The Slatt Crew: And we're back...

Ok.. we were definitely gone for awhile. I'll take some of the blame for it, but not all. In a nutshell, Ed has been traveling back and forth to Maryland, I have been playing single mom and trying not to go insane, and the boys have just been as fun, cute and active as ever. Ed is back (for now) and life is slowly getting back to normal, and I hope the posts become more frequent.

Quick Update:
Jackson is now sitting up on his own and holding his own bottle. This has given him (and I) a whole new lease on life.
He is stilling having some breakouts that we aren't quite sure what they are from, but he is eating more veggies each day and started pears today without a breakout. We even were feeling very crazy today and let him try a wheat, egg. gluten free, vegan cookie. So far no reaction, but we'll see what he looks like when he wakes up in the morning.
Today we took him out back and to play and put him in the baby swing for the first time. As you can imagine, our little daredevil loved it. I would predict that he'll be climbing across the top of the swingset by the end of the summer.
Jackson is also crawling in his own unique way. He gets up on all four and kind of catapults himself in the direction that he wants to go. It looks like multiple belly flops in a row.
As always our little Jackson is just as sweet and energetic as ever. He still gets swaddled before naps and bedtimes. This is one of my favorite times of the day with him and I just can't help from kissing him over and over again.

Caden:
This child has turned into a little man over night. He is talking non-stop and understands so much of what is going on around him.
Caden knows all of his letters and can tell you "C is for Caden" "M is for Mommy" "T is for Toby" and so on. (His daddy gets all the credit for that one.)
He has been counting for us and the other day he went the whole way up to 16. I have no clue how he knows that.
He is into new TV shows these days and loves ones that are more interactive. Dora, Diego, Bubble Guppies, Ocotnauts and his new favorite Toy Story movies. He will be watching a show and I'll see him pretend to throw a ball at the screen or answer one of their questions. Sometimes he gets it wrong and will sneak a look at me to see if I noticed he said the wrong thing. It's hilarious!!
He's still going on the potty from time to time but he's become very high maintenance. He demands a book or magazine to read or on a real fussy day a toy to play with. He'll sit there for 20 minutes and tell me over and over again "Still poopin Mommy."
He is very polite these days and says please and thank you to everything. Tonight we went for ice cream and he thanked the cars for driving by. If he's crying at bed time or nap time and we go to check on him he'll say "Sorry Mommy, I trying." He breaks our hearts so many times throughout the day.
Today I ran to the grocery store and while I was gone Jackson was crying. Ed asked Caden what was wrong with Jackson and he very quickly said "He needs his nutzer (pacifier). Sure enough Ed gave Caden the pacifier and he stopped crying.
Caden still loves to jump on the mattress in our spare room and enjoys singing throughout the day.
Last week he very proudly declared that Poodie (Aunt Susan) is his best friend.
Caden is still a very picky eater and proved his gag reflex is still there by politely trying to tell us that he did not want alphabet pasta, but of course we pushed it and he puked everywhere. In true Caden fashion, he apologized.
He has also become very brave and has started to play in the backyard by himself. It's a new found freedom for both of us.
Yesterday morning Ed and I were "discussing" who was going to make the coffee and Caden told us, "Be quiet you two.. Tassy's (Jackson's) sleeping.
He also has been crouching on the floor and hiding his eyes when things don't go his way. It's the cutest little meltdown/ temper tantrum I've ever seen. (There are also some not-so-cute ones as well).
Yesterday Ed took Caden to get the car washed. They were gone about 30 minutes until I hear them come in the door and Caden's crying and calling for me. I scooped him up and asked him what was wrong.. he told me "I'm sleepy."
He is also more interested in playing with his animals and giving them names and making them talk. Along with that he is sharing what he is doing with his brother and telling him he can do it when he gets big too.

These were taken two weeks ago when Ed was away. It was much warmer out today, but our the card on our camera was full.

Again from when Ed was away. Caden was coloring after his tubby and talking to Daddy on speaker phone.

Yesterday after work I was trying to get some laundry done. This is my way of containing two boys and attempting to have them entertain each other. Too bad I wasted the precious minutes I had taking pictures rather than folding laundry. Oh well.. I think it was worth it!