18 months and growing by the second!!!!

     It's so hard to believe we celebrated Cammie's 18 month birthday Friday.  My baby is definitely no longer a baby (who am I kidding....her baby days were so short lived even from the beginning :) In the blink of an eye she has become a very talkative, independent, head-strong, beautiful girl!   Right now Camryn: 

• is 33 1/2 inches tall (95th percentile....she is so darn tall!)
• weighs 28.1 pounds (90-95th percentile)
• primarily wears size 2t clothes (occasionally 18-24 months will work, but we often need the 2t length) 
• wears a size 6 shoe
• wears a size 4 diaper
• is a pretty good eater....not too many fruits she won't eat, seems to like most vegetables and even tried a chicken taco the other day :) 
• seems to enjoy a few new foods such as sandwiches, ravioli, cracker chips (apparently these are a huge hit with her and Nana), M & M's (go figure :), cheese sticks and grilled cheese
• will still only drink milk and water
• does NOT like macaroni and cheese (she will take it off her tray and hand it to you if you try to get her to eat it) 
• is cutting all 4 of her eye teeth....Nuxy must go once they are in :(
• is still attached to that crazy pink blanket
• absolutely LOVES to be outside.....she could stay outside all day long and will if you let her
• loves to read...some of her favorite books right now are Barnyard Dance, Chicka Chicka ABC, Farm Peek-A-Boo, I See a Monster and the first 5-6 pages of Click Clack Moo (I just love when she reads with you, "Cick, Cack, Moo"
• knows the sounds that a cow and dog make....we are working on the duck :)
• can show you all major parts of her body if you ask her where they are (feet, hands, hair, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, be-bo, biscuits :)
• can answer yes and no to most of the questions you ask her (and will give you an accurate or an appropriate answer almost every time)
• has started making connections to certain places when we are out and about or driving (if we pass Chick-Fil-A, Wendy's (strange because we rarely eat there, but we pass it everyday after school on the way home from Nana and Pop's house), or Subway she will start to sign eat or when we pass Target she will point and sometimes say, "Target" :)  (Shows you were we spend too much time :)
• has started "singing" along with familiar songs when they are on the radio or tv
• has developed an interest for watching tv....Special Agent Oso only :) She will ask for "Oso," point to the tv and hand you the remote...(she doesn't watch the entire episode, but the songs definitely keep and get her interest :)
• loves to give squeezes (hugs), kisses and high-fives when she is leaving, but sometimes you have to use reverse psychiatry on her and tell her not to give them :)
• loves to show off her amazing dance moves....we now have foot-tapping, fist-pumping, swaying back and forth, twirling and putting her hands on her knees and squatting up and down when music comes on
• talks, repeats and mimics constantly....she is learning and saying SO many new words (a few new highlights are Brohdi boy (not just Brohdi), milk milk (not just milk), doughnut, Lulu (Luciana) car, bus, come on (c'mon), love you, blankey, apple, bread, cheese)
• if you ask her where baby Ellie is she will lift Aunt C's shirt up and point to her be-bo :)
• continues to be a stinker when it comes to sleeping in her bed.....so inconsistent :( Sometimes she will sleep in there all night, but most nights she ends up in bed with Chris and I around 3:00 or later....we know it's our fault, but we decided in January it wasn't something we were going to fight because we knew we were moving in with mom and dad while we waited on the new house and her whole world and schedule would be turned upside down (can't tell you the wave of relief I felt after talking to Dr. Morgan at her appt. Monday and her reassuring it would be okay to work with her once we got settled and she wouldn't be too old....she even said she had to work through a similar situation when her girls were 2 1/2 and 10 months)
• loves to bump glasses and say "cheers" (thanks to her dad)
• really enjoys playing basketball with Chris and Zoey and the new basketball goal...she loves to shoot the ball and her dad has taught her to be a great rebounder :)
• HATES to be covered with a blanket
• will run to get a washcloth, throw it in the bathtub and stand by the tub if you ask her if she wants to take a bath
• will start gymnastics on March 12 :)
• is just growing, developing and doing something new each and every day!  Chris and I think she is a genius of course, but we are biased :) I just can't believe how big she is!  Love, love that little munchkin more than anything :)

Just a big goofball! :)

A Day Of Love

      Valentine's Day hasn't been a big holiday for me in quite some time.  Chris and I have been dating for 12 years and well....we just haven't made a big deal of it since we celebrated it for the first or second time together.  Mom and dad always acknowledged it, remembering to pick up a card, our favorite candy and maybe even a little surprise, but again it just wasn't a holiday anyone went all out or over the top with.  This year I had a few people help me look at Valentine's Day a little different...

1.  Cammie Marie:  I never believed I could love someone so much!  To say she has her momma wrapped around her finger is definitely an understatement!  I am so thankful each and every day for this little girl.  She fills my heart and reminds me daily how rewarding it is to be a mom.

2.  Chris:  I can't believe I am "one of those people." I can't believe I was given the opportunity to spend the rest of my life with my high school sweetheart :)  Unfortunately after 12 years we are guilty of being used to one another.  It has now become a rarity that either one of us do something super special or go out of the way for one another.  We each fill our days between working full-time, finishing school, being parents, coaching baseball, working out, etc. that when we actually get a few minutes to watch a show together or have some "down" time we are asleep in seconds.  When I actually allow myself to slow down and take a little time I realize how very lucky I am.  Chris goes above and beyond (usually with minimal complaints) to make me happy.  He will eat the same thing for dinner repeatedly, he manages my impulsiveness, he tries to help me see the positive rather than focusing on the negative, he reminds me I can do anything I put my mind to, he encourages me to embrace challenge and change, he makes dinner on a daily basis, and he would do anything in the entire world to make me happy.  Thank goodness I have someone to share my heart with on this day of love! :)

3.  Chrissie:  Sometimes I wonder how in the world I ever made it through life without this girl.  She is the best friend a girl could ask for.  Although I can never say enough wonderful things about her I have been especially appreciative of her during this whole moving fiasco.  Chrissie has opened up her house and time every step we have taken through out this process.  She has allowed our whole family (dogs included) to invade her house when ours was shown, she watched Cammie while Chris and I went searching for the perfect house and has agreed to allow all of us to spend as much time as we need or want at her house while we stay with mom and dad.  The day before Valentine's Day we had to evacuate our house once again and when we arrived for dinner she had Valentine's gifts laid out on the counter for B, Z, Cammie and myself.  Most of them were nothing more than purely thoughtful gifts that only we would appreciate.  My heart just filled knowing she took the time to think of us and remind us how much she truly loves us.  I am so lucky to have such a wonderful friend!

"Helping"

Camryn loves to help and be right in the middle of everything you do.  We love that she likes to help with the dishwasher (especially the silverware), dusting, putting laundry in and taking it out of the dryer or feeding the dogs. This is what her "help" looks like around the house....

Her favorite place to sit :)

INSIDE the dryer :) She uses the door to climb up and then in.

Feeding Brohdi

Oops....I think she missed!

Frustrated

Poor C...playing in the dirty clothes bucket wasn't near as fun as thought :(

She was trying to climb on the chair, in the bucket and obviously took a spill.  She was so frustrated when we tried to help her out and of course we couldn't help but laugh.  Love this little stubborn girl :)

Book, Please!!!!

     Cammie has really started to develop a love of reading (which her momma is just so thankful for! :) She will bring you a book, plop down in your lap and listen to the story (sometimes over and over :)  These are some of my absolute favorite moments with C right now.  She amazes me with the print concept skills she has developed so quickly and easily.  She knows the way a book should be held, how you turn the pages, when the cover is not on top, etc.  I just hope this love of reading continues!

Choosing the right book from the shelf

Found it....love the way she is exploring on her own :)

Mini Piggies

     Camryn's hair is usually a complete mess....we have entered that awkward growing stage where her hair is long in the back and on the sides, but pretty short on top. :) One morning she woke up and it was a little worse than usual. We tried a ponytail, wetting it and re-brushing it (Chris said that made her look like Donald Trump lol :) but neither of those worked so we tried something else instead....

Piggy Tails!!!
(I think they are too cute :)

Wondering....

what kinds of things go on in her little brain??? This morning it was just C and I getting ready to go to the Y.  Chris had left super early for an all day basketball tournament in Brownstown with his middle school team.  As I was finishing getting dressed and putting some laundry into the washer I noticed C taking all of her pajamas out of the drawer and putting them on the ottoman of her glider...not super unusual, however she did not stop there.  She moved them from the ottoman to her stool, then from the stool to the floor in front of her bed and finally from the floor to the playroom.  I love to see those little wheels turning, but wish I knew what she was doing! :)

Deciding what she wants to do with the 1st mess she made :)

Just one of her moves.....taking pajamas from  the ottoman to her stool :)

and moving them once again...silly girl :)