hug mickey!

i heart this video. and not just because, in my obviously unbiased opinion, camden is basically the cutest little boy alive, but it is also unbelievably cute that camden loves his mickey so much!

and it doesn't stop there! the best part of the video is at the end when cam pats mickey on the back while hugging him. i guess he figures he's always getting pat on the back when he gets a hug so that must be the norm, right? haha.

LOVE IT.

riding the train

This train is the hit of our nearby mall. Kids line up to go on this thing and all the parents stand on the sidelines going, "Ooh, ahh...so cute!"

After hearing stories about kids who start crying in the middle of the train ride, I was a bit worried about Camden going on it. He's a little young to ride the train by himself but I figured, what the heck. So, I strapped him in the seat and off he went! The first time he just sat there taking it all in. He seemed to like it but I couldn't be sure. At least he didn't cry.

I was at the mall again today and since the holiday train is still in service I figured I'd let Cam give it whirl again. This time he LOVED it. Waving, gently hitting the boy in front of him as only Camden can (that poor little boy didn't know what he was getting into sitting in front of my son!), and then afterward walking back to his seat cause he wanted to go again.

Not bad for a 15 month old, I think. Not bad at all.


waving, just waving away


aaaand hitting the boy in front of him. poor kid.

how about some christmas pics?

honolulu hale


cam wanted to hold grandma and aunty's hands the whole time!


my family


my friends. boy, it's hard to get them to sit still.


christmas eve


christmas morning! i loved opening presents


hope everyone had a great holiday! xoxo

cookie day!

yesterday, i hosted the 4th annual cookie day at our house. it's a tradition we started in seattle and i wanted to keep it going. new faces and a lot more craziness (more people and more kids!), but a very fun day nonetheless.

oh, and i'm sure camden enjoyed himself because not only did he have fun playing with all the kids, he got his first taste of pizza AND cheetos! i can take small comfort in the fact that they were Natural Cheetos so some of the ingredients were organic. but still, it's cheetos. i swear under brian's not-so-watchful eye, this kid must of had like 15 pieces throughout the day. every time i looked at him he had another cheeto in hand!!

here's some pics from cookie day. :)







the cookies


the cocktail


the babies!


the kiddies


the crew

is tv making camden dumb?

the other day brian came across an article that talked about "new research" (i use quotations because not much is new on the topic and similarly, not much is actual research) regarding tv watching and infants. i've ranted about this topic before and will admit that this tv watching thing is a slippery slope.

i went from letting cam watch only 15 minutes of sesame street to having it on daily for a full episode while i cooked dinner, got ready for us to go out for the day or yes, i'll say it, cat napped on the couch near him!

what i've found is once i started to let camden watch sesame street, two things happened. 1) he asked to watch tv every day, multiple times a day. 2) i got lazy and let him watch more and more of it because it allowed me to do things on my own.

after brian mentioned that article to me i tried to find this "new research" to see what it was all about. this is the recent study people are writing articles and blogs about: Infant Media Exposure and Toddler Development from Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

it's a longitudinal study that tracked 259 babies from 6 months to 14 months. it measured how much tv, including three different content types, each child watched at 6 months then compared language and cognitive development at 14 months.

they found "lower cognitive and language development at age 14 months" for the babies exposed to media at 6 months.

now, at face value this sounds really bad. cue the gasps and screams of mommies who plopped their baby down in front of the tv while they did the dishes. but you have to dig a little deeper. the researchers, like may others, have a caveat in their conclusion that "further research is needed."

maybe what it really should say is better research is needed? now, i am no researcher. not at all. but even a non-researcher can do a little googling and find that to date, two main studies have been done on this topic.

the first is a study by Frederick Zimmerman and Dr. Dimitri Christakis out of UW that called out Baby Einstein videos for falsely stating that their programming makes babies smarter. it also goes on to assert that tv time not only delays language but might be interfering with "crucial wiring being laid down in their brains during early development." this TIME article sums it up nicely.

the second is a study by Marie Evans Schmidt from the Center on Media & Child Health at Children's Hospital Boston. She studied more than 800 youngsters from birth to 3 years, recording the time they spent watching television or dvds as reported by their mothers, as well as their performance on language and motor-skill tests. here's a recap of that study, also in TIME.

so what do these studies say? well, the first says the more tv a baby watches, the smaller his/her vocabulary is. it also begins to infer that tv actually changes the wiring in a young developing brain due to the fast-paced nature of tv editing and adds that this overstimulation could also contribute to ADHD in later years. now, the vocabulary thing is a given. it's been proven that the more words a child hears, the more words he knows. but the latter two claims are quite frightening. rewiring your child's brain?? it's possible since brain development is at its highest during the first 3 years or life and peaks when a child is 2. but their claim would need to be proven with real brain science research. and the claim about ADHD? i'm not sure how that can ever be proved. solid findings on that are decades away, i'm sure. but it definitely is something to think about.

the second study, to me, seems the most complete. it has controls for socioeconomic status and other home factors that showed tv viewing may not be associated with cognitive development. her study found that "tv viewing is an outgrowth of other characteristics of the home environment that lead to lower test scores."

so now back to this "new" study. all i can gather from it is that it really hasn't found anything new at all. especially when you factor in that the participants of the study were all mothers with low socioeconomic status so the findings could be much like Schmidt's.

but the bottom line that everyone can agree on is this: there is no BENEFIT to tv watching for children under 2.

so how has this changed camden's daily life? well, after mulling over all this the last few days, i have changed my tune a bit. today, i made a conscious effort to not let cam watch any tv. as a result, i played and talked to him more and he seemed to have more fun being at home with me. will i ban sesame street until he's 2? no. mommy does need a break at times and he sure does loves elmo as you can see from this video!



but i am climbing back up that hill and keeping my feet firmly on that slope. i won't be shouting, "the tv is evil!" from the top, but i also won't be sliding further and further down to the bottom.

halfway through the holidays

the days are zooming by and i continue to be a lazy blogger. woops. thanksgiving was a fun time with both sides of the family, and mommy's birthday was relaxing! yes, i count my birthday as a holiday. i'm sure folks (and by folks i mean jo and karis who are likely the only two people who check this blog) are just waiting for recent camden pics. so without further ado...


cam stealing kaci's binky


our christmas lights


shirt off, hat backwards...oh boy.


first time in a bouncy house!


happy bday to mommy!

the swiffer! i want the swiffer!

who the heck knows why, but cam LOVES the swiffer sweeper. after this little tantrum, i can no longer sweep in his presence cause he immediately wants the sweeper and gets pissed when i take it away from him. it's so interesting, the things kids want. if only i knew what he was thinking. i bet his inner monologue goes something like this:

cam: "man, that long pole things looks fun! mommy sure likes pushing it around the house. i want to do that! must. push. pole. thing."

me: "it's just a sweeper, baby. mommy needs that."

camden: "why are you taking it away? i just want to play with it! why can't i have it? why? i want it! i want it! i want it!"

crazy kid.

almost 14 months!

hard to believe, but in 3 days cam will be 14 months old! strange how time flies but moves at a snail's pace simultaneously. i know that makes zero sense but that's really what it feels like!

these days, camden's very into sesame street. he loves elmo and for some reason, cookie monster. he even says "cuh" when he sees cookie monster so i assume that's his attempt at "cookie."

he's running all over the place and follows me around the house. it's pretty cute but sometimes annoying, especially when i want to say, use the bathroom.

his new thing is taking small objects and either hiding them or lining them up. the other day, i found all his animal puzzle pieces in the compartment under the seat of the bike (altho B says it's not a bike cause it has four wheels. details, details). he also put all of our coasters on top of the dvd player. i had no clue for days and wondered where they all went.

and this one was the cutest. he started lining up his animal puzzle pieces on the ledge of his tent! haha.




here's some recent pics of our quickly growing little man:

Cam as Russell from UP

Funny how being a mom somehow makes me more into the holidays. Take Halloween for example (though not a real holiday, it sort of counts). Brian and I never dress up and haven't gotten into Halloween since college. But this year? I made Cam a costume and we even created lame costumes for ourselves. And after the trick-o-treating fun was over, I immediately started thinking of ideas for "family" costumes next year.

This year, Cam was Russell from UP. Why did I choose that? Well, everyone says Brian looks like Russell. Everyone also says Cam looks just like Brian. So if a=b and b=c then a=c, right? haha.

Here's the real Russell. And then Cam dressed up for Halloween. Not as extravagant a costume as it could have been, but I think the scarf pulled it together, no? :)

insomnia=more camden updates

Brian's snoring away and I can't sleep. Blogging it is. But, I'm too lazy to upload new photos of Camden at 11:00 at night. Boring, random bullet points are all I can muster.

• Cam now consistently says two words: mama and nana (for banana). He loves those nanas, I tell you. And even asks for them!
  
  
• His animal sounds have expanded in the last week to now include "ga ga" for turkey (gobble gobble) and "rrrrrr" for lion. He really growls when you ask him what a lion says. It's awesome. I think I need to see if I can get him to do all of his animal noises on camera.
  
  
• Without trying I somehow taught him to understand that mommy's the boss. In the last month, if Cam would do something I didn't like I'd say, "Who's the boss? Mommy!" in a very fun, excited tone. He thought it was funny every time I said it and would laugh. It became a game. I hadn't said it for awhile and then the other day I said aloud, "Who's the boss?" and Cam said, "Mama!"
  
  Agh!! This is obviously my new FAVORITE Camden trick. Now, at random times during the day I'll ask him the question just to hear him say that I'm the boss. It's better than making your kid go to the grocery store for you.

So good, in fact that I will put aside my laziness and upload the video of him saying it. So, here you go. Enjoy and goodnight!

more documenting of camden

I really need to start filling out an actual baby book in case my blog crashes or blogger somehow ceases to exist.

But, until I get off my lazy butt and pick up a pen, these entries will have to do. Here's what Cam's doing these days!

• Walking? Check! Walking on his own at 12 1/2 months.
• Pointing out body parts? Check! He knows head, nose, mouth, ears and belly. In both Japanese and English! For some reason he doesn't know eyes. I guess we didn't go over that one as much.
• Words? Check! Well, sort of. He says "da da" a lot when he wants something. Since it's combined with pointing, I know what he's asking for. I think he's trying to say "that, that." Like, I want that! He also says "mama" with more purpose. He says "duh" for duck. And of course still does his animal sounds -- moo, baa, quack quack, woof and his newest, cluck.
• Sleeping through the night? Check! (Man, I really hope I didn't just jinx his winning streak) Since we implemented the CIO training, Cam has slept through for 3 nights in a row! Woohoo! Crying it out WORKS.
  

Some of his favorite things at the moment include Elmo and the Sesame Street gang, Mickey Mouse, fans, his Kindermusik cds, turning pages in books, putting his hands in the water under the faucet, remote controls, cell phones and typing on the computer. I guess that tells you a lot about what he sees mommy and daddy doing! Oi.

He's a total social bug, especially if he gets to play with other little ones. He's wary of strangers though and takes a few minutes to warm up to them. But if he already knows you, he's a ham!

Can't wait to see what he does next! He really is the cutest thing ever. :)

it's great having photographer friends!

My Aunty Jenny is the bestest. She takes awesome pictures of me and captures great shots in like 2 minutes. All mommy can do is point and shoot. These photos on the other hand, are all fancy and fabulous! Here's my most recent pics.

Thanks, Jen!

this is my "i'm so innocent" look


hey, is that a bird?


tee hee hee


i'm a hunka hunka burnin' love!

rear-facing side or forward-facing middle?

Cam's finally outgrown his infant car seat and yesterday we upgraded him to the Britax Boulevard 70 convertible one. It's supposedly a top-of-line car seat and should be because it was not cheap!

It's convertible so you can put your child rear-facing up to 40 lbs and then forward-facing up to 70. They say if your child is 1 year and 20 lbs, by law, you can put them forward-facing but it's safer to keep them rear-facing for as long as possible.

But here's our dilemma. In my Altima, rear-facing in the middle seat (the safest place in the car) would not work. Brian spent 2 hours trying to install it so it's tight and flush, with no luck. The way the car seat is made, the clamps make it impossible to install snugly in my car. The seat ends up tilted to one side and feels loose.

So, we had three options:

1) Put the car seat rear-facing on either the passenger or driver side back seat. The issue here is yes, rear-facing is better but the side position in the car is worse. I want Cam rear-facing but don't feel comfortable having him close to the door where he can easily be hurt if we get side-swiped -- a common thing to happen if there's a car accident.

2) Put the car seat forward-facing but in the middle. Forward, the car seat installs great. And it's where is should be, in the middle back seat. And yes, Cam CAN be forward facing. But if we're rear ended or something, it would be better for him to face the other way so more than just his little neck absorbs the impact.

3) Buy a new car seat. Well, this would be ideal but I bought his seat on Amazon. I don't know how I'd return it without a huge headache. So, thanks for the great advice, car seat gurus. Send me a money tree with those words of wisdom and I'll happily comply.

So, what did we decide? Well, yesterday anyway....

...we put him forward-facing in the middle seat. I'm still a little concerned but on the plus side, Cam LOVES IT! Rear-facing, he's been crying and fussing while we're out cause I think he's bored and is done with staring at the back seat of the car. But forward? He was all smiles and even laughing up a storm!

Brian says we should factor "quality of life" into our car seat placement equation too. Cam happier during car rides makes for a less-stressed driver, and that's also a good thing. But, I'm still not 100% convinced. I'm debating putting him rear-facing on the side. He sure was being cute yesterday facing forward, though. Hmmm....what to do, what to do?

CIO.

Cry it out (CIO). Many parents swear by the method, others deplore it. I've been somewhere in the middle...until last night.

Cam's never been a BAD sleeper. At 7 months, he "slept through" the night for the first time and since then he's done it numerous times. Some nights he sleeps 10-11 hours straight. But most nights, he gets up once or twice. We've been feeding him when he gets up 1) cause it's the easiest thing to do and he goes back to sleep immediately and 2) it didn't seem to have a real adverse affect (like "they" say it will) because he'd then go back to sleeping through the next night.

But the last few weeks, his schedule has been exceptionally wonky. He's been getting up multiple times and now even feeding him doesn't do the trick. He's UP and points at the door cause he wants out. He's NEVER consistently slept through the night. It's always been a night here and there and at this point, I know it can be better.

We've walked the middle ground long enough with letting him cry for no more than 10 minutes or so then going in to settle him down. I'm convinced now that going in just makes it worse. He cries harder when I leave and it can't go on like this anymore. He's a year old now and doesn't need to be fed in the middle of the night. I thought maybe he'd sleep through after he figured out walking. Nope. Teething? Nope. Hungry? Definitely not.

He just wants mommy.

So, last night after hearing him fuss for 10 minutes, I went in and told him that this is the last time mommy will come to see him in the middle of the night. That he's a big boy and can sleep through all on his own. I changed him (like I always do), gave him some water (he fussed a little cause he's used to milk) and then put him back in his crib.

Left the room and he SCREAMED HIS HEAD OFF. This kid cried from 1:10am to 1:55 am. 45 minutes!! I lay awake in bed listening to him, as did Brian. At one point, Brian was worried that he'd pass out or overheat or something from all that crying. I told him he'd be fine -- I know lots of parents who let their kids cry way longer than this. That didn't make listening to him cry any easier. It was painful, but my gut told me I had to endure it.

Finally, by 2am he was quiet. He woke this morning at 7am and was very quiet. I was already up and could hear him moan a little and talk quietly to himself. I went in and found him lying on his back playing with his turtle that we let him sleep with last night.

I said "hi" to him and he smiled really big. :) Phew! You're okay and don't hate mommy. That's a good sign! Brian called at around 8:00am to see if Cam was okay after the drama last night. I told him he's just fine. Same Camden, smiling and playing.

Other mommies I know say that they're surprised at how quickly CIO works. That after a few nights, the "training" is done and their kids sleep great. I'm crossing my fingers that that's the case with Camden!

We'll see how he is tonight. Wish us luck!

back to 2 naps.

For the last few weeks, Cam's been on a one-nap schedule. I thought he was dropping a nap but now I'm starting to think that was premature thinking on my part. Yesterday, he got up at 5:30am (this has been pretty frequent recently) so at 9:30 I decided this kid needed a nap. He cried for less than 10 minutes and then slept for 2 hours!

So, today I decided to see if he'd nap in the morning again. Put him down around 9:30 as I saw him yawn twice. He cried when I put him in the crib and clung to me for dear life. Still crying when I left the room. But 2 minutes later, he was quiet and now looks like this:



Clearly, he still needs his morning nap. He's just fighting it cause he'd rather play and until now knew that if he cried enough, I'd take him out and let him. But NO MORE! As I keep trying to tell Camden, "Who's the boss? Mommy!"

And the boss says you're back to two naps, son.

happy 1st birthday, camden!

Unfortunately, I don't have many bday pictures from my camera. I think others took a bunch of pics though so I'm hoping to get those for my collection. (Jo? Jenny? Anyone else? I'd love pics if you could!)

Here's some shots from his Nemo-themed party. SO glad it's over. Planning his party was too much work! It seemed to turn out okay though and I hope people had fun.


the room



the favors



the candy bar



the fam



uncle ponce with a balloon from the awesome balloon man



my lovely helpers!



mommy, daddy and baby



happy birthday!

is anyone still out there?

I'd be shocked if anyone still follows this blog considering I haven't posted anything in 2 months. But if you're still here, waiting for a post...sorry for the delay and there is much to share about my Camden!

• He turned one and something clicked in his brain that says, "If I cry or whine, I can sometimes get what I want." This kid, I tell you. Ever since his birthday he has turned into such the whiner!! He cries if I take something he wants away. He cries if I tell him no. Sometimes it seems like he cries cause his drool is too wet. Now I know where they get the term "cry baby." Sheesh!
  
  Clearly, I am not a fan of the whining. So, I've been trying more and more to tell him to stop when it's excessive. Like, if you fall down and hit your head, sure, cry all you want. You REALLY want milk and I'm not listening to you, please go ahead and cry. But if I turn off Elmo on tv cause you've already watched enough for one day, sorry kid, get over it.

• Cam's walking! At his bday party he walked if someone was holding his hand. Now, he pretty much walks on his own! A little unsteady at times, but he's getting stronger every day. But now I have to chase him around the house. When he starts running, I'm in BIG trouble.
  
  
• He switched to whole milk from formula. At first he didn't like the taste so I had to mix half formula, half milk for a day. Then I did 25/75 and now he's on 100% whole milk and seems to love it. I even give it to him cold and he doesn't mind. Now, I need to figure out the whole sippy cup thing. Sigh. If it isn't one thing, it's another.
  
  
• He LOVES Elmo and Mickey Mouse. And can even point them out! The other day he was at Grammy's house and she has a MM magnet on the fridge amongst probably 30 other magnets. Brian asked him, where's Mickey? He pointed at him immediately! He's a Disney lover just like his mommy.
  
  
• He's now on just one nap a day. This started a week before his birthday party. He started fighting his morning nap. Crying or just talking to himself in his crib for an hour if I left him there. And if he did sleep, it would only be fore 40 minutes. So, I consolidated his naps into one afternoon nap. Now, he sleeps 2-3 hours in the afternoon. I still wonder if I did the right thing doing this though. It is a bit early for him to only have one nap and he does seem fussier these days. But I don't know if that's because he's just older and his opinions are more apparent, or because he's crankier cause he's tired. Whatever it is, I figure there's no going back now. One nap it is.
  
  
• He eats pretty much all table food now. I try to make him as much organic meals as possible but it's tough. Most days he just eats what's around -- chicken parm (with organic chix tho!), kalua pork and cabbage, pork tofu, Shiro's saimin noodles (he LOVED that). I try to make sure he gets fruits/veggies to supplement the "real food" but he's pickier about what he wants these days so it's challenging. But at least I don't have to puree his food and freeze them in cubes anymore!

He's growing up so fast! Pretty soon he'll be talking up a storm. Hopefully his first words aren't, "Mommy, you bug me."

job hunting SUCKS.

I recently stated that moving was the bane of my existence. I take it back. Job hunting beats it by a mile. I called my friend Jo to complain about how much I hate job hunting. I hate the process. I hate the research. I hate the effort it takes to write cover letters and tailor your resume. I hate networking and asking people for favors (it's all about who you know!). I hate the waiting and negotiating.

Jo says I seem to have a lot of hate in my heart. ;)

Ugh. I've worked at three companies in my career. I've done the job search thing before and it always takes me awhile to find the perfect gig. Some call back, some don't. Some interviews I blow, others I rock. But no matter what, it's a stressful process and I thoroughly dislike it.

And now with a baby, job hunting is even harder. On top of finding the perfect job -- something I'm interested in and qualified for, I also need to consider a job that allows me to see my son and spend time with him. Traffic in Hawaii doesn't help matters either. All the good jobs are downtown and traffic from where I live to town is insane. So, I have to make sacrifices. But I also know me. If I'm going to be away from Camden for 10 hours a day, the gig better be worth it. So, finding the right job is 10 times harder than just finding a JOB.

Sigh. And the search continues. I have a few good leads at the moment but nothing concrete yet. My wonderful friend, Courtney, has been doing all she can to help me and I LOVE HER for it! Thanks, Court!

Everyone keep their fingers crossed that something great will materialize soon. In the meantime, I'm trying my best to enjoy every moment at home with Camden. Cause at some point, that will be a distant memory. :(

the evil television.

Having worked at an early learning organization and reading all these parenting books, the infamous "they" recommend that kids do not watch television until the age of 2. And before having Camden, I was all over it.

Well OF COURSE I don't want my baby watching tv! It'll melt their brain cells! Babies need one-on-one interaction!

While all of this may be true (esp the interaction part), I've come to learn that the whole tv-watching thing is a total gray area.

Some experts will tell you adamantly that TV is a definitely no-no. Forbidden!

Well, my take on it is this. I try my darnedest to make sure Cam watches as little TV as possible. I never plop him down and let him watch a full half hour of Sid the Science Kid or Sesame Street. But the morning after he, for whatever reason, decides to wake up at 1am and 4am, 10 minutes of Elmo so mommy can lie on the couch in peace is a necessity.

I definitely feel guilty when I turn on PBS Kids. And even when he is 2, I still don't want him watching a lot of TV. But if I'm reading to, interacting with and playing with Cam the other hours of the day, some quality time with Sid really doesn't seem so bad.

i love mango! i hate bananas. i love bananas! i hate mango.

Camden's eating continues to evolve. He's moved on to more finger foods with favorites like Graduate puffs (that i call "stars"), baby mum mums and his number one fave, cheerios!

His latest thing is also finally holding his bottle! I've been trying to get him to do this for months but he wasn't interested in it. He'd turn it upside down, examine the bottle and for the life of him, could not figure out how to tilt it upwards to make the milk come down. But just this past week, it somehow clicked for him and now he gets mad if you try to hold the bottle for him. Independence. I like it!

In terms of finger foods, I've been trying different fruits and veggies on him (with the occasional piece of chicken and breads). He likes pear but I think when I tried to give it to him he hadn't quite mastered chewing and swallowing yet so he struggled with it. The other week, he was in LOVE with mango and ate piece after piece. But then I tried giving it to him again a few days later and he wasn't having any of it. Bananas were on his dislike list for ages. Even pureed he hated it. But yesterday I tried giving him pieces to eat and he devoured them! Same thing this morning. Bananas in, mango out.

"They" say kids go through phases of liking and disliking foods. And that you should just keep offering a variety of things. Uh, what am I a ready-to-order chef? Right now it's okay because he's only picking at a few finger foods. Plus, he's being introduced to new tastes so I get that he hasn't quite figured out what he likes and doesn't like. But as he gets older, I don't think I can handle cooking him a "special" meal. You eat what i give you, kid. And if you don't like it? Well, tough luck. Will I force you to eat brussel sprouts? No. But if you can tolerate it, you're eating it. Mommy's lazy.

What I will have to figure out is how long I'm going to feed him organic foods. And what foods will remain organic and what I will be more laxed about. Cause ideally he should eat what we eat. But then that means I'm cooking organic for the entire family and that will get expensive!!

Anyone out there has words of wisdom on the matter? If so, please share. :)

and now, for some cute pics with no other purpose than that.