a visit to Santa

We took Cam to visit a special new friend tonight!

Cam wished for binkies that pop in your mouth when needed, lots of tickles and a yacht docked in the Caribbean. Here’s to making his wishes come true.

conquering raspberries

I know I’ve been M.I.A. lately, and I’ll blame that all on my head cold which turned to bronchitis. Luckily, Cam avoided being sick so sleeping through the night is still going strong!

Since my last post, Cam has mastered the art of blowing raspberries. Check it out, but try not to get wet.

He had a week of teething, but he handled it pretty well. Instead of fussing and crying, he just chose not to sleep. He was perfectly happy if he could sit in a quiet room and play with his feet, but in the afternoon the lack of sleep would catch up with him and he would become fragile. Loud noises that normally wouldn’t bother him would cause him to cry for five minutes. However, after some teething tablets and a little bit of Tylenol, he slept through the nights. Yay! Nothing is poking through yet, but they are well on their way.

and with five months brings…

This weekend Cam decided to roll around. But instead of doing it the “normal” way, rolling from front to back first, he decided it would be more fun to roll from back to front. Of course, I wouldn’t call his actions purposeful. He reaches for toys that are just out of reach, uses his back foot to push him towards the toy and suddenly finds himself on his belly. It’s all very shocking to the little man.

He also realized he can fluctuate the tone of his voice and decided that loud is best. If what he can do now is any indication of what’s to come, you’ll hear his part of any conversation three houses down. But for the time being, it’s quite entertaining.

And lastly, he is attempting to blow raspberries. He studies us when we make them and then works on doing them himself. This has been our favorite new discovery of his.

Today he turned five months! Can’t wait to see what another month will bring.

giggle butt

Cam has been laughing more and more, and it’s music to his mommy’s ears. Enjoy!

trials of a working mother

I made a decision a long time ago that I would nurse my babies. I knew it would be a lot of work that no one could help me with, but in my mind the benefits outweighed any of the hardships.

Turns out I’m one of the lucky few who have little difficulty. Cam liked to eat, and had no trouble figuring it out.

Cut to going back to work, and needing to pump during working hours. Not fun, but also not a huge deal. I needed somewhere to go in order to pump since I am not in an office. Good for me–there are rooms set up at Nestlé just for nursing moms. Bad for me–none are located in my building. In the beginning I walked over to another building everyday, a couple of times a day, but the walk took even more time away from my desk.

The head administrative coordinator told me it would be okay to use an unoccupied office as long as I put a note on the door. So that’s what I did, and it worked great. It was no secret what I was doing in there, but people left me alone.

Then today, in the middle of a “session,” there was a knock. I responded with a “Don’t come in here!” Door opens. I yell “NO NO NO NO NO NO!” Door closes.

Well, I’m sure he is much more embarrassed than I am. Now about that raise…

tessa teaches cam to talk

Older kids are very wise. Cam watches the other children in daycare with him, mesmerized by all they can do. I’m sure they are teaching him useful things, such as running, jumping, throwing and asking for more cookies.

Today Katrina dropped by with her daughter Tessa, who is just over 8 months. Look at what she had to teach him!

Cam was playing hard to get, as if he’s not interested in this beautiful older woman. Or he was just being smart and letting the lady talk.

The kid learns fast.

who trick'or'treats with a 4 month old?

It’s always been a pet-peeve of mine when I answer my door on Halloween only to find a parent holding a bag open wanting candy “for the baby.” Right…your twelve pound child can’t wait to score a full-size Snickers bar. Two Tootsie Rolls for you.

So we celebrated Halloween by going to the Blues game. Much like we celebrate 41 other nights during the year (more if we make it to the playoffs). Thankfully, Cam does really well at the games. He tends to watch everyone around us, and the jumbotron. At some point, he wants to eat (I’m sure it’s rare for women to nurse at hockey games, but if the kid has to eat I have no problem feeding him in public) and then conks out for awhile. Our hope is he gets used to game nights now, so he will behave well in the future. And if he doesn’t share our love of hockey, Chris will wonder where he came from.

Especially if he ends up a baseball fan…

my beanpole

Cam had his four month appointment today and I have a lean baby. His stats are 13 lb. 11 oz. and 25.25". Average height and skinny! But I was never a chunky baby, so I guess he’s taking after me. Doctor isn’t concerned about it, so neither am I. However, four months means four shots. He took them like a champ, but now has sore legs and wakes himself with every jerk. It’s going to be a long night…

My office had their annual Halloween pet parade on Thursday, which is always a riot. All the dogs get dressed up and parade about, and get a bag full of treats for participating. If you have any children, they are welcome to come and get their own treats of a different sort. Chris brought Cam in costume which was fun; many of my coworkers have never met him. It was held inside this year due to our ark-building weather but it still worked out great. Cam was (can you guess?) a pumpkin. Pip dressed up like a fire hydrant, and none of the dogs mistook him for the real thing. However, dog hats are not stable things and kept sliding off to the side.

No trick’or’treating for us this year. The Blues have a game which we don’t want to miss. Instead, we’ll dress Cam up and spend the night watching hockey. I’m sure I’ll have more photos to share!

mom’s an awesome cook

I just wanted to plug my mom’s website. Yup, my mom is hip enough to have a website. My brother set it up for her and helps code it per her instructions. 

If you’re ever looking for a new recipe, check out Ruthie's Recipes. And may I recommend Éclair Pie or Hot Wing Dip. I make them often for different events and someone always asks me for the recipe.

Mmmmm....pie....

four months!

Today Cam turned four months old.

We celebrated by throwing our pumpkin inside a pumpkin.

It's so hard to believe he’s been a part of our lives for four months already!

But this noisy little man is a constant joy in our lives.

Happy Halloween!

he has more to say

When I pick up Cam from the sitter, he likes to tell us about his day. Chris took out the video camera to catch some of it, but Cam became a little camera shy. He typically talks non-stop to us until he finally closes his eyes for sleep. We're still working on the sleep thing here, bed time usually takes awhile since he has so much to say.

You can spot Pip walking around; he checks in on Cam often like a good big brother.

a clean home is a happy home

Anyone who knows me, knows I love a clean home. And that I get excited over new ways to clean. It all goes back to a messy first roommate who changed me forever.

Recently, we welcomed a new friend to the Shatto household. Isn't he lovely? He cleans all my floors with ease and uses no chemicals! The pads are reusable, but you don't want to look at them after you cleaned your floors or you might get sick to your stomach. And this is coming from someone who cleans her floors all the time. I even use it on my old wood floors. Swiffer pads get the floor wetter than my friend The Shark, and it leaves it so shiny!

I recommend finding your own new friend for your household. He had plenty of buddies at Bed, Bath and Beyond, and is a great deal if you bring along a 20% off coupon!

(This post was inspired by my friend Heather's post about her friend, SWJ. I read it long ago and it made me laugh. But Heather, my friend can kick your friend's ass.)

baby noises

My son is a talker! He babbles and giggles constantly; soon none of us are going to get a word in around him. The best is how proud he is when he makes noises. Here is a snippet, with a new favorite photo accompanying it. (Blogger won't let you upload a mp3 file alone, so I had to make a video of it.)

here we go...

I have many friends and family members that have blogs and I follow them religiously. And I have other friends and family members that don't care to join facebook and complain they never see photos of Cam (never complain about missing photos of me!). So I've decided I'll try blogging so everyone can enjoy my ramblings.

But just a quick catch up, Cam is now 3 and a half months already! He giggles and smiles all the time, which is so much fun. His own feet is his newest toy, and he likes to slam them down on his mattress over and over again after waking up. His hands are also delicious, since he can't get enough of them. I'm back at work, and a wonderful lady watches Cam. She sends me video of him gabbing, sends home cookies she made with the kids and always asks how he slept and ate. He started with another sitter when I first went back to work, and while he wasn't getting bad care it just wasn't right. We managed to find a new sitter right away who JUST posted an opening and we love her. The timing was perfect, and I believe everything happens for a reason.

Speaking of everything happening for a reason, Chris is currently out of work. He was laid off from Momentum a couple of weeks ago and has been on the hunt for a job. He picks up some freelance projects here and there, so if you are in need of a retoucher... shattoportfolio.blogspot.com. He is incredibly talented!

I went to my friend's house today for a children's Halloween party. Her daughter Mila was born two days after Cam, and she thought we needed a reason to dress up our babies since we wouldn't actually trick'or'treat with them this year. It was so much fun, even though there was a quick meltdown with all the babies. Once one starts crying, it starts a chain reaction. Cam is a pumpkin; he wasn't going to get away from that nickname this year!

So that's a quick synopsis of the happenings of the Shatto household. Hope everyone is doing well!