It’s so hard to believe how quickly our boys are growing up… and how little I blog about it. Sorry!! It’s not because they aren’t busy kids and there’s nothing to talk about.
Camden is really growing up. Preschool has done wonders for him socially. I notice such a big diffrence in him already. He is much more willing to talk to people that he doesn’t know as well, though apparently I can’t be in the room and listening when he does it! We were at MyGym today and I walked in the room as he was about to talk to one of the teachers and he suddenly got really shy. I asked him if he wanted me to leave the room so he could have his conversation and he said yes! As soon as I left he started talking to her again! What a stinker! His school pictures turned out awesome! I was so amazed. He is such a stinker when I try to get him to take pictures. Maybe next time I’ll try leaving the room! He’s also interacting more with other kids when we go to the park and other places. He’s really into drawing and art projects and his drawings are really cool to see. He’s actually drawing objects and not just scribbles. Many of his drawings have stories to go with them. He loves to sing (as long as he doesn’t think anyone is listening) and he loves to make up his own words to the songs. He also likes to just make up words (occasionally they come out sounding quite profane… we just ignore those and let him move on to the next!) He is becomming slightly less picky with what he eats, but still won’t go anywhere near broccoli
Parker is growing and changing so much it’s just amazing! I’ve been trying to count how many words he can say but he just keeps adding new ones every day. Over the past week we really have had such a language explosion. I think we are somewhere between 30 and 40 words right now. Today he attempted “Costco” which was pretty cute. Sort of came out like “taco” but he really put a good effort into it One of my favorites is when he says “lawnmower” which sounds like “ma-mower”. He definitely is his brother’s brother! These boys just love when the gardeners come. Parker saw a gardener raking leaves at Camden’s school the other day and pointed to him and called him a “ma-mower.” Along with all of the words he’s saying, he is also still using a few signs; more, please, all done, cheese, milk… I like that he can say “more please.” Thank you was one of his first real words, that’s a cute one too. Okay, lets face it, all of his words are cute! Parker is starting to like to color with crayons, or “draw” with “goggles” as he says. Sometimes he gets his words a bit confused
We had Parker’s 15 month check-up last week and the doctor was very happy with his progress and seemed to think that he was pretty advanced for his age (and that’s when I thought he was only saying about 20 words). It’s so hard to say though, all kids are so different at this age!! I really don’t remember where Camden was. I think he weighs about 27.5 lbs and was maybe 33 inches tall… I can’t remember at the moment. His head is still off the charts but he’s pretty big all around and it rounded the curve like it was supposed to so the doctors are not worried about his big noggin He’s just going to be like his grandpa
We have a lot of pictures of the boys in our photo gallery at http://lizard-lips.com/gallery. I have more to upload that will hopefully be there soon.
Camden officially loves school! Every day he asks if he’s going to school and when I say no he asks why and then asks when he does get to go to school. It’s great! He still has a small bit of anxiety when I drop him off but it’s hardly noticible anymore. When I pick him up he’s so excited to tell me all about his day. Usually the first thing he tells me is that he played with play-doh or tha the didn’t play with play-doh.
According to Camden his birthday is always “tomorrow”. He’s really into birthdays right now. He stacks up his books and calls them cakes. He piles all of his toys in the middle of the room and says they are presents and then he brings them to me to open. Sometimes when he goes for nap or up for bed, he asks me not to put away his cakes or presents.
My friend Anette is here from Sweden and will be staying with us until early December. At first Camden wasn’t sure what to think of her, but very quickly he warmed up to her and now she’s his best friend. He absolutely loves her. When we’ve been out and are on our way home he always asks what Anette is doing and will we see her when we get home. It’s very cute. It’s also very nice for when I run to the store or something and he stays home with her, he has absolutely no separation issues when he stays with her. One night he even asked her to put him down at bedtime Brian has been out of town this weekend and it’s been so nice to have an extra set of hands around the house.
Parker has been babbling up a storm and keeps coming up with the funniest words as his first words. Why say easy words like, “hi” when you can try words like, “applesauce.”
Parker’s newest word is “thank you” and it is soooooo cute! Here’s a little video. You might have to turn up the volume so you can hear his replies (he has his back to the camera).
Camden is doing so great at preschool now!!!! Last week there was no crying but still some trouble actually getting through the door. Today, he just walked in the room! Such a big boy!! I was very proud of him. He’s been bringing home lots of artwork. I need to get a bulletin board to hang up so we can display his art proudly. He’s also very excited to bring books home from his classroom to read at home. He can choose a book to bring home and when he decides he’s ready to get a new one he just takes it back and gets another. Once a week they have “chapel” and today he showed me where they go for chapel. At least now he’s telling me a little bit about his day and not just, “nothing” when I ask what he did at school.
Tuesday: “Camden, what did you do at school today?” Answer: “stuff.” Today: “Camden, what did you do at school today?” Answer: “nothing.”
So, Camden has officially started preschool. On Tuesday they had a short “get acquainted” day and I went to school with him. He really seemed to enjoy himself but was very anxious any time we talked about me leaving next time.
Today was his first official day with no parents. We had a rough start. Once he realized what we were doing today he became very difficult (hiding under the table, refusing to go potty, etc.) We were a little late but we got there! There was lots of crying in the car - except when we saw the concrete truck and were able to have a good conversation about that. When we go there his class was in the play room so his teacher came out to get him. I said good bye and told him that I would always come back for him when school was over. She took him into the playroom and Parker and I had a morning just for us. We picked him up after class and it appears that he had a pretty good day. He pouted some but did recover so that was good to hear. He was sitting at the table playing with blocks when I got there. He was excited to show me the picture that he colored. I wonder if eh talked at all at school, because he has been a chatterbox since the moment I picked him up!
A few pictures from our first day:
Camden with his snack and his bucket that we take to school every day:
Playing with play food in the play room:
Driving a car outside, with a rake of course, can’t be a gardener without proper tools!
I might have to split this one up a bit… Parker changes so much so fast!
Happy birthday to my baby boy!!!! Parker turned 1 on August 15. Where did the last year go?!?!?! I can’t believe how fast the time has gone! Parker started walking just before 10 months and is now running after his brother! He likes to be a gardener just like Camden. He’ll take the toy saw, walk to the bushes and hold it against it just like the big boys do. Brian has also heard him make the gardener noise just like Camden does.
The day after Parker turned one we heard him say his first non-mama/dada type words… he started with “goggle”. We were in Palm Springs and he wanted Camden’s swim goggles. The next day he started saying “uh oh”, and the next day “all gone”. He also says “bear”, “ball”, “tickle”, “fish”. All animals say “baa”. Some of the words are clearer than others, but in context it’s pretty easy to know what he’s saying.
We had Parker’s birthday party a week before his birthday. I think he enjoyed his party. We had Italian Ice, Rubios and cake and cupcakes! He got lots of new toys for his birthday and has had fun playing with all of them (so has big brother!)
I’m tired of updates…. Parker pictures and the dramas of Brian’s beloved left shoe coming soon…..
Camden will be starting pre-school next week. Last week we went to visit his school so he could see where he would be going. We looked around a classroom and saw the big play room and the playground. He was excited to see all the trucks to play with and the kitchen with play food - his very favorite activity is cooking with play food. I will go to class with him on the first day, I think that day is only an hour and a half. Then after that he goes on his own. Wish us luck! I’m sure it will be tough at first but I think he will have a lot of fun.
In other big news, Camden is now a big fan of swimming. A huge improvement from last year when he screamed any time we talked about him going in the pool. He’s not a big fan of going off of the big step. He likes the security of being able to stand. He’s getting better and does let us take him off the step without screaming and digging his nails into our necks! We went to Palm Springs with John and family and Camden had so much fun hanging out in the pool. He was able to stand and just had so much fun. He was even jumping in the pool from the side. It was so great to see him having so much fun.
Wow, it’s been a long time since I last posted. I think about it just about every night, I just don’t get to it.
First, we met with the neurologist and they did not find anything wrong with Parker. Every test indicated that he is a strong healthy baby boy. This is great news. We still don’t have any answers as to why he’s rolling his eyes, but nobody is too concerned about it and they think he will grow out of it. He acts a bit like he has vertigo when he’s on a swing, but the doctor isn’t worried about that. They think he might have a bit of motion sickness. Interestingly, this is common in families with history of migraines. We tried to turn his car seat around last week and he freaked so we turned him back rear facing. Maybe he was feeling a bit motion sick then too? Who knows. We’ll try again another time.
