And He's Off!

We officially have a walker!

And it almost feels like he's trying to skip walking half the time and just wants to run already! He's been walking along furniture for about 4 to 5 months and literally running behind his walker for about a month, so it was only a matter of time that he'd gain confidence and balance and begin cruising on his own! He's slowly wanting to walk more than crawl the better he gets! I can't believe my "baby" is walking!!

Last week, we had his 12 mo. check up. His head circumference was in the 95th percentile, his weight was 22 lbs. 12 oz and in the 50th percentile, and his length was 33 in, which is the 90th percentile. He's definitely slowing down on his weight, which his pediatrician said was perfectly normal and that we have a healthy little boy! We ended the visit with 3 shots and a blood draw... not his favorite parts at all! Poor buddy!

When I was pregnant, I would get a weekly e-mail on the progression of Cameron's growth. After he was born, I'd get a weekly e-mail saying how many weeks old our baby was and what developmental things to look for. Now that he's over a year old, that e-mail officially calls him a toddler... YIKES!! A Toddler?! I have a TODDLER?! When did this happen!?! The last year went way to fast for my liking!!

Cameron continues to be a fun loving little guy who we both love to play with and spend time with as much as possible. As usual, Ryan is laid off this winter, and he is spending a few days home with him each week and the other two or so days he still goes to New Horizon's in Elk River. Mommy's only a little jealous that daddy gets 3 days a week with him, but excited that they get that time together. He has this contagious laugh that can put anyone in a good mood and is still quite the ham! We sure love our little dude!!!

ONE!

I have lots of catching up to do!! First Thanksgiving, first Christmas, first Birthday, and SECOND New Year!! That's right, it means we've gone through an entire year of lots of firsts. And although he may have many more "firsts" for the rest of his life, the year of firsts as a mommy and daddy introducing the world to their son is slowly slowing down...

Thanksgiving: We spent the day at Ryan's grandmas house in Annandale and enjoyed a day of amazing food and family. That evening we stopped by my parents house to see my family and learn about Baby Haspert! Cameron is pretty excited to have another cousin in June!!

The first week in December Cameron had us pretty worried, after having a low grade fever for about 5 days, it finally spiked up to 102.5. We took him to the urgent care in Elk River and of course when we got there his temp was down to an exact 98.6. Go figure! He also tested negative for strep throat. The dr chalked it up to a virus that he'd have to wait out. The next day his temp went up and down all day but finally hit 105.5 around 6pm, so back to urgent care we went but this time went to the one we usually do in Coon Rapids. After a 2 hour wait, we finally saw a dr who ordered blood work and an X-ray to be done. The blood work came back abnormal (low white and red blood cells counts) and the X-ray came back showing inflamed lymph nodes, so she strongly suggested we see our pediatrician the next day. After a shot to help his fever and help fight what she thought was a bacterial infection, we left around midnight and were still very worried parents - his temp was still 103.7. The next day we saw his pediatrician and she retested his blood and everything came back just fine - she thinks the blood sample from the night before wasn't accurate. Also, they tested him for strep and it was positive! She also said he had a virus called Roseola, which is a high fever for 3 days and breaks out into a rash on the 4th day. Sure enough, on the 4th day his high fever broke and he got a rash. The rash started out on his forehead and spread down his body throughout the day, eventually reaching his legs by that evening. Knock on wood since that week we've been pretty healthy!!

Christmas was a crazy couple of days, but always so fun to spend time with family! On Christmas Eve morning, we went to Great Grandma Sorensen's in Annandale (since we couldn't go there on Christmas Day) and then after that went to Grandpa Dave Manke's house, which is also in Annandale. All of Ryan's siblings and families except for one were able to be together and spend time together. Grandpa Dave got Cameron and Amelia (C's cousin) little Polaris four wheelers! It was so fun to watch them open them. The look on Cameron's face was priceless and I got some great video footage! He hopped right on and started riding! On Christmas Eve we went to Grandma Chris and Grandpa Dave's house. It was an evening filled with lots of family love, amazing food and delicious cookies for dessert that all of us girls made at Auntie DeAnn's a couple weeks before. Cameron got a super cool pair of Spider Man shoes that light up and also a play semi truck - just like his daddy's! He loves playing with it and we actually refer to it as "the semi like daddy's" and he knows which one to look for! On Christmas Day, we went to my Nampa Steve and Nama Anita's house. We missed having Uncle Tom and Auntie Val there and we hope they'll be there next year! Cameron was spoiled once again and got lots of great gifts - fridge magnets, books, a CD, a kid's nativity set that came with a book, a puppy named Jingle that barks and howls when you read the book that came with it (Cameron LOVES Jingle and also knows him by name!!!), and mega blocks. We had a relaxing day filled with Christmas church service at the Pease church, a delicious meal, ending the day with gifts and Skyping with Uncle Tom. All in all, I'd say that Cameron had an amazing first Christmas!!

And one of the most fun and final FIRSTs for Cameron in 2012 was HIS BIRTHDAY!!! We had a small party for him at The Pizza Ranch in Elk River where we had delicious food and yummy birthday cake. Overall Cameron did pretty good all day and we had lots of fun calling him the Birthday Boy! Once again, he was spoiled all over again with gifts: more mega blocks, a rocking chair, picnic table, toy box, a wagon, a dump truck with blocks, sippy cups, plates/silverware, clothes, books, diapers, and money for his college fund. A great mix of fun toys to play with a practical gifts that this momma loves to get! Surprisingly, Cameron didn't really like his smash cake! He touched it a little bit, but didn't really want to dig into it. Ryan took some frosting and spread it all over his face, which he hated and started to cry. I'd say his favorite part of his day was his balloons, which are still afloat in our kitchen and he still loves to play with! It was a great day and I think I can say that he had a pretty amazing day!!