How can it be a whole six years?

I've been running around getting ready for Cameron's big sixth birthday. I'm so excited for him and I hope he enjoys the day. I bought his big balloon bouquet. I have a cake cooling in the kitchen. I have yummy doughnuts for breakfast and plans to bring cupcakes to school in the morning. Cameron has been counting down the days for a month.

Six years ago I was begging him to come out... Although I didn't know he was a boy or a girl, I desperately wanted him to arrive. So April fools or not - The baby I was so sure would be a girl came out a beautiful, large headed and sweet little boy. It's been an amazing six years of parenting, amazement and exhaustion.

The week-long celebration will continue on Saturday with a big party full of kids running around. Hopefully the rain will stop so we can play in the backyard!

That's snot funny

Mr. Cam is full of snot. He's not very good at blowing his nose. Actually, he's terrible at it. So terrible that he's thrown up phlegm the last two mornings in a row. So we focused hard on blowing his nose and drinking a lot of liquids. I'm trying to think out that icky stuff so he doesn't feel as icky.

No fever. No big complaints. The thing that stinks is every time Cam starts running around or gets worked up, he starts coughing. Poor kid. Hopefully we'll beat this down soon. I wouldn't call this a fun spring break.

Happy Easter!

Cameron had a pretty good Easter... He really enjoyed new crayons and markers. He loves his new sun glasses and little bunny. The Easter bunny has given Cam a bunny every year... The bunnies aren't as expensive as they used to be. Luckily the Easter bunny figured out that it's the thought that counts.

We had an egg hunt after church. I decided against doing it outside after it started FLURRYING! That's so wrong. I shouldn't see snow on an Easter morning. The kids had fun and ate too much sugar. A wonderful day to reflect and eat yummy food.

Morning hike

Cam and I had a really nice morning. First, he let us sleep in by keeping busy and continuing to destroy his messy room. Second, he and I let Daddy and Jordan sleep while we drove out to a nearby trail for a hike. I'm not sure what the distance is, but it's pretty substantial. We talked, we listened to natural music (animal noises (crickets and frogs) and the wind blowing and the birds chirping) and ran around enjoying the slow arrival of Spring. We had a really nice time. When we got home we were refreshed, happy and ready for more fun.

The whole family went to see Horton Hears a Who! It was wonderful. We all giggled a lot and as usual, Cam was VERY focused on the movie. Now he and Jordan are napping before we run off for a book buying session thanks to Grandma and Grandpa's Easter gift cards! A fun day for all.

Spring Break

It's Cameron's first spring break... I hate to say this, but there's nothing exciting planned. He gets to go to work with me for the week. BUT, I got the idea that we're going to shoot a video together. I'm going to let him shoot video and then we're going to edit it together.

I just have to decide if we want to edit it on iMovie or Avid NewsCutter. I figure he could figure out iMovie... But I'm not sure I want him using my computer. Avid is probably a little advanced for him, but I'm okay with introducing the concepts to him now. I would really love it if he knew how to edit on Avid and can help video approve our college students before he turns 10. That would be awesome.

Anyway, I have to work this week, but I'll look for ways to take Cam away for a couple of hours here and there. He'll have fun (I hope).

I am starting to figure it out

My boy is desperate for more one-on-one time. He has been extra emotional and highly defiant.

It is a combination:
1. I need some more alone time with my boy.
2. I need to accept the fact that he is sensitive. He is emotional. It is just that way and I need to accept it.

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."

Warm and happy

It was so warm out that we got to go on a hike today! Cameron was a trooper and walked to a cool playground and back to the car with minimal complaint. It was clear that he had an amazing amount of energy cooped up inside him. I swear he ran more than walked for most of the walk.

He also got to bring out the baseballs and bat... And he has a lot more force than last year. He also seemed to have more focus. It could be a very interesting t-ball season when it starts in April. Cam also worked on his basketball skills. If things get warm enough, we're going to start working on riding bikes again. One of our neighbors mentioned how they were thinking about selling their bike attachment that lets your kid pedal, but it's attached to your bike. I should have bought one of those a long time ago... But I think this is the right opportunity. Cam can use it as the step towards really riding a bike and then Jordan can follow.

A warm day really helped improve the mood here. The air has been so cold and uncomfortable, it's been tough to stay sane. I know Cam's had a hard time lately. Getting sick and having a lot of days off from school -- it's great to get out and run.

Cooped up

We had two snow days followed by a three day weekend. (Well, tomorrow makes his third day) That's five days out of being out of sort and stuck in the house.

Cam is stir crazy and driving us crazy. I love him. But geez! Can I get a moment where I can just sit down and focus?

Anyway. Cam is on a quest to clean the house up so he can go on a special adventure. I'm thinking the local hamster run for kids is the right spot for him to run off his extra energy. I'm not a huge fan of the place, but I figure it's safe, it's fun for him and they have wireless so I can do work over there if I want.

Proof I'm getting Old

"Mom! There's a song that's called 'Welcome to the Jungle!' Have you heard it?"

"Uh Yeah." (And here's where you know the times are changing) "Honey, do you have that in your iTunes?"

Next reason why I'm getting old:
I started telling a story to a student that had happened seven years ago. Seven.

Geez.

"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.

My poor little valentine

My sweet Cam had a rough day. He woke up coughing and was having a hard day getting his day started. But he REALLY wanted to go to school for his Valentine's Day party. I kept asking him if he wanted to stay home. He decided he just had to go. That was okay until I got a call about four hours later saying that he threw up on the playground.

Poor buddy.

So his Dad took him home for the day. He got to take home all of his valentines and the treats that came with it all. Randy made sure Cam took it easy and gave him toast and water for lunch. When I got home, I started cooking dinner and asked Cam if he was up for the meal. Cam told me that his dad told him that he was going to have to eat toast. So I made him toast. I figured he must still be feeling a little queasy.

I was wrong.

When I took my poor, congested son up to bed, I noticed sugar all over his sheets and quilt. And there were little tiny pieces of hardened sugar. I look at Cam and ask if he's been eating cookies in his bed. He looks at me in shock: "NO!" It turns out it was Nerds. You know, those tiny chunks of sugar that I thought were AMAZING when Willy Wonka came out with them.

Apparently Cam snuck up to his room this afternoon with a box of valentine's candy and chowed down. And he left a sugary mess behind.

Silly boy.

So, we changed the sheets and talked about ways to properly eat candy (i.e. NOT in bed).

He's not feeling great, but at least his tummy is fine.

I love this kid

You know what's really exciting about this year's Mommy-made valentine? This is the first year Cameron can really read it all by himself. That's pretty special.

Wii fun for Kindergarteners

Cameron and his very good friend got to hang out today -- They haven't seen each other much since they started Kindergarten at different schools. But I tell you, the Wii brings kids together. They had a blast competing in sports and Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz. It's really fun to see Cam play with another kid his age without falling out and crying when he loses something. He won a bunch of stuff too... So that helped.

Unfortunately, Cam's excitement kept him from maintaining his self control for the rest of the night. The screaming and tantrums returned. But I know he's going to figure out that it doesn't work. Some day he will realize that crying won't keep us from turning off the Wii, or making him eat dinner. or telling him to go to bed, or telling him to clean up... or... whatever you can think of. Someday... Some day he will realize that crying doesn't work.

Some day.

Tonight he told me another chapter of Boo and Chowder -- It was all about the two going to a Foo Fighters concert. He was watching the Grammys before bedtime... And he was mad that we wouldn't let him stay up to watch the Foo Fighters perform.

Boo and Chowder

This week, Cameron has been making up a chapter book in his head. Instead of reading something during bed time, he tells me a chapter about the adventures of "Boo and Chowder." Boo is a monster and Chowder is his friend who is a boy. The chapters include quotes like:

"I don't want to scare you. I want to be your friend," Boo said.

"I guess I could be your friend," said Chowder.

It's classic. If I could secretly bring in an audio recorder, I'd try to keep track of this story. It's very cute. I'm also impressed with the complexity of his story so far.

Cameron has been extra emotional around me lately. He wants to play with me... He doesn't want to be alone... He has returned to crying over his food at dinner time. He wines and cries over stupid stuff. Oy. I'm sure there's a correlation between that and how I've been working more than usual.

So many things

There have been so many things going on in Cam's world... But I've been a bad blogging mommy who has worked too much and blogged too little.

Mr. Cam continues to research caves at school. He's still working on his social skills there... And that's putting it mildly.

He's becoming an amazing pro in tennis and bowling on the Wii. He's also starting to consistently hit home runs in baseball. He is fiercely competitive and his Dad has been forcing him to play against us so Cam can deal with losing every once and a while.

In between brilliant conversation and excellent reading and writing skills, Cam still thinks he can cry to get his way. It is exhausting.

I'll tell you this though -- He loves his parents. I found the sweetest page he wrote in school: "I love my mom and dad. They are my best frens" (You know, that's Kindergarten spelling for friends)

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em

23

Why do people get sick?

My aunt is in the hospital... She's battled ovarian cancer for the last eight and a half years. It's a mean, mean cancer. Right now she's in the hospital due to blood clots - a danger that is created from the chemo treatments.

I've made sure Aunt Jan is in Cameron's prayers in the last few nights. Each night he's asked me about illness and hospitals. Tonight he asked me why people get sick. I told him that some people get sick because they didn't wash their hands or they happened to be close to someone who was already sick. Then there are other people who get sick and no one knows why. Cameron asked if that's what happened to Aunt Jan. I said yes... But honestly, I wish I had more answers why some people get these kinds of horrible illnesses. My mom has Type 1 diabetes. That's supposed to be a genetic terminal illness - but it isn't in our family's history until my mom got it. No one we know in our family tree has had ovarian cancer but my aunt got it. It all just sucks. That's all I can say. It sucks.

So if you have a moment... Say a prayer for my aunt. If you don't do the prayer thing, I ask you to think positive thoughts in the direction of Dallas. My aunt deserves every bit of it.

[update on 1/6/08: She's out of the hospital!!]

Found in Cam's bag:

Two pieces of paper.

On the front of the first page: A big heart with the words, "I love you. Look on the back"

On the back of the first page: "Lets have a sleep over this night."

On the second piece of paper: The girl's phone number








Wow.

Wii are having fun

Cameron loves his new Wii. LOVES it. Did I mention how he loves it? I'd say that if he could play it all the time and win that entire time, he'd play it non-stop. He's an incredible bowler. In his first day playing, he bowled a 178. Wow.

He's enjoying that, but he did have a really hard time with his sister's birthday. He felt so dang jealous of how she was the center of attention. Poor kid. I know how hard that is... It's a big part of growing up with a sibling. At one point he went to me and said: "I'm feeling jealous." So we talked it out. I'm not sure it helped... But we did find a little time in the day to get away from it all and go for a little walk/run around the neighborhood.

On the whole, this time off from school has been good. I think he's enjoying the family time away from school. He gets some extra family fun for the next few days. My parents are up from Florida to watch the kids while Randy and I travel for work. They should have fun watching Cam and I know he'll enjoy the Grandparent time.