Busy Earth Day

Cameron was outside constantly on this Earth Day -- exactly what you would hope for. We enjoyed Earth Day as best we could after I lost Randy for an hour (long story short - I stink). The kids enjoyed popsicles and some of the events including this picture -- a very large Earth that kids can jump onto. Cam loved it.

He had a successful t-ball practice with Randy. I didn't go this time around since Jordan was napping. Next week I'll be there for sure.

Cam also got to play with some of the neighborhood kids just before bed... It was kind of cool. They all gathered in our backyard and ran around for a while. I even got to chat with the parents. Adult conversation! How cool is that? (Sorry Randy, I know I talk to you... but you know what I mean) Hopefully it's a sign of more neighborhood playtime as we get into summer mode.

Classic neighborhood day

I had to get Cam away from the Wii this morning, but once he was out, he decided to invite a neighborhood kid over to play. This kid is such a sweetie and the two boys got along really well. This friend is more than a year younger than Cam but that didn't seem to matter at all. It was nice to see Cam play with a neighbor nicely. There's another kid nearby who just doesn't mix well with Cam. It was good to see that Cam can play with a neighbor without someone breaking out into high level anger.

Cam ended up playing with the other kid for a short time this afternoon as well. It was short enough to prevent a lot of screaming.

But all in all, it was a classic neighborhood day. You have to push to get our neighborhood to flow socially. We live on a rolling hill street. There's enough privacy in our yards that you can seclude yourself in the backyard and not seek out friends. So you really need to get out and say hello to encourage social stuff. I'm not comfortable letting Cam wander around in the neighborhood on his own yet. I know that's crazy, but I'm like that.

By the way. The out of control protests at dinner continue. Tonight's freak out was over corn on the cob. At some point, I told Cam he was going to eat it when he yelled: "No I ain't!"

No I ain't?

Woah. That's not going to work under my roof.

By the way. While Cam was freaking out, Jordan was eating her corn and declaring: "I eat it. I like it."

"Grandfather!"

Cam is feeling better but I'm guessing he's getting a little stir crazy. He hasn't left the house since Thursday. The cough is improving and he's been wrestling with his dad. He just got tackled by Randy... And Cameron yelled out:

"GRANDFATHER!!!"

He meant "UNCLE!" to get his dad off of him.

I guess you had to be there. It was really funny.

Cam kept trying to play with Jordan today.. But it was things that weren't quite age appropriate. Like puzzles or books that can be easily ripped. Right before bed they started playing with Jordan's Aquadoodle. It's an awesome toy. All you need is water and there's enough room for both kids to draw. It's so cool. They both are pretty supportive of each other when they aren't trying to bargain for attention.

Holidays together

Cam and Jordan have been a lot more "together" these days. Sure, it's mostly because they're stuck with each other while we all hang out for the holidays. But they're also just playing together more. They're also fighting and arguing and bothering each other. But that's all part of being siblings. I just think it's cool to see them coming together and sharing their attention with each other. They chase, they hide, they scream, they giggle. It's fun to watch.

Right before school let out, I helped out with the holiday party at Cam's school. The teacher made it a craft-themed party. I decided to make "crafty" food. I mixed a bunch of frosting different colors so kids could decorate cookies. I also brought bagels and raisins for the non-sweets kids (those actually exist). It was fun to watch the concoctions they came up with. The kids had fun playing and eating at the same time.

Hiking pro

Cameron continued to show his hiking prowess. We hiked close to 2.5 miles AND then we hiked another mile to visit a really cool cave. Cam barely complained and he actually was interested in exploring inside the cave! I didn't bring a flashlight and I didn't feel very balanced to really go in with Jordan on my back. But it was really great to spend so much time outside with the kids.

After the big hike, we got some ice cream and enjoyed it at a really great park where I saw a bunch of people who have kids at Cam's old school. Cam climbed to the very top of the tallest piece of playground equipment and went down the tunnel slide again and again and again. It was amazing. Of course he screamed REALLY loud every time. Funny stuff.

After dinner, Cam even got a chance to meet up with a pre-school friend at the local indoor kid playground place. We were there for an hour and it was great to see the kids play again. But man, we packed a TON of stuff into the day. Hopefully Cam will sleep really well.

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.

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.

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.

Play time!

For the first time, Cam and Jordan played together! Cam was so proud of himself. They played baby basketball in the living room. They giggled and made a lot of noise. It was wonderful. Both kids were happy. I got to cook dinner. It was a simple moment that bought our family closer together.

When Jordan was little, it felt like we had to do so many things separately. Cam didn't get left out, but there were separate patterns and habits in each kids' lives. A little moment of playing together helps bring those patterns closer together.

Cam also got a chance to play out on a farm after church today. He had all kinds of fun meeting cows, running around with friends and eating all kinds of food. The only mishap was after he stepped into a cowpie. He wasn't happy with the smelly mess on his shoes. He calmed down after it was cleaned off.

Great day

The day didn't start well... With the pea incident. But overall, it was great. We got up, battled over peas and then played outside while Jordan took a little nap. Chalk drawing is a big activity at the house lately. Today Cam drew a pink Darth Vader with a white torso that was throwing pink fire. I drew a rainbow that had Cam and his friend Camryn standing under it. I gave Cam a smile which he exclaimed looked like he had lipstick on. Picky picky picky.

After lunch and a nap for both kids (and mommy), we headed out to a nearby water fountain. Cam likes to run around it. Then I got this awesome idea that we should get ice cream cones and then walk to a nearby garden. There was this place nearby that sold ice cream and snacks... But when we walked in there, things looked different from the last time I was there almost 2 years ago: No ice cream. Yup. The place didn't sell ice cream and snacks, just snacks. Luckily, there was a grocery store nearby and I bought a box of little ice cream cones... To make it even more exciting, it was supposed to be Incredibles ice cream cones. So we took our box of ice cream cones to the garden, gobbled it down with quite a mess. And we just played outside. It was awesome. Cam got to have even more fun when we saw a friend from school there. They ran around while his friend's mom and I stressed about elementary school plans. It really is more stressful than I expected.

After the big garden/ice cream fun, Cam rotated between running in the back yard and coloring a race track on multiple pieces of paper while I prepared dinner. Yes, I had vegetables in our meal: Chicken burritos with hidden mushrooms and red and green peppers amongst the cheese and chicken. The hiding never works. And after a number of dramatic attempts, Cam ate a tiny bit of red pepper. It included very dramatic gagging. But he didn't want to eat it at breakfast tomorrow, so at least he tried a new vegetable. By the way, the mom of Cam's school friend told me how she gets a report about lunch every day including how Cam ate one pea or one bean. That's how dramatic my boy has become about vegetables. Even the other kids need to talk about it at home.

I got the girl off to bed, then Cam and I played "basketball" in the backyard, talked to neighbors, got him in the bath (after much protest), read him a book and got him into bed. I asked him to clean up some of the billion books that cover his bedroom floor before waking me up in the morning. Hopefully that plea works. His room really is a disaster zone.

Anyway. The great weather gave us a chance to chat with many neighbors. We got to hang out for HOURS outside... And the boy seemed happy most of the day. It was nice.

One other thing, after saying his prayers tonight, Cam asked me why he prays for himself... Ever since he could say a prayer, he has always ended it: "And God bless Cameron Lee Reeves, Amen." I never encouraged or started this -- it was his creation. I told him that I didn't know why, it was his thing. So he announced that he won't do that ever again. If that's the case, I'm kind of sad. It was very cute.

He's a star

I'm sorry I haven't been able to keep up with the rapidly changing world of Cam. First thing's first. He did a fantastic job in his show, "Curious George and the Puppies." I didn't get a lot of good shots, but when I have time, I'll download the video and post it online. By the way. Cam is in the top left hand corner of the picture. He had a grey and white doggie costume. I guess he could have been a wolf if he wanted.

It was very cute since I hadn't seen Cam in two days. So when I walked into the auditorium, Cam yelled hi and started waving his dog tail. Very cute. It was obvious he wasn't nervous, just excited. His class did a little dance. Then they performed the show. It was hard to hear some of the kids, they whispered. So it was hard for Cam to hear some of his cues. You could hear his director say: "Cameron!" to remind him to say his line. He crawled along the flood while he said: "He even saw a snake!" He climbed up on top of a chair to say: "One puppy climbed on top of a cage to watch the other puppies get into mischief." Very cute stuff.

After the show, the kids posed as a group (note the picture above). After that, Cam ran into the crowd of picture taking parents to hug Jordan who had come with me to take pictures. He was SO sweet. I don't know why. Maybe it was the 2 days away from him. But he looked so old, so grown up. I can't believe how he is maturing rapidly in front of my eyes. Maybe it's how we're growing his hair out. Maybe it's because he's going to Kindergarten soon. Maybe it's because he's reading up a storm these days. I don't know. But I'm already nostalgic for my little boy!

Cam and I had fun visiting the children's museum while we were hanging out in basketball bonanza world at his uncle's. Cam was fantastic allowing Jordan to play and patiently waiting from area to area so Jordan could enjoy fun too. He even helped her get down the little baby slide by herself! It was plain darling to watch him love her.

But a strange thing happened this morning. He woke up feeling icky. But Randy took him to school... and Cam promptly threw up in the car. YUCK. For the first time ever, Randy had to deal with the really messy mess. I went to a conference. By the time I got home, Cam was feeling better. We read some books together, we cuddled, he got a bath. Life seems back to normal again. I am really stunned by the simplicity of it all. Other than the periodic emotional outburst, Cam is just growing and working so hard to learn every minute of the day. He and I work on basic math because he wants to play with numbers. We read everything... He's sounding things out. He's making up stories. He's writing words with the magnets on the fridge. It's stunning to watch his brain grow by the minute. It's shocking to see how fast he's maturing. And best of all, I'm so proud of how caring he is of his sister. He's SO much nicer than I ever was to my brother (sorry Jon). I'm touched by his kindness and love. You should have seen him hug every kid her knew when we left his show on Saturday. He truly enjoyed his new friends.

Next big event: Cam's birthday. His High School Musical invitations showed up in the mail today. We're going to try to get them ready to go before everyone leaves town for Spring Break. The big party day is about two and a half weeks away! His birthday is a week and a half away!

WOAH. I'm going to have a FIVE YEAR OLD! I'm getting old.

Returning outside

Drawing in the setting sun
Originally uploaded by Jen.

Yesterday was cool, but the sun just screamed: "Come out and play!" So we did. We went for a walk through the breezy wind earlier in the day. Late in the afternoon, the sun told me that we had to come and enjoy its light one more time before it set.

So Cam, Jordan and I went out to draw on the driveway. I love playing with chalk. It was the first time Cameron was totally into drawing his own stuff. He drew his own hopscotch, a basketball hoop, basketball player and a scoreboard. Then we drew many, many characters from Sesame Street. I'm kind of good at making fuzzy monster heads, Cam did the bodies and Oscar the Grouch.

The funny thing was when we went outside, Cam had be asking to watch a movie. I looked over at him while we drew and I said: "Aren't you glad we didn't watch a movie?" He agreed and said we should draw on the driveway every weekend.

I like that idea a lot.