Cammi Love It!

I know its been a while since I've blogged. I could promise to do better but who are we kidding?

In any case, i have been inspired to write by Cameron's 3rd birthday which is in one week! I was looking through pictures of her first and second birthday parties and thinking of what she was like then and now. As much as she has changed, she has also stayed so much the same. When I logged into the blog, I read the last post I wrote over a year ago and had to laugh because I used some of the same words to describe her then as I was planning to use in this post. Although they are all still true. there are two things I wanted to write about tonight, in particular her passion and the fact that "I love how she loves EVERYTHING". It's funny how much those things still impress me about her even though she has been that way all along.

I never much cared for the nic name "Cammi" plus I really couldn't decide how to spell it. I always called her Cameron or "monkey" or "munch" but I never really abbreviated her name except when i would write it, I would write "Cam". Well somewhere along the line, when I asked her what her name was she said "Cammi!". Actually, she said "Tammy" but she meant "Cammi". So it stuck! And I do call her that sometimes now. I'm not sure where I came up with the spelling. I think someone else (maybe my mom) spelled it like that so I went with it.

Not only has she decided to go by Cammi, she also talks about herself in the third person. "Cammi tired", "Cammi turn" "Cammi more milk". While her first sentance was something along the lines of "I don't want any" or "I don't want no cheese!", her most frequently used sentance is "Cammi love it (fill in the blank)!" She really does love everything. When she says it, she says it loudly and passionately with a smile on her face. She sounds so excited and awe struckin with whatever "it" is. Over the last few days I was taking note of the things "Cammi loves" and how trivial many of them seem to me. For instance, in a public bathroom the other day, "Cammi love it toilet paper!" She really meant it too! She was interested in the toilet paper and the fancy holder from which it came.

So I decided that I would write down all the things that "Cammi loves" today. It will also give you insight into her day. Here they are in the order in which she said them:

"Cammi love it Butterfly!"

"Cammi love it baby Hanna!" (My cousin's daughter. Although they haven't seen each other in a few months and I have no idea where that came from. Sweet though!)

"Cammi love it Pig!"

"Cammi love it Dog!"

"Cammi love it Giraffe!"

"Cammi love it Faith!" (her friend)

"Cammi love it Jump jump!" (the indoor toddler gym we go to)

"Cammi love it friends!"

"Cammi love it Mommy's car!"

"Cammi love it this!" (grabbing a pair of her pajama bottoms while I was folding laundry)

"Cammi love it Faith!" (again)

"Cammi love it baby too!" (referring to Faith's baby sister)

"Cammi love it Daddy!"

"Cammi love it jump jump!" (again)

"Cammi love it class!" (dance class)

"Cammi love it baby!" (referring to a baby doll)

When possible, the sentance is accompanied by a tight embrace of said object. She still loves EVERYTHING and I just love how she reminds me everyday to take pleasure in the little things and be grateful. Everything is a new and exciting adventure to her. Its so fun to watch both my girls discover and experience things for the first time, even a toilet paper holder!

Mommy love it Cameron!!

Expectations

When I was pregnant with Cameron, we thought we were having a boy for a while.  I thought if I had a boy, he would be a rambunctious, climbing, crib breaking, paint-chip eating baby like his dad (this was based on Mike's own description).  Then when I found out I was having a girl, I thought she would be like me.  In fact, we both said we were going to have a blue-eyed version of me.  What we got was a brown-eyed version of Mike. 

Saturday, we put Cameron down for a nap.  Mike looked at the monitor and said "She's not in her crib!"  We went into our bedroom to find her sitting in the middle of our bed wearing his gym lanyard and playing with things out of my nightstand with a big smile on her face.  So Mike got out the drill and lowered the crib way below how it's intended to be used.  In less than 5 minutes, she was hanging over the side of the crib.  We gave up on nap time and she rewarded herself by putting on her gymnastics ribbon.  Next plan--we got her a sleep sack--basically a sleeping bag with arms so she couldn't lift her leg up over the crib.  That worked for three days until today when she walked out of the bedroom wearing it like a cape.

See how proud of herself she is? 

Mike said "She's a carbon copy of me!"  haha.  She is a lot like her Daddy and nothing like I expected.  She challenges me and makes me laugh every day.  She is so much fun and such a joy and quite a beauty (who knew Mike would make a pretty girl?).  I love her spirit and determination.  I love that she has rythm, which I don't.  I love that she loves EVERYTHING!  I love her big brown eyes.  I love her golden hair.  I love her passion.  I love her smile.   I love the way she hugs her stuffed animals.  I love that she is constantly coming to me for kisses and blowing them at me from the back seat.  I am so proud of how kind and gentle she is with other kids even when they aren't with her.   I honestly wouldn't change a thing about her. . .  Although, I might change her sleeping habits.  Actually, I'm sure there is a purpose in all that too.  I just don't know if I'll have the clarity to figure out what that is until I'm not so tired. 

God knows what he is doing and he gave us the babies we were meant to have.  I make a point to thank him for that every day.  I learn from them just as they learn from me.  I really don't know what to expect from either of them in the future but I am looking forward to finding out what they have in store for us.  And no expectations . . .  except they better like Disneyland. 

Oh yeah and we did get our blue-eyed mini me, just not when we expected it.  

A morning at the lake feeding the ducks

Sounds peaceful, doesn't it? It wasn't.  Not with 1 crazy toddler, 1 fussy baby, and 2 evil geese. 

We met my friend Sara and her 2 boys at the lake to feed the birds.  I'd like to blame the idea on her, but I can't.  It was mine. I had Cameron all dressed up in her sparkly pink tennis shoes and her pink leopard pantsuit.  She started walking toward the water and I told her no and tried to herd away which caused a minor meltdown (Cameron, not me).  Sara says, "She won't walk in the water will she?"  I told her I thought she would since my child is missing the part of her brain that says "caution" but against better judgement we decided to see what she would do. 

A couple of birds start fighting and Sara and I watched to see what would happen.  Of course Cameron took that opportunity to . . . yep . . . walk into the lake with the ducks.  So I go running toward her.  She runs a little further into the lake and plops down into the water.  Now her cute pink shoes are soaked along with her cute pink butt and my new running shoes.

I didn't get a picture of any of that since I was too busy fishing my kid out of the lake (don't worry it was shallow) but here are the shoes that used to be cute and pink:


After being dragged out of the water, Cameron finally got the hang of feeding the ducks and giggled as they scurried after her bread.  I spotted Sara feeding a big ugly duck so Cameron and I went to check it out.  Except I think it was about here that Ellie woke up from all the running in the lake commotion and started fussing.  So I start to head back toward Ellie in the stroller while Cameron went to see the big ducks with Sara.  These evil birds apparently have no fear of humans, or at least Toddlers because they went right up to Cameron.  I start yelling at them and trying to get Cameron to come toward me but geese don't seem to listen any better than one year olds.  One started pecking at what used to be her cute pink sparkly shoes as I run toward her yelling, "NO NO NO".  They finally moved a couple feet away from her.  Cameron didn't mind the ducks at all.  The only thing she didn't like was her crazy mom running and screaming "NO". Those birds were persistent until Sara chased them away while throwing dirt at them.  I didn't get a picture of them since I was again too busy yelling and running but they looked something like this:


Once our kids were sufficiently wet and muddy, we decided to reward ourselves with lunch.  Cameron did not want to leave and started tantruming. I had to change her wet clothes and strap her into the carseat.  Now both my kids are screaming and Cameron is arching her back so I can't get her in her seat.  Sara has loaded both her kids before I even got one in.  Did I mention I lost my car key too?

Sara came to help calm Cameron and then she said "Don't you start crying too!"
Me: I'm not
Sara: I was talking to my kids
Me: Oh

We finally made it to lunch and had a good laugh.  I have to say that that was the craziest morning with two kids I've had so far which is pretty lucky.  Cameron is usually a pretty sweet girl. I'm thinking that goose was a bad influence.

Here is a picture of Cameron and Sara's cute boy with the nicer ducks:


Hope you're all having a better day than Cameron's shoes.  

Violet