Baby Teeth

Camden has been getting a bunch of new teeth lately. This means that during the day, Cam is his super-perky, cute self and then he transforms into a drooling, grumpy mess as soon as he realizes bedtime is near. Last night when we were playing in his room before bed, he was happily clapping, dancing, chasing our cat, and pulling up on everything. About 15 minutes later, you would have thought I was lowering him into a fiery pit of lava instead of his crib. Usually at bedtime, we put him down in his crib, he sits up and waves as we walk out of the room, and then we hear a plop over the monitor a few seconds later and we know he has zonked out, so this whole crying when I put him in his crib thing is new. I think part of it is a little separation anxiety from being away from his daddy (Patrick is on a snowboarding trip to Jackson Hole this week, and it's the longest he's ever been away from Cam) but I think it's mostly because of those teeth. He literally shakes with joy when he sees the Tylenol bottle. My poor little guy.

Camden is also suddenly into everything. He's been mobile for a long time but has always been happy moving from toy to toy and pulling up on the occasional piece of furniture. Now, all of our furniture is bolted to the wall and his favorite "toys" are any type of electrical cord and any teeny tiny little object that he finds on the floor that he's not supposed to have. After an afternoon of intercepting him speed-crawling toward a variety of cords and pulling little crumbs out of his jaws-of-life grip, I am now an obsessive vacuumer and all of our cords are carefully hidden away. We baby proofed our house a while ago but it's amazing what you overlook. This age is SO much fun but it takes the worrying to a whole new level:)

All of these new developments have brought me closer to coming to grips with the "T" word (toddler). I can't even type it without getting teary-eyed. I have been in total denial and have tried really, really hard to ignore the elephant in the room, but I guess it's time for me to admit that he's not a baby anymore (even though he'll always be my baby). Everybody tells you how fast it goes but I had no idea it would go by this fast. I feel like I'm going to wake up one day and he's going to be a kindergartner. Or even worse, a teenager.

Camden's First Date (and some other fun stuff)

We went over to our friends P.J. and Jessica's house for dinner on New Years Day and Camden got to hang out with their their precious baby girl, Cara. They held hands and gave each other hugs. And then Cam stole her lipstick. And they poked each other in the eyes and stuck their fingers in each other's mouths. You know, typical first date stuff.




Cam got his hair cut for the first time on Saturday. We went out to eat lunch before and we ordered from the kid's menu for the first time. He got a grilled cheese and danced while he ate it. Then we went to a place near our house called "Pigtails and Crewcuts" (how cute is that?!) and Cam settled into his fire truck for his very first big boy hair cut. He laughed, he cried, he drove his little heart out, and then it was finally over and he got an animal cracker to celebrate.




On Sunday, Camden's good friend Emma came over to play. I got to chat with her mommy, Jennifer, about how fast our babies are growing (they were born 2 weeks apart) and the babies had a blast.

This is one of the few pictures of their playdate where Camden wasn't doing this crazy looking "smile" that he all of a sudden decided to do in all of his pictures. As soon as he sees the red-eye flash, he poses and does this huge grin. Here is a picture I took of him tonight cheesing it up before bedtime:

He is such a ham:)

A New Normal

It's been almost a month since we got our news about Camden and I can't tell you how much this little boy has changed our lives, especially in the past few weeks. I keep saying this has been such a blessing to us, and I know it may be hard for a lot of people to understand why, but it truly has been. Don't get me wrong, we have struggled and shed our fair share of tears, but most of that happened BEFORE we got Cam's diagnosis when we were in that scary place of knowing something was "wrong" but not knowing what it was.

After that first well-child checkup when Camden's measurements were so disproportionate, I found myself holding my breath whenever the nurses would pull out the tape measure. Every single time they would say "that can't be right" and recheck everything, only to get the same measurements. His growth charts always looked so "off" and that's such a nerve-racking thing to see as a mom. We started blaming ourselves, thinking he wasn't eating the way he should, or that we needed to start supplementing with formula, or that he wasn't getting enough of all the vitamins he needed from me. Camden has never really been a fan of the bottle since he's been exclusively breastfed since he was born and I started blaming myself for the fact that he wasn't growing the way he "should." We thought it would get better once he started solids but it never did. Cam's pediatrician has always been wonderful and has been very emphatic that we were doing everything right, but we couldn't help but feel like we were failing our son if he wasn't growing the way he should.

It turns out we were doing everything right, but we just weren't measuring him on the right scale. Once Dr. Spence inputted his measurements on a growth chart for kids with achondroplasia, suddenly Cam's measurements were completely on track. His head circumference was in the 25th percentile and his height and weight were in the 75th. We had been comparing apples to oranges all along. It has been SUCH a relief to know that Camden is okay and that he's been fine this whole time.

Not only has Cam's diagnosis brought us peace about his growth and his health, but it has also brought our family together in a way I never knew was possible. It has made me realize just how supportive and loving both sides of our families are. It is so humbling to know how adored your child is by the people around you. Everyone has handled the news about Camden in their own way but it has ultimately brought us all to the same place--a place where we are just thankful for the healthy, happy little guy we are all crazy about. It has also added a new dimension to my marriage that I will forever be grateful for. It has made me fall in love with Patrick all over again and has really shown me what a wonderful friend I have in him in addition to the amazing husband he's always been. We've met so many new people that have truly become part of our family and have had so much support from everyone around us. I know Camden will have challenges being a little person, but it is incredibly comforting to know that he's got so much support and love around him. Thank you so much for all of the prayers and encouragement. You have no idea how much it means to us.

2009 in Pictures

January


February


March



April


May


June


July


August


September


October


November


December