Weeeee!!!

Last Saturday night, Cameron had a sleepover at my parents, or Nama and Nampa's. Ryan and I brought him up there early Saturday afternoon and before we left, Nampa had a fabulous idea: To bring Cameron on his first 4 Wheeler ride! He LOVED it!!!!! Nampa explained how the 4 wheeler worked, what all the buttons and levers were for and how to go really fast. He was in awe and soaked in every word! We decided rides will be one of his favorite things after he gave a few "Oooo's" and claps!!

That night, Ryan and I enjoyed dinner and a movie, child free grocery shopping, and an early bed time. Sunday morning was enjoyable as the newspaper was read in silence over a big bowl of cereal and that afternoon Cameron came home tired from all the fun he had. Perfect!

Cameron Love

Before Cameron, I wasn't a huge "kid person". I liked all kids - thought babies were cute but all looked the same and never cared to hold them; or thought that as kids got older most were stinky and sweaty or just plain old smelled like a kid. Not sure if anyone can relate and most everyone by now probably thinks I'm crazy by actually admitting this but it's how I felt.

When I was pregnant, I always worried my kid would fall into one of the categories above (look like your average baby, be super smelly and sticky, etc.). Don't get me wrong, some day he will fall into that later category, but I don't have any of the same feelings as I did before him.

Why? Because I never understood how so in love I could be with our son. When I think I love him to the fullest, I wake up the next morning and feel more love towards him when I see that toothy grin. When I see Ryan giving him piggy back rides or "wrestling" with him or reading to him - it just makes me fall apart inside all over again just seeing their special bond. Never did I think I could love this little person so incredibly much.

Every day he continues to amazing me with his adorable personality that continues to grow, or with his expanding vocabulary of words and sounds and just the pure light and excitement in his eyes when discovering something new and fun.

As Cameron woke up two nights ago screaming from something (bad dream? Tooth pain? Ear ache? Who knows!), I snuggled him in his rocking chair and savored every second (I do admit: it was after my initial reaction of crabbiness fizzled from the abrupt awakening and thinking of how tired I'd be the next day!) My heart broke with worry and concern not knowing what was wrong but as he settled down, my heart grew with even more love as he cuddled into my chest.

Our little Snickle (one of the nicknames he's been given) is such a sweet and precious boy who we continue to fall more and more in love with every day!!!! <3

Pictures from this past weekend:
* Afternoon walk where he fell asleep in the stroller
* Playing at Uncle Patrick and Auntie Jill's - Uncle P gave him airplane rides in the basket he kept crawling into!
* Playing downstairs - crawling through the tunnel and enjoying the fun of throwing his toys everywhere! It even tuckered Manson out!
* Working out with Daddy
* Learning how to pet Manson nicely
* Piggy back rides with Daddy!!
* I love pancakes!
* I love Pease eggs that Nampa "makes"!
* Laundry helper


** Note: Pictures may not post in order.

Cameron's First Halloween!

We had a fun night with our little monkey!!

We started the Halloween festivities on Tuesday at school where we played a few games (he won some bubbles!) and ate some spooky yogurt parfaits. We had a good time and he enjoyed eating yogurt for the first time!

Yesterday morning at school they had a Halloween parade where all the kids in his class put on their costumes and walked around to each classroom showing them off. I got some cute class pictures from his teachers - they were able to get everyone to sit still all at once!

Then last night we brought him over to two neighbors houses to show him off. Mom and dad also scored a few treats by doing that :-) He didn't mind being in his costume and was quite a little ham! I'd say his favorite part of the night was taking all the candy out of our candy bowl - he was quite protective of that!! I let him have his first sucker - with daddy's warning that it would lead to cavities! He was also a big helper and helped us pass out candy! Overall it was a great Halloween!!

Unclogged Tubes!!

My last post was sharing how our little dude had tubes put in his ears, something we were very excited about considering he had 4 infections in 4 months, and 3 of those times his left ear drum rupture.

The first couple days following surgery, Cameron was more irritable and fussy - something we just chalked up to the surgery. Early the following week, he was even more irritable and fussy, and was feeling a little warm but no temp. Also, he wanted constant attention from us and at daycare from his teachers - he'd even start to cry and be jealous when his teachers picked up another baby! By Thursday, the day of his follow up appointment, he had a fever of 102 and only wanted to be held and snuggled, something he normal doesn't enjoy because he's too busy. Come to find out at his appointment, his left tube was clogged already! Blood from the incision had dried in front of the tube entrance, clogging it. No wonder he was uncomfortable - what an annoyance and he probably couldn't hear very much (something we also did notice over the past few days before his visit...) The dr instructed us to put a few drops of peroxide in the left ear each morning and then other prescription drops he gave us in the left ear at night. He said the peroxide would "melt" the dried blood and the other drops would help clear it.

We went back last Thursday for another follow up appointment for his ear and it was unclogged - HOORAY!!! No more drops and nothing to worry about for awhile (hopefully!!). We also had his 9 month appointment and that went well too. 21 lbs, 2 oz (50th percentile)and 29.2 inches long (75th percentile) and 95th percentile for head circumference! The only thing the pediatrician told us to look out for is a cough that he's developed - because of his history of having RSV and because he is what she calls a "juicy baby", meaning he gets congested easily, he may more than likely develop asthma at some point in his life. We sure hope this isn't the case!!

All medical things aside, it sure is good to have our active little baby back!! the last two weeks have been a little bit of a roller coaster with all we've been through with tubes and because we all got colds this last week.

It's such a relief to hear him screaming his baby scream again and talking/babbling more. It's also fun to say words and to see him start to look for them. For example, we'll say Manson's name and he'll start looking around for him. Once he finds him, he gets a big smile on his face. Another word and play time activity he loves is playing ball - and he's not bad at throwing it either!! You can actually toss/roll it back and fourth about 3 or 4 times before he loses interest!

We decided to paint a pumpkin this ear instead of carving one. We made a dinosaur! Cameron was much more interested in the newspaper the pumpkin was on than helping me paint and was very interested in helping daddy put on the stickers. Daddy also has been saying "Rrroooaaarrrr!!!"to Cameron and practicing what a dinosaur says - on Saturday he actually said it back to Ryan! It was so cute!!

Two weekends ago it was 70 degrees and gorgeous outside. Cameron and I went for what was probably our last week of the year. There were tons of leaves on the road and as we crunched over them, Cameron would go "Ooooo Aaaaaahhh" - someone's ready for the 4th of July :-)

Also the weekend before last Cameron got his first REAL haircut!! I broke down and brought him in - enough trimming it ourselves! Pretty much all of his baby hair is officially gone and he looks like quite the little man! Made me pretty sad, but I don't miss pushing the hair out of his eyes every 15 minutes!

Other Cameron facts:
* Following us around in his walker as we vacuum. It's so funny to watch - he's mesmerized by it and lives the noise. He also loves the sound of the blow dryer too!
* Opening and banging shut any cupboard door he can find. He also likes to bang Tupperware on the floor... He likes anything that makes noise!!
* His other middle top tooth came in - we're up to 6 now! And the fussy baby and two white bumps on his bottom gum make me thing he'll have another two pretty soon!

Tubes

We did it! We finally made the leap and got tubes last week Thursday!

The actual procedure went really well and quickly. The scariest part for me that morning was getting through the per surgery steps and dealing with a fussy baby who couldn't have breakfast that morning! Surgery only lasted 15 minutes and it was good to snuggle my baby afterwards. When we got home, Cameron was really groggy and incredibly snuggly. I was able to snuggle him and rock him for about 20 minutes before I put him down for his nap. I was in my absolutely in heaven as we snuggled because I don't think I've had quality snuggle time like that in at least 6 months!!

The Monday before his appointment we went in for his pre-op and his right ear drum was infected. Then the next morning, his left ear drum ruptured!!! Amazingly at the dr appointment his left ear was just fine, so 13 hours later it ruptured!! We are so glad we decided to put the tubes in!

We have our checkup appointment today. He's been a little fussy this past week and started pulling on his ears last night so I sure hope all is well in those ears!!!

Aside from all the ear troubles, I traveled for New York a couple weeks ago for work and survived! That was the longest time I had been away from the boys! Cameron stayed with my parents and had a blast. He also spent the weekend there when Ryan and I went to Pella, IA for Julie Vermeer's wedding. Seeing him on Sunday when we picked him up was so fun :) We then spent a lot of Sunday evening playing and spending lots of time together.

Cameron's new tricks are clapping and saying "Ooooo". It's so funny to see him look at bright things or be amazed at something and say"Ooooo". It's too funny and very cute!

His middle tooth on top is finally making an appearance! Although the gap on top is cute (he has 3 other teeth on top), we're ready for the middle one to come in.

Three weekends ago, we went to Chuck E. Cheese for our nephew Elijah's 3rd birthday. We had fun seeing family and Cameron had fun riding on the rides. He looked like a big boy riding in them!!

So Big!

We officially have a toothy grin baby instead of a gummy grin baby!

Cameron's next tooth has pooped through on the top! Except for being a little crabby this past weekend, he's been pretty good! And when he was cranky, I gave him a dose of Tylenol and it turns him pretty somber! At least it helps with the pain and gives Ryan and I a little peace and quiet!

Two weeks ago, his left ear drum ruptured again!! I got another lovely call from daycare saying the slimy green goo was coming out of his ear. I brought him in that night and sure enough, it ruptured again. We then met with the ENT Specialist last week and he approved Cameron for tubes, so sometime in October he'll get tubes!

Another illness swept through our house last week... the stomach flu! It was not pleasant as all 3 of us got it! I think its time for sickness to leave our house! But I guess that's what happens when you have a baby in daycare!

Next week will be the first time I leave Cameron for more than one night... I'm going on a work trip to NYC from Monday - Thursday. My mom will be taking him overnight in case Ryan works late. I am so excited to be going to NYC, but will really miss my boys!

Another fun trip planned is next weekend, Ryan and I are going to Iowa to my college roommates wedding! My parents are taking Cameron again, which we're so grateful for! We'll miss him, but I'm super excited to spend time with Ryan and see some of my other college roommates!

Cameron's Latest and Greatest:
* Learned So Big! and is quite the ham when he does it!
* Climbs full flights of stairs and wants to be Mr. Independent when he does it
* Can walk around the coffee table or along the couch if he hangs on. But he's pretty speedy at it and will get whatever he wants with this new method!!
* Eating a few more table foods with us when we eat dinner... sometimes he's not so sure about it!
* Is wanting to pet and snuggle Manson more. Manson usually gives his face a bath in return and walks away with very little interest!
* We love to watch him play and interact with other kids. Its so fun to see his temperament and how he responds when they take toys from each other, talk baby talk, etc. Cameron's a pretty laid back kiddo so we haven't had any troubles yet!!

8 Months

What a crazy month of August it was!! Where to start on what our little guy has learned and discovered ...

* Cameron can say "ma ma"! :)) Makes my heart melt, although he usually does it when he's upset or tired.... oh well, its a start!
* Took his first ride in a swing! He wasn't incredibly fond of it, so it was a short lived ride.
* Teeth #3 and #4 are here! The top two right teeth are in and slowly keep peaking through more and more. Teeth #5 and #6, the top left two, will be close behind - they've been swollen for a few weeks! Poor guy!!
* Spent two weekends up north at my Uncle Dave's cabin. It was so much fun spending time with family,taking boat rides and having Cameron meet more family. He even got to meet my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins from California!!
* Went to the MN State Fair with Auntie Amber and Uncle Andy! We had so much fun looking at fishes, eating caramel apples and cheese curds, and people watching!
* We bought Cameron a walker that he stands behind to help him learn how to walk and he's figured out how to walk on his knees! Agh! It scares me to think he could be walking soon!!!
* He is an expert crawler and is speedy!! Its so fun to put him down in the kitchen, for example, and then go stand in a bedroom saying his name and hiding. He comes crawling down the hallway really fast, trying to figure out what room you're in. The pitter patter of his hands and knees on the ground just make my heart melt :))
* Separation Anxiety: something I don't  love :(( He's starting to cry if I leave the room and when I drop him off at daycare. Makes for a sad mama!!
* Loves to eat the finger puffs and is good at putting food in hos mouth.
* Holds his own bottle and has almost mastered the Sippy cup!

Cameron is so much fun to be around and we love every minute we get to spend with him! I never thought I could love someone so little so incredibly much!!