Camden at 18 months and 3 days old

Last Friday our sweet baby boy officially turned 1 1/2 years old.

I guess he's not so much a baby anymore. :) Riley and I sang the 1/2 birthday song a couple of times that day and he loved it.  Camden is the sweetest little guy and we are so enjoying watching his personality bloom. 

Cam definitely has Matt's sense of humor. Slapstick things (or being tickled) make him belly laugh. These days he often does something that he thinks is funny to get a reaction out of us. When he does that or when he's trying to mimic us laughing at something he lets out this adorable guffaw that always cracks us up.

He runs, but he still can't lift his knees so it's more like a very fast waddle that I always love watching. He has become obsessed with jumping and actually gets pretty good air these days. He also loves to jump off of or walk right off the edge of things to get the thrill and he hardly ever cries unless he really misjudges the distance - which happens but rarely. He loves to dance and if I put on a song in the car and turn it up he'll immediately throw his arms in the air and bop side to side. Of the moment, our favorite Camden movement is what we call his swagger - he literally does this cross between a walk and a march where he sticks his belly out, swings his arms side to side and puts more of his weight down in his knees as he stomps across the floor. I swear it's hysterical and I'll be so sad when he grows out of it.

Camden is all boy and is fearless as can be. We've had to baby proof more than we ever did with Riley and we have to keep a much closer eye on him. We call him "Getinsky" because if there is something to get into, he's all over it. He loves to get into my cabinets, climb on chairs, and open doors. He plays aggressively and loves to get down on the floor with his cars and "duhtucks" making noises as he pushes them all around and then will chuck them while laughing loudly. He is an excellent listener though and I can redirect him or call him back by letting loose with the family yell and/or calling him by his full name. I tend to give him room to do his thing...We only lock the cabinets that are dangerous, we let him wander a bit within sight, and we let him climb things within reason. I have found that he responds best to some room to breathe instead of being on constant helicopter mom lock down.

He is talking so much more these days and he's picked up please, "nack", DA! (a lot more frequently, especially if he sees a picture of TG), the names of the daycare kids, cheese when you're taking his picture, and dank you which melted our heart last night as he was trick or treating. He just started with the thank you in the past two weeks after months of me saying "thank you mom" every time I would give him something or help him. The first time he said, "dank you MA" was so sweet.

Camden is still an amazing sleeper which is excellent because I'm always exhausted at the end of the day with him. Sometimes he'll go right up when I say it's nap or bedtime and he never makes a sound when I lay him down. He takes a good 3 hour afternoon nap and then will sleep a solid 13 hours at night. His must have sleep things are white noise, his Fisher Price fish mobile, and his monkey lovey. He sucks his right pointer finger and puts that lovey right by his nose. On top of that he loves to snuggle on the couch with me sometimes. Speaking of the monkey lovey, if any of you Mama's out there have tips for a kid that will refuse their lovey if you wash it please leave me a comment! I have to take it and wash it every so often (like this weekend when he spilled chocolate milk all over it) and boy he is hotter than a hornet when I give it back to him "clean". He will scream and throw it like it's the most offensive thing in the world after he smells it.

His absolute favorite things these days are Riley, cars and trucks, and all things Elmo. He was even Elmo for Halloween. It was pretty stinkin' cute.

His unfavorite things are any food that does not fall into his approved food groups:  syrup, candy, cookies, lollipops, cheese, chicken nuggets, yogurt or hot dogs.  I sneak fruits and veggies into him as often as possible, but he will put his hand up and push whatever I'm trying to give him right away.  Toothpicks do work - but only when used sporadically otherwise they lose their appeal.  It's sad that I got excited when he ate a fig newton bar today, but fig is a fruit gosh darn it and if he'll eat it that way then so be it.

That's our boy in a nutshell. He can be maddening sometimes, but we all love him like absolute crazy.  Happy 18 months Camden!