What a Christmas!!!!

WOW! What a Christmas! I can honestly say this was the best Christmas we have EVER had. It was a long one but a great one. Our original plan was to have a family "brunch" but then we decided to enjoy the entire day together. We started the morning with breakfast and then ended with an Italian dinner (we never do the traditional ham and turkey thing for dinner since we always do that for Thanksgiving). We literally spent HOURS opening gifts! That goes to show you that there were too many gifts under the tree. And yes - most were for Mr. C. Alexander! Here are a few pictures and videos from the day.

The Aftermath of opening presents

Nana showing Cameron how to ride his new tricycle

Future Tuskegee Piper Band Members

Coloring Time with Daddy

Oh Holy "Christams Eve" Night

The family tradition we started last year continued this year. Dinner with the family and then home for our new pajama's, opening one present each and then the reading of the Christmas story from the bible. The goal is to make sure Cameron understands the TRUE meaning of Christmas. This year was a little different, Cameron at least sat still while we read the story to him but we know he still doesn't understand just yet. Something he did understand clearly was that he could open one gift (in fact he wanted to open more than one). When we told him he could choose one he was ecstatic! Surprisingly he did not go for the largest gift but the one with the prettiest bow (thanks Auntie Tiffy). I am sure he is already looking forward to next year when he can do this again!

The Family at Dinner

Mommy and Cam in our new Pajamas

The Family before the Bible reading

Cam picking out his one present to open

Inside the present

Help Me Understand

Blogger friends and family - I am struggling with understanding something. I know Cameron is spoiled but can you help me understand WHY our "Christmas" shopping has turned into "Cameron" shopping! Really it is getting out of control. The sad part is, he still has items that we ordered on the way! Take a look at this picture. The honest truth is all of the items under this tree (except 4 of them) are for Cameron! Really - I kid you not. Even he is looking at them in disbelief! It is sad I know - but I LOVE IT!

Pic of the Week

Cameron wants to be just like his dad. Almost everyday he goes into Jante's closet and puts on his shoes. I was able to snap this shot of him posing with his dad's shoes on.

In his Father's Shoes (literally!)

Chuck E Cheese Fun!!

What kid does not have fun at Chuck E Cheese? I don't care what age you are, Chuck E Cheese is truly the place where "A kid can be a kid". We tackled the cold weather and took Cam to "play" and get some good pizza (ya'll know that the pizza at CEC is the best - don't front). As you can see Cam enjoyed himself!

Another Haircut Already???

It seems like Cameron's hair is growing SO fast. He got his 2nd haircut this week. Once again Jante's barber came to the house to cut his hair and Cameron's hair. The scene was very similar as the first time except Daryl brought his 2 daughters alone to entertain Cameron while Jante' was in the chair. And like last time our boo boo was a Big Boy! No crying or squirming. And he looked so cute when it was all over. Jante' said since Cameron has been such a big boy it is time for him to take him with him to the Barber Shop! We will see how that goes next time!

Pic of the Week

I am behind with my Pic of the Week - this is actually the Pic of the week from last week! I caught Cameron trying to "peek" at his presents under the tree. It was so cute I could not get mad at him. He even decided he'd pose for a picture for me.

Christmas Party at Creme'

Is it time for the Christmas parties already? This year has flown by! We had Cameron's Christmas Party at Creme' and it was one of the funniest things we have ever seen. The day started with pictures with Santa (once I get those back I will post them. Cameron got to wear his Christmas pajama's). Then in the afternoon was cookies and milk with Santa, followed by the Grand Fanalie Singing Performance. When I first heard that Cameron's class alone with 4 other classes would be singing I thought..... "I wonder what's that's going to be like. There is no way Cameron will sit still long enough to get though one song!" Suprisingly he was on his best behaviour (well sort of). I think part of it was he was in shock from seeing so many folks looking at he and his friends. As you will see from the first video he just stared during the first song but by the time we got to song #3 Cameron was tired of sitting in his chair and wanted to sit on the floor! Overall I am proud of him because he was too cute and sweet (because the other little kids in his class were ALL over the place)!

O Christmas Tree

It's been a busy, busy week - sorry for the delay in my posts! This weekend we were able to take some quality family time and put up the Christmas tree. It was great fun. We started by BLASTING some good "Soulful Christmas" music! Since dancing is Cameron's favorite thing to do he REALLY enjoyed this. Then came the hot chocolate and the homemade cinnamon buns! Yum, Yum!!! We finally got to the tree. It was a lot of work (for me) but great results in the end.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

What a great Thanksgiving we had! It's funny to see the difference a year makes. This time last year Cameron was just crawling (still getting into stuff but not really mobile at all). Now just 12 months later he is ALL over the place. The scene was very similar to last year's. Papa (aka Daddy D), Grandaddy, uncle Tyler and uncle Lamar joined us at Nana Mary's house. We ate, watched the games, played games, napped and ate some more. Great times at the Glenn's!!

Cameron and Papa Thanksgiving 2009

Cameron and Papa Thanksgiving 2010

The Peach Cobbler that Cameron helped make

Cameron being spoiled as usual

Thanksgiving Day Prep

The running theme has been, Cameron is our little helper. He helps with everything from cleaning his room, putting the clothes in the wash, taking out the trash and raking leaves. Now he is helping me in the kitchen! Check him out helping mommy bake a peach cobbler. He did a GREAT job!

The Little Helper

If I have said it once I have said it a million times, Cameron is a GREAT helper! This is a great thing (most of the time). However sometimes Cameron's "helping" can turn into Cameron wanting to do things his own way - without your help! Here he is being Nana and Auntie Margaret's little helper. He had a great time raking the leaves. It was funny watching him because he wanted to rake ALL the leaves off the ground. Obviously he could not rake them all so he started doing his "own" thing and just sweeping the leaves! We just had to smile and say "Thank You Cameron, you are a great helper". LOL!

Look Mommy, I'm raking leaves!

Okay I am tired now, I need a break

I think I'll just sweep now

Pic of the Week

I don't even think I need words for this week's Pic! Too cute!!!

Thanksgiving Luncheon at Creme'

Today we had Thanksgiving lunch at Creme'. We had a great time and it was especially nice because Jante' was able to join us. Here are a few of my favorite pics.

Lets wash our hands first

Mommy - Can I cook you something?

Cameron and Daddy

Time to eat

Umm, Umm Good

Pic of the Week

Being the great Mom that I am, I have my camera ready to snap a pic at any time (LOL). The pic I took yesterday in the car has become my pic of the week. Each day after school Cameron (and all of his friends) can go to the "snack bar" and pick out the snack of the day for the ride home. They tend to have the same snacks in rotation, 2 ritz crackers, 12 gold fish, 2 gram crackers or 10 Sunshine wheat cracker. The Sunshine wheat crackers are made by the same folks (Sunshine) who make Cheeze-Its. Now for some reason my son is OBSESSED with these wheat crackers and lately his routine is 1. Go to the snack bar, 2. Pick out his brown bag, 3. Get in the car and open his bag to find his treat. But if it is NOT the Sunshine crackers step #4 is to pitch a FIT! Since I was tired of these tantrums I decided to get smart and buy the crackers and have some in the car for him. No more tantrums! This is a picture of a satisfied baby!

Parent/Teacher Conferences are a BIG deal - Who Knew?

We had Cameron's first official Parent/Teacher Conference last week and who knew this was such a BIG Deal? When we were at the Creme' in Cincinnati we never had an "official" P/T Conference I guess because he was so young. The Director and Teachers would give us regular progress checks and we would receive his daily reports but nothing like this! When we sat down with the Director and Cameron's main teacher they had a 2 inch thick binder with Cameron's progress sheets, assessment sheets, anecdotal evaluations and examples of projects that he has completed! I mean REALLY - for an 19 month old? I have to tell you, I was impressed that they would take up so much time to collect this information and keep such great records. And to think Cameron has only been at this school for 5 months! Jante' kept asking why folks pay so much for a private preschool - well this is why! I really feel like he is at an Ivy League preschool!

As far as his development they were very impressed with Cameron and said that he is "advanced" relative to his peers in many areas. He is considered especially advanced in Cognition, Self-Help, Social/Emotional and Gross and Fine Motor skills. The one area he is considered to be "parity" in is his Language/Communication. While he is "average" in this area they believe he could be above average if he put in more effort. For example instead of him saying "book" he will just sign book. I call it lazy but I have committed to trying to encourage him to use his words more in addition to his signing. I know he is only 19 months but when you see your child doing great in so many areas you want them to be PERFECT! LOL! Cameron is the youngest in his class so I believe being with the older kids has really helped him pick up things quickly. I see Harvard in his future! I will keep you posted on that. LOL!

Go Shawty - It's Your Birthday!!

Okay so I swore I would NEVER have my baby doing all the crazy dances that the little kids do. But here I am getting caught up in the all the hype! Check out this video of Cameron dancing to "It's Your Birthday" by 50 Cent. The first question is, where did Nana find this little doll - its too funny! When she played it for Cameron he went CRAZY! Before I started recording him he was dancing the entire time but as most kids do he got shy when I started recording him. It is still hilarious!

The "It's Your Birthday Doll"

Gangsta Cameron?

Cameron LOVES to pull my jewelry off of me. Rather its my necklace, earrings or rings, if it is in his reach he will pull it. I thought it would be cute to see if he would wear one of my necklaces. Once I saw him with this one on I thought it was HILARIOUS! He is not looking at the camera in this picture but it was probably because I was laughing so hard when I was taking the it. When I saw him with it on the first thing that came to my mind was "Gangsta Cameron". He looks like a young rapper with his wife-beater and his ice. Too funny!

Pics of the Week

The weather is starting to change and so we wanted to take advantage of the last few warm days. Check out Mr. C. Alexander playing with his "ba-ball".

Mr. Independent

One of the things I love (and sometimes hate) is the fact that Cameron is SO independent. Because he is our first child we are not really for sure what a kid "should" know how to do at just 18 months. But I honestly sometimes say to myself "Really, I can't believe he thinks he can do this on his own". For example, today we went to visit Nana and Auntie Margaret and when we got there Nana was cleaning up McKenzie's old tricycle for Cameron. I was excited because Cameron rides a little bike at school (a plastic one) and this was his first time on a real tricycle. Well of course Cameron thought he could pedal AND steer the bike on his own. In fact he didn't even want anyone to put their hands on the handle bars with him. Obviously we had to help him (you will notice his little legs don't even really touch the pedals) but he had a BALL.

Once we FINALLY got him off the tricycle it was on to the wagon. First Cameron thought he could pull the wagon on his own (see video) and once we put him in the wagon he did not want to get out! Poor Nana and Auntie Margaret - he wore them out!

Wagon Pull