A Day in the Life of Cayden, 3 year old and self-proclaimed dinosaur-knower, big awesome kid, and smarter than big bro

 

“I want chocolate chip eggos, please.” The morning had started off well. He convinced mommy to let him wear his favorite t-rex shirt under his school uniform and big bro generously shared his virtual reality goggles so they could watch the cool shark video again. But the plate mommy put in front of him was Not chocolate chip eggos- it was chocolate chip pancakes! “This is yucky. Here, Ez. You can have the yucky pancakes.” He then tossed the offending items directly onto his brother’s lap, who promptly screamed and threw them on the floor where they were devoured by Dara the puppy.

A few minutes later they were headed out the door to school, Batman lunch box clanging along the sidewalk because it made a loud noise he liked. The day was full of painting (some paper, but mostly hands and shirts), feeding the school hamster which seemed to be a different color and size every week, and playing outside. Cayden liked to pretend they were in a plane and he would fly them to different stores. His favorite places included: Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, Target, the kid’s museum, and Bass Pro. 

Not his most flattering pic

 

Daddy usually picked him up on the golf cart and today was no exception. Waving goodbye to his friends, he jumped on the cart and informed daddy and Ezra that the triceratops is a plant-eater and the t-rex is a meat-eater. Cayden had to keep reminding Ezra because he was just a baby and could only make roaring noises; he wasn’t big like Cayden and knew big words.

After a lunch of pizza bites, which he calls ‘tarts’ because that’s what Dino Dan calls them, and a lively game of Get the Lego From Dara Before She Swallows It, it’s naptime. 

Well, Daddy thinks it’s naptime. Cayden just sneakily pulled his dino field guide out from under his bed, and proceeded to spend the hour looking at pictures and talking to Ezra, thus keeping his brother awake, too. He thinks Daddy may be on to him. Mostly because daddy walked in on him halfway out of bed trying to reach another book. But he wasn’t all the way out of bed- his legs were still on, so technically he was obeying the stay-in-bed rule. 

About that time mommy got home from work and Cayden ran to give her a hug, not-so-subtly pushing Ezra out of the way so he can be first. Mommy wanted to go for a walk and told him to sit in the wagon! 

“Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy.” Cayden talked over her announcement, patiently repeating himself until she stopped talking. “I have legs and they like to walk on the street, not be squished in the wagon. Put Dara in the wagon, she can eat the cheez-its on the bottom.” How do you argue with that logic? 

Dinner was fun, as usual. Cayden loved to choose one item on his plate that he suddenly didn’t like anymore and refused to eat. He rarely won the battle of wills, but he never lost hope. It did seem to wear out mommy though, because bed time followed quickly. A negotiation on how many stories to read, teeth brushing (including a semi-unsuccessful attempt to use big bro’s toothbrush), and countless hugs later, the boys finally settled down…for a minute.

Cayden couldn’t sleep- a blanket was missing!! He only had Paw Patrol blankie, Paw Patrol sleeping bag, Star Wars blankie, seven random toys, and Old oo-ee-oo-aw-aw blankie** Where was New oo-ee??

He started shrieking ‘help! help!’ at the top of his lungs. Why didn’t mommy come right away? If he couldn’t sleep, no one else should either. Once the missing blanket was located and mommy grumpily left, he settled into his snug little cocoon and fell asleep.

**Oo-ee-oo-aw-aw is Caden’s treasured monkey blanket. Sound it out- it’s the sound a monkey makes. Mommy note- I spent a long time hunting for a second identical monkey blanket once we saw how attached he was; there were many tears each time oo-ee had to be washed and Cayden was separated from him- yes, the blanket is a ‘he’.

With Love,

Susanne