18 months

Cameron is a year and a half old! So crazy.

Actual age: 18 months

Adjusted age: 15 months

Weight: 22 lb 9 oz

Height: 29.5 in!

Diaper size: 4

Clothing size: 18 months

Medications/medical concerns: Cam still has the rash on her face. We are also treating a raging double ear infection :( she is on antibiotics though and getting much better.

Sleep: She sleeps from 8 until 8 or 9 in the morning. She naps from about 1 to 2:30 or 3. This has remained pretty constant for a while.

Eating: Not eating as well. She is refusing stuff she didn't used to refuse. She still loves fruit though. Bananas, mandarin oranges, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, pineapple, peaches, and grapes. She could eat only fruit and be happy. She has also been loving ham and cheese. And she will always eat pasta! Just like her mom.

Developmental milestones: Not much new is happening. Still babbling like crazy and saying some words. No real new words though. She is getting faster and more stable with walking. She is starting to run a little bit. She is also really starting to remember more things and has better problem solving skills. She can do simple puzzles and remembers what pages of books there are textures for her to feel. She understands a LOT now. I can tell her to "go ride your elephant!" and she goes and gets on her rocker or I can tell her "bring me the book" and she will go get a book to read with me.

Teeth: Still 8 officially, but unofficially 10. She has two molars on the top that are starting to break through. Some of the corners are either broken through or just seconds away from breaking through. She also has her two bottom molars coming in but they are not as far along. I can see where they are coming up in her gums.

Best moment this month: Taking Cameron to her first swim lesson! I really enjoyed it and she has a BLAST! I am excited to be able to take her every week. She absolutely loved the water.

We had her 18 month appointment today as well. I will update on that later but it went awesome! She is so amazing.

Puzzle

To an adult, the following puzzle seems so simplistic. To a toddler, this takes a lot of cognitive maturity and understanding of problem solving. I am so proud of my little girl! She is SO smart!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsV2Xkvnrnc

Parents of Preemies Day

Today is the 2nd annual Parents of Preemies Day sponsored by Graham's foundation. It is a day to celebrate parents of preemies. I am lucky enough to be one of those parents. Lucky? Of course I'm not "lucky" to have gone through the heartache, but frankly I am lucky to have grown from the experience. Some of the lessons I have learned are invaluable. Cameron has shown me true strength, taught me true love. She is the best. Really and truly the best.

Photo dump

Cameron's smile is so contagious. I've never seen such an awesome smile! Honestly. I have a hard time narrowing down photos because her smile is just a bit different in each picture and I love it so much! Anyways, here are the latest. They are adorable.

17 months!

Cameron is 17 months old!

Actual age: 17 months

Adjusted age: 14 months

Weight: 21 lb, 13.3 oz

Height: Measuring to the best of my ability, 29 inches

Diaper size: 4

Clothing size: 18 months

Medications/medical concerns: The eczema is getting worse on Cameron's face. We are keeping it under control with intermittent use of the steroid cream and Aveeno eczema therapy lotion. The lotion makes it much more "mild", but it is still present. The steroid makes it go away completely but we can't use that long term and when we stop using it there is a "rebound" affect, where the eczema comes back worse than when we started using it. So for the foreseeable future I will ONLY be using the Aveeno lotion.

Sleep: Cameron goes to bed between 7:30 and 8, and wakes up between 8 and 9. She naps from about 1-2:30 or 3.

Eating: Cameron has her three meals and a snack. She loves bananas, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, mandarin oranges, and peaches. Veggies are quite touch and go at the moment. Carrots are always a sure thing but the rest are day to day. She also likes chicken, egg salad, chicken salad, tuna salad, lunch meat, cheese, peanut butter, goldfish, animal crackers, fruit snacks, and cereal bars. She drinks between 1 and 1.5 sippy cups full of milk per day which is an improvement.

Developmental milestones: Cameron is now walking 100% of the time. She does not crawl at all anymore. She is also standing up on her own (without pulling up on something) by pushing off of the floor. Her balance is great and she doesn't really fall unless she trips on something. On the talking front, she has words!! It sounds like she says doggie, dada, mama, milk, clap, dance, and bye bye. She says bye bye for sure while waving. I would call that her first official word. She seems to know that I am mama and that Josh is dada. She will say the word clap while clapping, say the word dance (DAH!) while dancing, and repeat the word milk when I give her her sippy cup. She will point to her nose if I ask her "where's your nose?" (not all the time, but when she feels like it). Like I said, she waves bye bye whenever I ask her to, along with the word. She seems to point to Penny and say "dah-da!" which I'm pretty sure is her version of doggie. She will hand me something when I ask her for it. So her communication is really coming along! I am really happy.

Teeth: 8! She got two more bottom teeth. So now she has all four front teeth on both the top and bottom. Her gums might be swollen around some incoming molars but I really don't know.

Best moment this month: Nothing specifically. It's been one if those months where nothing really specific happened. But Cameron has REALLY grown this month. There have been a few moments where I am just kind of smacked in the face with her new found toddlerhood, she becomes more and more beautiful every day, she becomes more of a personality and just a unique character. I have absolutely loved watching her grow this month. So my best moments were those moments where I looked at her and thought oh my, she is seriously a toddler. A unique, head strong, smart, gorgeous toddler, her own real person. It really is amazing watching a baby become a person (if that makes any sense).

This was my absolute worst blogging month and I am sad about it. There have been so many moments where I want to blog but Cameron keeps me too busy. But in the future I vow to blog at least once a week!!!

16 months!

Cameron is 16 months old! (this is 3 days late!)

Actual age: 16 months

Adjusted age: 13 months

Weight: 21 lb, 3 oz

Height: Not sure, probably around 29 inches

Diaper size: 4

Clothing size: Mostly 18 months

Medications/medical concerns: Small rash on her face, possible eczema, possibly from her pacifier, we are using a steroid cream on it and taking away the paci. No significant medical concerns though.

Sleep: Naps from 1-3, sleeps from 7:30 or 8 until 9 or 9:30. We are taking away her pacifier so the past few days have been rough. She is crying for a while before she falls asleep. It breaks me heart into a million pieces to listen to her so distraught but it has to be done.

Eating: She loves to eat! Her favorite foods recently are egg salad sandwiches and PB&J. She loves strawberries, raspberries, and mandarin oranges. She also loves carrots, green beans, cherry tomatoes, and potatoes. She eats a banana every morning for breakfast. When we go out to eat I usually get her a grilled cheese, she eats the whole thing! She can eat a whole piece of pizza too. She also loves fries when we go out to eat. She is doing well with drinking too, usually drinks about a full sippy cup of milk per day plus some water.

Developmental milestones: WALKING! Cameron is officially walking :) Not primarily as a mode of transportation but she walks quite a bit throughout the day. She is also waving bye-bye and doing some pointing. She started trying to clap yesterday. I don't think she has any words yet but I see it happening soon. We'll see! Cameron has started true temper tantrums this month. If you take her away from something she wants she has a complete melt down. She is also starting to figure out how to use toys as they are supposed to be used and is putting less stuff in her mouth. She will put things in a box (or balls in a slot etc) if you ask her to or give things to you if you ask her for them.

Teeth: 6, none coming that I can see

Best moment this month: When Cameron took her first real steps!!!

Growing up

Cameron is becoming a little lady. A TODDLER. I can't believe it. She is officially toddling, otherwise known as walking (well, sort of). She doesn't walk as her primary mode of transportation but she is walking quite a bit, especially if you set her up. Walking is such a special milestone to me. It is THE major milestone in a child's life I think. When Cameron was first born people would always say things like "you'll forget all about this when you are chasing after your toddler". I hoped that would be the case, but there was a real possibility Cameron would never walk or toddle. I just remember thinking that I may never get to see her walk. But anyways, she is awesome and all that sad stuff is behind us. And now she is walking! She is adorable doing it. She is obviously still in the zombie stage and I love it! So without further ado, here is a video!



So that's the big news. I know I've been a terrible blogger but really not much is going on. I have not been doing much photography either but I decided today to get back into it. I'm mad at myself that I don't have many pictures of Cameron over the past couple of months (or any on Christmas) but I promise myself that I will get back to regular photography. I started back up with it today. And wow, can I just say that Cameron looks like such a big girl? When looking back at the photos I could not believe how grown up she looks. Not only is she walking but she just looks like a toddler. She doesn't even look like a baby anymore. She is losing the baby face and gaining more of her own unique features. It's so interesting to watch her face change as she grows. And as always, she looks absolutely beautiful. She is quite a stunner :)