Cameron had a really fun weekend at Granny and PawPaw's. We brought him over on Sunday and he came home on Tuesday afternoon. He fed crackers to the ducks, rode the riding lawn mower, and played with all of the cool toys at their house - enjoying every minute of it. Can you tell?
Cameron's PT brought out these parallel bars about two months ago. Since then, he loves to walk back and forth across them several times a day. He especially likes it when there are two people (one on each side) to cheer when he makes it across. But, when it's just the two of us, I have to crawl back and forth to catch him (which he finds hilarious). You can see him playing his little game with me. He starts coming one way and then decides to turn around and go the other way to "trick mommy". Little Stinker.
I've been meaning to post this picture of Cam that I took the other day. He likes to hug something when he falls asleep (like this ball, his train, or a book). This particular ball is tricky because it plays music and moves by itself. So as soon as his eyes closed, I had to hurry up and turn it off without waking him up. It worked the second time.
My sister-in-law is giving me a hard time because of this picture. Yes, my child is covered in sunscreen. And yes, the water is cloudy because of it. But, I just don't want him to burn! His skin is just like mine...so he's just going to have to be slathered up every time he's in the sun!
We finally brought out the pool this year (it also makes a great toy box in the house). As you can see, Cameron really liked it. For some reason we didn't pull it out last year, but two years ago he wasn't really sure about it. He thought it was an outside bath or something. It's funny to see how much he has changed in two years!
While I was just looking through some old pictures of Cameron, I came across this one. I remember this day so clearly. It was two years ago, and it was the first time he pushed up on his arms like this. It just made me realize how far he has come.
Cameron has finally started "letting go" to try and stand independently. He has stood completely by himself for four second stints about five times. It is so exciting for all of us. I can't wait to tell his PT tomorrow!
Chris bought Cameron a really cool child bicycle seat that fits in between the adult seat and the handle bars. It's really cool because it allows the child to sit in the front. Cameron loves it, of course! He wears his horse riding helmet, and loves every minute of speeding through the neighborhood with Chris and I. But, his favorite thing is when we park (on the bike) near the busy road by our house. He absolutely loves watching all the cars, trucks, and if we're lucky, motorcycles go by. There's only one problem with taking him for bicycle rides...they must come to an end at some point! As soon as we turn into our driveway, the tears start rolling. But, I think the fun of riding on the bike outweighs the sadness of when it's time to get off.
Cameron spent Saturday with his MeMe. When he returned home that evening, he was ready to show us something new. If you ask him to "shake n bake" now he'll stick out his fist for a knuckle shake. This is really surprising, since he doesn't really do a lot with his hands yet. We're still working on waving "bye bye" etc. But I guess he thinks this is cool. Whatever the reason, it is something different and fun to do with him. It's also a great distraction when he's fighting me while I'm trying to feed him.
This is Cameron's favorite place. He absolutely loves watching cars, trucks, school buses, but especially motorcycles! The noisier they are, the better. If it wasn't so hot, he'd spend the entire day outside. Chris even bought us an electric fan that you can attach to the water hose. It shoots out a cool mist. Thanks Dad. Now I will be able to stay outside a little bit longer.
Cameron loves cardboard boxes! Recently, I was changing out some of his toys and putting some away in boxes. He loved playing with the boxes more than his "new" toys. But, I know this is how most kids are. My husband's grandmother told me that Chris used to love frozen orange juice cans more than his own toys. Like father like son.
Here's a shot of Cameron just waking up from his nap. I don't think I could get his hair to do that again if I tried. He likes to play a little game, pretending to still be asleep. But, as you can see, his smile makes it pretty obvious that he's really awake.
Cameron and I have really been enjoying the beautiful spring weather. He loves his new climber that he received from his grandparents (especially the lookout telescope)! He has started scaling down the side of it and getting on the slide head first.
Here he is just enjoying the breezy weather and watching Buster chase the mockingbirds out of the yard - as usual.
Cameron had a major workout this morning with his new PT. She is just wonderful. I wanted to take a shot of him in his newly modified walker (no more forearm troughs!) but he is too tired out for that at the moment. He walked a few houses down in the street with it and didn't mind that it was much more difficult. I'm so proud of him!
Cameron does not really enjoy brushing his teeth. He generally fights the whole process. He knows that if he keeps coughing, Mommy will stop so that he won't throw up. But, if I can distract him with a song I can usually get in his mouth pretty well. Last night "B-I-N-G-O" was a real hit. He loves the whole song. It's working to settle him down with everything from brushing his teeth to eating. But it's funny, when I try to change the lyrics to "Buster" or "Cameron was his Name-O" he looks at me with disgust. Let's stick to the real thing Mom...
Well, we met Cameron's new PT last week, and she'll be starting working with him on Friday. We are sad to have lost our other therapists, but we're also exciting to get to work with someone new. She'll be making home visits, so we're really thrilled about that. At three years old Cameron is now eligible for the public school preschool program for children with disabilities, but we are not ready to send him to school yet. In a few years we might change our minds.
Cameron is three years old, and has simultaneously reached his "Terrible Twos". Yesterday he wouldn't even let me feed him. He batted at his spoon and practically dumped out his bowls all over the floor. But when his Granny tried to feed him, he opened up like a little bird. I think there is a word for this....manipulation! I can only imagine what will be in store for me today.....
I can't believe Cameron is already three years old. He's getting so strong, and exceeding all his doctors' expectations. He goes all over the house in his walker, and is feeling much more independent because of it. He truly is our miracle boy.
Here he is with my mom. I just love this picture, even though it's a little dark. He certainly loves his MeMe!
Cameron loves Play Doh now. I don't know why we never thought about buying him any before. Just one whiff of the stuff and it takes you right back to being a four year old. Honestly, I'm having fun with it too. My biggest problem is keeping Cameron from trying to feed it to Buster.
Cameron's birthday present from all the grandparents was this big Little Tikes climber. My dad brought it over yesterday, and we put it together last night. His OT came by this morning and she found all kinds of ways that I can help him do lots of strengthening activities with it. Today his favorite thing was to throw his balls down the slide. It has a platform (complete with a telescope), a giant slide, a rope climb, and a rock wall that you must climb up. It's pretty big for him now, but he'll be able to use this for several years. Cameron says, "Thank you Granny,Paw Paw, MeMe, and Pa Pa."
Today we received wonderful news at our appointment with Cameron's Orthopedic Surgeon. His scoliosis curve has actually decreased by about eight degrees in the past three months. Last summer we brought him in for the first time to get a baseline report on the severity of the curve in his back. We have been going about every three months or so to do repeat x-rays. After the last visit (since the curve had increased by six degrees) he told us that Cameron would probably need to start wearing a hard brace starting in March. But then when we went today his curve was only twenty-six degrees! We are thrilled and relieved that he won't be needing a brace (at least for now). We've bought at least another four months of time without one. We are so thankful for visits like this!
This morning we went outside to enjoy the sunshine. Buster was having a field day at the expense of the mockingbirds, and Cameron was enjoying every minute of it. He loves Buster so much now. His favorite thing is when Buster runs fast through the grass and then changes directions on a dime. Buster really is a great dog. I'm glad that Cameron has a buddy like B.
Today was absolutely gorgeous, so I took Cameron out in the front yard this morning. After he did a little exercise in his walker, we sat down on some beach towels under the trees to watch the cars go by. This is one of his favorite things to do. He also saw a helicopter fly overhead and a motorcycle speed past our house. He just watches everything with amazement.
Cameron did really well with his physical therapy today. He was taking steps while holding on to the wall with only one hand. He's creeping along everywhere now with two hands, but he can do it with only one. He just doesn't know it yet. He also walked around our gas light in a circle while only holding on with one hand so were singing "Ring Around the Rosie," which he liked. He's really making progress!
Cameron has always been fascinated by our glasses. Chris and I both wear glasses at all times, so both pairs have been through quite a bit of abuse. I'm always amazed by how well mine have held up. He always manages to sneak a finger under them and fling them off before I can stop him. But now he'll go and pick them up and bring them back to me. He even does it to his grandmothers. They both wear reading magnifiers sometimes and so he loves to fling those off as well!
Cameron has been hiding lately. It's pretty funny. He likes to get under his baby bed with his animal train. And this is another spot he has found.
Cameron's new game is rocking the chair as hard as he can. One minute he was rocking the chair, and the next he was out cold. Seriously, he was snoring and everything. Sweet angel pumpkin.
Cam's had a cold all week. He ran a little fever on Monday and Tuesday, and now the stuffy nose has hit. He's not sleeping very soundly, so he's pretty cranky. But all in all he's handling it just fine. He just fell asleep on the floor in our room with his arm inside his Animal Train. Sweet angel pumpkin.
Cameron is in such a good mood today. He actually slept for eight hours last night, and what a difference that makes! Lately, he's been on the "rock star schedule." This is when you stay up until past midnight, take a three hour nap, have a bottle, and then stay awake until around 7:30am. Then, it's time to sleep until 10:00am. On days he has morning therapy he is not a happy camper! So Mommy was very excited that he slept like a little boy last night. He's still loving this push toy!
Cameron just received three new books with a particular theme. Can you tell that he likes horses? His Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Tommy just sent him these beautiful books to add to his collection. They have also supported his Hippotherapy - and we are all very appreciative of that! I can't wait to read these new books to Cameron tonight! Thanks Aunt "B" (and Uncle "T")!!!
Cameron has come such a long way over the past two years. His therapists will be changing when he turns three years old in March, and I will be so sad to see them go. But, I am so thankful for the progress he has made working with them. The picture on the top is from November of 2005, after his first PT session. The bottom picture was taken just a few days ago, with him taking steps behind his push toy! My sweet angel baby isn't a baby anymore!
Cameron just loves his dog, Buster. He follows him everywhere now. Yesterday he followed him into the kitchen in his walker, and he just stopped to watch him eat. Boys certainly love their puppy dogs...
We bought this little push toy for Cameron in September of 2006. At the time, he couldn't even hold a standing position. Over the months, I've pulled it out a bunch of times, but he never had the core strength to keep himself up, much less to take steps behind it.
Well, now he has his Crocodile Gait Trainer, so I just figured he wasn't ever going to use this little toy. We decided to give it away to someone we know that just had twins.
Anyway, today he crawled up to it, and so I helped him stand up behind it. He took off across the carpet! It is so amazing to see, because I remember how terrible it felt when he couldn't even stand behind it at almost two years old. I am just so proud of him! I had to call his Daddy and tell him the good news. Looks like we'll be keeping this one a while longer!
For all my talk about the great weather, it just hasn't been cooperating on the Fridays that we're scheduled for Cameron's Hippotherapy. Then, this past week, the therapist was getting over the flu, so we didn't go. So between the holidays and the weather, we haven't been in about a month. I'm hoping that the weather will cooperate this week. We all miss Cappy! For now, we're just reading the horse book he got for Christmas every night (I changed the horse's name from "Star" to Cappy).
Wow, this week's Heads or Tails theme is Heads: Anything that starts with the letter C. Well, let's see...Chris and Cameron are the most important people in my life, and my mom's name is Carolyn. Thanks Barb! :) Here's a picture of my favorite Cs.
Well, after Chris' adventures in Louisiana last weekend, things are back to normal. Here's a shot of my boys watching the Chargers vs. Colts NFL game today, as sadly, college football will not be on again until the fall. The NFL will have to do for at least another few weeks, until March Madness begins in March. I can't leave out my other boy, Buster. Here he is decked out for the LSU game. (Cameron loves his "B".)
Well, Cameron had another Hippotherapy session this morning. He started in September, and has now had a total of nine sessions. You may not believe this, but in that short amount of time, Cameron's strength has increased by leaps and bounds. He started "army crawling" back in February or March, which was around his second birthday. We continued to work with him to get him crawling, but he didn't actually start crawling on his hands and knees until after a few weeks of Hippotherapy! Cameron doesn't talk yet, but now he knows how to "tap tap" the horse to make him "go" and he's even holding on to plastic rings while balancing and riding on the horse. I've talked about it before, but it's truly amazing to see how much progress he's made in recent weeks. We are so proud of him.
This week I read a short little article in Time Magazine, entitled "Stay Off the Street." It explains how the newly released early episodes of "Sesame Street" on DVD come with a warning that the story lines "may not suit the needs of today's preschood child." Time says that some of the concerns were that "Cookie Monster eats too many cookies, and Oscar the Grouch is too grouchy." Hahahaha. Come on people. To read more, check out this article from the Rock Chick's blog called Life is Rantastic. So in the spirit of my favorite Muppets from "Sesame Street," here are some fun skits and cartoons from the show. Click to watch the clips on YouTube.
1. Sesame Street Pinball Cartoon
3. The Alligator King
7. You're Alive
8. This Frog
9. One Banana
11. Stevie Wonder Teaches Grover a Song
This was two years ago around this time. I was determined to get a great picture of Cam with his Christmas buddies. But, Cameron was not amused at all. He was quite disgusted with me for making him play "photo shoot." There are only a couple of smiles in the bunch, but there are about twelve other shots where he's looking equally annoyed. This one is my favorite.
Here's Cameron on his Zebra bouncer. This was during the LSU v. Ole Miss game on Saturday. The Tigers were able to beat the Rebels by a score of 41-24. This is the second week in a row that LSU has been ranked #1 in the BCS. There are so many different scenarios as to who they could play in the National Championship Game if they can win out. This has definitely been the year of upsets, and there is still a lot of football left to be played. I really hope that LSU will be playing in the National Championship Sugar Bowl this year! But first, they must beat Arkansas this weekend, and then play in the SEC Championship Game. Geaux Tigers!
To join in the fun, go to Weekend Snapshot.
This weekend was pretty laid back. We watched the LSU v. Louisian Tech game on Saturday evening, after going over to my parent's house for just a bit. Meme needs her Cameron fix....We are just still so pumped that Cameron is finally crawling! I know I've already said it, but we're so proud of him. His days of army crawling only are long gone. He finally wants to be up off of the floor. It's such a fantastic feeling to see him make this kind of progress. He's also pulling up to standing using the recliners and his Little Tike Picnic Table. This is a picture of him playing rough with Chris yesterday. But, of course, he had to stop and pose for the camera! Little ham....
To join in the fun, go to Weekend Snapshot.
You might be wondering what these things have in common. Well, they are Cameron's favorite things to hear. He is not into watching TV, unless it's a football game with lots of cheering. But, whenever he hears the theme to Young and the Restless, the Nasonex bee, or the commercial for Ambien (or Lunesta) he stops what he's doing and is mesmerized by the screen. I'm not kidding. There are a million different commercials for prescription drugs these days (blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.), and Cameron never misses one of them! He will freeze, turn around, and get right in front of the television until it is over. Then he goes back to playing. For this reason, I think music is going to be key in helping him communicate.
1.Cameron is still teething! It seems like it never ends. I've had to start giving him Motrin before bed again so that the poor little guy isn't waking up all through the night. I think he's getting two molars on his upper right, and one molar in the other three corners. Ouch! When he's not being active, he'll just look at me with both hands in his mouth, like "Mommy what's going on in my mouth?" I can't wait until this is over!
2. He has started full blown crawling on his hands and knees, and we are so proud of him! It's such an awesome feeling when he makes these incredible milestones. He's been army crawling for several months, but the "real crawling" has only been happening for about two weeks. He just continues to get stronger and stronger every day. His therapists are just in awe of him.
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