A Month Away From 1 Yrs Old!

Cameron had a busy month with Halloween and Thanksgiving! We decided her costume should be a ladybug to go along with her 1st Birthday theme. She is our little love bug, so it seemed fitting :) Grandma and Grandpa Scott graciously bought her costume. This year we had a family birthday/Halloween party to celebrate Grandma Scott and two nephews birthdays. Baby girl got so much love from family and friends and she was the life of the party for sure! She stayed awake the whole time, and finally zonked out on the way home. The next day we went to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm to pick out some pumpkins with our little pumpkin. It was a beautiful sunny day and baby girl was on her best behavior thank goodness. Here are a few pics:

Baby girl had a wonderful first Thanksgiving and was her usual social butterfly self! I love that I can pass her off from one family member to the other and it doesn't phase her. She definitely has never had separation anxiety. She also seems to do much better in group settings than one on one. I think she just loves observing everything going on around her and she gets much more attention of course! Here are some Turkey Day pics including one of her passed out at 7pm on daddy!

This month her fourth tooth started to come in, but she wasn't nearly as fussy thank goodness! She keeps getting longer, so we had to go out and by 12 month PJ's because the others were too short! She finally reached 18 lbs, so she is our itty bitty long and lean girl. She finally uttered "ma ma" and "da da" which of course made us very happy :) It is interesting how one day she prefers ma ma and others da da. She reaches out for the other parent and picks and chooses depending on her mood. She is definitely outspoken and if she doesn't like something she will let you know...whether it be flailing her arms or belting out a scream. She is all over the place crawling, but prefers to stand up against furniture and be a big girl. We have a good routine down and she is able to play a lot longer independently which we love! She is having a blast playing with Caty and Hanna at daycare, and we feel so lucky that she has a second home she adores! Jaime is so good with her and sends me pictures daily of her fun! She loves exploring and getting into anything and everything! She crawls along floor and puts everything in her mouth, so we have to clean constantly! Her favorite things are drawers with goodies inside and laundry baskets...and book baskets too :)

10 Months and Standing Tall!

The month of October was one of the toughest months since the newborn days. Daddy was away for three weeks at an Army school and baby not only got her first cold, but was teething as well. Mommy persevered and all was well, but not without a few tears and some frustration. This blog is a couple weeks late, because it has been busy busy busy since daddy arrived back home.

Cam not only enjoyed her newfound skill of standing, but also climbing on whatever obstacle was within her reach. Her new adventures were neverending between dining room chairs, stools, and doll houses. She even climbed on Hanna and Caty at daycare! I guess this is just a preview of what is to come in the toddler days!

Baby girl's first fever was probably more traumatic for mommy than baby :( I almost didn't even notice she had a fever that morning until I saw her rosy cheeks. It was one of my worst fears next to choking after hearing about the seizures fevers can cause and even death, but it ended up being a bonding moment between baby and mommy. I brought her in the bed with me and snuggled her until medicine kicked in. She was such a trooper and her delirious state and she was so sweet... Here is a picture of her and one of my favorites. Look at those big blue feverish eyes :)

I didn't know at first if fever was due to a cold or teething, but soon discovered it was both! The Kaiser advise nurse reasured me it was just her body's defense system fighting something off. And if she still was in good spirits and had wet diapers then she was okay. I turned on humidifier at night and she got through her little cough and congestion. But, the teething was much worse as usual with the crying and pain. It is so hard because she can't communicate what is wrong, so all I could do was hold her tight and give her meds to ease the pain. It was a rough three weeks without daddy, but in the end I was proud of myself for doing it all on my own and being the best mommy I knew how to be...

The entire month wasn't all sickness and pain. Baby did have some good times at daycare...and showed her true Ms. Personality ways :)

She also enjoyed her first ride in big girl seat in shopping cart! She smiled and waved and absolutely loved it!

Her next favorite thing is the swing! She loves the outdoors in general and it calms her. Especially running her fingers through green grass :)

The month ended with a reunion with baby girl and daddy. Just happened to be on her 10 month birthday...Love this baby girl so much and she never fails to amaze me :)

 

Patience is A Virtue

Daddy is gone for three weeks and I am going on day 10 as a single mom. I have never been a patient person and it is taking everything I have in me to be a patient mother. Babies cannot tell you what is wrong with them, so all I can do is try my best to console Cam during her tantrums and needy hours. What helps is how much I adore her and I would not change a single thing about her...including her consistent neediness. There are times when I think I can't take another cream or cry or tear...but it only makes me a stronger person and a better mother. There are also times when I question whether or not we bit off more than we can chew...and then baby girl looks at me with those blue eyes and sweet smile and joy fills my heart. Parenthood comes with many trials and tribulations...but in the end it is all worth it :)

9 Months Old and On The Move!

Cameron's last month included some major developmental milestones! She went from low to high crawl and is even pulling herself up and standing! Now that she is even more mobile and curious mommy and daddy have to keep a constant eye on her! She doesn't want anything to do with her baby jail, so if we are lucky she lasts maybe 15 minutes in there! We are constantly discovering new ways to keep her busy and amuse her. She loves the laundry basket, plastic baby hangers, and grabbing fur out of the animals lol! She has come such a long way from the 4 lb preemie baby we brought into this world back in Decemeber! No one would ever know because she is developing right on schedule! I do wish she would hold her bottle, but she is not interested!

We introduced flavored puff cereal and she is able to use her index finger and thumb to place the little puffs in her mouth which is great. She will be feeding hersefl before we know it...or maybe flinging the food at us :-) I am still making homemade baby food and this month she tried peaches and brocoli which were a hit, and green beans not so much a hit due to texture :(

We are trying to read to her more and more and still waiting for that first word! Although we do think she has the "Eeeee I Eeee I O" from Old McDonald down. She is a little chatterbox and has full conversations in baby garble lol!

Supposedly this is the age of separation anxiety and fear of strangers, but not with Cam. You can pass her around the room to strangers and she could care less! When I drop her at daycare or family she is too busy playing to notice me leaving! She does still have a "needy" side. When she wants to be held and we aren't able a tantrum will begin. I try not to pick her up immediately, but I also want her to know I am there for her. It is not like she is going to scream and cry and get over it and go back to happy play if I don't pick her up. It only escalates! Some may think it is spoiling, but I call it love.

Daddy is so good at making her laugh and calming her when she is a gumpy grump. In the morning when I am getting ready he puts her on the bed and plays peek-a-boo with the sheet. When she is not happy he brings her outside to sit in the grass and it calms her.

We thought baby was coming down with a cold and discovered her top two teeth were starting to come in which cause her nose to run heavily. She has been more grumpy because of the teething, so hopefully we get a break once these two teeth come in!

She had a meltdown in the car seat on the way to San Francisco. She screamed for an hour straight while we were stuck on the bay bridge and an hour on the way home! I know it is just another stage, but now I am scared to travel any long period with her! I miss the newborn stage when she just slept :( I think now that she is mobile she can't be tethered down to long lol!

Daddy left for a three week Army school today, so by the time he gets home baby girl will be 10 months old! My goal is to get her to say "Daddy" by the time he gets home :-)

Cameron is such a joy and warms our hearts every day. I think we have done a good job so far and look forward to many more developmental milestones!