Playing with Maddie

Cami is crawling -yay! She started crawling over the weekend and has gotten better and better at it throughout the week. I have been trying like a mad woman to video tape her in action all week but she never cooperates while I have the camera up. In this clip you can kinda see her crawling skills but she is mostly playing with Maddie and trying to take away her toy. Maddie and her toys have actaully been the motivation for Cami to crawl. Any time Cami sees Maddie playing with a dog toy she stops what she is doing and goes after it! It's really cute to see them play together. Maddie shows an interest in Cami and I think these two are going to be great buddies!

Talking

OK, so I know this video clip is very dark and you can barely see Cami, but it's alright because you don't really need to see her - just listen to her :) She is "talking" to her cookie jar that is singing to her. She loves anything that sings or talks along with lights up. The cookie jar's nose lights up as it sings songs when you put the shape cookies inside. It is basically like a glorified shape sorter, and she just recently started talking to it. This high pitch squealing is pretty much how she talks all the time. It is her happy voice!

By the way, at the end of the clip she got real quiet because she was doing a little business...if you know what I mean .

Baby Steps

Cami has learned how to take steps while we hold her hands. Now that she has had a taste of what it's like to be mobile she can't get enough. She loves walking all over the place. She still hasn't mastered crawling but she has made a few "steps" finally. It won't be long until she is on the move. I guess we need to start baby proofing - yikes!

Booty Up

I love it when babies sleep with their butt up in the air.

Mobile

Cami is trying very hard to crawl. She hasn't figured out how to get up on all fours, yet, but I think she is so close! She is at that frustrating stage of wanting something (especially mommy or daddy) that is just barely out of her reach. She has other means to get around, though! She will slither on her tummy, scoot on her bottom, or her most reliable - roll back and forth until she gets to the desired toy (or person.)

From the sitting position she almost always leans or lunges forward after 1.2 seconds (exaggeration) of sitting up right. She is such a little busy body and sitting still is so 1 month ago.

She tries so hard to straighten out her arms and pull her back end up, but she just can't get that booty in gear!

Here she is tying to scoot over to her doggie.

7 Months Old

Our little baby girl is growing up so fast - sniff. I can't believe how quickly time seems to fly by when you have a baby around. It feels just like yesterday that we were holding this tiny little bundle in our arms wondering if we were ready for this journey. And now Cameron seems so grown up and we feel like old pros at this (well, sorta.) We love this little girl more than we ever thought possible. Happy 7 months, baby!

Bath Time

Well, I finally got a video up and running. It's a very quick clip but you can see the little peanut as she plays and talks to us in the bathtub. Bathtime is one of Cami's very favorite times of the day. No matter what her mood is - just plop her in the tub and she is a happy camper!

Happy Valentine's Day

Cami had a fun and eventful first Valentine's Day! She had lots of fun celebrating her friend Ben's first birthday at a party where she got to hang out with all her best buddies. Then she went to her Grammy and Papaw's house to have her very first sleepover! This was a big deal for both Cami AND mommy. Although mommy probably had a much harder time being separated than Cami it was great for everyone involved. Mom and dad got some much needed alone time and Cami had a good 24 hours to bond with Grammy and Papaw without her mommy hording in all the time.

Art Project

I set out to make cute little hand print Valentines for Cami to send to her grandparents. I got all the supplies I needed, undressed her down to her diaper, got plenty of wet towels to clean up - I was ready! As soon as I placed her tiny little hand in the paint she made a fist and would not open.

She started reaching for things with her little red fingers and was ready to explore this gooey substance on her hands. I learned quickly that I was not going to get handprints out of this! In the teaching world, this is called a "teachable moment." So, I let go all of my preconceived ideas of how these valentine cards were supposed to look and just let her explore as she wanted.

At first I helped her move her fingers over the paper in the finger painting fashion, but soon she was ready to paint on her own. She painted lots of cards, the counter, the wall, her body...it was great!

Afterwards, she got to sit in the sink to clean off. But wow, another cool experience...running water!

When it was all said and done, Cami made 6 adorable finger painted Valentine cards and one masterpiece to hang on our refrigerator. This is definitely going in the baby book!

3 Paci's

I just wanted to post this picture because it is too funny! I caught Cami sleeping with one pacifier in her mouth while holding one in each hand. A girl has to be prepared, right?!?!?

New Things

Cami has been introduced to some new things. She is no longer taking baths in the lay-down type tub. Now that she can sit up she takes a "big girl" bath in her new ducky bathtub. The first time we put her in it she seemed a little confused, but it didn't take long before she learned she could use her hands to splash the water. She also got to go for a ride on daddy's back with a new baby backpack. Just like everything else we introduce her to, she seemed a little concerned about this new situation. She is used to being carried on the front, but that was getting WAY too heavy! Last night on our walk she fell asleep in the backpack. I guess that means she likes it.

Although Cami hasn't just been "introduced" to the dogs she has recently "found" the dogs. She loves to watch anything that Molly and Maddie do and will lunge and grab at them any chance she gets. Maddie loves to be around Cami but will not stay long enough to let her actually grab her. Maddie has the long hair and has learned quickly that Cami has a good grip. Molly, on the other hand, will sit and let Cami grab her. This is why I only have pictures of Molly with Cami. I have actually caught Cami putting Molly's tail in her mouth. Oh lordy, I am going to have to get over my germ phobia!

STTN

Well, it's official - Cami is sleeping through the night! It has been a very long road to this, but I have learned valuable lessons to use on my next child to help him or her sleep through the night much quicker. My first lesson I learned is do not swaddle past about 8 weeks. Cami got addicted to the swaddle blanket and was unable to sleep with out being in her "straight jacket" until 5 months old! For those of you without kids or no swaddle experience...that is way too old! My next lesson is do not give a bottle in the middle of the night each time they wake up. Cami was taking a bottle every night at 2 or 3 a.m. on top of all the other night wakings for a paci!!! Once I stopped giving her a bottle she was just fine with it. So I learned she didn't really NEED the bottle, she was just taking it out of habit. And finally, the most important lesson I learned is do not get up at every tiny noise they make. This was the hardest thing for me to learn. I would jump up quickly to put a pacifier back in her mouth just so she would get quiet and go back to sleep ASAP. This terrible behavior just taught little Cami that all she has to do is whimper and mommy will come running to put the paci back in. Well, no more! Once I finally got my act together and learned these things we had a baby that was sleeping through the night or STTN as they say on all the baby sites I read daily. Now I can proudly say "yes" to every single person who doesn't know what else to ask about a baby other than "Is she sleeping through the night?"