January flew by and with the combination of working busy season hours, getting a new computer and problems with my camera (seems like the batteries are always dead!) -- I did not update the blog. I will try to be better!
Because of the problems with my camera, I don't have a lot to show for pictures from January. We celebrated several birthdays and Kevin and I had an anniversary - we've been a couple for 15 years. Funny, I say time flies and he says, has it only been 15 years? - feels like FOREVER! (not sure how to take that!)
Grandma Linda and Cowboy did take CC to the Winterfest in Pearland and took pictures - I'll post those sometime - maybe Mom will write something that I can post too!
As I am working busy season hours, I have missed Camryn the last few weeks. I'm trying to work more hours before she wakes up and after she goes to sleep, so that I can try to be home to see her a few hours each day and so far, it's been manageable -- still not preferable, of course. And, since I do miss her, I think about her constantly. She is a big ray of sunshine that can light up my day, no matter what has happened and really helps me put things in perspective.
If I do wait to go to work after she wakes up (which is normally around 7:30 am), I love walking up the stairs, anticipating the smile I'm going to be greeted with. She of course just immediately starts asking for Kevin, which I don't mind, because I know he hears a lot about Mama when he picks her up from school. It's like she thinks we should all be together all of the time...
I think I most often describe Camryn as the prettiest baby in the world, but she is so more than that. She's smart, sweet, loving, funny, independent and very fast!
This week I remembered a conversation that I had with a good friend after my Dad died (she had also lost her father years before). They had a similar father-daughter relationship as we did, and she talked about how one of the hardest things to accept was knowing that no one was ever going to love her like her Dad did - somehow more than unconditionally. I told Kevin that night that I really needed him to promise to me (and to Camryn) that he would do the same for her. As I was talking about this with Mom later in the week, she asked something to the effect of, is this even a question? -- as she reminded me, that very day Kevin had gone to pick up diapers and came home with several sussies (surprises) for Camryn, two of which were cute little t-shirts that said 'I love Daddy' and 'Daddy's Little Girl'. :)
He's such a great dad and I love that I can trust in that he will always love her and make her feel safe. No matter what. She's a lucky girl.
Since we haven't really written about what CC lately, I thought I'd do that today (also since I don't have as many pictures as I normally do!)
Eating. Since she now has a few more teeth (we're still stuck at 6 -- 4 on top, 2 on bottom), she is able to eat more 'adult food' and that is definitely what she prefers. She does eat some baby food still, but it is mostly just to clear out what we had stockpiled in the pantry. Her new trick this week was to just decide she was done and instead of politely saying, "Mom, I do not wish to have any more of that food, thank you," she would just open her mouth and let the food roll out onto her shirt. Awesome!
Some of her favorites right now (could change in the next 15 minutes or so):
- milk
- Gerber Graduates Pasta Pickup ravioli
- graham crackers, goldfish, animal crackers
- eggs (scrambled or fried)
- chicken! (which is funny since this was the one thing I could not eat when i was pregnant)
- bananas (or most fruit, actually)
Here is a picture of the little monkey sitting in her high chair, wearing my pink TAMU hat (which she thinks is hilarious when she's sees her reflection in the mirror):
Outside. She likes to play outside - if we say 'outside' she goes and stands by the door (she can almost reach the doorknob - that will be a scary day!). But, I can't wait until it's warmer outside and she can play for real. She enjoys watching Otis run around and tries to chase after him.
Last weekend when it warmed up a little, we spent a good amount of time outside - my poor, dead plants have just been killing me so I worked on those and she entertained herself with our spare house key and one of my little terracotta pots that I painted about 8 years ago (I think she liked the sound). She played for at least 20 minutes and when we were heading inside, she dropped it and it split into several pieces (Kevin glued it back together I think). I was a little sad, but then again, I can always paint another one!
Here's a picture of her running around in the driveway - we are already working on her having to hold our hands when she gets close to the cul-de-sac.
Hugs and open mouth kisses. This is new - she's starting to give kisses. And they are open mouth. It's sweet and hilarious and I love it! She has been giving hugs for awhile, but now she's been giving hugs to the puppies too! (I think she would try to give Guskitty a hug, but she is elusive, you know.)
School. They laugh at me at work because I call it 'school' and not 'daycare'. But it is school -- on our monthly bill, it's called Tuition, not Day Care Fee! So, there.
She has been learning so much lately -- they really are like little sponges.
Songs. She knows a bunch of songs - Itsy Bitsy Spider, ABC's, Old MacDonald) from school -- does not sing them yet, but when I play them for her, you can definitely tell she's heard them before because she bounces up and down. For the Itsy Bitsy Spider song, she tries to do the hand gestures too - it's so sweet.
Counting. They have been working on numbers for awhile and we have been trying to count with her. They must do a little song/dance at school with it, because when we say "one", she squats down and bounces.
Artwork. They send home artwork almost every week and when I hold it up and say, "Did you make this?", she gets the biggest grin (see first picture in this post) and says, "Yah!" (we're working on Yes Ma'am/Sir).
One night while Kevin cooked dinner, Camryn and I played with her little crayons and made him a picture. Here's a picture of her handing him her drawing:
Word Identification and Talking. I haven't written about all of the words that she understands or says, so I'll try to make a list here. Seems like everyday she adds words! She does not say very many words, but she is definitely trying. Also, she has stopped learning new signs and has replaced several of them with language.
Words that she uses every day:
- Mama, Dada and Camryn - one of her favorite games is to point to me and say "Mama" and then point to Kevin and say "Dada" and then we say, "Where's Camryn?" and she points to herself. Big smiles, all around.
- Oda/Dodo and Tata - Otis and Tater; I have only heard her say "Tata" one time - and she had been calling Otis "Oda" but then last weekend she started to say "Dodo", which I told her worked too!
- Mamilk - milk
- Mo - more
- Ello! - hello, into the phone or play phone (in a loud voice)
- Bye-bye - this one is new as of Friday night! She says it with a very Texan accent (where in the world did she pick that up from?!?)
- Bumpa - Grandpa J. We have a picture in our living room of Dad and I ask her, "Where is Grandpa J?" and she points to the picture. This weekend she started to say, Bumpa. That sounds like Grandpa to me!
Words/instructions that she understands:
- Pick up toys, bring me your shoes, blocks, diaper, phone, book, four wheeler (see picture below)
- Give me a hug and kiss
- Are you hungry? If she is, she goes and stands by her high chair.
- Are you sleepy? If she is, she goes and stands by her pack and play in our room. This is only for naptime. If it's bedtime, we ask her if she's ready to go upstairs and she will nod her head and go stand by the stairs. I have heard that this is not normal?
- The difference between her hippo, frog and duck (bathtime playmates)
- Wipe your nose/mouth
- Body parts: ears, nose, head, hair, eyes, mouth, teeth, tongue, belly (she gets confused if you say tummy!), knees, elbows, feet
- ELMO!
More in a few! And it won't be a month - PROMISE!
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