On an adventure

Cameron left today to visit his grandparents for the holiday... And he traveled with his uncle! Mom and Dad stayed behind for an extra day... So when Cam left: He was going on an adventure!! He was very excited and got there safe.

Cameron loves singing Jingle Bells... And even holds the tune! Very cute.

This is going to be a really fun time. We have a really great camera and hope to get a ton of video that's easy to edit... Something Mom hasn't done much. (I'm much more into the still photography)

Catch up

I noticed one of my posts didn't actually get on the site.

Here's a quick rundown on what's up with Cam this month:

He's totally into the holidays. He loves it. He loves the lights and the gifts and the music. All of it.

When we talk about Christmas he says two things: Santa gives me presents and It's Jesus' birthday. He's a sweetie.

We're considering this the most pure of holidays. Cameron can't tell us what he wants. He talks about lights and "It's the holidays!" He's absorbing himself in the joy and not the greed.

What fun.

No more pajamas

Cameron's teachers told a funny story I should share.

The day after their big performance, the entire school had pajama day. So Cam got to spend his day in comfy clothes.

Around 4 in the afternoon, Cam went to the bathroom. When he was done, he came out without his clothes on. Why you ask?

He told his teachers he was done wearing pajamas.

It took some time, but they convinced him to put the p.j.'s back on.

Another name

Today I was named "Woody Mommy"

Cam also often pretends we're climbing a rope and we fall down. I'm not sure why. But it's funny to watch him fall down and giggle.

That reminds me of a strange moment over Thanksgiving.

Cam was standing on the top of his step stool when he suddenly yells: "Humpty Dumpty had a great fall!" And he belly flopped onto the floor. He expected the adults in the room to complete the nursery rhyme, he'd laugh, climb up and do it again. I had to put a stop to it... I figured dealing with a couple of broken ribs was a poor way to end the holiday weekend.

I'm Woody

Cameron not only makes up stories that I'm Mr. Incredible and he's Dash. He's now calling me Woody while he's Buzz Lightyear. Hillarious.

He has a different style for running depending on which character he's pretending to be: If he's Dash, he takes very fast, quick steps and waves his arms back and forth quickly. If he's Buzz, he sticks his fisted hands out in front of his face and kind of tilts his head down as if he's going so fast, he needs to be a little more aerodynamic. It's quite funny.

Christmas is in your heart

We put the Christmas tree up in the house and decorated with lights in the front yard... Cameron is talking about Christmas a lot now.

When we first turned on the tree, the look of excitement in his face was so cool. It's was like someone just told him he could eat an entire chocolate cake by himself. The next morning we came downstair to turn the tree on and Cam exclaimed: "It's beautiful!"

That night, Cameron and I were walking upstairs to go to bed. Cam looked up to me and asked: "Where I find Christmas?" I told him it's in his heart. He looked down at his chest and back up to me in amazement. I'm sure he didn't quite understand what I was talking about, but he gave me a Christmas hug when I asked for one.

So many things...

But I just haven't had enough time to list the funny stories about Cameron lately.

He's hillarious and having a ball with his Grandma and Grandpa Lee from Florida and Uncle Jon from Washington, D.C.

We were sitting at the table the night his grandparents and Uncle Jon got into town when Cam announces: "See all ten peoples at the table?" We counted for real... And Cameron stated: "See the six peoples?"

This Thanksgiving morning, Cameron asked for a family hug: "Faah-mah-lee hug." He also said repeated prayers during our Thanksgiving dinner... Including his secret Cameron word: "Vaah-vah-veh." I ask him what it means and he replies: "I not know." But he only uses the word when he's happy. So the prayer went like this: "Vahh-vah-veh. The whole wide world. Amen."

One other thing. Since Cam saw the movie "The Incredibles," Cam likes to say: "Mommy, you Mr. Incredible. I Dash. Let's run Mr. Incredible." We've been running a lot lately. It's fun... And I like pretending I'm Mr. Incredible. By the way, Cameron says "Mr. 'Credible" I consider that what a superhero would be named if he was a journalist.

We opened up a can of worms

Cameron discovered he can get out of his bed all by himself. That means nap time is not guaranteed and a smiling face can pop up in my room very early in the morning.

We're currently dealing with a high level of toddler obstinance. Any command is denied... In the last 24 hours, my wonderful potty trained baby decided he'd rather pee on the floor. He's angry, challenging... And then two seconds later, he's sweet and saying the cutest stuff.

I'm beating my head into the wall.

It doesn't help that his daddy is out of town. I think that upsets Cam more than I realize. He asks about Randy at the strangest time. Yesterday we were walking to the Tiger football game and suddenly asked: "Where's Daddy/" He's not a fan of doing things that we do normally as a family just with Mommy. The good news: Daddy comes home late tonight!! Hooray!

Big boy bed... Almost

Cam stopped sleeping in a crib as of tonight.
We turned his bed into a day bed. So he can actually get in and out of bed on his own. I'm not too sure if Cam understands that. We removed it right before bed time.

He was really excited about his "big boy" bed... Until I tucked him in. He asked: "Where the wood?" He pointed to the space where the crib railings used to be. He looked a bit panicked. I told him it would be okay.

So far, so good. He's been asleep for four hours.

This very well could be one of my last nights when I can enjoy silence and peace and not worry my child is wandering around the house awake.

Bare bottom

Okay.
I promised not to write too much about potty training. But we discovered the greatest training for Cam: No pants. Nothing. Bare bottom time is the best. We played all afternoon after our third soiled outfit was sent to the laundry. It was the first time the boy stopped what he was doing and went into the bathroom on his own.

It was amazing.

I'm a geeky mom. I know it.

Heck, I'm blogging about my child's potty training. That's really geeky.

Potty training is fun

Okay. Actually it's messy. But Cameron's doing a good job.

This is gross, but funny. He was bragging to me and his Grandma Lee that he made a "Big poop" in the potty. Then he stopped and said, "No Mommy. I mage a HUGE poop." Then he ran around the house yelling: "HUGE poop! HUGE poop! HUGE poop!"

I'll try to not talk too much about pee and poop in this blog. I promise

Trick or Treating!!!

Cameron absolutely loved Halloween... He loved the candy, he loved the costume (he was a lion this year). He really loved the fun and games in our neighborhood. The older kids in the neighborhood put together a party for the younger kids... There was throw the pumkins in the big pumkin, dig for candy in hay, decorate a pumpkin cookie, broomstick limbo... They even had a mini-hay ride. It was awesome.

It started raining just when we started trick or treating... But Cameron didn't care. We stopped at a number of houses. Cameron would yell at the door: "TRICK OR TREATING!" He'd take the candy, say thank you and then roar like a lion. We had a tough time explaining why we couldn't eat chocolate after each stop. (By the way, Cameron says: Choc-oh-latt)

Once we got home wet and happy Cameron kept trick or treating out of our bowl. Every time trick or treaters came to our door, Cam grabbed extra treats. He'd run around the house yelling! "I trick or treating!" He did well with his sugar high.

Daddy 46

Last weekend we had a big surprise party for Randy... There's a big 40th birthday balloon in our house. Cameron likes to play with it. Today he looked at the balloon and exclaimed to me: "Daddy 46!"

I'm getting scammed

Cameron woke up at 2am announcing he needed to go potty. He didn't really go potty. He wanted to play. I was scammed. It took Randy and I an hour to get him back to bed.

We met with our Parents as Teachers educator today... She says we were scammed.

We're going to have to nip this one in the bud.

Potty time

I think we're actually in the potty zone.

Cameron used it a lot this week. He used the potty a lot in Kentucky. He even used his potty in a gas station rest room in Illinois. (Yes, we traveled with a kid potty)

I'm tired of cleaning up pee.

Cam went to bed an hour late tonight because he wouldn't stop peeing.

Mommy make me sad

On our drive home this weekend, Cameron was a little moody. He ate too much chocolate. (Or as he says: Choc-coh-latt) So before and after his 2 hour nap in the car, he'd periodically start whining.

We'd ask him why he's sad. His reply: "Mommy make me sad." He wouldn't explain why.

He said it so many times, we couldn't help but laugh.

Cam likes to puddle

Every year we visit our good friends in Lexington. Since Cameron was born, we've all grown accustomed to Cameron keeping us awake and making life difficult and exhausting.

This visit, Cam was pretty darn good. He grew out of the pack and play bed. So he slept with us both nights and took a huge nap on his own on Saturday.

The whole time, we talked about cuddles. It was a reward for laying in the bed quietly. But when Cameron wanted to cuddle he'd ask me to "puddle." Yes, Cam likes to puddle.

Mommy happy?

Cameron's paying more attention to emotions. When he does something wrong and I send him to time out, he cries a little, stops and then asks: "Mommy happy?"

I tell him no and that I'm actually mad. That turns Cam into a ball of tears. When he proves himself a changed boy (I usually expect an apology for what he did wrong), I tell him I'm happy. Then he smiles.

We also play a game where he tells me what emotion I should do and we make our faces look mad or sad or happy. You should see Cam's mad face, it's very funny.

Thanks...

Cameron thanked the guys at the grocery check out today: "Thanks guys."

They looked at me like Cameron was some kind of freak for thanking them.

Who says you can be too polite?

What do we do?

So Cam and I have this thing for laying on the ground in our front yard and look up at the leaves. We stare and talk about the colors of the trees. On Friday, I noticed the brown leaves were all gone... The green and yellow are the only ones left. The brown ones fell to the ground.

Cameron looked over to me and said: "What do we do?" (In his astonished toddler way)

I told him we could play with the brown leaves since there were on the ground. That's when I took that sweet black eye shot of him in his firefighter coat.

Today we tried to fly a kite in the backyard. Cameron wouldn't let go of the kite's tail, so we just ran back and forth while Cam yelled: "The kite fly, Mommy! The kite fly! I did it!"

Ouch!

He's got a black eye... but he's still happy. Cam and I spent a lot of time outside this past week playing with leaves and running around pretending we know how to play soccer, baseball and basketball. 

Classic Picture Day

Last night, Cameron got out of the tub too fast.

He got a black eye. It kind of looks like a Nike swoop under his eye.

Today was picture day.

It figures.

Thank you Doctor

Cameron spent almost 3 hours in a doctor's office today while we tried to figure out why he coughs all the time. (Turns out it's a sinus infection and asthma) So after he was poked and prodded, he says to the doctor: "Thank you Doctor."

She was so surprised, she gave him a hug.

By the way, after screaming and crying while we took some x-rays. Cameron gets a hug from me, calms down and asks: "I get more pictures?" Like he had a good time and wanted more.

Because....

For some reason, whenever I ask Cameron why he did something, he says: "Because, it's supposed to be."

Here's an example:
Cameron, why didn't you listen to your teacher at school today?

"Because, it's supposed to be."

I asked Cameron that question because Randy says as Cameron walked out of school, Cam told him: "I no listen today."

Oy.

Go Tigers! Go Defense!

We had a great time going to the big football game today. Cam had a ball. I introduced the idea of defense and offense... And suddenly, Cameron's chanting GO DEFENSE through the house after the game. He's also running around the house in a low football-like stance saying: "I run and run and run like football!"

Cameron got to know many people in the stands, he'd just use their legs to help him stand up or start patting someone nearby just because. The entire crowd near us said goodbye as we left (10 minutes before the end of the game). I'm guessing they were amused by his empassioned yells of "GO TIGERS!!" and "ZOU!"

Fall's falling leaves

Remember that scene in the movie "Titanic" when Leonado DiCaprio stands on the ship with his arms outstretched and carefree. Imagine Cameron doing that as the wind blows and leaves fall around him. We chased leaves all morning today... And Cameron was amazing. We waited for a big gust of wind and then Cam would just run through the backyard trying to catch a leaf. He was so proud to show each one to me. He even started telling the leaves to drop so he could get more.

We also got the local garbage truck driver to honk two times... Each time it took Cam's breath away because it was so loud and exciting to him.

To think it took me 10 minutes to convince him that playing outside would be fun today.

He's ready for Halloween

So Cameron and I were walking around the neighborhood looking for someone to tell about our new kitchen... So we found our victims: A couple who is building a new addition to their home. As we talked, Cameron started playing with a stick. He broke it in half... Put the sticks on his head and said: "Look Mommy! I deer."

So busy, so many stories

We're wrapping up a week-long massive renovation of our kitchen... and most of our first floor. I'm pooped. We were lucky for Randy's parents to help. His dad offered his skills on the project, his mom offered her skills of patience to keep Cameron occupied.

Here's a couple of quick Cam moments:

His Grandma and Poppy were helping him get dressed for the morning. He patted his Grandma on the head and said: "Grandma little. Poppy BIG!" (He stressed the word BIG)

His Dad and Poppy put in a new floor. When I came in the morning, he pulled me into the kitchen, laid on the floor and said: "Look Mommy! My new floor!" He did something similar the next morning as the whole kitchen really came together: "Look Mommy! My new kitchen!" We visited our neighbors today... I was talking about our project when he piped in about "his kitchen." They were right. Kids really do think they own everything.

Another quick one: Cam and his Grandma were in the basement reading his Blue's Clues book. She convinced him to go upstairs to say goodnight to us. After the important hugs and kisses, his Grandma told him to go upstairs and read more books. He asked for his Blue's Clues book, and his Grandma said they's read it upstairs (just to get him to go). But he countered: "But Blue's Clues downstairs." I think that's the first time Cameron's ever questioned an adult. (By the way, I told Cam I'd get the book if he'd go upstairs to bed. That actually worked.)

Oh... Another thing: Cameron things it's cool to swim in the bathtub. We took a swim lesson class this summer and he practices "big hands" (a precursor to the freestyle stroke) and kicking. I ended up soaked after tonight's bathtub experience.

I'm not Superman!

This morning Cameron was on his way downstair when his Daddy called him Superman. Cam responded: "I no Superman. I Cameron."

Smart kid.

As You Wish

Cameron likes The Princess Bride. You know, the movie, "The Princess Bride." For some reason, Randy introduced the movie to Cam... And the kid is obsessed. He woke up this morning asking me if he could watch "The Princess Guide." Close. I understood that one.

Oh. Another quick one. I'm sure Cam will appreciate this later in life. I was putting his pull ups on yesterday morning (yes, fake underwear that works like diapers). Cameron asked me for peanutbutter while he was laying on the changing table. I didn't understand until he pointed to his bottom and exclaimed: "Peanutbutter." He was asking for what his Dad and I call: Butt butter. That's what we call Desitin. He wanted butt butter and could only think of the work peanutbutter. To me, that's hillarious.

Maybe you had to be there.

My little Jeckyl and Hyde

Yesterday Cameron woke up a bear and stayed that way. It was the first time he'd ever begged NOT to go to school. Today was the totally opposite. He ASKED to go see his friends at school. What's up with the mood swings. It can't just be a sleep thing. It's a bizzare toddler mood swing thing... Kind of a preview of teenager moods. Bizzare.

This is when Cam and I were in Aunt Tisha's wedding back in April. I posted it here for nor reason really... Just 'cause I like it. 

Even signs are amazing

Did you know there's a song or saying with every political sign? It turns out Cameron knows. We were walking around the neighborhood trying to find a neighbor to show off Cam's new band-aid (yes, he had an owie on his hand). As we searched for a poor soul who was outside, he discovered three political sign.

The first sign was Bush/Cheney. It had a flag on it... So Cam attempted to say the Pledge of Allegance: "I pwedge aweegance to dah fwag... Of Americut." Yes, that's right. America is actually "Americut." The next sign had a star on it... So Cam sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." The third and final sign just had the candidate's name on it... So he exclaimed: "Look Mommy! ABC's!" And he proceeded to sing the alphabet song.

Yes. Cameron found one neighbor to show off his band-aid.

So I thought I'd give this a try

I've noticed some parents have a tendancy to write down funny moments with their kids. I've also noticed I haven't... But every day there seems there was something funny, amusing or downright hillarious that Cam did. Then I spend the rest of the day telling people the story.

I figured this may be a way I can be sure those who care have a place to see.

We'll see if I actually keep up with the stories:

Here's a couple:
Last week, we took Cam to a big festival. A friend of mine was playing in the local symphony under a gazebo while dogs did tricks. Yes, that's strange. But what do you expect when you live in Missouri. Anyway. Cam had a blue balloon and he thought that was pretty cool. We sat there and enjoyed the music... When Cam noticed a balloon in the sky, flying away. He said: "Oh no! Mommy, go get it!" I explained to him that I couldn't and it was pretty. I convinced him to wave bye-bye to the balloon. That calmed him... Until a blue balloon flew into the sky and Cam thought it was his that was flying away. He freaked. We had to show him his balloon was still with us... And he spent most of the time making sure his wouldn't fly away. "Balloon no fly?" He repeated that on a regular basis. He also tried to get into the performance area with the dogs. But that struggle isnt' worth blabbing about.

On our way back from a Tiger's football game last Saturday, Cameron announced he was going to hit me. I said that made me sad. Cameron announced I should cry (he asks that on a regular basis... it's a game). I told him that he should cry. So Cameron responded: "No Mommy. I no cry. I'm happy." Maybe you had to be there, but that killed us. Randy and I giggled all the way home.