White Christmas

"Hi". This is my new word so now I am up to 3 1/2 words. I also say (though usually only when prompted), "Mama" "dada" and kind of "dog" (hence the 1/2 word). Using words is not my forte yet, but I definitely understand as mama and dada are constantly asking me to do this or do that (e.g. "throw the ball to Jesse", "give that to daddy", and their favorite "don't touch") and I usually understand what they are saying. But I don't always listen, especially when they tell me not to touch something. I'm a curious guy by nature and like to play with the buttons on the TV, Jesse's food and water bowls, the DVD cabinet, etc. Overall though I'm pretty well-behaved according to mom. In fact, our Christmas tree has been up since Thanksgiving weekend and I haven't taken it down yet! I haven't even bothered much with the presents except for one gift that has Jesse's name on it. I really want to know what's in it because I keep picking it up and sometimes even try to open it. Mom says I can open one gift on Christmas Eve as was tradition in her family growing up so maybe I'll open Jesse's gift then if that's allowed.

Speaking of Christmas, I got to meet Santa Claus. I did pretty good - no tears, but quite the concerned look on my face since I wasn't sure who he was or what was going on.

December has been a relatively quiet month with one exception - our whirlwind trip to South Carolina. We went for a long weekend to Kiawah Island to watch my aunt Kali and her friend run a 1/2 marathon and then two of mom's aunts and one of her uncles walked the same course. That's quite impressive. As active as I am, I can't imagine moving for 13+ miles. Kali and her friend shaved a whole 10 minutes off their previous best (they've run 3 total half-marathons now), finishing just over 2hrs and 13 mins. Amazing! It was a lot of fun to cheer them on as the house we rented was right around the 10-mile marker so we waited in the front yard for all of our runners and walkers and made lots of noise for them. The weather held out for the race, but rained the rest of the time so I never made it to the ocean. It was still warmer than back home though as the Wednesday before the race, we got around a foot of snow at home and then the temps plunged into single digits so I didn't mind the 40s and rain one bit! It was a lot of driving though and I had a cold on the way there so I was a bit fussy, but on the way home I was quite a good passenger for the 7-hour ride. I have now been to 6 states in my 16 months of life (Wisconsin, Washington, Oregon, Illinois, Georgia, South Carolina) and that's not counting my stopover in Missouri on the way out west. I'm taking after mommy in her love of travel and goal to visit all 50 states, but she is way ahead of me.

We celebrated Uncle Scott and Aunt Mollie's birthdays earlier this month and I loved playing with their cat. Then I got a bonus visit to their place the night we came home from South Carolina as we had no heat and the furnace wasn't working so we ended up spending the night in West Bend at their place and I got to play with their cat again!
I also got my first haircut the other day thanks to daddy. Now my hair doesn't stick up as much because it's shorter. I was pretty cooperative though I kept trying to see what daddy was doing which made it more difficult for him to cut the hair, but he did a great job.

Not much else is new here. My new favorite this month is my "lovey", any burp cloth or dish cloth (though burp cloths work better so I don't trip on them as I tend to walk fast and not watch where I am stepping). I like to sleep with one and sometimes I even want to eat while holding one. When I don't have it and I can see it nearby, I get upset - you can see the aftermath in one of the pictures I posted. I just got my lovey back, but the crocodile tears are still on my face as evidence.

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful start to 2010 - it will be an exciting year for me and my family as we get ready for my little brother or sister. Still not sure how I feel about sharing mommy and daddy with someone, but my friends Ben and Abby sure seem to like having siblings because they have constant playmates so I'm looking forward to that. But until s/he is old enough, guess poor ol' Jess will have to still be my go-to when I want to play! I say poor ol' Jess because he doesn't always want to play when and how I want to but he usually gives in and indulges me.

Love,
Cameron (aka "C", "Cameroni", "Cam", "lil guy")

My New Room

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a non-traditional Thanksgiving this year, or so I am told. Instead of turkey, mashed potatoes, etc, we had Chinese food. Apparently this is a tradition that my mom's family would partake in once in a while when they didn't have the big family traditional Thanksgiving. I particularly enjoyed the yee yu noodles and chicken in black bean sauce.

We stayed home because we had lots of projects going on this weekend. First, the big one - I moved from the nursery into a big boy room (previously the guest room, also known as the blue room because of the two-toned blue walls). I am still in my crib for now, but will eventually move into a big boy bed. One thing at a time though. I did pretty well with the change. I babbled for the first hour of my nap yesterday (my first time in my new room) presumably because I was so intrigued with my new surroundings. Also, when it's bath or nap time, I will go to the stairs when asked if I'm ready and last night once I got up the stairs, I went straight to my new room instead of my old room. Because this move required mommy and daddy to move all of my stuff into my new room and move lots of stuff (including a book case and queen sized bed) out of the blue room, it was a several day project. My room is all done now, but the nursery now needs to be reorganized. I helped mommy put away clothes for the baby last night so now all that needs to be done is some cleaning and rearranging.

The other big project this weekend was decorating the house for Christmas. Because Thanksgiving is mommy's favorite holiday, she wouldn't let us put up Christmas stuff until yesterday, but since mommy and daddy were both tired from getting up super early to shop, we started today. Daddy got the tree out this morning and I helped him put it up and if I'm lucky, mommy will let me help decorate the tree. So far I have been pretty good about not playing with the tree. We will see how long I can curb my curiosity.

Last weekend I visited my cousin Caroline and Uncle Keith and Aunt Maribel. Their dog Jordan loved giving me kisses. I didn't love it as much, but I didn't protest either. For the most part I played well with Caroline and shared her toys, but at one point I did try to push her out of the way (the picture is proof so I can't deny it). Just practicing my big brother skills.

I also got to meet Santa last weekend. I didn't cry, but I had my worried look the whole time I was in his lap. But I got to wear my new suit which was pretty snazzy.

Overall, I am a very busy boy who is learning new things every day. Though crawling is still my preferred mode of transportation (that or being carried), I walk a lot now. I will carry things while walking and sometimes I walk fast enough that it looks like I'm going to start running.

I am still not talking, but I get my point across. For example, when I want something to drink, I snap and if I can see my cup, I will point to it. I point to the dining room when I want fruit as that is where the fruit bowl is now kept. It used to be in the kitchen, but I would whine incessantly at every meal if I didn't get fruit because I could see it.

What else have I been up to? I like to help daddy groom the doggy by pulling out loose hair and handing it to mommy or daddy. In fact, I'm a good helper. I constantly pick dog hair or other things off of the floor and give it to mommy or daddy to throw away. I even pick my own toe fuzz when I have it.

I love imitating people. My new favorite imitation is that of a gorilla. When reading a book to me with a gorilla in it, mommy and daddy would pound their chests so now when I hear the word gorilla, I pound other people's chests so watch out!

Dancing is another favorite activity of mine. I love music, whether it's listening to the radio, playing with the ringtones on my cell phone, or people singing songs to me, I can't get enough. And now I will dance (either shake my arms or twist my torso) when I hear music.

Another favorite of mine is playing on the sofa. I love diving head first into the pillows and crawling down (feet first of course) and then unsuccessfully trying to crawl back up. I also enjoy looking out the window from our living room sofa or pacing between the bookshelf and end table on our family room sofa.

One thing I do not like is car washes. Daddy and I went to a car wash today while running errands and I was scared and tried to get daddy to hold me, which of course he couldn't because we were in the car. Hopefully I will get over this fear like I did my fear of the vacuum. The vacuum and I are now buddies and I enjoy playing with it when it's off and don't mind watching it while it's on.

Finally, I had some fun playdates this month, most of which involved kids younger than me so it was good practice for being a big brother. I am very curious about babies who are around 6-months old. I'm indifferent with newborns which might be a good thing because then I won't be all up in my baby sister or brother's face when they are super tiny. When Calan (6 months - see picture of me w/ Calan) and Alex (also 6 months) were over, I tried sharing my toys with them. With Alex though, it was more trying to throw my toys at her. With Calan, I was interested in his toys so I had no problem letting him play with mine. Mom hopes that with more exposure to younger kids, I will pick up some good big brother skills. I am a bit more social with other kids than I used to be so hopefully that trend continues.

Enjoy the holiday season - I'm off to Atlanta and South Carolina next month so that will be a fun start to the Christmas holidays!

Love,
Cameron

Step by Step

No pics tonight, but just a quick update instead. I just took my first unassisted steps! I was standing near my toy box and decided I wanted to play with my musical dog and instead of crawling to the box, I took a couple steps until I could reach it. Mom and dad were very proud of me and I was pretty proud of myself too! Hopefully this will be the first of many steps I take...

Love,
Cameron

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! As you can see, I went as an incredibly scary lion. Ok, so maybe more cute than scary. It was a great costume for the blustery day we had as I kept nice and warm in the wagon while mommy took me to a few neighbors houses, more to show me off than anything. Of course I didn't get to keep the candy they gave me.

In honor of Halloween, one of my newest words is "boo" as in ghost says "boo". I also will respond to cow says "moo". And just today I made mommy's morning when I said mama, dada, and dog on cue and with meaning. Typically I just point and grunt or whine when I want to communicate. I am especially good at pointing at fruit, cheerios, or any other food I want. I also let people know I'm hungry by going to my high chair and pushing it towards the table while making the sign for food.

This has been a rough couple weeks for me healthwise. Fortunately nothing too serious, but still a nuisance. Earlier this month, I apparently had some digestive enzymes enter my stool and start eating away at my skin, causing what looked like a very severe diaper rash and a lot of pain. Fortunately after following the doctor's orders of vinegar baths after every BM, lots of diaper free time, cortizone cream, triple paste, and other remedies, I started healing and feeling a ton better. You can still see where the skin was damaged, but at least it does not hurt anymore. Shortly after I recovered from that, I started cutting more teeth, including my elusive top right tooth. Mom and dad were very excited that it made an appearance, but I was not too pleased with the amount of pain it caused. And just the other day, right after getting over the brunt of this round of teething, I ended up with a fever of nearly 103. This was my first fever over 100 so it took all of us by surprise. I spent a couple nights this week sleeping with mommy in a chair for a couple hours in the wee hours of the morning. As much as she enjoyed cuddling with me again, I think she would have enjoyed sleeping through the night in a bed just as much. Fortunately my fever subsided after a round or two of Motrin and the doctor said everything else looked good and it could be a mild case of the flu, but nothing too serious.

Unfortunately, that somewhat favorable diagnosis did not help me sleep last night and once again I had mommy and daddy up for a couple hours in the middle of the night. Now that mommy is sick too, the timing wasn't the greatest. Good thing daddy says he feels ok as he has taken on lots of extra duties today to help me and mommy recover. I think it helped that I actually slept in until almost 10am (well really 9am with the end of daylight savings) so daddy and mommy could make up some of the sleep they lost this week. I'm just preparing them for having a newborn again!

On a happier note, I continue to learn about the world around me. I'm fascinated with body parts, especially the belly. I can point out my nose, tongue, ears, and belly and I enjoy lifting people's shirts and pointing out their own belly - fortunately I really only do that with mommy and daddy as apparently that is not acceptable public behavior according to mommy. I also enjoy playing peekaboo and find it especially entertaining when Jesse hides under my blanket. Dancing is another favorite activity of mine as I enjoy all sorts of music.

Other things I enjoy include playing with blocks, pushing trucks around while making "vroom vroom" noises, and my favorite activity of all - reading. I will sit with people and read book after book after book. I even know some of my favorite books and will make the appropriate gestures when we get to the right pages. I even am starting to warm up to the day care at mommy's gym. When mommy came to pick me up this week, I was actually playing with one of the older kids. Normally mommy finds me cuddling with my blanket sitting in one of the adult's laps. Since Grandma Linda will be here this week, I won't be going to daycare on Thursday, but hopefully the next time I go I have as much fun playing.

Well I better go catch some more Zzzs so I can get better in time for Grandma Linda's visit.

Love,

Cameron

The Gap in the Grin

Happy fall! Though today feels more like winter - cold and I even saw a few snowflakes before I went for my nap. Good thing I keep moving so I stay warm. I am now standing on my own without holding on to anything, but I will eventually fall down on my bum. I'm still not walking unassisted. I figure I can get places faster crawling so why bother? Though I practically run across the kitchen while pushing my car.

I now have 5 teeth. Two on bottom, my upper right (if you are looking at me, it's the right - it's my left) and both my incisors. However, still now upper left tooth. My grin is kind of goofy because of it. Mommy says it just makes me look even more endearing.

I still am quite an eater. Now that I can make the sign for "food"/"hungry", I use it quite frequently to let mommy and daddy know I want something to eat and then I get whiny because I really wanted it 5 minutes ago. I also make the sign when we go through the produce section of the grocery store. It's my favorite section for several reasons. One, it's very colorful. Two, my favorite foods (with the exception of bread and cheese) are all in that section. Bananas, kiwis, grapes, papaya, mangoes, tomatoes, etc are all in this section. Notice my trend towards fruits. Even though I have tried many veggies and some really interesting foods like risotto, homemade wontons and chili (and liked all three too), I'm still a fruit, cheese and bread kinda guy. I love lunch because many days I get a turkey & cheese sandwich with fruit and that's one of my favorite meals. So is pasta with cheese. Yummy!

Seeing as it's fall, that means mommy and daddy's two favorite sports are playing: baseball and football. I got to watch a few Brewer games in the last month and a couple playoff games this month. Plus we watch the Packer game each weekend, though I usually sleep through most of the early games and wake up in time to watch the late games. Mommy and I went to our friends Lisa & Scott's house on Monday for the big Packer-Viking game and I stayed up a little past my usual bedtime and watched some of the game. Actually, I was more interested in trying to take whatever toy my friend Allison had but eventually she grew annoyed with me and would just nudge me out of the way. I finally decided just to play with mommy's water bottle instead. It was still fun. You'll notice two of my pictures have a football theme - one is me celebrating mommy's favorite college football team (Univ. of Washington Huskies - GO DAWGS!) after a huge victory and then another picture is me rooting on the Packers.

Now for the other two pictures - one is me trying on my new helmet so I can ride safely in the bike trailer next spring and the other is me carrying around a sock in my mouth. I love cotton. I don't have a specific lovey, but anything cotton works - socks, blankets, burp cloths, clothes, etc. But I constantly am taking my sock off and putting it in my mouth and sometimes I will carry it around like a dog with a bone in his mouth.

Mommy and daddy also started their fall volleyball season and I have been to one of mommy's matches and one of daddy's matches. I really enjoy crawling around the big open gym and pointing to my daddy while he plays. I don't get to go this week since they both play after my bedtime. Oh well, I enjoy the nights I do get to watch them.

As for me, my sport of choice is swimming. I started up lessons again last month and have gone underwater twice. Both times I didn't really complain so mommy and daddy and Miss Heather are all very proud of me. I enjoy splashing in the water. My friend Michaela is in class with me again and there are several other girls so I enjoy charming them.

But my newest girl to charm is Lorelai Burie, born on Wednesday. We visited her and her family yesterday. It was fun playing with Ben and Abby's toys, but I really wanted to play with Lorelai. Mommy and daddy wouldn't let me touch her so I got pretty cranky about that. At least I didn't mind it when mommy was holding her. Since I have a baby sibling (and both mommy and daddy as well as the doctor think it's a girl) coming, it's probably good practice for me to watch mommy hold a baby. Daddy was there to give me attention though so that's why it wasn't a big deal that mommy wasn't holding me. Lorelai is a cutie and she will be in the same grade as my lil brother or sister so I'm sure I will see a lot more of her as she grows up.

Lately I've really wanted to stay close to mommy and daddy when I'm out of my comfort zone. On Thursday when mommy took me to the gym's day care so she could do her water aerobics, I grabbed her and would not let go. I didn't want to play with the other kids and for the first time, I didn't even want to cuddle with the adults. I just wanted my mommy to stay by me. She eventually left and I eventually cuddled and calmed down. I did something similar with daddy when we visited Lorelai's family. But I started socializing much quicker there, especially when Ben started showing me his toys.

I still am not much of a talker, but I will say "up" once in a while. I don't necessarily mean much by it as I am not asking to be picked up when I say it. I just like the word. I also like to point up when I hear the word "up". I'm very good at pointing at what I want, especially when I'm eating breakfast. If I want a banana, I will point at the fruit basket on the counter. It works though as mommy and daddy usually can tell what I want. It doesn't always mean I get it.

Though the last month has been pretty darn good, it had it's challenges. I got a cold and had a runny nose for almost 2 weeks. Daddy got a cold too and was sick for several days. Mommy had some runny nose issues, but we never know if it's a cold or pregnancy related as she has a history of allergies hitting in the early months of pregnancy. Either way, she was the least affected by whatever daddy and I had. I'm better now and back on my feet. So now maybe mommy and daddy can finally go out and celebrate mommy's birthday. They wanted to go to dinner last month, but with everybody sick and all, it made it hard to do. Plus one of my babysitters is in the middle of her volleyball season so her availability is very limited which makes it a bit harder for mommy and daddy to get out. Though I'm sure they don't mind since I'm so much fun to be around!

Well off to play with one of my best buds, Jesse. I love chasing him around and playing catch with him. He's very good at rolling the ball back to me so I can throw it back to him. I'm not as good at aiming so often I hit him in the face with the ball instead of throwing it near him. Oh well, he gets me back when we play with his tug toy. One tug and I usually get knocked over. But then I go grab tug and play all over again. Good thing I'm very good at falling onto my bum instead of my face or head.

Love,

Cameron

Dozer Days

Yesterday I went to Dozer Day with mommy, daddy, and Grandma and Grandpa Kruepke. It's an event held at a quarry where there are lots of big equipment like bulldozers, diggers, and dump trucks for kids to play on or even take a ride in. I got to climb into a really large tire, play in a pile of sand and gravel, sit in a humvee, watch mommy throw rocks at hubcaps, ride with Grandpa and daddy around the quarry in a dump truck (that's us in the back end of the dump truck), and on top of it all, I got a balloon (ok, two). It was cool. Plus I saw my friend Ben and his daddy and grandpa there.

After Dozer Day, we went to lunch at Agave, a southwestern grill. I had guacamole, fruit, jicama with a little jalapeno vinaigrette on it (yummy - I like foods with lots of flavor), salmon, and chicken. It was a fun day as you can see in the pictures!

Love,
Cameron

I'm 1!!!

I have been such a busy boy lately that I only update my blog once a month. Maybe I will slow down some this winter. Mama can only hope...

I turned one on August 19th. I think mom and dad find it hard to believe a whole year has passed by. They helped me celebrate by throwing a monkey-themed birthday party. It was a lot of fun eating tacos, playing pin the banana on the monkey (kudos to Abby who pinned the banana right at the monkey's mouth so it looked like he was eating it), and having fun with all of my guests. Then on my actual birthday, mama, dada and Grandma Linda took me to the Betty Brinn's Children's Museum where I got to play in the sand (I liked it this time!), learn about the digestive system, play with an ambulance, play several different musical instruments, and lots of other fun stuff. After the museum, we had lunch out on the river so I got to watch the bridge go up and down as lots of boats came by, including a tugboat pushing a load of coal. Mama also took me to the park later in the day.

I also had my 12-month checkup in August. As of August 28th, I was still not on the chart for weight (18 lbs, 3 oz), but I am in the 50% for height (29 1/2 inches). Mama says I burn off all the food I eat because I'm so active and that's why I'm such a little squirt. I also got tested for lead at this appointment and my initial test came back extremely high so I had to go to the hospital for a blood draw to do an IV blood test. Despite the painful experience of having blood drawn, at least this blood test came back normal so no lead worries. Phew.

One of my favorite parts of August was the week daddy had off. He stayed home with me on Monday and Tuesday while mommy was at work and on Wednesday morning while mommy was at the doctor. We also went to West Bend on Thursday to get some family pictures taken. It was just fun hanging out with daddy and playing together. Daddy also took me to one of his favorite places, Menards. I was a bit of a daddy's boy for the week after that and kept asking for daddy while he was at work.

Mommy, daddy and I also went to La Crosse in August for a family wedding. This was one of my longest car rides and I did really good. I slept most of the way there. However, I wouldn't sit still in church so mommy had to hang out with me outside and we missed most of the wedding. When we came home, we stopped in Madison and went to Ella's Deli for lunch. This is a restaurant with lots of fun things for kids like me to watch. There are lots of mechanical toys flying across the room, trains running around, games to play, etc. I was very entertained during lunch. But I also was wide awake for the rest of the car ride home and got a bit cranky about having to sit still for another hour.

I am not quite walking on my own yet. I prefer to hold somebody's hand (or sometimes when I'm cranky or tired, both hands) or walk behind my push toys. I can go pretty fast while pushing my car. Jesse better watch out as I am a crazy driver!

I got to practice my walking on the capitol lawn in Madison Labor Day weekend. Mommy, daddy, Jared, and I went to Taste of Madison last Saturday. While daddy and Jared had a beer and looked for more food, mommy and I walked across the capitol lawn and I got to watch other kids playing in the grass. I also tried daddy's jerk chicken and liked it and devoured some of mommy's pasta. Some days I eat really good and other days, like today at lunch, I'm rather finicky and just throw my food.

A few other highlights from the last month:

- I love mimicking mommy and daddy. One day mommy was itching her leg and so I came over and started scratching it for her. She thought that was pretty funny. I can also stick my tongue out like my daddy.

- I do not like the vacuum cleaner. When I was younger it didn't bother me, but when mommy tried to vacuum last week while I was with her, I just sat in the middle of the room and screamed. Yet when the vacuum was turned off, I enjoyed playing with it.

- I celebrated a friend's 1-year old birthday and then on the same day went to a pig roast and got to play a bean bag toss game with daddy and we won! I also went to a housewarming party last night and saw my girlfriend Bella. I have dibs on her and I think our mommys are ok with that.

- I am now drinking more cow's milk, but still am not quite ready to give up my morning bottle. Mommy tried one morning and boy did I make a fuss.

- I am taking one afternoon nap while still sleeping about 12 hours a night.

- My upper right tooth broke through last week and the tooth to the right of that (it's not the other front tooth; I think it's called an incisor, but my aunt Kali will have to verify) is also breaking through.

- Football season has started so like last year, I'm hoping to watch the games with daddy. However I doubt I will snuggle and fall asleep in his arms while watching the games like I did last season.

Last, but certainly not least, my favorite highlight of the month is I found out I will be a big brother sometime in April! Right now I'm excited about it, but I'm sure once the little bugger is born and hogging all of mommy and daddy's time, I won't be nearly as thrilled. I'm hoping for a brother so I don't have to worry about my sister trying to date all my friends when she is a teenager. But either way it will be fun to have a constant playmate who is more my age than mommy and daddy are.

Love,

Cameron

Last of the WA Pics

Pictures from my Aunt Kali's graduation from her dental hygienist program are featured here. I am so proud of her! I have also included a bonus picture of me helping mommy with the dishes once we got back from vacation. Finally, a big happy birthday to Grandma Linda. I am taking her out to lunch today to celebrate.

Love,

Cameron

More Pics Part 2

Per my message below, here are some more pics from my trip to Washington. In this batch, you will see me swimming at the hotel pool with mommy, with my Great Grandma Miyeko, and two pictures with mommy and daddy. One at our family orchards in Maryhill and the other in the Ice Caves near Bingen, WA. Finally, I have included a picture of me sitting by myself in the grass at the Maryhill Museum. I saw lots of peacocks roaming the grounds there. Enjoy!

Love,

Cameron

More Pics from Washington

Hello again. Grandma just gave me some more pics of my time in Washington and there were a few more I just wanted to share. In this batch, you will see me with my cousins, my great grandparents (and the remote, one of my favorite things to play with), my Uncle Tom, and my first kiss Lyla. Oh yeah, there's also a picture of me and mom by a pig in Ellensberg, WA. We stop here at a bakery on our way to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa's. Grandma has a sweet tooth and we can't seem to travel to Eastern Washington without stopping at a bakery. Or two.

Love,

Cameron

Me at the Beach

Here are pics of me at the beach in W. Seattle. Thanks Kimly for sharing these all the way from London! Gotta love technology...

Love,

Cameron

More pics from the Great Northwest

I couldn't fit them all in my last post so here are some more pics to go with my vacation tales.

Love,
Cameron