DeWitts in Kaz: May 2008

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.