Genius

Campbell will one day be so mad about this post that she will likely say "Gawd, MOM! You are so embarrassing.". Drum roll please.....Campbell told us she had a dirty diaper AND correctly identified that she was pooped. She has been making attempts to tell us, but would get confused about what kind of diaper situation we had. BUT this morning was AMAZING. She got off the couch and announced "Poo Poo". Oh yeah, YES!!!!!! She is clearly advanced.

18 month checkup

I was late getting Campbell's 18 month check up. At the right time, she was sick and then we went out of town and then Thanksgiving was coming up and on and on. So--she just went last week (at 19 month, 1 week and 6 days---BAD MOMMY). Here are her stats:
Height: 33.73 inches Weight: 26.5 Still in the 90th percentile for height and the 70th for weight.
She also only cried for a minute after getting her two vaccines. That is the best one so far. Campbell's doctor described her as "slow to warm up" because she is a little wary of strangers. I call that smart. :0)

Oh Christmas Tree!

We had an adventure this year in finding a Christmas tree. We really like to try to support local businesses if we can, so we went out to the BOONDOCKS to go to a small Christmas Tree farm. It was so far out that we thought we heard banjo music....and the trees were, eh-hem, in less that awesome shape. So, we went back into town to the other local vendor we always go to and got a great tree. They have a giant circus tent set up and every kind of tree imaginable under there. Campbell took a catnap in the car and was on fire with giggles at the second stop. Also--for all you frugalistas out there, we asked for some trimmings from the trees (you know, that stuff they cut off at the bottom so your tree will go in the stand) and they gave it to us for free. So now our house is superbly trimmed for the holidays and all we had to do was pay for a tree. SCORE!

Time for School!

Campbell will not wear a hat or anything resembling a hat, including a headband...but she will wear her Dora the Explorer sunglasses. Recently we added a Dora backpack to the mix and this was her outfit for daycare (school).

Christmas Cookies

I would love to say that we made cookies from scratch with Campbell and that it went really well. The fact is that I am chicken and she is little. :-). So--Grandma suggested we do break-and-bake cookies (Excellent idea!). Campbell only tried to eat one of the cookies before it was cooked and she really liked making straight lines on the cookie sheet. She likes things to be in order (wonder where she gets that?). The pictures are adorable and Campbell seemed to have fun. I am hoping to do this again closer to Christmas and get her interested in helping with our family Christmas packages of cookies and treats.

Pepperoni and Peanut Butter

Campbell would not eat....food is so stupid. She has gone on a couple of hunger strikes, but this one had us at a loss (and Grandma was seriously worried that she wouldn't be able to fill Campbell with sugar and french fries if it kept up). One night after her bath, Campbell asked to "eat" and went to the fridge. I was eating some pepperoni and I got out the peanut butter to make her a sandwich....oh no, she wanted to dip pepperoni into the peanut butter. EWWWWWW. But, she ate it and slept that night, so it was a win....weird, but a win.

Fingerpainting

Grandma brought fingerpaints and the weather finally cleared up enough for us to get them out. Campbell has done this at school, I think, but this is the first time at home. Just like her dad, she was skeptical about getting her hands all gross for the sake of art, but she got on board quickly. :-). She loved it!

Water Water everywhere

Campbell is becoming VERY helpful. She likes to water the plants (and herself) and she can cleanup a mess if you give her clear instructions. Whenever she wants you to help her do something (tie a shoe, carry something, open a box) she will ask you to "HAWP". Too cute.

H-O-P

Grandma spent alot of time hopping with Campbell. At least Grandma went back with some major bicep muscles from toting her grandbaby around.

Park with Grandma

While Grandma was on duty, they went to the park on a very cold and windy day. Campbell wasn't fazed a bit.
She loves to look through these holes and yell "See!". Then you have to reach in and tickle her....it is a very complicated game.

Climbing like a big lady.

Grandma's visit

The 'rents went out of town and Grandma came to visit and stay with CamySue. This is breakfast their first morning. From what I understand, this was the last reasonable and meltdown-free meal for the rest of the time we were gone. I think Grandma got a run for her money, what with the teething, separation angst, and the terrible twos coming on, but they made it through the trip and seemed to have a good time.



Seriously? I may be biased but this kid is freakin' adorable.

Morning Mischief

Campbell likes her napmat from school and on the weekends likes to lay on it while she watches cartoons. Here are some pictures of her laying on her napmat AND doing her new favorite activity, taking off her clothes.

She doesn't like to have her clothes on while she eats (because they get dirty, we think) and she will randomly insist "OFF" and tug at her clothes when she feels the need to be naked. Silly baby.

Pigtails.

Campbell's first teacher this year would brush all the kids' hair and put it up in "tails". Campbell liked it, but I was not quite ready to start doing girl hair every morning. Well, Campbell now requests that I comb her hair and put it in tails. This is my personal favorite and we call it fraggle-tails because she reminds me of that character on Fraggle Rock. As a side note, we bought a Fraggle Rock DVD and Campbell LOVES it. Gives us a break from Dora, so we love it too.

Fall Party at Daycare

Nesting in the coop.Pecking around.

Campbell had a Fall Party on October 29th at her school. The kids were all in their costumes when we got there. I have to say that Campbell's costume was fantastic and, I think, was the only one that didn't start with a leotard (except for the little boy's costume). :-)

Last year I saw this costume at a Tag Sale for $2.00. It is an Old Navy costume that costs around $40.00....and I got it because it would be around the right size (and price) and because it looked machine washable and very hard to destroy. Campbell was the cutest chicken in the history of poultry. As soon as we got to the party, she wouldn't hang with the other kids. She wanted us to hold her and give her snacks....eventually she got back down and played some more but for a half hour she was attached to us like glue. Cute baby.

I have some cute ones on the camera phone too...because I left a bunch of work videos on the digital camera and hogged up all the space. Mother. Of. The. Year.

Balls at Target

Campbell loves Balls. We can't even say the word unless we intend to play with one immediately. So--these big concrete spheres outside of Target are a favorite. She likes to stand on them and then stomp and giggle. She points out the window of the car when we get to Target........and screams "BALL!". Very exciting times.

More Park Time.

Here she is...playing at the park. We are big into this because we can walk there, spend 20 minutes and then be home before she gets too tired. We go almost every weekend. Free. Close. Fun. Our favorites!

Department Party

Our department chair took some pictures of Campbell at the Department BBQ in September. She was playing so nicely. The dept chair is completely enamored with her and sent us these pictures....he is also constantly trying to get her hooked up with one of the sons of faculty in the department. :-)

Grandpa comes for a visit

Grandpa came for a visit over Labor Day weekend and Campbell had a big ole time with him. Campbell can be a little slow to warm up sometimes, but she was asking Grandpa to read to her and pick her up on the second day. So--they got along swimmingly.

Words words words

Campbell is talking alot more since she started daycare. She is the youngest one in the class (class is only 6 kids!) and her language has really taken off. Here's her current vocabulary.....which we get a big kick out of:

Mama

Dada (Daddy)

Dah (Dog)

Gurt (Yogurt)

Nana (Banana)

Jay-wo (Jello)

Fish (fish)

Nemo (actual Nemo from the movie or any fish, depends on her mood)

Shoes (Shoes!)

Outside (usually said in a yell while pointing or tapping on the door)

Moon

Stars

Dora (and Boots, her sidekick)

Cat

Key (which means Key or blanket)

Nee (means bunny)

Choo Choo

Toots (this one came about after the stomach bug...since she had them so much)....if you ask where her toots come from, she points to her hind-end

Parts of her face (eyes, mouth, nose, hair...and she can point to a lot more if you name them)

Blue/Green/Red (they did a unit on those colors at school)

Truck (obvious)

That's it! (when she is done with something....but it sounds like T-I-T-S....ugh)

All done

Down (to get down)

Seat (for any chair or sitting instrument)

Ball

She also signs....which she has been doing for awhile.

She says "More" , please (when prompted), and thank you (when you insist), and all done (when she is all done with anything).

She is also starting to pick out DVDs to watch and put them back when she is done....she can work both our DVD player AND our iPhones. It is amazing.

Just a-swinging.

Campbell has become very fond of the park behind our apartment complex. It has a good playground with some swings and she is getting to where she really likes to swing. She says "ssssss" when we go by the swings...no matter what time of day. :-)

Roll out.

The preschool has a bunch of "sit and scoots" or what we call "scootie carts". Campbell is now a master scooter.

Bath Time!

Yep. Bath time pictures are outstanding. Campbell hates to have her hair washed, but is constantly getting sticky things in her hair....it is a battle. But---she really really likes to wipe down the bathtub after her bath time....which I LOVE!

Blog? What blog?

Ok. So, I have been a bit behind on the updates. But I am going to blog like a fiend for the next few days. Tons to catch up on.

Campbell's first week of daycare went...eh-hem...about as well as one could expect from a child that we were told was a "stay at home kid". It was a little weird to think of her that way, but she actually was at home all the time even if Charlotte came to stay for the majority of the week. So--she didn't eat, wouldn't nap, and pretty much remained fragile all week. The second week she was home with an adenoid/sinus infection (lasted a week). Then she was on two courses of antibiotics to get rid of it.....which wiped out her intestinal flora and led into a bout of viral diarrhea that last for 12 days....12 long days. 12 very long days. All seems to be well for now.

Daycare Webcam

So---Campbell started daycare today. I didn't check the webcam until the afternoon (partially because I couldn't get the freaking thing to load in the morning) but she seemed to get up from her nap and be in a good mood. She did carry her pink blanket around after naptime.....wonder if she is going to be "the kid with the blanket".

After our ride in this morning, I also wonder if Campbell is going to be the "kid that curses all the time". She said SH*T all morning. Ergh.

Meeting Miss Betty

On our return trip from AL, we went through Mobile and spent some time with Campbell's great aunt. Miss Betty took us all around, fed us extremely well, and charmed Campbell to no end. We went a little nuts at the Carter's outlet but Campbell will be the best dressed kid in her class at daycare.