Norvis?

We celebrated Grandma's birthday tonight with ice cream and cake at home. Everyone except Cameron sang "happy birthday" to her. He declared that he didn't want to sing because "I'm a little bit norvis, mama. I'm a little bit norvis...but not too much."

We had been practicing singing the song, and he's actually quite good at it, but I guess he got stage fright. He probably told us 10 times that he was "norvis" and that's why he didn't sing.

What a character, I don't know where he picks this stuff up!

And it's also noteworthy that this was Cameron's first time having REAL ice cream and cake. "Mmm, yummy!" he said more than once. This moment has been long overdue; I'm really glad that we can share simple stuff like this without worry. Makes me happy.

Milk, yogurt, and cheese, oh my!

Cameron passed his milk challenge at the allergist's office today. PASSED! I'm so thrilled that we can stop reading labels like hawks and he can now try all sorts of new foods. THRILLED!

I brought some 2% milk and some chocolate milk as a backup. I worried that he wouldn't want to drink the milk simply because we wanted him to, and what do you know, that's what happened. The nurse tried all sorts of things: a little plastic cup, a dixie cup, a syringe...no go. But he was very polite about it. "Oh, no thank you," he said over and over.

So the doctor finally relented and said he could drink the chocolate milk. It took a little more coaxing, but he finally took a swig. Which led to him smiling a big smile and asking "Can I have the whole thing?"

It was so cute to see him with his first milk mustache. :)

Switching schools

Next week will be Cameron's trial period at a new preschool. A few months ago, he had been wait-listed everywhere that I applied. Then, 3 weeks after he started at the school we found, I was contacted and told there was an opening at what was my top-choice school back when I was touring and applying.

I struggled with the decision to have him switch schools after only 2 months (since we had to give 30 days notice to the current school), but ultimately decided that my gut still said "yes" about the place with the opening. And Cameron has proven himself to be so adaptable, that I thought he would likely roll with it just like he has for all other other major changes in his life lately (new house, new sister, new bed, no pacifier, new school...man we've really thrown a lot at him!).

Plus, since he was placed with the older class at the old school (so he would only have to get used to one set of teachers), he would be getting a new set of peers anyway in September as the younger kids moved up to the room he was in. So...new school + new peers, or just new peers. I feel pretty good about the decision we made; hopefully he likes it at the new school too!

What dairy allergy?

I am so, so, so happy to report that we just got back from the allergist and Cameron is no longer reacting to dairy! Well, via a skin test. They still want us to come in and do a milk challenge, which will be much like the 3-hour peanut butter challenge we did. Start with drinking a small amount, wait and see, drink some more, wait and see, etc. My only fear with doing this is that he won't want any milk afterwards, as he now avoids peanut butter like the plague. "My tummy doesn't like peanut butter!" he says. :( I'm still hopeful he'll change his tune someday about that one!

So, we plan to do that challenge soon. We have been experimenting a little bit lately, with dairy in cooked things (like waffles) and he hasn't had any reactions. The thought of not having to read labels anymore and him being able to eat whatever is SO exciting! I will be able to cook with cheese again! And, we found out he can also have nuts and shellfish! We had been avoiding those since they are considered high-allergen foods and he had and "allergic" profile. But this opens up a whole new world of food possibilities for us, especially at restaurants. Also, the thought that he can now partake in eating birthday cakes at friends' parties makes me ridiculously happy. :)

The not-so-great news is that he is still reactive to cat dander. He still doesn't show any symptoms when he's around the cats (or just at home for that matter), but we don't know how much having the cats in the house might be contributing to the fact that we have to periodically use the nebulizer when he gets sick and it moves down into his respiratory system. However, we haven't had to use the nebulizer very much lately. I guess this winter will be interesting, what with school in the mix and all those lovely germs he will bring home.

Potty successes

We'll be going to the Academy of Sciences this weekend, as Cameron's reward for using the potty and successfully getting 10 stickers!

I made him a potty chart and added one of his favorite characters, Lightening McQueen, at the bottom. That, coupled with the motivational Thomas stickers I picked up on a whim at Old Navy last Christmas, gave me hope that he'd be excited to fill up the chart and get his special reward of going somewhere fun, his pick.

We still have to prompt him to visit the potty, but hopefully soon he'll start listening to his body and telling us when it's time to go. Hopefully!

Preschool bound

Cameron attended preschool for the first time today. I cried a little bit after dropping him off, but it was a good cry. It makes my heart happy that he didn't cry at all and was comfortable enough to let us go with a goodbye and a promise to see him later. My big boy!

Pumping gas

It's never too early to teach your kid how to pump his own gas for the car, right?

Bye bye pacifier

We have been debating Cameron's use of the pacifier for awhile now, thinking about when would be the best time to get rid of it, and how to make it the least traumatic for him.

With his move to the big boy bed, the paci falls on the floor more often into spots where he can't necessarily see it or reach it. He'll occasionally call out for one of us, asking for help to find it.

So awhile ago this happened, and I went in looking for it. I looked and looked and honestly couldn't find it, and told him so. (Eventually I did spy it after poking around a bit more, but I didn't tell him this.)

He accepted the fact that we couldn't find it, and went back to sleep without it. Over the next few days of naps and nights of sleep, we stuck with the story that we couldn't find it and he was able to fall asleep and stay asleep without it. Success! Though, he did still ask for it periodically and question why we couldn't find it.

Realistically, I do feel a bit of mommy guilt over the way it happened, and in hindsight, I don't know if it was the best way to get rid of it. Should it have been more his choice, etc.? I have friends who told their kids about the paci fairy and when the fairy would come the kid would get a toy in exchange for all the pacis. Or, friends who took their kids to the build-a-bear workshop and had the paci dropped inside the bear's foot before it was filled with stuffing so the kid could still feel it, but not suck on it.

But, it is what it is, and even though I found the thing, I don't want to give it back and go through this withdrawal all over again.

It'll be interesting once he knows that Norah can have one and he can't, but I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it?

Big boy bed

Last night was Cameron's first night in his big boy bed. It's been set up for about a month now and he's been able to climb, sit, and bounce in it. Basically get comfortable. And since he's had a few successful naps in it, we figured he was ready for his first overnight.

We all gathered for his bedtime stories, and then it was lights out. Well, almost out. The crib is still in his room since Norah's room is still Cairo's room. So I hung his waterfall crib soother on the outside of the crib rails instead of the inside so he can reach over from his bed and push the button to get a little bit of light and music if he wants. We pushed the button for him before leaving the room.

Just like with all his other transitions lately, he did great. I'm so proud of him!

I love you

Yesterday morning I was making pancakes with Cameron. Chris came downstairs while we were working in the kitchen and asked what we were doing, to which Cameron happily replied "making pancakes, Dada!"

And then later, when he was taste testing them, he said to Chris "I love Mama, Dada." It was the first 'I love you' that I've heard directed at me; before it's been Wendell or Rabies, or other belongings of his.

And then this morning, Chris was leaving for work and my mom was getting Cam dressed. Chris went in to say goodbye, and Cam said "Bye Dada, I love you!"

So sweet!

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!

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!