BBQ snapshots

This past weekend my friend Amanda hosted us for a BBQ. Also invited were another couple and their son who are a part of our regular play group/mommy's night out. We had a wonderful time and so did Miss Cameron as illustrated by the pictures below.

Now that Cameron is walking more regularly I decided it was time to start putting her into dresses. She had a little trouble figuring out how to stand up without tripping over the skirt but by the end of the day she was a pro.

Cameron loved Holden's police car. All 3 of them did and occasional fights broke out. Nothing serious but it heralds the future of this play group, I'm sure!

Graham wants to get into the car but Cameron slams the door shut so she can ride.

Holden shows off his water table.
Cameron cools off from a 85+ degree day.
With only one nap under her belt Cameron decides to crash Graham's party on the hammock.
Although they look tuckered out a little food and milk and they were back playing again.

Crap, guess it's time to start really parenting

I picked up Cameron from daycare on Tuesday and got to talk with her main teacher Miss Melba for a few minutes. In that time I learned two things:

1. For the third week in a row Cameron has consistently only been "resting" in her crib for her morning nap;
2. She screams and screeches if she isn't fed her meals or snacks first

The first one I can handle. I've been toying with the idea of bringing her down to one nap for a while. I've been resisting because she still sleeps 2-3 hours in the morning and another 1.5-2 hours in the afternoon on the weekends. But going down to one nap will allow us more flexibility in our day, a good thing now that we have joined a local community center. Cameron has also been extremely tired in the evenings which has pushed her bedtime up to 6:30 PM. Now that I will be commuting from uptown (with a daycare drop off in the opposite direction) I probably won't get home until 6 PM. It would be nice if we can put her down at 7:00 PM instead. I'm hopeful that Miss Melba speaks truly and by eliminating the morning "resting" period Cameron will sleep 2+ hours in the afternoon. As it stands now, she just sleeps for an hour which is not enough and hence the 6:30 PM bedtime. Please speak up if you have any advice about going down to one nap. Also, has anyone maintained a one nap schedule in daycare but two at home successfully?

It's the second item on the list that has concerned and caused me to run out to buy a book recommended by Laura, "Your One Year Old: The Fun Loving, Fussy 12-To-24 Month Old." OK, maybe I snuck in a few books for me with the order but hey, that way I qualified for free super shipping :-)

I've noticed that Cameron has definitely entered the feisty, fussy stage, especially when it comes to food. Part of it is our fault. We will give her some green beans or fruit while waiting for the rest of her dinner to heat up and cool down enough for her to eat. That means she is receiving her meal in piecemeal fashion which causes her to screech when she sees stuff she didn't like and not stuff she does. As of three nights ago we are now making an effort to get her food ready in its entirety before giving it to her. Then when she starts screeching and throwing her food, she is "all done" and down she comes. I still hate that she doesn't eat much in the evenings so we are still using the evening bottle as a crutch. I expect that to be phased out by the end of the month at the latest. She is still getting her molars in so I don't want to push it. Honest question for my readers, "How long did you/will you give your child a bottle?" I figure if Suri Cruise still has one at 3 years old I'm OK with phasing it out around month 14.

Basically what it comes down to is that I don't want a wild child. I don't think that Miss Melba related Cameron's mannerism as a reproach to me (or wait, maybe she did???) but I did see it as an area that we should be working on with Cameron. Especially if she ends up being an only child she will need to learn how to share. I guess part of me hoped that daycare would help with that (and it will) but we need to be doing things at home to reinforce it as well. Full honesty here: I also don't feel quite ready to really parent, you know what I mean? Toddlerhood may have more sleep for me but it certainly has it's own stressors, doesn't it? I'll let you know what I think about the book but as always, any and all advice or commiseration is welcome!

And now, for a change of pace

In talking about Cameron's progress with walking I equated it more to a gradual progress rather than a leap towards freedom. No longer. Take a look at these two videos taken 4, yes 4 days apart.

This video was taken on Sunday night after bath time. Hence why Cameron's hair looks tamed. The most she walked in a row was 10 or 11 steps.

This video was taken last night. For the first time ever Cameron walked laps around the first floor and didn't need anything besides herself to pull up into a walking position. Looks like it's time to really, really baby proof!

Time to hit the road

Sorry I've been so remiss in posting lately. Work has been crazy and I also took the past two days off. It was wonderful to have two whole entire days to myself. Of course DH is happy I'm back at work because I did a lot of shopping over the past two days.

It's no surprise to the regular readers of this blog that I've been having some work challenges. That's a pretty inoffensive way to put it, right? More strongly worded language can be found here or here.

Just a short two weeks ago I ramped up my efforts to find a new position and it fortunately paid off in spades. Starting Monday I will be in a completely different division at BigFinance. Never have I been so happy to tell people that I am transitioning my current role over to someone else.

This is a lateral move for me but there is substantially more opportunity for career growth and title and pay increases. I'm looking forward to the challenges that come with starting a new job: Learning all the new players. Figuring out how to really get work done. Learning how to manage my boss. Etc.

Another big change for me is that I will now be commuting to uptown Charlotte rather than out to the suburbs. This will require me to pay for parking but overall my commute should be reduced by about 10 minutes. Another plus is that there are a lot more eating options and a lot more colleagues and friends who work uptown so I can socialize more with lunches or after work events.

I am not really clear yet on what my new role is but I do know that I am ready for a change. I am very happy that I work for such a big company that supports a fluid workforce and is focused on promoting talent. Of course check back with me in 6 months and I could be bitching again. But hey, that's life!

Happy Mother's Day

Cameron's funny faces are one of the many reasons I love being a mother! 13 months old and she's already a ham and a difficult photography subject.

Language development

This week has been a rough one primarily because Cameron was sent home from daycare AGAIN yesterday for a suspected case of pink eye. Second time this has happened. I was home already battling my own illness but still forced to be on multiple conference calls. DH picked her up and I made a doctor's appointment. Diagnosis? Double ear infection, no pink eye. While I am glad that we got a diagnosis on the ear infection (apparently it was pretty bad) I am disappointed in how frequently Cameron has been sent home over the past 6 weeks. Example A. So of course I decided it was time to have a little chat with the Assistant Director. It wasn't satisfactory but I'm glad I unloaded. Only time will tell if my complaints have a direct correlation with how often we are called to pick her up in the next few weeks. The girl still has two more molars coming in...

Getting off my high horse I thought I would copy A. and provide an update on Cameron's current language development. She is regularly calling DH "Dada" and irregularly calling me "Mama". I can understand her when she says, "All done" or "Again" but a person off the street would just think she was babbling.

DH swears that Cameron said, "apple juice" last week but I think it was a fluke. Also a fluke was "bottle" as clear as day about three weeks ago, never to be repeated. I try to hold her evening bottle (last one!) away to make her say it but she throws a fit so that doesn't work. Charlie is another word that I know she says but it kind of changes regularly.

Cameron definitely understands a lot more than she speaks. Key examples include:

• Give that to Mama.
• Where's Charlie?
• Where are your socks? Your shoes?
• Do you want to go outside?
• Where is your swing?
• Time to get into your car seat.
• It's time for school.
• Are you hungry? Do you want some dinner?
• Where's your paci?
• It's time to change your diaper.
• Do you want milk?

As I'm sure you can imagine, some of the statements or questions result in excited noises. Others, I'm looking at you diaper change (!), result in crying and throwing herself around. I have done exactly zero research on how Cameron compares in her language development with other toddlers. I assume she is statistically average and don't worry about it. Of course, now that I've written it down, I have to ask the experts (aka my readers) do you think she's on track? Any funny words that your kids starting saying early that just made you shake your head or laugh?

Saturday play date

On Saturday Cameron's friend, Holden and his mom (and my friend) Amanda, came over to enjoy the balmy weather we have been having. It was great for us to catch up and the kids were so much more interactive than they were in their first play date.

Cameron was definitely the instigator in a few minor tussles that we had to break up. Fortunately Holden is a sweetie so he only cried once.

Holden also ate a lot of sand and got very messy. Amanda complained that he was all boy and somehow Cameron emerged from the play date largely unscathed. I attribute that cleanliness to the fact that she has played with water and sand for a few weeks now but it was Holden's first experience.
Of course they got bored with the actual toy and decided to play with the lids instead. Isn't that always the way with toddlers?