Camila aka The Girl, The Baby, and Cranky Sue

Those are just a few of the nicknames we have for Camila. "The Girl" is something we got from my dad when I was pregnant. We don't know if he was aware of it, but when we'd talk about something we bought (or my parents bought) for Camila, it was always for "The Girl". And the name stuck. :) I finally took 9 month pictures of her (ok, they were really 9 1/2 month pictures!). I got in a few shots before she noticed the paper next to her and started to eat it. What a great game, crumpling and munching on the paper! I realized that I haven't talked about a few of my favorite things that she does. She loves putting her fist against her mouth, and moving it back and forth while she "talks". She also loves moving her tongue in and out while "talking". We just recharged our video camera (after it being out of batteries for probably a month!) so hopefully I can record her doing my favorite things. :) Right now she's attacking the box of diapers. I love how cheap her "toys" can be. An empty box, an empty roll of paper towels, a plastic tuperware container, my slipper, and an empty baby food container. At least she's always getting new toys and it's not breaking our budget! She's getting good at putting things back into containers, and loves to drop things off her highchair. So long sippy cup! (I've given up picking it up for her each time. Once it drops, she clearly doesn't want it anymore!) She's also getting good at sharing her things. Well, I don't suppose she's actually sharing them in the true sense, but she loves giving Fabricio or me whatever she's playing with and watch us play with it. This goes on until Mom or Dad get bored, which is always before Camila! Speaking of toys, we bought her a little pool last weekend. She absolutely loves it, and probably could have played outside for an hour if we'd let her. I was hoping to let her play in it this weekend, but the weather today (Sunday) wasn't the best. Maybe next weekend!

9 months old!

This past week Camila turned 9 months old! It's been a little busy at our house because she's still battling a cold. Fortunately daycare didn't send her home early (again), but she's still sort of uncomfortable and cranky. At her 9 month appt her doc decided to wait on her shot (Hep B) b/c she's either getting an ear infection or just getting over one. So, we'll monitor her ear and go back in two weeks for her vaccination. She's right on track for her growth: still 60% for weight at 19 1/2 lbs, and 30% for length at 27 inches. We bought her new carseat a few months ago but still haven't installed it. We should still have at least another month before she outgrows her infant carrier! Fun things for Camila: rolling all over the room, giving Dad kisses, saying Mama, Dada, Baba, and general babbling. She just doesn't know what it means. :) She's starting to scoot backwards, LOVES playing peakaboo (even by herself), pointing (but was that a coincidence?), reaching, being wrapped up in her blanket, playing with empty boxes, and she lifting up her arms when she either wants to be picked up or knows we're going to pick her up. Oh, she's getting her third tooth (left top tooth). We still wonder all the time at how active she is. She never sits still. And looking at Fabricio and I and our general laziness, we're not sure who Camila got her hyperness from. ;) She loves daycare, loves watching and playing with the other babies. Too bad that's why she's been fighting a cold for almost 3 weeks! Rolling across the floor Playing peekaboo Playing in her new favorite toy - an empty box Not the most flattering picture, but you can see her two teeth!

Almost 9 months - Two teeth and standing (with help!)

Camila will turn 9 months this week, and we were just looking back at pictures from when she was 3 weeks old. It's hard to believe how much she's changed. She's starting to go through some separation anxiety (and in the middle of the night no less!) Not exactly fun, but we're hoping it's short-lived. :) We've also had some illness the past 2 weeks (which is why we've been too busy to post.) Just before the 4th of July weekend daycare called me at work (45 min after I got there!) so say Camila had to be picked up b/c they thought she had pink eye. Fabricio and I didn't think that's what it was, but you can't tell daycare that! So, I made my way home (as I had the carseat) and met Fabricio at daycare. He took Camila to the doctor where they said, nope, not pink eye. (That's what we thought!) She just had a bad head cold, so her congestion was coming out through her eyes. Yuck, I know. She felt pretty good though and was her usual playful self, so that was good. However, this past week daycare called me again (this time at 5:00 when I was on the bus on my way home!) to say Camila had to be picked up early. She had a fever of 103.7. So, we took her to urgent care when they opened at 6:00, and it turned out she had a viral infection, which meant she couldn't go to daycare until Monday (tomorrow.) She's been pretty cranky and needy the past few days, but on Saturday she started to perk up so we took her to the MN Zoo. She had a really good time (and so did we!) We're just glad she's feeling better, her fever is gone, and hopefully she'll stay healthy for a while. The famous black slipper Just playing around. Hide and seek is always fun! Here's a picture of her "drinking" from her Sippy cup, which usually just means she lets the water spill out of her mouth and down her bib. We generally have a big wet mess after meals! I'm not sure where this text is going to show up as I"m having problems with blogger, which is literally driving me nuts. Fabricio's a little afraid of me at the moment b/c I'm quite crabby with the blog! So, there's a picture of Camila playing with bubbles. She gets really serious while "playing" this new game, and tries to touch the bubbles. Too bad they always float away! There's also pictures of Camila in my sweater, and chewing on my belt. I'm not sure why chewing on my belt was so entertaining, but I don't assume to understand the mind of a 9 month old! You can see her tooth pretty well in the one shot. Her second tooth is also about halfway up. Camila is really starting to enjoy standing, but with help of course. She can stand by herself while propped up against furniture, and it will be a while before she figures out how to cruise along the furniture as she doesn't know how to move her feet. :)

I'm Berry Sweet

OK, just wanted to share my FAVORITE pjs! We've graduated to the t-shirt and shorts variety (she used to sleep in sleepers) and I just love this I'm berry sweet one from Old Navy. Mostly, I like the color! :) In the second picture you can sort of see Camila's tooth. You can really notice it now, and her second tooth is on it's way up. Unfortunately, her second tooth is bothering her a lot more than her first. The first tooth wasn't a problem; this one seems to be causing a lot of discomfort. She's been fussier these past few days, crying unexpectedly and generally unhappy, but you can tell she's trying to play and be happy. Let's hope this one comes in quickly! I mentioned earlier that she's getting better at rolling. Still the case, as she'll roll across the living room if there's something she wants. A precursor to crawling, but I suspect she won't be doing that yet for a while. She knows we'll bring her things if she complains enough, which isn't great parenting on our part! ;) She's also starting to really enjoy standing and jumping. Perhaps cruising along the furniture will come before crawling! Mealtimes are going really well, and Camila's learned to feed herself sweet potato puffs! Just 2 weeks ago she didn't know what to do with them; she just played with them. Last week she'd try to get them in her mouth but she'd always end up munching on her first. This weekend - success! Straight into her mouth, and then she'll "ask" for more. We have to keep an eye on her otherwise she'd end up with 5 in her mouth at once! She's also gotten better at using the sippy cup. Sometimes it's a toy, and the times she's thirsty she knows what she needs to do. Unfortunately she just ends up soaking wet sometimes, but that's ok - it's just water! :) We're trying to go for a walk every night after dinner, and fortunately the weather has been really nice. It's my only source of exercise right now, unfortunately! (Well, that and walking to the bus or walking through the skyways!)

Ah...the remote. One of her constant favorite toys. She goes in spurts. Some toys she grows tired of after a few days, but the remote, water bottles, my black slipper - don't worry, it's new! and our cell phones are guaranteed favorites.

I may have said this already, but one of her new favorite noises sounds a lot like "mamama". Maybe I coud trick mysef into thinking her first word was "Mama", but considering she says it all the time it's clear she doesn't know what it actually means! :) Plus, she says "dadada" a lot too! But it's so much fun to listen to her babble, especially when she is telling us a story. The facial expressions to go with her "stories" are priceless!

Picture update - 8 months

Fabricio refers to the picture below as "Camila's Face". She looks like this a lot, especialy when she's watching us or something else. I think she's trying to take it all in. Plus, you can see her sucking on her little lower lip - her way of self-soothing. What a cutie! was just amazed that I captured a picture of her neck.

I was amazed that I was able to get a picture of Camila's neck. We don't see it a lot since she's a "little" chubby!

A fun new game - pull the burp cloth (it's clean!) off her head. Guaranteed to get lots of giggles!

Here's a picture from last weekend - just before she got her thigh stuck in the crib slats!