Off to the beach

We are off to the beach tomorrow for our first real family vacation. We are headed to Ocean City, MD for the rest of the week. We will be staying one night with my sister and her family and then we will be staying in a hotel suite for the rest of the week. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Camryn enjoys her first vacation to the beach. She loves splashing in the water, so I think she will love the ocean. I also have a feeling that she will enjoy watching all the people on the boardwalk. It is going to be so nice to get away for a few days and I hope everything goes as planned. Camryn always seems to be rather flexible, but we have her on a set schedule. I will post again to let you all know how it goes! :)

Alright, I have to get back to packing now that Camryn is in bed for the night. I wish I could just blink my eyes and have it be done! But, it is worth it.

Dap?

What child do you know that asks for a nap? What ONE year old asks for a nap? Well, ours does. She started this about a week ago and did it again just now. Around nap time each day, she crawls over to the steps, looks at us, and says, "uh, dap?" So, we take her upstairs to her room, get bunny bear, and she takes a nap. We just can't get over this. She is so easy going - she tells us when she is hungry AND when she wants a nap. How did we get so lucky? I think this means we are in for it with our next child!!!

Ok, since it is nap time and Chris is on jury duty, this is a great opportunity to get back to Harry Potter!!!

Exciting week

Well, I haven't written in a while, so I guess it is time for another update. We have had a busy week and had a lot of fun together as a family.

On Wednesday, Chris and I had a date night and went to dinner and to see the new Harry Potter movie. We both LOVE Harry Potter, so this was very exciting. Our friends, Jen and Steph, came over to watch Camryn and they all had a fun girl's night together. They must have worn her out because she slept in the next morning!

On Thursday afternoon, we headed to PSU for Arts Fest. It was a beautiful day to walk around the festival, downtown, and campus. Camryn really loves cruising around in her stroller, so she was sitting back and enjoying the sights. For dinner, Chris and I picked up some DP Dough (YUM) and fed Camryn her dinner on the HUB lawn. After dinner, she was exploring the lawn and crawling all over the place having a blast. Then, she discovered that she could push her own stroller - she was so excited!! After taking a bunch of pictures, we headed over to the Old Main lawn to listen to a band and let Camryn play in the grass there. Maybe one day, she will be sitting on that very lawn in between classes!!! We got some very cute pictures with Old Main in the background. It is so amazing to watch her have fun on a campus that Chris and I love so much. Of course, the trip would not be complete without a stop at the Lion. She was so excited to see it!! Immediately, she began to "woof" at it. Yeah, we are working on the lion roar. She was able to sit on top by herself (she is growing too fast!!!) and gave the lion bunches of kisses. It was so cute!!! She was tuckered out and slept the whole way home.

On Friday, our friend, Gina, and her boyfriend, Paul, came from NJ for the weekend. They both love Camryn so much and Camryn couldn't stop smiling at Paul. On Saturday evening, we all went to Hershey Park for some fun. I couldn't wait to take Camryn on the rides!!! As soon as we got in the park, I took her on the Merry Go Round. She absolutely LOVED it. From there, Chris took her on a train ride, but that was a little lame for her. We also went on a fire truck ride that she enjoyed. She watched all of the roller coasters with such wide and bright eyes. It looked like she wanted to jump right out of her stroller and get on them!! Something tells me that she is going to be a thrill seeker just like her mommy!!! Someday, she will be sitting in the front seat with me with her hands in the air. I can't wait!!! A little later, she even won herself a prize. She got to pick a duck out of a pond and she won herself a stuffed rubber ducky. I think she was so proud of herself because she wouldn't let go of her duck!! We were all having a great time, but the night took a bad turn when we realized that Bunny Bear was missing. We took Bunny Bear (she sleeps with BB and can't sleep without it) since we would be out past her bedtime. We were hoping that BB would help her fall asleep in her stroller. As soon as we all realized that BB was gone, we all went running to retrace steps. I knew it was a lost cause because there were thousands of kids just waiting to find a dropped toy. Camryn was crying and I had tears in my eyes because I knew she was upset. The 4 of us looking for BB must have been a sight to see. Gina was circling other strollers scoping out if the kids had BB, I was looking at every kid walking by me with a stuffed animal in their hands, Paul was retracing our exact steps, and Chris was trying to keep Camryn calm while zooming the stroller around looking. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do if I saw a kid with it. I was just hoping to see it. After looking for about 1/2 hour, we gave up. It was useless. Finding a stuffed animal in a park full of kids is like finding a needle in a haystack. We went back over to the Storm Runner (where we realized BB was gone) to decide what to do the rest of the night. All of a sudden, Gina yells "Is that BB?!?!?!" A complete miracle. BB was sitting next to a man on a bench. Chris ran over to the man and the man said he saw bunny bear on the ground so he put her on the bench. As soon as Camryn got BB back, she wouldn't let go. She held on to BB so tightly and finally fell asleep. Someone is definitely watching over Camryn and didn't want her to be without her friend. Talk about an interesting night at the park!!

We have a relatively calm week ahead of us. Camryn has had a lot of excitement the past few days, so it will be nice to relax for a while. Our next adventure will be at the end of the month when we go to the beach. I can't wait to take her in the ocean! I feel so lucky that we have the time in the summer to do these fun things as a family. I just hope the summer stops moving so quickly!!!

E-I-E-I-O

Camryn and I have begun a routine during diaper changes. I sing "The Wheels on the Bus" while she does the hand motions. Her favorite motion to do is when the wipers go "swish, swish, swish" - her hands go wildly from side to side while she has a big smile on her face. Since she loves songs so much, I try to think of new songs to sing. The other day, I remembered "Old MacDonald" and began to sing. She thinks that all animals say "woof", so I figured this would be a good way to learn some more animal sounds. Well, it turns out that she loves the E-I-E-I-O part the best and does her own version after each verse. The best part about it all is that she thinks that mommy is a very good singer and she claps for me at the end of every song. Yeah, that probably won't last much longer!! :)

Interesting

It is amazing to me how many people stop us when we are out and about. It has become a bit of a joke between Chris and I. We literally cannot leave a store without at least one or two people stopping us to tell us how beautiful Camryn is. Yes, we know she is beautiful, but it never ceases to amaze me how many people feel compelled to tell us what we already know. These people don't need to say anything to us - we certainly aren't talking to them out of nowhere!! There is just something about Camryn that draws people to her. I am sure it has something to do with her sparkling blue eyes, chubby cheeks, and infectious smile. I even had a middle aged man say something to me in Lowe's one day. I heard him say something behind me, but I had no idea he was talking to me. Then, he said again, "excuse me, I just wanted to tell you that she is adorable." Then, he proceeded to talk to Camryn for a minute and he was on his way. It has never even occurred to me to comment on a stranger's child, so the fact that people do this to us is quite odd. I know all new parents go through this, but a year later, I am still not used to it and I still don't understand it! Of course, I think that Camryn eats up the attention. She has even begun to wave and say "hi" to random people in stores. She is quite selective, though, which I think is hilarious. She will say hi to some people and not others and will even become quite shy when some people talk to her. I wish I knew what was going through her head sometimes. Her personality is coming out more and more every day and it is so fun to watch!

Not a baby anymore

Chris is golfing, Camryn and sleeping, and I don't feel like cleaning (which I should be doing). So, why not write a little about why my baby isn't too much of a baby anymore?

If you haven't seen her in a while, she has changed so much in just a short time. She officially has 4 teeth (with more coming in soon) and is enjoying eating lots of finger foods. She is not a picky eater at all, so that is good for us! She really enjoys fresh fruits and will eat as many Gerber fruit or veggie puffs as I will let her have!! She made a very smooth transition to whole milk from formula, but doesn't like it cold!!! She also loves her water in her sippy cup and drinks from it all day long. She weighed in at 24 lbs 12 oz at her year checkup, so eating is not a problem!!!

Being a speech therapist, I am very proud of her communication skills! She has between 15-20 words/phrases that she uses consistently and appropriately. No, I am not exaggerating! The doctor told us that she is above average for language skills - I already knew that!!! She loves waving and saying "hi" to our dog, Jordan, all day long - yes, ALL day long and telling her "no" when she barks. I think Camryn thinks that something is wrong with Jordan because she isn't saying "hi" back. She calls Jordan "ada" and is absolutely in love with her! She loves to say "woof" when she sees a dog (or any animal for that matter). She also says: all done, hello, love you, uh-oh, wow (another favorite of hers), ow, daddy, mama, do, no, and bath. Those are the ones off the top of my head. Of course, her productions of them aren't perfect and not everyone would know what she is saying, but we do. I have also done sign language with her for a few months now. She consistently uses the signs for "all done", "more", and "eat". When she is hungry, she will crawl into the kitchen and do the sign for eat. It is entirely too cute. It also cuts down on fussiness and frustration. Some people think that doing sign hinders a child's verbal skills, but it just gives them a broader range of ways to communicate. They use sign at her daycare as well, so that is a good reinforcement away from home.

She LOVES to play with her toys and is enjoying all of her new birthday toys. She is content playing by herself, with other children, or with us. She is very good with her hands and is able to sort shapes and put a puzzle together. She will dance to any music and I sometimes think she has music in her head. She is also very affectionate and will give hugs and kisses to her dolls and stuffed animals. She is also very fond of books. We have read to her every night since before she was born - it is a part of our bedtime routine. She is constantly looking at her board books and we are asked to "do" (read) her "itsy bitsy spider" book about 52 times a day. Of course we do - how could we say no? Reading is very important to both Chris and I, so we are always willing to read a story. She loves being outside, going for walks, people watching in public (she takes after us), bath time, nap time, bedtime, and sleeping with her bunny bear. And, being a girl, she has already shown an interest in shoes, clothes, and purses. All in all, she is not our baby anymore.

We are very lucky to have such a wonderful little girl. Now that we are both home for the summer, we have the privilege to watch her grow and learn each and every day. I have struggled with being a working mother during the school year, but I feel very fortunate to have this valuable time with her now. This is a time for milestones and I am eagerly waiting to witness them. We have a feeling that she will be walking soon - she walks along furniture and with her walking toys, so it is just a matter of time. And, we will be here to see it.