Weekend excitement

Cam got a chance to hang out with a friend from pre-school. We met her family at an art festival downtown. It was a lot of fun. There were all kinds of art projects for the kids and we got to eat yummy food. Best of all, the kids really enjoyed hanging out together. Even Jordan seemed to have a bit of fun (even though I kept her in the stroller so I could keep her contained).

I ran around with the iPhone taking great pictures of the kids drawing and painting and eating.

Where are the pictures you ask? Well, I went to sync my phone with my computer and found there was a new update for the phone. So I sync the phone, but it wouldn't connect with my photo program. So I figured I'd deal with it after the updating process.

Except during the update, my phone crashed.

And I lost my cool pictures.

And now I'm sad.

At least the kids had fun. That's more important than pictures. But pictures rock and I'm a bit disappointed.

Oh! Speaking of pictures, Cam had picture day at school last week and we almost didn't get to school on time because we had to fight over Cam's outfit and his hair. He was VERY angry with me as I tried to comb and style it. So who knows what it will look like. We can only hope for the best.

Homework

Cam started getting a homework folder sent home for us to finish each week. I have quickly found that any homework Cam works on, he wants me to watch.

"Mom! Watch me write an upper-case 'L!'"

"Now watch a lower case one!"

"Mom! Are you watching?"

"Mom! Aren't you proud of me?"

I'm not sure what is the proper balance: How much should I watch and how much should I require him to do on his own for the sake of my own sanity and his ability to do work on his own? Tricky, tricky, tricky.

Big roller day

I'm out of town but I had to mention that Cameron had a big day today. This morning he got a chance to go to a rollerskating rink for a birthday party. He's NEVER skated before and to be honest, his Dad and I figured it would be a disaster. You know, because Cam is always SO careful about his physical safety. But Randy prepped Cam by letting him know that he'll fall down and get up A LOT and that it will be super fun. Apparently that worked because Cam LOVED it. He loved it so much that he decided that he wants his own pair of skates. I'm so proud of him and I'm so glad he had a ton of fun.

I'm back home tomorrow... I'll get to sneak into Cam's room and give him a kiss while he's sleeping.

Playing a lot in the neighborhood

Cam is getting to know some of the kids in the neighborhood. One of the boys (a 4 year old) who lives up the street -- on the same side -- Keeps knocking on our door to play. So Cam has him over or Cam goes over to his house. Either way, they seem to play pretty well for an hour or so at a time. If it gets much longer, they start a power play over a toy or over who is in charge. I think it's great to see Cam running around pretending to fight the bad guys. Tonight the neighbor's older brother (who is a year and a half older than Cam) came over too. I couldn't really figure out what game they were playing. They were earning points or something and they needed to get stuff from a "garage sale" that was in our basement. Either way, the boys were climbing up the treehouse and down the slide... up and down... up and down. It was funny to watch.

Jordan wanted to play "ide." That's how she says "outside."

SO I think Cam is ready for another week of school. I won't be here for most of the week, but I think he and I need a little time off. I get him worked up, he gets me worked up. We spent a lot of time drawing pictures today. Oh! And Cam read some amazing books to me. He's really comprehending and sounding out words. I love it.

We had a bad day yesterday

But after a lot of talking and a loss of his favorite book for a while... And a good talk with his Tae Kwon Do instructor, I think we're going to work this out.

He's growing and learning.

And he's SUCH a boy.

Growing, learning... Testing

Mister Kindergarten has talents that he's never exposed before at home. Look at this picture! It's his self portrait. It's awesome.

Cam has been REALLY busy since Kindergarten started. He has a whole bunch of friends and he's been pretty darn positive about everything he talks about at school. And I finally got Cam interested in riding his bike! On Sunday, I finally reached him as he started screaming, "I can't! I can't!" That's when I announced to Cam that I won't bike ride with him unless he changes his attitude to "I can." It worked pretty well. Instead of driving to the nearby parking lot, I got him to walk his bike up the hill we live on and then ride it almost all the way to the parking lot. We rode like crazy and I almost got him to ride all the way home on the bike. The best part: He asked to go out biking after dinner. So we did. I hooked the bike trailer to the back of Randy's bike and had Jordan join us for the ride. Cam had very few "I can'ts" and Jordan even wore her helmet the whole time without protest. It was fantastic. I'm SO thrilled to have more excuses to enjoy outside time with the kids. The best part: As Cam and I were riding down our street he looked over to me while he pedaled and said: "I love being outside." It was awesome. Then we talked about our great camping trip. It makes me all warm and fuzzy.

Of course he's still testing me. Food continues to be a big challenge. But that testing is normal stuff... And the crying and craziness is not as crazy as it has been. The funniest stuff is Cam's complaining as we walk towards school. He is a bit more motivated each morning when we walk with our neighbors. That's been an added plus to the morning walks: Grown ups to talk to!!

I blame the iPhone commercials

I have an iPhone. Yes. I'm that kind of nerd. Cameron knows how to use it. I haven't shown him a thing. He knows how to do EVERYTHING.

I had to institute a no-touching policy on the phone.

If only I could convince the baby to keep her hands off the thing. Every time she sees it she yells: "MINE!"

What a guy

Cam has been a really good kid this weekend... Some of the normal issues... But we've had a good time hanging out. Cam has been talking more and more about his new friends and fun games at school. Apparently some of the guys in his class are his "Super hero friends." I guess they play super heros during recess. On the whole, it sounds like he's having fun and recovering pretty well during setbacks in his day.

What's super funny about Mr. Cam these days is how everything is to the extremes. I'll talk to him at one moment and he'll say: "This is the best day ever!" Something goes wrong and instantly it's "the worst day ever!" So dramatic. My boss is pretty sure Cam has a future in theater. Who knows.

Oh! We've started reading "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe." I've been waiting to read this to him. I think he's going to really enjoy it. Apparently he had to brag about it to all of his friends at Sunday school today. I didn't realize he was that excited. Aren't books fun?

By the way, we haven't watched a movie over a weekend since we were on vacation and stuck in the car. Any time Cam asks to watch a movie, I take him outside. It feels better... And I have ALL KINDS of bug bites.