Santa and First Presents

We took Cam to the mall to see Santa. I knew it wouldn't go well as she is in the "all I want is mommy stage." They told us we were not allowed to take any pictures unless we bought the minimum package. The minimum package was $20!!!! Well good thing I snuck in some video footage. Like I am going to pay $20 to have 2 4x6's of my daughter crying. I don't think so!! The Santa was good though. (yes it was a real beard).

Camryn and Dad hanging her first ornament. (It was quite difficult to find my first Christmas ornaments this late in the game. Obviously if we wanted a cute one we should have shopped in September).

I'm not sure who was more excited to open presents, Dad or Camryn. I think Dad was eager to see Cam's reaction to the presents. We should have opened presents earlier in the day. Cam starts to tucker out around 6:30-7ish. She did enjoy ripping the paper off. However, she really did not want to open more than one present. Until, mom and dad started opening their presents. Then, Camryn was all about helping.

Brrr . . . 9 Months

Weight: 16.2 pounds

Height: We will find out at her next Dr's appt.

So it has officially been cold and snowy this past week. Dad was really excited to take Camryn sledding. We had to buy a flying saucer from Target. Unfortunately, the sled has only carried mom down the icy driveway once. It is just too cold for babycakes.

Over this past month, Camryn learned to say "dada." Which incidentally is now her favorite baby babble. Much to mom's chagrin she has little interest in producing the bilabial "mm" though she is quite apt at blowing raspberries especially with food in her mouth. Also, she mastered cross crawling (opposite hand opposite leg). Due to her mastery at cross-crawling she is now less interested in walking. (I really thought she would be walking soon).

Cam crawls all over the house and is fascinated with the "boing" of the door stops and opening and closing doors.

Mom and dad spent today and yesterday trying to stay on top of all of the blowing snow to little avail. Finally, a call to the city of Bettendorf sent a plow truck out 3 hours later so we could actually escape our cul de sac (2 others were stuck). The snow was 4 feet deep at certain parts. Fear crossed my mind several times as with most plowing we would end up with at least a 2 foot wide pile of snow at the end of our driveway. Well, this tow truck driver was superb and actually plowed the end of our driveway for us.

Too bad Cam isn't old enough to enjoy our great king of the hill at the end of our driveway.

Christmas

Camryn was so cooperative this morning and finally not sick I decided to try and take some pictures of her in her Christmas dress. Scott asked "why?" I informed him it is so I can send it out with our Christmas cards. I am not sure how much longer I can convince Scott that we should (I really enjoy) sending Christmas cards.

I really enjoy the bottom image. Which one is your favorite?

Oops

So I went to change Camryn's diaper this morning and decided since we had nowhere to go and she has teething diaper rash to let her keep her diaper off for awhile. Now she loves this. It seems her preference is to go bottomless because with each diaper change and/or clothing change she attempts to escape prior to being re-diaper/re-clothed. I thought nothing of it as she usually is good to go for another 2-3 hours without a diaper change.

Well I did get a little worried when I heard grunting. That is usually a clear indication of number 2; though, we have had plenty of false alarms. Also, I figured she is never done in one grunt so if she grunts again I will rush her to the toilet.

As it so happens it only took her one grunt to poop on the floor. Thank goodness it was solid and a cohesive bolus!! A quick clean up and we were as good as new.

(This is a picture she is going to kill me for when she is older!)

A Cold or Just Teething . . .

So Camryn was irritable most of the week, so not like her. In addition, she did not want to eat (though she always had room for her favorite puffs). Well on Saturday she decided to wake up with a temperature around 100. I gave her some Tylenol and it went away only to return 4 hours later but not as bad. The poor girl had a runny nose, watery eyes and when she first woke up a bark of a cough like a seal. For the first part of the morning she wanted to snuggle with mom. It was difficult to accomplish anything on Saturday due to her constant want to be held. We felt so bad for her because she would not/could not take a nap for very long and her little eyes would turn purple. She did not even enjoy her bath Saturday night. We made it through Saturday.


She slept through the night until 4:00 am Sunday. At least her fever was gone; but, she was still irritable. Her appetite had improved and she enjoyed eating a little breakfast, lunch and finally dinner. Still, she did not nap well and her little eyes were purple again. Her nose still ran and her eyes still watered but not as much.


I do have to say through it all she never gave up saying "da, da, da" or crawling, or pulling to stand (especially at Mom's legs so she could be picked up). I hope that she does not get all four of her teeth at once. I hope she has her teeth in by Christmas so that I can enjoy my break. (Also, I can't wait until her teeth pop through so she can finally start eating some more real food!)

This is Camryn by Sunday night. She is such a ham for the camera. She was crying just before I took this picture.

Road Trip

So like I said before, we left the Friday after Thanksgiving to venture up to Cadillac, Michigan with Scott's parents and brother. I felt very aprehensive due to the length of the trip and Camryn does Not enjoy riding in her car seat. Well, she surprised me. We made it there and back with little difficulty. However, the way there was shortened considering we started out at Uncle Brent's in Chicago. The way back home started at 9:3o am and lasted until 6:30 pm (there were a couple of breaks . . . lunch and picking up Toro from Aunt Amy's).

I am not sure if Camryn's idea of fun was going to all the wine tastings, but mom and dad sure did enjoy themselves.

(disclaimer - all the pictures taken in this post were done by dad)

Besides being able to play with Grandma and Grandpa Nicholson, Camryn learned a thing or two from cousin Devon as she started saying "da, da, da" on the trip.

At daycare, she now claps for anyone that says "Da, da, da." I don't know if we have to take her back to Devon to learn any other sounds, I can wait for "ma, ma." At least right now I can tell Scott she is calling him when she wakes in the middle of the night (unfortunately she just cries though it would be great if she said "da, da, da" so Scott would really have to get up).

Thanksgiving

Oh what a wonderful holiday. We spent Thanksgiving with my side of the family because we left for a mini vacation the next day with Scott's family.

My Grandpa raised turkeys from chicks all the way to the plucked bird that ended up being smoked. It was probably the best turkey I have ever had. As you can see Camryn enjoyed it as well (no she is not eating table food yet). I think Grandpa said it was a 40 pound turkey he cooked.

In addition, Camryn met Devon, my cousin Rachelle's baby boy who was born 3 weeks prior to C. Poor Devon was tired after a long day and Camryn decided to be a big bully. It is amazing to see what a difference 3 weeks makes in development. Devon babbled a ton compared to Camryn (she just says "aaaahhh" in varying pitches at this point).

8 Months

15.8 pounds

Height - ??? (I am already falling behind)

Well, C's 8 months flew by, really I think more the time between 6 and 8 months flew by.

The biggest event that happened in this time frame is Camryn learned to crawl and is learning what "NO" means. We never really had a need to tell her No previous to her becoming mobile. At least right now she listens to us, unless you tell her not to put something in her mouth. Then, she does not even let you remove the object from her mouth.

Also, Camryn went to the voting polls for the first time. I thought I remembered in the first election I voted in that they did not allow children in the polling booth. But then again that was in Illinois and awhile ago and I could be completely wrong.

I took my first "vacation" away from Camryn when I went to Chicago for a professional conference. Dad did great. I did not receive one phone call. Though Scott did ask me to write her schedule down because he did not know it. Cam was an angel for the 3 nights that I was gone. I enjoyed Chicago immensely and was able to catch up with some friends. I did miss Camryn; however, I enjoyed the limited responsibility that I had while away. I did not enjoy trying to pump at McCormick place (that is when I really wished I just had Camryn there).

I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch of stuff but I think I will leave you with a couple of videos of C crawling. These are her early attempts she is much faster now.

Baptism

We had Camryn baptized at Augie Chapel on October 26. It was great to see our family drive the three hours out and our friends out here to celebrate the day with us. Not that I am biased or anything but it probably was my favorite baptism.

Pastor Priggie invited the whole congregation to gather around the baptismal font. I thought is was a great way for everyone to participate and share in the day and be connected instead of causal observers.

My sister, Amy, and Scott's brother, Brent, are her sponsors. It was a tough decision but I know they will help guide Camryn towards the right path. (By the way, I think the baptismal hats are ridiculous . . . just look at that picture . . . it makes her head look gigantic).

Everyone came back to our new house to celebrate (I know, I know, I will have to put up pictures of the house but that means it has to be clean enough to be picture worthy and I have a full-time job). It was nice having our first celebration in the new house, made it feel like a home.

In addition, Camryn met Grandpa Don for the first time. She did not show any fear, which may be unusual with my Dad or maybe it is because he is starting to look like Santa Claus with the greying beard and hair (sorry Dad if you are reading this).

7 Month Peanut

Height: 25 inches

Weight: 15 pounds

So it is official even though she seems big to Dad and I, Camryn is in only the 25th percentile for height and weight. The doctor said I should be giving her more baby food but you cannot give a baby more food if she does not want it. It isn't like I'm starving her. Besides I feel most of the baby food she takes in just comes out the other end. Really if you look her diaper it looks almost like it went in. I know she is getting enough to eat, besides during the first year it is milk that is important. I know when I start weaning her (I'm hoping she will self wean. Every time I hear/think of wean I think of piglets). Daycare even said the same thing. If she eats breakfast she does not each lunch and vice versa. Oh well, we have a peanut.

The one thing Camryn cannot get enough of in her 7th month are the Gerber puffs. I cannot put her in her high chair without her expecting to be rewarded with puffs. The other day she was in her chair at the corner of the table and the puffs container was on the table. I do not know how she attempted this feet but she reached her little hand past the tray on her chair and grabbed for the puff jar. Boy did she get mad when she could not actually obtain any puffs until I opened the container for her.

Another accomplishment for Camryn in this month is pulling to stand. The doctor said she did it a little early around 6 1/2 months but we aren't worried. I was a little disappointed for awhile that she did not pull to stand in her crib but I probably do not let her cry long enough to provoke her to stand. I will eventually and then I will snap a picture.

I do have to say as she is becoming more mobile the difficulty level is increasing in taking her picture. I guess that is why the digital camera has a shoot and select mode with children on it.

We did find a new daycare (I didn't mention that) that we love. It is a mom and daughter and they have about 10 children all together. Camryn made friends with a younger boy, Derrick. She becomes very jealous when Carrie picks him up but not Camryn . . . hmmm . . . what is Camryn going to do if she ever gets a sibiling.

We are still cloth diapering and we (I really should say I) have fallen into a routine that isn't too much of a hassle with washing and drying. I cannot even tell you how much money the diapers saved us. I really am used to her bubble butt. Though my friend Alice showed me a picture of her in cloth diapers and Camryn looks quite lithe compared to Alice's diapers.

Pumpkin Patch

Scott, Camryn and I visited a local pumpkin patch with our friends, Alice and Micah. We went the weekend before Halloween and it was pretty much picked over already. Also, we discovered buying pumpkins from any grocery store was less expensive than buying a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch. That is just going to make it more difficult to convince Scott to go again next year. maybe not.

Thanks to the navigating expertise of our friend, Micah, we were able to find our way through a complicated maze pictured to be a barn and tractor. We were rewarded with pie pumpkins. Of which they still need to be made into pumpkin baby food for Camryn.

Camryn did enjoy the large pumpkins and the tractor ride out to the patch. She managed to sleep most of the time through the maze (I'm assuming from the off-roading that was occurring in her stroller). I'm not exactly sure how long it took us to navigate it but I'm thinking around and hour/hour and a half. However long we were there we managed to miss most of the Bears' Game.

Vegas Baby

Well we decided to take a leap and took our first family vacation. All three of us packed up and dealt with the hub-bub of 4 flights (round-trip) to make it out to Vegas with Grandma & Grandpa Hamil, Grandma Linda, Grandpa Bob and Aunt Lori and Uncle Mike.

Camryn did well on the airplane. The trip (2 plane rides) she was very restless and only wanted Mom. I think she probably slept a total of an hour . . . phew. The way back went a little better as she slept most of the time and let Dad hold her.

If we had a 5 spot for everytime someone sad what a cute baby we would have been a couple hundred dollars richer. Camryn loved the noises of the slot machines (though it was illegal for us to even stop in the vicinity of one). We couldn't complain about her behavior on the entire trip.

My favorite part was probably going out to Red Rock.

While there Camryn decided to take up scooting. Not that a package of peanut butter crackers wouldn't tempt anyone.

Goodbye Summer

With the appearance of 60 degree weather I think it is finally time to say goodbye to summer.

We moved into our new house and Camryn had a lot of firsts.
She played her first game of mini golf with Dad. I think Dad even came in second without a handicap.

She enjoyed her first dip into Grandma & Grandpa Hamil's lake.

And had her first bites of real food!

And decided she is not a fan of applesauce!

Happy 6 Months

6 Month Stats

25 1/2 inches

13.6 pounds*

6 months passed since Camryn entered this world and believe me I know. A neighbor said what most people say, "It goes by fast," but I don't feel that time is passing in super speed. Maybe it is because I look forward to all of her other milestones she will be achieving in the future. I am not one to dwell on the past too much. I do not want her to be a newborn again; however, I cannot believe she was only 19 1/2 inches long and 7 1/2 pounds at one time.

We have officially started baby food. I am attempting to make my own. So far Camryn enjoys sweet potato and peas. However, we trialed my homemade peas and she did not appear to enjoy them as much as the single jar I bought. I chalk this up to a texture issue. In addition, she did not enjoy the applesauce I made. After some reading it appears that babies are predisposed to liking sweet flavors and the applesauce I made was slightly tart.


Over the weekend we visited the Chicago Botanical Gardens. Camryn enjoyed her time there and I am assuming attempted to help spread seed by pulling on every plant she could grab. It was a good thing no gardeners were near. She enjoys pulling anything she places her tiny hands on: grass, leaves, flowers, etc. More often than not, true to most babies, what ends up in her hands ends up in her mouth. She enjoyed looking at all the flowers so much that she did not take her usual nap.

She is becoming so inquisitive and wants to sit and watch everything that is happening. While I enjoy this inquisitiveness, I do not enjoy it when she nursing. But I will tolerate it. It seems just the other day she learned to alter her vocal pitch. We laugh at her every time we hear her higher pitched squeal.


In addition, Camryn experienced her first taste of football. We were able to catch cousin Zach's football game. Camryn did not appear very interested. Watching the football game made me glad I had a girl instead of a boy. While I am all of equality of the sexes I am not sure I would enter my son, if we ever have one, in tackle football. Cousin Zach played well and for the most part the game was amusing to watch. But the bumps and scrapes pale in comparison to the crazy and competitive parents.

While we all know Camryn's heart is for the Bears, we decided to be nice to Grandma and Grandpa Hamil.

Month 5 in Review - Giggles and Grins

Camryn's 5th month was a very busy time considering we moved into the new house on August 1st and had a lot of work to do. Camryn had no difficulties making this transition; probably because she slept in her crib for the first time as opposed to the Pack 'N Play.

• Some firsts for Camryn this month included:


• Experiencing biter biscuits -- this is how mom and dad eat a dinner with limited interruption




• Rolling from stomach to back (she rolled from back to stomach around 4 1/2 months)




• Sitting up unassisted for periods of time.




• Tasting her first bite of prunes (her digestive system wasn't so hot on rice cereal) and sweet potatoes.


• And on a sad note attending her first wake/memorial service for Michael Milem - Mom's cousin.

Camryn also bought us a riding lawn mower as an early Christmas present. We thought she purchased a lemon. Within the first days of owning it the belt required replacement (it was fun to see Dad ride down the hill and have black smoke discharge), the seat was scratched and the battery died. (Of note, if you ever need to jump a riding lawn mower you do not need to start your vehicle - don't worry we were told this before jumping the lawn mower.) After Dad made some phone calls all of the issues were resolved in a timely manner by Sears.

With the help of Grandma and Grandpa Nicholson we completed some much needed landscaping in front of the house. Though we did purchase some puny trees. Then with the help of Grandma Julie and Aunt Sam and Uncle Trace we managed to paint Camryn's room. Her room can now be referred to as the Moon Dance room in honor of the pale yellow color adorning her walls.

And I forgot to mention . . . we also just started cloth diapering. At the time of this post it has only been 3 days but so far I have no regrets. I will let you know how the first official wash goes and yes we do have diapers with #2. However, I am a little bummed as the in-home daycare we were using is closing (We do not understand why they took us on and decided to close a little after a month of doing so) and center-based daycares do not allow cloth diapers. We received some leads; however, we are eagerly waiting to hear back. More on that later.

I will leave you with a sweet little video capturing the first moments of our ice cream monster in training (thanks Dad!).