Talking up a storm!

I was in Orlando this week for work. Every time David would call, Cameron was in the background saying "Grandma". David would say "No, it's mom". Then his response was "Mom all gone"...over and over. All gone seems to be his favorite phrase these days.

He's talking up a storm!! When we have the tv on, he wil repeat the last 2-3 words of every sentence. When David was talking on the phone, he will copy what he says and even laugh when he laughs. We're up to sentences of a few words...though still moments of complete gibberish.

I love listening to him talk!!

Nakes = Snakes
Giraps= Giraffes
Bish = Fish (he loves them and I'm dying to take him to Shark Reef)

Still very bossy. He is now saying "sit down" and patting the floor next to him when he wants you to sit on the floor and read him a book (which is all the time). When he wants you to go somewhere with him he will say "Go" and try to push/pull you in that direction. Another thing he learned at daycare...he will say "watch" before he does something.

He is still all about helping. When we load/unload the dishwasher he hands everything to us one at a time. Moving laundry from the washer to the dryer. Even learning to show empathy. This is a game Grandma Beth started when she was last out here. He threw a stuffed animal and she said "Awww, he's crying". So Cameron got all concerned and gave him a kiss. Now, out of the blue he will tell us something is crying and make us kiss it.



Now that he is Mr. Independent he goes up and down the stairs all by himself. A game he likes to play is giving kisses between each of the banisters. This definitely slows down the process of getting down the stairs, but you take the kisses when you can get them.



We are getting close to full potty training. We bought a seat for him and he will sit on the potty by himself. The other day he got some new big boy underwear. He loves them...even though he didn't get Dora. His have Diego, Wonder Pets, and "Banjbob" (Spongebob). Very soon we will be going cold turkey with no diapers for a day and see if we can't ge thim on track.

Texas Vacation

We spent this last week in Dallas visiting David's family. Our first couple of days were spent camping. Probably the last time unless we are in a cabin. Cameron had a great time chasing the ducks. We rented a boat and he helped Grandpa fish off the back. Most of our time was spent running after Cameron because he just wanted to explore everything. The rest of us were ready to go home after the first full day out there...we were dying for a shower and a real bed.

Cameron even got to drive the boat. He figured out how to adjust the speed and kept slowing us down.

There was a picnic pavillion across from our campsite. Tons of lady bugs were over there so we had to constantly chase Cameron. He would get so excited when he saw them start moving.

The night we got back from camping we checked into our hotel. Later that night we went down to the pool. While Cameron doesn't seem to care much about his little pool at home...he loved this one! I think it was because someone was in there with him.

Later that night watching the basketball game with dad.

Fun in the full length hotel mirror...

We went to the Fort Worth Zoo. This was the first time he really seemed interested in the animals. He also got his first train ride.

This is how Cameron saw the zoo...running through it. No wonder he crashed as soon as we got in the car.

Cameron got to feed the birds too. He was a natural. A couple of birds were fighting over his stick. When one landed on him he about jumped out of his skin. I was surprised he didn't drop the stick.

Cameron has started getting bossy. If someone is sitting on the floor and he doesn't want them there...he will push you and try to pick you up and make you do exactly what he wants you to do. He was even bossy to Grandma until she picked him up to show him all the stuff in the cabinet.

While waiting to board the plane, Cameron had fun running around and watching the planes outside. When we talk about planes flying he will put his arms up and make a vroom sound and walk around like he's flying. Working on getting a video of this.

19...Almost 20 Months

Cameron is learning so much! He is talking a lot and repeating everything. We've been lucky so far and he hasn't repeated any of the bad stuff. He can count to ten...with some help. Usually he skips 1 and 6. He loves to sing (and dance as you saw in the last blog). He has learned some nursery rhymes. He will sing patty cake with you. He also tries to do the itsy bitsy spider. There are a couple of other songs we sing that he will sing along with parts of it.

This is Daddy & Cameron's morning ritual getting ready for daycare. They wet his hair down then dry it with a towel so it stands on end. Cameron laughs at himself in the mirror...then they comb it down.

Wild Man!!!

Cameron has finally learned how to jump!!

Cameron still loves his books!! He's now letting us read a few more than he used to. However, he will decide in the first page whether or not he wants to hear the full book. If not he will close the book, get up and take the book away. Here is a video of us reading his baby sign language book...one of his favorites.

Jumping with Daddy



He is so narcissistic. We spend lots of time looking at his pictures & videos. He will point to the camera or computer and say "Cameron" until we turn it on and let him look at himself. Also loves looking at himself in the mirror.

Dancing Machine

I was going to wait to post a blog until we had more to post. However, this was so funny we figured it deserved it's own blog. Cameron is turning into quite the dancer these days. He knows he is funny so he really gets a kick out of it.

While we were in Sedona Aunt Ellen bought him a raccoon tail hat. We found the old Davy Crockett song on the internet and turned it on one night...he started dancing around so we put the hat on him and laughed until we cried.



He also loves dancing with his dancing frog. It sings "Shake It" by Metro Station. He sings with it and dances like a crazy man. This video is a little dark, but you will get the idea.

Sedona & Grand Canyon

Cameron was a little surprised to have company in the house the morning we drove to Sedona. It took him a little while to warm up. They brought him a blue lizard and a little stuffed puppy dog so that helped.



Saturday (May 1st) we made the drive down to Sedona. Cameron was so good in the car...Olivia was the one asking how many hours we had left every five minutes. :-) We got to spend a lot of time with family. Grandma Anne, Aunt Ellen, and Uncle Barry were already there.

Cameron has started talking up a storm!! Aunt Ellen was trying to teach him to say Pennsylvania...then move to Pennsylvania. He actually made a pretty good attempt to say it. Although he has only really said it for Ellen so David doesn't believe us.





Sunday we went into Sedona. We saw the Chapel of the Holy Cross. Everyone pushed Grandma Anne's wheel chair up to the top of the hill to the chapel. We also walked around Sedona and did some shopping. It was surprisingly cold and at one point there were actually some snow flakes that fell. We couldn't quite figure that part out because it wasn't THAT cold.

We rented a house while there. There was so much cottonwood floating in the air from the neighbors trees it looked like snow. Cameron & Olivia had fun blowing it in the air all over Grandma Beth.

Monday we went to the Grand Canyon and drove the South Rim. It was a little scary how close you walked to the edge of the canyon. Cameron just wanted out of his stroller since he was so restrained in the car. He ran around and did so much walking that he eventually passed out.

This is Cameron hanging from a tree over the canyon. :-)

This video is of Cameron saying "Grand Canyon"

Tuesday mom and I took the kids to Out of Africa. It is like a zoo, but geared more towards desert animals. You ride on a bus with no windows and get to drive on a safari. They give you carrots to feed the giraffe. Everyone got to but because Cameron and I were in the back of the bus he didn't make it back to us. Poor little guy saw everyone else hang their carrots out the window and kept dangling his waiting for something to eat it.

We got to see lots of tigers. One was especially fond of Cameron. As we walked up on their cage he hunched down behind a bush to watch Cameron run up. He set his eyes and followed us all the way around the cage. At one point the tiger jumped up on top of their den to get a better view then ran full speed to the other side and got down like he was going to pounce. If that fence wasn't there Cameron would've been lunch.

Overall, it was a good day. He got really excited by the turtle that started moving after he touched it. We had a brief melt down during the tiger splash show so we had to walk until he fell asleep. Then he missed the big snake that Liv got to pet.

We took some 4 Generation pictures. Cameron wasn't too happy by the end of it.

In the car ride home from Sedona, Cameron got to eat part of Olivia's ice cream. He looked like he had a goatee.



The last couple of days Grandma Beth & Liv were in town Cameron got to stay home from daycare. They played so hard he fell asleep during lunch.

The last night Grandma Beth and Olivia were here we went to Bucca di Beppo's for dinner. Cameron had a great time eating his spaghetti. Then we ordered a big dessert for the table to share.

These are videos of Cameron eating his spaghetti by the handful...when he could deal with his hands being messy (or wasn't wiping them on me).

Cameron learned to say Grandma on this trip, too. Saturday morning Grandma Beth and Liv left early in the morning. When Cameron got up he pointed at everything in the guest bedroom and said "Grandma". When we show him the pictures he is pointing and repeating the names...at least for both Grandma's and Barry. We can't get him to say Ellen or Olivia. We'll keep trying.