Cameron is loving summertime so far! We are outside from the time we finish breakfast until lunchtime! The kids have a pretty awesome set up in the backyard this year - water/sand table, swing set with a slide, pirate ship and swings, sprinklers, a little firetruck pool, and toys galore! Every once in awhile, Cameron will lay down in the grass with his hands behind his cute little head and say, "Isn't this a great summer Mommy?!" He is hilarious and knows it!
Cammie is in the middle of Tee Ball and is loving it! He team name is "The Big Red Dragons!" and they practice every Tuesday and have games every Saturday. It is so cute to see all these 3 year olds chase after the ball in a group and fall down trying to get it. The little batters will hit the ball then stand there in awe before being yelled at to run to first! They are so proud of themselves and you can see them beaming and smiling. When we found out we were having a boy, we talked about how fun it will be to watch him play sports. It is amazing to actually see him participating in multiple sports and sometimes at the same time! He has a couple little friends on his baseball team that he likes to be with and of course, one is a little girl (Lyla). He is going to keep me on my toes - little ladies man!
Cam is also still doing swim lessons every Sunday! He is in the "Eels class" and is being challenged right now. The instructor wants the kids to bob up and down in the water like the first class, but at this level, they want the kids to dunk their heads while they bob. Cammie was a little unsure at first, but as the weeks go on, he is becoming more confident about putting his head and face underwater. He even starting swimming with a floatie by himself!!! I try my best to take a lot of pictures and videos (without looking like a crazy mama) so he can see what he accomplished. His little face is so proud and he loves to tell everyone what he is doing. I'm so proud of my little angel - he always tries everything he is asked to do (with minimal push back). That is a major rule in our house and I'm glad he tries.
Cammie's attitude has changed a bit this month and I'm assuming it is because he is 3.5 years old. He is challenging us a bit more and wants things to always go his way or he will go and pout in the other room. This is new for our easy going toddler as he has been so compliant and understanding most of his life. It is taking us a minute to adjust to this behavior and he is struggling to find his limits. We have had a couple interesting days this month that were emotionally exhausting. I keep chanting to myself, "This too shall pass..." Hopefully within the next couple months, all four of us will be on the same page. I'm just hoping he isn't showing signs of jealousy because Natalie is getting special attention (I'll explain why later in the blog). He has never been jealous, but it could be possible. I'll make sure to keep a close eye on my baby - we always talk before bed, and hopefully he will tell me. On a positive note, we have a new member in our family - Cammie's new fish "Pigeon"! Pigeon was earned because Cam completed a reward chart over the month of May. GOOD JOB CAMMIE!
Overall, Cameron is a breath of fresh air! He is so sweet and loves people with his whole heart. He always wants to make sure his friends and family are happy and in a good mood - if they aren't, he will physically hug them. Cam is the most caring little boy I have ever met! Ryan and I couldn't be any prouder of him. He is a wonderful boy and we are blessed to be his parents. Here are his favorite things (from Cam):
- Mac and Cheese
- Peanutbutter and Jelly
- Mighty Machines
- Curious George
- Iron Man and Spiderman
- Legos
- Tiny town with vehicles from Nona (Micromachines - they were Uncle Ryan's!)
- GoGurts
- Sand table
Natalie is doing amazing! She is so much fun to be around and an absolute joy in our lives. She began doing speech therapy once a week and man what a difference!! We understand that every child develops at a different pace and that she would eventually start talking, but the level of frustration this little girl was experiencing was very unbearable to watch/deal with. She would get so mad at people (including us) that she would scream, cry, throw herself on the ground and swing her arms in a hitting motion. After about 6 months of this behavior, we got kicked out of the YMCA daycare (just for the day) because she was so hysterical after I left her to go to my pilates class. Everything came to a head and Ryan and I decided to get her evaluated by the wonderful team at the SKIP House in Kent. Nattie scored off the charts for gross and fine motor skills, interactions/socializing but scored extremely low in verbal communications. They suggested that we have Natalie enter their speech therapy program for a few months and see what progress could be made.
There was really nothing to loose - Natalie's therapist comes to our house (home visits) for an hour every week!! Miss Kate and her graduate student, Miss Alyssa, come over on Thursdays with a huge bag of toys for Nattie to play with. Nattie has to use the sign for "open" (eventually she will be saying "open") to get someone to open the bag. After that, she gets to choose an activity or toy within the bag. The entire therapy is play based and Natalie has no idea she is in therapy - she just thinks these nice people are there to play!! Within 3 sesssions, she is verbally saying "Down" "Dog" "No" "Hi" "Yeah" "Car" and signing "Open" "All Done" "More" "Milk" "Up" and working on "Help". I'm also happy to report that since starting Speech, she has maybe had one outburst of a tantrum!!! I feel like she is becoming more confident and feels like people are starting to understand what she wants. She is also grabbing our hands and leading us to an object or place that she wants - which makes things so much easier!! We are so proud of our little girl - keep up the great work Natalie!!
Natalie's personality is so cute - she has become an adorable little girl who knows what she wants! She still adores her Lovie (Purple blanket) and her new favorite toys are her Minnie Mouse Tsum Tsum baby and her Jessie doll (From Toy Story) she carries them everywhere! Nattie loves playing tea party, watching Toy Story, coloring on blank paper, doing sidewalk chalk outside, going down slides, going for walks, bubbles and reading books. She is a great eater and will definitely let you more when she isn't hungry and is still a champion at sleeping.
Here are her favorite things this month:
- MiMi (Tsum Tsum minnie)
- Lovie (Purple Blanket)
- Shoes
- Shovels
- Coloring
- Eating
- Toy Story
- Snuggling
Both kids are doing amazing and we are fully enjoying this time in our lives. Though times are challenging, we consider ourselves blessed that we have two healthy, happy, loving children. We are beyond proud of who they have become so far and cannot wait to see what the future holds!! We love you both very much!
Love this. Makes me look forward to watching L and M. So glad Natalie is doing better and Cam is getting more confident. Hope June is just as fun!
ReplyDelete