Christmas toys

As you can imagine, Cameron got plenty of good stuff for Christmas, but one of her favorites is a little car/walk-behind. She's too small to push her self with her feet and although she can stand up and hang on to the handle, she hasn't quite figured out that she can push it around too. That pretty much means that she needs one of us to give her rides. Here's a cute video of Sara doing just that, and after watching her wear herself out after the tenth lap, I've decided that this should just be a Mommy and Cameron game. (sound effects provided by Mommy)

raise your hand if you're spoiled!

Sorry that I haven't posted in a few weeks.  Things have been pretty busy with Christmas and Birthdays (mine) lately and of course, the snow has put the brakes on a lot of things, but it's all been good.  My Dad called a few days back and asked if we had taken Cameron out to play in the snow.  Sara and I had a good chuckle considering that with her current motor skills, playing in the snow would pretty much consists of just sitting there getting wet.  Not very fun.  We did take her out a few times though to let the snow fall on her head and she actually seemed pretty interested.  She kept trying to brush it off her face, but didn't really have much success.

In case you didn't realize, Cameron is the first Grandchild on both sides so that means that she's also the first niece to both of our sisters.  That all but guarantees that she'll be the most spoiled baby this side of the Cascades.  We still have to do Christmas with Sara's Mom, but so far, it's holding true to form.  Here's a few pictures of Cameron in her Christmas outfit that Great-Grandma Bert (Sara's Grandma) sent her.  She also got to help open the box and that was the most fun of all.

  

What's old is new

I think my Mom kept all of my old toys around just for this very reason. We were down in Longview last weekend and Granny pulled out "Trigger", an old toy horse that I used to ride around on. It was a little dirty and grimy, but nothing that a wet rag and a little Grand-motherly love couldn't take care of.

As you can see from the pictures, Cameron loved it and now it will always be waiting for her at Granny and Poppy's house. Here's a fun game....which picture do you think was taken after she fell off?

Santa!

Sara and I were really debating on whether or not we wanted to take Cameron to get her picture taken with Santa; it's always a hassle, they're crazy expensive, and we really didn't know how she would react. In other words, we were just doing a pretty good job of justifying it to ourselves.

The trouble is that we went to the mall for other reasons a few days back and when we saw Santa sitting there, all those other thoughts went out the window and we knew we had to get it done. So yesterday morning I got Cameron into her new Christmas dress (thanks Auntie Kristen)and headed off to the mall.

Cameron did really well and gave us (me and the photographer) a good 3-4 minutes of acting like goofballs trying to get her to smile before she started crying. As you can see below, we got a few good ones! Although you can't see her face, I think I like the one where she's looking at Santa the best. She's so curious and inquisitive right now that I think that really shows her personality. Plus, I'm sure she had her little brow furrowed and the wheels were turning and I think that's when she's at her cutest.

Playdates

We a playdate last weekend - for both Cameron and Mommy and Daddy!

Back in our PC (pre-Cameron) days, we met a pair of fellow evil-doers named Tony and Brittany at our childbirth and labor class. I think it was the second of five classes when we ended up sitting next to them and our bond was quickly formed as we poked fun at a kid who felt the need to relate all of our teacher's lessons to his own medical experiences. As if getting his tonsils taken out is akin to an emergency c-section! We ended up sitting with them for the rest of the classes and got the I'm-going-to-seperate-you look on more than one occasion from the teacher.

In any case, we've stayed in touch as our babies are growing and we've even found the time to meet up a few times. It turns out that the mall shooting capital of the world - or at least Washington - is halfway between us so it makes for a great place to meet and get a bite to eat. Plus, we're all pretty hardcore so the gunplay doesn't really bother us. Cameron and Savannah seem to enjoy it and it's not bad for the grown-ups either!

A few pics from the evening: (L to R) Savannah and Cameron playing on the table, Hey - whose binky is that?, Brittany and Savannah, Tony picked up Cameron's toy off the floor - this happened 72 more times, Mommy and Cameron!

Let's go to the beach!

Cameron took her first trip to the coast a few weekends back when we met up with Granny and Poppy (Jesse's Parents) and Aunt Katie and Uncle Mark to go clam digging!

It was a 9:00 pm low tide so we got Cameron all bundled up and tucked into her jogging stroller and off to the beach we went. You'd really think it was cute to see her that way, and you're right, but we we're smart enough to take any pictures of her! Just picture the younger brother from A Christmas Story when he was going to school and you'll have it about right.

In any case, she did great even though it was well past her bedtime and she even managed to catch a few zzzzz's while Sara was pushing her around being our clam spotter. They're not quite as fun, but here's some pictures that we took the next morning as we walked along the beach.

sitting up and teeth!

Lots of pics (clockwise from Top left): with Mom at the Joe Biden rally in Tacoma, stealing Daddy's hat and showing Blazer love, all bundled up with Mom and ready for a walk, rolling around and talking on Daddy's lap, helping Mom with laundry, and excited for Daddy kisses

Cameron passed a few baby milestones recently....she can sit up (pretty tipsy at first, but she's got it mastered now) and she got her first two teeth! Last week she started sitting, but as soon as she spotted something that wasn't directly in front of her she would turn her head and then do her best imitation of the leaning tower of Pisa. She couldn't pull herself back up so she would end up tipping over, but don't worry - she's pretty small so it was never much of a fall. She's really figured it out in the last few days and now she can even catch her balance once she starts to fall...she's a pro.

She also started to get her first teeth exactly on her 6 month birthday! Her bottom left tooth started to come in first, but a few days later, we noticed that the bottom right wasn't far behind. Both broke the skin after about 4 days of fussing, chewing, and drooling and it's no longer as fun as it used to be when she pulls my finger into her mouth and bites down! Sara was pretty worried (freaked out, actually) about breastfeeding a baby with teeth, but so far it hasn't been a problem. Cameron covers her teeth with her tongue so Sara can't feel any difference. That's my girl!

She's really starting to rock on her hands and knees and she's learning to do a nice combo of dragging herself/log rolling to get anywhere she wants to go. I'm sure - and scared to death - that she'll be crawling soon. Time to start baby-proofing!

Sometimes she cries....

A few people have mentioned that based on what I write and all the pictures that I post, Cameron seems like the perfect baby. All in all, I think she is a pretty good baby, but just like every other six month old, she does have some bad days and generally messy meltdowns. The difference between her and other people's baby is that she's still just as cute when she's crying. (at least in my biased opinion) Here's a few from the other day when she didn't want to be patient while I heated up her bottle.

Halloween!

As you can imagine, there was much debate around the Green house as to what Cameron would be for her first Halloween. Actually, the debating was pretty much just between Sara and herself. She kept calling from Target and it went something like this: "you should see the puppy costume...it's soooo cute! Oh wait, here's a ladybug...sooooo cute! They have a monkey costume! She would look soooooo cute!" This went on for a good few minutes and finally I reminded her that being at home, I couldn't see any of them and that I was sure that whatever she picked out would be perfect. Ultimately, our former bun in the oven became our pea in the pod and I think it's fair to say that she looked pretty cute.

Cameron's Grandpa Kregg works at a guitar shop in downtown Gig Harbor so we went there with Auntie Kristen to visit him and Gamma Lesley. They block off all the streets downtown so kids can come and trick-or-treat at the stores and I couldn't believe how many kids there were. Cameron is still too young to enjoy the fruits of Halloween, but that didn't stop Mom and Dad from getting their fair share.

We're back!! I took a little blog vacation, but due to popular demand, it's time to get going again. There is a lot to catch up on - Cameron just had her 6 month appointment, she's getting her first (two) teeth, and she looks like she's ready to crawl - but more on that in the next few posts.

We had a funny, but very nice experience last night at a wedding in Portland. We were at the reception and we had Cameron with us and a woman came up to us and said, "I know this sounds strange, but I read your blog all the time and when I saw you guys sitting in the church, I said to my husband, 'There's Cameron!'" It was great to meet her, I guess I just didn't realize that friends of friends of my sister read this. In any case, here's a few pictures from the wedding last night to wet your whistle - I'll post more soon to get caught up.

clockwise from L: Granny putting Cameron in tights that ended up being HUGE; bundled up in Poppy's (Jesse's Dad) coat on the way from the church to the reception; trying to touch Grace's nose; happy times with Mom!

First food and hey....what's that furry thing?

Even though I took it as a sign that Cameron is growing up too fast, we started feeding her rice cereal the other day. It seemed as though more of it was running down her chin than actually getting into her stomach, but tonight was a breakthrough! She seemed to finally understand how spoons work and she got 90% of it down. We hear that means that she'll sleep better and might even skip her 2:00 am feeding....we'll see.

Tonight was also the first time that she's seemed to have any interest in the cats. She's gotten really good at reaching and holding things like her pacifier and toys, but she finally reached out for the cats - pretty sure that they aren't as excited as we are! They don't even know what they're in for when she starts crawling! In any case, here's some new pictures.

Almost there!

It seems like Cameron is soooo close to her first giggle! If you listen closely, it sounds like she gives us one after I kiss her the first time. I'm sure she'll be laughing up a storm soon enough, but in the meantime, we get to settle for this....which isn't too bad.

nap time, nap time, and more nap time!

Sara and I are really learning the importance of Cameron's nap schedule. Now that she has it figured out, we quickly realized that we had better get with the program. If she gets her naps on time, she's a very happy girl, but if the schedule gets off by the slightest amount...beware of baby!

In any case, here's some new pictures.

4 month visit

Cameron turned 4 months old yesterday so it was time to go to the Doctor again! Here's a picture of her enjoying the tissue paper stuff they put on the tables. I think she liked the crackling sound it was making when she was rolling and kicking! She's up to 12.6 pounds and just over 23 inches - right on track for what she's always been. Everything else looks great too. All of her motor skills are on track and the Doctor gave us some good advice on how to get her to sleep through the night. We can't wait to try those out!

In any case, a visit to the Doctor at this age always means that it's time to get shots! Sara took her alone to the last visit so this was my first experience. The rational side of me knows that she needs these shots and that they'll help her tremendously in the long run, but the Dad in me had a strong urge to jump in and rescue her from this strange lady that was causing her pain. It didn't help that I looked over and Sara had big tears streaming down her face! We all made it through alright and Cameron was happy as could be after a good feeding and getting wrapped in her favorite blanket. The world is right again!

Angry Eyes?

So Sara went to the grocery store yesterday and had no less than four people tell her that Cameron has "angry eyes!" This isn't the first time that it's happened, either. I know that the poor girl inherited her Father's heavy brow, but give me a break! Does this girl look angry? I told Sara that next time someone says that, she should tell them that they have a fat face or a big nose, but I think she's too nice for that. I don't understand why people feel like they can say anything they want when you're pregnant or have a baby...would they say something like that to just any old Joe? Doubt it.

Paddy Cake!

I try to tell Auntie Kristen that nobody likes her, but I think this video proves me wrong.

Sleepy time!

Here's a few cute shots of Cameron sleeping yesterday. A few months back Cameron was having trouble keeping the pacifier in her mouth so Sara sewed it onto the end of this stuffed kitty. She hasn't really used it in a while but Sara put it on Cameron's chest today - she turned away for a few minutes and this is what Cameron was doing when she came back.

Also, since she's started being more active, she sleeps in some pretty funny positions. We put her down in her crib last night and I went in to check on her and found her sleeping like this. It's like she's a real person - just smaller.