Two Year Update

Camden had her 2 year doctor appointment on Thursday. Once again, she was deemed, "perfect." She did, however, scream and cling the entire appointment. My shoulder was drenched from the tears and slobber. She does not like doctor visits. Some of it is all the poking and prodding from doctor's since the accident, but some is the age. We (finally) got an appointment to have her tongue clipped at the end of August...should be interesting! But Dr. Joshi said at her next official checkup (not for another year!) she will be a totally different girl.

She remains just shy or at the 75% in all areas. I always forget to get the head measurement...but height was 34" and weight was 28 lbs, 14 oz.

See Camden and the bears at birth/1 month, 6 months, and 15 months. What growth!

PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAMMA PAT!

ABC's & 123's (revisited)

Camden likes to lay in the "Big Bed" with me. Usually it's just to wind down in the evening. Earlier in the week she surprised me by singing the ABC song along with me. She has NEVER joined in before. And she sang the ENTIRE song. She also has been counting lately. Usually it's "2, 5, 3!" But she does great with the numbers after 5. So...while laying in the big bed a few nights ago, I successfully captured it.

You'll have to excuse my voice on the video. I still have to keep her on track. It makes me so happy to hear her sing and count.

Monkey Cake

I made Camden a monkey cake. I had a good time designing it and piecing it together. I'm not a perfectionist, so I'm very happy with how it turned out. The frosting isn't as smooth as I would have liked, but it gives her character!

We sang the song (which Camden wouldn't look up for, but stared at her cake). Then she blew out the candles.

Well, she tried. She couldn't quite get the second one to go out. So we turned it closer to her.

She almost burned her lips trying to get close enough to get the flame out, so Gramma Pat finally helped her.

Then it was time to dig in!

YUMMY!

Playing with Presents

After everything was unwrapped, it was time to PLAY!

She had to call her grandmothers on her phone to come over and help with the babies.

Opening Presents

Camden had lots of presents to open. She is soooo spoiled. And by that I mean loved.

Besides being obsessed with a larger gift that wasn't wrapped (and quickly had to be put in the house so she'd open the other presents), she did a good job of unwrapping each gift...and reading the cards.

She got several outfits, sun dresses, socks and even a much needed pair of sandals. Her feet have grown so much this summer. We have gone from a 5 to almost an 8 since April. Me thinks she's going to be a tall one!

She got several new books and a Story Reader. This will come in handy for our upcoming trip next week to Colorado. Hopefully it will help entertain her on the 16 hours drive.

She also cleaned up on the baby items. She got two new dolls. One had several outfits for her to dress (and undress) and the other was a "potty" doll, complete with flushing toilet. She had a blast making the doll sit on it. Camden even took a turn or two going potty on the miniature seat.

To go with the dolls, she also got a baby stroller. HUGE HIT! She's be pushing her dolls around the house and yard for the past two days.

Her "big" gift was a Play My Way Center. This was what had to be put away. It is perfect! It's just the right size for her to play with on her own. The center is designed to have different kits that can be swapped out to change what she is playing with. Each kit is in it's own little tub that can sit on the shelves underneath the table top. A great way to keep things organized. It came with a school set, but Camden also received a tool box and a baby box. In the future we can add other kits.

She made sure every last bit of every gift was discovered. It was a two year olds paradise and she loves everything she received.

Birthday Spread

We weren't sure if the weather was going to hold off...either too hot or a rain storm...plus our house is too small for 16 people to sit comfortably, so we set up the garage for the party. We have a lot of stuff stored in the garage, but it's not too dirty or smelly and it has good ventilation (plus we set up 3 fans).

Since "monkey" was our theme we wanted to have all finger food...especially things that Camden loves. Another of Camden's favorite eating options is dip, so we wanted to have lots of dips.

Our main dish was grilled chicken tenders. To go with it, I made homemade honey mustard, barbeque, blue cheese, thai peanut butter, and balsalmic apricot dips.

We also had corn on the cob from our garden with butter and various spices to sprinkle on top.

The potato chips, tortilla chips, and pretzels were served with homemade french onion and pico de gallo dips as well as store bought hummus (a last minute addition to meet a milk-free diet requirement of one of the guests). The pico was made with tomatoes and jalapenos from our garden, too.

We had cucumbers, tomatoes, and zucchini sticks from our garden, as well as carrots, celery, and snap peas on the veggie tray. I made ranch and spinach dips to accompany it.

Finally on the fruit tray of grapes, canteloupe, kiwi, strawberrys, and fresh pineapple, we had cream cheese-marshmellow fluff and brown sugar sour cream dips.

Gaga and Haliana enjoyed watching everyone fill their plates.

It was a yummy spread...with lots of options for everyone. It also was great because I could prep everything on Saturday and all we had to do before the party was put everything on trays and grill the chicken and boil the corn.

Invitation to Party

Camden's party was on Sunday. To invite everyone, I made the following invitations. As I frequently say, she is a little monkey...and loves to wear her monkey pants pajamas and play with her stuffed monkey, so that became our theme.

Front of the card:

Inside of the card:

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Camden wanted to celebrate her birthday with her friends at school. Since she loves ice cream cones, but they are impossible to send for a treat, I made ice cream cone cupcakes. It's also easier for the teacher not to have to mess with wrappers for 8 little 1 and 2 year olds. Because they have small hands, I used the kiddie cones instead of the regular size cones. They are really tiny, so I sent enough for every kid to have 2.

They turned out very cute. I was a little disappointed that the little cones get chewy just like the big ones do. Although I don't think the toddlers minded too much!

Happy Birthday, Camden!

She's officially 2. What a marvelous little girl she has become. Our lives are so full of joy because of our baby girl.

We love you, Camden Raye Haile!

On A Hot, Hot Summer Day

You can tell it was a hot day by the steam on the camera lens and baby girl's red face (unfortunately she took after me on that one).

But she had fun while Kevin cleaned the garage...getting ready for her big party on Sunday!

I'm Too Old For This...

Have I mentioned before that we have a very active little girl? Have I mentioned before that she is a daredevil? In the last two weeks, Camden has managed to fall out of a shopping cart (on her head...scaring both her parents and herself to no end) and run off the curb into a very busy intersection when leaving the fair. Thankfully she was fine from the fall (and now happily sits in the cart seat with a buckle on) and ReeRee and Uncle Ric weres quick to grab her again before she made more than a few steps. ***Sigh****

Last night Camden had been going into the kitchen and getting into things, so Kevin put the gate up. When he moved it from against the wall, he found Camden's latest art project.

We have no idea when she created it...she's rarely out of our sight in the house. Fortunately, the washable crayons came off instantly with a Magic Eraser.

A short time later, I noticed she was being awful quiet while she played in her room by herself. Kevin peeked his head around the corner and quickly motioned for me to come look (as he laughs). Camden had not only scattered every toy around her room (no biggie), but she had created a staircase out of her dresser drawers and was sitting on her changing table playing with her hair accessories.

She thinks she's hilarious. I'm just grateful she didn't topple off the top or bring the whole thing down on herself. Our words didn't convince her that she shouldn't be up there, so she tried to climb up again.

We finally had to shut the door and make her room off limits the rest of the evening. Tomorrow we're going to the store to get more drawer locks (like we have in the kitchen) to attach to her dresser. The little monkey...

An Evening at the Fair

I've been going to the Tippecanoe County 4-H Fair since I was a kid. I love the tradition...especially the pork sandwiches and elephant ears!

Camden was active as usual. After sharing a pork sandwich and an ear of corn for dinner, we went to check out cousin ReeRee's reserve champion photography poster. Whoo Hoo...great job!

Next we went through the barns to see horses, cows, pigs, and sheep. I think Camden's favorite were the pigs.

Then we made fair food stops. The three of us split a corn dog (which I'd never gotten before at the fair - shocker!) and an elephant ear.

We took a stroll through the vender tents and Camden had a little bit of popcorn...that she enjoyed from her new firefighter hat while watching the 4-Hers ride their horses in competition.

She really liked when the tractors came out to level the arena again.

Finally, Uncle Ric and ReeRee showed up and hung out with us for a bit. Camden (and the rest of us) had a great evening at the fair.