The Baumbauer Family

Musician in our midst?

2011-08-24T16:39:00.000-07:00

Campbell had a big ole time at the Children's Museum with Daddy. Here is a video of her playing the piano and getting down. She really loves music and is starting to get really excited about making her own noises with "instruments". Instruments is the term we use for anything that makes noise....blocks banging together, spoons, bells, whatever. We also started listening to music during dinner and she loves to bang out a tune while we digest...usually consisting of running in a circle and banging two blocks together but whatevs.

Campbell in the City

2011-08-24T16:34:00.000-07:00

Campbell does eat! It's a miracle! Here is a picture of her eating a cookie while I am at work during her time with Grandma.

3 weeks after starting my new job at UPMC (and Kyle starting his too!) and 1 week after starting daycare in our new city, I left for 5 days to go to a conference in Washington DC. It was a crazy trip, I learned A TON of genetics and I was really glad I had the opportunity to see friends in DC while I was there. I even crashed at The Esperon's house and got a good girls' night of movies and delicious wine/food. It was all in all a great time. Kyle and Campbell went to the Children's Museum (thanks Grammy! for the annual passes) and Camysue had a great time. Here are some pictures of her at the museum.

Arrived at our new place.....but our stuff didn't

2011-08-24T14:49:00.000-07:00

When we got to Pittsburgh we had to fight with PODS to get our stuff. It was sucky....we made it through. Beware of Moving Companies, in general....we have found them to be difficult.

Moving Cross-Country

2011-08-24T14:44:00.000-07:00

Campbell and I went on a whirlwind trip to GA and FL to visit some grandparents and hang out while Kyle drove our stuff across country. I think I won out on that deal. On this trip, Campbell went to Jesup for the first time, ate at mommy's favorite place, rode a horse, swam almost every single day, petted cows and horses, and went to the beach for the first time. She was a trooper and really impressed me with her flexibility. I wish she had slept better, but she was a charmer to everyone she met so I can't complain.

I have a few more pictures, but they are on my phone and I will have to upload them later....here is a photo from our last night of the trip. Campbell is drinking a virgin strawberry daiquiri (mine was not...but I had been with a baby for 9 straight days, so who can blame me, right?) and having Grandma paint her toes. She was soooooo patient and careful not to mess up those toes.

Campbell's Birthday Cake

2011-08-24T14:29:00.000-07:00

Kyle and I went nuts and decided that we would take responsibility for making the birthday cake for the group birthday party for Campbell and her two buds who were born in the same month. Here is our creation. It is an entirely edible barn cake with 3 dozen cow and pig cupcakes. We worked on this for about 2 hours on a Friday night and were so FREAKING proud of ourselves and we couldn't wait to get it to the party the next day. We had a low-key party at the playground with all the kids from the respective preschool classes for the birthday kids.....it was managed mayhem and the kids all had a blast. The best part? It was a morning party so we were home by 12:30 and Campbell fell asleep on the way home. The kids all LOVED the cake and we were so glad we put in that little extra effort to make it special. Next year, we are thinking of doing an aquarium-themed cake with fishy cookies.

What's that you say?

2011-08-24T14:22:00.000-07:00

What's that you say? I haven't updated the blog since April? Well, I am about to binge and fill in the gaps between April and August over the next few posts. Here is a little pic to wet your whistle.

Campbell LOVES to wear our glasses...especially Kyle's glasses.

headbands

2011-04-10T06:48:00.000-07:00

Until 2 months ago, Campbell would not under any circumstances wear something on her head. We started working on barettes (BOWS, as she calls them) and she will let me put "tails" in her hair for school. This is Campbell wearing her new headband with sparkly crowns on it. She loves this thing. She has now worn it to school, to Walmart, and around the house....I think she even wore it to the park. This is her modeling her new headgear in just her diaper.

Reading with friends

2011-04-10T06:39:00.000-07:00

Campbell loves to read....every single day. If there is nothing else going on, we are reading. Even at school they have commented on how much she likes to read and how big her vocabulary is.

Pizza Time

2011-04-10T06:37:00.000-07:00

Campbell likes just about anything that she tries to eat, but she is not big on eating in general. There are some days when I am concerned about it.....but I know that she will eventually eat when she gets really hungry. The other night, Kyle and I had frozen pizza and Campbell walked up to my plate, grabbed a slice and starting chowing down. I offered to cut it up (that was completely out of the question, so we carried on). She ate the entire piece!

Another Petting Zoo

2011-04-10T05:42:00.000-07:00

Campbell loves animals, loves making their sounds, pointing at them, and talks about animals ALL THE TIME....so, anytime there is a petting zoo (and there always seems to be one going on somewhere) we try to go. She loves it. I will be seriously surprised if we don't get a request for a cow or horse for a birthday in the next couple of years. She was really tired for this, but she perked up with the animals. I didn't get a picture of it, but she was crazy for the giant white turkey. She jumped up and down and was so excited to pet that turkey. The turkey seemed relatively unimpressed.

Driving around

2011-04-10T05:40:00.000-07:00

Campbell was going crazy inside, so we ventured out into the parking lot to let her ride her car around. It was freezing....she was a trooper, but we only stayed outside about 30 minutes before her nose was running, her hands were purple and she seemed to have had enough. She loved the car so much that she cried when we took her out even though she kept asking to go inside. :-)

2011-04-10T05:30:00.000-07:00

Christmas Day! Kyle and I spent our first Christmas Eve of putting things together......and it was awesome. We watched Die Hard, a truly inspirational Christmas flick while drinking boozey egg nog and using tools. Being an adult rules!

Campbell came downstairs and was like a wild woman. She ran to her slide, jumped in her pink push car and twirled on the sit and spin....then she spied the Weeble Treehouse and that took all her attention for the next few minutes. After about 15 minutes, she was overwhelmed and we made breakfast and just lounged. She spent the rest of the day visiting all her new toys one at a time. A great day all around. Here a couple of the (mostly fuzzy and terrible pictures I took).

Christmas Time.

2011-04-10T05:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long long long pause between posts. We have been terrible about the blog, but that is only because we have had so much going on. :-). We have new jobs starting June 1st in Pittsburgh, so we have been finishing up here, preparing for the move, getting prepped for our new jobs AND trying to keep up with all the things that go along with having a toddler. Clearly, the blog has suffered. I am going to try to get all caught up prior to moving to Pittsburgh so we can start afresh with all the things we will be doing in the house and in our new town. Oh yeah, we are trying to buy a house too! What an experience that has been.

Alright, stay tuned for ALOT of updates in the next few days.

Genius

2010-12-07T07:07:00.001-08:00

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

2010-12-06T11:46:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-12-06T04:57:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-12-06T04:55:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-06T04:49:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-05T13:25:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-05T13:20:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-05T13:14:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-05T13:09:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-05T13:06:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-05T13:00:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-05T12:56:00.000-08:00

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.

2010-12-05T12:52:00.000-08:00

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

2010-10-30T05:54:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-29T17:18:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-10-29T17:16:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-29T17:14:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-29T17:11:00.002-07:00

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

2010-10-29T17:11:00.001-07:00

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.

2010-10-29T17:01:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-10-29T16:10:00.001-07:00

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

Bath Time!

2010-10-29T16:07:00.001-07:00

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?

2010-10-29T16:02:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-09T13:53:00.001-07:00

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

2010-08-07T09:46:00.000-07:00

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.

More trip pictures

2010-08-07T09:41:00.001-07:00

We spent 4th of July weekend in AL with Aunt Jan and Uncle John. They were so prepared....they had teething tablets, teething ring, and a bribe toy (the cutest ride-on pink pony EVER). Campbell was suspicious of the pony so she pulled it around behind her more than she rode on it. It is still a favorite after more than a month.

Brother-Sister Time at the Guntersville Festival.

Good morning doggies! Come in and I will feed you my breakfast.
I love my pony. Thanks!
Auntie Jan and Uncle John...the hosts for the weekend.

M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I

2010-08-07T09:17:00.000-07:00

We went on a week long road trip for the 4th of July. The first night we stayed with friends in Baton Rouge and then we drove to Aunt Jan and Uncle John's house in AL. It was a long day, but we stopped alot. Campbell woke up around the Mississippi border so we stopped at a rest stop.

I'm number 1!

Petting Zoo

2010-08-07T09:10:00.001-07:00

We went to the Texas Reds Festival in June. It was hot. Darn HOT by 10 am. Kyle and I did a little wine tasting and after 3 tastes we were already feeling lightheaded....lightweights. So--we went over to the children's area and checked out the petting zoo. This petting zoo was AWESOME! They had a little area with a baby cow (complete with glitter) and then a pony with a hot pink mane and purple hearts sprayed on its fur....looked like a living My Little Pony. BTW--we had to pick up a card for this place because Kyle happened to notice that they will make the pony into a unicorn and bring it out for birthday parties. I predict that Kyle will be trying to figure out how to get a unicorn on our patio for her 2nd birthday.

Campbell was a wild woman. She liked the miniature chickens and roosters....and petted a bunny as gently as she could. Then she found the miniature donkey and spent the next 20 minutes smacking him on the rump and laughing. The indignities that these animals have to suffer! She had a really good time and by the time we left the petting zoo area she was all sweaty and ready for a long afternoon nap.

Raspberry Beret.

2010-08-07T09:08:00.000-07:00

Actually, this is the bloomers from one of her outfits. Apparently, while I was at work one Friday, Campbell insisted that Kyle put this on her head and then she wore it around for a long time. Future Fashionista in the works?

Last experiment

2010-08-07T08:45:00.000-07:00

yum. This object is delicious.
Deciding which one to choose.
I take all of these. These are mine.

Campbell completed her last experiment in the Infant Cognition Lab at A&M. It was a big day because it means she is growing up! She always has fun socializing with the research assistants and our appointments always run late because she is busy charming everyone. In this experiment, she had to pick objects based on whether the experimenter made good or bad comments about it. She was more excited to taste the objects than to play with them, but whatev.

C is for Campbell...not Cookies.

2010-08-07T08:28:00.000-07:00

I am hoping that this video shows up properly. Having trouble figuring this blogger thing out. Campbell got a Sesame Street music player for her birthday (looks like a CD player and little CDs go inside....reminds me of the kiddie record player I had as a kid). She wasn't all that interested at first, but then she realized that she could control the music and that she could pick the songs....oh, boy. We usually have a few minutes of family quiet time in her room before bedtime, and this is what happened in May. So--this was the first night that she actually turned her CD player on and started dancing. She had Kyle and I in stitches. C is for Campbell...not Cookies. :-).

So much to catch up on.....

2010-08-07T08:20:00.000-07:00

So---the blog has fallen by the wayside this summer. I submitted 2 grants (1 in June and 1 in July) so I am just crawling out of that hole. There is so much to update the world on!

Campbell has had a big summer at the pool. In May, we took an afternoon to have a little play date at the pool. Campbell is 3 days older than Leo, but he seems to like older women.
Getting our strength up with a snack.
What? Let's roll, people. Pool time!
Leo's first swimming adventure.
Running off with the camera cover.....always the best toy.

Dancing Machine

2010-05-17T13:30:00.000-07:00

Campbell is a dancing machine. About 2 months ago she started shaking her head back and forth (like she is saying "No") when music would come on the TV or radio. Occasionally, if she was really excited, she would clap her hands together at the same time. Last night was her first real "dancing" experience. She turned on her Sesame Street music player and started bobbing her head, then she started stomping her feet, then she turned in a circle. She kept coming back over to the music player and starting the song over and over again. "C is for Cookie" is now stuck in my head, but she had us both in stitches over her dancing. I will post some video as soon as our good laptop is back from the shop.

BTW--was I the only person that didn't get the memo about Cookie Monster now being the Veggie (and sometimes, cookies) Monster? When the crap did that happen?

Turn, Turn, Turn

2010-05-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

To every season, right?

Well, Spring has sprung and Campbell has just started doing something new. For at least 5-6 weeks she has been sitting on her bottom and spinning in a circle...she moves one leg and then moves the other to meet it and works her way around in the circle. This is big fun, especially when Daddy does it with her. Well, yesterday she started turning in a circle while standing! This is big because it means that her balance and coordination are improving everyday. She is such a big lady.

Yesterday we got back from going swimming and she would look at me and then turn in a circle and wait for me to clap. If I clapped, she would smile and do it again....if I didn't clap, she would make a squeaking noise, point to my hands and then turn around again with the expectation that I was going to clap. Either way, she performed and I clapped. That's how this is going to go for awhile, I think. :-)

It is starting.

2010-05-05T09:05:00.000-07:00

Campbell has started whining...alot. Almost incessantly some days, and seems to think that we are very dumb because we can't seem to figure out what it is that she wants. Looking forward to some more words so that we can decrease this behavior, but I am worried that I am being naive to think that this behavior is language dependent.

She has also now thrown at least a small handful of full-blown tantrums with the back arching and the whole nine yards. They have been short in duration (couple of minutes maximum...most less than that) and not so terrible for the most part. I am suddenly realizing that we may be in for some adventurous times ahead.

At our last checkup, the doctor said "Well, at your next checkup she should be a championship tantrum thrower...that's usually how this works.". A-W-E-S-O-M-E.

Words, words, words.

2010-04-30T12:59:00.001-07:00

I forgot to add this before, but Campbell is working on a nice little collection of words.

She says: Dada, Da-dee, Mama, shoes, HOT, hey, and Kiss. She also grunts and points her finger at things that she wants....then she opens and closes her hand to indicate we should give it to her....then she gets mad when we don't.

She is also coming to understand the concept of "hot" because she says it to my coffee cup in the morning and she said it to the grill the other day while pointing at the smoke coming off of it.

This morning I asked for a kiss and she repeated the word and then gave me one. It was AWESOME.

One year checkup

2010-04-25T15:58:00.000-07:00

Campbell had her one year well-baby check up this week. Man. What a difference a year makes.....last year at this time, she was more like a bologna than a person and now she is a walking talking bundle of love and energy.

The Stats:

Weight: 22 lbs 4 oz (birthweight was 8 lbs 6 oz)

Height: 31 inches (birth length was 21.5 inches)

She is 95 % for height and 70% for weight....holding on to her original stats all the way through her first year.

I can't believe it has been a year. This has been an amazing time and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Second Birthday.

2010-04-25T15:49:00.000-07:00

Leo---king of the baby jungleCampbell, totally oblivious to the other babies
More cake. In here. Oh yeah....that's how you do that.

There were 4 children born to our little circle of friends in the same two week period last year. Campbell was born, the next day was Alex, then Ruby and then a few days later Leo was born. Here are some pictures of the 4 way party for the kids. Campbell is wearing what Calvin Klein called a 3-6 month size, but I think he is a coo-coo....it was almost too big in the shoulders at 12 months.

Campbell relaxing.

2010-04-25T15:44:00.000-07:00

Campbell decided that she would climb on the couch BY HERSELF. This is how Mary-Charlotte said she situated herself. Oh--and Campbell is walking like a big-time lady. She runs...we are scared.

More cakeface.

2010-04-25T15:39:00.001-07:00

Ok. I know this is probably just because it is Campbell, but these are so cute I had to post them too. :-)

Birthday FUN!

2010-04-25T15:28:00.001-07:00

We had a little get-together at the house....mostly our friends but Campbell had a group party for her birthday later in the month. I made these monkey cupcakes and they turned out really cute. Here are the most-loved cakeface shots! Campbell wasn't so sure about her cupcake....first she kissed the monkey face. Then she nibbled, then she went whole hog. Cake and frosting were in her hair, on her dress, on the floor, on my shirt....everywhere. Even those without a love for little ones were mesmerized by Campbell's shenanigans.

So tired.

2010-04-25T15:25:00.003-07:00

Sleepy-eyes with Aunty Cha Cha.

This is the face that we get when Campbell is really tired and really not having anymore of our nonsense.

Campbell's passion for gardening.

2010-04-25T15:18:00.000-07:00

We have talked and talked about Campbell's love of "sorting things". Well, now that goes for flower pots and the soil that goes along with it. These are priceless. Just to clarify, I don't think she actually ate any of the potting soil, but she did manage to get dirt all over everything.

Campbell the crab.

2010-04-25T15:13:00.000-07:00

Campbell was a major crab walker....seriously, she would toddle and then fall onto all fours and tear out when she really wanted to get somewhere fast. Here are some shots of her in action at our friends house.

Watch OUT! Here I come.

"Sharing with Drew"....

Leaving the scene of the crime.

St. Patricks Day in Baton Rouge

2010-04-25T14:49:00.000-07:00

Tired on the way to the parade.....resting up for the fun.

We visited with some friends in Baton Rouge and timed it so that our trip coincided with a visit form some other grad school friends as well as St. Patty's Day weekend (parade!). So--Campbell had her first big trip with other kids and parade time and a big crawfish boil and the whole nine yards. She was the belle of the ball and our friends' 19 month old seriously inspired her to start walking and then running. We came back home with a full blown toddler.

Infant Cognition Lab

2010-04-25T14:42:00.000-07:00

Campbell is a study participant at the Infant Cognition Lab at A&M. She has been participating for her whole first year. This is the first experiment where she had to choose something based on my responses.....it was pretty cool. These action shots were taken by the experimenter working with us..

This is mine. I am keeping this.

Yummy--this nasty pre-chewed cardboard is delectable.

Shark Towel.

2010-04-25T14:38:00.000-07:00

This one is for the grandparents, really. Every night, after bath time, Kyle gets Campbell dressed and ready for bed. This usually starts with a little "Shark Towel Time". Kyle insisted on registering for this shark towel before we had Campbell and it has given us endless hours of fun.

Reading--February 2010

2010-04-25T14:27:00.000-07:00

Campbell loves books. I mean LOVES books. In February, she started going into her room (crabwalking, of course) and then pulling out all her books, forming a pile, and sorting the books by her own personal filing system. Mostly that is just her looking at each book and throwing it over her shoulder. Here are some pictures we snapped while she was doing her "thang".

9 steps.

2010-02-13T09:39:00.001-08:00

On Friday night February 12, 2010....Campbell took 9 steps in a row! 9 steps! Then she sat down hard, and hit herself in the mouth with the toy she was trying to dismantle. The end result was a busted lip. Tears. Very little blood. More tears.

So--the score for Friday night was: Gravity: 1, Campbell: 0

The belly mould is unveiled.

2010-02-13T09:32:00.001-08:00

About a week before Campbell's birth, we made a plaster mould of my torso..which was mostly giant belly at that point. Our doctor described this practice as "pretty granola", and laughed hysterically when we told him that I stood on a shower curtain in the kitchen wearing a string bikini top and short shorts while Kyle laid plaster strips all over me. This was apparently, highly amusing.

Anyway, Mary-Charlotte agreed to paint and decorate the dried mould and her boyfriend Jay built us a frame for it. The frame is from pieces of the coffee table built 33 years ago by Kyle's dad. So--the entire project has been a work of love. Here are the pictures of the finished product. For anyone out there that is considering having a baby, let me encourage you to do a belly mould. Don't buy a kit, just do the plaster of paris and strips of gauze method. You won't be sorry you did!

Uh-oh. We have a climber

2010-02-11T12:54:00.001-08:00

Campbell learned a valuable lesson today.
I as putting up the dishes from breakfast and she was getting out her books from under the coffee table. We have a glasstop table with a raised shelf underneath...and there is maybe an 12-14 inch gap between shelf and the top. Apparently, she didn't want to get her books out--instead she wanted to get herself in with the books. She climbed up on the shelf and then got stuck. She couldn't get flat enough to get out and she couldn't turn around because she had her feet stuck under her.

I didn't get a picture because she was screaming so loud I just wanted to get her out. But I couldn't help from smiling at her...she just looked so worried and all I had to do was grab her little legs and straighten them out. :-). I am currently trying to figure out if it is a bad idea to tether a child to the ground.....I am not prepared for a climber.

Kick and stretch and kick and squat.

2010-02-11T12:43:00.000-08:00

Campbell is getting revved up to walk. She could totally do it now, but she seems to get freaked out everytime she takes a step....like it scares her. We are ok with her waiting a little longer since walking adds a whole new layer of complexity to the child-in-the-house issue. Here are some pictures of Campbell on Saturday morning going through her repertoire:

Here are a couple of her just standing....she likes to go from the table to the couch and back again. We have started putting her snacks in little piles around the table top and she just walks around picking up finger foods and munching away. This greatly reduced the freakouts around snacktime. This lady does not like to be restrained.

First Shiner

2010-02-11T12:35:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of Campbell's first "shiner". These are a couple of weeks old, but she was healing from her altercation with the dog. They are now permanently separated (to both of their dismays), but that is going to have to be the case until Campbell is less unpredictable and a little steadier on her feet. She had a tiny mark under her eye (turned into a nice shiner) and a little cut on her forehead (you can see it here). The one on her forehead may leave a small scar, but hopefully her hair will cover it one day. We are doing our best to work with the dog but he is on double secret probation....and he knows it so he is very cooperative.

Campbell's 9 month checkup

2010-02-04T08:52:00.000-08:00

Campbell stats for her 9 month check up are as follows:
Height: 29 inches (still under the limit for the car seat!)
Weight: 20 lbs, 4 oz (ditto!)

The doctor said that she was doing really well....still active. We got extra encouragement to give her meat so that she doesn't get anemic (I guess not uncommon in babies and can be made worse if they are active like Campbell).

The doctor asked if she was "pulling up" and I started laughing. She has been pulling herself up to stand since 7 months (and earlier she was using the living room table exclusively). She stands by herself and can squat and go back up to standing. She has taken a couple of steps but hasn't done that in a couple of weeks. She is babbling and really likes to have you read her books. It is hilarious because she totally has some quirks. She won't hold her own bottle if I am feeding her. She insists on me doing it....this is not the case with Mary-Charlotte. She also has decided that food is stupid sometimes....she will barely eat some days and other days you can't keep her full. I guess the pickiness is starting.

Though some folks will say that she is too young, we have started letting her watch Dora and Diego cartoons in the morning. This is helpful because she watches that while we lay down for her morning nap. It seems to be something that she likes because she starts laughing as soon as it comes on.

One last thing. Campbell has started to "dance" if you play music. Charlotte was playing her new dulcimer and Campbell started flapping her left arm and smiling and laughing. So--legs aren't involved yet but she is getting the arms down. She kind of looks like Karen-O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs for those fans out there. :)

Naps and Walking the Dog

2010-02-04T08:46:00.000-08:00

Some totally cute pictures of Campbell using Kyle as a napping arena. She loves to take a nap on Kyle. He has turned into the go-to guy for getting her to relax and lay down on the couch for a nap.

This hat was made by my Aunt (Campbell's great-aunt, who BTW was very helpful in getting a list of family names to go through to pick her name). Anyway, it has been super-handy on our winter walks with the dog. It was the only hat that she would wear without yanking it off for one entire week. This one is of us about to go out the door for the evening dog walk.

What-a-burger

2010-01-28T10:16:00.000-08:00

For anyone unfamiliar with Whataburger, it is similar to Hardee's except better....and way more Texas. People in Texas LOVE Whataburger. It is really weird. We got giant drinks from there and Campbell decided to try her luck at straw usage. She didn't get much refreshment, but the cup and straw were incredibly entertaining. She is starting to get the idea. I am thinking that maybe if the straws weren't so long for the giant cups that she would have better luck.

Decorating the tree.

2010-01-28T10:05:00.000-08:00

Christmas tree decorating with Grandma in town. Campbell was very interested in helping with the lights. She helped eat them, taste them, and drool on them. Oh, and she helped to bang the crud out of them on the tile floor. She had a big old time while we got down to decorating business.

Cute lady. She was so interested in the lights. She just kept laughing and smiling while we wound them around her and the tree. She didn't mess with the tree too much, so I am hoping that is a sign of calm times to come this holiday season.

Attack of the Duck Hunter.

2010-01-28T10:02:00.000-08:00

This toy has moved on from tormenting Kale to tormenting Campbell. It sings the "chicken dance" song and flaps its arms while waddling around. At first she looked mildly intrigued then she just looked freaked out. This one made me laugh. She looks like she's thinking "WHAT THE CRAP?"

Grandma's visit.

2010-01-28T09:49:00.000-08:00

In early December, Kyle's mom came for a visit. She and Campbell were like two peas in a pod. Not only was Grandma super helpful while we were working that week, but Campbell learned that hanging out at the dishwasher is AWESOME. It is just her height and comes complete with clean water drops that she can splat to her little heart's content. What a helpful little lady. Hanging with Grandma in a denim jumper.

We borrowed a high chair from a neighbor. Campbell seems to like it....and she really likes being "up" when she eats. Of course, she doesn't want to miss out on a thing!

Cute pictures.

2010-01-28T09:45:00.000-08:00

She's a dancing machine! Leg warmers and all.Seriously? Look at that face. I can't get enough of it......whenever she hears the word "No" for some reason, she turns to us with this face and it is hard not to laugh. She's like "What? I'm the pretty baby, I didn't do anything.".

2010-01-28T09:33:00.000-08:00

With Charlotte (or Auntie Cha Cha...as we have been calling her around here) spending the days with Campbell, we get some really cute pictures that we would otherwise miss if our childcare weren't my sister (score!) and a visual arts major from college (double score!). Here is the post-lunch/post-highchair full of poo bath that Campbell got in the sink the day before Grandma came to visit in December.

Two peas in a pod.
Look at those baby blues! She is so expressive....wonder where she gets that, hmmmm?
Nose crinkling is one of her new facial expressions that started in November. She also squooshes up her nose and then makes a panting noise that sounds like "sh-sh-sh" when she is doing something mischievious. It is a big hit with dad.

Standing. She's got it down.

2010-01-28T09:22:00.000-08:00

This is Campbell's new favorite place to hang out....no, not the kitchen. I mean hanging onto my pants. If I move very slowly, she will shuffle along with me, but mostly she just wants to hang on my pants. My legs are covered in tiny bruises from her tiny raptor claws digging into my thighs.....she's strong! Also, she is totally pulling herself up on everything and does laps around the coffee table all day long. We have a mover and shaker on our hands.

Preparing for Christmas. She wore this hat for 30 seconds and then acted like we were trying to kill her with it. She does not like hats for some reason....maybe it's her giant melon. She gets self-conscious perhaps?

5K November 2009 pictures.

2010-01-28T09:09:00.001-08:00

Ready to cheer Dad on. YAY for exercise at 8am! Go TEAM KYLE. Check out those gams.....I love baby legs. CamySue and Mom. Hanging out while Kyle runs the 5K. She got so exhausted from her cheering that a snack was in order. We had puffs and crunchies and some peaches. Yum.

Dad finished with the race....cheered on by the big lady. Feeling good and ran in a time of 27 minutes!

6 month checkup

2010-01-28T09:05:00.000-08:00

Campbell had her 6 month check up, complete with 5 vaccines and the flu shot (boo hiss) on November 3rd. She is such a big lady! Here are her stats for her 6 month check up (2 weeks late):

Height: 28 inches (95 percentile)

Weight: 17 lbs, 9 oz (70 percentile)

She is doing really well. Funny story....when we were at the doctor's office, she asked us some questions about Campbell's activity levels and her progress with motor coordination. Then she leaned back and said "You have what we call an "active baby". How's that working out for you two?". I almost laughed. It was great to hear someone tell us that we are not crazy....our child really is on the move constantly and that is likely to be just part of who she is as a kid. Whew. I thought we were just whiners.

October trip to Philly.

2010-01-28T08:36:00.000-08:00

So--I am behind on my blog posts....this parenting thing takes it out of you. Where has the time gone? :-)

Here are some pictures of Campbell taken during our trip to visit friends (and Kyle gave a talk at Rowan University) in NJ, just outside Philly.

Here is a picture of Campbell with Miss Alice. Though it looks like Campbell is copping a feel of Alice, I don't think she was being inappropriate.

This was a momentous trip for Campbell since she not only got to meet new friends, but she also got to have her first cheesesteak and french fry experience!

at Geno's eating cheesesteak and fries. Notice the cheesesteak bits in her hair courtesy of dad.

Another couple threw a Halloween party while we were in town (also friends from grad school) and we all dressed up. I was a cowgirl, Kyle was a mad scientist, Campbell was a hodge-podge with devil horns (see here being thrown off and eaten), a skeleton onesie, and leg bone baby legs.

Blueberries and Smurf-babies.

2009-10-24T16:40:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday of last week, we tried yogurt with Campbell. She loved it but was super cranky all day. I think we will try again in a couple of weeks.....this is the only dairy she can have until she is at least a year...so it will be a bummer if she can't have it. Plus, my mom broke the seal on the peanut butter for Campbell while we were in Chicago. No ill effects, and she LOVED it. No surprise there since I can't live without my PB. FYI-for the next few months, we are going to be making our own baby cereals in addition to the fruits and veggies. Can't wait!

Today, we tried blueberries. This was a natural progression....and we had a ton of them in the freezer. I cooked the blueberries and threw them in the grinder (BTW--Campbell is totally conditioned to the sound of the grinder. She stops what she is doing and stares into the kitchen when it is being used. Smart kid) with some oatmeal and milk. It made waaaayyyy more than I thought it would. Luckily, I made what I did. She ate everything....and then wore the last 2 tablespoons. Here is the progression of lunch. We ended up having to hose down her bumbo and scrape blueberries off of her legs, face, and even her ears! Oh, and blueberries stain skin in case you didn't know. We now have a blue-faced baby asleep in her room. I am hoping the stain comes out before she has to go out in public again.

Chicago and the Nerdoscience Meeting.

2009-10-24T16:32:00.000-07:00

A week ago, we went to Chicago for a conference. Grammy (Erin's mom) met us up there and we had a big ole time with the baby in the city. Campbell was EXCELLENT on the plane..on all the planes. She was amazing and we could not have asked for a better experience. The first couple of days, it was cold and rainy, but we got out and explored a little. Most of the rest of the time, Campbell kept Grammy on house arrest in the room (at least the view was nice....see the picture below from our window at the hotel). Apparently, Camysue used up all of her patience and good behavior on the plane ride. We had a great time and we could not have done the trip without having my mom there with us. Campbell would not have tolerated all the nerdiness at the conference.
Here is a pic of Campbell in her winter-wear.

Catching up a little.

2009-10-24T16:21:00.000-07:00

So--the month of October is almost over and I feel like a bad blogger. Going to try to do better and catch up today. Here's what we have been up to:
1. Campbell got two teeth at the end of September and beginning of October. No more teeth since then...and for anyone that is interested, they are both on the bottom. We are still breastfeeding until she gets an upper tooth and then we will be weaning. Everyone seems to want to know what the deal is with that, so I thought I would just put it out there. :-)

2. Campbell started trying a new food on Thursdays and Sundays. Everything has gone really well...the only thing she hasn't LOVED was butternut squash, but we are going to try again with that one. So far she is up to carrots, peaches (#1 all time favorite), peas, green beans, plums, apricots, plumcots (hybrid of the two), squash, apples, pears, oatmeal, rice cereal, avocado, and banana. I think that is where the list left off prior to our trip to Chicago. More progress has been made, but you will have to see the next couple of posts for those.

3. She is "swimming" which is what we call the scooting she does to get everywhere...she lays on her belly and moves her arms and legs alternating as fast as she can go. She is getting some speed and agility and we are in big time trouble once she gets up on all fours consistently. Now, it is just practice. She is in love with the dog, his water bowl, eating cat fur off the floor (I am a terrible mother, I know, there is cat fur on the floor), tearing up magazines (#1 all time favorite activity), and generally touching anything and everything she can get her hands on. I can not turn my back for a second....the dog just looks at us like "are you going to let her touch MY BOWL???". Charlotte is going to baby-proof the house while we are at work the first week of November. Thank goodness for Auntie Cha Cha.

4. We started applying for jobs. This process is going to be going on all winter. We are not applying to as many jobs as we did last time. Hopefully, we will hit on something wonderful. The market isn't as strong as it was a couple of years ago, but it is WAY better than last year. We'll keep you posted.

I think that is about it....we have been working, trying to get home to see the baby before the witching hour (7-8 is rough around here), and then getting back to work after the baby is in bed. She is doing great. We are exhausted, but managing to be as productive as possible.

See the next post for the details of our trip to Chicago.

Toothless no more

2009-09-26T07:05:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Campbell finally had her tooth breakthrough. I only say finally because she was cranky and not sleeping very well for a week beforehand. :-)

Anyway, her tooth broke through and all seemed to be well. Then she got fussy on Friday night (last night) while Kyle was gone fishing and this morning she has another tooth! I will try to get some pictures of the new additions, but she is not in love with showing them off.

Animal lover

2009-09-26T06:47:00.000-07:00

Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty. Notice the Death-grip she has on Hera's back fur.

Anyone that is on Facebook has seen these pictures....but I thought I would post them here too. I have gotten alot of questions/comments about the pictures of the dog "kissing" Campbell. Yes, the dog has licked the inside of Campbell's mouth. No, this is not something we would like to continue. Yes, Campbell actually opens her mouth and seems excited when this happens....she laughs ALOT. I figure that since she isn't going to daycare, she isn't being exposed to all those germies and could probably use a little immune challenge. At least that is what I tell myself when I see these pictures.

Come here, doggie.

I love you, too, Kale!

Miss Monkey.

2009-09-26T06:41:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of pictures of Campbell just

messing around. For the last 4-5 weeks she has been very interested in fabrics...mostly with putting anything fabric in her mouth. While I was reading her a story, she get very excited about this sock monkey so I brought it up into the chair with us.....and immediately she leaned forward, mouth open and licked the monkey. Nice, huh? Miss Monkey is now a permanent fixture in play time.

Practicing her UFC moves on Miss Monkey.

Tap out, MONKEY. I have you pinned!

The grumpiest lab rat

2009-09-21T16:03:00.000-07:00

I have pictures to post and a couple of things to catch up on, but I wanted to make a note of this first. Today was my day working from home with Campbell. We missed storytime at the library because the cable guys didn't show up on time. When they finally got here, Kale freaked out that they went near the baby's room (she was sleeping in her crib) and managed to wake her up with his commotion. So--she didn't get her 2 hour nap this morning, it was more like a half hour...ugh.

At 1:30, we went for Campbell's next experiment at A&M. Campbell is a return offender in the infant cognition lab. Today she went in for another experiment and totally freaked when they put the head gear on her. She was having NONE of it. So--we have a very cute baby that is not going to wear head gear. God help us if she has bad teeth and needs head gear. She might have to be sedated.

4 month check up

2009-09-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

We took Campbell for her 4 month check up on September 1st (a couple of weeks late, BUT my flexible spending account for health care didn't kick in until then!). Here are her stats as of September 1st

Campbell Susan Baumbauer

Weight: 15 lbs 12 oz

Height: 27 inches

Head size: 44 cm

We didn't get her percentile scores, but according to the interweb she is above the 95th percentile for length and head size and between 70-80 percentiles for weight.

Avocado--who knew?

2009-09-05T13:53:00.000-07:00

So we are following (sort of) the Super Baby Food Diet. The list of first foods for babies includes bananas and avocados. After that you can do other fruits and veggies and so on, but those two are supposed to be low allergen risk foods and they are the right consistency when mashed up fresh. Anyway, we did banana, waited the four days to see if she exploded or had a reaction and then we tried the avocado. She loved it! Here are some pictures of the avocado...though it looks pretty white in the bowl, I swear it is avocado. I was hating that it looked for stain-risky than the banana, but got over it pretty quickly when she seemed to enjoy herself so thoroughly.

I completely didn't realize until I posted these pictures that she was wearing the same outfit for both meals.....maybe this is her "eating ensemble".

Hungry baby.

2009-09-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

Campbell is becoming very interested in food and eating. She stares at us while we eat (frankly, it is a little creepy) and everything goes straight in her mouth. I am sure it is against every mother rule in the world, but a couple of weeks ago, I held the lemon from my iced tea up to her mouth and let her lick it/gnaw on it for a minute. She got really excited...made a terrible squished face and then started grabbing for it again. We thought it was a sign that we could start exploring foods. Here are some shots of her trying to score chips and salsa at Chili's. Later that weekend, she tried to grab Kyle's corned beef hash at breakfast. No accounting for taste, I guess. :-)

First we tried banana. Mashed up some fresh banana, mixed in some breastmilk and we were off. She was fascinated from the first bite. She kept kicking and laughing and was loving it. Unfortunately, mommy and daddy are stupid and didn't realize that banana acts as an anti-diarrhea treatment and she was totally stopped up for the next couple of days....not awesome. Note to self--> bananas should be mixed with prunes. Here are some pictures of the first food.

Travelingthetrip

2009-09-05T13:20:00.000-07:00

We went to a funeral in Louisiana. Not exactly NOLA, but in that area. Anyway, it was one of the least depressing funerals I have ever been to and Kyle and I got to meet a bunch of his cousins. These are folks with that wonderful NOLA accent...and a love for food that can't be beat. I think we have some new family to visit when we are in the area and Campbell definitely has some cousins to meet in the future. :-)

Here are a couple of pictures of us on our trip:

We ate lunch at another of the Top 50 burger joints in TX....this one is in Houston (#38 on the list). Other than Campbell totally blowing out her diaper as we paid the check, the experience was great.

Hanging with Grandma at lunch....for the 5 minutes that cousin Donna wasn't holding her. :-)

Campbell DID NOT enjoy being in her carseat for so long, but she did her best to tolerate it. I am hoping this is not a sign of fights to come when she doesn't want to go back in her seat.

Tough noggin, I hope

2009-08-13T15:08:00.000-07:00

For the last couple of weeks, CamySue has been getting more and more wiggly. She scoots around on her belly and then turns in a circle to see what she wants. I have been telling myself to prepare for the day when I can no longer lay her on my office arm chair to sleep (for anyone that has seen it, it is that lime green chair from our house in OH). Well, today was the day that all my fears came true.

Campbell was great all day. I put her on her tummy to take her nap (she was already asleep and dreaming) and then I covered her with a little blanket. I went about doing some statistics that I have been avoiding. About 20 minutes later I hear a fabric-on-fabric noise (swish!) and a thunk. I look around and the chair is empty. Campbell is lying on her back on my office floor looking really confused and dazed. Apparently, the renovations to the building included making the floors out of some ridiculously hard substance. Anyway, she looked at me like "Why mommy? why did you let me fall?" and then commenced to wailing. I felt so bad I thought I would burst into tears. She cried for a few minutes...and then fell asleep.

It is now an hour later and I am worried that she has brain damage or a concussion or shaken baby syndrome or rickets or some other horrible injury because I tried to squeeze one more day out of the comfy office sleeping spot. Ugh. I hope her head is hard enough to take my mothering. :-)

We are spending the weekend in New Orleans to attend a funeral with Kyle's family. This is Camy Sue's first trip to the Big Easy, the first time she will meet most of Kyle's family and our first real road trip with the baby. Wish us luck. We'll post pictures next week.

The unofficial weigh-in

2009-08-12T09:22:00.001-07:00

So--we have Campbell's 4 month well-baby check scheduled for September 1st, but we were very curious as to how much she weighs at this point. So--Kyle got on a scale at work and weighed her. She is just over 15lbs! I can't believe that she has grown that much. It is amazing.

Other things of interest at the moment:
1. Camy Sue has found her voice. She squeals and laughs and grunts and does a Xena warrior princess-like yell when she is trying really hard at something.
2. She can grab things and kick at objects of interest.
3. She tasted her first lemon....in a restaurant I let her lick my lemon wedge. She made the best face ever and seemed very interested in having some more lemon.
4. She can turn in a circle on the floor and she can flip over from back to front.
5. She drools. like. crazy.

Stay-cation 2009

2009-08-12T09:04:00.000-07:00

Catching up on some pictures and posts.
We took a day trip to the Natural Bridge Caverns near San Antonio. As you can see from the pictures.....Camy Sue was shocked and amazed. :-)
Here's one of me trying to fit Campbell into this Dinosaur Egg.
Here is Kyle standing in front of an amazingly fake dinosaur.
This is the entrance to the cave system. Notice Kyle has the baby in the front carrier (we have found that chicks dig this.....women smile and flirt with Kyle non-stop when he has this thing on).
Here is one of Campbell. I think she got bored by the tour guides along the way....she totally snoozed for over half the cave tour.

BTW--while Kyle usually gets smiles and tons of attention while he is wearing this carrier, we had one bad encounter a couple of weeks ago. Two women (one in her 30 and the other looked like her daughter maybe in her late teens) walked by and made some not-nice comments about Kyle and the baby. They laughed and were not very kind. Kyle took it in stride, but I was totally pissed. What the heck is wrong with people? Why would it be bad for a father to participate in the rearing (and carrying) of a child. For pete's sake people! I managed to keep it together long enough to make some quiet comments about the fact that they were hideous excuses for human beings....but at least I kept it quiet. :-)

Lounging by the pool

2009-07-30T16:25:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, I took Campbell to a friend's house and she has a little dipping pool. Campbell not only loved swimming she got totally exhausted and slept most of that night and most of the next day too. Kyle and I finally got a chance to take her to the pool down the street this Wednesday. It was great. She looked unsure at first, but then she started kicking and giggling and having a big ole time. Here are some of the pictures we got. Notice how nice the pictures look. The new camera is AMAZING!Here's a shot of her patented mermaid kick. Up in the air for a loop-de-loop.Splashing Mommy in the eye...and getting herself wet in the process.Backstroking.I twirled us around in a circle....I got dizzy and she made this hilarious face (part bird, part thoughtful professor).This is right before she plopped her face in the water. No tears, but a very confused look followed that.

Lab rat

2009-07-29T18:27:00.000-07:00

Campbell is currently participating in a study at the Infant Cognition Lab in our department at A&M. She had her first task on Tuesday. They took a saliva sample, took a picture of her hand, and tried to get her to watch a cartoon on a screen so they could track her eye movements (this last part didn't go over well....we had a MELTDOWN). Now she has a baby low-jack on...it is a monitor that looks like a house arrest bracelet. Hopefully, this is not a sign of things to come.

Voted cutest....

2009-07-19T08:30:00.000-07:00

We have been getting together with two other mom's from the department and their babies....the babies don't play much, but we get to chat and vent and eat delicious snacks.

The last time we got together, one of the mom's said that her husband asked her which of the babies was the cutest. Apparently, even though her son is in the group, she said that "hands-down, Campbell is the cutest.". Score! I think it helps that Campbell is the only girl and the baby-clothes for girls are infinitely cuter than the boy ones.

Bliggity-blogging and Facey-spacing.

2009-07-12T09:37:00.000-07:00

Campbell was helping me update the blog this morning and got bored. So--we tried the newest in child entertainment at the Young Baumbauer house---a toy. That's right, Campbell has discovered toys and likes to play with them. Mostly she just stares, but today we did some "discovery" playing where I took her hand and wrapped it around the crinkly sounding wings on her toy. It crinkled, she laughed. It was a big morning for everyone. I managed to get a couple of pictures with one hand while she played with the toy in my other hand.

Going away party

2009-07-12T08:29:00.000-07:00

We had a little going away party for a couple of friends that are leaving A&M. We had a bunch of grad students over as well as the two research techs that are leaving. It was a great day, but having a baby at a Barbecue when it is 10,000 degrees outside takes some planning. Luckily, everyone wanted to hold Campbell and she managed to stay in the A/C all afternoon. She did not want to go down for a nap, but she only had a minor case of the cranky-pants. It was actually a good experience for our friends...most of them didn't believe that she ever cried at all. Now they know that Miss CamySue can let her desires be known....and heaven help the people that disrupt her schedule.

Fingers crossed! We are on night 5 of the "sleeping through the night" stage and I am hoping that it keeps up. We are totally different people when we get enough sleep. Here are some pics from the get-together.

A good night's sleep

2009-07-08T05:21:00.000-07:00

Campbell slept from 9:15pm until 6:30am and woke up the MOST ADORABLE BABY EVER.
We have had a series of very rough nights, so I was not sure we would ever get a good night's sleep again. On Tuesday morning, Campbell rolled herself from her stomach to her back all by herself, so we thought we would try putting her on her tummy to sleep. That did the trick and she slept like a log.

We probably could have put her on her tummy earlier, since she could hold her head up. Unfortunately, the "back to sleep" campaign made us paranoid so we tried not to do it. Now that she can hold her head up and roll over, we are so happy!

Funny thing is that even though she slept the whole night, we woke up several times to check on her. But---even with the waking up on our part, we still got the best night's sleep that we have had in months. Today is an excellent day.

Random Bathtime pictures.

2009-07-06T20:18:00.001-07:00

We got a new digital camera that takes AMAZING pictures. So, of course, we have been taking pictures of everything...all day long...to justify the expense. So far, I am liking the new camera.

Here are some random pictures of bathtime. We do a bath right around 8 o'clock every night and then get the baby ready for bed. She has been doing better with her evening routine and I am hoping that she will be sleeping more than 5 hours straight in the very near future. Tonight she went to sleep at 9pm...and she should be out until 1:30 or so. Then she will be up to eat and back to sleep for another 2-3 hours. If we could stretch that out a little further, I feel like we might almost get caught up on some missed sleep. :-)

Visitor!

2009-07-06T19:51:00.000-07:00

My BFF Amber came to visit this past weekend. We shopped, we ate way too much, I had two margarita shakers at lunch....it was a very full 2 days. :-).

This is a Poison onesie. It says "Talk Baby to Me"...must get a better picture of that awesomeness. God, I love the hairbands.

We spent a lot of time in the car since Amber flew into Austin (the closest airport, FYI). Lots of time to chat and look at the mesquite trees rolling by. Everything is so far away in TX that we have gotten used to driving an hour and half to get anywhere. It is relaxing....thank goodness Campbell likes her car seat.
On the way home from the airport, we had to pull over for a diaper change and a snack (for us and the baby). Here is a supercute picture that Kyle took while we were addressing CamySue's cranky-ness.