Using a Spoon...Successfully

After learning that Cadence had been using a spoon at daycare and was actually getting the food into her mouth, we decided to let her have another try at home. We had been letting her hold a spoon with solid foods, but last night, we let her use a spoon with applesauce. She did great! Such a big girl.

Oh where do I begin? We've been up to a lot lately! A little over a week ago, we went to the 105th annual Circleville Pumpkin Show. We love it there! We got there a little before everything opened to ensure that we would get some freshly baked pumpkin doughnuts. It was only 34 degrees when we got there, but it eventually warmed up. We also enjoyed pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin pizza, and pumpkin chili. We even met up with our friends Bryon, Emily and their son, Brady. See you there next year!

Last week we had a couple rough patches. I'm not sure what got into Cadence, but she was a little devil! On Wednesday, I picked Cadence up from my parents' house, and I was told that she was such a good girl that day. At home, right before dinner, I had the pantry open and Cadence wanted some animal crackers. I didn't let her (in hindsight I should've given her at least a half) so she had meltdown #1. She didn't really want to sit in her highchair or wear her bib. Then she wanted her Mickey Mouse that Grandma got her, but she was eating pasta, so I put him on the table. That wasn't good enough, so she had meltdown #2. Danny put her in the living room to cool down. He held her and she calmed down in time for bathtime. She wanted to bring Mickey into the tub...that led to meltdown #3! Oh, she was a challenge that night.

She also wasn't too keen on the idea of leaving daycare the following day when I picked her up. Can you believe that?! She used to cry when we dropped her off, now she doesn't want to leave! We love that she is so into daycare now. She has a lot of fun while she's there. They are constantly active: learning new words and songs, exploring, playing with Playdoh, painting, etc. I was told today that starting next week, she will start taking naps on a cot. I can't wait to see how that goes! When she transitions into the 18-24 month room next month, that's how they'll sleep...no more crib! So they have to work to get her ready. I was also told that for the second day in a row, she fed herself with a spoon and didn't make a complete mess! Danny and I couldn't believe it, so I gave her applesauce in a cup with her dinner. She did a good job! I'll have to post the video we got on Danny's iTouch. We were so proud of her.

Pigtail Princess

She is fascinated with writing on paper.

Pumpkin Show in her t-shirt from Mamaw

Cruisin' with Grandma

So we even witnessed a receiving line of a wedding that had just happened. Of course the bridesmaids were in orange!

She thinks she's cool "brushing" her teeth! She mainly just chews on it.

Go Bucks!

Mickey Mouse pumpkin

Playing around

Can't believe she was once petrified of the swing!

A B C 's . . . kind of, plus a couple letters & numbers

I bought Cadence some alphabet and number magnets for the refrigerator yesterday (which she loves) and she decided to put some in an empty box that her diaper rash cream came in. She ended up partially singing her ABCs...thought this video was cute. :)

Tomahawk Chop

Ever since my cousin, Melissa, sent Cadence some Atlanta Braves onesies, I have been trying to teach her to do the tomahawk chop. She learned it fairly quickly considering the only time I remembered to practice with her is when she wore one of the onesies. A couple of nights ago, she wore one under her sleeper and she copied me when I did the chant! This one's for you, Melissa!

Bye Bye Baby...Hello Toddler

This past week, Danny & I realized that we now have a toddler on our hands. Cadence prefers walking over crawling and she's into EVERYTHING. We love that she does well walking, though - we waited a looooooong 15 months! Everyone at daycare always tells us that she is so smart; she counted to 10 this weekend! I don't think that you could figure out what number she is saying separately, but when said in a sequence, you can make it out. We love our little smarty pants!

With becoming a toddler, she's also developed a little attitude. She likes to tell us "no" and she has figured out how to get her way. She will twist and turn if she does not want to be held and will throw herself to the ground if she has her own plans. We found out that she was bit for the 2nd time at daycare too. She has nice bite marks on her back! Don't worry, she's also bitten another classmate! Oh the joys of a toddler...

Reminds me of a 3 year old Michelle ;)

Chillin' with Scarlet while Mommy gets ready for work.

We Have a Walker with an Attitude!

Our Baby is Growing into a Toddler!

Cadence is becoming a toddler right before our eyes. She definitely lets us know what she wants and when she wants it (usually NOW), she is very vocal and her favorite word is "no", she's a whiz with the Magnadoodle, is still infatuated with Elmo (it's what she calls TV), is increasingly interested in Micky Mouse, she's slowly mastering using a spoon, and is working on walking and climbing! This weekend we welcomed Fall with a trip to Lynd's Fruit Farm and went apple picking with Mamaw, Papaw, and cousin Emilee. We discovered a new fruit that Cadence likes. She's always liked applesauce, but had no problem eating an apple right off the tree! We think the fact that Cadence learned about apples a couple of weeks ago at daycare had something to do with it. Now she keeps signing "more" and saying apple! When we got home, Emilee and Papaw got the idea to use an apple as bait and it worked. Our little peanut was taking a good four steps! We think she'll finally be running soon. Enjoy the pics below (and separate video posts!)

Cadence vs. applesauce...applesauce won.

Magnadoodle-Dandy!

Lynd's Fruit Farm

Apple Monster!

Give me that apple!

Future Gymnast