Talk Talk Talk

Quick Post.....Cami can now:
Open presents.  Fairly proficiently thanks to her birthday and Christmas being so close together.
Throw her diaper in the garbage.
Help get herself dressed.
Help feed herself with a spoon (sometimes).
Say Diaper.
Say Uh-oh.
Say Turtle (well, kind of).
Say Cracker (and point to a bag of crackers).
Say Papa
Say Daddy (instead of just Da-da)
Amuse herself by playing Peek-a-boo with a napkin.
Sit quietly with her books and page through them (one of my favs).
Play chase.
Give REALLY good hugs and pats.
Walk super well, borderline RUN half the time.
Play her piano.
Shake her head no (we're working on yes).
Sit correctly when I ask her to.
Lay her head back in the tub and kick her legs.
Pick her nose because she thinks it's funny (that's a great one).
Eat more than any child ever in existence.**
Count to 100 (just kidding).


This list is more for me when I'm going back to fill in her baby book.  The blog is way faster!

**We're cutting back on milk.  In the past 24 hours Cami ate:
4 chicken nuggets, a waffle, and a bunch of peas 
2 whole eggs with cheese on them, 1/2 an English muffin, and about 3/4 of a medium sized banana
1 entire container of Easy Mac (I maybe had four or five bites), and a container of Gerber fruit.
Snack of Cheerios.
 That's IN ADDITION to all of her whole milk.  Which she drinks more of then you're "supposed" to.  I think there's a hole in her foot, I just haven't found it yet......

Oh Dear

Let me preface this entire post by saying Cami is an absolutely easy, wonderful, loving, funny, gleeful little baby.  I am sometimes amazed by how much I love her simply because I enjoy being around her.  She constantly cracks me up, and is working so hard at walking (we have a record of four steps...FOUR!) and trying so many new things to be a "big girl".  She rarely acts scared (except for those darn elevators, weird), and never makes a peep when I hand her off to Grandma in the morning.  However, this lovely, strong-willed personality is making me quake in my Sperry's as I see her become more certain of what she wants to do.

I've written before that she sometimes smiles at me when I say no and then does the action anyway.  The other night was on a whole new level.  After Cami's bath, she crawled into the bonus room.  We have a TV in there that she has been told repeatedly not to touch (as is the case with all TVs).  She crawled up, touched the TV, and immediately looked at me (she so knows what she's doing).  I said "No, no, Cami," rather loudly.  She smiled, and while looking at me with a serious "and what are you going to do about it?" look, smacked her hand on it again.  I gave her my teacher face, which easily stares down crazy, pubescent 8th graders, and said no again, louder.  SMACK.  Turn.  Smile.  At this point I decided it was time for a hand pop.  She knows what she's doing, she knows what "no" means, let's do this.  I walked over, said no, and popped her on the back of the hand.  SHE LAUGHED.  While looking me in the eye, she laughed.  AND THEN DID IT AGAIN.  So I popped her a little harder, and she laughed again.  Sigh.  This clearly has no effect at this point.  I proceeded with the tried and true "get as far from the TV as possible" strategy and we went downstairs.  Where she started messing with the blinds in the living room.......

Inspector Gadget

We have taken to calling Cami Inspector Gadget.  This little baby can suddenly have Go Go Gadget arms (or legs, or toes) and grab anything around her.  Things we think we've placed out of reach magically appear in her hands after she has used her Extend-O-Arms.  It's also quite applicable because she is curious about EVERYTHING.  The other day she stood up at the dishwasher and was able to stand on tippy toes to reach the top of the kitchen counter.  Oh no.

This is also combined with her being really close to walking.  Toddling is a quite applicable term for how quickly she can get moving holding on to finger tips.  Quick mover and Go Go Gadget arms.  Bad combination. ;)

Bobby Pin Conundrum

Before Baby That Puts Everything in Her Mouth:  Darn it, two bobby pins fell out of my hair.  Oh well.

After Baby That Puts Everything in Her Mouth:  Two bobby pins are gone!!!  Where did they fall out???  Cami's going to eat them!  (scouring every room in the house after baby is in bed)  I can't find them!!!!  Oh my gosh, they're probably in her crib!  She's going to eat them in the middle of the night and choke and then have to have surgery to remove them after the perforate her intestines!!!!  WHERE ARE THE TWO BOBBY PINS??????????



They are still missing.

Hanging out at our friend, Robert's, birthday. :)  This was before the Bobby Pin Incident.

Freeze Crawl

Cami fully understands the phrase "no no."  She fully understands many phrases (some quite complicated, like "why don't you take your soccer ball through your tunnel?"....what???), but sometimes I wonder if her compliance with what I ask her to do is coincidence.  But, I know she knows what no no means because she is fairly good a stopping what she is doing and turning to look at me.  However, she has a new response, the freeze crawl.  In this response, I say "no no, Cami."  Mid-stride, she completely freezes.  Then s-l-o-w-l-y continues her motion towards whatever she is trying to get.  I say "no no" again and get a freeze....but a shorter one until the molasses crawl begins again.  I think she thinks I'm not going to notice she's moving if she does it really slowly.  I suppose the freeze crawl is better than the times she stops, looks at me, smiles, and does whatever I told her not to do anyway.....

What Was That You Said?

Yesterday, Cami was fussing. She has two new teeth (her top middles) that are breaking through and she's not too happy about it.  She had been a little fussy since she woke up from her nap, so I was, quite frankly, ignoring her (she was standing at my knees banging on them, which made it hard....).  I was consumed in an all-important task of checking Twitter.  Did Ryan Lochte get a million followers?  Will he invite someone to lunch and convince them to say Jeah?  Miley Cyrus cut off all her hair. Spice Girls reunion!  Important matters.  Cami apparently decided she needed to pull out the big guns and the next thing I hear is "Ma MA....mamamamamamamam. MaMA."  WHAT????????  Well, then she had my full attention and while I was clapping and cheering.....she resumed fussing.  And has yet to say mama again.  However, about 30 minutes later we were in the car on the way to dinner and then (perhaps she felt she didn't have our full attention?) we hear "DA DA DA DA.  DADA!"  YAY, CAMI!!!!!  We're so proud of our big girl.  Now, if only those top two teeth would stop hurting, we'd be in good shape. 

Taking Over The Little Gym

Well, maybe not taking over, but definitely exploring.  Last Tuesday, I took Cami to The Little Gym with our friends Amanda and Mauer.  She sat right by me, holding on to my arm and did not seem to have ANY fun.  She was in full-on meltdown by the end and wouldn't even listen to the song that ends the class.  Yesterday, we gave it another go and she did AWESOME!  It definitely helped that GiGi was there and Cami had another familiar face to smile at, but she crawled away from me right when we sat down and wanted to see Mauer and explore the circle.  She jumped and did her exercises (although we vetoed the somersault....she freaked out when I flipped her last week) and played with the balls and the bubbles.  The only time she got fussy was when the teacher tried to demonstrate something with her.  She craned her neck to see who was holding and her realized it was definitely not someone she knew and her little face just crumpled.  HUGE improvement....so proud of my snugglebug!!!

Mommy Fail and Mommy Success

Just when I think I'm becoming more confident in being a Mommy....failure strikes.  This time it was no big deal, I only made my child freak out that she was going to choke.  Ha.  

Cami loves her peas.  So, after watching her mash up the (easily dissolving) Gerber puffs and MumMums and have success with a couple carrot chunks, I thought I'd give her some real peas.  She loves peas, so of course she'd love eating the real thing, right?

I boiled my fancy peas (HEB Central Market Organic, only the best, of course....we'll ignore the fact that hardly anything else she's eaten has been organic), and made sure they were nice and soft and had cooled off.  Cami had eaten the rest of her dinner, so I decided to just try a couple.  I gave her one.  She took it and began to chew.  Success!  I got her to smile to see that it was mostly gone and gave her another.  She began to chew.  I'm amazing, I thought.  Cami continues to chew...and chew...and chew.  The outside of the pea is still in her mouth.  She starts to look a little upset.  I can see it written on her face:  Mommy, why is this not dissolving into nothingness?????  She starts to fuss and I start to panic that she's going to breathe in and get the external pea portion lodged in her throat.  I try and get her to stick out her tongue.  I show her how to say "Ahhhhhh".  No luck.  I try to open her mouth.  She jerks away and fusses more.  Pea still in mouth.  I don't want to just force my finger in her mouth and push it down further (I'm a trained First Responder after all...that's a no no for choking....they just never taught us how to handle pea shells).  So, I do the only other thing I can think of.  I call my mom.

I doubt my mom was expecting "Cami has part of a pea stuck in her mouth and she's getting upset and I can't get it out and I don't know what to do!" when she answered the phone.  However, despite probably rolling her eyes (don't deny it, Mom), she patiently told me to give Cami some water.  "They're still there!!!!!  And she's not drinking it because they're still there!!!!!"  So she patiently instructs me to sweep it out with a hook motion (oh yeah, I think they taught us that in First Responder class....) and alternate giving some water.  I successfully removed the pea casings.  Crisis averted (although Cami was shooting me dirty looks).  Mommy fail of the day.

Now, Mommy Success is a little bit of a misnomer.  Every part of this Cami would do instinctively whether or not I was ever around.  However, she has become quite the active little crawler.  I would put a video up, but my phone is in the midst of dying a slow death and not cooperating.  She giggles while she crawls when she picks up speed and is pretty much loving every aspect of being mobile.  Especially the fact that she can examine dirt, stairs, electrical outlets...all the good stuff (I've also had a little success with "No-no" but that I'm sure will end up being a fail when Cami gets better at throwing a fit).  I love all the giggles and smiles and romping around the living room and front hall and it makes me feel like I'm doing an okay job.  And then, my active little overachiever, did TWO new things in one day!  She has been eying things above her the past couple days and this morning started pulling a LOT on her crib rails.  I thought her figuring it out would take a few days.  Nope.  30 minutes into her 2nd nap she woke up (Sigh, I thought) and began pulling on the rails and in about five minutes was standing up and looking around her room.  Lucky for me, she fell over and went back to sleep, but geez, quick learner.  She also waved bye-bye today.  She's swung her arm around a couple times in a manner which may or may not have been a coincidence, but today she pretty clearly waved.  Ah-mazing.  

 And, tomorrow, she'll be asking for a cell phone.  Or something like that.

Who's Baby is This??

It's been awhile since I updated anything on the blog, because it's summer, and grad school is over and I don't typically have to be near a computer unless I'm on Facebook.  Cami is now seven months and one week old (crazy!) and she is most definitely becoming her own little person.  It seems like in the past month more than any other, she has begun making her likes and dislikes known and is like an entirely different, more social, baby.  So, of course, since she can't politely say "Mommy, I'd rather not do that right now, please," (because, of course, she'll speak that way) she yells at me.  Full volume.  It's an interesting cross between a fussing cry and a mad yell.  Cami prefers for me to never move her arms for her (I can totally hear her saying, "I can do this myself!!!!"), so you can imagine getting dressed and putting her in her car seat is occasionally a battle.  And, as she's getting stronger, she'll try and move her arm away.  She also is going through a streak where she prefers for me not to leave the room (too bad, I'm leaving the room if I need some water....that's why the living room is safe).  So she'll yell at me until I return.  This has included naps for the past three weeks.  I always kiss her forehead twice before I leave the room and on kiss #2, like clockwork, these pathetic, noisy sobs would start.  So, that was fun.  However, I don't want to jinx myself, but that didn't happen yesterday (and one nap was at our friend's house where we were celebrating the 4th), and it didn't happen this morning.  I can only hope that little phase is coming to an end. :)
Like I said, Cami is also expressing likes (this isn't all negative) and has started a full on giggle that is HILARIOUS!  She loves to be tickled and loves to be held up high in the air, and still loves the pool.  It's so much fun to do something to make her laugh.  She also loves Minnie, Elmo, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (the songs anyway, we're not quite at watching the story unfold yet).  She loves holding her books and turning the pages like a big girl, and has just learned how to turn out the light.  She also has a face we refer to as her Bulldog Face where she scrunches her nose up and blows out like she's blowing boogers.  She thinks it's hilarious and does it ALL THE TIME since we think it's pretty funny and do it back to her.  Although, she's started doing it while we're walking around in the stroller....people might wonder if there is something amiss....
That's all for now....we may have more adventures as the summer progresses.  I'm about to call KinderMusik and see if their summer session still has openings.  Heehee, that could be pretty cute.

Another Page From Cami's Diary

6:45am:  *Sigh and stretch*  Yay, Mommy!  You're here!  I'm so happy to see you!  Oh, look, Daddy, too!  Bye, Daddy!  Have a great day at work!

6:50am:  I think I'm going to test out this new whining noise I've learned how to do.  Yeah, that's it.  That sounds great!  I love this noise!  Let me try squnching up my face with it too.  Haha, look at Mommy.  She keeps singing at me and trying to get me to laugh.  That must mean she likes it too.  I think I'll do it for her ALL DAY.

6:55am:  Mmmmmmmm.....food.

7:05am:  Huummmmmhhhhhhhh, push, push, push.  There we go.  Mommy?  Clean up, aisle four!

7:30am:  Hey, Mommy, my legs are sore from my shots yesterday.  And, hmmm, yeah, I'm kind of hot too.  It's uncomfortable.  And my gums hurt.  And my legs hurt.  Oh, I already told you that?  Well, they do.

7:45am:  Yuck, yuck, yuck!  My Apple Blueberry doesn't taste right!  What did you put in it??  Are you trying to give me that nasty Tylenol again?  I suppose I won't throw up on you because I am awfully hot now.  Did I tell you it's uncomfortable?  Maybe I should tell you in my whining voice?  Yeah, that sounds good.

7:46am: Yay for my Baby Einstein piano!!!  Love it!  Well, no, I'm bored with it now.

7:47am:  Yay for my bouncy ball dinosaur!  Love it!  Well, no, I'm bored with it now.

7:48am:  Yay for my Exersaucer!  Love it!  Well, no, I'm bored with it now.

7:49am:  Yay for my ice teether!  Love it!  Well, no, I'm bored with it now.

7:50am:  Yay for Mickey Mouse Club on the couch!  This is cool, we don't do this very much.  I think I'll let it distract me for a whole five minutes.

7:55am:  Mommy, dancing and singing is so fun!  I love it!  Can we do it all morning long?

8:00am:  Why did you put me down, Mommy?

8:02am:  PICK ME UP, MOMMY!

8:04am:  Mommy, dancing and singing is so fun!  I love it!  Can we do it all morning long?

8:15am:  Well, honestly, that's not making me happy anymore either.  Did I mention that I'm hot?  And my legs and gums hurt?  Did I tell you that?

8:30am: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

9:30am:  Hey, Mommy!  I'm awake! 

9:45am:  Mmmmm...fo...nah, I don't feel like eating right now.  Thanks, though.

10:30am:  Mommy, will you get me some ice for my gums?  They hurt.  Did you know that?  Oh, you did?  Well, how about that ice?  Thanks!  Oh, this will be funny.  While Mommy's downstairs grabbing that ice I'm going to thump really loudly on the floor and then put my head down and lay here totally still like I hurt myself when she comes back.  HILARIOUS.

10:30.36am:  HAHAHAHA, Mommy, you look so worried.  I'm fine.  No, my pupils aren't dilated.  What are pupils? 

10:40-11:15am:  I love this whining noise I can make.  It really gets my point across.

11:30am: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

1:30pm:  Hey, Mommy!  I'm awake and I'm HUNGRY!  I guess I should have eaten more earlier.  Oh well.  You'll make a bottle really quickly now right?  By the way, now I'm really hot.  You might want to do something about that.

1:35pm:  Mmmmmmmmmm.....food.

2:00pm:  Mommy, stop watching Ellen and pay attention to me.  I'm having a tough day, you know.  I don't feel quite as hot now.  I think you must have tricked me into more medicine somewhere while I was eating.  But, now my gums are REALLY bothering me.  I know I usually like it when you rub them, but not today.  Don't touch my mouth.  I know how to use these two new teeth.

3:15pm:  NO, I don't want to go to sleep again!  No, no, no!  Don't make m..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

4:15pm:  AHHHHHHHH!  Why am I all sweaty?  Gross!!!  Come help me, Mommy!!!!!!!

4:20pm:  Mmmmmmmm.....food.

4:25pm:  Daddy!!!!!  You're home!!!!  I'm SO, SO, SO excited to see you!!!!  I haven't smiled at Mommy since I woke up, but I sure am excited to see you!

4:30pm:  I know I said I was excited to see you, Daddy, but now can I tell you about my tough day?  I can do it in a whining voice.

4:45pm:  Hey, Grandma and Grandpa.  Can I tell you about my tough day too?  I'd prefer to do it while Mommy or Daddy is holding me.  They can eat dinner later, right?

5:30pm:  BATHTIME!!!!  I LOVE MY BATH!!!  This is so great.  I mean, really, so great.  Who else has a whale tub to take a bath in?  I'm sure no one.  This is so awesome.

5:40pm:  Um, hello?  Did you hear me when I said I loved my bath?  Why are you taking me out of it?  I'd really prefer to be in it.  Well, y'all are being kind of funny right now...ok, ok, I'll smile.  But, just a bit.

6:10pm:  Mmmmmmmm.....food.

6:20pm:  Fuss.  That's all, just fuss.

6:30pm:  Ohhhhh, story time!  Love it!!!!!!

6:35pm:  Story time is over?  What???

6:45pm:  I know I'm usually happy during my bedtime routine, but not tonight, guys, not tonight.

6:50pm:  Night, night Mommy and Daddy!  I love you!!!!!

Good grief.

Splish Splash

Today we went to join our good friends, Brennan and Lindsay, for some delicious Memorial Day food and much needed hang out time.  It should be noted that the last time we got to hang out just the four of us (not counting the kids) was the week before Cami was born.  So I was pretty excited to pack up for the day (or to move in?) all of Cami's "needed" things and head to Kingwood.  

The day could not have gone better (well, Cami did cry almost the whole way there, but we'll forget that part)....all FOUR children were down for naps at the same time.  Fifteen minutes after we arrived, Cami went down in her pack n play, in a new place, wide awake.....and fell asleep without a sound.  I have to brag on her just a bit, because, other than the week we brought her home, she's only slept in the pack n play once, and I rocked her all the way to sleep for that one.  She even woke up, rolled around, and went back to sleep....again without a PEEP.  And, when I went and got her, she had sat up all on her own!!!!  Craziness!  But, anyway, I digress.  All four children were asleep and we had a full hour of adult hangout time.  Amazing.  I also have to brag on my friend Lindsay (because I think she deserves it, even though when she reads this she'll probably say "no, I don't"), because she has three girls, one of whom is three months old (and all are adorable and sweet).  Her house is tidy and she had a delicious homemade meal AND dessert ready for us when we arrived.  I have one child and my house is a wreck and we eat Stoffer's most of the time.  She is an amazing mom.  

After all the kids woke up, we fed the babies and put on swimsuits and hopped in the pool.  I was excited to get Cami in because this was her first time in a real pool.  She loves her blow up baby pool, but I didn't know how she would handle being completely in the water.  She LOVED it.  She smiled as I pulled her around the pool and laughed as I threw her in the air and let her splash down in the water.  She put her legs out behind her and kicked like she knew what she was doing.  She grinned when she splashed water in her face and kept leaning down to investigate by dipping her chin in.  She watched the big girls intently like she would be able to do what they were doing just from seeing it done.  It was so fun to see Cami enjoy something I enjoy so much. 

All in all, it was a fabulous day and I think I know what Cami and I might be up to this summer......

Ohhhhh, is someone taking pictures of me?  Well, then, let me show my cuteness, because you know I look adorable in this suit/hat combo, right?  Did you know my cheek double as floatation devices?

All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth

....well, bottom front.  Yes, last weekend Cami's first tooth decided to make it's appearance after almost three months of teething.  It was followed quickly by the second tooth, which is on it's way up as well (slightly crooked from the first, but we'll ignore that for the time being...).  I have immediately put my own finger on "emergency only" teething status as I discovered yesterday that this new little tooth is SHARP and I almost jumped out of my chair when Cami went from chewing on my hand in a gummy location to stabbing me with her brand new tooth.  

Last weekend was a big weekend for Cami; she had some very special visitors.  James surprised me with my amazing friend Becky, and her daughter Zellee (three weeks older than Cami, future BFF), waiting for me at home when I got home from work.  It was an AMAZING weekend in which we dragged our poor, exhausted girls all over The Woodlands from one fun activity to the next (we did give them one day where we just stayed home).  They swam together, got professional pics taken together, fought over toys like sisters, and stared at each other in that adorable "what is going on here?" baby way.  And somehow, the whole weekend went pretty smoothly (well, except for that whole trying to get to the mall during the Ironman fiasco...can't win them all...).  The girls were nice enough to nap and eat at similar times so Becky and I could hang out (make funny videos?) while they slept.  AND, we got a Mommy night to go to the movies sans babies and act like the nineteen year olds we still like to pretend we are from time to time.

Since that weekend, Cami seems to have been inspired.  She literally has done something new EVERY day.  She has gone from slightly lifting her hips up off the ground with one leg to balancing precariously with her hips up and sideways.  She's constantly pulling her knee up like she's thinking about crawling, and one day decided she was tired of leaning back and just kicking her feet in the bathtub, she sat up and splashed her arms (soaked me) throughout the entire bath.  She also has learned the phrase "turn the page" and turns her stories in the right direction.  I kind of think she knows "roll over" too.  During Becky's visit, we noticed that Cami calmed down when we sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star so I've been pulling that out every know and then and it seems to be her new favorite song.  She looks at me with absolute delight when I start singing it (which is saying something because I'm a horrible singer) and nuzzles in like there isn't anything better.  

Even though Cami's had her moments every now and then with the teething and making her wishes known (primarily the one where she wants to veto naptime) where I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle (that's a bit dramatic, I'm just sensitive to her fussing because she really doesn't fuss that much), the minute she puts her hand on my face, looks me in the eye, and smiles, it's like everything is perfect.  This little girl really is a gift from God.

Mother's Day

Even though this is technically my 2nd mother's day, it's my first where I actually have some responsibility of taking care of a little one.  And, as I was driving to the grocery store (because even though it's Mother's Day, Cami still needs food for the week....and so do we...), I reflected a little bit on what I've learned as a mother in the past five and a half months.  First of all, Cami does not do what the book says.  I don't know how many times I called James or my mom the first couple months during maternity leave with something to the effect of "but the book SAYS _______...".  Yes, it's important to know what the heck is going on with a baby, but Cami is most definitely her own little individual self, and I think she rather likes to keep us on our toes from time to time.  Secondly, I had no idea what I was getting in to.  Literally.  When my nieces were babies I saw each of them two or three times during their first year.  When they cried or pooped I handed them back to my sister in law.  And I don't think I ever gave either of them a bottle.  I never babysat and I'm the youngest.  I never even had a dog; I had a cat, and my mom took care of him.  So, I discovered that it really IS true when people tell you you don't have a lot of time to read or watch movies or things of that nature (although we're quite lucky that Cami thrives off of her bedtime around 6:30 or 7:00....clockwork).  There was a steep learning curve in Cami's first couple weeks (that was well-documented), but I think I came through it nicely, despite the fact that I'm a perfectionist, which is something you MUST let go of as a mom.  Thirdly, I had no idea what I was getting in to.  Cami's smile is amazing, and her laugh that she seems to still be working on is one of the best things I've ever heard.  Her ability to work at something and work at something and keep working at it....only to finally give up and faceplant into whatever surface she's on, is hilarious and very much like me.  The way her face lights up sometimes when she hears music and the way she's turning into a snuggler and hugs me around my neck, squeezes my arm when she's uncertain, and reaches to put her hand on my face is fabulous.  I had no idea what I was getting into, but it's an amazing deep end to jump in to.  

By the way, if you havent' seen that Johnson's baby commercial from the POV of the baby; it turns me into a puddle.  

Happy Mother's Day!

On the Move

Since I posted about a million pictures to Facebook over the weekend and am in danger of having people think I'm obsessed with Instagram (I am), I won't post any new pictures on the blog this week.  I took about a million pictures over the weekend because Cami has become SUPER animated over the last week.  She just turned 5 months old and is now rolling around and thinking it's the best thing ever.  We've had to relocate from the living room to the upstairs bonus room so that we don't have to worry about her running into the coffee table, and she thinks it's amazing.  She rolls across the floor and stops at each progress step to look back and smile like "Can you even believe what I'm doing????".  It's hilarious.  One of the funniest pictures I took over the weekend was one in which Cami rolled over to the wall and began examining, quite studiously, the electric outlet.  It was like she knew she couldn't lift her hand to reach it and stick it in, but for future reference, she wanted to know how to get into trouble.  She is loving examining EVERYTHING she comes remotely close to, especially our faces.  Especially when Cami is tired, or if I'm laying on the floor next to her playing, she loves reaching out her hand and putting it on my face and then looking it over.  It's so, so sweet (unless the hand happens to have just come from her mouth and is covered in drool, then it's only slightly less sweet because her hand usually slips and slides down to my chin effectively covering an entire half of my face in drool).  The other night before bed she was sitting on my lap and had one hand on my face when James came over and sat down next to me.  She looked at me, and smiled like "Did you see Daddy is here??  Exciting!" and then looked at James and put her other hand on his face.  Then smiled at him.  It just melted my heart, and she seemed like she was just making sure the entire family was linked together.  I may have the sweetest baby in the world.

I Hate Fruit

Cami began her foray into the world of baby food about a month ago.  She has since had peas, green beans, squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes.  She was pretty enthusiastic about everything except the squash, which she still ate, but seemed to only tolerate.  And the girl loves her peas.  So much so, I have to moderate her intake or we might find ourselves in a sticky situation the next day (pun completely intended).  This past week we decided to try fruit.  I began with peaches because I didn't want to start with apples or bananas and make her gassy, or start with pears and make her explode. :)  She obediently opened her mouth for the spoon (perhaps expecting some yummy carrots?)...... and then immediately started crying as she registered the new flavor.  I thought perhaps this was due to her having a little fussy day with her teeth.  So I tried again a few days later.  Immediate crying again.  Peaches, apparently, are foul.  Yesterday I decided to go with bananas.  Everyone loves bananas, right?  Nope.  Cami got down about five or six bites with a face of absolute disgust each time I put the spoon in her mouth.  She didn't start whining like with the peaches, but it was definitely not an enjoyable experience.  Who would have thought that MY child would have a distaste for sweets??  She only had about 8,000 Oreos during my pregnancy.  Maybe that's what she wants......



Addendum:  I wrote this post a few days ago.  Cami seems to be liking fruit a little more.  Still not as much as green beans and peas, though...

No, Thank You for Asking, But I'm Not Ten Months Old

It's well documented that Cami is a huge baby.  But, since she's my "normal", it's hilarious to me when we go out and about people are shocked that she's only 4.5 months old (we've been offered high chairs and kids menus...really?).  Yesterday, my mom and I took Cami to the mall and decided to give the whole front facing stroller idea a try (I may or may not have gotten a little teary eyed that she wasn't facing me).  Cami LOVED it.  She was showing off for people who smiled at her and smiled right back and basically had a grin on her face the majority of the ride.  It was a whole new world for her.

Another whole new world for Cami is the idea of "up."  She has become obsessed with looking at lights and fans, particularly dark ones.  It keeps me on my toes because she may suddenly decide to fling her entire body backwards in my arms to look up at one.  Usually, with a huge smile on her face like that light is her best friend in the whole world.

And the last whole new world for Cami is a more tedious one for Mommy and Daddy.  Cami has become super social.  She loves "talking" (she may or may not have said uh-oh and mama....we're not sure if it was an accident or not), smiling, has a crazy old man laugh, and examining everything is her range of sight.  While it's awesome to see her making connections and having fun during her awake time, guess what that means when nap time comes?  Yep, our super sleeper who loves to snuggle and she peacefully begins to doze in your arms now cries.  And thrashes.  And hits herself in the face (sigh).  All in the hope to get to stay awake.  Luckily, James (in his infinite lack of stress over crying that I hope to achieve one day), found a secret.  Don't react at all.  Don't shush, don't snuggle, and just keep rocking and she calms down quite a bit faster.  Quite behavioristic of him, and it seems to work.  I'm hoping this is just a phase and my little sweet snuggler will return to me for some quiet rocking in the future.

Four Months Old!

Cami's fourth month has had a lot of action.  She has met her "cousin" Bryce (even though they've met before, she actually looked at him and recognized there was another child present this time).  She has learned to roll back to tummy quite proficiently (even though she forgot she knew how for a week) and has become a tummy sleeper.  Now, the tummy sleeping thing is sort of by default.  Her preferred position seems to be her side, but she ends up falling to her tummy thanks to that darn gravity.  If you are a consistent blog reader, you know that Cami is not too fond of tummy time.  Since she can put herself there now (instead of being forced), it's not quite as bad, but when she's done, she's done.  The one (large) problem is, she's really struggling to find the coordination to roll from her tummy to her back.  Supposedly, it's harder to roll from back to tummy because it takes more strength and muscle.  Since Cami is a huge baby, strength really isn't an issue.  Coordination, however, seems to be. :)  So, we went through a few days where Cami would awake absolutely shocked to find herself face planted in the mattress and start crying.  We did our best to ignore this and she worked herself out to realizing it's really not so bad to sleep on her tummy.  And, if all conditions are right, she is learning to flip herself back. 
Cami also has four teeth pushing there way through her gums.  This makes for a little bit of a grump sometimes, but a little ______ (insert baby pain reliever of the moment) later, she's usually back to her smiley self.
We had the dreaded four month checkup last week (dreaded for me because I really hate those shots probably more than Cami does).  As we arrived, Cami was happy and smiling.  She wiggled her legs and blew bubbles and displayed her cuteness.  We were ushered back to the exam room and started to get Cami undressed.  No big deal.  Until they got her head circumference.  And then Cami seemed to remember that this head circumference thing that she has never liked seems to go with bad stuff.  Like thermometers up her bottom (dislike), and getting weighed naked and cold (dislike), and getting her hips all twisted around (dislike), and, of course the shots (despise).  Our seemingly tough and brave little doodlebug was reduced to a puddle of whiny tears from a mere head circumference measurement.  Luckily, the aftermath was not bad at all (especially since we didn't get in a car accident on the way home) and there was only a small fever and minimal whining that night.  Cami is also a healthy (and very large) baby girl (95% in weight, 100% in height) for which we are very thankful.
The evening of the four month checkup (after Cami was in bed), Aunt Megan, Uncle Jack, and cousins Ella and Hallie came to visit for the week.  We had an AWESOME week getting to visit and for Cami to get to know her family (and having Grandma and Grandpa babysit so we could go out for some fun!).  It is amazing how grown up my nieces are, and I only wish I hadn't had to work during the week so I could have played with them more.
The last milestone to document is Cami's first Easter.  Saturday we went down to Houston to hang with Cami's great-grandma and the Galloway side of the family and Sunday we had a fun day eating with Grandma at Cheesecake Factory in our Easter finest and hearing Cami's giggles and laughs.  Cami got a new lovey from the Easter Bunny (ok, she got it about three days early...she doesn't know....) because the doctor said she can have a small lovey in her crib at night.  She's growing up so fast!!!!  Oh yeah, and she held her own bottle yesterday for almost the entire feeding.  Crazy!


Pics from the last few weeks:

 Why hello there, other small person.  I hear they call you Bryce.

 Maybe if I keep laying here, Mommy won't get me out of bed.  6am is awfully early you know.  Hmmm, my paci started the night up here in the top left; how did I get it down there? Weird.

 Ok, Mommy, I know you're trying to document the day, but I just had shots.  I guess I'll still sit here and look cute, but I'd rather not have photos now, please.

 My cheeks got bigger overnight.

 So, Hallie, I know we're cousins and all, but I don't have a sibling and I'm not used to having to share.  Just wanted you to know that.  Remember, it's MY Baby Einstein.  Mine.

 I didn't have a morning nap, and then when I fell asleep on the way in here, you woke me up for this?  Flashing lights?  People jumping around trying to make me smile?  Well, we do look cute.  I love my cousins.

 Cousin Hallie swimming with her mommy!

 Cousin Ella ready to take some people down with her water gun.

 No running around the pool, please!!!

 What did I say before about sharing??

 Adorable?  Yes.

 I really look like I know what I'm doing with this spoon.  I don't.

 I think Ella might be mocking the whining Cami was doing over her teeth all throughout lunch.

 Are my eyes blue?  I'm not sure.

 Yes, I'm a blur.  So far peas, green beans, and squash are de-LISH!

Laughter!

Quick update:  yesterday Cami laughed!!!!  It was the cutest little baby laugh and might be one of the best sounds I've ever heard in my life....maybe 2nd only to Bailey's little breaths.  I can't WAIT to hear more!!!!

Ahhhh! Too Much Going On!

I haven't gotten to update the blog in awhile because, as I've mentioned, I'm in grad school.  Grad school and a baby?  They don't really mesh.  I'm working on defending my thesis proposal, actually performing the research for my thesis and working on projects for two classes.  BUT it will all be over in May.  Phew.

Here's a quick run down....Cami learned this week that she can splash in the tub.  No more kitchen sink baths.  This was the first week that she seems to actually enjoy her exer-saucer.  She LOVES to stand (with support of course) and gaze over her people (whoever happens to be around).  And she is starting to nap well.  AND not minding tummy time so much.  AND figuring out her feet.  AND grabbing things with both hands.  AND hates lotion after a bath (yeah, I know...weird).  That's a lot going on for one little girl.  She is EXHAUSTED (me too) at the end of every day from all her discoveries.  She is cracking us up on a daily basis and we just love her to pieces.

 I'm getting the hang of this lifting the head thing.  My brain is heavy, you know!

 Ok, this time I actually am taking it from here.  For about five seconds.  Then you can have it back, Mommy.

 How many different ways can y'all prop me?  No matter, this ball is fascinating.  Colors AND a caterpillar...awesome.

 I see you Green Bear.  And I'm watching you.  Don't try any funny business.

 All the toys on this and the towel that props me up might be my favorite.

 Ha, Mommy.  Good luck showing me these supposed "toys."  I have my toy right here.  The towel, remember?  It's blue and I can hold it and stick it in my mouth.  So there.

I'm STANDING!!!!!!  It's so awesome!!!!  Now I can look down on you!

 Is it time for FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD?????

Chillin with my peeps at the Cheesecake Factory.  You know how I roll.

Show Me Cuteness!

Cami had her first professional photography session today.  Gigi and Papa D gave us a membership to the Picture People for Christmas and (as I'm always proud to save some money) we made out like bandits today as we left with a ginormous framed photo of Cami and probably about 50 prints (including wallets, but still).  We had membership perks, coupons, and a lucky special deal the store was running today.  Awesome.
But let's rewind momentarily back to the actual shoot.  As I wrote last week, Cami has become a smiley, smiley baby.  She's happy and easy-going and we love that about her.  So, a trip to the photographer where we're going to smile should be a piece of cake right?  WRONG.
Cami napped on the way to the mall.  Perfect.  She'd just had 8 oz (yes, we're still apparently overfeeding her, she's 15.5 lbs now, girl loves to eat).  Full tummy.  Perfect.  She woke up in the store smiling.  Perfect.  We got called back relatively soon after she woke up.  Also perfect.  I set her down looking adorable on the fluffy white cushion.  Per.....whoa.  One flash and our little smiler FREAKED OUT.  Our brave little "loud sounds don't bother me one bit" baby is bothered by a lightbulb.   This also made her quite uphappy with the nice photographer.  It seemed to be a quick association of "this person goes along with the flash - dislike!"  I picked Cami up, rocked her in my arms, gave her a paci, gave her FOOD.  Nothing.  The photographer had to leave the room and I let Cami bury her face in my shoulder.  Then things started to calm down.  We tried a couple more individual shots and, somehow, we got one of Cami giving James a grin.  It was between two sobs, but we got it.  Then we abandoned more cute poses for her and went to family shots.  She was a better sport about these as she started to get used to the flash with us holding her.  
The one good thing about the trauma we put her through was that she zonked out with Grandma in the stroller about 15 minutes after her session and that gave us plenty of time to sit and look through pictures and make our selections.  We were super glad Grandma was there....it was like a boxing ring, but instead of mopping sweat and handing out water, she was trading out pacis and the burp cloth to mop drool.  
We'll do this again in another three months....hopefully Cami will give us more than one smile....

 Once again, I'll take this.

 Yo, yo, yo.  Chillin out max and relaxing all cool.

 My share of the national debt is WHAT????

 I didn't do it!!!  I promise!!  It was the Octopus!

 This still isn't fun, you know.  Put whatever toy you like down here, I'm not excited about it.

How Long Was That Nap?

Two hours, you say?  We're starting to get this nap thing down!

Little Miss Smiles

The biggest change in Cami this week are her smiles.  This little girl in one happy baby (unless she's hungry, as we've discussed several times before).  She smiles in the morning when we go get her, smiles after a nap (that's new, for sure), smiles while we're playing, smiles while we're changing her diaper, smiles when James put his hand on her tummy and shakes it, smiles when I say Da-Da, and smiles at new people (especially when they say she's cute).  She looks so proud of herself when she smiles and makes someone else smile in return.  We LOVE it!
Cami is also still trying SO hard to talk.  It looks sometimes like she is concentrating so much on what we're saying to her and loves it when we say her "words" back in return (more smiles).  So far she's accidentally said no, hi, okay, and mom.  It cracks us up when one of those random sounds ends up making sense with the conversation.  She can make an awesome "M" sound, so Mama may be coming up soon.
We've also started giving Cami an entire tablespoon of rice cereal.  She was eating so much the pediatrician's nurse told us it was too much and we should only be giving her 5 oz max every 4-5 hours. Hahahahahhaa.  That's hilarious.  Have you been around my child when she's hungry?  But, with increasing her rice cereal she's back in the "normal" range of formula.  We noticed this morning that she appears to have grown an inch and a half in a month so her little baby body needs some food!!!
Here are some of the cute pics of the week...

 Hey Mommy...isn't it a little early to be taking pictures?  I've only just had my 1st breakfast.

 Hey Mommy....isn't it funny that almost 12 hours later I'm making the EXACT same face???

 So, this cupcake situation is making me a little top heavy here.  As if this huge head isn't hard enough to move!

 Just to get the mail?  Really?

 I'm a big kid!  Just relaxing....watching a little tv.  Next maybe I'll go for a drive.  To the mall.  With my credit card.

 What does this onesie say?  We'll see about this in April.

 Breakfast at Black Walnut is SO much fun!!!!!!

 Grandma, cut it out!  I'm trying to watch tv (again).  But, if I were you, I'd want to take a picture with me too.

 Thanks for helping, Daddy, but I've got this. 

 Check out my hands!  I can play with thzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

The No Longer One-Sided Conversation

Sometimes when we get Cami ready for bed, she's just ready to snuggle into her fleece PJs and go to bed.  But sometimes, she's wanting to have a few last minutes of play time before we snuggle, eat, and lay down.  She's been "talking" to us here and there for about a week, but tonight, she was having a full on baby coo "I'm going to respond during your pause" conversation.  And by baby coo, I mean squeaks and rather shrill sounds, but she'd do them over and over and looked SO proud of herself that she was contributing to the chatter.  It was pretty adorable and included some of the biggest smiles we've ever seen!!  Now, if only I could get these things on video while they're happening....

Cami's New Groove

I went back to work this week.  Cami did amazingly well with the new schedule of wake up, eat, hop in the car seat, and head to Grandma's house.  I've teared up every morning as I've left for work when I get that big, gummy smile I love so much, but I have enjoyed being back with my friends at work.  It's also been fun to see that my mom and Cami are having such a blast together during the day.  I get to call during lunch and my mom holds the phone up to Cami and Cami smiles at my voice, which is pretty sweet (unless my mom is just fibbing to make me feel better). 

Cami also had what I can only assume is a growth spurt at the end of the week.  She's been roughly eating about 33 oz. since we added a tsp of rice cereal to her evening bottle.  Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday she ate 38.5, 41.5, and 40 oz respectively with TWO tsps of rice cereal added to her evening bottle Thurs and Fri (and an extra one during the day Friday for a nap experiment....fail...not a surprise, the girl doesn't want to nap).  She also slept until 6:45 this morning (and hopefully will tomorrow morning as well!) and got almost TWELVE hours of sweet baby sleep (which is good, since, as I mentioned, the girl doesn't want to nap).

We've started a cute little pre-bedtime routine routine of reading stories before we take Cami upstairs.  She LOVES her stories.  It is so cute to see a little, itty-bitty baby responding to stories and pictures in books.  She looks at the pictures, and sometimes gives her Sesame Street story a big smile, and tonight started talking back as I read her Guess How Much I Love You for the first time (I think she wanted to say Nutbrown Hare!).

Here are some pictures from the week....I got on the scale today with Cami and she's 14 pounds!!  Such a big girl!  Which reminds me, I never posted her stats from her 2 month visit.....13 lbs, 2 oz and 23.5 inches long.  90% for both!

 Hmmm....why are you looking at me, Crab?  You look like you're up to something...I'll keep my eye on you.

 Uh, Mommy?  We're inside.  Unnecessary.

 Yeah, this photo op is great and all, but do you notice what's missing from this picture?  My bottle.  In your hand.  Allowing me to eat.

Naps?  Who needs them?  Oh, I guess I do......

Documentation

Cami slept until 6:30am this morning.  I go back to work on Wednesday and will continue getting up around 5:15.  I think she did that on purpose.  She is so my child.

A Page From Cami's Diary

Hmmm.  It's 4:00am and I find myself awake.  Perhaps I'll just make a little noise.  I'm going to fall back to sleep, and I'm not super hungry yet, but it'll wake Mommy up.  Ha.
Ok, it's 5:00am and I'm awake AND I'm hungry.  HEY MOMMY COME GET ME!!!!!
Mmmmmmm....food.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Mmmmmmm....food.
I'll play with my bouncer toys while Mommy does this supposedly necessary thing she calls a "shower."  I don't see what the big deal is, it's not like she has a whale bathtub like I do.
Mmmmmmm...food.
Mommy just stuck me back in my crib for a nap??  Well, I guess I'll take a short one.  I am a little tirzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
HEY MOMMY COME GET ME!!!!!!
I'm still tired, but I'm going to try and play.  Or maybe just suck on my paci.  Mommy, STOP putting me on my tummy!!!  I do NOT like it.  It's not so bad on the Boppy, but on the ground I can't see a thing.  And, no, I do not want to learn to roll over, so stop showing me how.
Mmmmmmmm....food.
Oh, you think I need a nap?  I disagree.  A ten minute shut eye will do me nicely though.  It's rather endearing that you turned on the swing for me.  Ha, like that's going to do anything.
Where are we going?  Car ride?  That's funzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Hey, hey, hey, there's water falling on me from the sky.  Do you realize this?  Where are you taking me that's so important?  Wait, whoa...why are you taking my clothes off?  This doesn't seem like a normal diaper change.  Where is that lady sticking that...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What?  Normal temperature?? What does that mean, and was that really necessary????
Ok, this lady looks nice.  I'm a little hungry, and I've been trying to tell you that for ten minutes, but she looks nice so I'll hold off.  She's kind of poking and prodding me though.  Um, why are you pressing my tummy?  I don't like that!  HEY!  Oh, and now you're going to put me on my tummy too to see what I can do.  Well, I guess I'll show you.  I fuss for Mommy, but you're someone new so I'll show off a bit.  Haha, Mommy, look at me!
Ok, now seriously, I'm getting hungry, but I don't see a bottle anywhere in sight.  What's this lady doing with the tray?  Why are you setting me back down, Mommy?  What's going to happ...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!  THAT HURTS!!!!!  WHAT'S GOING ON???  THAT HURTS AGAIN!!!!!!  WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO TO ME??!!!!???  WHY ARE YOU STICKING NEEDLES IN MY LEGS???!!!!!
Mmmmmmmmmm....food.
Ok, I'm back in the car, this is good.  I like this.  I think I'll doze off for a bit.....CRASH!!  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, WHAT WAS THAT??????  What was that huge jolt from behind????  It scared me!!!!  Mommy, tell that lady to pay attention while she's driving!
Ok, Daddy's taking me home.  I'll have my paci, I'll play on my Baby Einstein.  I'll eat again.  I'll have story time.  Sounds good.
Whoa, my tummy is rumbling.  Maybe I can push this out.....yeah, that feels better.  Wait, something doesn't feel right.  What's this stuff on my back?  Mommy, why are you trying to get my onesie over my head without it touching my face or my hands?  This is funny....you and Daddy look silly and you keep wiping your hands off.  Why?
WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!!!!!  Why am I going into my whale tub??????  I mean, usually I like it, but right NOW?????  Don't you realize I've had a tough day?  I mean, I hear you saying I'm a mess and there's something brown and sticky on my shoulder still (how did that get there?  huh.) but I don't want to go IN MY TUB!!!!!
Ok, yum, rice cereal bottle, I liked this last night, it tastes goozzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!  I was with Mommy eating rice cereal only moments ago and now I'm alone in the dark.  Usually that's not a big deal and I'd just go back to sleep, but it's been a tough day.  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!  Did you hear me??  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Oh, there's Mommy.  And Daddy.  Good.  Hey you guys.  I was hoping you'd come up here.  Can I talk to you about how tough my day was?  Why do you keep shushing me?  Well, I want to talk about izzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.


THE END (we hope).

Eating is my FAVORITE thing!

Cami likes to eat.  I think all babies do, but Cami seems to have a special knack for packing away a SERIOUS amount of food.  She's been averaging 35 oz for the past week or so, so we decided (obsessed over it for a week?) it was time to give her a little something extra.  Cami had her first helping of rice cereal with her bottle this evening.

Now, I know the jury is out on whether rice cereal in the bottle is a good idea or not, but, to be fair, Cami is already sleeping through the night on her own, she can sit supported in her pod chair, has pretty darn good control over her head, and she took some from a spoon before I gave it to her in the bottle (kind of wish I had that on video, super cute).  So, all the "indicators" of being ready for solid food are there, even though she's a little young.  And, even though she's a little young, she put on a six month onesie today and it fit.  And she stares at us while we eat.  Could be a coincidence, but there it is.

She is currently asleep upstairs, and she only ate this cereal about 30 minutes ago, so I could be eating my words tomorrow if she suddenly starts throwing up as it digests, but she seemed to LOVE it.  She started chowing down as soon as I gave it to her and it seemed like she knew there was something a little different about this bottle. 

Here are some pics from today....she had a super smiley day, but those smiles are still hard to capture (especially since she loves to give them during a diaper change when my hands are otherwise occupied).

 Checking out the Today Show

 I'm sure I could do at least as good of a job as Ann Curry.  Would they let me give the news from my Boppy??

 Ha, you keep trying to take a picture of me smiling.  It's hilarious.

 Mommy, have your people check with my people about this trip to Target later.  I'm not sure it'll work with my schedule.  Oh, you don't have people?  How sad.

 There is a bottle coming my way and I am ready for it.  Once the bib is on, I know what's about to happen.

 Is there food up there?  I'm just checking, but if there's food up there, I'd like some.

No?  No food?  You're sure?  Positive?  I'd like some.  Maybe a piece of cake?

Cami also went to the car show yesterday and was a CHAMP at wandering around in the Baby Bjorn.  We were on the go from 9:45am - 5:15pm and she didn't cry until right when we got home because she was hungry.  Super Baby.