two sick kids

We’ve been very fortunate in our home to avoid most of the germs that have affected everyone around us. The sitter, all the kids she watches and their parents all fell ill with the stomach flu one weekend and we managed to dodge that bullet and remain healthy. The only time we visited the pediatrician's office were for checkups and the dreaded vaccinations – until his seven month birthday.

After a sleepless night and day (honestly, the kid slept a total of 3 hours from 2 a.m. until 5 p.m. the next day) we brought him in. He never ran a fever, no crankiness and still had an appetite but it’s not like Cam to go that long without sleep. Off to the pediatrician who confirmed our fears – his left ear had an infection.

In the scheme of things, it’s minor and antibiotics should clear it right up. The eardrops for pain are not his favorite thing but I have mastered the art of dispensing them at 4 a.m. in the dark without waking him up. His sleep is fitful, but he is taking his sore ear like a champ. Now if we could get back to sleeping through the night all would be well in the world of Cam.

Which leads me to the other “kid” in the house, Pip. Back in July he had a growth removed from a paw which ended up being a benign tumor (the photo was taken after the last surgery). After surgery he developed a second one closer to his pad which cannot be ignored any longer. He is scheduled for surgery on the 4th and my job will be to keep his wound dry during the wet winter months. Lucky for him, he can go to work and get 24 hour care supplemented with a ton of treats.

Besides my own household, I have many family members who could use any healing thoughts you can send their way. My grandmother is fighting pneumonia and gearing up for a heart valve replacement surgery in South Carolina. My nephew Noah is fighting his sixth (!) ear infection. And Cam’s second cousin Xander is recovering from RSV.

I am one mom who has had enough medical drama lately.

we changed our mind

I LOVE PEAS!

girls!

We arranged for a couple of playdates recently with two of the cutest girls I know. First up, we had dinner with Mila and her family. Mila was born two days after Cam in the same hospital, so they have been buddies from the start. 

Mila is rolling around and SO close to crawling. Cam hates being on his belly but gabs and gabs.

It’s so much fun to see the two of them together. And amazing to see the developmental differences between them even though they are only two days apart. Mila will be running circles around him soon, but at least he’ll be able to tell her to slow down!

Then we got to hang with Tessa, who is almost a year old. We took out all the toys Cam hasn’t gotten the hang of yet and Tessa was happy to show him what to do.

 

Her belly is a little bigger than Cam’s, but they are almost the same height. I’m sure his belly will catch up soon, now that he’s eating solids.

While Tessa got into all the toys, Cam just sat and watched. Big kids have so many skills, and he has so much to learn!

Now that he’s had his first two dates, I wonder which one he’ll bring to prom…glad it’s up to him and not to me. ;-)

the many faces of eating

Cam has moved onto solids, but not easily. Recently we tried carrots and peas.

Cam was sure to let us know what he thought.

Carrots did not go over great.

Neither did peas.

Apples, oatmeal and bananas went over better, but he’s still hit and miss. Sometimes he’ll finish two tablespoons and other times he refuses everything. And he still doesn’t understand you have to open up wide for a spoon. The joys of learning to eat!

there’s a monster in my tub

Bath time gets more fun the older Cam gets. So much so, we moved the tub from the sink to the tub.

Can you see why?

raspberries continued...

There is a lot to learn when you’re a baby. Which makes it hard to remember everything you already conquered. We found this out one day when Cam was getting very frustrated after he lost his raspberring ability.

Lucky for us, his talent came back with a vengeance. And the ability to soak through shirts in ten seconds flat.

ready for the amusement park!

Reason #2 why I know Cam is my kid.

He’s ready for the thrill rides. But if he takes after me, he’ll have to wait a long time. Stupid height restrictions.

first feeding

Like the majority of moms, we started with rice cereal when starting solids with Cam. Listen closely and you can hear me lie to my child for the first time. (Hint: rice cereal is NOT yummy.)

stupid human trick, baby edition

Cam hasn’t taken his first swim lesson yet, but we know we’re ready.

Just a slight blow on his face, and he takes a deep breath. It made us giggle quite a bit.

6 months already?

Yes, I’ve been a bad blogger. Like everyone else I was wrapped up in the mayhem of the holidays and couldn’t find the time to update a blog. Any free time I had was spent catching up on my house to-do list (yay for shampooed carpets). Work was a little slow, but I didn’t think they would appreciate me billing hours to a blog instead of Cat Chow.

Cam turned 6 months on Christmas day. It was also the first day that he could truly sit up on his own without any assistance. Santa was very good to Cam, and he enjoyed all the wrapping paper Santa used to wrap gifts with.

What gifts, you ask? Who knows, he loved the paper. Although his new giraffe friend was a huge hit.

Christmas day was also the first day that Cam could really sit up unassisted. I’m not ready to walk out of the room while he’s sitting up, but he is more stable everyday. He is also learning to crawl, but not on his hands and knees. While he can get up on his hands and knees, he hasn’t figured out how to do both at the same time. Instead he gets up on his knees and pushes forward on his face. We’re still working on it.

Cam is also eating more and more solids. It has been hit and miss on what he will eat and how much of it, depending on how his mouth feels. We have been making our own baby food, and are trying out new tastes. So far he has tried rice cereal, oatmeal and carrots. Getting the food to the mouth is a challenge; he would rather do it himself. To much success, as you can see.

As for the rest of us, we’re doing well. Chris is still on the job hunt, so pass his information along! In the meantime, he’s using his free time to work on the basement. I finished a huge project at work just in time to start more. Pip is learning to be a very tolerable brother and hasn’t minded the occasional ear tug from Cam.

Consider yourself updated. Hope you had a great holiday!