Chunker fall down, go boom.

Last Thursday was um, eventful. Paul was at work so I played “beat the clock” alone. Beat the clock is an oh, so fun game.

The object is to:

Walk the dogs: Tote around Cameron where he pleases. Then you may name off everything he points to. “Yes mama, that is a tree. You would never have seen the 23 trees we just passed without my eagle eyes. Oh and ROCKS! Pick those 2 up & hand them to me. No, NOT those 2. The other two that look just like those 2. Ay yi yi mama, you need to listen.” Up until he’s had enough & demands to be put down. “oh that’s right. I CAN walk mama. You may put me down. I’ll let you know by pointing to the floor squealing DAAAAA!! Then fling my body toward the ground.” Only to get extremely upset if you try to “help” guide him back home. You will know when this happens by the stiffness of his body while standing still, all while swinging his arms & shaking his head no.

Put together dinner: Tell Chunker not to throw food at least 30 times. Play “guess what I want” while offering every cracker, fruit & drink possible. Ask what’s “uh-oh”? only later to find Oscar with a half eaten corn on the cob. “Not sure how he got that mama.”

Bath time: Which will only begin when the tub is full of bubbles & his Muno & Gatorman are in plain sight. Then you may stand them up so he can knock them down. While applauding his remarkable BOOM!ing talents (knocking over Muno & Gatorman) you may then & only then put him inside the tub. “Did you just sit down to wash my hair mama? Because I see my toothbrush & I don’t understand why we’re not brushing my teeth. LOOK! LOOOOOOOOK do you see it?! Thank goodness you have me to point these things out mama. Wait, what? Bathtime is over? NOOOO!!! I’ve only been in here for 3 hrs, I’m not ready to leave yet!” *lays down to gather all of the drop of water left*

Bedtime stories: Now that Chunker walks he more or less escapes after bath time. In fear that Oscar or Sadie are trying to take over his toys he needs to rush & make sure that they’re all accounted for by playing with his legos, cars, blocks & push car. Luckily this is a form of cardio so not only do I get to sing, dance, poke myself with something dangerous to make him laugh, but I now get to chase him. “Do you have my water mama? I can’t read books with my water.” *GULP* *GULP* “Hmm, I’m not feeling the Big Book of Animals tonight mama. I know you don’t understand me so I’ll help you better understand by slapping it out of your hand.”

The moment Chunker rubs his eyes that’s my cue to ask if he’s tired. He then wraps his arms around my neck & lays his head on my shoulder.

Love.

Ok so this mama gig is pretty awesome.

Then we turn the lights off, mobile music & fan are turned on & we say our prayers with Tiger, Kitty Cat, Bear & blanket.

All before 7:15, 7:30 the latest. ;)

So when something doesn’t go quite as planned, it throws our “game” out of whack.

Which is just what happened last Thursday.

The thrown food was picked up & it was bath time. As I turned on the water & washed down the tub Cameron, who was walking right behind me & fell.

HARD.

Chin first onto the outside of the tub.

Cameron instantly cried, I scooped him up & saw it.

Blood.

Screaming child + Blood + First time mom = Instant Fear.

I grabbed his ducky towel & headed to the living room. I flipped on the tv & turned on Yo Gabba Gabba. As I held the towel to his chin, the crying stopped, Magic Mark appeared & Cameron wiggled away to join MM & color along. So I sat there fighting back the tears not really knowing what to do. I called Paul, the dr., my aunt, even had our next door neighbor’s husband Chris (who’s a dr.) look at his chin & tell me what to do.

I know common sense would be to take him into urgent care but I was afraid to. I didn’t want to admit he was hurt that bad & questioned whether I was over reacting or not. It stopped bleeding. He was happy, he was laughing & playing. The only fussy one was me. So after hearing a definite yes from Chris, I called Paul & told him to meet us there. As I packed his bag I realized I was shaking. I couldn’t help fear that they would give him stitches. My poor baby. :(

On our way to the children’s urgent care Cameron fell asleep. Great, not only may my child needs stitches but now I have to wake him up. Guilt was making itself nice & cozy.

I didn’t feel guilt from not preventing what happened. Honestly, there’s nothing I could have done to prevent his fall. Maybe stick him in a bubble? But the guilt of dragging him around & knowing how miserable this was for him, made me full of guilt.

Even with the staff being extra sweet & accommodating Cameron was not buying into it. He was tired, injured & just wanted his own bed. Guilt was wearing me down & I think the dr. knew it. He walked into the room & before even telling us his name looked right at me & said, “ this is the most common accident. Let me look at his chin.......Not bad at all. He won’t even need stitches, dermabond should do the trick.”

I could have danced a little jig right there & then. Weight lifted, thank Jebus!

DB added, stickers & puppy given as a peace offering, then we were out of there!

The DB application wasn’t fun, but at least Cameron wasn’t screaming from pain. Just pissed that people were touching him when he should have been in bed. There are two things you don't mess with in Cameron's world.

His sleep.

And of course, his food. ;)

Silly face!

For awhile now Cameron has been making an adorable, goofy, silly face. We would just laugh & ask what he was doing. Sometimes he would just laugh or look at us like we were crazy. "What is this silly face you speak of?! I was stretching my mouth." But we would make the same face back & he would imitate us. So we knew, he knew what he was doing. But since neither of us really knew where he got the idea to initially do it.

Every morning he eats breakfast while watching an episode of Yo Gabba, Gabba! Today was no different. As he was enjoying his daily dose, I was in the kitchen washing the blender when I heard "Silly Faces!" said over the tv. They have a portion of the show where Dj Lance Rock & all the kids make their own silly face. And what did I catch Cameron doing? His famous silly face! It was the cutest thing in the world. One because, ppsshh, hello, he's Cameron, THE chunker. He just oozes cuteness from his double chin to his stubby little toes. But on top of all that, the fact that he understood what/how to make a silly face blew me away. I motioned for Paul to come see Cameron in action. We couldn't help but smile & say, "YAY! You did it!"

So of course I had to brag (it's my mommy duty) to any & everyone today. Plus, I just had to catch it on video to share w/his loyal fans.

Enjoy!



Now let's see YOUR silly face! ;)

Side note: The loud smacking you hear my son doing is from finishing off an Aunnies bunny. ;) They don't call him chunker for nothin'.

Making his walking debut. :)

So, when we go to pick up Cameron from daycare, Miss Ruth raves about how he walked all day. Naturally his legs turn to noodles once we arrive. :/ He insist on being held & I willingly oblige. I know one day soon, he's going to refuse my arms & I'm in no rush.

We got home & it was time to take the dogs out for a walk.

Apparently that sounded like a FANTASTIC idea to Cameron.

Our little chatter box

I probably find more amusement out of it, but I just love hearing Cameron jibber jabbor the day away. Ok, ok I just like having someone that talks as much as I do. hehe

He's been getting better (or at least trying) to pronounce sounds other than D. He tends to only say Ma Ma when prompted (fine! I admit it, I beg. Are you happy?) but his expression following my squeals of glee is worth the beg. His smile widens ear to ear you can just see him thinking, "Ha! I did it!"

The other night bath time was over & it was time to get dressed. The video is super short & the quality sucks (cheap cell phone) but it's better than nothing. Again, you are more than welcome to visit AZ & see it live! ;)

Video upload, FAIL

Oops, let's try this again. Brusha, brusha, brusha, take 2!









If it doesn't work this time, I guess you'll have to visit us in AZ to see Chunker in action. ;)

Brusha, brusha, brusha...

Brusha, Brusha, Brusha

Let's forget the part where I shared my joy with Paul, only to have him burst my bubble.

"Oh, you didn't hear me last night? Yeah he let me brush his teeth too."

Well, let's remember long enough to hear "I'm sorry" in the form of something shiny.

So for the past month or so we've been abusing Cameron. At least you would think so by the sound of his cries when his toothbrush is in view.

We started off with a finger brush.

I was warned that I was asking for trouble. Thankfully we use to clean Cameron's mouth w/a washcloth & despite his plea for mercy, he never bit down.

Then we moved on to an actual toothbrush. If we thought the finger brush ticked him off, we were in for a real treat this time.

He would belt out huge sobs & would shake his head. I have to admit, at times we even had to hold his face in place. It was so sad to watch but the moment we were done, so were the crocodile tears.

We tried to sing.

FAIL.

We tried to brush our teeth with him.

FAIL.

We tried to let him hold the brush.

And watch it plummet into the dirty bath water instead of cleaning his mouth.

*sigh*

But we kept with it.

Then finally, he just let us.

I don't know if he realized that the flavor of toothpaste was actually pretty good or was just sick of screaming just as much as we were of listening. But for whatever reason, my bebe knocked off another milestone & took one step closer to being a big boy.





By the time I got the camera he was pretty much over having his tongue brushed. But you get the idea. :)

I am a good mother, I can (finally) cook rice!

Ok, so this may be 1 out of 533,124,643 times but that's neither here nor there. I was so thrilled at my Martha Stewart moment I could have screamed.

Ok, so I did. I screamed out toward Paul who was reading to Cameron, "Omg, my rice taste GOOD!"

Little did I know that feeling was worth squat over hearing Cameron's reaction to my edible rice.

*swoon*

His new favorite word is "that". I think the new found love comes from the power of pointing, saying "that" & getting whatever he wants (most of the time).

But, I don't think "that" or any other word will ever replace his love for "cookie". ;)


I'm not bias, but isn't he the cutest chunker you've ever seen? Love.

Snip, snip, Whaaaaa!

We've been talking about getting Cameron's haircut for awhile now. No matter how much we talked, it never got done & his hair kept growing.

I was pretty excited for the big day & it reminded me of (one of my very many) favorite shows growing up. I was, ok I still am a huge fan of Rugrats. Before they grew into teenagers, then it just got weird.

Other than the weird creepy teenage approach it was a great show. I mean how can you go wrong with a ice skating, singing dinosaur? You can't. I'm almost sure if it still ran I would convert Cameron to a fan as well.

There is one episode in particular I have always loved. Chuckie, who was the cautious (read: crybaby) of the bunch was about to have his first haircut. Angelica, the oldest of the group (read: little shit) pulled out one strand of hair demonstrating what a haircut entailed, while scaring the bejesus out of poor ol' Chuckie.

Well, well we had quite the Chuckie day.

The girl wasn't even cutting his hair yet, just the feeling of the smock was upsetting.
I guess the cheeks are a dead giveaway because she knew how to stop the tears.

Then she sprayed him with the water bottle...So, then I pulled out the big guns. His animal book, "how does the cow go? Mooooo."
But even that didn't last for long. I guess he didn't like what he saw in the mirror. We're keeping it long baby, keeping the curls for the ladies. ;)

I don't have the heart to tell Cameron we'll have to do this again. However, I will say for the record we will not go to the happy water squinter girl again. Boo to her! But all in all, we survived!
After his Chuckie moment we headed over to the prize "dispenser." Why? Because what parent wouldn't want to stand their child against a machine that shoots out 35mph a sticker of a no name horse & gold cold that I'm pretty sure he could eat if he wanted too. :/

Hair cut style, approved!

It's almost party time!

I could be upset that they're more than a week & a half late, but I was too busy awing over my baby turning one.

That aw quickly turned to tears. I was dancing with Cameron while watching Yo Gabba, Gabba! The kids were making funny faces, so we were dancing along to the music. Then I realized he's not going to need my help standing up for long. Paul saw I was getting teary eyed & hugged me. I said, "I'm not crying. I'm not, I'm NOT!" Quickly the tears turned to laughter, but it's still so bittersweet.

Not that I wasn't expecting tears but I don't really understand why I'm crying. I guess because I wish we could relive some of his first, or that I'm happy he's happy, healthy & celebrating his first year of life.

It seems that lately he's turning more into a boy than staying my little baby. Now we're greeted with him standing in his crib than laying down, waiting for us to pick him up. Wanting to walk rather than crawl around the house, throwing the ball farther than an inch for Sadie & mimicking more words. His new word is "star", taught by Miss Ruth from daycare.

I don't know what I expected with Cameron's first year, but I can say it's been quite the ride. :)

I think we're the ones being trained. ;)

We’re pretty big on routine around the house. I’ve read again & again routine does not come easy with a baby, but it works for us.

One of our routines or habits, we will knock on Cameron’s door before going inside. That way if he’s crying he knows we’re going in or just for the sake of doing it. :)

On our way to lunch Paul shared a cute story from this morning, so I thought I would share it with you.

It was time to get ready & Cameron was still sound asleep. So, Paul knocked on his door (yes knocked, it’s polite) & started singing good morning. He didn’t turn the light on since Cameron was still half asleep. Paul helped him stand up & right away Cameron started signing “light”. So, being the good daddy that he is Paul promptly turned on the light. Of course that made Cameron smile ear to ear.

I love watching him understand & use his signs. He’s using them more & more each day & it’s so cute!

I know seeing rather than reading is more entertaining so I’ll try to post some video.

Did you know, some dogs are brown?

Cameron is non stop "talking". You can tell there's so much he wants to say & I'm sure the moment he can, he'll talk for a day straight.

Tonight after daycare we stopped inside our leasing office. As I sat there signing paperwork Cameron talked (read: flirted. Ay yi yi wait until at least puberty....wait no. until your 3o's) with the office assistant. She commented on how well he held a conversation. Oh really, is that what you call it? Because at times I can barely get a word in nevertheless hold a conversation. So, I thought I would share another one of his favorite things, talking. :)



He's getting better with signing too. Along with dog he's been saying/showing "fan" & "light" more & more each day.


We can't take the credit for everything, just 99.9%. His friend at daycare, Stefano would say tick tock through out the day. I guess it's fun to do because before we knew it, Cameron was chiming right along with him.



What's that? You want more video of Cameron?! Ask & you shall receive my dear Cameron fans. Did you wonder how to sound like an airplane? Watch closely & listen well, Cameron will teach you.



Next lesson, The Law of Gravity.

Today, I'm going to take over the world.

To say Cameron has a strong personality is an understatement.

For being so young, he already behaves so grown up at times.

Well, grown up in a baby kind of way. :)

“I don’t want to sit in the cart mama, I want to sit on the floor.” Ok, happy baby.

“Oh, a duckie washcloth. Let me reach over & pull it off the shelf. Here mama, you can buy it for me.” Ok, happy baby.

“You really don’t have to lay me down to take my medicine. I’ll willingly drink it sitting up. I’ll even cry for more, because I know it will help me get better.” Yay, happy baby.

“Oh, I think I’ll crawl today.” Yaaa – Wait, what?

Yup, just like that Cameron decided he was going to crawl.

I went to pick him up from daycare last night & Miss Becca was so excited to tell me the news. She said it was for a few seconds but he was definitely crawling. At first I was a little upset that I didn’t get to see for myself, but then I sat Cameron by the kitchen while I got his dinner ready. And he just crawled on over to the dogs dish bowls & started taking their food out. I couldn’t help but laugh, laugh because of course that would be the first thing he would crawl too but the fact that he was on the move.

When Paul came home I had plenty of video to share with him. We just kept laughing & replaying the footage.

I just can’t believe it. My son, Mr. Anti Crawl I can reach it if I just stretch enough, decided he would crawl. Not just semi crawl, but crawl as if he’s been doing it for ages too. I can’t help but laugh, he just does what he pleases & there’s really no guessing what he’s going to do next.

So, if/when he declares he’s going to be an astronaut, President or a cowboy that wrangles cats, I won’t be the least bit surprised. I’ll just think back to this day & say, “I think you’ll be the best *insert aspiration here* there ever was.”

Mama, look at what I can do.

Yes, now lay down & act like a baby.

*sigh* As ironic as it sounds, I cannot get over how big Cameron is getting.

I use to think it was so silly when people would say, "my baby is growing up so fast!"

Of course they are, they’re babies. Babies grow up, duh.

But now that I have my own, I can see exactly what they were talking about.

It's not about them growing bigger.

Or all of the milestones that they've met.

It's about the journey we’re made together.

Of course Paul’s always been there, but there’s a special bond I have with Cameron.

Feeling his hiccups, his kicks to holding him in my arms for the very first time to knowing what to do to make him calm down, not knowing what to do but being there just the same.

I remember I couldn't get over how this baby was at one time in my belly. Even when he was so very small I couldn't wrap my head around it.

Each passing day my love grows right along with him and I honestly don’t know what my future held without seeing him right there with us.

Now I see this little boy emerging from what was once that tiny baby.

Big boy! I can't wait to see how tall he is next Halloween. :)

Through out the day he insisted on standing up. Shakin' his groove thang with Miss Tessa.

I've never been a huge fan of baby shoes. I thought it was silly to buy shoes for a baby that has no use for them. But after the pumpkin patch we went out & purchased Cameron's first pair of shoes.

I think he likes them. :)
PHEW! This standing up is hard work mama.
One of Cameron's favorite things, is yelling the moment we leave the house. He loves hearing his voice echo through out the hallway.
I'm sure the neighbors appreciate it, especially when we leave before 7 during the weekday.

This last picture just melts my heart.

*sigh*

So know I understand, my baby is growing up too, too fast.

Yes I will buy that picture for $50

I'm sure it's very apparent I love taking pictures of Cameron.

I don't have that many baby photos of myself, and I'm sure that's where my obsession began.

Now scrapbooking, that's a whole other story.

I can't say I've tried, but I don't see it happening.

All the pictures will go into a photo album, in a frame, on the wall or on my work desk. :)

But then, picture day at daycare arrived.

Actually, let's take it back even further.

Before we left the hospital they offered newborn pictures.

Of course we let them take pictures.

And then, of course we bought them.

Do not attempt to adjust your screens. Cameron use to not only be that tiny, but that skinny!

hehe Just look at those perfect piano playing fingers.

Love.

Our child was obviously the next Gerber baby & we bought them right away.

The plan was to have Cameron sign each one & give away to his loyal fans.

Instead...we bought & safely tuck them away in a nice envelope.

Then to make sure their safety was reinforced, we stuck that envelope in our cabinet where they've been kept safe, since January. :p

Then picture day at daycare arrived.

Oh glory, my little boy was getting his first "school" picture!

We just had to buy them, not only were they cute but the moment had to be saved forever.

We would save one for us & give the rest out to Chunka Cheese fans worldwide.

I admit, the backdrops aren't the *gag* cutest but that smile just sucks you in.

So, we grabbed his newborn pictures down from the cabinet & placed our new purchase in the same envelope.

Yup, we were going to mail both pictures together!

This was a BRILLIANT idea!

So right away we tucked that envelope into our cabinet, for safety reasons of course.

That was back in April.

Do you see a trend forming?

Hmm, my ability to mail out pictures is right up there with scrapbooking.

Well, glorious picture day has arrived yet again!

And seriously, we're buying copies & mailing them out.

Honest.

Promise!

Who could resist this laid back pose, arm against the bridge and all?
Or this handsome smile, teeth & all! Don't you just want to gobble him up?


How could we not buy them, right?

If all else fails, at least they'll be a nice addition to our already growing collection. ;)

Home Is Where The Cheese Is

This weekend was hard for many reasons.

1. I was leaving Cameron for almost 3 days.

2. I was saying good-bye, to my beautiful friend Jewelyn.

3. I was leaving Cameron for almost 3 days.

I knew I was going to cry.

Admitting I was stressed out is sugar coating it.

I was scared out of my mind.

It was stressful, the upcoming services, driving alone, being away for so long but I knew if I didn't go, I would regret it.

I'm so lucky to have Paul. I don't really know if I would have went if he wasn't so supportive of me going.

So, I packed the night before & "planned" on leaving after Cameron went down for his first nap & then decided to leave at 8.

Well, after trying to leave several times, I ended up leaving after he went down for a nap. We said goodbye & Cameron started to reach out & cry for me.

*insert worst mama in the world feeling here*

I stayed a bit longer, we sang "the ants go marching", marveled at the wonder that is a ROCK and danced.

Then finally I was on my way.

The drive wasn't terribly bad. It was great to spend times with wonderful friends, missed family & driving through familiar roads.

The services were so beautiful. I was so nervous the day of. My palms were sweaty, my stomach was just in complete knots.

Then I arrived at the church.

All my anxiety just lifted & I knew I had made the right decision.

The services were beautiful, just as Jewelyn. Every moment was heartfelt & I was so relived I was not only a part of her celebration of life, but that she was & will forever be my friend.

My trip was short, bittersweet but full of love & priceless memories.

It's always wonderful to surround yourself with people who love you, for you.

So, of course coming home was the cherry on top!

I made excellent timing & was so happy to see my little man.

As I walked through the doors he smiled & then looked around as if he was thinking, "look! mama's back!"

I picked him up & he starting pulling himself up in excitement. It was the best welcome home hug.

Since it was still early a trip to the park was in order.

The famous, crawling is over rated, I can reach it streeeeetchhhhh.

We decided to feed the ducks.

Ok, Cameron ate but he was kind enough to let the ducks watch.

Paul joined us after work, ahhhh another face I've missed.

It was so nice relaxing & spending time together.

We walked around & found a bucket swing!

Cameron has yet to swing on his own, so I was (probably the most) excited. :D




Well, it looks and sounds like someone was a little excited too. *coughpaulcough*



After the park, we headed home just in time for Cameron's bath.
His new "game" is leaning over & reaching for toys.

Then, if they're just a wee bit out of his reach, he politely says, "mama can you get that for me?"



Ahhh, I've missed that face.

So very happy to be home with my boys, my beautiful family.

Cali, see ya in December!

Cameron fall down, go boom

With Paul's new work schedule we needed a sitter.

So, last Friday Cameron went to daycare for an hour, an hour.

Within that hour Cameron knocked "first bruise" from his check list.

Mr. Anti-Crawl-Don't-Worry-I-Can-Scoot-And-Reach did just that for a toy.

Somehow his revision to crawling didn't go according to plan.

He fell forward onto said toy and ate it, hard. :(

Miss Ruth gave him lots of love, poor guy.

He fell so hard the bruise was in the shape of the toy, boo hoo.

I wont' lie.

As soon as I saw him I freaked out.

He had a nasty diaper rash a few days ago. When I say nasty, it was bad, really, really bad.

I got a call from Miss Ellen & she said it looked like a hive.

Doing what I do best, I freak out & make a mad rash for the store.

After buying a bottle of Calamine I rush to daycare, turns out it's just a rash.

He's never had a diaper rash & I wasn't sure if it was a rash or allergic reaction to a new food.

So, I ran back out & bought Bag Balm (if you don't have it, get it today!) & oatmeal for his bath.

Now, a few days later I walk into the infant room & it looks like a hive across his face.

{{insert panic mode yet again}}}

I had to sign an incident report & joked about getting a copy for his baby book.

*sigh* He's a boy, I know this is the first of many but, *sigh*

As ironic as it may seem, that's a picture of Paul & Cameron playing "boop".

It started when Diana came down to visit.

She would say "Toques" & bump Cameron's head.

He had no idea what was going on.

Well now, Paul says "boop" and they butt heads. :/ Oh joy.

My bebe may try to act tough & butt heads withe the best of them.

But I know better. :)


Then, later that weekend Cameron woke up with a cold.

He rubs his nose when it runs, combine that with crankyness & you get another wound.

A scratch that ran from under his eye almost to his chin. :(



So, w/a bruise & battle wound I couldn't help but buy this shirt to celebrate the occasion.



Perfect, no? ;)