Cameron at 2 1/2

There are some things about Cameron at this age I just don't want to forget.

• Cameron is the sweetest little boy I know. He is so loving and will comfort anyone who is sad or got a boo boo. Every little smile on his face just melts my heart. I am confident someday he will make the best big brother. 
• Cameron is VERY polite. He always says please, thank you, excuse me and will generally share his toys. If you have something he wants, he may "suggest" a new toy for you.
• He LOVES money. Between his love for money and his creative, curious nature I often dream about him becoming an engineer, or a financial adviser. He will "count" his money over and over and loves to walk around with his banks (yes plural) to collect money for them. 
• Cameron knows the numbers 0-10 by sight and can say them. He is starting to be a great counter too, and can do 0-5 by himself and 6-10 with a little encouragement. 
• He knows all the colors in a rainbow, as well as brown, black, white, pink and gray. 
• Cameron loves animals and knows so many animal names and sounds that I can't even keep count anymore. 
• He is still content to ride in his stroller (thankfully) when we go to the zoo or for a walk, but once we let him out he is on a mission to explore. 
• He is generally well behaved, but on the occasions when he is testing me and I raise my voice he will put his finger to his mouth and shush me. I think it's because I do this when he is being too loud. It takes every fiber of my being not to burst out laughing and it is a gentle reminder that he is still little and maybe I shouldn't have been so quick to raise my voice. 
• Cameron loves playgrounds. He is such a little monkey and has always been physically ahead so it is no surprise that he is great on the playground. 
• He bites his fingernails so short (Thanks TIM!) and even his toe nails. It grosses me out.
• He is starting to talk in sentences and I love every word that comes out of his mouth. He is seriously so smart and funny.
• At 16ish months he decided he wanted to use the potty. He was fully poop trained for 10 fulls months, so right before age two I finished potty training him. Then he stopped. Just like that, he wouldn't go. The doctor advised going back to diapers, and here we are, six months later and still in diapers. :(
• He is finally on a good sleep schedule, going to bed around 8pm and waking up 11-13 hours later, but we had to take away his name to accomplish this. It was well worth it as neither of us could make it until midnight every day to watch him (which is when he goes to bed if he takes a nap)
• Cameron does still wake up most nights and come in our bed, but he doesn't wake us anymore unless something is wrong. I just wake up and see a little body in bed lol. 
• Cameron is a a very healthy kid. He is rarely sick and when he is, it never lasts long, We are VERY lucky. 
• He is a GREAT swimmer. Doesn't need any help at all, and loves the water.  

Easter

This year we hosted Easter at our house. It was great to get everyone together, but cooking for 20 people certainly takes up a good portion of your day. That being said, the pictures I have are quite disappointing lol.

For dinner we had ham, mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes, candied yams, corn, green bean casserole (which I had to run all over town to find enough fresh green beans), stuffing, sweet carrots, a tossed salad and two kinds of rolls. For appetizers we had deviled eggs and a bread dip bowl with veggies and for dessert I made orange and carrot cupcakes, brownie bites and mini pies (banana and chocolate cream, smores, and lemon meringue). It was quite the delicious day.

Cameron was spoiled by everyone and received lots of Easter gifts, which was completely unexpected but very much appreciated. His favorites include new race cars, a golf set and his favorite macaroni and cheese, but his all time favorite has to be the money he found in the plastic eggs. Cameron LOVES money.

Here are a couple of, like I said, disappointing pictures of the day lol

Beautiful flowers given to us by Tim's aunt Sharon

Family Pictures

Recently, we went to the Botanical Gardens and a friend took some family portraits for us. Here are a few of my favorite :)

MIA

Hi everyone! Sorry we have been MIA for so long. Life has been very busy for us lately and I just completely forgot about the blog.

We had a lovely Christmas! In fact, we celebrated it 5 times!! Before Christmas we celebrated with my dad and his family, Christmas Eve with my Oma, then celebrated on the day at home, the weekend after Christmas with Tim's family and then with my mom's family. We enjoyed all the time spent with family and felt very blessed for all the gifts we received and were able to give.

New Year's Eve we celebrated like a true old married couple...in bed and sleeping by 11pm. HAHA

We have been trying to think of fun things to do while we are stuck inside until the nice weather arrives. We have spent many days at the arcade, the aquarium and walking around the mall. We have also gone bowling a couple of times and Cameron LOVES it.

Cameron is such a big boy. He is growing up right before my eyes and I feel so blessed every day that I am able to stay home and watch him grow. He learns something new every day and is constantly amazing me. He is talking more and more these days and he says some very funny and some very smart things. I love hearing his voice. He also knows a lot of his colors and knows his numbers by sight.He loves dinosaurs, cars, baby dolls, cooking and, of course, being a little monkey.

I have been baking a lot lately and I really enjoy it. Decorating cakes gives me a creative outlet, and when you rarely leave the house that is something very important to have.

I will try to keep up with the posting as best I can. Have a great holiday everyone!!

First visit with Santa

I took Cameron to visit Santa for the first time today. We waited in line and Cameron spent the whole time trying to escape. Finally, it is our turn and he walks up to Santa smiling and waving. He said hello, and then he just stopped and as soon as I picked him up to sit on Santa's lap he started crying. Santa was awesome though and smiled and said it was ok he could sit for the picture anyway and right after Cameron gave him a high five and waved and was happy again. Every time he looks at the picture he says hi and waves like crazy, so I don't know why he didn't like him lol. Here is the picture....

Bowling

Here are a couple pictures of Cameron's first time bowling

Long time no post

Sorry!! It has been quite a while since our last post. Here is a quick recap of our last couple months -

In October Cameron turned two. We had two birthday parties. One was on the weekend before his birthday in Utica and one was the weekend after his birthday at The Great Pumpkin Farm. Somehow I forgot my camera and did not get to take any pictures of his big day :(

Cameron is doing very well. He is physically ahead of where he should be developmentally, and he is on track with everything else. We are working on getting him to talk more, and as of lately he is saying a lot more new words! (We know he CAN say them, it's getting him to say them to anyone but me that is the problem lol) At his 2 year visit he weighed 29lbs 9oz and was 36.5 inches tall! He is still in the 95+% for height, but has dropped down to the 70% for weight. (he weighed the same at his 16 month visit)

Cameron is still out little monkey and loves to climb and run and jump any time he can. He is certainly a bundle of energy.

In November we hosted Thanksgiving at our house for my dad's side of the family. Tim was in charge of the turkey and I must say he did a wonderful job! Everyone was stuffed. I also turned 25 on November 30th and Tim did such a wonderful job making me feel special. He secretly saved over $200 to buy me Christmas and birthday gifts and to surprise me with dinner at our favorite restaurant - Carrabba's. He arranged for a babysitter and everything. I am so thankful for all the hard work he did to make my day special :) November was also our last trip to the Transit Drive-In for the season until it opens again in spring. We are so excited to start going again, we spent dozens of weekends there this year and loved every minute of it.

December isn't even half over yet, but we have already had tons of fun. Tim turned 24 on the 8th and although I didn't have quite the exciting day planned like he did, we did have a fun family day together. I made a very chocolate cake for him and we went out for pizza. Then the next day I made his favorite dinner. We took Cameron bowling for the first time, and he went to a friend's birthday party. Today we even took Cameron to see Santa for the first time. It was definitely...memorable :)