Cam is 16 months old!

Ok, so I am a month behind on this one too, but Cam Cam is 16 months old.  Almost a month ago now he had his 15 month checkup and everything was great.

I will have to locate the sheet that has his weight on it so I can update that (seriously it is somewhere in my purse, potentially... I hope!), but I know he gained weight and bounced back up to another growth curve.  The doctor said he looked great and was pleased with his development.  He not only walks now, but almost trots along rather quickly.  Turn your back for a second and he is gone!  Now he never crawls...  :(  Funny how I couldn't wait for him to walk, and now it is a little sad that he doesn't crawl!!  (I know I am looney-tunes).  I guess it was around 13 1/2 months... it has been a while now.  I got a sweet video several weeks back of him walking all over Frank and Dorthy's driveway.  Here is that video, which I really love!  :)

Cam has started saying some more words now so he has a few that he likes to say:

Bye-Bye---  sounds like Bah-Buuuuuyyy with a sort of Texan drawl
Night-Night---  more like Nigh-Nigh
Yum--- sounds like Yum (ha ha) He says this when eating
Down--- More like Daaaunn, but hard to type how it sounds.  We know he is saying this because when you hold him he immediately starts saying it and trying to get out of your arms!  :)
Mamma and Dadda--- this is the same as before
Yeah---  Says Yeah when you ask him questions or talk to him sometimes
Unh-Unh--- So I am not sure how this is spelled, but it is him saying no when I try to take a toy from him.  We try not to say "No" all the time so we say Unh-Unh... he is doing the same to us.

He also repeats sounds you make... for example, if we say to him "Say ball" he will copy the sound, but he doesn't say ball all the time without being prompted.

Also, he doesn't say no, but he adamantly shakes his head left and right to let us know of his disapproval to whatever it is.  If he doesn't like the food, lots of head shaking.  If he doesn't want to come to you when you tell him to he shakes his head.  Actually, pretty much any time you ask him something he will shake his head no unless you are offering milk or some kind of treat.

Just a few short weeks ago Cam would eat pretty much anything.  We commented often how fantastic it was that he was such a good eater and was so flexible.  But then suddenly he changed his mind and pretty much overnight stopped liking some of his old favorites... no much fruit or apple sauce pouches... he can't stand them now...  doesn't like yogurt like he did before... he doesn't even like macaroni it seems!!  I don't know what happened... it is crazy.  It really feels like he suddenly got tired of those things.  So we will keep trying and giving him different foods.  Maybe this is just a phase... of course everything is "just a phase".

Something else is happening more and more often, though...  Sweet little guy has developed a pretty big temper.  It was fairly infrequent before, but now he often throws what seems to be a tantrum.  Legs are pulsing up and down kicking, screaming on and on... HEAD BUTTING me!!!  And he tries to slap my face sometimes, too!  He doesn't know how to process the anger, so we are working on that.  Don't get me wrong... he is still my little prince charming... he melts my heart, but he has a temper for sure.  :)

Cam loves his naps and to go to bed.  You tell him it is time for night-night and he giggles!!  He can hardly contain his excitement sometimes when I am changing him to get to bed...  I try snuggling with him and he usually almost tries to climb out of my arms into bed!!  While this is usually the case the other night I was holding him and he was comfortable in my arms and made that sweet baby sigh... that sound that little itty bitty newborns make sometimes.  It almost made me cry... I squeezed him and kissed him and laid him down to sleep.   Usually he is in bed by 8:30 or so and wakes up between 7:30 and 8...  usually!!  :)

He is great about responding to commands... we will ask him to drink more milk when he is shoveling food in his mouth and sometimes he disagrees, but many times he will take a drink like we ask.  When you tell him you are going to change his diaper he will sometimes go over to the diapers and try to open the cabinet to pull them out and then walks over to the couch... KK showed me that the other day.  In the morning I will pick him up and tell him to say bye-bye to the pacifier and many times he takes it out and drops it in the crib and then tosses his lovies in there as well.  He knows what it means to "go upstairs" and heads to the stairs to go up.  When people say bye-bye he says it back and sort of waves.  He is learning new things every week and copies his big sister on a lot of things!

Alecia took some fantastic family pictures for us several weeks ago that I need to post on here and I have not taken as many pictures lately, so I just have a couple of pictures of Cam for now.  Look at how big our little munch is getting!

Sometimes he still sleeps with his legs curled up under him and I think it is so sweet.

Look at that sweet smile!  

Our baby girl turned 3!

Eek!!  It's the end of August and I never posted anything about Emerson turning 3 as I intended.  We have been so busy!!  I actually started this post a month ago or more and have not found the time to finish it until tonight... though finding the time is not necessarily the case.  I guess I am making the time!!  Here is what I had saved as a start:

It really does seem crazy to me that we have a three year old.  Where has the time gone?  Wasn't it just yesterday that we brought her home??  Or that she started walking and then speaking in sentences??  Now she is rapidly morphing into a teenager it seems!  OK, not a teenager... that is overly dramatic, but time does need to slow down. :)  The last year has passed much too quickly because it really does seem like she just turned two.  I guess a lot of that is because we have two little loves that keep us busy and time gets away from us.  Emerson is such a special little sweetheart.  She is both gentle and tough at the same time.  She picks up on other people's feelings and will say the simplest, and kindest things.  As adults we feel and think in such complex terms, but our sweet angel has a different perspective.  All of life's boo-boo's can be fixed with a kiss or a sticker (bandaid).  At some point Emerson started saying really long sentences and figured things out.  Her mind may be young, but she is a smart little girl.  Our favorite things she does are when she calls us "baby" like when she says, "it's over there baby" when pointing to something.  Her giggle is contagious and will always make you smile.  Sometimes we sing together at night and her little angelic voice is music to our ears.  Her favorite songs are "You are my Sunshine", "ABC's, "Wanda and CC's song" (she means Amanda and CC, and there song is a unique version of Jesus Loves Me), "Happy Birthday" (yes, for real), and sometimes "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".  Every night we sing the entire repertoire before she will go to bed.

So now I will add...

I really just can't express in words the joy Emerson brings us... just her smile brightens my day.  Her hugs send a feeling of love and sweetness through me.  Her voice is so soft and sweet... she is irresistible in every way.  It is strange how old she seems some times... she says things that surprise us... it is fun being able to reason with her and actually talk through things.  But how can this be?

We are so excited that our little big girl starts pre-school NEXT WEEK!!   She will be going Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9-2 and also having dance class Wednesdays from 2-2:45.   This is truly exciting for her and us.  Since we are so very fortunate to be able to have a nanny, Emerson has always been home and doesn't have a ton of exposure to other kids.  I think this is going to be really great for her social interactions, her ability to share (good luck to the teachers!), learning how to spell her name, and so much more.  I have some concerns of course... one being the lunch situation.  She is still a very picky eater so it will be challenging to pack her lunch, but we will figure it out.  Maybe she will see other kids eating different things and will want to try something new.  Is that way too wishful thinking?  Probably so.  :)  I'm also a little worried about her using the potty there.  We help her with everything here and she does really great, but I am wondering how much they will be able to help her there.  So we will cross our fingers it is a great transition that is accident free.  I know she will adjust and have so much fun, but I am a tad worried.

I guess these are the highlights for now...  so here are a couple of pictures of our amazing 3 year old!!  :)

Emerson and Grandad- she was brightening his day in the hospital!

Emerson trying our her new nap mat that she will be using in pre-school!!

Here is a video of Emerson singing her favorite songs... I just love this video.  Notice how she says "You make me happy when skies are great."  Oh goodness, our little sweetheart.  :)