Almost 9 Weeks Old!

It's funny how fast things change. Since our last post (2 weeks ago), Cameron has started smiling and cooing quite a bit. Most of the smiling happens just after he wakes up. That and he will laugh and talk to the ceiling fans. Unfortunately, we haven't caught much of this on video yet. When we do I will post it. I did get a cute video of him on his changing table this morning cooing and talking. He loves laying there! I also took one of him happily carrying on while laying on the couch (though the lighting isn't as good).

Then just some random snapshots. We take him to the doctor on Monday for his shots...so we will find out just how much he has grown in the last month. I can tell you he is really starting to live up to nickname...chunky monkey!

First Thanksgiving!

I thought I would post some photos from Cameron's first Thanksgiving! "Captain Adorable" started off with a little nap to prepare for all of the excitement. Shortly after he decided to help mom and dad in the kitchen. He hopped in his little sling (kangaroo pouch as we like to call it) and we started cooking.

After cooking, we all sat down to have our turkey dinner...then Cameron passed out. Too much tryptophan.

Even Max got to have her Thanksgiving day meal. David laid the bone on the floor before she came into the room. Apparently the aroma from the turkey had her all confused. She walked right over her bone and then laid down beside it on the floor. Didn't even realize it was there until we pointed it out after the picture!

Almost 7 Weeks Old

We've been taking some new photos and videos and I thought I would post a few. This video is just before bath time...thank god because he looks like a little scum baby with all the dried formula on his face (thanks dad). We thought it was cute because he was awake and looking right at the camera. He loves his bath time! He spends most of the time looking at himself in the mirror.

Max seems to have adjusted really well to the baby. She seems to be taking the protective role...gets concerned when the baby is crying, especially if someone else is holding him! Has to make sure everything is ok. Otherwise she just sniffs him and could really care less. Maybe a little jealousy from the attention the baby gets...but Azriel on the other hand is very jealous. When I am holding the baby he tries to get up in my lap too and refuses to budge. I have to practically tear him out of my lap. We laid Cameron on the floor beside him and it wasn't long that it was tolerated before he got up and ran away.

Last night we took a couple of other snapshots below. Boy he loves staring at the ceiling fan. Plus he's been holding his head up really well on his own for the last couple of weeks. Lots of tummy time!

Halloween 2008

He was really too little this year to do much for Halloween, but that didn't stop us from taking some photos that he will probably hate us for later! David had the idea to make him a little Joe Dirt redneck (this was way before he was born). He found a mullet wig online, a small Budweiser can, and a wife beater shirt...and had to buy them.

That day we put an orange onesie on him...and got the idea to make him into a pumpkin. I figured this was at least an attempt to give him a cute costume for Halloween. Poor thing was sleeping as I drew a jackolantern face on him with eye liner.


The evening of Halloween, we dressed him up in his costume. The first round of photos we tried to do he just cried because we were trying to sit him up to take them. Then we decided he would just do better laying down...even though you lost the full effect of the mullet.

Cameron's First Month

It's so hard to believe he is already a month old! The last 4 weeks seem to be a blur of dirty diapers, feedings every 2-3 hours, and not much sleep. I am still not completely healed and so that part has been really frustrating. We have not even begun to reach any level of normalcy in our schedule...and it drives me crazy that we get nothing done all day! It's overwhelming to think about how much life changes in just an instant. Although, just watching him sleep or holding him in my arms makes it all worth it. (first video is of Cameron smiling).

Funny Story:

One of the first few nights home we had our first christening, which was really funny! I was changing Cameron on his pack and play changer and no sooner did I get his diaper off...he started peeing. Before I could get him covered he got himself right down the side of his face, quite to his surprise. The funny part was, the onsie he had on said "Automatic Sprinkler". It wasn't kidding. We had to completely change his clothes. I sent David in to grab another onsie and when he came back the new one read "This diaper ain't going to change itself"...we were hoping at that point the clothes were not going to dictate the actions. Lucky for us they didn't.

Baby Noises:

Cameron is such a noisy baby...he is constantly making noise even in his sleep. His first week home, he made little squeaky noises and sounded just like a baby monkey. They changed so quickly though and after just a few days of being home we starting hearing a goat (that at times sounds like a dolphin). I'm so bummed I didn't get any of the monkey sounds on video, but we are doing our best to capture the goat noises. They are so cute! Poor thing though has acquired the moniker Goat Boy. It actually worked out well though because during mom & Lynn's trip out, Ava was making a lot of grunting noises and so they were Goat Boy & Goat Girl. I have a video I will upload here so you can hear his little noises (it is not the best rendition of his goat noises, but it's enough you can get the idea).

Our Schedule:

Or lack there of...Cameron has not slept more than 2.5-3 hours at a time (at least for the most part). Especially at night. For the first three weeks his days & nights were really mixed up. We would have a 2-3 hour time block in the middle of the night where he would be wide awake...and we would be exhausted! Let's just say he spent a lot of time sitting in his glider chair in front of the couch during those hours where I would be asleep.

We attempted to get him into his crib around 3 weeks. He wouldn't have it though. He would sleep for about an hour (if we were lucky) the first couple of nights...then not go back down. We kind of gave up on the idea and put him in his glider chair...that thing is a god send it seems...next to our bed. This has helped tremendously the last week because he is back to sleeping at night, even if it is no longer than 3 hours at a time. We'll keep working on the crib though.

I think the lack of a schedule is one of the more frustrating things to attempt to get under control. We're probably nowhere close to establishing a schedule, but I'm bound and determined to get there. Hopefully before I go back to work.

Family Visits:

Mom, Lynn, Olivia & Ava came out to visit for a week. It was great that they could bring the girls because this was the first time I got to see Ava. Having all the kids together was so much fun, even though I was pretty laid up and couldn't do as much as I would have liked. We didn't really do much...hung around the house, did a little shopping, and carved pumpkins. David & Olivia bonded quite a bit on this trip - he had to take her to Sky Mania to jump on the indoor trampolines and they spent countless hours playing Wii.

Just this last week, David's parents and brother came out to visit. This time I was feeling much more "normal"! We still spent quite a bit of time hanging out at the house so they could see Cameron. The guys went to play golf and the girls got to go have lunch with Cameron. Donna took the baby for a while so I could try and catch up on a little bit of sleep (though didn't really happen...I think we're getting used to 5-6 hours total all spread out). Then we all made fools of ourselves playing Wii Fit.

Finally:

Cameron is already getting so big! At his first appointment he had dropped 4 ounces (at 6 lbs 8 ounces). We had his one month appointment on 11/3 and he was up to 9 lbs 6.5 ounces!! He's actually right on track, but I was a little depressed thinking that he will soon be out of his newborn sizes. I keep saying I want to stop feeding him so he will stay little forever. He also grew 2 inches (from 18 to 20). We figured he had a bit of a growth spurt because had to adjust the straps on his car seat and when you picked him up he felt heavier. My little chunker. =)