Thursday, February 28, 2013

Camp is 15 Months Old!

Another three months has come and gone, and...Camp is 15 months old! I continue to fall more and more in love with this little guy as he changes from a baby to a walking (and almost talking) toddler. He is truly a sweetheart.
Little Man
 A few things about Camp at this great age:

Personality:
Camp is fun, fun, fun! He laughs at silly things, and he laughs really hard at his parents or grandparents doing silly things. He enjoys being with others, but he also likes some time to himself. He is now waving to everyone, everywhere. He even waves to airplanes...when we're inside. Such a friendly little man. When he's not such a happy camper, he has learned to throw little tantrums. They don't last long (yet), but it's pretty loud and obnoxious. I did notice that the tantrums also seem to coincide with teething. I totally understand that situation, so I'm okay with it. When he's not too upset, he is affectionate, loving, sweet, and full of energy.
Waving
This smile lights up my world.
Size:
At his 15 month checkup, our dude was 34.5 inches long (off the charts for percentile)! He was 25 pounds and 10 ounces (90th%). His head circumference was 48.5 cm (95th%). Camp is wearing 18 months size clothes, but most of those are just about too small. We'll be looking for 24 month and 2T outfits for the spring and summer. He's still wearing size 4 diapers. He still fits in his size 5.5 shoes. It's definitely a workout to carry him around for any period of time!

Development:
Over Thanksgiving (a few weeks after his 1st birthday), we went to see Jonathan's parents in Augusta. When we arrived, Camp was mostly crawling. When we left, Camp was mostly walking! Now, he pretty much just runs everywhere. He can safely crawl up and down stairs. He is pretty cautious after taking a few tumbles. I have started teaching him how to do a somersault. He loves that! He still loves to dance, and he will move to anything with a beat.

Along with his gross motor skills, his fine motor skills are really developing as well. He can open doors with level handles and likes to lock them too. Oh boy! He is starting to use a spoon to feed himself, and he has gotten pretty good at brushing his own teeth. He can scribble with a crayon and the pen on his Magna Doodle. He can tee a golf ball on his Little Tykes golf set, and he can almost screw on a cap to a water bottle.

We have been working to teach Camp some sign language, and he has taken well to it! He is so determined and serious about communicating with us. He uses signs for "more," "please," "milk," "thank you," "all done," "clean," "chew." He is on the verge of saying some real words. I am pretty sure he will just be talking one day and skip the one word at a time thing. When asked, he points to several different body parts. He knows "head," "hair," "nose," "toes," and "stomach/tummy." I think he gets "mouth" and "ears" too. Camp is starting to point out different pictures in books and will reach or point with a grunt for lots of different things. He has excellent receptive language and comprehension. We're pretty certain he's a boy genius.

The alligator is working on two bottom molars. He just got two of his top molars in, so these new ones will make a total of 12 teeth. If you ask him to show you his teeth or molars, he will open up his mouth wide and say, "Aaaaah."
Salad spinning with Nonna
Sleep:
Camp's sleeping is about the same for a while now. He still takes a morning and afternoon nap (yay!), and sleeps at night from about 8 pm to 7 am. A couple times a week, he will not take a good morning nap, but generally he still needs it. He enjoys reading his books in his crib before he goes to bed and when he wakes up. It's a nice little transition time for all of us.
Post-nap hair
Eating:
The boy can eat! He usually eats a huge breakfast, a small or regular size lunch, and a "regular" size dinner. He now drinks all cow's milk (whole) with each meal. He has water and some small snacks during the day as needed.  He generally eats whatever we are eating, but he doesn't care for chicken (unless it's chicken nuggets) or red foods like strawberries or tomatoes. He loves blueberries, yogurt, deli turkey, string cheese, green beans, sweet peas, and biscuits.
open wide!
Fun and Games:
The biggest new thing Camp likes to do is play outside in the yard. For now, he has a golf set, a mini basketball goal, swing, and a few balls. We really want to get him some kind of climbing apparatus or slide set. Other things he loves to do are climb up on the couch, crawl up and down stairs, run around and be chased, throw balls, and ride his tractor scooter. Camp still loves to play with remotes, cell phones, flashlights and laptops. Every night before bed, he enjoys his bathtime. He usually wants to play longer than we're willing to let him, but I'm so glad he is happy to take a bath! Dancing is another favorite activity. Whenever a commercial is on or a cell phone rings, he is dancing with a huge grin. That might be my favorite thing to watch ever. He has become pretty keen on looking at his board books alone, but he will only sit still for a few moments to have one read to him. We really enjoy hosting or  going to playdates with other children.  He recently joined in a game of football with the older boys at a park playdate. It was neat to see him running around with the three and four year olds. He is even learning to share!
Loves balls and his rocking chair

Jumping on the trampoline for the first time with cousin, AvaRose!

Happy Little Camper

Dearest Camp,
Every time I blink, you are bigger, smarter, and cuter. Your daddy comments all the time about how cute you are in the adorable things you do. All of your grandparents simply adore you and think you are so well-behaved, smart, and fun. I am so proud to be your mommy. Thank you for being such a cool kid and making my life complete. I love you more than my favorite tv shows and french toast.
Love,
Mommy

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

One Dollar Wednesday: Sponge Fun

I know it's been a while since we've had an installment of One Dollar Wednesday, but I've been pretty busy chasing around a 15 month old who has traded in walking for running!

I really want to get back on track with quality, hands-on learning activities for Camp, so today was the day to start. Several weeks ago (that's how long it took to gather the energy for this), we picked up this 10 pack of sponges from The Dollar Tree. I love that for one buck you can get the quantity as well as a three color selection.

 
I decided to get even more bang for my buck by cutting each sponge in half. I only used three whole sponges for this little trial, so Camp has 6 mini sponges to play with, and I still have 7 for other projects or <gasp> cleaning.
Put the mini sponges in a clear, plastic shoebox with a lid and
ABRACADABRA: SPONGE FUN!


First, I just gave the box of sponges to Camp so he could explore. I showed him how he could stack them like blocks. We (mostly I) talked about the colors. The main concepts I wanted to work on with the sponges today were wet and dry. I described the sponges as dry, and Camp enjoyed squishing them. Then, I added just a little bit of water in the dishpan and let the little guy dip the sponges into the water. Not much stayed dry for long. Just as he does in the bathtub with the washcloth, he immediately wanted to suck the water out of the sponges. Maybe we should hydrate more!? I showed him how to wring out the wet sponge and make it almost dry again. He attempted (and was eventually successful) to spill all the water from the pan onto the towel.  I continued using the vocabulary "dry" and "wet" to talk about the sponges, his pajamas, and the towel we sat on for our exploration.


 This activity was very easy to prepare and clean up (luckily I chose to only put a bit of water in the pan). Looking back on it, I would have given Camp more time with the dry sponges before introducing the "wet" factor. He seemed to enjoy the experience overall, but I was pretty much done with it after about 10 minutes. Part of that might be because of the whole eating the sponges thing that was happening. We'll definitely be pulling out the sponges and water again, especially outside this summer so we can cool off!

*P.S. Thank you, SherBear, for these super safari animal pajamas!

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Baby Signs

I knew pretty early on that I wanted to teach Camp some sign language. I always taught my second graders several basic signs, and I found a great baby signing book at a thrift store. I didn't do as well with it as I had hoped, but after months of showing Camp a few easy and useful words, he finally got it! Now, he's really on a roll. He can sign for "more," "eat," "please," "all done," "milk," "chew what you've got first and then swallow (one Jonathan just sort of made up)", and sometimes "clean." He will sometimes also do half of "thank you." Most of the signs he knows are mealtime related because that's about the only waking time that he is sitting still and paying much attention to us. It is so nice that he is beginning to communicate with us in a way that makes sense to everyone.
*This video is a little fuzzy...I guess I forgot to focus it. Oops.
What signs should we teach him next?

Happy Valentine's Day 2013

We've been celebrating Valentine's Day for a few days now because it's just that awesome. Here's a peek at how we decorated, celebrated, and enjoyed Hearts Day with our little family.
A little Valentine's decor on the mantel
Got the printable as a freebie here and the cute owl bank was a gift to Camp from my BFF. Fun Fact: The "&" piece was used as a prop in our wedding pics! Love is all around!
My hubby got me flowers a couple days early to surprise me and so I could enjoy them before we headed out of town!
Camp's present was this adorable little hoodie bear.
I love this man.
And this boy.
Might be one of my favorite pictures of all time.
Helping with the recycling
STOP! In the name of love...


Waving

Nothing could STOP me from loving this little guy!




Hope your Valentine's Day was special and fun!
 xoxo

Saturday, February 9, 2013

SNOW Much Fun Playdates

In the past two weeks, Camp and I have hosted two playdates at our house. I was sad to miss out on a "Winter Wonderland" themed playdate a few weeks ago when Camp had a runny nose, so I planned our own winter fun. I put my Cricut to use (thanks Mary Martha and Kyle) and started creating and decorating. I had a lot of fun coming up with themed foods and activities that the toddlers, infants, and moms would enjoy. It was exciting to play in the snow for a couple of days since we won't be seeing any this year. Now, it's time to retire the winter decor and move on to Valentines!
Falling snow made with fishing line and cotton balls
"Snow Much Fun" banner made using the Cricut
Got these gel clings from Big Lots after Christmas for 30 cents!
Got these gel clings at the Target Dollar Spot after Christmas for 30 cents!

I had to move these higher up the window after Camp attempted to eat the hat. Oops!
Felt Snowman board made with felt, obviously.



Pile of snowman parts

This box was filled with snowballs (cotton balls). Each person grabbed a handful and a big snowball fight was born.
The food and craft table
Kids crafted snowflakes with foam stickers or stamped on paint using corks!
"Chill Out" beverage station..."melted snowman" bottled waters and "frosty juice" apple juice boxes were also served.
Food table
orange slICEs
peppermint snowballs
cheese and grape snowmen
white chocolate covered pretzel snowflakes
Cheerio snow tubes
pretzel stick snowman arms
Mini honey Teddy Graham polar bears and grape snowglobes
Polar Bear baby
Webb was checking out the kitty cat outside.


Reagan was SNOW CUTE building a snowman! (Her shirt actually had a little snow scene and said, "Snow Cute," but I didn't get a picture of that.)


Henry in the snow tunnel
playing in the snowball pit


Begging for food



Thanks for coming to our play date! It was SNOW MUCH FUN!