Life on Lofty Lane: February 2013

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Cam's 10 month update!

February has only 28 days this year so Cam is celebrating 10 months today! It is hard to believe he will be a year old in just two months!! I have already started getting party stuff ordered and purchased and am looking forward to celebrating his first year! He continues to grow so fast and is such a sweet little boy!! He has become quite the stinker already too with his constant missions to explore every part of our first floor. There is no stopping this little guy!!! It has been a fun month for Cam... he has learned even more new things!

Cam has gotten super fast with crawling and pulls up on everything!!! It makes me nervous that he is so brave!
He likes to try to put his fingers in to electrical outlets!! We obviously stop him... no need to call CPS : )
Cam just learned how to crawl all the way up the stairs for KK... Frank and I are just able to get a few steps out of him at night before he wants to move on to something else!
KK discovered that Cam could feed himself the pouches of baby food. She saw another young kiddo doing it and thought Cam could too, and was right! He loves it! We do, too! It's a win-win! ha ha...
I really think he is actually saying "mom" and "momma" now... before I thought it was baby babble, but I think it is ligit now. :) He also does this lip smacking thing that is so cute.
He is a healthy eater... he has 3 bottles throughout the day, his first around 8am, then another at 2:30, and then 7:45. He has a breakfast cereal, then 2-3 jars/pouches at lunch and then usually 3 things of food/pouches for dinner. He loves the Gerber stars and gets cranky if we don't put lots of them on his highchair tray for him to pick up and eat!
He is getting a little better with the sippy cup, but still not great with it.
He is getting over his first cold, but it hasn't been too bad... lots of snot to go with the never ending drool!!
During the week Cam sleeps longer it seems (seriously... as opposed to sleeping longer Saturday or Sunday) and will stay in bed past 8 alot of the time, but on the weekends is up around 7:30. He is taking 2 naps still... the first at 10 lasting until around 12 and again at 3 until 5 or so. We get him in bed for the night around 8:30.
He enjoys the sleep sac for nighttime or nap time still and sleeps with a paci. That is pretty much the only time he has a paci or if we are going to be in the car for a longer trip.
Cam is getting bigger, but I am not sure what he weighs. He seems to need 18 month clothes if it is Carter, size 12-18 for Gap/Target clothes.
He is wearing size 4 diapers.

I have a few fun videos of little man. He is just such a cutie pie:

Cam feeding himself a pouch!

Just crawling around to explore the house!

Cam was making some funny sounds.

Little man crawling and pulling up to stand so he could get the remote! He actually walks along the furniture a little, too!

And here are some pictures from throughout the month... many taken on my phone!

Our blue eyed sweetie pie!

Having fun being a boy!

Big guy feeding himself his bottle.

I love these expressions!!

He loves those pouches!

Could anyone resist that smile?

Our happy 10 month old!

He has grown so much!

Sunday, February 24, 2013

House of Cards

Our world has been shaken with the news of Frank senior's cancer... Yet again when all seems well and we are busy living and enjoying life things change in an instant. It seemed harmless enough... just another spot for the dermatologist to remove, or in this case a surgeon, but really it was just a glimpse into what was brewing beneath the surface. At first it was dreadful news and I knew when Frank called me on his way home telling me his parents needed to talk to us together that it was cancer. I just knew. But we did not and could not have believed it would be as developed as it is. Stage 4 Melanoma... How? How can a person who is diligent about getting his skin checked have this? How can a healthy man have this? Of course, I know that has nothing to do with it... when Dad was diagnosed with cancer it was just as much of a shock... a man who ran track in his youth and college days, put on a few "healthy" pounds, but never smoked and hardly drank was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. In this way it all sounds so familiar. Frank's dad is healthy... he is an active golfer and is always doing something whether it is running up to Golfsmith (yet again!) or to Great Hills to see friends, he is out and about. He is so cautious with his health and uses sunscreen but it seems that it was not enough to stop this. I have done so much thinking about this... the unpredictability of life and how hard it is for me to accept not being able to control it. I do everything I can to keep things in control in my life... I have schedules, routines, and plans for what I want to happen. I want to plan for things to always be as they should in my mind. I have such a hard time with the reality that it is not in my control. What we have is this house of cards... we build it into what we want it to be with the hand we are dealt. We build layers and fill it with so many things that are important to us... our families, our friends, memories... but at the end of the day it is all so fragile. It feels like in an instant it can crumble. I realize we are incredibly blessed. We have amazing children and have loved and enjoyed every minute as we share our children with our parents and family. Watching both my parent's and Frank's parents be grandparents and dote on our children has been truly wonderful. I am fearful that this will change or I guess in a way I know it will change, though we do not know when. While that is both obvious and inevitable as this is the way of life, I did not think we would be faced with this reality any time soon. We pray daily and I know so many of my friends do the same... this is not in our hands and far from my control. I need to find comfort in knowing that what is meant to be will be, but I am not sure I can. Please sweet and understanding family and friends of ours, please keep praying. For now things are calm with Big Frank. He is still tired and is taking so much medicine, but it is too soon to know if the cancer medicine is working. And thank you to our family and friends for helping us through this. I find strength in knowing my family and girlfriends are always there for us... It helps me to be there for Frank... I have expressed to many of you that Big Frank is pretty much Frank's best guy friend... they talk constantly about golf and what is going on... such mundane conversation to a non golfer, but to them recounting the shots on the holes at the course, what club was used, where the holes were placed on the greens, etc... this conversation is always special to Frank. They share this bond and always have.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Cam's 9 month update!

Our sweet little guy turned 9 months old last Tuesday, which is crazy. We were out of town that day and I actually missed his doctor's appointment, but KK had it all under control. It has been a super busy month for Cam... he officially became an expert crawler early in the month and since he figured out how to get around we have been busy chasing him all over the house! Here are the major highlights from the month and the low down on his routine and schedule:

We still get him in bed around 8:30 and he sleeps generally until 7:30 or sometimes closer to 8. He sometimes wakes in the middle of the night and we have to change his diaper because we hear him scooting around and being restless, but usually he sleeps all night.
We dropped to 3 bottles (8 oz each) at the end of last month/beginning of this month and that went so well. At the same time we moved him to 2 naps and he pretty much instantly adjusted. I was thinking he would need a few days, but that was not the case. So now nap time is 10-12 in the morning and 3-5 in the afternoon.
He is still eating 2 big jars, drinks water out of his sippy cup with help, and he is able to feed himself the Gerber stars. He especially likes those. :) We will start moving to table foods some.
Cam wears size 3 diapers, but size 4 also work. We are close to being out of size 3 so that is good that size 4 works. :)
Depending on the brand it seems that Cam wears size 12 month clothes so this means he can wear size 6-12, but sometimes that is hard to get over his head. So we have some 12-18 month clothes as well.
I mentioned that Cam learned to crawl and that has been a lot of fun and also makes me nervous. He has gotten faster and faster! He will get a very determined look on his face when he spots something and off he goes!
In the middle of the month he learned how to pull up to standing, which he only did every now and then at first, but has now become a daily thing when playing. A lot of times he has a wide stance and it looks funny, but he is so proud of himself when he does it.
He doesn't always want to cuddle now... he would rather be able to crawl around and play so he gets a little cranky when you hold him sometimes. When he wants to cuddle I am sure to squeeze him and give him hugs and kisses.
He also clapped his hands one time, but now I think this could have been an accident because he hasn't done it again.
He is a drooling machine and we generally always have a bib on him...
He absolutely adores his big sister and gives her the biggest smile when she talks to him. Many times he will crawl after her to try to catch her and it is so wonderful to hear them laughing and playing together... such happy sounds.