Merry Christmas!

Cameron was up late on Christmas Eve, but he handled it like a champ and even slept in a bit on Christmas morning. It was lovely! After a little bit of breakfast to tide us over, Chris, Cameron, and I opened our stockings. We all played with our new toys for a little bit, and then headed out to have breakfast with the family and open more presents. Again, Cameron made out like a bandit, receiving a ton of new toys. He was pretty happy about it. :)

We played with the cousins for a little while.

And read a few books. Cameron apparently wasn't too pleased with the fact that the old lady swallowed the fly.

We then headed home to hang out with my mom and brother, and then went to meet both families for dinner. It was a long, hectic day, but we all had a good time. I'm sort of relieved that the holidays are over, and sort of sad. But I know that I'm ready for the new year. I can't wait to see what it brings!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Cameron had a blast at the annual Christmas Eve bash. What a difference from last year when he was only 2.5 months old!

He walked around a LOT, and even climbed some stairs.

He hung out with all the aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmas, and great-grandma, and did really well being passed around. Maybe that was because he found new people that were willing to play fetch as he threw his bouncy ball around? :)

He was even a good sport about posing with the giant chocolate bar before it got unwrapped.

After a change into his pjs, it was present time! Everyone picks up new toys with their mouths, right?

All in all, it was a very fun get-together. He is one lucky boy, and we are one lucky family to have him around.

Molars!

I knew Cameron was teething, but attributed all his pain to the upper canines (which are *almost* all the way through. I know I say that a lot, but really, they are almost there!).

But an impromptu diaper change in the back seat of my car provided me with a different vantage point, and both Chris and I saw molars! No wonder he's been in so much pain lately. :o/

Dexterity

I've noticed lately how Cameron's hand-eye coordination seems to be improving. It wasn't long ago that he was only able to dump the rings off of the tower, or yank the blocks off his train. But now, he is, with intention, threading the rings and blocks back onto the dowels on the tower or the train.

He has other little mannerisms that are cute too. Sometimes we practice knocking on doors, and lately he's gone from using an open-palm approach to actually making a fist and using his knuckles like we do.

We also play a game with him where one of us will have a small toy in one hand, move our hands behind our back and bring them forward again with both fists closed. He will then point to one hand or the other and try to find the toy. Now I've noticed that he's started putting his hands behind his back and bringing them forward too. Only the toy is totally visible in his little hands, and we always get it right. ;)

Pretty much everything he holds goes behind his head these days, I'm not really sure what is so appealing about that. But it's pretty cute when he's laying on the changing pad and his hands go up and rest behind his head. Ah, diaper changes, so relaxing!

Snow Day

In California?! Yep!

Our town has an annual snow day, for which they bring in a bunch of hay bales and "snow" and take over the downtown plaza for some holiday fun.

There was supposed to be a ramp for sledding, but by the time we got there, the structure had collapsed! No one was hurt though, we hear. So, instead of sledding, kids were slip sliding and playing around in the snow at the base of the ramp. Chris walked around with Cameron a little bit, but they had to dodge a few snowballs!

Looks like he enjoyed himself anyway, though. Next year hopefully he can get a little more involved!