Good Food

The weather is slowing changing here in Cincinnati and THANK GOODNESS! We are able to get out and about more now. This weekend we took a trip to one of the local parks. Since Cameron loves to be outside we knew he would enjoy himself. We figured we would be there for a while so we made sure we Cameron was good and full before we left. Here he is eating a great lunch. Also pics of us having fun at the park.

Future Mail Man?

We bought this little toy for Cameron a while back but all he wanted to do was play with the little gadgets on the front. Well, over the past week or so he has begun using it for its "real" purposes - to help him practice his walking. His birthday is a few weeks away - we will see how much progress he will make by then - we are proud of what he has accomplished so far!

Sweet Home Alabama

This week we took a road trip to Alabama to visit the family. We LOVE going home to visit. The weather was gorgeous and everyone was doing absolutely fine! Cameron got to see Papa, several aunts, uncles and cousins. And as we do pretty much every time we go home - once again we enjoyed some great food and great fun. I tell you, between my daddy and other crazy family - we were feeling like we were at a Def Comedy Jam! Laughter truly is food for the soul! Check out Cameron while there!

Cameron is 11 Months!!!!!!!

On Monday Cameron turned 11 Months!!!! I know I say it every month but I can not believe he is getting so big so quickly! In less than 4 weeks he will be the big ONE! As most of you know by now (because the invites have already gone out) Cameron's 1 year Birthday will be a Carnival Theme. Now I have to tell you one of the things I dreamed about before having Cameron was how crazy would I get for birthday's. Honestly I thought I would be one of those mom's that planned a pretty nice party but I can not believe how crazy I have gotten over planning this party. I mean really, you only turn ONE once right? I know the party will be for Jante' and I because Cameron won't know what's going on but we are just excited to have family and friends help us celebrate this great year with us.

While I have gone a little overboard for the party after looking online I can promise you I am no where near as crazy as some mothers. I mean spending THOUSANDS of dollars seemed to be the norm! I figure I can't go that crazy at one because what would I do when he turns 2? So stay tuned for pictures from "Cameron's 1st Birthday Carnival Bash".

Development Update Cameron is not walking yet and I am thinking he will not be walking by his first birthday but each day he is becoming more independent and wanting to do things on his own. He has added "nana" to his vocabulary but still no "mama" - don't know what's up with that. I tell him every time I am the one who carried him for 37 weeks! He is at 22 lbs (big boy) and still doing his army crawl - too cute. We continue to read to him pretty much every day so hopefully he will pick up on a few more words soon.

What a Week!

What a Week! So all I have to say is what a waste of 1 hour 1/2 we spent at the Emergency Room last week. As I posted last week, we went to the ER and the doctor said Cam had a slight case of pink eye and no longer had an ear infection. Being the great mom that I am I decided that I should take Cameron to his regular pediatrician on Monday. We went in and low and behold the ear infection was more inflamed than ever! So who knows what the ER doctor was talking about (really I want my $100 refunded!) Because Cam had already taken 3 sets of oral antibiotics we had to go to the injection antibiotics. Of course I was sad about this but Dr. Cook felt this could really help him. Because the injections are a series of 3 shots we had to get a shot on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday! I have to say I could see significant improvement after the first shot! My boo boo had no more mucus (in his eyes or nose) and he physically looked better. Oh and by the way did I mention Jante was out of town? So Mommy was doing this all by herself.

One good thing was we were scheduled to be in Alabama visiting the family but because Jante had to go out of town for work we needed to reschedule our trip to Alabama to next week. So honestly it could have been worst - all this could have happened while we were away from his doctor. Another good thing is because he was doing so much better we were able to visit with Auntie Tiffy. It took a minute but he warmed right up to her and she ATE him up! They were so cute together, he even got to stay up late and play with her. Here are a few shots from the week.

Fun Times with Auntie Tiffy

All Smiles

I feel so much better!

Peek-a-Boo

Daddy's Back!

Our First ER Visit

Being first time parents it is no surprise that we worry about EVERYTHING. If Cameron's nose is running too much we think it's the flu and we call the doctor. I am so glad they have the nurse hotline where you can get free information about symptoms for your child. Otherwise we would have spent a ton of money on copays!

As mentioned in previous blog posts over the past couple of months Cameron has had a few ear infections. We noticed that the ear infections were always accompanied by a really runny nose. He took his last day of antibiotics last Thursday and so we thought he was fine. Then Saturday before our weekly outing (this week dinner with the Boyd's) we noticed that his right eye was slightly swollen and there was mucus built up in his eye. So much so that while we were at dinner we constantly had to wipe it. Being the cautious parents that we are we agreed that if there was build up overnight we would take him to the ER on Sunday. We woke up to Cameron not even being able to open his eyes because of so much build up! Needless to say we did not go to church instead we spent almost 2 hours at the new Atrium hospital. Good news, not another ear infection but he does have a slight case of pink eye (we assume he got it from one of the kids at daycare). We now have antibiotic ointment for his eyes. Hopefully this will be our one and only visits to the ER!

2 New Milestones!!!

This week Cameron reached 2 new milestones, First going "Night,Night" on his own and second, getting down to 1 bottle!

Going Night Night

As seen in a previous blog posting we have a nightly routine that we use with Cameron. Normally we do a nice warm bath and then one last 4 oz bottle before we put him to sleep on against our shoulder. After he is sleep we do the nightly dance and then take him to his room. I decided this week to try something different to see if it would work. Because we are trying to wean him off of bottles (see next paragraph) I skipped the last 4 oz bottle. After the bath when he seemed ready to get on my shoulder I said lets go "night, night" and then took him right to his bed. No fuss, no crying - just arms under his head like normal and he was out! I don't know why we haven't tried this before. I guess we were just so use to our routine that we didn't think about it. This has also been working for his naps as well. I say, "lets go take a nap, nap" and put him in the crib and that's it. Now a few times we could hear him playing around and he may let out a few whines but after a few minutes he was out. I like this!

Down to One

Our goal is to make sure that when Cameron turns one he is completely off of formula and the bottle. While its a lofty goal we think it is absolutely possible. We know the longer a baby is fed from a bottle, the more likely they will develop tooth decay. Since Cameron had 6 teeth already we want to make sure try to prevent this. We started Cameron drinking from a sippy cup when he was about 4 months old. He didn't like it that much (like most babies) but we continued to make sure we exposed him to something other than the bottle. We know most parents just stop their kids cold turkey at one year but we are hoping to slowly get him to that point. We are now down to just one bottle a day. We have also be giving him more solids and are right on track with the 24-29 fluid oz per day. With only one bottle a day I see success in our future. Whole milk and cups only after April 15th!

Self-Induced Entertainment

Cameron has been entertaining himself a lot lately. It's funny because he will do something and then kill himself laughing at what he did. For the most part it's silly stuff and we laugh with him but he is laughing more than us. Interestingly over the past week or so he has been doing some acrobatics on the couch and it is hilarious. I finally caught him in action. Here is a video of him entertaining himself and us.