Mini Kawasaki

My parents are in town for the weekend visiting Brian and I and, of course, little Camden. They made the long 10 hour drive from Levelland to the big city of Houston. (They must love us so) They arrived late last evening and, being the wonderful grandparents they are; had hugs, kisses and a gift in tow.


Now, to set up a little back story... Brian has ridden motorcycles for many many years; both street bikes and dirt bikes, and has said since I was pregnant, that Camden will have a mini motorcycle by the time he's three or four. I, of course, have many objections to this idea to which he replies that he will need a little four wheeler first to learn the whole break & gas concepts. My dad, a motorcycle enthusiasts from way back, agrees.


Camden's gift was mini Kawasaki, foot powered, four wheeler. This cute little toy comes complete with buttons that make various sound effect that Camden quickly learned to operate himself. His feet are just a little too short to actually make contact with the floor and push himself forward but he has already figured out how to wiggle backwards.

He played on the four wheeler for almost the entire morning. He was so funny to watch as he bounced up and down on the little seat. He is just too cute for words sometimes!


I must admit that it is an adorable toy and I love it almost as much as Camden does. And just to make sure that there is no confusion; this blog is in no way an endorsement for the purchase of a "real" four wheeler or motorcycle in the future. We love ya Nana & Papaw!

Nine Month Checkup

Camden had his nine month checkup this morning with Dr. Reynolds. He was a happy camper until they started examining him. I think he's made the correlation between the doctor and having to get shots. Although today, he cried more when the doctor was listening to his heart and lungs than he did when he actually got his flu shot.


I call Camden a chunky monkey, but that is not the case. He is in only the 5th percentile for his weight. The doctor was a slightly concerned since he's only gained a little under a pound in two months and wants us to try to get him to eat more. He's always been a finicky eater but I really thought that he was putting on more weight. After all, he feels heaver than 17 pounds. I suppose I have my work cut out for me now...get a picky stubborn child to eat more.
As far as his other numbers go he's 28 1/2 inches long (75th percentile) and his head is 46 centimeters around (also, 75th percentile). So basically he's tall, skinny and has a big head. lol
Anyway you measure him I think he's perfect! :)

Little Cowboy

Just a quick little post while Camden is napping. I took these pictures last week when we were playing in the afternoon. I dug out my old rocking horse, plopped him on top and away we rocked.

Ride 'em Cowboy

He's Thinking About Eating The Yarn Mane

How Long Will It Be Before He Wants a Real One?

It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

Last night Brian and I took Camden to a little pumpkin patch at a local church. The side yard of the church is covered with hay and hundreds of various size pumpkins. We walked through the pumpkin patch until we found the perfect first pumpkin for Camden.
I'm sure that I was more excited to take him to the pumpkin patch than he was to actually be there. Regardless of that fact, we enjoyed walking through the pumpkin patch and made a new family memory that I hope will become a tradition.

Mommy & Camden

My Little Pumpkin

Daddy & Camden
In The Pumpkins

Fireplace How To

Since Camden has become a little crawling expert he's found the fireplace to be an exciting and inviting place to practice pulling up. I just happen to have the camera and caught his pull up progression. He's too cute and I had to share!

How To Pull Up On The Fireplace
By Camden

(1) Crawl to the fireplace

(2) Sit on your bottom

(3) Put hands on the fireplace edge and pull

(4) Stand proudly and show off your hard work

A little note to self:
We need to get the foam edging to cover the sides of the bricks.
To Babies R Us I shall go. :)

Let Him Eat Cake

It's not even his birthday yet and he's already had cake.
Now before you go off thinking that I'm a horrible mother who gives her son tons of sweets; you should know that he was given a mini cupcake after his healthy dinner of mashed veggies and chicken. I was getting into a Martha Stewart mood and wanted to make a little Halloween treat. I mixed up some vanilla cake mix and died it orange just to be festive. I then frosted the itty-bitty mini cupcakes with white and orange icing. They were yummy and the perfect fall treat.
Camden, as you can tell from the pictures, loved them. He had that one tiny cupcake torn to pieces and smeared everywhere. Who knew that he could make such a big mess and still have cake left to eat.

And He's Off!!!

I have joked for several weeks that I will have to carry Camden to kindergarten. He is a child who will do things in his own good time. He chooses what he wants to "show off" and when. Today he woke up ready to show off!

After breakfast we were playing in the living room when he scooted himself (on his belly) into the corner and, rather than playing with a small stash of toys there, he started pulling on the topiary. I immediately pulled him out of the corner, scooted the toys away and redirected his attention to a book. Once he was out of the corner and entertained, I went to grab the video camera to catch a few minutes of him playing with his toys. (I'm the camera crazy mom)

Once I had to camera out and walked back around the couch he was up on his knees crawling towards the remote control. He has never taken more than one little "step" while on his hands and knees and he's needed a lot motivation to even do that...remember he does things on his time. Anyway, I immediately starting praising him and got down on to the floor to watch him closely. I couldn't believe he was crawling! Mommy's little boy was growing up before my very eyes.

Once he had the remote he was done. So, I did what any mother would do, I took the remote away and moved it in the opposite direction. Off he went again and that's when I started filming. This continued for about half and hour before he decided he was ready for a nap.

Isn't he so adorable?!?!

Thinking back, the remote control was probably the perfect motivation, a little forbidden fruit. (He's not allowed to play with the remote)

I guess this means it's time to invest in a couple of baby gates, actually install all of the cabinet latches we have and do another round of baby proofing. I'm sure he'll be more work now, but I'm so proud of him and ready for this new stage of his development. Yea!! :)

Rain, Rain, Go Away

The last two days have been a little rainy, extremely humid and just overall unpleasant. Therefore, Camden and I have been stuck in the house a little more than usual. Its funny how you'll miss taking a couple of short walks and swinging out on the patio and begin develop a case of cabin fever in just a few short days. (We did, however, manage to squeeze in our morning walk today before a few raindrops began to fall...I'm not sure if that'll be the case this afternoon) I'm looking forward to cooler dry weather...until then, we'll sneak outside when we can, make the most of our office/playroom and keep each other entertained until Brian gets home.

He Loves His Fish Bowl

Although, Sometimes He's More Interested In
The Screws Rather Than The Fish

He Pulls All Of His Toys Out And Tries
To Climb Into The Basket

He Caught Me Taking His Picture

Clip-Clip Snip-Snip

Yes...it's true.
Camden had is first official hair cut this morning!
We've been putting it off for a month or so but finally decided to take advantage of Brian having the day off and make an appointment. We went to a place called Cool Cuts 4 Kids. It is a child centered salon with toys, video games, cartoons and fun car shaped seats. I highly recommend it. :)

The shaggy before pictures:

We were a little nervous about how Camden would act while having his hair cut. (You just never know how he'll respond to new people or new situations) Thankfully, we had no reason to worry. He did wonderfully!

He was buckled into a little yellow car and draped with a blue cape. A baby Einstein video was playing on a small TV next to the mirror. He had minimum wiggles and the stylist work well with him. The only time he seemed a little uncomfortable was when she used the electric clippers around his ears. There were no tears but he did not have his happy face on at that point. But once the trimmer was put away, he returned to his happy self and continued to "drive" his little car. The entire cut took 15 minutes, at the most, and was a great experience all around.

Our once shaggy boy is now clean cut and as handsome as ever!

Pancake Sunday

It's become some what of a routine for me to cook what we call a "big breakfast" on Sunday mornings before church. This phenomenon has occurred since moving into our new house and making the decision to attend the late service at church. (10:45) This allows us plenty of time to cook, eat, clean, get ready and arrive at church on time without being rushed.
Anyway...this past Sunday I made pancakes. We cut up a few little pieces for Camden to eat and placed them on his highchair tray. He's gotten to where he can pick up a piece of food, bring it to his mouth and actually get it inside and eat it without more than half of his meal ending up on the floor.
Well, when my back was turned putting dishes into the dishwasher, Brian decided to give him an entire pancake. He made the biggest mess and only managed to take a small bite or two. It was so funny and cute to see him examine the pancake, tear it apart, throw it on the floor and take a tiny bite. He had as much fun tearing it apart as we did watching him.

Too Hot For Halloween

Several months ago I purchased two Halloween shirts for Camden. Both of which are long sleeved. I mistaking thought that it would be cool enough for him to wear them. Well, I am not going to let these seasonal shirts go to waste. We have worn them around the house, the cool mornings when we go for a walk and the occasional outing where I know heat will not be an issue.
(That oddly sounds like he wears them everyday...not the case, I promise)
Unless it cools off drastically to weather that requires long sleeves, we will continue to roll up those little sleeves and look cute doing it.

Motorcycle Dreams

We tried a pair of pajamas on Camden last night, after holding them up to him numerous times and deciding they were too big, and discovered that they actually fit! If I would have waited much longer to do this he would have outgrown an adorable pair of pajamas. His Aunt Hottie (Zak) gave these to him before he was even born. At the time, I thought they would never fit. After all, they were a 6-12 month and looked enormous. Well, needless to say, he was as cute as a button in them. Thanks Aunt Hottie!

A Little Sunshine

Today was a wonderfully rare cool day in Houston thanks to the low humidity. The weather is slowly starting to change into something resembling fall. Because of this beautiful weather, Camden and I took advantage of it and spent some time outside.

Camden loves to swing and would let you push him for hours. On many occasion, he has been know to drift off to sleep. This is a great "before nap" activity. He's still a little small for the swing and needs the assistance of a towel to sit up straight. For as happy as he seems in the swing and for the many years we'll be able to use it, it was definitely worth the investment.

We also spent a little time just exploring the grass. We've gone on many walks and sat outside before but he's never just sat in the grass. Initially, he wasn't too fond of it. I think the texture was unfamiliar and a little uncomfortable but he became interested and started checking things out after a few minutes. After I got my snapshots we spread out the blanket and played for a while before his afternoon nap.

Blogging Bandwagon

I suppose that it is time that I jumped on to the blogging bandwagon. :) Before Camden was born, and a few short months after, I kept a fairly regular blog on my MySpace page. Which, for those of you who are on my friends list there, know that is no longer the case. Also, since moving to Houston, I've had numerous people want pictures, to check on Camden and to see how things are going in the "big city." I figured that this would give me an opportunity to share the exciting and sometimes routine experiences of our family, along with many many pictures, with everyone. Especially those members of my family and some friends who do not interact with MySpace.

So, to get things started.... We've been in Houston for almost four months and are settling in to our new surroundings. Moving was a big adjustment, especially for me, since I've never really left "home." (That is unless you count Lubbock as leaving home...I never did.) We purchased our first house and almost have everything unpacked. We are continuing to work on updating one of the bathrooms, taking down wallpaper in the kitchen and decorating our bedroom. Just a few little things here and there which will get done over the coming weeks, months and maybe years.

As for Camden, he is doing wonderful and growing like a weed. He has such a funny, calm and inquisitive personality. He's starting to crawl, mostly backwards, and pulls up on everything but can only manage to get to his knees. I know that once he gets his feet, legs, arms and hands all going the same direction and speed I am in trouble! I will be chasing him all over the house...I can see it now. He is the proud owner of six teeth and is working on two more on the bottom. Since he's started teething he has become our little drool monkey. (Who knows where I came up with that name, but it has stuck) He feeds himself little bits of food; mostly bread, steamed potatoes, puffy baby cereal and fruit. He loves bath time, being read to, swinging, going for walks and being sung to. He is also already a Mommy's boy.

Brian really loves his job and is very excited to be doing hands on programming rather than just overseeing projects. Currently, he's working on part of the flight software that will be implemented and used on the Orion vehicle that will replace the shuttle program in the coming years. As for me, I love being able to stay home with Camden. I am thankful to have the opportunity to spend each day with him.

Not too bad for an initial blog... Now for the hard part, keeping it up. :)