To help combat the cold . . .

Yummy!

*no we don't give Cameron ice cream, but we let him hold it in the store . . . and we wait to eat it until after he goes to bed, because eating it in front of him is creul since he doesn't get any! *

It clicked!

On Monday night Cameron and I were in the backyard watering the plants. I had picked him up and put him on the other side of me to deter him from eating the bark dust . . . when I set him down, he stood - then started walking up to the patio like it was no big deal.

After dinner and a bath the three of us were hanging in the living room and he started again, just up and let go of the couch and walked across the room. Shawn and I looked at each other and thought, did he really just do that? Totally unprovoked? And ever since then he's been on the move walking whenever he has the chance. He still falls down (and often), but tries to walk before he'll crawl, most of the time.

He and I went to a park near our house on Wednesday and I got a video of him walking toward another kid . . . a kid who had no interest in playing with Cameron. He's also walking right toward an edge, you can't really see since it's covered in sand, so I had to stop him or I think he would have gone even farther.

He of course seems to walk the furthest when I don't have the Camera on him, the other night he walked out of the living and around the couch, each day he goes further and further. I am having so much fun now that he's walking. I love it!

Bear Crawl

Cameron loves to crawl on our patio and really any pavement available . . . this weekend he figured out that it hurts his knees so he developed this bear crawl, thankfully, to avoid the scraping yet still get to crawl on the patio.

Thomas family Reunion

Last weekend we headed to Newberg to enjoy some time with the Thomas family. Friday night I snuck out and went to dinner with some friends from high school. 4 of us have kids under two and Kristen should be having her little guy next month. It was a wonderful dinner, we talked kids, baby daddy's, work, family and relived some memories. I'm definitely looking forward to doing it again!

While I was at dinner Shawn and Cameron headed to Gene and Pat's. Cameron went in the pool with Papa Gary and had a great time. It was a gorgeous weekend so most of Saturday was spend in or by the pool as well. It was good company and a lot of fun. We headed back home just before dinner since Shawn had to work in the morning.

It was Cameron's third trip to Portland in a week and about a half hour outside of Eugene he had had it and screamed the entire way home, it sucked! I made lots of promises to him as I was trying to calm him down . . . however I couldn't bring myself to hold him while driving, the 'what if's' scare me too much. Thankfully we made it home safe and sound and he hasn't had to go on any long car rides since!

Pool Fun

Last Wednesday Cameron and I headed back up to Sherwood to spend the afternoon in the pool with Kassie, Laurel, Tiffany, Lincoln, Melissa and Jack. It was a great day. Cameron loved the pool and enjoyed watching the kids play.

I was holding Cameron swaying back and forth gabbing away and noticed his head drop on my shoulder and he was out. Melissa was just blowing up this floating taxi and it was the perfect place for him to rest his while I worked on my tan.

As you can see the kids loved the pool

Last Sunday

So as you can see I'm a little behind on my blogging. My best friend Kassie has been in town and we have been consumed with all things Kassie as well as a ton of other fun family and friends . . . hopefully I'll get caught up soon and you'll see what we did just yesterday in the near future . . .

Cameron and I stayed at my mom's on Saturday night and Shawn went home, having to work Sunday morning. I went to church with my mom and family and got one more hug and love from my dad and family before they had to head back home.

The afternoon was spent showering Tanya, Kassie's oldest sister, who is going to become a mom very soon. She's always been a wonderful big sister to Kassie and Melissa and has always been so good to me. As we've gotten older I've become even closer with Kassie's family. They are one of a kind and I am so glad they let me be a part of all their wonderful family functions. Baby Bettineski is going to have so much love! The shower was a blast, she got so much stuff, I'm not sure what she'll do with it all. . . but as new parents everyone seems to find their own list of what they can and can't live without. Congratulations Tanya, we can't wait to meet him.

Visit with my Dad

After Sawyer's birthday party last weekend we went to my brothers for a BBQ with my dad, his wife and their three kids. They live in Washington and the drive from Eugene is 6+ hours so we don't get to see them that often - especially now that we have a little one. However it worked out that we were able to see them when they came to Troys. It was a quick visit but a fun one. Cameron loved every minute of attention from his Grandpa. My brother cooked us a delicious dinner and we all enjoyed the beautiful weather. The kids spent most of the evening playing outside and going in and out of the boat . . . well that's what Cameron liked best about it.
It was a challenge to get a 4 year old (who was trying to show off her lady bug), a sleepy 3 year old and a 10 month old all to look at the camera at once. I think it turned out pretty cute and you can tell my dad is a happy Grandpa.

Sawyer's Birthday

Last Friday night after the wedding we stayed with Chris, Veery and Sawyer. The boys went and saw Bruno while Veery and I chatted late into the night and the kids took turns entertaining us. We spent the morning relaxing and getting ready for Sawyer's first birthday party in the park. The kids had so much fun watching each other and playing with all kinds of Sawyers toys. See's Veery's blog for pictures since she beat me to posting and put up most of the pictures I would have anyway.

Congratulations to Kara and Dan

Friday night we went to a wedding in Portland of a friend I've known since first grade. She is one of the kindest people I know and she deserves all the happiness in the world. We are so happy she found someone wonderful to share her life with. Me, Kara and Kassie - all friends since elementary school and roommates for a year at Oregon

A quick family photo

When it's hot

Weekend Fun

A few weekends ago Chris, Veery and Sawyer came down to Eugene for a visit. We had a wonderful afternoon. The kids played together, a little unsure of whether to play together or chase each other. We all headed to lunch and then a long walk around the river on a gorgeous afternoon. We had a wonderful day. Happy 1st Birthday to Sawyer! . . . a year goes by so fast.
On the 28th we headed up to Newberg to celebrate Hazel’s third birthday. It was a fun day, great company and delicious ice cream cake!

Cameron throwing the ball with Oma

Trying out Hazel's new big wheel

A big hug for the birthday girl

Fun in the pool

Steps . . .

Cameron has taken two or three steps here and there for about a month now. He's starting to get more and more brave and take them on his own with no initiation from us. Today I was in the bedroom folding laundry when he stood up next to the bed and grabbed a rag. He stood looking at it, and then just started walking toward me, like it was no big deal. I ran and got the camera and he did a reenactment for all of you . . .

Newsletter Month 10

Your 10 months today and it really snuck up on me. I can remember being surprised when I realized you were 9.5 months then all of a sudden your 10 months. We were out and about yesterday and someone guessed you were 14 months, then when we told her you are 10 months she gasped. I'm not sure why people think you're so old. Your dad guesses it's the hair, but it could also be your mouth full of teeth. When we went to the doctor for your 9 month check up we found out that you've slowed in your growing a bit, totally normally, and are now in the 40th percentile for both height and weight, however your very large head has stayed in the 75th percentile. The doctor is always so impressed by you and you get a kick out of him as well. Everything is right on track and he was impressed by your waving skills. We were back twice last month, one for yet another ear infection and the other for your check up. Thankfully at the check up the ear infection was gone again after we moved up to a stronger antibiotic. For some reason they made it 'orange, raspberry, carmel' flavor and you hated every bit of it.

You are getting so close to walking. At the beginning of the month you ever so casually let go of the ottoman and took two steps to me. After that you were more interested in playing and getting quickly to what ever it was you wanted than trying to walk. However in the last week or so you've been back into walking again. You'll take a couple steps between your dad and I and just the other day you let go of one piece of furniture and took two steps to get to the window sill. I try and watch you every time you get to the end of something to hold onto and walk against. You pause, hold out your arm to see how far you'd really have to go, then pause and think again. about 60 percent of the time you try and will take one step then fall, the other times you sit and crawl over to where you want. I'm waiting for the day when you just let go and are fully confident that you can walk to where you're going.

You love to be outside, it's only the beginning of July and you already have a pretty good 'farmer tan' going. It's hard to keep you in my arms when we're in the back yard. You would love it if I'd set you down on the patio and let you crawl around, but I'm feeling for those knees of yours so I'm trying to keep you off the patio till you can walk, however the scraping of the knees doesn't seem to bother you. We got you a little pool this month for the back yard. The pool seemed a little boring on it's own, however once I put the hose in it the fun began. You are a water boy, between the water table at daycare and the hose and pool at home I think you'll be having a very fun, cool, wet summer. You also love to look out the windows and see what's going on outside and sometimes it's nothing, but you still seem to enjoy it.

You're weaning yourself from your pacifier all on your own, mainly you use it as a chew toy now and reject it anytime you're tired. It's nice to know you're not that attached to it. You did however start sucking your thumb for about a week, but that seemed to pass and I haven't seen it since. Your 8th tooth popped through on the bottom this month, now you have 4 on top and 4 on bottom. It seems I should be serving you up steak and brisket, but we'll stick to our veggies for just a bit longer. The only thing I've actually seen you use your teeth with is the puffs we give you, every once in a while I see you bite them in half. Other than that everything else goes right in and down the hatch. You're having so much fun eating and trying new foods. You still give us a hilarious face whenever you try something new, but always come back for more. You love anything you can eat yourself, I try and make most things this way, it's a messy option, but a fun one.

You're starting to nap less often and sleep a little better at night, but we're still working on your 'staying asleep' part of it all. You get so sweaty and hot when you're tired and about to fall asleep - just like your daddy - and as the weather warms up it's been harder and harder to make sure you're comfortable and cool throughout the night. Last night you slept in only a onesie and seemed pretty comfy for most of the night, but it's hard for me to judge whether you need blankets or not because I like blankets on me, but they seem to annoy you and just make you hot, I constantly check your legs to see if they are cold, but they seem to be just fine.

At the beginning on the month you started biting, legs, arms, whatever your mouth happened to fall onto. It was usually just to me for some reason, but every once in a while it'd be to your daddy too. You understand the words 'don't bite' and instead open your mouth and slobber on my leg or arm, but don't bite anymore. After a few times of you biting and me yelping loudly and scaring you the biting phase ended. Every once in a while you'll do it out of the blue, but I think we've nixed the chance that you'll be 'the biter' at daycare. . . or so I hope.

You still love little kids. Danielle brought baby Briley over for a visit a few weeks ago and you couldn't get enough of her. Right now to show your love you smack people with your hands, usually on their shoulders or mouth, however this didn't work so well with a little 2 month old baby. All you wanted to do was touch her and see her, but you were just so rough. I was holding her and you got very mad at me for trying to hold you away from her while I had her in my arms. I had to give her back to her mom and we let you touch her feet, something you didn't really appreciate.

You are very strong willed and know just what you want. You have started to pull my hand away from things or out of the way if it's blocking you from something you want. You'll also try and squirm out of our arms to get down or to what you want. You love to move through very small spaces, unafraid of how you'll get back out, under the tables with the chairs pushed in. Every once in a while you'll crawl under there and get stuck and start to whine since you've figured there's no way out. You love to explore new places at every chance you get.

You continue to be a happy baby and have so much fun playing with us, with other kids, and by yourself. We've started to play your own game of peek a boo with me. You'll leave the living room and go around the edge of the couch. I'll say 'where's Cameron' and you'll come crawling back to the edge and poke your head around to see me, smile, then sit back up and wait for me to ask again. I've tried to get this on video, but whenever the camera comes out, you stop. You still love books, big books, little books, magazines, anything you can get your hands on. You're also starting to sit through books as I read them to you, the whole thing, you'll even turn the pages for me. You've also started to throw things and chase after them. Usually one of your balls, you'll sit and throw the ball, usually after you give it a taste. Sometimes it's by yourself and other times it's back and forth to one of us. You also started to kick the balls if you're standing up and it's near your feet. It's so fun to watch you crawl and chase them, you giggle each time it moves away from you or when you throw it, like you're having so much fun.

You love the cupboards in the kitchen, the tupperware drawer is a favorite as well as the cupboard with the water bottles and pitchers. You could also spend what seems like an hour in the pantry, the same few things are at a level you can get to, but those things must be really fun. You found a bag of red potatoes opened one day and started to throw them like balls and acted like you'd found a new great toy! Another of your favorites, but not mine, is the cupboard with the oils. You love to get them all out and play with them on the floor, but I'm afraid you'll smash a toe or two in the process. I usually let you do it, but watch carefully and cringe as each one comes slamming to the floor. You are a very tough kid, not much phases you, you fall down and get back up, you bonk your head, look around and keep going. Every once in a while you'll really hurt yourself and need some love, but usually it's more that you scare yourself and need quick reassurance it'll all be okay.

You can get into anything in an instant, if the door to the bathroom isn't closed you'll be in there playing with the plunger or once I found you with your hands in the toilet . . . note to you it's not a water table . . . You love something about the laundry room too (probably that we won't let you in there or the cat food) and head for it whenever the opportunity arises. You crawl faster when you know we're after you too. You also love the vacuum, I'm not sure what it is about it, but when it's out you follow your daddy all over the house trying to get a glimpse of it and where it's going. You also cried once when we put it away.

You are sweet as can be and I love every minute I get to spend with you. You've started to give really good, really big hugs lately. It melts my heart when you wrap your arms around my neck and squeeze! Thank you for adding so much fun into our lives. I love you - Mommy