One Year Old!

Here it is. Cami is officially 1 year old, so we have reached our final blog post.

She is now weighing in at 21lbs, 14oz, (70^th percentile) and is 2’5” long (37^th percentile).  We’ve had all sorts of fun new behavioral developments from her in the last month. Carrie has taught her how to kiss. I have taught her how to “noggin” (Finding Nemo, anyone?).  Cami has recently developed a habit of reaching up our shirts and trying to tickle our bellies while she is on the changing table. At first she was very silly about it, and would giggle. Now, she just stares us down very seriously while administering the tickling. Cami did start walking a week before her birthday. She can push up to standing in the middle of the room, and has also learned to climb. We don’t have stairs at home, but whenever we happen upon them, up she goes! She does like to climb up Mady’s little step stool in the bathroom, and has also climbed up on to the toilet. We do make an effort to keep the bathroom door shut now. She has recently become very chatty, and likes to string syllables together. She has also finally developed an interest in books. She does have a select few favorites, and doesn’t have much interest in branching out just yet.  When she is hungry, she will stick her tongue in and out. She is still nursing strong and doesn’t really like cow’s milk. Strangely enough, she has a taste for coffee. Carrie offered her a sip because she was so insistent about it. We expected her to not like it, but she just kept asking for more. It even helps her to take her milk if we add a little coffee. Her grandpa is so proud. Broccoli is actually one of her favorite foods. Finally, Cami has become a very social baby. She likes to wave to every stranger that she passes. This tends to cause people (all of them, not just middle aged women) to gush and wave and strike up conversation with our one year old… and occasionally us.



Since we already had the party, we just had Grandma and Granpa over for dinner and made a giant cookie to commeorate Cami's birthday. We put a candle in the cookie and Mady helped blow it out.

It has been a really exciting year. We have had so much fun watching Cami grow, and watching Mady become a big sister. We are now looking forward to the excitement of living with a toddler and a preschooler.

Camping Day Trip

 On a Saturday in early September, we took the girls out on a day-trip to a camp site. Nana and Papa were out with their RV again. We weren't able to spend the night, this time, but we did come down for the day. Carrie and I brough our bikes, and got to go biking around the camp site a bit while Mady hung out with Nana. The bike ride turned out to be a great way to sooth Cami to sleep. Cami was just learning to walk while we were out on this trip, so she got to practice walking on grass. There was also a fun playground at the camp site that the girls enjoyed. All in all, a great way to spend a Saturday!

Happy (early) Birthday!

On September 8^th, we celebrated Cami’s one-year birthday party (9 days early). This was the closest weekend that Aunt Krista and Uncle Steve were available, so we went with it. My parents graciously offered to host the gathering at their house. We were very excited to have so many family members come out to celebrate with us. The Greanya family even drove down from Flint on Friday night. Andy spent the night we us, so we got to catch up with him. Aunt Charmaine, Uncle Del, and Nicole all stayed at a nearby hotel.

From my side of the family, Grandpa Richards and Grandma Beyer both made it out. My Aunt Mary, Aunt Marty, Uncle Pat, Aunt Andy, and Uncle Charlie also came out. My cousins Margaret (and her soon-to-be husband, Doug) and Matt and Emily, along with their daughter, Caroline also came. It was a very full house! Fortunately, the weather cooperated with us (despite some rainy forecasts) so we were able to set out some lawn games and spread outside to the yard. As an exciting side note, Aunt Mary’s seventh Grand-child was in the process of being born during the party, so she kept getting text updates (too few and far between for her liking). Little May Madden eventually made her way into the world later that evening.

We served “Javanese Dinner” for the meal. This is a Greanya family favorite. It is basically a built-it-yourself meal that consists of rice, chicken, gravy, tomatoes, green onions, pineapple, coconut, almonds, peppers, and cherries (I’m probably forgetting a few things as well). It might sound a little funny, but it is a crowd pleaser. Everyone really enjoyed it, which meant we didn’t have many leftovers.

Cami seemed to have a very good time. She was just starting to take her first cautious steps when we had the party. While she was pretty gentle with her smash cake, she really did enjoy eating it. She got a couple toys and some new outfits for the winter. Most of our guests just helped out with a large shared gift which is going to be a brand new stroller. Our old garage-sale find is definitely on its last legs after three years of steady use. Cami’s brand new “Baby Jogger City-Mini GT” has been ordered and should be here very soon. We are really appreciative of everyone’s generosity. To top it all off, Michigan got their first victory of the season. J All in all, a great way to celebrate one year of life! Congratulations Cameron Lee!

Memphis Kiddie Park

On Labor Day, we took the girls out to the Memphis Kiddie Park. This is a small amusement park in Cleveland designed specifically for people under 50" tall. It has ten rides and a mini-golf course. This turned out to be a great way to spend the day off. Mady was a little hesitant at first. She was still a little gun-shy around rides after her experience at the Fair in Iowa over the summer. The mini-roller coaster and the mini-Ferris Wheel were particularly intimidating to her when we walked in. She started with the Merry-Go-Round. She has ridden on a few of these before and has always enjoyed them. From there, she progressed to a boat ride, a pony and cart ride, a rocket ship, a race car, and an airplane. After mastering all of these rides, Mady decided that she was brave enough to take on the scary rides. I was very proud of her for working up the courage to ride the "Little Dipper" kiddie roller coaster. She actually had a really good time on it. I thought it was a little to jerky for someone who sits much higher than the backrest.

 
Carrie and Cami didn't go on any rides this time, but they had fun watching. We'll probably plan to visit it again in the spring and Mady will be able to take her little sister on the rides.

11 months!

We are now entering the homestretch of year one! There have been lots of fun developments this month.

• Cami has a new habit of telling us when she is done eating by spitting out the food in her mouth. Her other technique is to arch her back and stare at the ceiling until we take her out of her high chair. This might just be an aversion to her chair, because she will stop arching her back but continue eating if we put her somewhere else.
• She now prefers belly sleeping.
• Madelyn has taught our cute, precious little baby how to growl to express herself. Carrie finds this a little disturbing. I think it is hilarious. See the video below.
• She has been saying "ba!" for a while. While this is an all-purpose word for her, she does also use it specifically to refer to a ball.
• Cami can now pull up to standing on a piece of furniture, wall, or leg.
• She isn't officially walking yet, but she is well on her way to learning. She can walk with the aid of a walker toy and can "cruise" along furniture. She has also taken a few clumsy steps away from the couch or between parents. She only does this when someone is giving her encouragement and standing near enough to catch her when she tumbles. I'm pretty confident she'll be walking before her first birthday.
• She doesn't like wearing hats and has enough coordination to rectify the problem if we try putting one on her head.
• She has become more assertive this month. If Mady takes a toy from her or does something else she doesn't like, Cami will make her opinion known.
• Her most exciting moment of mischief this month was locating the can of bacon grease and painting the kitchen floor and herself with it.
• She continues to be a very good sleeper. Carrie still tends to nurse Cami to sleep for naps and bedtime and will nurse Cami once during the night if she wakes up. However, if Cami doesn't nurse to sleep or wakes up a second time during the night, Carrie often holds Cami for five minutes and then lays her back down to go back to sleep on her own.

On the big sister front, Mady has decided that her name is now Kate. She usually corrects us if we call her "Mady" and she tells other children on the playground that her name is Kate. Carrie discovered this when she noticed a group of older (5 year old) girls saying "Hey, Kate, come play with us over here!" Mady's most exciting moment of mischief this month was cutting her own hair. This usually happens at least once in every little kid's life. Fortunately, Carrie was able to catch her quickly so the damage was pretty minimal.



Here is our "growling children" video:

Matt and Sarah

Our good friends, Matt and Sarah Bethune, came up to visit us last weekend. I was able to get them a private apartment in my complex to stay in while they were here. On Saturday we visited the Shaker Heights farmers market, and toured Shaker Square, which has a fun toy store. Then we spent the afternoon at a very nice Lake Erie beach on the west side. The beach was at the base of a bluff. At the top, there was a nice park with grills and picnic tables, so we we were able to cookout for dinner. After dinner, Matt and I got on the Rapid and went to see an Indians game downtown. The game ended with a huge "Rock 'n Blast" fireworks show designed as a tribute to the Beatles. It was actually a really good show complete with lazer lights, elaborate sparklers, and fireworks lauched from within, on top of, and around the stadium, all set to a compilation of Beatles songs with a large animation playing on the massive scoreboard screen. On Sunday, we went to church in the morning. In the afternoon, we toured the campus. For dinner, my parents had us over at their place. Thet put together a great meal, which included three different types of sausage. On Monday morning, Matt and Sarah headed back to their home in West Lafayette, Indiana. It was great to see them again. The girls really liked spending with them as well.

10 months old!

Cami is now is double digits! She has hit some very big milestones this month. Most notably, our happy little baby is now longer stationary. She is crawling, and getting better at it on a daily basis. Once she started crawling, it didn't take her much longer to figure out how to pull up to standing. When we returned from our vacation, we decided that it was time to move Cami's crib into Mady's bedroom. Of course, we also had to lower it all the way so that she doesn't climb out. For the most part, both girls have handled the new sleeping arrangments really well. Unless one of them is in a really grouchy mood, they can get to sleep without disrupting each other. Cami also sprouted two new teeth this month, brining the total to six. She also now claps her hands when she is happy. Most exciting for me, she started saying "dada" this month. She uses it very sparingly. "Mama" and "baba" are still her go-to words.


Hard to believe we are two short months away from her first birthday!