Day 86

Cam models the first cloth diaper that Tracy and I finished! Yay! It fits him and Riley perfectly!

Day 85

Today we did a project. One cup of cornstarch mixed with one cup of water divided into spots in a cupcake tin makes chalk paint! We dyed each spot with food coloring to make an entire rainbow. I painted more than Cam, but he had fun painting his dog.

Day 84

Cam's favorite: Joining in on tummy time! And in matching neon green/baby blue guitar pajamas. Bonus. :D

Day 83

Occasionally we attempt to use the mammoth cart. Cam doesn't really like to stay seated in it and there is no way to make him. And Riley doesn't prefer to be that far away from me. When I need to fit a lot of food in the basket, though, and Riley is wide awake and doesn't want to be worn, it's really the only way.

Day 82

Watching Riley in the exersaucer.

Day 81

A lot of naked Cam lately. He's finally entered the no-clothes phase. He just looks so sweet cuddling with Riley while Mack Truck looks on.

Day 80

This day I came out from rocking Riley down for a nap and found Cam like this on the couch with his shirt over his head.

Day 79

Cam and Gary drum a little bit between bath and bedtime.

Day 78

I love his hair spiky. So today we did special 'Mimi' Rod Stewart style hair. His hair is unfortunately so long, thick, and heavy that the style fell out within 10 minutes.

Day 77

He loves to be outside. He seems almost too big for a baby swing, but I know most kids don't learn to use a big swing until closer to 4 at the earliest.

Day 76

Showers are interesting. Normally I bring Riley in to "watch" me shower so that I can peek out at her if she gets fussy or needs something and leave Cam watching TV so that I know he's occupied. Today when I went to shower I guess he got tired of being left out, because he saw me grab the bouncy seat and immediately insisted "No! My watch!" So Riley got displaced to the floor. (Of course, Cam got bored of this activity after only a few mintues.)

Day 75

Crayola colored bubbles. They actually didn't end up staining any of his clothes. I had read a lot of reports about the dye not actually being washable, but I let his bubble dyed outfit sit and dry for two days, and then a 20 minute soak in oxyclean later it looked brand new.

Day 74

I rarely drag the paints out. I thought I would more now that it's summer and Cam can paint outside where it won't be as messy, but the fight to get him back inside makes it not worth it. He's really getting into painting now!

Day 73: Fourth of July!

Candy at the parade.

Day 72

Gary's mom had a party down at her house and poor Cam was the only kid his age there, so he ended up playing by himself a lot.

Day 71

Louise and Elise came to visit! For the first time Cam and Elise actually almost were able to play together. Elise ("Eese") wanted to eat the animals from the zoo and Cam preferred truck to ride along the zoo instead of animals, so really it was the best of both worlds. Very sadly "Mommy [of] Eese" and her daughter had to leave, but we can't wait until the next time we see them!

Day 70

Yes, Cam can fit in Rileys 6 month sized capri pants. Hey, at least I know she can wear them for a while. ;)

Day 69: Swimming

Uncle Josh invited the kids and us swimming. It was Riley's first time in a pool and Cam's first time this year in a pool. Cam was so torn on his independent streak. He didn't want Gary to hold him ("No daddy!") and he didn't want Josh to hold him ("No dosh!") He couldn't even decide if he wanted to be in the pool or not. It was pretty chilly in the water that evening, so eventually we just left because Cam was too upset about it. He did have a lot of fun, though. Next time we need to get him a floaty suit so that we can let go a little bit.

Day 68: Pizza

Tracy came over and we made homemade pizza! Cam was a big help in smoothing out the dough. (All in honor of Elise's first birthday, of course!)

Day 67

Bathtime never ceases to be an awesome photo op. I had some fun with letters tonight during both the kids' baths. And to be honest, I'm really not sure which one was the 'm' and which was the 'w,' so I just picked the one I liked better.

Day 66

We don't get outside as much as I'd hoped this summer. It's hard to manage a baby, let alone the two of them, so we spent the evening outside blowing bubbles. Cam's quite an expert now.

Day 65

Dinner at my mom's. Chicken fingers, yum!

Day 64

Playing together. Well, sort of. Cam was trying to build a tower out of Mack truck and some of his new puzzle pieces. A puzzle that was going to go to a certain someone for her imminent birthday before Cam tore into it.

Day 63: Michael's birthday

The whole drive this morning (all 2 minutes of it) Cam shouted "Michael's party!" (Mach pah!) I had a Riley on my for most of the party. I'm not used to going to things sans Gary other than library/music classes, so I only pulled the camera out for a short bit.
The bubble machine on/off button might as well have been a big red button that said "Don't Push" to a bunch of 2 year old boys.

Day 62

Lazy jammy morning - but really, aren't most of them?

Day 61

Cam lined up some cars for a "yace!"

Day 60

Cam runs everywhere. We joke that he only has one speed. It's rare that he walks anywhere - and here he is in his usual race through the house. You can see his feet don't even touch the ground!

Day 59: Ice Cream Man

There's something about a traveling musical truck filled with frozen treats that makes it worth paying $3 a bar. Cam pointed to a pink panther, Gary got a cookies and cream drumstick, and I opted for my usual, a TMNT - Raphael. I wonder if they make the other three turtles, because I'm pretty sure I always end up with Raphael. Now if only they would bring back the popsicles shaped like Mickey Mouse characters my life would be complete.

Day 58: Father's Day

Again I don't have an appropriate Father's Day picture for this day, but I snapped one of Cam in the car on the way home from all the visiting. I can't believe how chubby his little cheeks are getting.

Day 57: Zoo!

Walking through the rainforest with both of my babies. Cam turned and gave a little wave.

Day 56

Busy days often make it difficult for Cam to settle enough to want to nap. He crashed hard at 5:30pm on our way to the store, and he slept while I carried his entire 27+lbs through the shopping trip, buckled him back into his carseat, and carried him upstairs to his bed. What a sweet, tired, little boy.

Day 55

This picture day is lacking, but here is Cam rolling a rolling pin under the couch. I'm assuming it was fun.

Day 54

No one is really as interested in reading these library books as I'd hoped they would be.

Day 53

Six dollars in balloons, and I didn't get any more pictures the second time we went out to try two year pictures. I did get a lot of really funny shots, but nothing even close to portrait-like, like I was looking for. I still can't believe how big he is.

Day 52

The 'but I want to sit in the boppy, too' pout.

Day 51

It was the last day of the IHM summer festival and we really couldn't resist the chance to eat fair fries, corn dogs, and an apple dumpling for dinner. Gary ordered some fries and as the kid behind the counter took the money Cam shouted to him "Bwies! Bwies!" Mmmm...vinegar drenched fair fries. It had dropped to the low 60's and started to sprinkle, so we pretty much went for the food and then left.

Day 50

Gary was in charge of getting Cam dressed this morning so I could take him to the grocery store. When I dress Cam, I take advantage of the fact that he still has no real opinion on what to wear, and I pick out cute matching outfits. When it's Gary's turn, he chooses to nurture Cam's independence and let him choose an outfit, regardless of the end result.

I do love it, though. Today Cam chose to wear skull print boxer shorts as a bottom and his Christmas sweater on top, despite the fact that even so early in the morning the temperature was already near 70 degrees. He stood by it, too, refusing until well in the afternoon to take the sweater off. The best part was how as soon as he got the sweater on he ran to the front window, threw up the shade, and shouted "Snow!!!!! Snow!!!!" Silly Cam - we put on sweaters because it snows, not the other way around.

Day 49

I used to love that Cam would ask to 'hole' Riley, but now it's even sweeter, because as he reaches for her he exclaims, "My baby!"

Day 48

My cousin, Christine, came in for the week and we took a morning to drive the kids to the park to try some pictures. This one was really cute as we got out of the car and they all held hands through the parking lot.

Day 47: Byoo

Blue blankie will officially be a year old in about a month. Sometime around 15 months Cam had taken to sleeping with my furry cream throw, and as it helped him sleep I was cool with his choice. Unfortunately we forgot the blanket on our 14 hour drive to North Carolina in July, so at a pit stop in a Walmart there we found some fuzzy teenager marketed blankets in an array of neon colors. Turquoise was the most masculine.

He sleeps with Blue every night, has a spare that got destroyed in the dryer, and even has a backup 'green blankie' that lives at my mom's house. Just recently he's started calling his blankie "byoo" since that is how he says "blue." Nothing like a mouth full of fur to lull one right to sleep. :P

Day 46

Cam was trying to swing my heavy purse over his shoulder, but it just was too big and the straps were too long that he was tripping over them, so I showed him that he had a bag of his own from his first Easter. He started filling it with cars and zipped it up.

Day 45

Day 44: Grilling

Cam and Gary grilled out for us on Sunday. Cam was pretty frustrated that his hamburger wouldn't stay on the flipper, but he loved being just like daddy. He even borrowed Gary's grill cover and used it to cover his little grill.

Day 43: PT

Day one of potty training was exhausting. Let me clarify: Day one was exhausting for Gary and I. Cam did pretty well over all. He peed twice on a potty and twice off, and I think he's starting to get the idea. We've backed off, though, because it's too hard for me to go full steam with Riley here and Gary just isn't home enough to help.

Day 42

Riley can't do much without some help from Cam. He brought his bowl of cherrios and Reese Puffs into the tunnel to help her play.

Day 41

Cam wanted to hold Riley, but then insisted Buddy wanted to hold her instead.

Day 40

Riley has finally been sleeping in the pack and play again! She woke up from a mostly unprecedented 3 hour nap (on her back and smiling, no less), and Cam wanted to jump in with her. I had him all dressed and ready to leave for the grocery store as soon as she woke up, Elmo bandaids, shoes, and all.

Day 39

Yum! Chocolate ice cream!

Day 38: Memorial Day

Memorial Day was hot. Cam had fun in the pool at my mom's house. He went down the slide, and he even got brave enough to go down the slide face first. That's pretty amazing for a boy who won't let us wash his hair in the bath anymore.

Day 37: A Day Out with Thomas

I think this was my favorite shot from the train ride. It was about 90+ degrees (or at least it felt like it) so it was nice to have air conditioned cars. It did make for very dark shooting conditions, though, and Cam was everywhere - up and down, switching seats, dancing while chanting "chugga chugga, choo choo! I, choo!"