9 Month Checkup

Camille had her 9 month old checkup today and to our surprise- no shots!!!! That made for a very happy baby (and mommy)!

Camille is slow going on the weight gain. She weighed in at 15lbs 9oz (6%). Dr. Willey said it is normal for the weight gain to begin to slow as they become more mobile- and we are there! Her height is right under 27" (24%) so that was about an inch longer than last visit which shows she is in line with the average growth trend. Her head was a whopping 17 3/8" (56%)! No wonder her development is still on track- she's got a huge brain :)

The funniest part of the doctor's visit was when we were in the waiting room. They have two huge fish aquariums. In the past, Camille hasn't taken too much notice to these, but she zoned in today. She was watching the fish swim back and forth for awhile, but then she decided to "catch" the fish. She was moving her hands frantically trying to get a  hold of one. I kept knocking on the glass trying to show her that she wouldn't be able to grab them. She didn't get it and continued to follow them with her hands, opening and closing her palms in hopes of getting one in her grip. After a few minutes, she banged hard on the glass in frustration. It probably didn't help that I was laughing this entire time as this was quite a site to see.

No more checkups until the 1yr mark!!

9 Months Old!

Camille turned 9 months old yesterday! She still seems to be growing and developing so quickly. It's amazing the things she has picked up between last month and this month, some new things as recently as this week!

She has discovered her tongue for one. She loves to stick it out and move it all about :) It is quite amusing. Her vocabulary has moved from only "da da", to now doing "ba ba" and "ma ma." She still doesn't seem to be using the words in the right context, but she sure is saying them repeatedly. She usually talks the most when she doesn't think anyone is looking- perhaps she has already developed an imaginary friend. :) One of the funniest things to me is her spitting with her tongue out... she now does that in reaction to things instead of just for fun. Whenever I try to clean her face, she loves to stick her tongue out and vibrate those lips together as if telling me "no thanks mom, I don't like that."

The biggest feat this month, came last week, when she pulled up by herself for the first time!!! She still needs a good grip to do so, but is using her crib, drawers, and activity table to stand up like a big girl. She has mastered the holding herself up while standing as long as she is gripping something, but the minute she lets go, down she goes. It is precious to see how excited she gets when she pulls up, she knows she is a big girl!

We continue to enjoy feeding time! Camille is now eating Stage 3 baby food and lots more table food. She loves cheerios and fruit.... and most of all- bread! She gets pride out of feeding herself and is getting better and better each day at doing so. I even gave her some banana bread this week and man oh man did she love that!

So needless to say, this month can be entitled Miss Independent.... the more freedom she tastes, the more she works for it.....

We go for her 9mth checkup next week, so I will update on her weight & measurments then... as well as the shots :(

Beach Baby, Beach Baby.....

We had a great time at Carolina Beach. It was a nice way to celebrate my birthday. Our accommodations were small, but nice. Nick and I didn't get to fully enjoy a good night's sleep since Camille was in the room with us and boy does she make some noise in the night! Nick said she sounded like one of the three stooges when she snored. :) We were in walking distance from most everything, so that was nice. There was also a lake/park nearby that we strolled to almost daily. Camille loved being strolled around so she could people watch, while feeling the breeze.

We managed to make it to the beach and the pool a couple of times, but it was quite an ordeal!! By the time we packed up all the gear and got situated, Camille was bored and ready for something new. She loved the water and most of all, the sand. She liked to sit at the ocean's edge and slap the wet sand. She quickly discovered the fun to slapping it all over mommy's legs. The words of her Yummy Yucky book didn't sync in because she made several attempts to eat the sand. She managed to get by us once and got a mouthful of sand. I was awaiting some choking and crying- nope- she chewed as fast as she could and wanted to go back for more- smiling the whole time. Good thing we had some juice handy to wash it all down!

Camille was quite the popular girl as usual. We took her out to eat a couple of times where she sat in her high chair happy as can be. She loved staring at the folks around us and then giving them some smiles when they noticed her. One place we went for icecream, Squiggles, was one of her favs because they gave her a sticker that said "I've been squiggled!" See the picture! Too cute! It even matched her outfit. Also, one of the pictures shows Camille's fascination with every table EXCEPT her own :) Guess she sees Mommy & Daddy were not entertaining enough!

I got a great birthday surprise from Nick and Camille- some time at the spa!! It was much needed! Another nice birthday treat was when my freshmen college roommate, Lizzie, came to visit. We spent some time catching up and then she watched Camille while Mommy & Daddy got to enjoy some drinks on the water. It was nice to get a little break :)

We were glad to come home and get back in our routine, though we had a great time and great weather! Camille kept us on our toes, but we still managed to get some relaxing in. Some new things with Camille this week- she tried avocados for the first time and LOVED them! She is also trying all sorts of breads and is getting even better at finger feeding herself. Her only challenge is if we are in a restaurant with other people because she becomes too distracted and doesn't put much effort into finding her mouth though its quite hilarious to watch. She is also trying very hard to pull up, so I'm sure that will be coming soon.

Our Mini Minnie Vacation

We just got back from a weekend at Minnesott Beach! What a great trip! Jeannine & Mitch have a wonderful condo that we were able to enjoy, along with a pool! Camille sure loved getting to take a daily swim each morning. Her favorite part of the pool was splashing the water with her hands hard enough to get some water on her face :) Our little daredevil! The weather was VERY hot, but we at least had some good wind to help make it more manageable. We went into Oriental on Saturday afternoon to take some Camille photos. She loved sitting in the grass by the waterfront. (Our little people watcher) After dinner, we went to another side of Oriental where they had some great sitting areas, including the castle chairs that you see in the pictures. Camille enjoyed having her hair blow in the wind! We ate out for most of our meals and Camille was the center of attention at all the restaurants. She stared down the couples eating beside us and even gave them a little grin when they noticed her :) Boy did folks eat that up! We couldn't have had a more well behaved baby!

Camille celebrates her great grandpa's 84th birthday! (and clint & meagan's upcoming wedding)

We had quite the busy weekend. On Friday we enjoyed a low key dinner with some friends. Camille stayed entertained by Moses and Moses was very interested in watching Camille eat, as well as wanting her in a picture with him. He reminded Camille that she needed to say "Cheese!"

On Saturday, we headed to Sanford for Grandpa Bill's 84th Birthday. Camille enjoyed some one on one time with Grandpa when we arrived. Her attention turned once her cousin Henry got there. He is a month younger and Camille was excited to see him! Mimi got some special reading time in with the two of them.

We then headed to Clint & Meagan's wedding shower. The rain kept us inside, but Camille had a great time being passed around the girlfriends. This is a picture of Julia (JuJu) & Jason enjoying some lovey time with the baby :)

8 Months Old!

Camille turned 8 months old on Saturday. Time is flying! Each month is becoming more fun as Camille is beginning to develop her own little personality. She is quite mobile this month- mastering the army crawl. It doesn't look like long before the hands & knee crawling will start. Time to start baby proofing the house! Camille is also great eater and has enjoyed trying some non-baby foods like blueberries & cantaloupe. While she prefers that we feed her, we are encouraging her to try to work on the finger feeding. It is quite funny to see her hold her mouth open like a baby bird when you put any food in front of her. We also bought her a johnny jumper this weekend. She loves it! She hasn't quite conquered the bouncing, but she enjoys spinning in circles and using her toes :)

4th of July

We spent the holiday at Buffalo Lake with Nick's family. Camille had a wonderful time playing in the water with her dad. She kicked her little legs like a frog- ready to swim! We had bought a float for her, but it was still a little too big and the water was a little too rough for her to enjoy it. Instead- she loved playing with it on the dock! Who knew! She was very happy this weekend, especially when playing with her cousin Emily. Camille even got to debut her 4th of July dress (thanks Katie)!

Some new things this week- Camille now has five teeth! 3 on top, 2 on the bottom.... and more on the horizon! She has started to do the army crawl- pulling herself using her arms only! It's only a matter of time before the crawling begins. She is getting better and better at sitting on her own, but only does it when she wants- tummy time is so much more fun!