19 months

Cameron, mommy and daddy think we have seen the greatest changes in you this month. You are becoming more independent everyday and are acting like a little boy not a baby. You are so fun, smart and loving!
- You are obsessed with shoes and socks. You bring me your shoes to put on you and like to bring us shoes and insist we wear them. I joke that you are playing shoe salesman. Today you brought daddy's big tennis shoes to me saying dada's shoes.
- You are also all about pumpkins right now. You call them pump-pumps. You try to pick them up, you pat them and throw the little ones. We use them to distract you as we walk to your class everyday. I dread when they take the fall festival posters down.
-You still cry/scream everyday at day care drop off. This week you started crying before we even turned in the parking lot. This is really tough on mommy and daddy but we are told you calm down and have lots of fun playing. One day I hope you look forward to going and playing with your friends.
- You still think Albe is your best friend. He is such a good sport. He lets you lay your head on him and  pat and rub all over him.
-Your favorite foods right now are bananas (nanas), goldfish (bloop, bloops), fruit and spaghetti. You are not a picky eater and will eat just about anything we give you.
-You are continuing to become more independent. We really like how you can follow us from room to room. This is much less frustrating for you. You still do not like to be left in a room by yourself but now you just stand up and follow us instead of getting frustrated.
-You went to your first college football game this month. You did really well despite it being very very hot. I actually was able to get you asleep and you took about a 45 minute nap during the game.
-You had a blast with your cousins at the Pumpkin patch this month. Since pumpkins are one of your favorite things right now, you were delighted. It was also fun for you to toddle around in a wide open space.
-You are trying to repeat most everything we say to you. We can say, "say trick or treat" and you say 'tri tree". Another one of my favorites is when you say thank you. It sounds something like "tank two".
-You are such a sweet boy and mind very well.
-You love playing in the cabinets while I am cooking or working in the kitchen. You love putting lids on cups or bowls. You also love playing with the magnets on the fridge. It is so fun to watch your little mind work while you play.
-You are still the most loving little boy. You voluntarily give us lots of hugs and kisses.  Joyful is a word I would use to describe your personality.
-You still have not slept through the night (more than 5 or 6 hours in row and that was at 9 months old).  Just when you start doing a little better and we feel like we have taken 2 steps forward you get sick, get a new tooth or we travel and we take 1 step back. I have prayed and prayed about what we need to do to help you sleep better and am trusting that the Lord will lead us to the best way to help you. We have a very consistent bed time routine of bath, lotion, pjs, toothbrushing and hair brushing and then you are ready to nurse and go to sleep. On days that you don't sleep very much at school (typically 20-30 minutes) you are ready for bed by 6:30 pm. You will sleep to 6:30 am but usually wake up at least 3 or 4 times in that 12 hour period. One of these days you are going to realize how good sleep is. We believe part of your problem now is your severe seperation anxiety. You wake up screaming almost terrified most of the time and are sitting straight up in the bed.

Super Grover 2.0

C loves to watch Sesame Street. It started with a love for Elmo but he quickly learned all the characters. He loves playing with his characters and says either the name of each or the noise they make. One of his and our favorites is Super Grover 2.0. When you ask C what Super Grover says its aaaah poooo. So it was only fitting and daddy's idea for C to be Super Grover for Halloween. We took him trick or treating on Sorority row at the request of some of our students and then to the Halloween Carnival on campus. He had a lot of fun.

Weekend fun

We had a wonderful weekend with a house full of family. My parents, brothers, sisters in law and nephews came for the weekend. We had a lot to celebrate this weekend. My sister-n-law Amy's birthday was the end of September, my parents 35 anniversary was October 15, dad's 61 birthday is Oct. 29 and my brother Jeremy had a 1 year milestone we were also proud of!

My favorite part of the weekend was seeing the cousins play together. Anderson and Cameron are only 2 months apart and there is nothing cuter than 2 toddlers toddling around. They were so fun to watch. We went to the pumpkin patch on Saturday and had a great time. Cameron had the time of his life. Now that he is a completely independent walker he is off and loves to explore. It was unseasonably warm on Saturday or we would have stayed longer for the boys to play. Saturday night Adam, Jeremy, and Jackson went to the Tennessee vs. MSU game. Overall the weekend was lots of fun and I always love having my whole family together (a rare treat)

Pumpkin Patch 2011 and 2012

Such a big boy

Anderson and Cameron looking at Albe (bubba) outside

Gigi and Papa with their grandsons

Happy Boy

Playing hard

Cameron was patting Anderson's head

Playing in the corn at Pumpkin Patch

Cousins: Cameron, Jackson, and Anderson

He LOVED the corn. 

Papa reading to Cameron and Anderson!!

So serious

And he is off

Family Picture (so sad this is the only one we got and its not a great one)

Cousins

Walking

As I mentioned in C's 18 month post, we have a walker.

Here is some video evidence of him walking 2 days after he took his first steps.

Since this time C is much more sure footed. He maneuvers down the hall and through doorways without hesitating. We recently had a dinner at one of the Sorority Houses on campus and he walked all over the house weaving in between the ladies (grabbing a leg or two).

He has learned how to get himself to standing and this has really made a difference in him choosing to walk instead of crawl.

He still walks with his arms out to help his balance and kind of looks like a mummy.

I will try and get some more video of him to show how much he has improved!!

18 months

18 months. 

HOW TIME FLIES. I cannot believe you are  1 1/2 years old Angel boy. This has been quite the month for you.

-You took your first steps on your 18 month birthday. The next day you were taking about 8-10 steps without falling and by the end of that week you were off. You still walk like a mummy with your arms out but you have mastered turning, going through doorways and maneuvering pretty well.  About a week and a half after you started walking you figured out how to stand up on your own and are now choosing walking as your preferred mode of getting around. 

Reading to Albe (Bubba)

-You are now sleeping in your big boy bed. We transitioned your bed from a crib to a toddler bed with rail this month. You were done with your baby bed so we didn't think your sleep patterns could get any worse why not try the toddler bed. You sleep in it much longer at night, maybe you feel less confined.

- You love this special quilt we have in your room that has the alphabet on it. You point to the items and try to say them. If I ask you where something is you can usually find it. I caught this on video

 

-Your vocabulary continues to grow. You try to say a lot of the words we are saying, they just don't sound exact yet but you are working on them. . You have made a few sentences. Our favorite was when we were facetiming with Daddy at work and you said, "Bye Bye, Da Da". You sounded like such a big boy. You will also say, "Bubba side?"(translation is Bubba (albe) outside). You wake up asking where is bubba, dada, and go through the list. (Papa, Gigi, Pop, G, wo-wo-, Pat-Pat, Tan-Tan (Tanner- Gigi and Papa's Dog), 

-You love pictures right now. When we are on FaceTime with family you will go and find their picture on the bookshelf.  You put to people in pictures and say their name. I love how you point with your thumb. You got to facetime with Cousin Anderson when Papa and Gigi were keeping him. It was really fun to play with him even though you weren't in the same room it was like you had a virtual play date. 

Talking to Anderson on FaceTime

-You are a big flirt and do not meet a stranger. We go to college bible study on Sunday nights and you love seeing all of the big kids (college students). When we have company over you put on a show. You are quite the ham. 

-You do not like us leaving you at daycare but seem to enjoy it after you have gotten over us hurting your feelings so bad by leaving you. Your teachers are Ms. Rosemary and Ms. Dana and they are really sweet and love you. They call you Cam.

-Speaking of nicknames, somehow daddy and I started calling you Cameronator which shortens to Nator. This nickname has been picked up by your other family members and its so funny and sweet to hear them call you that too. We are trying to teach you that you are Cameron, and call you Cam Cam. 

-You love organizing things, taking them in and out of baskets or off shelfs. It is so interesting to watch your little mind work. You love playing with your Sesame Street friends. You like them to be standing up all around you. You also like going through your diaper basket and saying the sounds each character on your diaper makes. 

-You like to play and "wrestle" with dada. You say his name all the time. if he is not home you are always asking where he is! 

-You are still most definitely a mama's boy and I wouldn't have it any other way! You are my angel boy!

You  like to sit with your hands behind your back. It is so funny. 

You still LOVE to read. You know what is coming on the next page because we have read them so many times.


Cameron Charles we are so thankful for you. You love so unconditionally and so fully it has changed us! We are blessed by you sweet boy and can't wait to see the ways the Lord will use you for his glory!!