Today's guest writer is mom.
I know the boys have plenty to write about as it has been two months, but I wanted to take a few minutes and reflect on a year of being a mom to two fantastic, cute, funny, challenging, smart, busy, loving, and too many other words to list here, boys.
CAMERON
Cameron seems to be an observant learner as I call it. For many things (walking, talking, etc) he takes his time to figure them out but then does them well once he starts. I remember thinking he wasn't saying as many words as he should have (he didn't say mama until he was 10 months old so maybe I was a bit biased and then I got worried when he didn't start using 2 word phrases until well after the "normal"). But since he started putting his words together, he hasn't stopped. In fact, we are constantly amazed at some of the sentences he speaks and how well he uses words in their correct context. He also knows the letters of the alphabet and can count to 10. But he wouldn't start counting until he knew 1,2 & 3 and then he quickly learned 4-10. Again that observant learner. He also likes to have things explained to him and most of the time if he gets an explanation, he accepts it and moves on.
Cameron is still a pickier eater. His favorite food is mac and cheese. Fortunately he likes the homemade stuff as much as the stuff from the box. He also will tolerate mom putting spinach in it (though he won't eat much of the spinach). Fruit is another favorite, especially bananas, grapes, and berries. However, there are very few fruits he won't eat. Papaya is the only one I can think of at the moment considering he actually ate several pieces of cantaloupe today and for the first time didn't spit it out. Steak is another favorite, especially with gorgonzola cheese on it, though he is much better about eating meat in general. He will eat almost anything in a smoothie. In fact, he asks me to buy kale everytime we are at Good Harvest Market and though he is not a huge fan of it on it's own (too spicy), he has no problem when I put it in smoothies. Even if the smoothie is a green or brown color as a result. My wish for Cameron's eating habits are more veggies, which is one reason we joined a CSA this summer, and less mess - one of his favorite "activities" is to spit out food or dump it on the floor when he is done eating.
Other current favorite activities include playing "chase" (running after or from mom or dad or even now Nate), puzzles, reading, playing with whatever toy Nate has, climbing Mount Pillow (a stack of all the pillows in our house), stacking toys between the fireplace and DVD case or behind the TV, playing outside, and watching cooking shows or Sesame Street. He doesn't watch too much TV at home, but at my gym's child care it's almost all he does much to my chagrin. Pretty ironic though - encouraging sedentary kids while their parents are exercising.
Sleeping is not Cameron's strength. It's frustrating that from the day we brought him home, Nathan has slept better than Cameron. In fact, Cameron is screaming right now because he woke up. Right now he has a cold so last night and tonight he has been waking up multiple times. In a "normal" week, he will wake up a couple times during 3 or 4 nights and then sleep through the night the other 3-4 nights. Nate, on the other hand, wakes up during the night maybe once a month at most. Cameron still takes an afternoon nap, but again only about 4 days out of the week. It would be wonderful if he would sleep through the night regularly. I rarely hear him so poor Greg bears the brunt of it. But he is such a daddy's boy that the few times I do hear him, he usually asks for daddy anyway.
Becoming a big brother has really helped Cameron's social skills blossom. He is very good for a 2 1/2 year old at taking turns, except with Nathan of course. But at gymnastics class he waits for others to finish using the trampoline and checks to make sure it is his turn before getting on. The one tactic that works well at home is setting the microwave timer to indicate his turn is up. We use this to share the ride-on car the boys have. When the timer goes off, not only will Cameron give Nate a turn, he will bring the car to Nate and proudly declare "Nate's turn". Cameron loves to help. He likes to feed Nate and "help" give Nate his bath. He also is a great sous chef with pouring ingredients into pots and chopping onions (with a chopper, not a knife!) as two of his specialities. He also enjoys being daddy's apprentice. The other day Nate and I went upstairs to find Cameron putting screws in the holes and trying to screw them in while changing doorknobs with daddy. He is also very good at changing batteries and will let you know when a toy needs new batteries. Our little Mr. Fix-It.
I guess if I had to describe Cameron, some of the words I would use are full of expression (his facial expressions are priceless), active, inquisitive, mechanically inclined, talkative, daddy's boy, observant (he constantly points out EVERYTHING he sees while in the car - many things that I didn't see or hear myself), brave (he doesn't need much encouragement to try new activities and he doesn't flinch at the doctor or dentist), empathetic (he gets worried if Nate is not around and he is very good about saying sorry after hurting someone though I wish he would simply stop bopping his brother instead) and a cutie pie.
NATHAN
I don't think I have had my mid-life crisis yet, but everytime one of my kids turns 1, I do have a mini freak-out. It's then that I realize my babies are growing up and as exciting as that is, there is a little bit of me that is saddened by how quickly it goes. Especially the second time around. But I also think I appreciated certain things more the second time around because I know how quickly it goes. So how has that all impacted Nate?
First, I think all of Cameron's speech is rubbing off on Nathan. He already has quite the vocabulary including mama, dada, doggy Jesse, bottle, bread, thank you (my favorite) and his newest "night night Nate" (that is what Cameron tells Nate at bedtime and Nate repeats it).
He is our healthy eater. Nathan will eat almost anything and large quantities. We should start weaning him off formula, but I can't find our sippy cups so right now he's still on 3-4 bottles a day (about 20-30 oz a day depending on the day) plus three full meals. He weighs about 20 lbs and I have no idea how tall he is - he will get measured Friday at his one year check up.
As mentioned before, Nate is a superb sleeper at night. However, he is awful at napping compared to Cameron at this age. Nate has not been a consistent napper ever and has been only a one nap a day kid for probably the last 6 months. Part of it is probably my fault. I can't stay home all day so we run our errands and go to the gym in the mornings so Cameron can nap in the afternoon. As a result, I think Nate never really had a fair chance to establish a nap routine. I'm sure that is only one of many ways he gets the short stick as the second child.
Some of Nate's favorites include following his brother, being held, going for walks or car rides, playing at the gym with the sweet woman who watches infants, eating, playing with whatever toy Cameron has, playing with the TV remote, climbing and cruising the furniture.
Nathan is a very happy, easy-going kid. Although he is a mama's boy and will sometimes have separation anxiety, once he warms up to you he will be your best friend. People constantly comment on how smiley he is and how much he talks. He is starting to exert his opinion more. He still army crawls and will likely just start walking before he crawls "normal" with his belly off the ground. In fact, he will walk behind the ride-on car at times, but isn't very interested in having you hold his hands and helping him walk. Part of me can't wait until he can walk but part of me knows that will just be yet another reminder that my babies are growing up. They are at such a fun age right now with all the learning that goes on, the brotherly interactions, and the innocence.
The words I would use to describe Nathan include smiley, mellow, persistent, mama's boy, talkative, curious, impatient (at meal times), and impulsive (he seems to just jump in rather than sit back and observe first). It's so neat how similar yet how different our boys are.
It has been such a blessing to watch Cameron and Nathan bond and really interact with each other these past few months. One story that really emphasizes this for me happened about a week ago. Cameron, in typical brother fashion, bopped Nathan on the head for no real reason. Nate cried for just a bit and after we comforted him and he settled down, he immediately went back over by Cameron to play with him. Unconditional brotherly love at its finest.
Cameron and Nathan - Daddy and I love you both very much and thank you for all the love and joy you have brought to our family. And you both are very blessed to have such a loving, supportive extended family and friends to share all of your memories with.
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