Sunday trip to Barney Schwartz park

Since today was the last (boohoo) day of our holiday vacation (back to reality tomorrow!), after Cam woke up from his afternoon nap, we took him over to Barney Schwartz park to play for a while. Its been a while since we'd been over there - 3-4 months! It was a bit chillier than we'd realized temperature-wise but that didn't slow Cam down at all; the last time we were here he needed to hold our fingers to walk - this time he ran around under his own steam!

Daddy showed Cam how to "climb" up on some of the stuff at the park (hmmm, that might not have been so good in retrospect!) and they both had a great time sliding down the slide. Cam did it over and over, even got brave enough to do it on his own :) There is a tube that kids can crawl through - last time we were here Cam could stand up in there with lots of room to spare. He tried to stand up in there and bonked his head! Little dude is getting tall.

We had a lot of fun, got a bunch of great photos (little dude still seems to grow and change every day) even bumped into one of our neighbours' with her two children. Maybe all this fresh air will help Cam sleep better tonight (never too early for a Christmas miracle!! Only 352 days, right? ;) )

We're a bit late with this but Happy New Year to all our family, friends and loved ones!
Love,
Cameron, Michelle and Kevin

Halloween party fun

Our next door neighbour's Katherine, Jason and Ryan had a great Halloween party this afternoon we were invited too. Lots of food, fun games (a piñata!), more food and running around. Cam fell in love with one of the pumpkin pillow decorations, but also with part of Jason's costume, a Nerf sword. Then there were all of Ryan's toys to play with - it was a busy time for him, lol. Kevin and I got to relax in a very kid-proofed home and enjoy ourselves too with a bunch of other parents (Cam ISN'T the only kid that doesn't sleep through the night!! So nice to hear that!!)

Cam did get to wear his costume (which was a giraffe, like George, natch) but it turns out the 18-24 month size was too small!! His torso was longer than it allowed for the hood, with the really cute giraffe head, to come up over his head, although the sleeves and legs were long enough. Bummer!! I'll try to find something else before Friday for him but we're so disappointed this one doesn't fit. :( Cam was still freakin' adorable in it, hood or not!

The highlight of the night for everyone was the piñata, of course :) Cam was allowed to take a few swings at it (we feared for Jason and Katherine's windows but all is well there!) - he loved being able to participate with the "big kids" and joined in when the piñata was cracked open, although he didn't notice when we stuck the candy he collected in the other kids bags (phew!). We all had a blast and are so grateful to live next door to such wonderful people! (Mommy's streak of fantastic neighbours' continues - Charles and Sarah used to be neighbours too!)

Still loving the new camera

Saturday hijinks before the Halloween party - Cam getting thrown up in the air by daddy :) If I could catch his 28lbs, I'd do it too, but I don't trust myself or my biceps! Cam loves this of course, even though its a tad scary for mommy. As far as he's concerned, the higher he goes up, the more fun it is!

Morning snooze

The boys were up *early* this morning, and when I woke up (K had turned off the alarm and closed the door to the bedroom to let me sleep in, what a doll!) at 8:15am, the house was super quiet. I found them on the sofa in the family room. Too cute for words!

Cam and Daddy chillin'

Cam and daddy hung out and watched a little "Elmo's Adventures in Grouchland" before Cam's nap today. With George, of course :)

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Daddy turned 40 today :)

At his request there was no party and it was a low-key family day. On Saturday we went to a pool party/chili cook-off at our neighbour's, Ray and Letica's, and they, along with our next door neighbour's Jason and Katherine, conspired to get Kevin a surprise birthday cake. After a rousing course of "Happy Birthday" (which Cam totally and utterly adored) from the rowdy crowd, we took home a giant piece of carrot cake, since Cam was getting tired.

Daddy was also thrilled with his "surprise" - a work area w/all the fixin's for the garage: workbench, wall cabinets, huge floor cabinet and tool case. Now he just needs a project to work on!!!

The fitness craze sweeping the nation...

Cam-ercise!

Cam and daddy

These two were hanging out in the backyard in the late afternoon and I managed to get a nice photo (and 30 others that are quite bad). Its been hard to get Cam smiling lately b/c he's cranky from teething, but we did get a little video of him giggling at the dogs outside and will try to upload it soon.

Super-Frog!

Cam is modeling the latest in baby bathware; a froggy hooded towel. And daddy isn't trying to strangle him, he's tickling Cam :)

The first November post!

Today Cam is 8 weeks old (already, holy cow!) and unofficially 16lbs (we weighed him here at home with our scale). We have a pediatrician appointment on Thursday, so we'll share the "real" weight then! He's sleeping more and more at night (hooray!) and lots of fun during the day; cooing, smiling, laughing and, occasionally, yelling loudly to let us know he has a wet diaper or is ready for a nap. His personality is definitely starting to show; he's just as stubborn as mom and dad!

We took a trip up to San Jose yesterday to see Auntie Sherry and also for Cam to meet Leah. He did great in the car; only got upset just outside of San Jose b/c it turned out he had a blowout. Otherwise, the trip went well. We didn't get any photos of Cam with Leah b/c it was almost dark, but we'll go up again soon. Leah was definitely interested in sniffing both Cam and Kevin; I'm sure she recognizes that Cam belongs to us :) (not because we had treats).

BTW - I think the sheepskin cover we got for Cam's carseat was a good purchase; even though it got into the low-mid 80s yesterday, he didn't overheat in the carseat like he usually does.

Here is a link to Ba-Ba Seatskins in case anyone else has this problem too. The man that owns this company is super nice; he got our cover to us while in the midst of all the fires down in Southern CA! The cover was a bit expensive but totally worth it since Cam is now comfortable and not drenched in sweat every time we take him out in the car. I think shipping was free too and in CA, we got it the next day.

Daddy and Cam playing with mirrors

Cam has discovered mirrors and loves to stare at himself. He does have a limit and when he's had enough, the yelling starts :)

Kevin was trying out the baby carrier (Cam is getting awfully heavy to carry around all the time in our arms) and Cam spotted himself in the mirror. THEN he spotted daddy in the mirror and lots of cooing ensued. Pretty darn cute; wish I'd had the video feature on!!