A Blog Date.

I had my very first blogging date today. As in, I met with a longtime reader of my blog in "real life".

Amy (whose blog is private or I'd link to it) wrote a comment to me when I was very newly pregnant with Camden after I posted my ultrasound pictures depicting my itty bitty 5 week old blob. She noticed the name of my RE on the side of the scanned picture (this was only a week before my sister took the liberty of removing my doctor's name from ultrasound pictures I posted because apparently the internet isn't safe and it creeped her out that I was giving out so much personal information. Good call, Lauren. But I'm thankful that Amy caught the name of my doctor before it was subsequently removed.) Anyway, Amy contacted me because she realized that we went to the same RE. Which obviously meant that we lived relatively near each other. So, we kept in touch off and on during the next couple of years; I gave birth to Camden and  almost 6 months later, Amy had adorable twins-- a boy and a girl (now nearly 17 months old).

After a while, we kind of lost touch. Then Amy contacted me a couple of weeks ago after seeing that we were part of the same Facebook group (a local mom's meet-up group). This time when she contacted me, we decided to finally meet. There's a local kid's museum that's about halfway between our respective homes, so we met there this morning.

Camden loved it! I haven't mentioned this on my blog, but Camden is obsessed with driving. Anytime we go out to the car to go somewhere, he signs that he wants to drive. Likewise, anytime we pass a car, or truck, or bus, or ambulance-- any mode of transportation, really-- on the road, he frantically signs that he wants to drive from the backseat of the car. His love of transportation isn't exclusive to real automobiles, though. He also signs that he wants to climb into books and drive the cars in there and when we put together his transportation puzzle, he pauses after placing each piece in its spot and looks up at me hopefully while signing "drive". Seriously- he asks after each piece, as if just one time I might say, "Oh, go ahead-- climb into that puzzle and get on that tiny make-believe motorcycle and drive to your heart's content." The boy is persistent, I'll give him that.

But, I digress. As soon as we walked into the museum and I saw the shiny red sports car that was open for driving, I knew Camden was going to have a good time. Sure enough, he drove that red car, an ambulance, and a truck. Then he moved on to mowing lawns and caring for (stuffed) pets in cages in a vet's office. He also climbed a pirate's ship, danced to music around the world, rode an exercise bike, and surfed. It was a busy day.

Checking out the sites while driving through the city.

There were animals to care for...

...and science experiments to conduct.

Of course, we can't forget the chores that must be done aboard the pirate ship.

Camden took his music selection very seriously, ultimately settling on some tunes from France and South Africa.

Owen joined Camden for some dancing (though it may not appear to be the case, Camden is actually dancing in this picture. His "dancing" consists of repeatedly bending at the knees ever-so-slightly).

Campbell watched Camden's moves in awe. He likes to show off for the ladies.

Camden preparing to catch a major wave...or attempting to maintain his balance on the wobbly surfboard. You be the judge.

A good time was had by all. I think there will be a second date.

Letter to Camden (22 month edition)

Dear Camden,

My sweet boy, you are now 22 months old! I was just telling your daddy yesterday that I feel like we're seeing more and more of your personality every day. And you know what? You're a funny guy!

My latest favorites include:

You love to watch your daddy put his contacts in every morning. When he's done, you take the case from him, and then pretend to put your contacts in, too.

You love to squeal "Eeew!" when you see something dirty. This includes a poopy diaper, dirt, the trashcan, etc. You also like to follow Daddy and me into the bathroom and scream "Eeew!" while we go potty.

Whenever you look for something now, you get a very pensive expression on your face and say "Hmmm..." while you search for whatever the missing item is.

You love to tuck your animals in bed at naptime and bedtime. You lay them on a pillow and sign "goodnight" to them. Today, you also put your juice down for a nap. You gently placed your sippy cup on your pillow and signed "goodnight" to the cup.

You sign "I love you" now. Cutest.sign.EVER.

When you give kisses, your favorite sound effect is "mmmm" to go along with the kiss.

You mimic everything! You sweep, clean toilets, help daddy build things with his tool set, etc. You're obviously watching us carefully, which means we need to be extra mindful of what we do and say now!

You like to pretend to feed your toy animals your snacks and share your milk with them. So sweet of you!

You like to blow (spit?!) on your food to cool it down. Only, you don't limit the blowing to hot food. You've been known to blow on cereal, bananas, and Graham Crackers too.

Language:

You continue to make strides with your language skills. You've recently started using "dada" more appropriately. You've also added a snake's hiss and a firetruck's alarm to the list of sounds you can make.

Current Unprompted Words/Approximations/Sounds:

Mama
Dada
Yeah
Mmm (moo)
Nahh (neigh)
Baba (sheep)
Eeew!
Ssss (snake)
Shhh (quiet/sleep)
Hmm (when looking for something)

Will imitate when prompted: Babbling (yiyiyi, yayaya, bababa, dadada, nanana, etc.); fire truck sounds, monkey sounds, "ow!", no ("na"), bye (when I hang up the phone).

You seem to have the most difficulty with vowel sounds, as you like to substitute an "a" in whenever you can. But, you're making great progress, and you continue to use your signs well!

Camden, if I could describe you in only one word right now, it would be F-U-N. You make me laugh every single day. Today, I was getting dressed in the bedroom and you were in the family room. You walked quietly into the bedroom and stood and watched me get dressed. It was only when I looked up that I noticed that you were wearing Mr. Potato Head's tiny glasses while watching me with a serious expression.

We have so much to look foward to in the upcoming months: Halloween, your birthday, and the holidays! Daddy and I can't wait to share all of these exciting times with you. You are, hands down, the best thing that ever happened to us and we love you more with each passing day.

What you've been up to this month:

Wearing Mr. Potato Head's glasses:

Hangin' with Uncle Chris:

Loving on Cousin Will:

Love,
Mommy

Literally.

I love how literally Camden takes everything these days. Two recent examples added some much-needed comic relief to our long road trip.

Exhibit A:

We were stopped at a Wendy's for dinner and Camden was much more interested in playing with a straw than eating his chicken nuggets. He threw the straw on the floor and then started whining for it to be picked up (don't you just love that game?!). Matt picked up the straw and held on to it. He looked at Camden and said, "I'll give you the straw back if you take a bite." Of course, Matt was referring to Camden's barely-touched nuggets on the table. Camden looked at his daddy curiously, grabbed the straw from Matt's hands, and proceeded to stick the straw in his mouth and attempt to take a bite. After all, isn't that what Daddy requested?

Exhibit B:

On the hellish trip home, it was getting to be way past Camden's bedtime but he still fought sleep with all of his might. Exasperated, I leaned over to him and said, "Buddy, why don't you just try to close your eyes?" Camden thought about this for a second, reached up with a pointer finger on each hand outstretched, and attempted to force his eyelids closed. Not exactly what I had in mind, but I had to praise his listening skills.

Where We've Been

 Last week was one of those weeks when I just wanted to throw my hands in the air and scream, "I quit!".

My grandfather had been having health problems for the past few months. Doctor visit after doctor visit left him undiagnosed. Finally, a PET scan revealed lung cancer that had metastasized to his bone marrow and liver. And that is just about as bad as it sounds. Understandably, it was a tough week for my family.

The day after we got the official diagnosis for Grandpa, we found out that Matt's grandmother had passed away late the night before. I know, I know- when it rains, it pours. But seriously? All of this news in the span of 2 days? Matt's dad's side of the family lives in New Jersey, so we packed up our car (toddler included) and made the nearly 10 hour trek north. Camden slept a grand total of 20 minutes during our entire trip up there. My guy? Not a car sleeper. But, terrible sleeping aside, I couldn't have asked for a smoother car ride as far as Camden is concerned. He was excellent. No crying, very little whining, tons of Mickey Mouse episodes, a few stops for food and a diaper change, paying insane amounts of money in gas and tolls, and getting stuck in rush hour on the NJ Turnpike-- and then, finally, we were there.

The funeral was bittersweet, as most funerals are. It was so nice to see that side of the family that we rarely see and they all got to meet Camden for the first time. They were extra touched that we brought Camden because the last picture taken of Matt's grandmother (a few days before she died) was of her looking through pictures of Camden that Matt's dad had mailed to her. She was flipping through them and smiling at her great-grandson. One day, I will show Camden those pictures.

The ride home was nowhere near as pleasant as the ride there and I'd really rather forget it entirely. But, we're home, getting back into the swing of things. One day at a time, right?