"This was my very best day!"

That's what Cam told his Grandma as he left the Magic Kingdom today. He was SO happy and excited to be there. He woke up at 5:00am to get there and he lasted until 9pm to enjoy a bunch of rides and other experiences that would blow any 4 year old's mind. I just have to type a couple of moments before they get lost. I promise many wonderful pictures are to come.

1. "Mom, Buzz Lightyear ROCKS!" - Told to me right after Cam got to meet Buzz in person in Tomorrowland
2. "But I don't know where I'm going" - Told to his dad after he was asked why he didn't take the steering wheel on the race car in the race car speedway ride.
3. "The Buzz Lightyear ride is fantastic!" - Announced after leaving the Buzz Lightyear ride for the second time in the day.
4. "I don't want Zurg to think I'm Buzz Lightyear!" - On why he removed his new Buzz Lightyear gear from his arm before going on the Buzz Lightyear ride.
5. "I'm having a really good time." - As we walked through the park.
6. "Stop dancing Mom, there isn't any music."
7. "I have to write Santa a letter to thank him for letting me come to Disney World!" - Announced as we walked towards another ride near the end of our day.

I'll try to remember some others. But I just have to say that my idea of taking Cam to Disney for a day was a success. Cam had very few breakdowns, Jordan was a star (and we got to celebrate her brithday a day early) and Cam is EXHAUSTED. We can only hope he can make it through our big drive home. (Wish us luck)

Why is it so hard?

Cam had such a fantastic day with us today until the end. He woke up with cuddles, he got to hang out with a babysitter... And during that time he even shared some of his breakfast with Jordan! He went to the mall with Jordan and I and he was helpful and sweet. Not to mention, he finally got a pair of Crocs... He's wanted a pair for quite a while. I think I passed on my love of shoes to him. I let him get a pair of yellow shoes. He really wanted them and I am happy to let him figure out his own sense of style... Although I think he picked up his love for the color yellow thanks to the soon-leaving-the-Wiggles lead singer, Greg.

Anyway. After shopping and a visit at the newsroom, he took a nap. It was a solid nap because he woke up all sweaty and groggy, but a bit whiny. But he helped me with a nativity scene craft -- we made a nativity scene out of foam cut out pieces. He helped me make cookies (the pre-made kind). But then dinner came. I made lasagna (the frozen kind) and veggies. Jordan and I gobbled it up. Cam decided lasagna is worth throwing a HUGE fit over. It was silly and I sent him to his room. But he dragged it out so long that he was finally eating while I was putting Jordan to bed. In the end, he only really ate 4 pieces. It was so exhausting and silly. I don't know what he thinks he's going to accomplish with insanity like that.

We are doing something cool... When we went shopping, I bought him a copy of Charlotte's Web. I told him that we'll read that book together before he can go see the new version of the book in the movie theaters. So we've read 4 chapters so far and he's so excited. The last thing he told me before going to bed (on try number three) was how he can't wait to read more about Charlotte. He also says he likes spiders now... We'll see when he comes face to face with a real one.

One other Cam moment. While we were in the mall, he noticed a movie poster hanging from the rafters. He said: "Mom, look: Eragon." I look up and it was right. I don't even know what Eragon is, but my boy read it and I'm guessing her pronounced it properly. I asked him how he knew about it, he shrugged, "I don't know. I read it." How did he read it? He's really figuring it out! It's incredible. His reading knowledge is growing so rapidly. What fun!

He was on FIRE

Cameron and Jordan were in a Nutcracker performance tonight and Cameron was AMAZING. This picture only tells a portion of the story. I have video, but I'm too tired to try and edit that. Let's just say Cam shook his booty, jumped up and down with all of his might and I could tell he was having a BALL. It made me proud and happy.

After the show, we got to hang out with Cam's best friend and her family. It was SO nice to hang out with other "grown ups." I'm around so many people who are involved in the news business or the higher journalism education business... It's so wonderful to have friends who don't have anything to do with that. It's important. That may be one of the wonderful blessings about kids. They help you expand your world... One friend at a time.

Happy Holidays

Cameron is so into the holidays. He randomly just starts wishing people "Happy Holidays!" Fun stuff.

So I haven't updated Cam's world in quite a while. The day after our first evening of snow play, we got hit with a massive snow storm. I worked a lot and Cam played A LOT in the snow. I think today may be our last day of snow. I expect a minor break down when he realizes it's gone.

But on the upside, we have Christmas lights up inside and outside the house. Cameron is officially on Jordan patrol when it comes to the ornaments. It was so funny to hear him scolding Jordan about how ornaments are "decorations." That is exactly how I told him why he couldn't touch certain things when he was young.

There are so many things going on with Cam... too many to write. But the strangest issue we had this past week was over Cam's tongue. Yeah. That's right. His tongue. At some point on Tuesday night, he bit his tongue. He complained about it at a normal level at dinner time that night. I mentioned just as a side comment that if he ate vegetables, it might heal faster. By the next morning, he was obsessed. That tongue HURT and it was the end of the world. He kept picking, poking and obsessing... whining and crying. By the time I picked him up from school that Wednesday, every teacher was asking me if I told him his lack of vegetables caused his tongue to hurt. He was telling everyone: "My tongue hurts because I don't eat vegetables." Ugh. After calling the doctor's office and a couple of popsicles, I think he'll be fine. It's exhausting when something so little blows up into something crazy!!! But that's my boy. Drama. I really have to get him into a theater program.

Snow!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's taken us almost a year to finally use Cameron's (and Jordan's) very special snow sled! SO even though it was dark outside when we came home today, Cam and I went outside to play. He had a BALL and didn't want to come in for dinner. He demanded to go back out after dinner even though we said it was way too cold. About a minute later he came in and told his day: "You were right, it is cold out there."

I was so excited about the snow that Randy and I went to the store before picking up the kids to buy Cam a new pair of snow boots and snow socks. Very exciting stuff. So he was ready to go out and use them the moment we got home. Cam was so sad when he went to bed when he found out tomorrow wasn't a "family day." I promised him that he could play in the morning and Daddy would pick him up early from school so he can play in the afternoon. That seemed to ease his concerns.

I'm as excited about the snow as he is!!! It's been so long!

Tasmanian Devil

That's exactly what Cameron is when he loses control. Last night was probably the worst yet. He didn't want to go to bed and started being disrespectful to everyone... Even his grandparents. When his Grandma walked out of the bedroom before reading Cam a book because he was not respectful, all hell broke loose. I took over the bed time process and it was ugly. Think about The Exorcist. It was very similar. I won't go into the details... But Cam expected his grandparents to save him. And when he realized that wasn't going to happen, we were finally able to make ground on calming down.

When Cam woke up this morning, he apologized to his Grandma... Unprovoked. I know there's a wonderful kid underneath the insanity. I just pray for the strength to help get past the insanity.

Corny cornbread moment

I caught this moment between Randy and Cam as they were preparing Thanksgiving bread for our big newsroom feast.



I'm happy to say this is video proof that we're moving out of his insane anger mode and into a more loving, sweet mode. (Can I hear an amen?)

Tall socks and Santa

Santa and Cam
Originally uploaded by NerdyMom.

Cam got to see Santa over the weekiend. He was happy to tell the jolly guy about all the toys he wants... Including the Cars movie, a talking car from that movie and a Dino Mountain toy. We researched the dino toy and found out it's really good at breaking right after you build it, so we know that Santa will not want to buy that for Cam -- the boy who freaks out every time a toy collapses to the floor.

Anyway... funny story this morning. He was putting on tall white socks and announced: I have super hero boots on! Maybe you had to be there. But it made Randy and I laugh.

The beast needs taming

In the last week, Cam's tantrums and disrespect kicked into an even higher gear. It's bad enough that Randy and I were snipping at each other. No fun. None at all. So I'm trying to step away from Cam's craziness and try to look at life with his perspective.

Mommy is caring for Jordan all the time. Jordan is doing all kinds of cute things and everyone wants to talk about her and look at her. I want that kind of attention.

So... I'm trying to let him know that I understand. I've been the older sibling. I know that when you're older, you just don't attract the same kind of attention that babies do. It's hard to accept.

Tonight, Cam lost it over something... Lord knows what. But then he just started throwing around disrespectful words, screaming, pounding and begging me to do whatever is opposite what I just did or didn't do. It is mind-bending exhausting. Tonight I had Cam screaming and Jordan so hungry that every time I walked away from her high chair, she screamed. I'm trying to just let Cam break down away from me so I don't let him get me mad. Anger won't help. I need patience. I need new ways to help him calm himself. I need Cam to get the heck out of this new phase.

Some cool developments: He's learning Italian at school and teaching me new words every week. And he's taken up the game of Memory. He's kicking our butts. He has a very clear memory and he LOVES winning. The cool thing about playing Memory is he doesn't cheat. He just plays. And if I win, he congratulates me and we play again. It's a sign that there's a maturing kid in there... somewhere.

Worst part about a sick day

Cam and I are sitting in the basement taking it easy... he's eating a bit more and we'll see how he tolerates it. But here's the worst part about a sick day: Commercials.

Everytime something new and cool shows up: "Mom! Get that for me!" "Mom I want that!!" "I know! I'll ask Santa for that!" "Mom, get that for my birthday!"

He must be feeling better.

I never knew I'd be happy about that

So I was at school feeding the baby when Cam's teacher walks in to tell me that Cam had a fever. Poor buddy. So I went to the lobby to find him crying. He just felt crummy. I carried him to the car and he was so sad and icky feeling. I was about to go home when I realized that all of my work stuff was still at work... I could keep working at home if I had my computer. So I quickly drove to work to grab the computer. The moment we got there I realized Cam was going to throw up... The big question was when. So I ran in, grabbed the computer and yelled to Randy to let him know his son was about to spew.

I ran back to the van and he had just started throwing up. Poor buddy. I tried to clean him up a little and clean the van a little and we headed home. Cam started commenting about how great he felt. But it wasn't just a few minutes later when he started looking bad. Really bad. So I pulled over to try and help him. Then I realized, I was just prolonging the obvious. He was going to throw up again in the van... Nothing I can do. SO I ran into the van and drove home as quickly as I could. Poor buddy threw up again. I just tried to tell him he was going to be okay. But here's the killer moment. I was making sure he was okay when he said: "I'm sorry Mommy."

You're sorry? Poor baby. I made sure he knew I wasn't mad, there was nothing he could have done. I just wanted to hug his soggy, stinky little body.

And what was going on in my mind the whole time? I'm lucky to be dealing with my throwing up baby. After going to the funeral of a 17 year old yesterday, everything I do with my children is a gift. Even throwing up. I tried to hold onto that perspective during the van clean up as Cameron took a nap.

First basketball game

I tried to get pictures... But Daddy forgot he had the camera. Anyway. Yesterday Cam and his Dad went to the boy's first college basketball game. From Dad's report, Cam had a great time eating the food, playing with the seats and watching about half of the game. They stayed until the Tigers hit 100 points. It was a pretty big blowout.

When Cam came home he told me that the Tigers ate the bad guys. I'm not sure what that means. Very strange.

Today I tried to have fun with the kids while Dad took a bunch of students to Kansas City. Instead, most of the day was spent with Cameron complaining, whining or being sent to his room. I'm pretty bummed about it. I'll be honest, a cloud of sadness is hanging over me while I try to ingest the death of our general manager's teenage daughter. I'm deeply sad for him and want to just hold my kids close. Then Cam continued to be rebellious and disrespectful throughout the day. I'm lucky to even have a bad day with my child. But it was extra exhausting today.

A good moment that I hope I'll keep in my mind for a long time: Cam was showing Jordan how to play with a drum when Jordan just scootched into Cam and they ended up having a cuddle hug. Cam wrapped his Buzz Lightyear arms around her and gave her a squeeze. It was so sweet. (And yes, Cam wore the costume for most of the day)

Halloween isn't over!

Cam isn't ready to let go of the Halloween excitement. Last night when I put him to bed, he told me: "Halloween isn't over. Tomorrow is Halloween two." I think he's seen too many sequels.

I decided arguing with him wouldn't be worth it, especially when he needed to go to bed. So I just moved on... But he woke up this morning telling me how Halloween isn't over. I explained that it's November now. Cam decided "that isn't fair!" He was unhappy that the candy wasn't sitting around for breakfast and he was very unhappy that he couldn't wear his costume to school. I actually had to peel him out of it right before he left because he just HAD to sneak up to his room and wear it a little.

Ahhhh. The let down after Halloween can be so rough.

Getting ready for Halloween

I bought Cam's outfit for tomorrow about two months ago... But I didn't pull it out for Cam to enjoy until tonight. It fits great, he's thrilled about it... And he looks really cute. Honestly, he almost looks just like his Buzz Lightyear toy.

Since I returned from Houston, Cam has been incredibly obstinate. He had some major breakdowns while we were in Kentucky visiting our friends. In between having fun with our friends, he was challenging our authority and having a rough time with the lack of napping. It's obviously hard to be the youngest amongst bigger kids. He so desperately wants to be bigger than he is. It's hard. It's also hard keeping my cool around him. I just take a big breath and try my best.

I'm really happy to be home and I'm ready to watch Cam get WAY too sugared up. Tonight, a "phantom ghost" appeared at our front step. A friend and her Dad dropped off a bag of treats and a story about a phantom ghost who appeared. It was very cool. And Cam was thrilled.

Having fun

Cam got to go to his second homecoming parade this morning... And he had a blast eating candy and sugar and waving at people and playing with his friend Camryn. When we first got to our float, he was very, very upset because Camryn wasn't there... So I was relieved when her family arrived.

So I dragged Cam and Jordan out to eat with some friends and alumni last night. Cam was wonderful... Enjoying the conversations (with a lot of talk about Buzz Lightyear) and running around having fun on campus.

He also said a really funny thing yesterday: I told him I was going to dress up like a Mommy for Halloween. He said, "you already wear that costume!" Really? Interesting. So I asked him what I should dress up like. He told me: "Princess Layer." But what he really meant was Princess Lea -- From Star Wars. How he knows about Star Wars, I'll never know since he hasn't seen it yet and he certainly isn't old enough to watch it.

Although -- I seem to remember dressing up like Princess Lea when I was little and I sure as heck hadn't seen the movie since I was too young. Silly pop culture... Kids figure it out without truly participating in the event.

He was "on" when she was "off"

Cam and Jordan had their first pro photo shoot together today. It didn't go incredibly well since Jordan was upset at the beginning... But that's when Cameron was awesome. He smiled, he had fun. But by the time Jordan finally warmed up to the experience, Cam was tired and wanted to go and get some food. It was EXHAUSTING.

Did I mention how tall Cam is getting? It just seems to obvious lately. I just felt like mentioning it again.

Tonight, Cam's prayer was very general. He started with praying for God, all kids, all parents, all baseball players (go Cards by the way) and all the people in the world... And God bless Cameron Lee Reeves. Amen.

Wow. I think he prayed for EVERYONE.

Doing pretty well

Cam was upset with me because he isn't on a T-ball team yet. It's hard to explain that he has to wait until nexxt year when the season starts. He is so in love with baseball, it's awesome to watch his excitement about the game on so many levels. From the Cardinals (by knowing almost all of the players' names) to practicing in the backyard (he hit a line drive into Randy's chest yesterday).

Today I was looking at him sitting at the kitchen table and he looked to huge. He was upset about Jordan getting bigger than him because she eats vegetables and he doesn't. It will be really hard for this tiny little girl to ever beat him on size... but I'll do anything to try to get him to open his mind to healthy food. Anyway. He's huge. He's skinny. And he's so 4 and a half going on 15.

We have a big Christmas picture shoot tomorrow. Wish me luck. I just want ONE nice photo of both kids at the same time. One. Is that too much to ask for?

Busy week... Loopy boy

I went to Cam's big field trip to the pumpkin patch this week. You may remember how earlier in the week, Cam was thrilled how I was going to join him on this trip. I was kind of excited too. I didn't get to go on this trip with Cam last year. So I'm not quite sure why Cam was so miserable during the majority of the trip. He complained, whined and got really snotty. Most of the time he was saying: "I hate pumpkins. I hate hay rides. I want my Daddy." Wow. Okay. He threw a couple of tantrums. It wasn't fun. And honestly, in between the jerky stuff, I think he did have fun. But it was a bummer for me. He and I have fun all the time. But the pumpkin patch trip just wasn't working for us.

Cam is back into a very rebellious mode. But this time, he's rebellious in a more subtle way. I ask him to do something and he whispers "no, I don't WANT do" (the want is the dominant word). He doddles on purpose... Even when it's something he wants or needs to do. I sat him down and asked him why he's disrespectful. I asked him if he's mad at Mommy and Daddy. I can't figure it out. I do know it's exhausting. We had another morning of him fighting the toy pick-up process. Lots of crying. Lots of screaming. Honestly, he really does cry more than Jordan.

I think my skepticism about Cam has grown since Randy and I discovered how our son is more conniving than we realized. One of our babysitters has been watching Cam's friend Camryn. She told the babysitter that she and Cam have talked about ways to get out of going to bed. Cam apparently told her all his ways. Really? So that doddling stuff isn't just a doddling attempt... It's a planned out attempt to delay bed time. So what else is a scheme? I'm wondering this every time he pulls some type of attitude if it's a scheme. So I tested that theory yesterday. Cam and I had a bit of a blow-out at bedtime the night before. I announced to him that he wouldn't get his Friday McDonald's dinner. (Honestly, we don't go every week... but this week he had earned it until that point) So when I picked him up on Friday from school, he tried to throw a FIT in the van. I called him out on it. And about 5 to 10 minutes later, it was over. I broke him. It was a scheme to try and break me. It didn't work.

Jordan has a cold, so she slept most of the day. So Cam and I got to play and be silly outside. We ran around and giggles on the swingset for quite a while. I pushed Cam on the swing, he pushed me... We kept taking turns. It was very silly. After Jordan's longest nap of the day, I took both kids shopping for a little bit (I had a coupon that I didn't want to lose -- it was going to to run out tomorrow). We bumped into one of Cam's friends in a store... So when I got to finish up, Cam went with his friend to play on the mall playground. So that was cool. I found a sweater for the big Cam/Jordan Christmas photo shoot that I have planned next week. It's just at Sears, but I've never taken Jordan to a studio (other than the school version from last week). I've wanted to get both kids in front of a camera together. So we'll see how it goes. I have a sweet outfit for Jordan and I think I have a coordinating outfit for Cam. We can only hope for the best.

Let's try that again

This morning was nutty. I was scrambling to get Cam out in his big deal dress-up outfit for picture day, pack his swimming clothes because Tuesday is swim lesson day and make sure his check was filled out for his pictures. So I put the picture check and form into his swim lesson bag so nothing got lost.

I send Cam off to school with Dad.

Dad calls me when they got to school saying that Cam will either go to swim lessons or get his picture taken. So obviously I picked the pictures. I was unhappy with that choice, so I called to check if there was any way I could get Cam's picture taken early so he could go swim. But they couldn't do that. Oh well.

Fast forward to the end of the day: I grab Cam's unused swim suit bag and find the photo check and order form still in the bag. It turns out Cam never had his picture taken because no one thought to look through his stuff for his picture order form. I got Cam's hair cut and outfit for him to stand in a group photo... that's all. He should have just gone to swimming. But if he'd done that, they would have found his dang order form. So he'll have to bring the sweater and shirt to school tomorrow... so I can get the picture I wanted. But we'll have to scurry -- he has a school field trip, so the picture will have to happen before we leave.

I'm so annoyed. Not happy one bit that the teacher or any of the staff members didn't question that Cam wasn't getting his own personal photo. Especially after the fuss I made about swim lessons.

Big deal haircut

So... I had to do it. We weren't going to drag Poppy into town just to cut Cam's hair, so I took him to a haircut place for the first time ever. Yeah. He's 4 and a half. So Cam, Jordan and I went to a place that does haircuts in a sports environment. ESPN is on the TV. There are TV sets all over the place and there are lockers instead of shelves. Stuff like that. Cam thought it was very cool. And it really did make him feel comfortable during the haircut. Honestly, I think he just liked looking at himself in the mirror and watching TV at the same time. Since I'm a crazy Mommy, I had the woman who cut Cam's hair consult with Poppy to make sure she did it close to Poppy's style. (That's right, I had her talk to him on my cellphone) The cut ended up being pretty good -- Not like Poppy's fine work, but Cam was proud.

He was so proud that Randy tells me that Cam freaked out after his bath tonight -- his hair was wet and he cried that Randy had "broke his new haircut." Poor kid. He calmed down once his hair was dry and back to its previous look.

So why the big deal? Tomorrow is picture day! I even ran to Target to find a new sweater for the picture -- I checked Cam's drawers and ALL of his sweaters were too small. Bad planning on my part!

So here's a sweet side moment of the day: I stopped by Cam's classroom today on my way out from feeding Jordan (who fell asleep in my arms for a good 20 or 30 minutes by the way). His teacher told me Cam was telling everyone how I was going to his class field trip on Wednesday. Really? Okay. So I told folks at work that I wouldn't be attending a meeting... Made sure I would be at the field trip. So this evening before dinner, I told Cam I'd be at his field trip. He was so excited, he ran to me and gave me a HUGE hug. Now all I can hope is the rainy weather will stay away long enough for us all to enjoy the pumpkin patch and hay ride! Either way. Just getting Cam's reaction was worth it.