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!

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!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year, there are many things that I am thankful for: a house, a job, friends, and family. But I am most thankful for my fantastic husband and my wonderful son. Today I was with them, and that made it a good day.

Cameron woke up from his morning nap at 9:30am, and we hung out and played until it was time to leave for Thanksgiving at Aunt Sharon's house. We enjoyed spending the afternoon with the extended family, and didn't take off until nearly 5:30pm! Cameron was such a trooper...he had been awake since 9:30am, having skipped his afternoon nap entirely. I was super-duper impressed with how well he handled it. He was tired at the end of the day, but he was still in good spirits, laughing and playing with his truck and piano, and charming all the adults in the room.

Also, Cameron decided to take his first steps today! And he did it when everyone got a chance to see, which was a real treat. :) He has yet to stand up on his own without holding onto something, but look out, we now have an official walker!

Chomp chomp

Why is it that the crib rail tastes so good?

I'm sure glad we added that protective covering, otherwise it would be covered in tooth marks!

Dada

Dada pimped Cameron's ride. He went to the hardware store and bought new tires for the Cozy Coupe. Real tires (I think they were made for wheelbarrows?) that make pushing the car around on sidewalks much smoother and quieter.

Halloween

We went to a Halloween party at a friend's house so all the babies could hang out and show off their costumes. A good time was had by all!

Cameron's marionette costume didn't make it easy to lounge around, so we waited a little while before getting him dressed up. He thought it was interesting and fun at first...

But pretty soon after that he decided that he was tired and hungry, so we headed home. His bedtime is still on the early side, so we missed out on trick or treating, but I'm not sure if he would have enjoyed it anyway. Next year!

Kisses, part 2

Chris captured the open-mouth kiss in a photo. Cute, right?!? :)

Kisses

If you ask Cameron for a kiss, most often he will lean toward you with an open mouth and let you plant one on him.

I thought that was the cutest thing ever. But I was wrong.

Last night I got my first unsolicited kiss; just before I put him to bed he leaned toward me with that open mouth without me asking first...and that's the cutest thing ever. :)

12 months!

We just had Cameron's 12 month check up. His height (29.75 inches) and weight (23 lb 2 oz) are now in the 50th percentile: totally average. But his head (48 cm) is still in the 90th percentile! :oP

All in all, he's doing really well. He's meeting all his milestones and is a happy guy! We talked about what foods he's going to eat as we go forward and transition off the soy formula. Since he isn't going to be getting the fat and calories from whole cow's milk, we're going to have to make sure that his diet includes plenty of non-dairy caloric foods. We're going to try both soy milk and rice milk, and see what he thinks. No almond milk, though, as the allergist cautioned us to stay away from all nuts for at least another year. He didn't have a reaction to peanuts when tested, but, to be on the safe side, we're going to hold off.

We also talked about transitioning off the bottle. It'll be a gradual change over the next several months. We'll likely keep the pre-nap and pre-bedtime bottles to start, but maybe give him more to drink in his sippy cups with daytime meals. We'll see!

I got my flu shot today, and Cameron got his first of two flu shots (in addition to two other shots, poor guy!). We have to return in four weeks for his second dose. Fun stuff.

For posterity

At one year, Cameron...

• has this "ha ha ha" laugh, which is totally adorable and he will mimic you if you do it.
• is walking around when holding adult fingers, or on his own when holding onto objects like chairs or the coffee table.
• is very proficient at pulling up to stand, squatting down, and standing back up again.
• is wearing 12m clothes, but not for very much longer. Gotta go wash those 18m ones!
• is wearing size 4 diapers, size 5 at night, but still in cloth most days.
• has 6 teeth (2 bottom, 4 top).
• is in between 1 and 2 naps per day; we've been going back and forth.
• is not saying any real words...will make a hard C (or K) sound when he sees the cats, and for other objects whose names have that sound (like duck, clock, book, etc.) but otherwise it's really just pointing with a very emphatic "mmmm!" for whatever he wants.
• understands a lot, though, and will correctly point things out when we say "Where's the butterfly? monkey? ball?" etc.
• just learned how to properly use a straw, instead of just chewing on the end. Straw sippy cups, here we come!