saying, "
ba-ball momma." He remembered seeing it there before- what a keen memory he has, it's amazing!
He loves to wash his hands- with soap, I might add, after every meal (or snack), and while he's at it, he'll tilt his head down toward the faucet to sip a big gulp. I don't know where he learned it, but he likes to drink from the faucet. After the washing, the sipping and the gulping, he'll then dry his hands off on a towel and pretend to blow his nose (I've had a cold lately and tissue is my best friend- he's been watching me, and it's so true; kids learn by example). What a cute kid he is!
He learned to fold his arms during prayer this last week. Every night before bed, our routine goes as follows; change diaper, get in
jammies, take vitamins, brush teeth, get his
binki and blanket, go into his room, shut the door and kneel down. I'll place him on his knees and fold one of his arms over the other, and ask, "Can you fold your arms,
Cachey," as I fold my own. He'll hop up and walk around the room while I kneel there and say our prayers. I'll then cuddle him as I sing half of the first verse of, "I Am a Child of God." I then lay him down and tell him, "I love you Buggy, goodnight." Same routine- every night. But, night after night as I help him kneel and fold his arms, he would continue to hop up and walk around while I prayed... But, just like when he learned to say "WOO WOO," learning to fold his arms had to be on his OWN terms. I didn't even prompt him to do it, he did it on his own. One morning while reading scriptures as a family, Alex was on speaker phone reading a few verses and I guess Cache thought
dadda was praying, so he folded his arms and with a grin on his face, squinted his eyes half-shut. I knew exactly what he was doing. Over the phone, I stopped Alex from reading, and with excitement said, "Alex he's folding his arms... he thinks you're praying!" We clapped our hands and said "Yeah
Cachey- good boy!" He LOVES praise, so after that, he kept folding his arms to get us to c
heer for him. Alex was bummed that he wasn't there to SEE it, but he was THERE, just over the phone,
darnit! After scriptures, we then said a prayer over the phone as a family and again he folded his arms and squinted his eyes. It's still hard for him to keep them folded through the WHOLE prayer, but he's got the idea down, and I'm so proud. And the more I praise him through each prayer, the more he LOVES to continue to do it. Look how young a child can be when they learn how to pray! Isn't it great! Cache (I would imagine like most other children) learns best by repetition, and when he's ready, he'll take action and catch us by surprise. What's the next new trick up your sleeve
Cacher-Bug!?!
Yesterday Cache sat in my lap THE WHOLE TIME while I read him the book, "Corduroy." He loves reading, but his attention span is usually about 15-20 seconds, and then he's DONE! But, while I read to him one of MY favorite childhood books, he sat there and enjoyed every minute! I was impressed, not to mention, quite proud, since it WAS one my favorite stories when I was a little girl. :)
He loves to "
un-lock" the front door. Each time we return home he wants the keys, and as he fiddles them against the door-knob I help him to find the right key, we put it in, and I help him to turn it. He always seems so proud of himself each time, like, "Hey, I just opened the door, I am so cool!" I love watching him learn and be proud of himself!
Cache misses his daddy. Yesterday at church, mom was NOT the cool one to play
legos with, read the "Baby Jesus" book with, or to sit with. The husband of the couple sitting closest by was his new best friend. He sat on the guys lap even after sacrament ended. It's hard enough to get a child to sit through all of sacrament, let-alone want to stay sitting once it's over. I was grateful the young guy played
legos with Cache throughout the meeting (Is that bad? He didn't really get to listen to the talks too well...oops). But, Cache needed it, and I was grateful the kind husband welcomed Cache into his arms. He needed that male attention that he has missed so very much from his dad. Alex is excited to come home so that he can play with his little buddy. It's been especially hard on Alex to be away, and I know that it's those daddy-strings that are tugging at his heart. Soon enough my boys... Cache and daddy, you will be re-united THIS WEEK! YEAH!
The things Cache is deciding to HATE lately: His
carseat (can't even get him in it sometimes), his stroller (nope, don't like that one either). So how do I go anywhere or do anything? That's a good question! He also HATES his bib. And I even bought 2 new baby
bjorn ones that I had to order online from target
cuz they don't sell them in any stores and they are the easiest to keep clean. Yeah, all his clothes are getting destroyed, even after I charged the card to get the best bibs out there!
AHHH, kinda frustrating... Oh well, it's life with a 20-month-old who makes up his own mind.
Lately Cache likes to put ALL his food in his milk each meal and then drink it all down... gross, I know. But hey, it all gets eaten, and that's all that matters for now, right?
So, I ended on kind of a gross note, but that's because it's funny. We need to learn to laugh at life, it's troubles, and at the things that might disappoint us, or even gross us out. In church yesterday, someone said in their talk something to the affect, "We need to laugh at life's
inconveniences and be grateful for them." He told of a story when he was a window-washer and how he had to clean a window where a hornets nest had developed. He was in shorts and a t-shirt- like always when washing windows, and realized that he'd probably get some good stings if he attempted to do it in that attire. So kind of frustrated, he went home, got on a pair of jeans, a winter coat that wrapped up to cover his neck, and gloves, and went back out into the hot sun to clean the window. As he washed it, he realized how
ridiculous he must have looked up there in his winter-attire washing a window mid-day in the hot sun. He began to laugh, and at the same moment, he too realized how convenient it was that he was wearing long jeans. Because of the extra clothing material, he could then use his pants as a towel to wring out the
squeegy on the window brush. Right then and there he felt a sense of gratitude and said,
"I'm grateful for hornets." Ever since then he wears jeans when he goes to wash windows. We can actually benefit from trials, struggles, frustrations, and calamities. They are a part of life to teach us the lessons we must learn. There is ALWAYS SOMETHING to be learned from all our circumstances; the good, the bad, and sometimes the most frustrating or even life-changing. I hope I can do better at being thankful through my difficulties and recognize maybe what lessons I WOULDN'T have learned had it not been for them. I LOVE MY LIFE- even the "hornets" that are in it!
We went over to my mom's to drop Cachey off for the night. My mom and I (and Alex) sang Happy Birthday...
This special day is not only one for Alex, but for his mom as well! They share the same birthday so we decided to head up to Salt Lake to celebrate...
Once we got home we sang Happy Birthday and had "Better Than Sex Cake." I don't know why "they" have to call it that, but again, read into how you like... :)
Everything looked really good to the doctors, so they told me to continue to live my life! YEAH! See, I told you not to be alarmed! :)
The Father's Day tie I gave Alex the morning of...
Opening presents after church...
Peek-a-boo, I love you!
Cache reading the card to his dad...
The IV
Exhausted from all the tests
The "squinty eyes"... Cache does this thing with his eyes to be goofy. He used to do it a lot more when he was a little bit younger, but every once in awhile I get "the look." I've been wanting a picture of him doing this, but could never get it on camera- finally I did- in the hospital of course!
Just cuddlin' my sweet babe
The EEG test to see if he had specific tendencies to seize
They didn't sedate him for the test; he conked out crying himself to sleep- Along with the spinal tap, this was one of the hardest tests, because it took SOOO LONG and we had to hold him completely still the entire time, and of course he fought it :(
Our family hospital bracelets
The day before we left the hospital we were able to get out and take Cache to the play room. Although he had very little energy, he enjoyed it! It was nice to get out of our room for awhile and spend some "fun time" together as a family.
