Follow the Leader

First, I have to admit the boys were much better at keeping up on the blogging. Oops. Maybe I will get my act together this winter.  

Nathan engaged in two of his favorite pastimes - reading and playing with the Burie girls

Let's see, since our last post, we have settled into our new house and met many of the neighbors, including the family with two kids who will be in the same grade as ours! The boys have adjusted to sharing a room and rarely have to be separated at night for making too much noise.  We still keep them separate at nap time because it's such a limited window.  We hosted and attended several playdates. Now that we are only about 5 minutes away from the Burie family, we see them more regularly.  We also had Halloween with Cameron as Tigger and Nathan as a lion. Somehow I don't think I got any pictures of the two. We also hosted both Greg and Kristi's families for Thanksgiving. It was a treat to have Uncle Tom and Aunt Kali fly out as they don't get to visit too often. And of course there was Christmas - but more about that in a separate post.

Cameron looking at the moon at Space Night

CAMERON
Cameron has really been enjoying preschool. He is pretty good about telling me what they had for snack (frequently crackers and juice/chocolate milk - ugh - we brought in hard-boiled eggs one week and apparently it was odd enough that it made the preschool newsletter), who got in trouble or didn't listen, and a little about the day's actual activities. I can usually tell when he used the bathroom as he comes out of school with his pants on backwards at least 60% of the time. Too cute, but I'm so proud he can dress himself - even if it is backwards. He has done really well with potty training and has not had any accidents at preschool (knock on wood) and usually his only accidents at home are at nap time. Even those are few and far between (knock on wood again!)

I can also tell Cameron is listening to his teacher Mr. Boris as he brings all sorts of new words and ideas home. One day he came home and put his blankie (who he called baby on this particular day and I was soon going to find out why) in a cowboy hat and put both in a laundry basket. He then started pushing the laundry basket around saying he was saving his baby from the soldiers and putting it in the river. Recognizing this was Cameron's version of the story of Baby Moses, I asked what baby's name was and of course Cameron answered "Moses". I knew they had talked about Moses in preschool that day because his teacher sends out a newsletter letting us know what they are discussing during Jesus time among other activities going on in the class. Too cute!

Playing in the leaves

Cameron talks A LOT. He is now in the "Why?" phase but boy does he retain information. He will remember any promise you make and call you out on it if you don't deliver on time.

Stripping during a playdate to go "swimming"

He also is quite a goofball. One day during a playdate at our house, he decided to strip down for no reason and run around. This was a first and I'm not sure if it was because he had such a large audience and felt comfortable with them. He says it was because he wanted to go swimming in the lake (a blanket on the floor).

Some favorites include playing with Nathan, anything related to the movie Cars, raisins, watching movies with Natalie (one of our high school babysitters), trucks, and puzzles.

One thing I can say about Cameron is he is overall a very easy child.  And I'm not the only one that says that, multiple daycare teachers also said it (our regular sitter was in a car accident in September so the boys were in daycare the past few months - fortunately she is recovering and doing much better).  He is pretty go with the flow, travels well, is curious in a good way (not a mischevious way), and as I like to say, he's so easy that I would be comfortable taking him on a trip to Europe.  Bummer that's not actually happening, but I think it would be manageable.  Because of his demeanor, Cameron gets to experience more one-on-one excursions than Nathan.  He and I attended Space Night at his preschool and used Mr. Boris' telescope to look at the moon.  We sometimes go on dinner or lunch dates.  One of my favorite summertime activities is to take one of the kids (or both, but it's nice having one at a time once in a while) to the farmer's market and then out to a cafe for a snack (and latte for me) after.

NATHAN

Playing with his sock puppet

Nathan, on the other hand, is at the age where he is very opinionated, but still doesn't have the patience and/or ability to listen and respond appropriately. Hopefully as he gets older, he will be like his brother in this area :)  Despite that challenge (which Cameron had when he was Nate's age), Nathan is a pretty mellow kid.

Love smoothies!

Nathan also loves to talk. He has such a large vocabulary and uses two and three word sentences, his favorite being "More " Other words in his vocabulary include "tower" (which he loves to build using his cup, bowl and any thing else near him at the breakfast table), "blankie" (yes he has the same lovey has his big bro), "brother" (which is what he calls Cameron), "grandpa" (but still not daddy on a regular basis though he at least says it once in a while now), "football", Go Badgers or Go Packers (whenever he sees a football game on TV or a picture of a football player) and of course "No" and "mine".

After a year of 8 teeth, Nathan finally got more teeth this month. If I recall correctly, he has one molar fully in, one about half in and one that is getting close to breaking through. These past few months have had a lot of gnawing on fingers, waking up cranky, and an occasional fever.

Nathan loves to do whatever big brother does. That includes the nice and the naughty. They both are very good about saying Thank You. In fact, Nate will keep saying it until you say "Your Welcome" back. They also both love to climb - especially between the sofa and the big chair in our family room.

Other interests of Nate's include eating, eating more, eating again, and coloring. He is extremely impatient when it comes to waiting for food. He will either pull on your leg and whine while you are cooking or go stand by his chair, play with the buckles, and then start whining once he has finished playing with the buckles.

He is also starting to show interests in puzzles and he loves to read. Often times both boys will grab a book and sit in their chairs and read.  I think Nathan is our future athlete though.  He loves playing with balls.  Throwing, quasi-catching (probably already a bit more coordinated in catching than big brother), kicking - it doesn't matter.  And he sure loves watching the Packers (Go Packers!)

Playing in the big chair

OTHER NEWS
The other big news from our household is I (Kristi) gave my notice at work. Yesterday was my last day in the office. After weighing my options and calculating the cost of working downtown I realized I could make the same teaching a few classes a year at Carroll or Marian while staying home with the boys. It was a tough decision to make as I really enjoyed my time at the Small Business Development Center and will miss the interaction with my team, but ultimately I think (and hope) it is the right decision for me and the boys and I am looking forward to having more time with the kiddos.

Hope everybody is having a wonderful holiday season - we will post a separate Christmas update soon!

Love,
Cameron and Nathan

Picking pumpkins at Cozy Nook Farm