Christmas cookies

I thought it would be fun to make some Christmas cookies with Cameron this year, so I made some sugar cookie dough (dairy free, of course), rolled it flat, and handed him the cookie cutters. He had a good time cutting them out and decorating them with sprinkles. He tried to eat the raw dough a few times; he didn't really want to wait for them to bake!

When they were finally done and cooled, he ate quite a few. "Mmm, yum!" he said. Lucky boy then got to go take a nap while someone else cleaned up the mess. :)

Rainy day gear

I am loving the fact that Cameron will actually wear his raincoat and rainboots now. For the longest time he would claim that he "didn't like them" and would refuse to even try them on.

Well, now that he's discovered splashing in puddles, he's singing another tune. I'm as happy about it as he is!

Hello again!

I realize that I have neglected this blog for far, far too long. Almost a year!

Along the way, I have been keeping notes for some of the things about which I wanted to blog, but just never got around to writing the actual posts. It seems like something (or someone) else was always commanding my attention...and then when I did actually have free time, updating a whole year's worth of information seemed too daunting and I would procrastinate.

So, here I sit on September 4th, 2012, writing this post. I am going to date it mid-November, 2011 just so that it precedes the myriad of posts that are to follow, (which are each appropriately dated, I hope). I know I have inevitably left some things out, but I tried to capture the big moments and share some of the photos that we at least managed to snap.

I do apologize for my absence. Now that I'm caught up, I hope not to slip so far behind again. Yell at me if I do!

Happy Halloween!

One of the moms in my group hosted a little Halloween get-together, and it was really nice. We hung out, ate some food, and then tried trick-or-treating, which we skipped last year because Cameron was still going to bed so early. We only went to about 4 houses and Cameron picked out pieces of candy that he's not able to eat, but it was fun anyway!

Cameron was a baseball player this year, and my belly was the baseball.

Chris was going to be the baseball bat, but we didn't quite find the time to get his costume together. Such is life. We'll try to do better next year!

2 year stats

We've got a healthy, happy little man. He's slipping down on the charts, at 26.5 pounds he's only in the 25th percentile for weight, and at 33 inches, he's only in the 30th percentile for height. But the doc isn't concerned. He looks healthy and well proportioned for his size. Apparently they no longer measure head size anymore, so we'll just have to assume it's still bigger than the rest of his body, proportionally. :oP My guess is that it's still somewhere in the 90th percentile!

I recall being at his 18-month appointment and hearing that he was supposed to have 50 words by the time he was 2. This gave me pause at the time, as he only had 15-20 that he used consistently. But, everyone was right, there really is a language explosion around 22 months. I told the pedi when she asked about the 50 words that I had stopped counting at around 100. He's so verbal now; it's amazing what a difference a few months makes.

We also talked a bit about all the upcoming changes (new house, new baby, etc.) and how that was likely to impact potty training. So, for the time being, we're not pushing it, at all. He hasn't shown any signs of real readiness yet (doesn't tell us when he's wet, and only tells us about a dirty diaper after the fact) so it's just off the table for now.

We talked about allergies (still avoiding dairy until age 3, and all nuts as well since he has an allergic profile), sleep (no complaints here), and other milestones (like jumping and getting both feet off the ground, which he definitely tries to do while saying "hop!" but he hasn't quite gotten both feet all the way off the ground at the same time). Got him his flu shot and one in the Hep B series. He cried, but it was short-lived, thankfully!

My helper

While at Whole Foods this afternoon, I let Cameron ride in the "big" part of cart. When we get to the checkout, he started to help me unload the cart and put items on the conveyor belt. So cute! He got the yogurt, the raisins and the vitamins, but the milk was just a bit too heavy. He grunted and said "too heavy!" so I helped him.

The checker was pretty impressed too, and she gave him a box of raisins for being such a good helper. He looked at me and said "open raisins?" I told him we'd open them in the car, which we did, and as soon as the box was open he reached to grab it saying "mine". *sigh* I don't know where he picked up that little gem.

Numbers

When getting Cameron from his bed this morning, he was counting the pictures on his quilt. He counted to ten and then surprised me by saying eleven, twelve, firteen, fouhteen, fifteen, sisteen, (which was then followed by fouhteen, twenty!). I know we sometimes count the steps outside the house as we go up and down (there are 17), but I'd never heard him count these numbers, and in the correct order no less.

Cameron turns 2!

Oh how he's grown! I can hardly believe that just two short years ago I was mom to this little guy:

And now I'm mom to this big guy:

We had a great afternoon at the park; the weather cooperated nicely! The kids got to play on the playground, run around popping the bubbles that my mom was busy creating with a bubble wand, and kick some balls around in the grass. A good time was had by all.

Since we are still dealing with Cameron's dairy allergy, we opted to get some vegan cinnamon rolls so everyone could eat the same dessert this year. He pretty much only ate the frosting, but the rest of us thought they were delicious. :)

Happy birthday young man, we love you!

The big reveal

So, I know there is a striking difference between the amount of blogging I did with my first pregnancy and the amount of blogging I'm doing with this one. I guess it's a combination of being busy and stuff not being so "new". I hope this little one doesn't feel slighted!

But, just for the record, I found out I was pregnant on June 12th (using an expired test but hoping it was still reliable) when I was 5 days late.

And so far, this pregnancy has been very much like the first. I had nausea from about weeks 6-10. Though I didn't get quite the same surge of energy when I entered my second trimester, I attribute that to having a toddler in the house. Everything has been similar enough that I had pretty much convinced myself that I'll be having another boy. Also, last time my dreams all pointed to a boy, and this time, I've had a few very realistic boy dreams.

However, when we went in for my anatomy scan yesterday at 19w3d, we learned that this baby is a GIRL! I was so shocked, and I think I'm still getting used to the news. I really had prepped myself for two boys! But of course I'm thrilled and can't wait to see what's in store for us.

PB for me

Ever since learning that Cameron is allergic to dairy, his pediatrician has been wary about us trying any nuts. I've wanted to give him peanut butter (yes, I know peanuts are legumes) for awhile now, but the pedi wasn't comfortable having me try it unless we did so in the presence of the allergist.

Well, we finally had the PB "oral challenge" today at the allergist's office. It meant sitting in the small room for 3 hours (!), so I made sure to bring a backpack full of toys and books (so glad I did). He started out with the tiniest bit of PB (it was maybe about the size of a ladybug?). And then we sat for 15 minutes before he got the next sample. There were 7 samples in all, and each sample got incrementally bigger, the last one being about the size of a tablespoon. We sat and waited after he ate each one, and the doctor would periodically peek his head in to look at the skin on Cameron's chest and back. Chest sounds and his throat looked good before and after. All clear! Yippee!

Now, this doesn't mean we're clear for all nuts, and the allergist still thinks it's wise to hold off until he's 3 and we're retesting him for dairy anyway. But good news for today!

I'm a what?

A big brother?! 

Though Cameron really doesn't know what that means yet, yes, we are very pleased to announce that he will be a big brother to baby #2, who is due to arrive sometime around February 11, 2012!

Counting

Cameron's vocabulary is growing in leaps and bounds lately. He recognizes all the letters of the alphabet and has even started counting objects. He's got 1 through 4 down, and will sometimes make it to 5. "Un, too, free, fouah..." Though sometimes it's hard to know he's counting until he makes it to 2, as "one" sounds a lot like "on". He also knows 8 and 9 (by numeral), but has not yet gotten that far in sequence.

He surprises me every day by new words he has learned that I didn't know he knows. I came home from a 4-day work trip and he's speaking in more complete sentences than just a few days ago! Of course, he still says "uh-vuh-vuh" (his default when he doesn't know the word he's looking for), but he's getting better about finding other ways to make me understand what he means when I tell him I don't know what he's talking about. :)

New utensils

Now that Cameron has mastered the fork and spoon, he's moving on to chopsticks. He tried diligently to pick the pieces of food up, sometimes succeeding by stabbing them, and sometimes succeeding by just using his fingers.

And they also make excellent drumsticks, did you know?

Don't bother me, I'm reading.

I want to ride my bicycle...

So, these pictures are horribly out of date at this point (I think they are from early May?) but we were able to get a bike seat for Cameron so he can ride around with us. I'm not the most avid bike rider, but I have gone out a few times with the guys. Here he is testing it out after Chris installed it on his dad's beach cruiser:

He likes it a lot, and he's even good about wearing his helmet!

Golfing

He's aaaaalmost ready to go pro.

18 months

Cameron's 18-month stats: height: 32 inches (just under 50th percentile); weight: 25.5 pounds (just under 50th percentile); head circumference: 49.5 cm (hanging steady at the 90th percentile).

It was a good check-up (and only one shot!). Cameron is right on track with all his development milestones. The doctor asked, "Does he pretend to talk on the phone?" And I said, "Yes, definitely. He also likes to "talk" on the remote control." (It's pretty cute.)  The doctor also asked, "Does he like to clean?" And I emphatically said "Yes! Give the boy a vacuum, dustbuster, broom, whatever, and he's happy!" The sounds he makes to imitate the vacuum are really great too; I wish I had a recording of that to share.

He's not the most verbose of kids just yet, but he is picking up new words every day. The latest have been on, off, ice, bowl, elbow, knee, Cairo (one of our cats), and others, including lots of letters of the alphabet. Cameron was gifted with an alphabet puzzle for his birthday, and though it says it's for ages 3+, he is remarkably good at matching the letters to the pictures underneath, identifying the letters when we ask questions like "where is the B?", and lately, picking up letters and saying "Ennnnn!", "Oooohh!" or "Zeeee!"

He's a really smart kid, and he amazes me every day.

Music time

Cameron has become enamored with Chris's guitar lately. So much so, that we decided to get him one of his own. This video doesn't show him playing much music, but it does show the little finger wag he's been doing. We told him that when playing Chris's guitar he could touch the strings but not the tuning keys. So, now he thinks he shouldn't touch the tuning keys on his guitar either. :)

Yes and No

In the time since I've last blogged (it's been awhile, I know), Cameron has both increased his land speed and his vocabulary. High up there on the most-used word list are: mama, dada, ball, more, down, up, moon, and a bunch of animal sounds (woof, moo, roar, neigh, ooh ooh aa aa aa, a nose crinkle for a pig snort, an arm raise and a trumpet for an elephant sound, and others).

But most notable lately are "yes" and "no". He may not know the word for something, but if he points it out, and we say whatever it is that he wants, he gives us an emphatic "uh huh!" And he wastes no time telling us "no"; he shakes his hands and head back and forth and says "neh neh". He's pretty darn clear about what he doesn't want or when he doesn't want to do an activity any more.

Oh, and occasionally "no" is accompanied by a little finger wag. He knows when he's not supposed to touch something, like outlets or plugs, so now he will walk up close to one, point at it, do the finger wag, and say "neh neh". That's right, kid, we don't touch. It's pretty neat that he's exhibiting knowledge of right from wrong. Of course, then he often goes and tries to touch the forbidden object even after telling us he knows it's off limits. I knew it wouldn't be *that* easy!

On the move

"Something from the toy basket? Sure, I'll get it!"

Toddling

Cameron has been taking a few steps between objects for a long time now, but it's almost been like the moment he notices that he's not holding onto something, he loses focus and falls on his butt. But I think he was inspired by his buddy Lucas, because shortly after hanging out for an afternoon, he is suddenly walking around with confidence, and even going from sitting to standing without pulling up on an object.

It's pretty adorable to see the look on his face as he walks wherever he wants to go; he's so proud and elated.

Lots of people told me that it would take about two weeks from when he took his first steps to when he was just walking around on his own with intention. Well, eh, it took two months, but who's counting? He's there!

Train Town

We planned to meet up with some friends and go to Train Town in early January, but we got rained out. Fortunately, the second day we chose was beautiful and warm! We had never been up there before, and so we enjoyed checking things out.

We rode a little train back into the woods.

It stopped at a petting zoo, where Cameron got his hand licked by a goat. He was both amused and a little wary!

Next to the petting zoo was a little model town.

Cameron decided to go to school and learn about colors.

We also took a ride on a carousel and a ferris wheel, and even had fun playing with the rocks on the ground. Thanks everyone for a fun afternoon!