Jingle Bells

I know I have some catching up to do, so here is the first in hopefully a few entries to highlight the past several months:


As can be expected with a 3-year old and 20-month old, Christmas is a mix of excitement, chaos, meltdowns, and that magical feeling of anticipation.  And that was just Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve found us at Great Grandma Kruepke's house with about 50 other people.  The boys enjoyed playing with their cousins and of course got excited when it was their turn to receive gifts from Great Grandma as well as their gift exchange person.  However, it became a late night for them and we paid the price on Christmas day...


This was the first Christmas where Nathan was an active participant in the gift opening.  Cameron tore through his stocking and then "helped" Nathan go through his.  This was one of the few times where Cameron was more impetuous than Nathan.  Interestingly enough, the highlight of the stockings were the little boxes of raisins they each received.


We asked Santa to bring each boy only 3 gifts to represent how Jesus received 3 gifts from the wisemen.  No, the boys did not get gold, frankincense, and myrrh like Jesus.  Instead they each got a puzzle (a very popular toy in our household - more on that when I blog about our trip to Atlanta), a pair of slippers and a Tonka truck.  One of the last gifts opened was from us to Nathan.  We were very excited about it because for the weeks leading up to Christmas, Nathan would constantly talk about Cookie Monster.  Greg found a singing Cookie Monster doll on Amazon for a great price so it was a last minute purchase.  Nate started opening the gift and we figured he would be really excited.  Wrong!  As soon as he saw it was Cookie Monster, he dropped it and ran off crying and screaming and for the rest of the day would run away and cry if he saw Cookie Monster.  Not what we expected, but it definitely was the one thing I will remember about this Christmas!  It took several days, but he did eventually warm up to the doll and will actually push it's belly to sing the song.



Christmas definitely is a much different experience once you have kids old enough to understand it.  All the hiding of gifts, wrapping them at night (we fortunately wrapped them over several nights so we didn't have to stay up late on Christmas Eve doing massive amounts of wrapping), helping the kids write letters to Santa and his reindeer, answering questions about Santa and how he fits down the chimney, etc.  It's a lot of work, but it sure is worth it when you see the kids' eyes light up on Christmas Day.


Pictures and maybe even a video of Nathan opening his Cookie Monster doll will be posted later...

Trick or Treat Pic

Thank you Jill for the picture you took of the boys during Trick or Treat.  The boys enjoyed themselves on Halloween.  We went to our old neighborhood to say hi to our old neighbors.  We also stopped at one of the high school sitter's house who lived near our old house.  We went home via the Burie's house where the boys picked out fun toys and goodies and then we stopped at our new next door neighbor's house.  The boys adore Al & Joanne, a sweet retired couple.  Then Cameron and I went across the street to meet a new neighbor.  It was a busy, but fun, night!

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

How Quickly Summer Goes

The boys are both resting after a busy morning of playing with balls, trucks, blocks, and anything else they could get their hands on.  So I am filling in once again.

In front of our first house full of memories

Our biggest change has been our recent move.  We found a place with more land (over an acre) in the town of Waukesha, so about 15 mins from where we previously lived.  The boys have adapted much better than expected (and much better than me quite frankly, but I'm getting there).  It probably helps that they now have a lot more room to run around, a bigger yard that has a playset (or little park as Cameron calls it), a playroom full of toys, and lots more little kids around.

Because moving wasn't a big enough project to tackle, I also invited my friend from high school, Tim, and his family to stay with us a week after we made the move.  It was great incentive to get a few rooms usable and it is only fair - we visited them shortly before they moved from Indiana to Michigan so what goes around comes around!  It was wonderful to see old friends again but more on their visit later.


CAMERON

Cameron is becoming quite a goofball.  He told his first knock-knock joke Wednesday:
C: Knock-knock
Me:
Who's there?
C:
Orange
Me:
Orange who?
C:
Orange cupcake

I'm guessing this joke originated because I have told him the classic banana knock-knock joke that ends with Orange ya glad I didn't say banana.


Cameron loves to talk.  Whenever we are in the car, he is sure to point out everything he sees.  He also is very inquisitive.  Yes, many of his questions are still "Why?".  But he also asks things like "Why isn't it working?" and  "What's that?"   It's so neat to see the learning process in action.  As part of his curiosity, he is constantly trying to fix things around the house with daddy.  He also loves to help cook.  His favorite things to do while cooking, other than taste test pancakes, is to pour the measured ingredients into the bowl, stir them together, and also to use the onion chopper. 

To help him prepare for preschool, we worked really hard on the potty training over the past month.  Thanks to Liam and Quinn's visit (Tim's boys), Cameron immediately stopped arguing about sitting on the toilet.  In fact, we started putting him in underwear right after their visit.  There were a few accidents, but he made lots of progress in a short amount of time thanks to a new (really a gently used, but well cleaned) Elmo potty chair to encourage his independence and motivate him to do it himself (the one thing that really motivates Cameron) and some nuts & dried fruits (probably the other thing that really motivates him - foods he likes). 


NATHAN

Nate is quite the talker.  He now says ball (in fact one day he told me to get ball - nothing like taking orders from a little one!), window, hiding, bread, water (pronounced wah-wah), broccoli, baby, smoothie, and blankie among other words.  Yes, he is also attached to his blankie, though not quite as much as big brother yet.  His love of talking combined with Cameron's love of talking makes for way-too-social bedtimes.  The boys share a room in the new house so that they can have a separate play room.  We have to keep them separate at nap time and many nights at bedtime, after an hour and half of socializing, we end up moving one of them out for the night.  The first week or so, Nate would fall asleep before we put Cameron to bed.  However, he started waiting up for Cameron because for several weeks he was is rarely asleep when it was Cameron's bedtime.  Now once again he is falling asleep before Cameron goes to bed.  It's sweet they get along so well in the same room, but also frustrating that they both keep talking well past their bedtimes.  And now Cameron's latest hijinx in the morning is he climbs into Nate's crib.  That has replaced his previous favorite morning escapade of emptying every accessible drawer, basket, etc into Nate's crib. 

Nathan is also very opinionated and sensitive.  Every little thing sets him off and the tears come spilling out.  I'm sure it doesn't help that his big brother constantly is picking on him (grabbing toys from him, touching him when he is already crying, even hitting or kicking him and worse of all what happened last month - biting him).  Fortunately it has gotten better since we have moved.  I know some of it is just the natural sibling relationship, but some of it is extremely frustrating when it is the same misbehavior over and over during the day.  When they do play together nicely though, it is the most wonderful thing to watch!

Cameron better watch out though as Nate is catching up in size!  He is just one size smaller than Cameron (Nate is 12/18 months and Cameron is 18 months/2T).  At his last doctor's appointment in mid-July, Nathan measured 50% on height and about 10-25% on weight.  If I find my slip from that appointment, I will update with actual numbers.  Poor guy - you can tell he is the second child as I am much less on top of everything with him.

Finally, Nate's biggest accomplishment these past few months is learning to walk.  He took a step a couple months ago while at the doctor's office, but didn't show much interest again until last month.  Around the second week of August, he really started taking off and gaining confidence.  Now he walks almost everywhere and crawls very rarely.  In fact, this morning Nathan was "chasing" me around the house going "are you?" (for where are you) - his version of either tag or hide and seek.  It was too cute!  He is still not keen on shoes, but is complaining less now about them.  The first day we made him wear shoes, he wailed the whole time he had them on.  Now he only tries to take them off in the car, but without screaming.  I guess that's an improvement.

Seeing as there will be an update on Cameron's first day of preschool and his birthday coming sooner rather than later (or so I hope), I will sign off.  Plus I can't remember anything else from these past several months.  It's all a blur and a good lesson to me to update this blog much more regularly!

Love, 
Cameron & Nathan (via their mom)

Pics from February & March

Until we slow down enough to write an update, here are some pictures to hold all 5 of our fans over.

Love,

Cameron & Nathan

RIDING OUR PONY - Pony needs a name so submit your suggestions and we'll pick our favorite.

CAMERON



Enjoying popcorn at my first ever movie night - Toy Story 3





All that play makes me a tired boy!

 










Mr Fix-It

NATHAN







It's stuck and I can't get it off!







What?  I can't hear you.


















MAMA and HER BOYS









A Year Ago Today...

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.

White Linens and Candlelight (should have been posted 2/18)

So we have had quite the week.  Wednesday, mom took us to the Betty Brinn Children's Museum in downtown Milwaukee.  I (Cameron) had fun running off and scaring mom when she couldn't find me.  I also had fun in the sandbox, playing in a tunnel, and trying to build a birdhouse.  Nathan didn't get to do much but I think he still had fun watching me.  Then we picked up lunch at Beans and Barley and because of my insistence (I kept saying "mama's office"), we ate our lunch at mom's office.  She got me a cheese quesadilla and a fruit smoothie while she had a sweet potato and black bean burrito which I also ate some of.  Thursday we hung out with mom all day as daddy didn't get home until late so she took us to the gym in the evening where we got to play with the other kids.  Today might have just topped Wednesday and Thursday though.  First we met baby Emma Claire Ruethling.  Though we didn't get to hold her like mom, it was fun to see her.  Then after daddy got home from work, we went to dinner at a place with white linen tablecloths, candles, and stemmed glasses for water.  Pretty darn fancy.  It was Friday fish fry catered by Bartolotta's at the Boerner Botanical Gardens.  Phew - say that fast 10 times.  We both did really well.  I ate pizza and Nate had peas, carrots, pasta and cheese from home and then ate some of the rolls they served our table.  I really enjoyed the live music and on our way out, I went closer to the stage and waved at them and then clapped when they were done with their song.  What a fun night out as a family!