Baby's First Christmas

Christmas finally kicked off at 9am. Cameron was very excited and first woke up at 5am, but Mom and Dad insisted that she could not open presents until the sun was up. So she had to play upstairs for a for a few hours and finally fell back asleep at 7am. After a few more hours asleep she finally got to go downstairs to open presents. She started off with a small present from mommy. It was a pair of Uggs that looked like mommy's but were pink.


PJ, who also had to wait went straight for his pile of goodies. He knew there was good stuff in his stocking as soon as it squeaked. With a little help he discovered a big bone, squeak ball, rope toy, and lots of treats. He really didn't know what to grab first.


Daddy went straight for his stocking. This actually ruined his big present because all of the accessories were in the stocking. Besides his slim jims, which he finished before we even finished with presents, he got a new phone. He had been wanting the SLVR for awhile so Cameron talked Mommy into getting it for him.


Cameron had so much fun opening all of the presents. By the time she was done, there were boxes and paper everywhere and a big pile of toys. She played with her Leap Frog toys she got from her aunts and Caitlin in New Orleans for awhile because every time she touched them they sang to her. She got several new teddy bears including a Steiff from grandma and grandpa in Illonois.



Once Cameron opened all of her presents she gave mommy and daddy presents she made in school. She painted mommy a pair of red and blue socks, and for daddy a pair of blue and yellow socks. She immediately insisted on mommy putting the socks on and wearing them for the rest of the day.


Cameron played with all of her toys until she was completely exhausted. PJ also was exchausted. He had eaten lots of snacks,nearly destroyed his rope toy (I give it one more day tops), and chased his two new balls (one with a squeaker and one with a bell). PJ, Daddy, and Cameron had breakfast and then took a long morning nap.



In the afternoon, Cameron got dressed in her Christmas dress and headed off to Grandma Cindy's house. There she looked at pictures from Daddy's first Christmas and played with the same toy stacker that Daddy enjoyed when he was her age. It was neat to see his baby pictures and now we know where she got that crooked smile from. Jeff was very happy to finally see the resemblance.


Cameron also got to meet (and taste) all the Nutcrackers. She even stood next to the largest one to compare herself to it. Turns out she was taller but not by much.



Cameron played with her big gift from Grandma Cindy which was a giant dinosaur that lit up and played music when the rolley balls were put in the slots. This toy was a lot of fun, although Cameron isn't quite sure how to work it all by herself yet.


Uncle Greg and Aunt Juliet joined us at Grandma's house for dinner. It was nice to hear about their road trip and we all enjoyed a traditional German dinner with Goulash and Spatze.



Cameron didn't get to have any of the dinner but she was excited to see the cake. She hasn't ever had cake, but somehow she knew that it was a good thing and wanted it. Despite mommy's attempts to keep her away from it, she did manage to get the icing on her fingers.

Christmas Eve

It is a record year for christmas cards. We're thinking everyone loved Cameron's card so much they just had to respond. I love getting all the Christmas cards each year so I was very excited.


Today we had to do some last minute shopping and that meant finding the perfect Christmas gift for me. Jeff and I found an IRobot Scooba and bought it. Our neighbor had just told us how well it worked on the tile floors so I had already been thinking about it. I hate, hate, hate mopping floors, and Jeff really hates having the floors dirty, so we agreed this was a great gift for me.



I immediately went home and plugged it in to charge. Jeff, PJ, and Cameron went out for a hike while I finished wrapping up gifts and when they got home the Scooba was doing its thing. PJ didn't really mind it and Cameron was amazed. Mommy and Daddy were also amazed because the floor turned out great.



We finished the night watching "Its a Wonderful Life" and having hot coco. I sang Christmas songs to Cameron and she loved it. Her favorite was "Deck the Halls" and she giggled and jumped up and down during "Fa La La La". Its going to be a good Christmas.

Santa Baby

Cameron had a very good week at school. She started it off my playing Santa Claus for all of her teachers. She gave each of the teachers a hand-made scarf (compliments of mom) and smelly bubble bath, lotion, and show gel. Since they take such good care of Cameron, she wanted to make sure they were also taking good care of themselves.


There were lots of packages that arrived this week from all of Cameron's aunts, uncles, grandparents, and friends. There was a really big box from her cousin Caitlin. We didn't allow her to open the wrapped gift, but we let Cameron play with the box it came in for awhile. This turned out to be loads of fun. She was making such a racket that PJ had to come and investigate to make sure he wasn't missing anything.


Besides receiving her first UPS package, Cameron had a few other firsts. The most exciting for Mommy and Daddy was her first tooth. She started cutting it early in the week and by the end of the week she had a nice sharp (poor mommy!) front bottom tooth poking out. The most exciting for Cameron was her first time in the big girl swing at the park in the neighborhood. After a hike on the trail near the Guadalupe river we stopped at the park to try out the swing. Cameron loved it.


The hike was a great way to start off our holiday. Its been awhile since Mommy, Daddy, Cameron, and PJ took a hike together. PJ was very excited to be out of the house. Since it gets dark early and Mommy and Daddy have been so busy with work, he hasn't been getting his normal amount of family time. We were very glad to have such a great family day.


Even though it was sunny, it was very cold outside. Its been cold all week. We bundled Cameron up in a pink bear suit. Daddy said she reminded him of the poor kid on "A Christmas Story." I agreed, but Cameron didn't seem to mind that much.


Finally at the end of the day, PJ and Cameron hung out by the Christmas tree, anxiously waiting until it was time to open the presents.


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First Christmas Tree

We finally went out and got our christmas tree. I almost caved in and got a fake tree just because i thought it would save us time in the future. I'm really glad that Jeff talked some sense into me. I don't want Cameron to miss the experience of finding the perfect tree.



Speaking of the perfect tree, Jeff definitely has strong opinions. First the tree must pass the height requirement. This tree didn't have a chance at all. Our perfect tree this year was an 8ft grand noble. We soaked it for a few days, brought it inside, and after a few more days got around to decorating it before our party. Cameron really likes the lights and did a great job of helping me put on the decorations.


After we finished decorating the house we invited our neighbors over to celebrate the holidays before everyone left town. We had a potlucked where we enjoyed Sonya's awesome pumpkin soup, David's yummy twice baked potatoes, Tim's cheesecake, and Jeff's turkey.


We also did a gift exchange where Cameron got to open her first Christmas presents. She loved loved loved getting to rip the paper. First she got an amazing pop-up book from Sonya and David. Its a Robert Sabuda and is a little too fancy to let her play with it by herself, but she did like the house that lights up. (Did I mention this was an amazing book?) This is going to be a great book that she can enjoy every year.



Tim and Tim gave Cameron a really fun Lamaze musical toy. It is appropriately shaped as a group of smiling flowers (Tim is an avid gardener). There are three modes, first each flower lights up and makes chime when you tap it, the second mode will play a part of a song and you have to tap it to hear the next part, and the third mode plays one of two songs each time its tapped. Cameron really enjoys this toy and has played with it everyday.

Balancing Act

Cameron returned to school and started playing a new game with her teachers. What's really funny is that I'm always trying to balance new things on my head. Its nice to see that Cameron enjoys that too. She started with the bunny and then moved on to the musical instruments. She is very good at this game.


I tried balancing cameron. She loved being up so high and now thinks this is a really fun game too. Its all good until she starts drooling.


Of course PJ, not wanting to be showed up, he started showing off his balancing skills. He can balance lots of cookies, but drool is a problem here too.


Cameron skipped the balance part of PJ's trick and went straight to the yummy part.

Getting ready for Christmas

PJ is ready.


Cameron and Teddy are dressed for it.



Daddy is putting up the lights.



And Mommy is making cookies.