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")