Oh my gosh

My poor baby. He was in the pitcher position during his final t-ball game when the final batter hit a line drive right into Cam's... um... private area. I took a picture of the moment right after it hit. The poor kid. I ran onto the field. I had to... Although the dad/coach told me there was nothing I could do to help and he helped Cam walk it off. No fun. And his team was SO concerned. The kids kept asking Cam: "Are you okay?" Apparently Cam is okay. But I think we just lessened the chance he'll be able to have kids 20 to 30 years from now.

On the upside: Uncle Barry and Beth came to see the game. Cam loved seeing them. We all did! We're planning to hang out again this weekend.

So the t-ball season is over. Cam says he'll play again next year and he's still talking about playing in the Little League World Series. We have major attention issues to attend to first... A little coordination work... But he's only 5. If he really wants to work towards that goal, he could make it happen.

A good weekend

Jumping through
Originally uploaded by NerdyMom

We had one of those Saturdays where everything fell into place. Cam woke up in a sour mood, but it didn't last. His grandparents were in town! They brought this plastic ring that fills up with water and sprays out. So we decided to set it up... But not before Cam got to spend pre-school graduation money to buy his first real water guns (I'm trying to be open minded and allowed the purchase) -- Super Soakers -- and a new bubble blower (it doesn't spill!!).

So we started out with the water ring. It was crazy fun. Jordan was a little skeptical, but Cam was all over it. The water gun and bubbles came out and he LOVED it. Then his Poppy arrived with new sand for the sandbox that's built below the treehouse. That's when life got very messy and extra happy.

There are many adventures to be had in that sandy box. The hard part: Sharing with Jordan and Jordan sharing with Cam.

Second base out!

In our second to last t-ball game, Cam made an out! It's pretty exciting. He's proud. Plus some friends from the tv station came to watch... Which was very special! As usual, Cam is a lucky kid.

A good day at school

No need for words

Negative talk

My husband says this blog has taken a turn for the negative... So I'm going to take some time off here. Hopefully Cam's challenges during this transition time will wear out and I won't feel so worn down.

Crying that doesn't stop

I won't get into the details, but Cam's crying needs to stop and I'm starting to think that I can't help him. I'm too aggravated and I'm afraid that exhaustion and aggravation makes me the wrong person to guide him. I just want it to stop... But we really need to get to the reason.

Here's my theory. After talking to Cam's new teacher, he's upset about anything he does wrong. He's hyper-sensitive to negative input... Nomatter what it is. We have to try and figure out a way for him to feel better about himself, but it's all just so hyper-focused in his world. I wish I could make it easier... But I think my aggravation just makes it harder on him.

Some trouble there

So I called in this afternoon to hear how the day went. I heard that Cam got into a pushing match. The later at home Cam lets out that he was sent to the office. He says some kid hit him really hard and then Cam hit back. I understand, but he needed to tell a teacher. I can't imagine that the playground rules are as simple as they were at the Academy. So we had to really talk to him about getting a teacher involved before Cam tries to take things in his own hands. That's all we can ask for!

Hopefully tomorrow will be a little easier for him!

Pressuring himself

So it's a lot harder to guage how the new school is going. I didn't realize how lucky we were in pre-school to get a little note about my child's day or the quick conversation with the teacher on a daily basis. So I kept asking Cam about his day all evening long. Little pieces of the day came through. But it all came crashing down as we were going to bed.

I asked him what his teacher told him to work on... And Cam just started crying. He started talking about something that didn't make sense. He was really upset. I think I boiled it down to the fact that he couldn't remember what he needed to work on. So I told him the best part about Kindergarten is how you get to work on the same thing a bunch of times. That seemed to calm him. So Randy and I are going to focus on how Kindergarten is fun since he's clearly putting a ton of pressure on himself all by himself. We don't need to encourage stress.

Cam also told me he was shy at school. I tried to understand why. But I just told him that as long as there's one friend who he feels comfortable around, he doesn't have to feel shy. It's the first step towards feeling okay around everyone else. I don't remember feeling shy... So I don't have a ton to offer in that department. Randy says he thinks he can relate and may be able to help him. We'll see. I just want to hold him and tell him that he'll be okay and he'll never have a rough time. Wouldn't that be great?

BTW, I upgraded this blog -- It looks similar, but a bit different. Randy was giving me hell for not creating a new banner for Cam's blog after what I did for Jordan. Mission accomplished.

First Day!

My boy is on his way to becoming a full fledged Kindergartener. Today I took him to school, walked him to his class line and just waited until it was time to move over to his classroom. We talked about Jordan's arm with a bunch of kids and I even got a few moments to chat with his teacher. I was the only crazy parent to just hang out... But I don't see anything wrong with it. I'm just lucky enough to not need to rush off.

There was a wide range of kids in the class. My favorite analysis of the group was watching the difference between the girls and the boys. The girls were congregating and talking about who knows what. The majority of the boys were just sitting there, wiggly and wanting to move. None of them really talked to each other. I got Cam to say hi to a couple of people, but he didn't really strike up a conversation. He knows one other kid at school who is in a different class. They'll get to play out on the playground together. Cameron was really excited about that.

We have a t-ball game tonight... Hopefully we'll have a good report at the end of his day. I know he's going to be exhausted!!

Open House

We took Cam to the open house at his new school this evening. He's pretty excited and doesn't seem to freaked out by it all. The interesting part was when we went into the classroom. We met his new summer teacher and he and I immediately found the circle time carpet. There was a little piece of tape at the top of each color. We found his color (green) and Cam quickly proceeded to find a book and plop down into his spot on the rug to read. I chatted with the teacher and felt like we're going to be okay with her. Another child came in and I was humbled by how fortunate we've been to educate Cam so much. This little boy had a very poor language ability and it was clear he hadn't spent a lot of time in a classroom before. Cam's going to be in a classroom with a wild range of kids... That's how public school works. I knew that, but I'd never actually seen it in action.

Then we went outside to the playground... And all I can say is THANK GOODNESS we went to the playground at Barry's nearby elementary school. We pushed Cam to play on apparatus that he hadn't played on before and that helped him ease up on his nervousness over this new school's playground. He did AMAZING things on parts of the playground. I'm thrilled for him and how he's not going to be as freaked out as he used to be.

"I had a busy day!"

Cam had a busy weekend! He got to spend a bunch of time with Uncle Barry and Beth. They took him to the Shakespeare Festival while Randy and I went to an awards ceremony. He proved his keen ability to negotiate anything... From taking a bite of his sandwich to going to bed. I've figured this out and can put a stop to his negotiation before it really gets rolling.

Cam also got to play with Uncle Barry and just enjoy standard hang out time. They played and played on a nearby playground. I love this picture because you can see Cam's admiration. You can't catch that kind of picture every day.

Cam and his Dad got to see the Cards beat the Angels. Two different home runs from Pujols! Even Scott Spiezio hit a home run. Cam just couldn't stop talking about it. He's really starting to catch on to the game and how it works.

We drove home tonight and Cam mentioned what a busy day he had... We read a book, I sang him a lullaby... And as I walked out, I felt like we're really transitioning into a new lifestyle. Tomorrow Cam goes to work with us and then Camp Kindergarten starts. I will be in charge of getting the boy to school since it starts at 8:30 and Randy has to be at work by 8. That means Jordan's schedule will change too. I'm going to kind of miss the quiet morning time I had with her. But I also look forward to getting the kids a little more time together in the mornings. I'm also starting to wonder if I need to feed Cam more food. He'd eat at home AND have a morning snack at school. That morning snack was a lot like a second breakfast. He won't have that in public school. So that's a new thing to fret about. I'm also trying to think how we'll be able to bring swimming lessons in his world along with whatever other activity he's involved in. I'll miss that ability to send him off to swimming while he's at school!! So many little things. But hopefully there will be all kinds of exciting and good things that will come with his start in public school. The best so far: Much much much much much less expensive!!

Thanks Academy!

Cam wrapped up his last day at school today. It's exciting to think what's ahead. Cam wasn't happy about me asking him to pose for pictures. I got some nice ones (coming to a flickr page near you)... But this one told the story. Cam was kind of sad. I was pretty much okay with all. No tears, just a touch of nostalgia. It's probably not that hard because I still have my connection to the school through Jordan

The transitions are still a little scary. I can only hope for the best.

Last day of preschool

It's official. Cam's last day is today. So last night I spent a bunch of time editing video together for Cam's friends' families. Here's a snippet I put together from graduation when the kids sang "I Won't Grow Up."



If you can't see it, go here.

I also went through all of my school pictures and separated them out to burn CDs for each family. I didn't count, but I think I made at least ten different picture CDs. I couldn't imagine not sharing them. Randy put it best: Today is the last day Cam is ever going to play with some of these kids. Our town is large enough that he might see some of these kids in passing, but they won't have a school connection. I couldn't imagine losing touch before offering each family my view of their kids. I've been lucky enough to have a job that's given me time to get to know a lot of them!

Baseball excitement

We survived two straight days of T-ball. Last night, I took out the super-cool camera that the station recently acquired for KOMU.com. I have a cool sequence of Cam trying to make it to first base. He didn't get there in time during this string of pictures, but he did the other two times he got up to bat.



I have BUTTLOADS of pictures on my Flickr page, but remember, you have to be my Flickr friend to see it all! If this slideshow doesn't work... Sorry, it's been a little spotty for some reason.

Oops

I just went to tell Randy about Cam's teeth issues. He read about it on the blog first.

Woops.

Big head, small mouth

So as most of you know, Cam has a good sized head. It's kind of big actually. He's grown into it. But apparently, his dentist doesn't think Cam has much of a mouth. His baby teeth are crowded in there... And after Cam's dentist appointment today, the dentist thinks it's possible that Cam might have to lose some adult teeth when they start coming in. I hope not. He said things will probably get ugly when the adult teeth start popping in a year.

Only time will tell.

The good news: Cam's doing a pretty good with his teeth. He's brushing, he's flossing. And I even got Jordan her first appointment. Hooray! I'm getting her to the dentist a whole year earlier than Cam.

My boy in action

We had a super fun day after we dealt with getting Cam to finish last night's dinner. I got the family out to a fun event called Art in the Park. Cam wasn't so interested in the art part until he I told him about the face paint. ROCK ON. He asked for Spider Man and he got it. He was pretty excited and as usual, he was quickly in character.

He was really worried about the face wearing off... So he skipped the nap part of the day. I let him get away with that for the sake of Spider Man. Eventually he tried to wash it all off. He kind of turned his entire face and ears red instead. After some good scrubbing I think I got it all off.

Anyway. A fun day on the whole. Cam continues to kind of play with Jordan. He's not so into sharing, but they are laughing and being silly together. I can't help but be excited about that.