Holiday Fun & Winter Wonderlands

We know it's been a while, but we were too busy enjoying the holidays and then recovering from post-holiday colds.  Now that the craziness of it all has calmed down and we are on the mend, here is what we have been up to the past two months.

CAMERON

Well of course there was Christmas.  We had several celebrations.  Christmas Eve was at Great Grandma Kruepke's  house where I got to carry Baby Jesus in the traditional processional of grandkids and great-grandkids.  It was quite an honor.  Then on Christmas we opened some gifts at home before picking Grandpa Brian and Grandma Linda up at the airport.  Then we went to Great Grandma Theisen's where I got to play with several cousins and Polly the dog.  When we got home I got to open even more presents.  However, since Nate and I got all these neat gifts, we have been in each other's faces all the time fighting over who gets to play with what.  I will admit I am usually the one taking toys from Nathan, but he gets in my way a lot too.

We have our good moments too. For example, I am really good at making Nathan laugh, especially when he is in his highchair.  We also like to imitate each other's goofy noises.  And sometimes Nathan will crawl after me while I am running through the house.  Or sometimes I will crawl after him, but he's crawling too, not running.

The holidays were a lot of fun, but very tiring.  I haven't been a very good sleeper this past year as is, but I missed a lot of naps during the holidays and would wake up several times at night.  In fact I still do that.  I also don't like to nap everyday so often times mom will find me in my room reading books instead of napping.  The biggest problem with that is on days I don't nap, I tend to wake up during the middle of that night so mom and dad don't like that.



I enjoy the snow, though don't get to play in it too often.  But in December we had some good packing snow so mom and I went out and played in it and even built a snowman.  Then last night and today we had a huge blizzard so mom and I took advantage of it and played in the snow.  The first couple pictures are actually of a snow earlier this winter.  The last picture though is from today.  Notice how high the snow is compared to me.  The drifts were so high in some places they went over our fence.



January also brought an icky milestone.  I was sick for the first time one weekend.  Daddy was getting ready to take me upstairs for bathtime and so I was on his back when I made a gagging noise.  Fortunately for daddy he put me down just in time.  We still don't know why I got sick, but fortunately I was fine the rest of the night and haven't had an incident since.  Mom thinks it was something I ate which leads me to my next update.

I am still a picky eater except I do like shrimp, pork and nuts (especially almonds and peanuts) which surprises my parents given my pickiness.  I still love my fruit and cereal (my favorite is a bowl with a mix of Kashi, Kamut Puffs, Cheerios and Chex) though lately I have been requesting toast for breakfast with either cinnamon or honey.  Despite my pickiness, one of my favorite things to do is help mom or dad cook.  I like chopping onions (with an onion chopper, not a knife) and pouring ingredients into pans, but my favorite thing to do is smell all of the different foods, especially the spices.  In the kitchen I am also a very good helper when it comes to unloading the dishwasher.  I usually am responsible for putting the storage containers and lids away as well as measuring cups and spoons and cutting boards. 


My other new thing is lately I have been asking to eat everything (bugs, spider webs, poop, etc).  I'm just being silly when I ask, but I think mom is worried I will actually eat one of those things.  Mom is probably worried because lately I have been very good at getting into mischief.  Just today I got into mom's deodorant and put it on my face and drew on the kitchen table.  I also have a tendency to spill (or pour) water all over my books, the kitchen floor, or wherever else I can find a cup of water.  I also love putting my toys and cards where they don't belong, such as in the coat closet, inside the piano, down vents, and in laundry baskets.  Sometimes I get in trouble for my mischief, especially when it involves picking on my brother.  I try to tell mom and dad it's just part of being a 2-year old but I don't think they buy it.

To help channel some of my unbridled energy, mom enrolled me in a gymnastics class for toddlers.  So far I have used the balance beam and trampoline (where I like to do belly flops instead of landing on my feet), and have learned to do a pencil roll, and forward and backward rolls.  It's a lot of fun.

I guess all this curiosity has helped me really expand my vocabulary.  I have said some creative and silly things over the past couple months.  Examples include:
"Mama, put Nathan on the ground" when I want to play with Nathan but he is still eating his bottle.
"Talk to Grandma on the computer (which I pronounce "pewter")" referring to using Skype to talk to grandma.
"Dude"
"Love blankie"
"Smells like blueberries" referring to my diaper

So maybe the next time I see you, I will have something witty to say.


NATHAN

I sure enjoyed my first Christmas.  I got to see lots of family and play with lots of wrapping paper and bows.  I also met Santa Claus.

Christmas wasn't the only new experience for me since our last post.  I started to crawl in November and now I get into everything and put everything in my mouth.  It's my way of exploring.  In one day, mom fished out dog food, part of a Christmas card, and part of a chair out of my mouth.  I'm a quick one so it can be hard to keep up with me, especially when my brother is around to distract.

I also got my first tooth (bottom right if you are looking at me) the week before Christmas and a second one (bottom left) in January.  That's good because it helps me eat all of those finger foods that I can't get enough of.  Overall I am a good, but messy, eater.  If I am eating purees, I have to have a spoon in my hand or I will take the one being used to feed me.  My favorite food is green peas, but I also enjoy cheese, bread, carrots, sweet potatoes, chicken, Cheerios, and bananas (notice they are all finger foods).  However, I will eat pretty much anything put in front of me.  I have eaten all sorts of beans (cannellini, garbanzo, black, kidney, soy, green, etc).  I also have tried salmon, seaweed, turkey burgers, spinach, egg yolks, pumpkin, quinoa, asparagus, and an assortment of herbs and spices.

My sleeping habits are not quite as good as my eating habits.  I sleep through the night still (yeah!) but I am a very inconsistent napper.  For a while, I was taking an hour nap each morning but then mom worked really hard to get me to take an afternoon nap, usually in lieu of my morning nap.  But then I had a really bad cold for a week and a half and I started taking longer (2-4 hours) naps in the mid-morning.  We'll see if I stick with that pattern for a while.




One of my favorite things to do is stick my finger out like E.T. in hopes that whomever is near me will touch their finger with mine.  I also will wave hi or bye bye and my vocabulary is expanding.  I consistently say "mama" which is probably my favorite word much to my mom's delight.  I guess I am a bit of a mama's boy; I will often get cranky if she leaves my line of sight, but will usually cheer up pretty quickly.  I also say "dada", "hi", "bye", my own versions of Cameron (sounds similar to "Mama" as if I am saying Mamron which is how Cameron says his own name), bottle (sounds like "ba"), and doggy (sounds similar to "Dada").  And when I'm not talking, I'm making some sort of noise.  One of my favorites is a guttaral noise that sounds like I am clearing my throat.  I'm a happy guy who is usually very smiley (unless I have a cold) and loves to be around people.

So that's a recap of our past couple months.  Hope you all are staying warm this winter and GO PACK GO!!!

Love,
Cameron & Nathan