Rocks, rocks and more rocks

Cam's love affair with the small rocks in the back yard continue! So far he hasn't swallowed any but we have to keep a close eye on him.

Got this fabulous shot with the wonderful new lens my folks got me for Christmas (and also my 40th birthday in April - had to be a double-holiday gift b/c its just too much for one!) and we are looooooving it. The zoom now goes to 105mm, which is double what we had before, but the biggest difference is the vibration reduction - its really helping us get some great shots that would have been blurry with the other lens.

This is probably the BEST photo of Chance we've ever gotten - typically his ears are back (he's very submissive with us, we suspect abuse from his former owners) and we got lucky with the light :) We're betting we get some great photos this year courtesy of this wonderful lens. Thank you so much, mom and dad!!!!

I'm up to something!

We got this cute photo of Cam while Grams was over for dinner tonight - he totally looks like he's up to no good. We should get used to seeing this face :)

Merry Christmas!

First thing this morning, we got to do a video chat with Grammie and Grampie on the east coast - so much fun!

After our video chat, and some breakfast, Cam got in on the fun to open presents :) Santa and all of Cam's grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends were super generous, so we've decided to spread out his presents over 4-5 days so that he could enjoy a couple of gifts at a time instead of going into overload with all the new things.

We'd gotten this huge box in the mail and it had been a wonderful block on the fireplace to keep Cam from climbing up. Once opened, Cam found a great scooter that he's been enjoying pushing around the house and trying to dance to the music on it. We've really got to get his dance moves on video!

Thank you so much to everyone for their wonderful gifts - Cam loves everything and we love that he's starting to play for a bit on his own :) Merry Christmas!!

ps
here is a bit of video of Cam playing with his new musical scooter - he's figuring out how to ride it but has fun pushing it too...

Fun with Grandpa and Grandma!

Cousin Loretta's birthday party was yesterday (of course the first day in MONTHS that we got rain! But it cleared up and ended up being a gorgeous day.) and Grandpa Dick and Grandma Janice were up visiting. They came by on Sunday morning to have coffee and donuts, and play with the blocks that Uncle Steve, Auntie MA and Loretta got for Cam for his birthday.

It was nice to get to see them! We're hoping to see them again in a couple of weeks, when they are on their way back from Oregon, after they get their motor home from up there down to CA for the winter. :)

Dear Grandpa and Grandma Janice,

I loooooooove my wagon; thank you so much! I'm driving mommy and daddy nuts because I want to be in it all the time. This afternoon I learned a new game: getting in and out of the wagon on my own in the backyard. It helps to have both the seats turned down (see photo). Its tons of fun as long as daddy is there to help me. I can't wait to see you again so you can pull me around the neighbourhood in my awesome red wagon!

Love,
Cam

Last day of Grammie and Grampie's visit :(

Today was the last day of Cam's east coast grandparents visit. After 5 days of marathon stroller rides, lots of finger walking and general merriment, they headed up to San Jose to catch their morning flight back home to Rhode Island. Cam looooooved having them here for so long - every morning of their trip they were here when he woke up from his nap at 10am. We're hoping he's not looking for them tomorrow to rescue him from daycare!!

Thanks for making the trip! And thank you for all your help with Cam's birthday party - we really appreciate it!! We're looking forward to your visit for Cam's birthday next year (hint hint) :)

Adorablest :)

The Caminator was at the beach in Cayoucos with mommy, daddy and Grammie and Grampie today. Gorgeous cool weather (much to Grammie and Grampie's relief after triple digits in Paso) with sunshine, swings and sea gulls - awesome!

Happy Grandparents' Day!

This year Cam got to spend Grandparents' Day with all his grandparents; Marty and Ruth from the east coast, Karen, and Dick and Janice from the west coast. Uncle Steve, Auntie MA and Loretta joined us also. We all got to enjoy a great breakfast that K cooked outside on the patio before it got too hot. Happy Grandparents' Day to everyone!

Let the festivities begin!

Grammie and Grampie from the east coast are here! Mom and dad arrived late yesterday afternoon and Cam took right to them; loves their glasses and dad's nose :) They totally tired the Camster out today on a super long walk around the neighbourhood - he took a great nap - yay! We're on our way out to get some stuff for the birthday party now; more photos soon :)

Happy Birthday, Grams!

Karen (aka Grams), Kevin's mom came by tonight for a little birthday dinner with us. She, Cam and Elmo had quite the giggle-fest after Cam's dinner :) Cam even joined us for a bit more dinner when we all sat down, enjoying some of the beer-in-the-butt chicken (it's become a house fave since Daddy's Father's Day gift of a grill) and a lot of bread. He was still pretty tuckered out from daycare and when down just before 7pm. We had a blast w/Grams and are looking forward to dinner at her house soon. Happy Birthday!!

Da Da for Father's Day :)

Cam's "walking" is coming along quite well, as you can see in the video. So are his vocals; on Sunday he clearly said "Da da" for the first time :) K was thrilled! We also think he says "doggie" and "daddy" but its probably wishful thinking.

We had a busy weekend; Grandpa and Grandma Janice visited with us on Saturday and stayed the night, and on Sunday we got to go see Uncle Steve, Auntie MA and Loretta. Cam was invited to play in the pool, but the water was a bit too cold for him, so he declined - he had more fun getting passed around to everyone sitting outside enjoying margaritas and then had a blast playing down on the patio with Loretta and the dogs.

We did find out that the "Little Swimmer's" diapers don't really hold that much #1; mommy ended up drenched! Fingers crossed we don't find out about #2 the hard way :)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Father's Day!

Love,
M + K = C

Visit from Grandpa and Grandma Janice

Grandpa and Grandma Janice visited from SoCal today. Since Cam has decided to despise his car seat, we haven't tried to make the trip down since before Christmas. It was great to see them! We had some fun taking photos. Especially Cam, who is doing his best "Zoolander - Blue Steel" impression here :)

Cameron's first Christmas ornament

Grandma Janice gave this to Cam back in October and it was the first ornament on the tree, as well as being Cam's first ornament. We think it kinda looks like him with the chubby red cheeks and blue eyes :)

Thanks Grandma Janice!!

Cam the Moose-Elf :)

We went down to LA yesterday for Kevin's company holiday party at his boss' home in Tustin. The trip down was ok; Cam got within a half hour of Grandpa and Grandma Janice's house before having a meltdown. It was a rough afternoon but all three of us went to the party and Cam did super there, with the exception of when Sue (Kevin's boss's wife) tried to bring Cam into the dining room to meet the 40 or so people in there - waaaaaaaay too much for the little guy. But he loved being held by Sue (she did this cool semi-squat rocking that calmed him right down when he freaked out after seeing all the people) and was generally a very good boy, falling asleep on one of the bed's there for an hour and a half.

He slept pretty well at Grandpa and Grandma's, with the exception of accidentally punching daddy in the eye during the night :) No permanent damage! We had this cute Santa outfit for Cam to wear to the holiday party, but he ended up wearing his holiday Moose outfit with his Santa hat. We might try to get him into the Santa outfit and get a photo to share :) Aren't the moose-feet adorable?!?

We had a GREAT trip back home; Cam slept for the first hour, woke up at 10:30 so we pulled over, changed his diaper, fed him and played with him for about 45 mins, to let him out of his car seat for a while. He was such a good boy while we stopped, we got the last photo here. We got back on the road around 11:15 and got home around 2pm with no other stops :) Little guy did so awesome today!!

He was happy to be home; when Kevin took him out of the carseat and walked into the house, at first his eyes were all wild, but then he recognized where he was, totally relaxed and smiled this huge grin. We all had fun but were glad to be home. However, yet another weekend goes by without our Christmas lights going up!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cam had a great time over at Uncle Steve and Aunt Mary Ann's new home for Thanksgiving dinner. Grandpa held him and got some smiles, but Cam had the most fun with his cousin Loretta who got more smiles and coos from him than everyone else combined :) He was completely fascinated by watching her and she did a great job of playing with him as well as managing not to get her hair pulled!!

The "Burpie"

Cam has learned how to grab at items and loves to hold stuff in his fists. He's pretty indiscriminate - he'll grab your shirt when you're holding him, loves to grab (and not let go of) my hair when its not in a ponytail (ow!!) and has also started grabbing the little burp cloths off our shoulders and carrying them around with him, like a favourite blankie. Now he wants to have one in his hands when he goes to sleep! The last couple of times he hasn't settled right down for a nap, we hand him one of those and he's out within a minute.

Cameron's Grandma on the west coast crocheted 2 beautiful blankets for him, his east coast Grammie has bought him a plethora of cute flannel blankets w/dinosaurs embroidered on them, my godmother (his great-aunt Kathy) and cousin Chrissy crocheted him an adorable blanket, plus Chrissy made him a gorgeous quilt and one of my favourite clients had a blanket embroidered with his name and birthdate on it that's one of our favourites - the point being, there are some much nicer blankies to choose from!!

But no - Cam loves the $1 burp cloth...I realize this is just the beginning of him asserting his independence :)

The elusive "great" photo

Photographers make it look so easy to get a great photo of a baby; its not!! Of course, Cam is learning to become a more cooperative subject: he used to hate the flash but he's better about it now.

Back in art school I was so busy taking all the required classes for my graphic design degree I didn't take any of the "fun" classes, like glass-blowing, jewelry making or photography - I figured there was plenty of time for that once I had my degree. Ha! So now I'm wishing I'd taken at least one photography class so that I could set up shots better.

Anyway, this is the latest in the quest for the adorable baby picture :) His hair doesn't look this red in person, but his cheeks really are this chubby. The darling little outfit is from his Grammie on the east coast. Oh, and he really does have a back and legs; we were just trying to get all the backgound ickiness out of there with his white blankie :) And he's doing so great holding up his head from his tummy these days!!

Sigh; we're getting there! One of these days....