Cameron: 18 Months

Welp.  My leetle C-Lil is 18 months old!  It's kind of cool because Aves's 1/2 birthday is on my dad's actual birthday and CamCam's 1/2 birthday is one day after my actual b-day!  Fun :)

How cute is that dress that Uncle Yiyi hooked C-Lil up with from Honduras?  Anywho.  They say that with the second kiddo, time goes SO much faster.  Honestly?  I don't feel that way at all.  I think it's because with Avery, we kind of missed the whole phase between 1 and 2 because Cameron was a newborn and stole all of our attention and energy ha.  So experiencing Cameron and everything that comes along with a 14-18month old has seemed kind of new.  It's SO fun and so incredibly adorable :)  

We haven't had Cam's 18mo appointment yet, so I don't know her stats, but I'll get those up as soon as we get 'em!  Here are some other fun things about the little munchkin @ 18 months:

• Sings Twinkle Twinkle pretty well, especially "up above" and "HIIIIGGGHHHHH!!"  :)
• She has fallen in love with "I'm a little Teapot" and bops her head back & forth like crazy every time she hears it.
• EVERY SINGLE THING that she gets, she MUST give Avery some as well.  As soon as we give her a bite of something, a toy to play with, a bath, a hat, she immediately says, "Avewy??" and points to wherever big sis is.  Makes sense I guess.  She's never known life without Aves!  
• She still eats like a champ (when she's healthy).  She likes pretty much everything we give her, and girlfriend LOVVVES her some milk!
• She loves to tickle our feet.
• She loves to give kisses.  Especially to my dad (Big Poppy) during Skype seshes. Kind of adorable.
• She can sort of count.
• She's learning her colors.  She is extremely into yellow.  I don't blame her.
• She can bust out animal sounds on the spot and calls animals the sound they make instead their actual name.  "teet-teet" is her fave.  
• When she's super pumped about something she sees, she raises her eyebrows 12 inches, widens her pretty little eyes, and points with major enthusiasm, "See? See?" with each exclamation getting more & more shrill.  Love.
• She loves cars, balls, & rowdiness. 
• She hearts her "beebeebee" (bellybutton)
• I'm pretty sure she's faster than Aves...and has been for quite a while now :)
• She is a rowdy little thang.  She STRUGGLES with the word, "gentle".  But she is SO insanely sweet.
• On Christmas morning, Aves beelined for the shiny little pair of plastic high heels and couldn't see ANYTHING else in the room for 20 minutes.  Except Cameron's pair of high heels.  The second she spotted them, she ran over and desperately tried to get Cameron excited about them.  To no avail.  Cam had spotted her basketball goal and wanted nothing more.  Blinded by love.  Love what an individual my little Cam Cam is.  She and Aves are similar, but SO their own person.  
• She still naps once a day and goes to bed around 8ish..or a little before.  
• Her current fave thing to say is, "hummy.  hummy." (hold me) and if I say no, she alters her request to "wap, wap" (lap).  How is a mom to resist??
• Anytime I'm working on something in the kitchen (which is a LOT), she runs to the playroom (with aves), grabs her little wooden chair, drags it into the kitchen and climbs up to watch what I'm doing.  Love my cute little company :)
• C-Lil is a total goofball.  She keeps us entertained and cracking up on the regular.  Aves + Cam = a house full of ridiculousness.  (and love)
• She still sings her song... "wahwahwah, wahwahwah"  Only those who have heard it can read that properly :)
• My youngest child is an allergy baby.  Poor little nugget gets super stuffy and bigtime watery eyes every few weeks.  It effects her sleep & eating, but it doesn't usually effect her mood too much :)  #trooper (yes, i just hashtagged my daughter)
• Camerton just straight up adores her big sis and it makes me sooo heeppppyyyyy
• She also is IN LOVE with her faj.  She asks for him pretty much every morning, LOVES to kiss him goodnight, and asks about him all day while he's at work.  Daddy's girl much?  Loooooks like it.  
• I put Cameron's hair in a little "pebbles" hairdo everyday because I think it fits her personality SO perfectly.  I know some people probably think it looks ridiculous, but I think it is perfection, and so I shall continue.  Maybe forever.  Who knows?  
• I LOVE YOU C-LIL!  I love our time hangin' out before Aves wakes up from her naps.  I love your presh little giggle.  I love how excited you get when we praise you.  I love how much you adore your seester & your daddy. I love your hugs & kisses and ridiculous amounts of bouncing-off-the-wall energy (until you crash & burn into a pile of exhaustion...which, for the record, I also love)

Happy 1/2 bday little munch!  Tomorrow is mini-cupcake making day up in hurrr girlfriend.  Love you mucho my sweet!  (and you too, Aves)

Cameron's First Pigtails

When CamCam was a teeny-tiny, people ALWAYS thought she was a boy.  Regardless of how much pink she had on, the fact that she never kept a bow on her head resulted in millions of "how old is he?", "oh he's a precious boy!" blahblahblah.  I really didn't care to be honest.  I know that the name "Cameron" threw people off even more, so I would just say thanks and, "oh, by the way...she's a girl.  don't feel bad...everyone calls her a boy!"  I'm pretty sure people still felt bad.  :)

We're pretty far past the gender confusion stage, but just for those who might still have the inkling to call my C-Lil a boy, SHE CAN NOW ROCK THE PIGGIES!! I pulled Cam's hair into pigtails the other day and um... I melted.  She looked SO presh.  her hair just seems to get thicker and longer everyday!  I'll prob have to give her first trim soon to keep those bangs out of her eyeballs.  (tear).  So crazy that my leetle lovebug is getting so big! 

Aves was this age when Cameron was born (actually about a month younger), and it's just so crazy to think back to how OLD we thought Averton was.  Sweet little nugget was still SUCH a teeny baby and had to take on the big sis role.  But man, she did SO great at it, and continues to bring joy to my life by being SUCH a sweet, tenderhearted, caring big sis.  

Love my girlies.  

And LOVE these pigtails :)

Teeth & The Paci

Little Cam Cam did super awesome at the dentist!  She cried (of course) while the x rays were happening, and while they were feeling all around in her mouth, but stopped IMMEDIATELY when they were done (which was seriously shocking) and was just a jolly little nugget full of smiles and waves for everyone!  Super thankful for that.

The x rays looked good...no root damage!  Woohooooo!  They think the teeth will gradually move back into their normal position.  They WILL bruise (just like a normal body bruise, but it lasts for 6-12 months. Yikes.)  SO glad it's her baby teeth and not her permanents :)   Their only real concern is the damage to her gums & the looseness of her teeth.  We're back to the diet of a 6-month old.  Nothing firm or crunchy.  Only super soft foods and NO MORE PACI (this was a terrifying revelation for me) for the next 6 weeks so that her upper teeth/gums can try to heal.

The food is no biggie.  The paci, however, made me almost sick.  Breaking Avery from her paci was one of the most horrific experiences of my life as a momma.  To this day, I think it was the most traumatic thing Aves has ever been through.  I'm sure you remember my emotionally burdened state when I wrote this post or this one.  Our experience with Aves led us to the decision that we would take Cam's paci BEFORE she hit "2".  Well... this just came a little earlier than we had planned.  Oh well :)  Still though, the thought of taking her one form of self-soothing from her at such a traumatic time made me SO sad!!

The outcome?  Her first paci-less nap-time consisted of about 50 minutes of IRRITATED screams/crying.  Then about 30 minutes of sleep.  That night when I put her down... NOT A PEEP.  And same thing for naptime and bedtime today.  NO CRYING!  Whoa.  Thank you JESUS for sparing me from the paci-weaning-induced emotional treachery I am all too familiar with :)

Yay Camcam!  Hope you reallllyyyyy like boiled carrots, brocolli, & yogurt, my sweet!!

PJs & Pancakes!!

Like I said, we played it super low-key for Camo's first birthday party, and we lovvved it :)  We opted for a morning party, so that we could clean up the night before and get the party started early without having to worry about keeping the girls from demolishing the casa all day long.  Super low-stress way to do it.  B-Riz helped me clean up, set up tables, grocery shop, cut fruit, etc on Friday night.  When Saturday morning rolled around, all we had to do was cook!  We made eggs, bacon, sausage, and about 875,000 mini pancakes.  The 4 kiddos had super-fun crazy-straw cups to drink their milk out of, and the parentals had a little coffee bar along with some mimosa action :)  Originally, I had planned on letting the kiddos sit on a giant water proof blanket and "decorate" their pancakes with the assortment of toppings, but they were hungry, and we were lazy, and so we topped out kids pancakes and parked them @ the table to enjoy their masterpieces :)  Much easier, and they didn't know the difference!

Cameron got a super-cute pink lazy chair w/white polka-dots so that she doesn't have to fight Aves for the Longhorn recliner anymore.  Their 2 little toddler chairs are parked right next to each other in the living room and it's the cutest thing ever!  Camo's friends hooked her up with an impressive supply of Disney/Minnie gear which included a bobble-head-looking sippy cup, a book, a bowl, a stuffed baby-Minnie, AND Minnie slippers (cutest things everrr!)  Thank you guys for spending the day making her (me & B) feel special!  Thanks for being good sports & wearing your PJs.  Thanks for being our friends!  We love you Wegs & Simants!

Toppings!  

adult table turned kids' table. they felt super cool :)

NOM.NOM.

soooo excited to be skyping w/nonni & big poppy!

we can always count on aves to be a super awesome helper!

first of many minnie-items :)

Cutest litlte Minnie-slippers EVER.  and of course loving the Minnie sippy :)

LOVE MY ONE YEAR OLD NUGGET!!!!

Cameron Lily : My 1-yr Old Sweet Pea!!

God blessed Brian, Avery & I a year ago with the birth of our baby munchkin, Cameron Lily Bradford!  Can't believe you're 1, my sweet!!  We love having your spunky, silly, rambunctious little personality in our lives everyday, and we loved getting to celebrate just YOU this past weekend.  It hurts my heart sometimes that Cameron never gets a change to be in the spotlight all by herself, but this weekend was alllll about her!  

hi, im one!!

Friday was her actual birthday, which we spent @ the doc for her one-yr check-up.  

One Year Stats:

Height:  ?? (90% or something along those lines)

Weight:  20lb 4oz  (38%)

@ the doc

Words: hi, bye-bye, more "moh"

Tricks: high fives, blowing kisses, giving hugs, waving, dancing, bouncing, singing, climbing on EVERYthing

Fave things: giving hugs, morning snuggles, attention from big sis, snacks, avery's sippy, BLANKY!, the big purple bouncy ball, the pool

We met daddy for a little b-day lunch @ The Salad Stop, we ate cupcakes, C-Lil napped it up, and then we met some outta town friends @ Top Golf.  The boys played and Shelbs and I just loved on the girls :) It was a good night and a great day!

Proud daddy, wiped-out 1-yr-old!

Saturday morning was Camo's First Birthday Party!  We played it super low-key.  Just 2 other families & their kiddos, no out of town guests.  We missed the grandparentals FOR sure, but I canNOT tell you how awesome and adorable it was to have a small group.  We didn't miss a single detail of the little one's interactions.  Hope you had fun C-Lil!  We'll document the details when we get some pics!

*CHEESE ALERT*

Cameron, my angel baby, I adore every little thing about you.  It's crazy how completely you & Aves are in so many ways, but it's so super cool to see!  God has blessed you with gifts that differ big time from your what he's gifted your big sis with, and I think you two will be a killer team for His Kingdom when you grow up! I can't imagine a better morning than one spent on the couch w/CamCam snuggles.  I can't imagine a better road trip than one with little Camo singing along w/whatever music is on.  I can't imagine a better afternoon than one spent watching my baby munchkins play together and hug on each other.  I can't imagine a better life than the one you, your big sis, & your daddy give me every day!  You guys have all redefined who I am, and there's nothing I'd rather be than a mommy/wife to my wonnnderful little familia :)

Looking SO forward to watching you grow and change every single day, my sweet!  LOVE you SOOOOOO much!!

My 11 month old climbed out of her crib!!

Yes.

You read that correctly.

Little C climbed out of her crib!!

Yesterday, during her morning nap, I heard her playing around and knew she was awake.  But, I left her in there as long as she was content so that I could get my lunch on before the munchkins demanded every bit of my attention again...  in the middle of my delicious-salad-making-sesh Cameron busted out with a super loud cry.  After about 4 seconds, she just whimpered a couple times and returned to her normal low-key, "mommy come get me" cry.  I thought about finishing my salad prep (which ended being the BOMB.com, btw), but decided I should check on my leetle one.  I could finish my work with a baby on my hip.  So I scampered off to Cameron's room, opened the door, and what did I find?  A teeny little 11-month-old munchkin sitting on the floor right by the door with paci in mouth, blanky in hand, and tears in her eyes!!  Oh my goodness.  It was the scariest/most adorable thing of my life.  

I'm still kind of in shock about it.  Avery has still, to this day, never climbed out of her crib!

Ohhhhh C-Lil.  What am I gonna do with you??

Cameron is a Walking Machine!

So.  Cameron took a few steps a few weeks ago.  And then, she decided she was over it. She is the fastest crawler in life and I guess she could get where she wanted to get when she wanted to get there, so...crawling it was!  Well, THEN she decided that yesterday, it was time for her to move on up in the world.  As of Monday, June 13th, 2011, Cameron Lily is a walking MACHINE!  She chooses walking as her mode of transportation far more often than she chooses the good ol' crawl.  And she's doing awesome!  So fun to watch my angel grow and change!  BUT...I am cherishing every last bottle feeding I possibly can before she gives up the bottle! AH!!!!!  I LOVVVE having a little baby, and when the bottle goes bye-bye, so does babyhood (in my book.)

For now, I think my little walking baby is the cutest little baby in America :)  Love you, C-Lil!!

Cameron's First Steps!!

Camo took her first steps yesterday.  She's been pulling up and cruising around like a champ for a couple of months now, but has never shown any interest in trying it without support :)  She can speed-crawl with the best of them, so I guess she can get where she wants to go fast enough.  :)  Avery almost skipped the crawling phase and walked at 8.5 months, so we kind of thought Camo would follow suit.  I have loved the crawling phase though...I think it's super-presh to watch her sprint-crawl all over America.  

Anyway, yesterday we were playing with her ball and she just randomly stood up and took 2 steps toward me.  Then, she stood up and took 4.  And that was the end of it.  :)  It was so unexpected, and by the time I got the video camera, she was donesky.  Oh well, I got a cute little action-still :)  Cameron is growing UP!  

super-focused!