Christmas 2008

Cameron had a fun Christmas. Back in November, we drove down to Medina for their Lights on the Square celebration and stood in line to see Santa. Never before had he met Santa, but he was ready. We went in and he was quiet, but not afraid and answered Santa's questions. No crying, he just seemed to be in awe.

We saw Santa a second time one day at Crocker Park at Cam's insistence. This time, there was no line and he still had the same reaction, quiet but not afraid and in awe.

There was a lot of busy-ness leading up to Christmas. He and Mommy made a gingerbread house from scratch, we had shopping to do, cookies to make, a filling for a cavity (see pic with fat lip), a concert at Severance Hall, a birthday party at Pump It Up, Grandpa Bollin came to town and we took the commuter train to Public Square to see the lights. It was busy! (Also, somewhere in there, Jake and Maizey ate a whole box of unopened Pop-Tarts and about 40 iced gingerbread cookies that were in a sealed plastic container!)

On Christmas Eve, we went to Grandma Bollin's house for brunch and presents. Cameron had a lot of fun and was excited to receive a boy swim baby from Grandma and Len (he really swims!) and a digital camera from Uncle Kip and his family. We went to the family service at church on Christmas Eve and watched Cameron's cousin, Emily, sing with the children's choir and do her solo. That evening, Kip's family and Grandpa Bollin had dinner at our house. Cameron put out 2 cookies, a cup of milk and a couple of mini carrots for Santa and the reindeer and went to bed.

The next morning, we got up around 7:30 to see if Santa had come and sure enough, he had. He brought Cam a red and white kitchen, a dinosaur that walks and roars and a stocking full of goodies. He enjoyed all of these things as well as the other gifts he got from Mommy and Daddy and Grandpa. We spent the day playing with the new stuff, stopped by Grandma's to wish her and Len a Merry Christmas, and went to Kip and Cathy's house for a wonderful dinner.

On the 26th, we headed to Grandma and Grandpa DeWitt's house for Christmas cheer. Cameron had a fun time there with his cousin Morgan. Santa brought Morgan a trike with great big tires and Grandpa and Grandma got one just like hers for Cameron (what a coincidence, Grandpa must have connections with the North Pole!). He calls it his Monster Bike (it does look a bit like a trike on steroids) and rode it all over Grandma and Grandpa's house. He also got Morgan in on the fun and the two of them had a trike parade going from one room to the next. It was very cute! We had Cooking Thyme lasagna for lunch (yum!) and countless cookies.

On the 27th, we got together with cousins in Michigan and had a wonderful evening there. We saw more family on the 28th back in Cleveland and that concluded the Christmas celebrations. Phew!

As I was taking the tree down today, Cameron said, "Mommy, leave the tree up. I want to have Christmas again soon!"

3 Year Appointment

We took Cameron to the doctor today for his 3 year appointment. Dr. Carruthers was very impressed with all of the things he can do (which included making an X - something you'd expect from a 4 year old - and also buttoning his pants - with a button). He weighed 31.8 pounds and was 38.5 inches tall. That puts him in the 50th percentile for weight and the 75th percentile for height. He's on track with where he's been all along in terms of growth. They gave him a flu shot and also pricked his finger to run a cholesterol test (standard stuff). He was not happy about either of those, but got through it. We were concerned about his left thumb because the nail looks a little worse for wear due to his thumb-sucking. Dr. Carruthers said that she's not concerned but did tell him that he needs to start limiting the thumb sucking to just when he's home. We'll keep our fingers crossed on that.

Cam also recently went to the dentist where he did very well. He cooperated and let them clean his teeth. The bad news is that he does have one cavity (a "hole" as they call it). We go to see a pediatric dentist for the filling next week. The ACT flouride rinse has become part of our routine and he's a little more agreeable to letting mommy and daddy help him brush.

Finally, Cam went with mommy to the eye doctor last week. He's been saying, "I want to go to the eye dentist", so while we still have the vision insurance, we thought we'd try it. He did really well and was given a clean optical bill of health.

Things he's been saying:

On the way home yesterday:

M: Cameron, what should we tell Dr. Carruthers that you're able to do?

C: I'm reading. I'm counting. I can drive a car... far away... in the dark.

Getting lunch with Grandma:

G: What would you like for lunch?

C: Food from Kazstan (Kazakhstan).

G: Like what?

C: Chicken nuggets.

Yesterday, walking around with his Radio Flyer cart full of stuff:

C: I taking these toys to the kids in Kazstan (Kazakhstan).

"packback" for backpack

"some else body" for somebody else

"somebody not" for nobody

On the explanation from mom that she and daddy had to go to visiting hours at a funeral home:

M: Somebody died and Mommy and Daddy need to go visit his family and make sure they're okay.

C: Did somebody run him over?

M: No, he was old and sometimes when people get really old their bodies stop working and they die.

C: Not me. My body not going to stop working.

C: Will you be my best friend, Mommy?
M: Sure. Will you be my best friend?
C: No, I Daddy's best friend.

M: That guy on the motorcycle isn't being safe. He's not wearing a helmet.
C: Some people do that.

He's 3!

Cameron turned 3 on November 13 and had brownies for a cake that day with Mommy and Daddy. He got a set of goals and a new soccer ball as well as a yellow Tonka dump truck. Upon opening the truck, he said, "How come it no make noise?" It's one of the few trucks he has that doesn't make a sound of some sort.

On the 15th, Cameron's birthday bashes took place. In the morning, we went to Lakewood Fire Station #1 for a tour with a bunch of his friends: Landon, Olivia, Alex, Eddie, Marshall, Damien, and another boy named Cameron. Everyone enjoyed the tour and then came back to our house for lunch (dino chicken bites and applesauce for the little people, chili for the big people), presents and cupcakes and ice cream. Cameron had a great time with his friends and did a good job of sharing with everyone.

That evening, the family party was in full swing at our house. Tacos for the kids and fajitas for the adults. We had plenty of leftover cupcakes from the morning, so we were green and recycled the cake!

He had a great day!

He made up his mind!

We've had the potty out since Christmas time when Cameron first seemed interested. Over the past 8 months, he's used it once in a while, or used it to stall when it's time to go to bed, or sat on it fully clothed and then flushed the big potty. Well, last Friday (the 15th) he made up his mind that he's a big kid. He woke up with a dry diaper, decided to use the potty and then said he wanted to wear "una-weer". We dug up a pair and then packed several changes of clothes for Grammy's house. He's had a few accidents, as you might expect, but overall, it has gone very well and he hasn't looked back. We went out to eat Saturday night with Uncle Kip, Emily and Kenny. As soon as they arrived, he wanted to make sure that they knew he was wearing big boy underwear. So, he said to Kenny, "Kenny, I wearing una-weer." Then dropped his pants right there in the restaurant and said, "See". Kenny wasn't as impressed as Cam had hoped, but it's hard for 7 year olds to appreciate this milestone.

More conversations:

C: No help, mommy. I a big kid. I do it myself.

_______________

M: Cameron, pretty soon you'll be moving to the Sunflower room at school.
C: Yeah, when I a sunflower, you no pick me up.
M: I'm not going to pick you up anymore?
C: No, I stay there.
M: How will you get home if I don't come get you?
C: I walk.

Gotcha Day #2

This year's gotcha day was celebrated at Pike Lake State Park. Buffy did some searching for a place with a lake that was affordable and found it down in southern Ohio. So on July 30, we packed up enough stuff, including provisions and dogs and headed south. It was about a 4 hour drive, but everyone did pretty well and we didn't even hear an "Are we there yet?" out of the back seat. As you might expect, there isn't too much going on down there and there was no cell phone coverage, but we enjoyed getting away for a couple of days. The pine trees smelled great and there was a really pretty butterfly garden (with many bees as well) that we enjoyed passing on our way to and from our cabin. The cabin was Buffy's kind of camping: 2 bedrooms, A/C, cable TV, DVD, screened in porch with swing, deck, kitchen, bathroom and running water. Unfortunately the toiletries were left at home, so Brent made a trip to the local grocery store, if you can call 30 minutes away "local" and got what we needed. Whilst Buffy was making dinner and Cam was playing, we came to realize that the Air Force does maneuvers down that way. Buffy was convinced that they were going to break the sound barrier at one point and nearly hit the deck. This of course, scared the bejeebers out of Cameron who then insisted on having Buffy carry him throughout the rest of the meal prep - no easy feat with a 31 lb. weight on your hip! The highlight of the day for Cameron was the campfire and roasting marshmallows and making s'mores. He had a great time helping Brent find kindling to get the fire going.

The next day, Gotcha Day, we got up and drove over to the Serpentine mound with the dogs and we all walked around it. Buffy remembers learning about it back in her Ohio history class (7th grade), but neither of us realized that it isn't any taller than 3 feet from the ground. Cameron had fun running around (while staying off the mound, walking on it is a no-no) and the dogs enjoyed the walk and new scents. We headed back to camp, had lunch and went to the lake at Pike Lake. There was only one other family there so we had the place to ourselves. The only real problems were bees and goose poop, but in spite of that Cameron liked digging in the sand, creating buildings and then knocking them over (King Kong Cameron from last summer still lives!). Later on, we had dinner and then walked down to the park gift shop for ice cream. Overall, a good day was had by everyone. Even Jake and Maizey got a long walk in the woods.

We headed home on Friday and stopped to see Grandma and Grandpa DeWitt on the way north.

Two years later, we still feel like the luckiest parents in the world and are so glad and thankful every day that Cameron is part of our lives.

Why?

It started Friday. And, he saved it until he got home from Grammy's house. Cameron is asking the dreaded "Why?" to everything.

M: "Cameron, sit down and eat."

C: "Why?"

M: "Let's get the dog dishes and feed the dogs."

C: "Why?"

The funny thing is, whatever explanation you provide is then followed up by another "Why?". It's an endless loop!

Other exciting news:

Cam is officially interested in the potty and actually peed in the potty first thing in the morning 4 days in a row. He broke his streak this morning, but it may have been because his cousins were here overnight and that's way more interesting.

Also, Cameron and Brent found a little kid bike at a yard sale on Thursday for $8, training wheels and all. It took him about 2 minutes to figure out how to balance and apply the brakes and he was in business. I think we're both convinced that he's way more coordinated than either of us.

That's the latest. Enjoy July! We're off to Pike Lake State Park at the end of the month for our 2nd Gotcha/Family day. Should be fun.

Riding the bike...

Two Years Ago Today...

We met our boy. Still one of the best days of our lives. He's grown up quite a bit and it's hard to believe he was a baby once, but we still remember the first time we held him. Now, we can barely keep up with him. Just the other day he told us out of the blue that he had "big words in his mouth" (and no doubt bigger ideas in his head - "I thinking A LOT, Daddy!") He's growing in leaps and bounds, and while his progress is all we hoped for the pace is at times surprising, and a even a little unnerving lest we blink and miss something new.





More conversations with Cam


In the last few weeks, he has become quite a negotiator.
M: Cameron we need to get ready to go.
C: Otay, 2 minutes, Mommy. I play 2 minutes, then I go.


The future:
M: One day you will get married and have babies and I'll be they're grandma.
C: Yeah, mommy, I get married when I big. I have 2 babies.
M: A boy and a girl?
C: Yeah. Where you and daddy live?
M: We'll live in the house where you grow up. Will you have your own house?
C: Yeah. Babies no crying.
M: The babies won't cry?
C: No, I good daddy.


On his play cell phone:
C: Call coming in.
M: Who is it? Is it Grammy?
C: No, it Miss Maddie (Miss Maggie, his preschool teacher). She calling me.


His pride in taking a nap at school:
C: I seep, Mommy, I seep! My bones growing.


When he wants to use the computer:
C: I checking my email.


Getting ready for a bath...

The Long Overdue Update

It's been a fun-filled few months. Cam is talking a lot! He's saying new things each day - and he keeps us guessing (pronunciation does not always make it obvious). We can always count on being asked "What is that?" at least 5 times on the way to/from somewhere. Unfortunately, it isn't always easy to tell what he's referring to from the front seat - and oftentimes he points with the hand whose thumb is being sucked. We do our best! Within the past couple of weeks he has started calling Buffy "Mommy" - and she misses "Mama". He's growing up already!!




Some conversations with Cameron:

M: Is Cameron a boy or a girl?
C: grsbzt
M: Yes, Cameron's a boy. Is Emily a boy or a girl?
C: grsbzt
M: Yes, Emily's a girl. Is Daddy a boy or a girl?
C: Daddy Brent!
M: Daddy's a Brent?
C: Yeah!
__________

M: (singing with Norah Jones) "Don't know why I didn't call, I..."
C: No sing.
M: What? I can't sing with the music?
C: No, Mama. Let lady sing.
__________


Following Grandpa DeWitt in his truck (in our car) on our way to get ice cream:
C: Grandpa!!!! SLOW DOWN!!!!!
__________

Talking about who loves Cameron before bedtime:

M: ...Grandma and Grandpa DeWitt love you.
C: Uh huh. And sheep.
M: The sheep love you?
C: Uh huh.
__________


Talking about a rainstorm:

C: (in a sing-song voice) Boom, boom coming!

Other things that have happened since November:

• Went on a train ride through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park with Mr. Jing-a-ling before Christmas - a Cleveland classic, one of Santa's elves (Buffy thinks he's a little creepy - on the order of clowns). It was fun for the first hour or so, but the natives got restless on the trip back to the station and we were in full melt-down by the time we arrived.
  
• Had a great Christmas. Visited Grandma and Grandpa DeWitt as well as Uncle Kevin, Aunt Wendy, Russell and Morgan. There was a huge tree and a fun time was had by all. We also did our traditional Christmas Eve morning at Grammy Bollin's house, had Uncle Kip's family and "Grampis" Bollin (pronounced grahm-peace) over for dinner that night and opened lots of presents on Christmas morning with Grampis. Cam was surprised to see that Santa brought him a train table and had filled his stocking.


• We've had a lot of fun going to the Botanical Gardens. Cameron loves it there and sometimes in the morning, he asks to go to the "gah-den, big gah-den" rather than Grammy's or daycare. He and Mama and Grammy went there in March for a big bug exhibit which was very up a little boy's alley. He got to race a mealworm and won a prize.


• In mid-February, Cameron switched daycares. He now attends the Goddard School in Westlake. He's getting a lot of attention in the Cucumber room and seems to really like it. Mom and Dad like it too in spite of the really long drive the opposite direction of where they need to be in the morning.


• Also, mid-February we came to find out that Cam is allergic to tree-nuts. He had a cashew and a pine nut one evening and broke out in hives the next day. We saw an allergist and he was diagnosed as being extremely allergic to tree-nuts (yes, we have several Epi-pens just in case), moderately allergic to dust mites and slightly allergic to dogs. All nuts and peanuts are out of the picture for him. We cleaned his room, put hypo-allergenic bedding on his bed and the doctor told us to keep the dogs out of his room. The allergist also put Cam on Zyrtec. After a week of taking it, he started refusing to go to sleep at night ("No seep Daddy, no seep") and for naps. Turns out that one of the side-effects is nightmares. We quit giving him the medicine, but we did not recover the bedtime and nap routine until recently. Prior to Zyrtec, he could go to sleep on his own. It took us 7-8 weeks to get him back on track. Not fun.


• Cameron had a great time at Pump It Up! We were there for Olivia and Landon's birthday party and this was his first visit. He has always been a big bouncer and this place was made for him.
  
• March definitely came in like a lion. We got about 3 feet of snow the first weekend. The snowplow had been down our street once that Saturday and we couldn't get out of our driveway if we wanted to. All three of us went out on a dog walk in the evening to see the sites. The two main roads near our house were cleared, but none of the sidestreets had been. We spent much of Sunday morning shoveling our way to the street and helping our neighbors do the same. Cam had a great time climbing the mounds of snow and playing outside with the girls next door.


• Easter Sunday didn't bring a blizzard like it did last year, which was fine by us. We made a trip down to the farm that weekend and Grandma DeWitt gave Cam a nice Easter basket with "neeny" (candy). The Easter bunny left a basket for Cameron and hid some eggs around the house. We had Grammy and Len over for brunch and managed to finish off a whole pound of bacon.


• Grampis Bollin came to town mid-April for cousin Kenny's birthday. Cameron loved having Grandpa around and was eager to wake him each morning.
  
• Cameron had a dry-run at the dentist with us. He watched the hygienist clean Mama's teeth and then declared "My turn!" He got to take a ride in the chair while we waited for the dentist and the hygienist took a look in his mouth. After Mama was done with the dentist, he gave Cam a once-over and confirmed that all of the baby teeth are in. He's got a lot of space in his mouth and currently has a thumb-sucking induced overbite. Cam has his real turn in November.


• This past weekend, we went to the farm to visit and celebrate Mother's Day with Grandma DeWitt. As always, Cameron had a great time checking out all of the machinery and was very disappointed that he couldn't go to Kenton with Uncle Kevin, Grandpa and Morgan to get a tractor that they found at an auction. He had a lot of fun playing with Morgan and was asking about her constantly when she wasn't with him.


• Cameron has continued going to the Polywogs class with Grandma B. at the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center and also goes to a class at My Gym. Recently at the science center, Cameron decided that another little girl in his class was his very best friend and had to hold her hand the entire time. She wasn't entirely on board with that plan, but she tolerated him until he decided that he should kiss her. At that point, she decided that she'd had enough and ran to her mom to be rescued.
  
• Developmentally, we're still on track. He's asserting his independence - "I did it!" (meaning I'll do it) and "I get it!" and "Stop it!" frequently are uttered or screamed, depending on what the situation warrants. He can dress and undress himself and sometimes shows interest in using the potty. Maybe this summer. Cam hops on one foot and can say his first name and last name. He tries to say his middle name, but we're not there yet (Aleksandr isn't the easiest).

That's the latest from here. Happy spring! Enjoy the beautiful tulips and all the loveliness of this time of year.

Pictures:

On the train ride, pre-melt down.


Russell and Cameron at Christmas

Christmas morning

We went to a Grandfather Frost party in January. Cam's not so sure about him. In Russia and Kazakhstan, Grandfather Frost leaves gifts for the kids in their shoes on Jan. 5.

Playing with cousin Morgan.

Goofing around with Daddy.

Celebrating Grammy's birthday with cousin Emily.

Walking around the neighborhood after the big snowstorm in March.

Wearing the yoke and buckets that were used in the 1800's to bring in maple syrup. We got to try some maple syrup at the Rocky River Reservation and watched the trees being tapped.

Kenny, Cam and Em all on the trike at the same time!

At the Botanical Garden with Grammy enjoying the waterfall.

Hunting for Easter eggs.

Pumping water with Daddy at the Botanical Garden.

Having fun with Morgan!

Kaz National Anthem

It sounds very majestic. Take a listen and enjoy the pictures too!