Cam & Zoey Meet Santa

I put my brave and patient pants on last week and took the kids down to see Santa at the mall.

Based on last year's experience, I did what I usually do and set my expectations really, really low.  I have to be honest when I say that I get a kick out of the "crying kid with Santa" picture, but something told me there wouldn't be tears from Cam this year.  I didn't know what Zoey would do/think.  Given her recently increasing "stranger danger," I thought she might be the one to lose it.

Instead, Zoey smiled like she does and Camden was content to sit next to the nice Santa and put his hand on his leg.  In his mind, smiling would have just been going overboard.

It's certainly not the greatest picture ever, but it'll be a nice memory down the road.

Cam told Santa he wanted "Thomas" for Christmas and thanked him for the sucker and "Cookies for Santa" plate (that he promptly threw on the ground.

Here's to more traditions and only semi-tramautizing your kids.

Take Luck,

LP

Camden is THREE

I can't even really believe I just typed the words "Camden is three."  In some ways the last year went really slowly (thanks in part to being pregnant with Zoey) and in other ways it completely flew by and I feel like I was just reflecting on (and crying about) him turning two.

I still haven't learned that this growing up business is hard.

I just now realized that because Zoey was two weeks old when Cam turned two and a half, I didn't write a post going into all the details of him at that time.  I'm sure you didn't miss it but right now I'm kicking myself for not putting something down.

Anyway, at three years old - (and I know I am biased) he is quite the little man child.

Weight: 27 pounds (7th percentile)

Height: 25 inches (5th percentile)

I wasn't kidding when I said he was little.  He hasn't grown much since his two and a half year check, but at this point the doctor isn't concerned.  His growth record thus far has proven that he's not going to be a big kid.

In no particular oder, here are some things I want to remember about Cam at three years old:

- still dumps out his entire bucket of trains/cars/blocks only to walk away minutes later to play with something else

- loves to sing songs

- started preschool in September and this has only fostered his love for singing

- favorite shows are Bubble Guppies, Dora the Explorer, and Paw Patrol

- favorite movies are Toy Story 3, Wreck it Ralph, Frozen, The Lion King, Despicable Me 2, The Minion Movie, and just recently - The Polar Express

- favorite books are The Polar Express, I'm a Dirty Dinosaur, The Three Little Pigs, The Day the Crayons Quit, Big Book of Big Trains, and Little Miss Muffet

- is quite the talker.  I think he surprises people some times because he looks younger than he is (because of his size) but then they hear him talk.

- gets very excited when talking some times and says "and, and, and, and, and, and..." in-between words.

- loves his little sister fiercely

- wants his tummy and back softly scratched every night before bed

- favorite toys are Cars cars, Thomas and Chuggington trains, and any ball he can get his hands on

- is really fast (running) and coordinated (running, jumping, hitting balls)

- loves to hit, play catch, play basketball, and play soccer -- even if it's in the house

- takes swim lessons on Tuesday and Thursday nights.  He loves to jump in the way swim up to the surface (on his own!) but only if I'm right there for him to swim to and there to grab when he pokes his head up.

- takes gymnastics class/lessons on Saturday mornings and I think this has really helped his coordination

- is day time potty trained and hasn't had any accidents since we finished our three (four for us!) day potty training method.  I'm knocking on wood right now.

- likes to tell people they're his best friend and these "best friends" change daily - usually between mommy, daddy, grammy, papa, Auntie Rachel, and Rachel's boyfriend, Chris

- still in quite the smuggler and loves to back up into my lap to sit down 

Cam, some days you drive me absolutely bonkers.  But at the end of each day, I feel very lucky that I get to be your mommy and get to watch you grow into the cool little dude that you are.  You are sweet and kind (most of the time), sensitive, busy and inquisitive, smart, funny, and a future force to be reckoned with on the athletic field.  I cannot believe you are three years old today.  Here's me wishing you the best year yet.  I love you to the moon and the stars.

Take Luck,

LP

Ryan Went to Mexico...

... And left me at home with two sick babies.

At first the three of us just had colds - some congestion, runny noses, and little coughs.  I said to him that I hoped things didn't "implode" as soon as he left and I was sort of kidding.

Turned out that's exactly what happened.

Ryan left on Wednesday morning for a 5-day Cancun vacation to attend his best friend's destination wedding.  Thursday morning, Cam woke up with an irritated right eye (red, swollen, no goop) and was a little "off" but was otherwise his normal self.

I had planned on taking both kids to daycare like normal, and then coming back at 10:00 to pick Zoey up for her 6 month well check.  My plan was to also take the rest of the day off to just hang with her since we don't get a lot of one-on-one time together.

My plan quickly backfired when Cam took one step into daycare and Ms. Tiffany said, "what's wrong with his eye?"  I said I wasn't sure, but that it was goop-free and he wasn't itching it so I was hoping it was just a side effect from the cold.  She apologized and said she just wasn't comfortable having him stay in case it was pink eye.  I totally understood, accepted that my plan was foiled, and we went back home.

It was a good thing we did.

It only took about 30 minutes for Zoey to go down for her first nap and someone else to snuggled up with me and fall asleep.

He woke up after snoozing for two hours (what?!) and he was clearly feeling crummy.  His temperature was 101.7.  I gave him some Advil and was happy that we were going to be heading to the pediatrician's office and hoped that she would be willing to take a quick look at him before or after she was done with Zo Zo.

This was my boy on the way to the doctor's office.

While he was laying comatose on the exam room bench - the doctor checked his ears and they were clear, and looked at his eye and felt like the irritation and the fever was just a virus.  I felt relief and by the time Zoey's appointment was done, the Advil seemed to have kicked in and he was sitting up-right and talking to the doctor about the bouncy house.

I was shocked (but happy) when he took another two and half hour nap at his normal nap time.  He woke up in a decent mood and because his eyes were still free of goop - we had planned on going over to my parents' house for dinner.

Some time passed and his temperature was back up to 102.1 and Zoey had a little 100 degree temperature too.  I felt confident that Zo's temperature was related to her vaccinations so I gave her some baby Tylenol.  I called my mom saying both kids had fevers and asked if they would bring dinner to us.

I gave Cammy more Advil and decided a lukewarm bath could do them both some good.  My parents arrived right as I was getting Cam out of the tub and they could tell his coloring was off and he wasn't feeling well.  The Advil was not working it's magic like it had earlier in the day.  The poor guy was (literally) shivering cold but burning up.  I text Tiff to see what she would do if Huck had a fever like Cam's that wasn't responding to medicine and she said she would absolutely call the pediatrician's office and see what they said.  I knew she was right and called.  I got the nurses line and left a message.

A little more time passed, Camden's fever was up to 136.4 and I called the on-call doctor's line.Thank goodness our pediatrician was still in the office (it was after 6pm) and I could tell her Cammy's downward spiral since seeing him earlier in the morning.  She suggested giving him some Tylenol to help combat the fever even though he had already been given Advil.

I gave him one little push of Tylenol and he started to cry saying "I don't wike it!" but I pressed forward and was then shown just how much he didn't like it.  He vomited all over the place.  I swear my blood pressure spiked just like his fever.  I immediately called the doctor back to tell her what just happened and she asked if he was urinating.  I can't believe I didn't see that as a red flag before the question, but I realized no, he had not gone pee since he woke up from his nap at 2:30 - even though he had been drinking a little water.

She calmly said, "you need to take him to the emergency room."

My heart sank, my blood pressure rose, and I started to cry but managed to make out an "OK, thank you."

I quickly nursed Zoey to sleep and laid her down, changed my clothes, grabbed the iPad, and dad and I put the little guy in the car and we headed to the emergency room.  Mom stayed back with Zoey.  I cannot even say how thankful I am that they had come to us for dinner and were able to help like they did. 

We had to wait quite a while to get back to a room, but Cam was just content to sit in my lap and snuggle while he continued to burn up.  I thought it was hot in the waiting room and it turns out he was making me hot.

After we got back into the room (around 8:00 and well past his bedtime) he laid down on the bed and was happy to watch a video on the iPad while we waited.  I was so thankful how quickly he was seen by a doctor, one who did a super thorough check and asked a lot of questions.  He quickly eliminated an ear infection and appendicitis, asked for a chest x-ray, and felt it best to get him some IV fluids, anti-nausea medicine, and more Advil. 

Poor guy was still burning up but cold so the nurse gave him a warm blanket.  Before the x-ray, the nurse put some numbing cream and "stickers" (to keep the numbing cream in place) on his arms in preparation for the IV.  The x-ray was easy and Cam perked up getting to see his "skeleton."

Holding him down and hearing him cry and scream like I've never heard before while he was getting his line in for the IV was god-awful.  I was trying to distract him and sing songs and it was all I could do to keep my voice steady.

Thankfully the nurses (yes, plural) got the line in no problem.  I said to go ahead and do the influenza test (shoving a little stick thing really far up both nostrils) while he was already pissed off.  And boy, did that piss him off.  Thankfully he was content to snuggle with me and hold onto my chapstick.  I can't even describe how calming the chapstick was to him.  It was funny and cute and sad all at the same time.  The poor kid was just absolutely miserable.

The fluids ran for 30 minutes with some anti-nausea medicine thrown in too.  The doctor came back in and said the influenza test was negative, as were all other tests/cultures they ran on his blood for infection.  We gave him a dose of Advil that he kept down and another dose of Tylenol that he did not.  His temperature was still 103.6 but they felt like with the Motrin and fluids - he was OK to go home.  It was 10:15 at this point and I wasn't going to argue.

He fell asleep in the car on the way home and I put him in our bed.  I figured there was no way in hell I would be able to sleep soundly if he was in his room.  Even though I knew I wouldn't sleep well with him in bed with me - at least I would be able to reach over and feel his temperature throughout the night or be right there if he needed something.

He slept OK overnight and his temperature went down but didn't sleep as long as you would have thought since he went to bed so late.

Ryan still has three days left in his trip, but I sure hope the worst is behind us.  He got to talk to Cam on the phone last night while we were in the emergency room and he said hearing his miserable little voice made him (Ryan) cry because he felt so sorry for him and hated that he wasn't there.  I assured him he was sick but going to be OK and we did the right thing in bringing him to the hospital.

Today he's overall been in much brighter spirits, played with his toys a little bit, and is asking for fruit snacks.  His fever has been up and down but I'm giving him Advil to try and help.  Thankfully, he took a decent nap today and seems OK for now.

Fingers crossed the worst is over.

Take Luck,

LP

Zoey - 6 Months

Six months.  Half a year.  I just don't know how this is possible.  I'll just sit here in denial and weep about it while I tell you about my sweetheart.

- Her six month well check-up is tomorrow so I will have to wait to post her exciting growth stats.  My hope is she's around 14 pounds.  To compare, at six months, Cam weighed 15 pounds 12 ounces.

Update on growth:

Weight: 13 lbs 13 ounces (10th percentile)
Height: 25 inches (23rd percentile)
Head Circumference: 16 inches (11th percentile)

The doctor was so happy with her growth (especially compared to last time) that she printed me out a picture of her growth chart because she said it was so "beautiful."  Ha!

- Wears some 3 month and mostly 3-6 month clothing.  I've tried dressing her in 6 months stuff just to get some new things in the mix but she swims in them.

- Continues to be happy, happy, happy, smiley, smiley, smiley, and chatty, chatty, chatty.  She smiles with her whole little body - especially for Ryan.

- Hair continues to grow a bit more on the top and is starting to fill in a bit on the sides and back.  She has a lovely bald strip in the back from sleeping.  Her eyes baffle me daily.  I'm clinging to calling them "dark hazel" - especially when I see and compare the color to a truly brown-eyed baby.

- Is a rolling pin, rolling all over the place and has discovered Camden's toys - much to his displeasure.  This girl just wants to move.

- Not crawling and I'm more than OK with that.  The past few days she has started scooting around on her back by pushing her feet against the floor.  I've never seen a baby do this in person and it's hysterical (to me, anyway).  I need to get a video.

- Sleep has been a little hit or miss lately.  Some nights she sleeps well and wakes up between 3-5am for a feeding before falling back to sleep until sometime between 6-6:30am.  Other nights... Not so much.

- Naps took a turn back to crappy town and I'm lucky if she sleeps for an hour.  Most naps are 40-45 minutes.

- Continues to hold the title of drool and spit up queen.  We usually go through three or four outfits a day.

- Greets me when picked up from daycare by squealing and grabbing my face.

- Has learned how to swipe glasses off faces and likes to lick the lenses.

- Has entered into a serious relationship with her lovey, Florence (Flo).  Give her that thing and she's immediately hugging it and smothering it into her face.  Much like her long-distance bestie Wheezy is with Mrs. Jiffy.

- Is starting to have a bit of stranger-danger and will cry if someone unfamiliar comes around.  My poor aunts just wanted to snuggle her on Thanksgiving and she wasn't really having it.

- Continues to adore her big brother and gives him the sweetest belly laughs.  Even if he just looks at her and says, "Hi, Zo Zo!"

- Loves her some rice cereal and has tried sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, pears, bananas, and prunes.  She gets pretty vocal when the spoon isn't moving as quickly as she would like.

- Is still nursing as often as we can, and with this six month birthday - we've surpassed how long I nursed Camden.

- No teeth yet but I don't think the bottom two are too far away.

Oh, Zo Zo.  You have no idea how much you are loved and how thankful I am to get to be your Mommy.  Now if you could slow this growing-up-so-fast business I would appreciate it, mmkay?

Take Luck,

LP

To the Dentist

Because I didn't want to go to Camden's 3-year well check up in a few weeks and continue to tell his pediatrician that he hadn't seen the dentist yet... I scheduled a "happy visit" appointment for the little bugger two weeks ago.

Like an idiot, I scheduled his appointment for 1:00pm - just saying "OK!" to the first appointment time the receptionist threw out at me.  Normally, I wouldn't have missed a beat and said, "sorry, no - that's during nap time."  But for whatever reason - I had a momentary lapse in judgement and didn't really realize what I had done until the day before.

Since he's been waking up at the ass crack of dawn the past several weeks, I knew I could get away with putting him down for an early nap.  But I also knew that would mean having to wake him up from said nap.  I shudder just thinking about it.

I woke him up at the last possible second and he cried the entire drive to the dentist.

Strike one.

We get to the office and he immediately calms down at the sight of a train puzzle and soon after says he has to go potty.  I'm excited by this because it means that (hopefully) we'll get through his dental appointment without having to excuse ourselves.

He sits on the potty and then starts to move around, trying to get "comfortable" on his new perch (since he's used to the potty seat) and he immediately falls in the toilet.  Cam's scream-crying and I'm laughing.  I can only imagine what the receptionists heard at this point.  No doubt he upped the dramatics thanks to being woken up from his nap.

Strike two.

Right now I'm thinking, "we should just cut our losses and leave.  I am just asking for trouble."

Camden gets called back and the sweet lady asked him if he wanted to sit in the robot chair and meet some new friends.  He was intrigued and while wearing some super cool sunglasses, got to meet Mr. Sunshine (the light), Mr. Thirsty (the sucker), Mr. Squirter (the water), and Mr. Spinner (the polisher).

The treatment coordinator introduced Cam to all his new friends then polished and brushed some fluoride on a few teeth.  The dentist checked and counted his teeth and looked at his bite, and we were all done.  A happy visit indeed!  I didn't strike out!

There was no pressure or fear whatsoever and it was a really good first dentist visit for my little dude.  I had to go back this past Monday to get a cavity filled and he said he wanted to go with me.

Let's hope his next visit goes just as well.  And he keeps his heiny out of the toilet.

Take Luck,

LP

Halloween

 I have been looking forward to Halloween ever since I found out I was pregnant with Zoey.  I mean, who doesn't get excited thinking about the possibilities of dressing their children in coordinating costumes?!

We were given a perfect hand-me-down lion costume by our neighbors so that sparked the idea of a Wizard of Oz theme and Cam being the Cowardly Lion.  In my daily conversations with Tiffanie, she offered to make a Dorothy dress for Zoey.

To say I was pumped is an understatement.

Tiff, being the brilliant woman she is, suggested taking the kid's Halloween pictures a day or two early - just in case.  I'm so glad she shared that wisdom because someone was not too excited to be the Cowardly Lion while the other was perfectly happy to be Dorothy.  

Even getting to draw a lion nose and whiskers on Mommy didn't cheer him up or get him excited.

I got my pictures, anyway and squealed in delight that my bribes of M&Ms and getting to watch Toy Story were successful.

Ryan came home shortly after I took the pictures and didn't help the "I don't want to be a lion..." situation by saying, "Don't you want to be something cool?!  Like Batman?!"  

So, off we trotted to my second favorite store, Costco, where Cam could choose between being a Minion, Scooby Doo, Captain America, Iron Man, or Batman.

After initially saying he wanted to be a "school bus," Batman won and we immediately started teaching him to say "I'm Batman" in a super deep voice a la Christian Bale.  We figured that come Halloween night, we could give him a choice between being the Cowardly Lion and Batman - but we were pretty sure which one he would choose.

Look at that smile!

We live in a great neighborhood but it's tradition to go to my parent's house to trick-or-treat.

Cam loved trick-or-treating.  He said his "trick-or-treat!" and "thank you!" without being told, and made this really funny, low laughing sound every time he was given candy.  He was cracking me up because after saying "trick-or-treat" he would put his little bucket down on the ground instead of holding on to it and then would run down the driveway, put his bucket back on the ground, and tell Grammy and Papa what candy he got.  If he didn't know what the candy was (everything except M&Ms) he would just yell "I got candies!"

After about 10 houses, we called it a night and headed back to Grammy and Papa's to count his stash. We let him pick one thing to eat and shocker - he chose M&M's.  My own OCD heart leapt as I saw him grouping his M&Ms by color before eating them.

Now to start brainstorming for next year's coordinating costumes.

{Halloween 2014}

{Halloween 2013}

Take Luck,

LP

Zoey - 5 Months

What the what?  How has another month come and gone already?

Wah, wah, wah.  I know, I know.

- She won't have another well-check until 6 months, but I would guess she weighs a smidge over 12 pounds.  The (literally) little lady weighed 12 pounds on the dot at her weight/growth check two weeks ago.

- Wears almost exclusively 3 months clothes, but can still get her tushy in 0-3 month pants.

- A happy, happy, happy baby.  This girl is smiling all the time.

- Nicknames include Zo, Zo Zo, Zoey Bear, and Baby Bear.

- Sprouting more and more hair on the top of her head.  I'm not sure if I can still call her eyes "dark hazel."  They are really toeing the line with brown and I think brown is winning.  Sister has mommy's complexion, daddy's eye color, and mommy's eye shape.

- When holding her, my mom swears she's looking at me as a baby - but I'm not so sure.  I see a lot of Ryan and Camden in her.  

- Rolls all. over. the. place.  I don't think crawling is too far away.

- Usually (usually!) sleeps through the night after a 6:30/7 bedtime and a five o'clock-hour nursing session before waking up around 6:30.

- Takes three or four naps a day, anywhere from one and a half to three hours.  It's not at all uncommon for her to have one final little cat nap in the Ergo while I'm trying to make dinner.

- Remains the drool and spit up queen.  I'm always shocked (and excited) when she stays in the same clothes all day at daycare.  Usually I pick her up and she's on her second or third outfit of the day.

- Has started blowing raspberries with her mouth.

- Can hold her own bottle.

- Is chatty, chatty, chatty.  I hear her at least once in the middle of the night just wide awake and talk, talk, talking to herself.

- Rubs her eyes when she is tired.

- Is reaching for toys, grabbing at faces and hair.  Oh, the hair.

- Her feet and hands are still constantly in her mouth.

- Is super observant and loves to look around.  Her new favorite thing is to sit in her Bumbo seat so she can watch her crazy brother be crazy.

- Laughs for no one like she laughs for Cam.  Still thinks he hung the moon.

- Has started to notice the TV and loves watching baseball with Ryan.

- Has cried real tears a few times and it is heartbreaking to say the least.  Thankfully this doesn't happen very often.

- Watches us eat food like she's watching a good tennis match.  Her head just goes back and forth and back and forth tracking the food from our bowl/plate to our mouths.

- Had a few bites of rice cereal yesterday and I thought she was going to eat the rice cereal and the spoon too.

Oh, my sweet Zo Zo.  You are such a little joy and as sad as I am that another month has passed - I am so happy and grateful to be your mommy.  I love you so!

As with Camden at five months, it's now time to start mentally preparing for the big "half" birthday next month.  So much ugly crying.

Take Luck,

LP

Pumpkin Patch

I came to write my Halloween recap post and realized I never posted about our trip to the pumpkin patch!  The past few weeks have been nothing short of crazy so, better late than never.

There's not much to say about our trip to the patch.  And of course, my goal was all photo-related.

Cam was not super interested in looking at the camera, or smiling, for that matter.  All he wanted to do was try to pick up and heave any pumpkin in his sight. 

And then I forced them to sit for a pumpkin-patchy siblings shot.  Clearly, Cam was thrilled and thankfully Zoey is still little enough to oblige my photo requests.

I had just waved my white flag in hopes of getting a decent picture of Cammy with the pumpkins and he said "Mommy, take my picture!  I sitting on the pumpkin!"

Not the greatest family picture ever, but considering we don't have too many of these - it'll do.

And why I didn't take their little sibling picture here is beyond me.  I'll blame the oversight on my mind being focused on getting out of the patch sans-potty accident.  I really wanted to take Cam through the corn maze but I just knew that we'd be deep in the maze (or lost, for that matter) and he would say, "I gotta go potty!"

We came home with a couple pumpkins, dry undies, and some cute pictures to document the adventure.

With two young kids, that's called a success.

{Pumpkin Patch 2014}

{Pumpkin Patch 2013}

Take Luck,

LP

Camden Says / 06

I swear.  The things this kid comes up with just slay me.  Me and probably only me.

Reading his Washington ABC's book before bed.

Me: M is for (wooly) mammoth.

Cam: No, Mommy.  It's a mastodon.

(thank you, Bubble Guppies)

Ryan trying to encourage Camden to give me a compliment.

Ryan: (whispers) say, "Mommy, you're beautiful!" really loud.

Cam: Mommy, you're beautiful really loud!

In the car on Zoey's first day of daycare.

Me: Buddy, I want you to protect your baby sister and take care of her today if she's sad.  Can you help take care of her for me?

Cam: No, Mommy.  Ms. Debbie do it.

Turning on a play computer at daycare.

Cam: Hold on, I need my gwasses (glasses).

After Ryan found the lost iPad.

Cam: Thank you, Daddy.  You a sweet boy.

On our way to the doctor.

Cam: Where we going, Mommy?

Me: We are going to see Dr. Bronald!

Cam: Oh.  Where is Broctor Donald?

Hear's Zoey crying on the monitor after she woke up from a painfully short nap.

Cam: Mommy!  Baby Zoey crying!

Me: (trying to fold the last bit of laundry) I hear her buddy.

Cam: Go get her!!

(Cam and I go upstairs)

Cam: It's ok Baby Zo Zo.  We here.

Picked Cam up from daycare right as school-aged kids were getting off the school bus and he was very upsets that he didn't get to ride the school bus too.  Called my parents to report on the kids' day.

Cam: (hysterically crying)

Dad: What's wrong with my grandson?

Cam: (hysterical crying)

Me: He wanted to get on the school bus so he's not very happy right now.

Cam: (stops crying) Yes, I am!

Talking about best friends.

Cam: Mommy, you my best friend.

Me: (speechless because my heart skipped a beat and then melted) I am?!!!

Cam: Yeah!  And Bastian my best friend.  And Amber my best friend.  And Maddy my best friend.

Me: 

In the elevator at the hotel in Hawaii, a Japanese woman bent down and spoke to him in Japanese.

Cam: What?! (emphasis on the T)

Also in the elevator at the hotel, he would strike up a conversation with any other people in there with us.

Cam: Hi!

Person: Hi, how are you?

Cam: I'm good.  I got swimming.  How you doin'?

If we were ever in the elevator alone.

Cam: There are no peoples in here.

In Hawaii and continuing his fascination with cities.

Me: What city are we in?

Cam: Honowuwu

A typical conversation in the car on the way to daycare.

Cam: I wike (like) sharks!

Me: I like sharks too!

Cam: I wike whales!

Me: I like whales too!

Cam: I wike polar bears!

Me: I like polar bears too!

Cam: I wike basketballs!

Learning the months of the year.

Cam: Januwawy (January), Febuwaway (February), March, June, Juwy (July), August, September, October, Novemberrrrrrrr!

Me: What about December?

Cam: 

Me: When is your birthday?

Cam: December ewebenth (eleventh)!

Hearing me use Siri to voice dial Ryan.

Me: Call Hubby.

Cam: One hubby, two hubby's, awotta (alotta) hubby's!

Talking about daycare/preschool friend's birthday that was celebrated.

Cam: Mommy, I want a present!

Me: What kind of present do you want?

Cam: A big one!

After Ryan buzzed his head for the second time.

Cam: (sees hair on the bathroom counter) Oh, no!  My hairs!

Talking about colors:

Me: What's your favorite color?

Cam: Blue cars.

Being a rascal in the car.

Cam: (removes socks and shoes, throws one sock at me while I'm driving)

Me: Please do not throw socks.

Cam: (throws second sock)

Me:

Cam: I'm funny.

Until next time.  And you know there will be a next time.

Take Luck,

LP

Mariner's Game

Back in August I had an idea for taking Camden to his first baseball game.  I knew I wanted to do a day game and due to our travel schedule and commitments, the only day game left was the Mariner's last game of the season.

We told Cam about it and when he would ask when we were going to the baseball game, our answer was always "October, buddy."

Well, October 4th came and this little guy was excited.  And newly obsessed with his tongue.

I had no idea how long he would last because he's quite the busy child and the first pitch was scheduled for 12:10pm (aka nap time).  Thankfully, we were on the main level and only a few rows up from right field so he could see everything.  He was in awe.  And it helped that whenever an adult got up to use the bathroom - Cammy tagged along to stretch his legs and distract himself from being tired.

Of course, Zo Zo was there too and (hallelujah) didn't make a peep the whole time.  She was happy to eat, sleep, or watch the game.

Again with the tongue!

There is a Seattle Children's Hospital-sponsored playground at the ball field, but being that this game was "Kid's Appreciation Day," you can imagine how crowded it was.  It was so crowded that you had to schedule a time to play.  Yeah, sorry buddy. 

Instead we walked around a bit and got our picture taken with the Dave Niehaus (Mariner's announcer from 1977 - 2010) statue.

One of Cam's favorite songs is "the baseball song" (Take Me Out to the Ballgame) so my goal was to make it to the seventh inning stretch so we could sing it loud and proud.  The look on his face when the song started playing was hysterical and full of confusion.  It was like "whyyyyy are all these people singing my song?"

I took a video of it but you can hear me singing horribly off-key (as if there was any other key for me to sing in?) so I will absolutely spare you.  He sang off and on (again, because he was distracted by all the other people singing) but gave me a big and enthusiastic "... at the old ballgame."

We wanted to catch the 3:00 ferry so we fled the stadium and walked briskly to the ferry terminal.

The poor kid was falling asleep in his carseat on the way home but it was after 4:15 and I wanted him to stay awake so he could have an early bedtime, so every time he would start to nod off I would wake him up.  I'm so mean, but seriously - early bedtime.

It was a great experience and I hope to get him to more than one game next year.  And the Mariner's won!!  How about that?  Such good luck charms, we are.

Take Luck,

LP

Potty Training {Day Four}

Warning: This post is allllll about potty training.  Stop reading if you don't want to hear about my kid's bodily functions.  I'm writing this mainly so I can document progress and have something to look back on when we go down the potty training road with Zoey.

I know, I know.  I said that yesterday's recap would be my last.  But you guys - he's got it.

I was up with Zoey at 5:00 to nurse and had a hard time getting her to fall back asleep.  I had set my alarm for 6:00 so I could be awake before my little potty trainer.  Well, thank you Zoey, because the little man was awake at 6:00 on the dot, sitting at his door in a heavily wetted pull up chanting "Mommaaay!  Mommaaaaaaay!"

I retrieved him from his chambers and escorted him to the potty, but nothing.  I wasn't expecting anything but wanted to try so he knows that's what you do right after you wake up.

Two hours went by without any - no successes and no accidents and I was getting worried that he starting to rebel or something.  He finally went and I breathed a huge sigh of relief that maybe he was in fact "getting it."  He even pooped on the potty again!  Ryan has taught him to "shake off" the last of the pee once he's done and I'm not even kidding he sings "shake it off" to the tune of his favorite lady singer, Taylor Swift.

Ryan buzzed his head again and it was less traumatizing for me this time, thank God.  Afterwards I gave him a bath (where he promptly peed in the drain, and I counted that as a success!) and after that he insisted on running around the house in his "shark cape."

He went down for his nap (in a pull up) no problem and knocked my socks off when he woke up and it was dry.  Not only that but when I took him down to potty right after he woke up - he peed!  The dry pull up could have totally been a fluke, but whatever - I celebrated him and the accomplishment.

A couple times today, after successes, I even heard himself say "Keep 'em dry, bud" (talking about his undies) - so he is actually listening after all.

Did I mention during any of this that following the 3 Day Potty Training method means not leaving your home for three days?  You can imagine how stir crazy we were all getting having this little tornado child cooped up for four days.

My parents just got a new kitten so I thought it would be a good test to go over there and see how he did in a 15 minute car ride there, a visit, and the ride home. 

I was a little nervous when he said he had to go potty twice before we even left our neighborhood.

We got to my parent's house without any incidents or accidents and once inside he kept a death grip on the sweet, innocent kitten... That he kept calling "Nicey."  Her name is Macy.  Poor Macy couldn't decide if she wanted to play with him or hide from him.  Cam loves going over to his Grammy and Papa's and was quite rambunctious while we were visiting and I know it was because he was so excited to be out of the house.

My mom got Zoey out of her carseat and almost immediately said, "I think she pooped."  Not only did she poop, but she blew out her diaper and had poo all over her pants and onesie.  Mother of the year over packed two extra undies and a pair of shorts for Camden but not a darn thing for the spit up and I'm-going-to-poop-in-my-carseat-so-it-goes-up-and-errrywhere queen.  My mom was able to salvage the onesie by way of baby wipes and a lot of baby powder.

After whacking his head on the door frame of their bathroom, a success pee on the potty, and bonking his head on the coffee table - I decided it was time to call it a win and get back home.

We got home and had dinner - the usual.  He had two more successes on the potty after we got home from Mom and Dad's.  His last prize blew his little mind - a glow stick.

He was pretty excited about it.

Dare I say "he's done it!"?  I don't know, but shoot - today he continually told us he had to go potty, had many successes, and no accidents.  Part of me wants to see how tomorrow goes with him being back at daycare before completely shouting it from the rooftops, but the other part of me wants to say "hell frigging yeah, he's (daytime) potty trained!!!!!!!!!!!!"

End of Day Four tally:

#1 Successes: 8

#1 Accidents: 0

#2 Successes: 1

#2 Accidents: 0

 

{Potty Training Day One}

{Potty Training Day Two}

{Potty Training Day Three}

If you're lucky (or is it unlucky?), I'll keep you posted on progress.  Let's just hope our daycare ladies follow our strategy and directions and that he doesn't completely undo all the progress we've made in the last four days.

Take Luck,

LP