Camden is 10

Your brother is 10 today and this year he will be at our house. He requested steak, Mac and Cheese and Baked Beans for dinner. He also asked that I make him a chocolate cake with blue icing. In addition to tonight's dinner he is having a family party combined with Mikaya on Sunday and a party with friends in a few weeks. I am running around like crazy trying to make sure everything is in order. I thought about decorations for the family party and I am working on the friends party but I did not think to decorate for tonight. At the store this morning they did not have any streamers and I went to two stores. Thankfully I have one birthday banner and I put that up to at least have something. You are completely fascinated by it and its shiny-ness.

Note: The only reason everything is on the counter is because our sink is leaking and nothing can be in the cabinet.

I feel like a total mess today as a stepmom. It is 1:00 and I just changed you into your clothes. You are attached to wearing jammies during the day and you don't want to take the tractor ones off. You would not eat anything for lunch but since I was trying to make a cake for Camden I let you have cookies. To top it off, I let you have milk in a bottle. I am failing on so many levels today. I hope you take a long nap today. Mommy needs to shower and get her heart rate down.

Play Group

Another mom I met at one of you classes this summer decided she wanted to try and get a few moms and their kids together to play on Tuesdays. Today was our first get together and I was a little nervous. I felt kind of strange because they all knew each other and they all go to church together. They know about each other's lives, their other kids and their husbands. I only know the mom that put it together. Anyway, my point is, I got to spend time watching you interact with other kids your age. People tell me all the time how "busy" you are and yes, you are a very strong willed child with me. I loved seeing you with other kids because you were SO polite. Instead of just taking a toy from another kid, you would say "please?" When they did not give it to you, you would walk over to me and tell me "but I said please!" The other kids were hitting and pushing each other. You were calmly asking them please and you said thank you when they did give you a toy. The other moms said they don't see any sign of you being difficult or being a typical two year old. I had to agree with them. When the other kids would fight, you just said, "Look at those boys! They are fighting!"

I am so proud of you and I really hope you continue to be a kind, sweet and caring little guy. I love you so much!

There I was, writing again. Not as much as I would like to but better than before. Then life gets in the way, you refuse to let me sit down and your mommy is exhausted. Time goes so fast and writing things down just gets pushed to the side. Thankfully I do type things into my phone so that one day, probably when you are in school full time, I will write it all on the computer or put it into your baby book.

So much has happened in the past almost two months since I posted on here. You turned 2 even though I begged you not to. You inform everyone who asks that you are 6. I am not sure why you have chosen 6, but you are insistent that 6 is how old you are.

You make me laugh every single day. I am in awe of how much you learn, how quickly you learn and just how large your vocabulary and personality are. As much as I hate that you are growing up, I do love being able to have a conversation with you. I love that you yell, "MOM! Let's sit together!" Or "MOM! Let's play toys together. I go get a tractor for ya!" I LOVE the excited dance you do when I come pick you up from school, when Nana/Papa come over or when you see something you have never seen before. I love how expressive you are and how you are finally kissing me on the lips. One day I reacted to your kiss with "I am so happy" and now every time you kiss me you say "I so happy!" You have also started saying "I SO excited!" As challenging as you can be, I love the little person you have become. It is so hard to discipline you because you are so darn cute. Everyone knows it, and they never fail to tell us how cute you are. This works in your favor, especially when you should be in trouble. You have only been put into "time out" two times in your life but usually once a day you tell me you are going to time out. You go and sit on the steps if we are home, or if we are out somewhere, you go stand against a wall. You inform me that you are in time out. It makes me laugh every time.

Last night you discovered that if you call for me, I will come in to see what is wrong. Yes, you have called Mommy before but only when you are crying. Last night you decided to call for me from your crib. I had put you to bed and a few minutes later, I hear "Mom! Mom!" I go in and you tell me that there is a fan on the roof. Nothing was bothering you. You just wanted to inform me of something.

Although you are incredibly attached to me, you are also fiercely independent at times. You tell us all the time that you are a "big boy" and that you "do it myself." You try and get into your car seat by yourself. The first time you tried, you were successful only because there were things on the floor that allowed you to climb up into your seat. Now you get very angry when I put you in your seat. You are no longer interested in plastic kid utensils. You tell us you need a "big boy spoon." You constantly tell me that you are peeing or pooping. You also tell me that you want to go on the potty. We take your diaper off, we sit on the potty and you tell me, "I put my penis down" then nothing. You sit for a second, say "I don't want to" and your diaper goes back on. Yesterday I got you your own little potty thinking it might be the thing that does the trick. You were SO excited:

Forgive me for including a naked photo, but I just have to show you that you decided since the potty had wheels, it must be driven. You proceeded to push the potty around the house. Maybe getting you a Lightning McQueen potty wasn't the best idea...

You are crying in your crib so it is time to go get you. More later. Hopefully. 

Your Last Day of Being One

It is hard to believe that two years ago today, I went about my day thinking I had a few more days to prepare for your arrival. Looking back, I realize you can never been prepared for a new baby, but I thought I had 3 nights left to go until your scheduled date of July 12th. You had other ideas and decided you wanted to come sooner. My water broke and we were headed to the hospital.

It feels like only a few months ago that you were born. Suddenly you turned one and tomorrow we will be celebrating your second birthday. I am having mixed emotions about this. I am sad the days of you snuggling on my chest like a little football are over, but I am loving seeing the person you are becoming. You have a HUGE personality and you do something every day that makes me laugh. You are so expressive, you have a huge vocabulary and I personally think you are ridiculously adorable. You make it known what you like and what you do not like and you are still extremely attached to me. I do love that you love me and I hope you always think I am as cool as you think I am now. As challenging as you are with your tantrums and your stubbornness, I want to bottle up this time and make it stand still. I love watching you see new things. On July 4th you saw fireworks for the first time. You kept saying, "OH WOWWWW! That's a big one! I like that!" When you opened your birthday presents at your family party you would say "I like that!" It was so stinkin' cute! We all got a great laugh out of watching you.

As you get older, I know you are learning and growing but I can't help but wonder if I am being the best parent I can be to you. You still have trouble walking and you still love your bottle. I can't wait to hear how the doctor yells at me next week at your two year check up.

I have so much I want to say to you and for some reason it is not coming out correctly on here. You are awake in your crib so I need to go get you. I love you so much!

Watch Hockey? Sully? Watch Hockey?

Here we were thinking we were introducing you to something you had not seen before....a TV in the car. You saw Monsters Inc. and ever since then you have become obsessed. I am not kidding. You can't say the main characters name "Mike Wasowski" so you say "Watch hockey?" When I say no you say, "I watch hockey in the car?" I say no and you ask "On TV?" I think you ask to watch it over 100 times a day and that is not an exaggeration. Last night you woke up screaming and in the middle of the tears you asked to watch Hockey. I don't know what to do about this. You love your bottle and Monsters Inc. Two things you should not be loving before the age of 2. I try my best not to give in to you but it IS the only way you sit still and it makes you SO happy. I am really worried about this. You smile and laugh. As you watch it you say "I watchin' Hockey." It brings you such happiness and it does allow me some time to get things done around the house but it is an addiction that I don't know how to break. You like to have tantrums about everything but this is one thing you tantrum over almost every day. What are we going to do about this?!

Month 23

How is it that you are 22 months old and I am trying to plan your 2nd birthday party? Wasn't I just feeling you have the hiccups in my belly? Time sure does fly. I know I say that all the time, but it does. Although I hate when you have your tantrums (which is quite often) I do love the age you are at now. You say full sentences and talk a ton. Your memory is amazing and I love asking you questions and having you answer. You have developed such a fun and expressive personality and we love it!

You are still obsessed with Monsters Inc. and you always ask to "watch hockey?" When I say no, you ask "Sully? Sully too?" (the other character in the movie). It is so cute. Daddy got you a Mike Wasowski and Sully doll and you sleep with them every night. You have also been bringing them down every morning and sitting with them on the couch:

As you can see, you are still on the bottle. I said I would have you off of it by the time you were 18 months. Well, that has not happened. I also give into you wanting to watch TV even though you are not supposed to. I do have to say that you only watch the baby channel (except for "hockey").  I am trying really hard not to give into your tantrums and you screaming for what you want. You have decided to suddenly crave chocolate milk when you had no interest in it before. You ask for it in the cutest way (chocolate meeaaalkk?) but I don't give in to you that often. I also swore I would never spank you but after you scream and kick every time I try and change your diaper, one day I patted you on the bottom. You cried and cried. I told you I love you and I am sorry I did that but you need to not throw a fit when you aren't getting your way. 

You have been waking up every night that Daddy is out of town. I swear he must think I lie about how you are when he is gone. You take great naps when he is home and you sleep all night. I did feel your teeth in the back and it feels like the top 2 year molars are starting to break through. I can't imagine that is comfortable. 

You talk a ton and you are still insanely attached to me. Your teacher at your Giggle Time class told me it is time to let you be at "school" two days a week. She said you are ready and you will be fine. It kills me to think of leaving you somewhere but you need it and so do I. I have yet to make the call but I need to. 

You are still full of energy and you are so silly. You are a little sponge and you repeat things and talk like a little man. The other day you said "best part of my day was pizza." You always want to see Nana and Papa and it is so funny how excited you get when they come through the door. 

Lately you have been asking to "go potty." You point to the bathroom too. Even when we are out at restaurants you ask to go and you point to the bathroom. Daddy and I tried putting you on the toilet last week:

Although the idea of it seemed cool, you were not having it. As soon as we put you down, you got in the tub and peed. Tonight you asked me to go potty a few times. You actually sat on the seat and held the handles but you did not pee. At least you are getting exposed to it! 

You are interested in everything you see. You ask This? when you don't know what something is. You LOVE books and always say, "I sit on your lap. You read book." You seem to know most of your colors and you like to "read" the books to me. 

I think I mentioned it before, but you will not let Daddy put you to bed. I have been putting you to bed and somehow you got into a LONG routine. You get your bath, we read stories and then you insist on changing the colors on your night light a million times. 

You want to touch the fan (no idea why you like that) and then you want me to kiss you through the rails on your crib at one end. After that, you say "this way" and kiss me through the rails on the front of your crib. Lately you have wanted a TON of animals in your bed and you have asked me to kiss all of them. I have been rubbing your back so you say "rub back?" I rub your back and then you have requested I rub the animals backs. As time consuming as this routine is, I try to remember you are only little once and I will miss these days. 

Oh, another side note: your hair was driving me nuts so we decided to shave it. You looked like a different kid:

BEFORE:

 AFTER:

You fell a few days before so that is why you have a mark on your nose. You look like a big boy!

I could write a lot more but I need to go to bed. I hope you sleep all night!

The Latest

You finished your antibiotics this past weekend and they did nothing for you. I called the doctor's office yesterday and after speaking to a nurse, they said they wanted to see you again. I had to wake you up from your nap (something I HATE doing) to go see a nurse. They said it was just a bad cold, you had some fluid behind your ears and your gums were swollen. I have been wondering if it could be your teeth since you are drooling a ton, are super cranky and you keep gnawing on your fingers. It feels like we have been waiting for the 2 year molars to come in for over a year. The nurse said to give you Motrin every 6 hours to see if it helped you. I did this today and you seemed SO much happier. You are talking in even bigger sentences and you have a LOT to say. You make me laugh.

Every night when I put you to bed, you go through your memory bank and spew off everything you can think of. Your memory is AMAZING. I love listening to you talk and I love when you want to snuggle, but man oh man you have a way of stalling and it is so hard to say no to you. You have gotten into a long routine before bed that is a little ridiculous but it is super cute. You have to turn your humidifier on, your heater on and you have to switch the color on your night light no less than 20 times. Tonight it was dark in your room, we were in the rocking chair and you told me I needed to read you another book. I said we had already read 3 books and it was time to go to sleep. You got off my lap, pulled more books off the shelf and went by your night light to "read" them. These past few days you have been looking at books, pointing to the words and saying ABC. You also have some pages memorized in certain books and it is really cute. You love a book called "Airport." It talks about the waiting room, planes going up in the air, etc. I love when you get to the page that says "Buckle your seat belts the flight attendant says." You say buckle belts. Here is a picture of you "reading" it. So sorry to interrupt you!

Today you pointed to Daddy's arm and said Tattoos! While we were upstairs you pointed to my arm and said what I thought was a bad word. You were trying to say freckles. I can't get over how smart you are and how many words you know.

On Friday you started a new class called "Giggle Time." Daddy came with us and you were SO excited when you saw all the things you could play with. You have a hard time listening and you really want to do your own thing. I hope this changes as you get older. I don't want another naughty little boy in our family! Mama's heart can't handle it. Nana surprised us by coming to the class too! Here are some pictures:

You are so lucky she lives so close and can spend so much time with her. You love her so much and she is crazy about you too! Last night you told me that you watched Nana drive away on the bench and she waved. You also adore your Papa. I love that you plug your nose when I change your diaper and you say "Papa says P.U." I also love that you want part of the vacuum to use as "Papa's cane."

I really hope the Motrin helps and that your teeth come in soon. I need my sweet, non cranky little boy to stick around. Today was a really good day so I hope that continues!