Guess Who

Guess who started on some whole milk this week? Cameron usually takes 4 bottles a day. I have found it harder and harder to get him to drink the second bottle. I decided to replace it with a sippy and while I was at it make it some whole milk as well. It's funny how with your first you follow all the guidelines. No milk until one year old!!! Okay, so with Cooper it was like 11 1/2 months. We don't usually eat/drink organic, but since he is starting a bit early I thought we would give it a try. He's done fine so far. My baby is growing up! I thought I had this whole having two kids thing down pat. I have a toddler and a baby. It's about to turn into a preschooler and a toddler. Not for sure if I'm ready for that.

Sprinkler Fun

Steve had to work on Saturday so he promised Cooper they could go swimming after dinner. Wouldn't you know it, there was a private party at the clubhouse. Bummer!!! I thought there was an unusual amount of cars there. They decided on some sprinkler fun instead.

I love this picture, you know it's hot when your lens immediately fogs up when you take out the camera. I had to keep Cameron in the stroller while out there. Our yard is on a slope and he is all.over.the.place. He kept getting pelted by the water.

Cooper was a little cautious. He has always been scared of the sprinkler for some reason.

Cameron wasn't scared one bit! I may have said this before, I do believe he will be our adventurous one.

It might not have been as fun as swimming, but it was a close second.

Beating Heart

Cooper will come up to me and ask me to show him his heart and ask if I want to listen to it. I am still amazed when I put my ear up to his chest and hear his beating heart. That sound never gets old. I think about how he wont be four until November, yet that heart has been going strong for about 4 1/2 years. How before I ever heard the first cry, I heard that heart. Before I ever seen my precious son, I seen that heart beating. I will never, EVER, understand how someone can justify the stopping of a beating heart.

Cooper- I will listen to your heart anytime you ask!

Baby Chair

Cooper is a messy eater. He gets food all over the place. The problem is he plays with it and doesn't eat it. I threatened to put him in the high chair one day at lunch so up he went. The sad thing is I think he liked it. I should have put him in it today. He was being silly and fell out of the chair and busted his lip. He cut the piece of skin between his gums and lip above his top teeth. It has stopped bleeding but I put a call in to the doctor just in case. Waiting to hear back now.

Photos by Cooper

Cooper tried out his hand at some photography. The first was supposed be of Cameron and myself.

Summer Treat

We took the boys to Graeter's last night for some ice cream. I was a little disappointed, I thought Strawberry Chocolate Chip was a summer flavor, it is really a Spring flavor. It was still good, I almost had to sell a child to go, but it was good!

Cameron got one bite and was like a ravenous animal. Cooper, well you can tell Cooper enjoyed his sundae.

Steve got vanilla. Yup, we go to Graeter's and Steve gets vanilla.

I just had to take a picture of Cooper's shirt afterwards. He was covered in chocolate.

As we were leaving we passed a couple there that looked to have their teenage son with them. We were cracking up at Cooper's shirt and she laughed and smiled and said someone must have enjoyed it. I got in the car and couldn't help but get a little sad because I know one day I'm going to blink and I'll be sitting in an ice cream shop with two teenage boys watching the younger couple longing for the days my children were a total mess.

Practicing

Cooper has been practicing his letters and I think he finally has his name. He was a little upset that the R wasn't correct, I think he may be one of those kids who gets upset if it isn't perfect, but I'll take it. It's in a straight line, that's a huge set for us.

Target

We pretty much have a weekly trip to Target around here. Yesterday was no exception. The past three or four times I have been there I have seen the manager of Walmart. Funny, huh? He says he comes over every morning to get his Starbucks and take a lap.

btw- Target is FINALLY done with their remodel. Looks great.

Yesterday's trip was not for us. Our church collects backpacks full of school supplies each year for area schools. I grabbed a card for a kindergarten and 5th grade and did a little shopping trip. I tried to explain to Cooper what we were doing and the importance of it and he said Ms Jennifer (the early childhood director had church) had talked to them about it and every time they go into the purple room (children's auditorium) there would be backpacks. I guess he does get it.

Almost every trip to Target is finished up by a pretzel. It was split by Cooper and myself now it's split between the three of us. This one is for you Alicia. They got brand new shopping carts. Once Nora starts sitting up, you can fit three children in the cart and have plenty of room for your stuff.

Cameron fell asleep on the way home so after I put him down in his bed, Cooper helped sort the supplies for me. Of course he wanted half the stuff, but I think he got the importance of it. It was a good way to spend our morning.

Rotten!!!!

Cameron can be a bit rotten at times. He loves to play in our cabinet pantry and get all the food out. See the look of innocence.

This morning I walked out of the room to get something. Cooper starts hollering that Cameron got a cookie. He had helped himself to an oatmeal creme pie. Eating it through the wrapper and all.

NKOTBSB

Last night, for one night, I was able to revisit my youth. I'm sure like most of my readers, I was obsessed with the New Kids on the Block. And my favorite, was none other than the adorable Joey McIntyre. I was the youngest of three girls so it's only natural I chose the youngest of the band. Before I divulge into the happenings of last night I thought I would revisit a night about 4 1/2 years ago. My mom loves Dancing with the Stars. That Christmas I bought us tickets to their tour show at Rupp Arena. Remember how Joey was on one of their first seasons? He was at their tour and just prior to the show we noticed a sign saying Joey would be in a certain section signing autographs after the show. Shut.the.front.door! Are you kidding me? So of course during their finale, we hightailed it out there and I was second in line. It was a dream come true 17 years in the making. I can remember thinking if only they would go back on tour.
Now lets revisit a night back in early January. I'm sitting around after dinner, playing with the kids, watching the news when I hear something like "major concert announcement, Yum Center, New Kids, Backstreet Boys". Shut.the.front.door.again! Shut the back door, shut all the doors!
I went to giddy 12 year old girl mode. Before I knew it there was a group of 8 of us and tickets purchased. Then came the long 6 month wait until the big night. Two of my cousins, who live south of Indy, came in for the night. Now that is obsession!

We had plans to all meet up for dinner close to the stadium. I hadn't been to a concert at Yum Center before, bad idea. It was packed. I have never seen downtown that hoppin. We settled for a hot dog and nachos inside the arena. At least we had a few moments beforehand to grab some pictures.
Cousin Susie, Amy, and myself.

Me, Gretchen, and Tracey.

We knew we would be in nosebleed section. However, we were not prepared for this. I was praying to my dear sweet Jesus the whole way up.

I will say it wasn't that bad once all the seats were filled. The show started out with a small bad, Midnight Red or something like that. Then Matthew Morrison was up. He is from Glee. Pretty handsome too. He did a good job, he's like a Michael Buble. Although he did break into some Golddigger. Wish my pictures would have turned out, they were too blurry.

After a short intermission the lights went dark and we all went wild along with about 20,000 of our closest fans. They had about a 3 minute lead up until finally the curtain dropped and there stood our boys. And boy do they still have it. Age has been kind to these fellas. They really did the concert great. Both bands performed together, then New Kids would sing 2-3 songs, then Backstreet Boys. They all came out at the end and did some talking and another song together before the encore. The encore was AMAZING!!!!! Backstreet came out first, then New Kids with a little Hangin Tough!!!!! Then they did stuff together. Backstreet was singing their song, New Kids theirs, at the same time with the same band. Very cool. Before encore I've even seen. Once they all got on stage from start to finish was over 2 hours, well worth the money. I got home around midnight, I was paying for today, especially around 2:30. I hit a wall, this 32 yr old momma just can't keep up like I used to.

Check out Jordan, he has some moves. He has to be at least 38 or 39 but he can move like he is 21.

I was never a huge Donnie fan until last night. Better with age!!! I know he is at least in 40's. He is still trying to portray the bad boy, but we all know he is a family man now. They made a few jokes about how he knows this city, he remembers it. Remember when he set his room at the Galt House on fire like 20 years ago?

Here's my boy with a little Please Don't Go Girl. He was singing to me!!!

Some Backstreet Boys, I'm surprised I knew more of their songs than I thought.

Can you say jealous??? Not fair!! They pulled three girls from the audience on stage. The one on the left is actually the guy's (Brian Littrell) wife. It was her birthday.

We were getting a little giddy here, it was 10:30, we were tired.
"I'll be loving you forever"

What a great night!!! Maybe they will be back in another 10 years. Can you just imagine 50 year old men singing and dancing on stage.

Bloggers Play Date

A couple of weeks ago I put out the idea of having a bloggers play date with all our kiddos. I ended up with great response and we had plans on going to a park this week. Of course we all know how the weather has been, hot hot hot!!! Alicia kindly opened her home up to us. There ended up being 7 moms and 15 kids (plus one on the way). It was chaos at times, especially at lunch, but really when there are 15 kids you can't expect much less. I only got my camera out once. I think the best picture of the day was before I even left home. I had just gotten Cooper's hair fixed when I left to finish getting ready. I come back out and Cooper tells me he fixed Cameron's hair. He had taken the spray bottle and drenched Cameron. His hair, face, clothes, everything. I would have gotten on him if Cameron hadn't look so darn adorable and acted as if he could care less.
I did manage a few group shots, and the one of the moms was stolen from Alicia's blog.

I don't even know where to begin on these pictures.

This one is just awesome. Cameron clearly wants no part of it, Nora is spit firing mad. Glad I could see her cry, I've heard she doesn't do it much. Sam is having a party, Kade is taking his own picture, and there are a few actually smiling at some camera. You gotta love it!Then we braved a mom's picture. This required it to be taken by the kids. And of course Cooper has to be in it too.

My favorite part of the day was lunch time. I get Cameron in a high chair and get him started on Cheerios when Cooper tells me he has to poop. He gets done and cleaned up and by this time Cameron is ticked, he is out of Cheerios and I left him. I give him more and get Cooper's plate when he tells me he has to pee. Really? You couldn't do that 30 second ago. So he goes and pees, by this time Cameron wants no part of the high chair or his food. At this point I'm just glad he told me he had to go. What can you do?

Thanks again Alicia for having us over. It was great. So sorry I couldn't stay and clean up. Not much I could do with a screaming child on my hip. He was before we even got out of the neighborhood.

Water Babies

Much to my happiness Cooper is starting to love the water. Last summer he didn't want to let go of me but this year he has been swimming on his own. I had a hard time finding floaties, he has a body of a 4 yr old and weight of a 2 yr old. The puddle jumper works awesome! He loves it too. I took them swimming last Thursday and Friday, pretty impressive since both are 100% dependant on me and I was by myself. Saturday, my mom came over and we all went swimming. We also went to Tracey's moms house today, but I left the camera at home. I got a few last Saturday.

He wasn't feeling it that day, tired and hungry I think.

Cooper wanted to "jump" in.

Looks like we will be getting our money's worth swimming each summer.

Change of Plans

There is a change of plans for the playdate this Wednesday. We are going to meet at another bloggers house due to heat. If you would like the info, leave me your email in the comment section and I will send you the details.

Clark County 4H Fair

On Thursday night we headed to the greatest place on Earth, at least I thought it was in the 7th grade, the Clark County 4H Fair. Cooper had a blast!!! He was the perfect age for it. My shy little timid guy surprised me that night. Not only did he ride some rides by himself, he rode rides I never in a million years would have thought he would. I think he is going to be a roller coaster fan. The highlight of the night was probably the big slide. Cooper did it twice, first with Steve than with me. I didn't get a picture because Steve wanted video tape. Wow, it was fast. Cooper and I went airborne it was so fast. He was laughing the entire time. On the way home we were talking about how expensive it was, we should have gotten an unlimited stamp for Cooper but wasn't for sure how much we would do, it was at least $3 a ride. However, you really can't put a price on happiness for your child. Especially when you see that true genuine smile.

Just to prove he was indeed there. Poor kid, chained to a car seat or stroller all night. Took it like a champ though. His highlight was probably when he was eating some puffs and they turned into pieces of funnel cake. I can imagine his little mind thinking, hmm.... these sure do taste good all of a sudden.
First up were these little airplanes. We were standing on the wrong side so I didn't get a good picture when they went up in the air. He was just so darn happy the whole time. I love it!

Next up where the whales that went up and down.

We tried to ride a train next but it was being worked on. He did some race cars after that. I didn't get any pictures, but Steve videoed it. It was awesome. They went slow until the curve and then it whipped around. He loved it.

The second highlight had to be the dragon roller coaster. He did it twice. I thought for sure he would freak out on this one. I ran into a few of my family members and they had to stop it for my cousin's daughter earlier that night. I wish I could have gotten some better pics of this, he looked like he was having the best time of his life.

This is the second time he rode it. The little boy in front of him in the red is Kade, Jill's son. I told Steve he should have just put Cooper in the same car as him, it filled up and they both ended up sitting next to some random child.

You may have to make this one bigger to see the full effect.

It was good times, done up county fair style. If you've never done the Clark County Fair, you need to at least once in your lifetime. Good Times!!!!

10 Months

Cameron Scott you are 10 months old today! What happened to this little guy? I'm not going to lie and say it's been all rosy, cause we all know the first 6 months were a bit rough at times, but my how this little one has turned into quite the happy camper. I'm going to go out on a limb and say he is easier at 10 months than Cooper was. Cooper was pretty darn easy too. Cameron just goes with the flow of things. Some mornings he naps, sometimes he doesn't just depending on what we are doing. Most of the time it's in the car, he just deals with it. He's so easy to entertain while at home. Just goes off and plays by himself. Of course he does want mommy close by. There are also those times he likes to do something he isn't supposed, like climb the stairs, he crawls over to it and stops to give you the biggest sly grin ever. Little stinker! He has climbed entire set of steps with one of us behind him, little dare devil he is. He does two of the cutest things. If he hurts himself on a toy he gets mad, starts crying and throws it. Hilarious! Then if you scold him and raise your voice, like when he is being a little rotten in the high chair, his lower lip curls in and his chin starts quivering. It's almost worth the scolding to see him do it it's so cute.

Some things to note:

He is starting to eat real food now. Last Saturday his entire dinner was table food. I am so ready to be done with baby food!

He still hasn't tried to take a step or stand by himself. He will cruise along the couch or a table but hasn't tried it on his own. I'm waiting though.

I had some coupons for organic baby food, I bought some and he started having regular bowel movements. This has always been issue. I think I'm going to start giving him organic milk around 11 months, maybe one bottle a day before I take him off formula. Steve calls me Kate Gosselin. Hey, anything to get my kids to poop.

Steve and I had overlapping appointment Monday evening. His parents came over to watch the boys, Cameron didn't cry at all! Big step for him.

His smile just lights up the whole room. Sometimes I look at him and smile and we have a giggle session. He loves Cooper! Wants to do everything he does. We have to watch Cooper, he can get a little rough. I'm waiting for the day for Cameron to haul off and beat the tar out of him. I'm just going to sit back and laugh, that's what you get when you torment your little brother.

I just can't imagine a more happy kid right now. I'm so thankful the reflux, spit-up, and ear problems are behind us.
Cameron, you are such a joy! But can you do me a favor and slow down a bit? You are growing up way too fast.

Play Date

Looks like we have some interest in the play date. This should be fun! If you know someone who blogs or reads your blog but not mine, please invite them as well.

Next Wednesday, July 20th, let's meet around 10:30 at Bob Hedge Park in Jeff. I chose Bob Hedge mainly because it's easier to keep the kids contained and it's the easiest to bring a stroller too :) We have lots of little ones in our blogging circle.

Was it good buddy?

Cameron had his first teething biscuit followed up by some carrots this week. I think his face can answer the question if it was good or not.