Cincinnati, Virginia, and 1st Easter!

Josh, Cameron, and I just got back from a traveling adventure!  Despite 4 flights in 5 days, airport feedings and changings, and being completely off his schedule, our little friend did amazing.  First stop:  Cincinnati.

Snoozing on the plane...thank God!

Once we got to Cincinnati, our first stop (and the purpose of our trip) was to see Josh's Grandma...Cameron's GREAT Grandma.  We had a wonderful time.  Cameron LOVED his Great Grandma...and vice versa.  He was so happy on her lap and just gazed up at her and smiled. 

Grandma then took us to lunch where she and Josh used to go all the time...The Red Squirrel.  Apparently this is a chain out in Ohio...hands down, the most delicious grilled cheese and bacon sandwich I've ever had in my life.

 More smiling at Great Grandma....just precious!

After lunch, we took a trip to the family greenhouse.  Josh's Mom's family in Cincinnati have a huge greenhouse that has been in the family for several generations.  It is a wonderful family business, so not only did we get a beautiful tour of all the greenhouses, but Cameron got to meet some more family!

Josh's cousin, Erin, and her sweet little 9 week old, Rachel.  Check out Rachel's do!  (They've nicknamed her "Einstein".)

Aunt Susan hoisting the big boy!

Uncle Terry holding Cameron.

Pretty beautiful place to work!  Blooms and vegetables as far as the eye can see!

After spending a little more time with Grandma, we headed to dinner with Josh's cousin Sheila, Aunt Cathy, and Cathy's husband, Larry.

Giving Sheila a big wet kiss!

Snuggling with Aunt Cathy

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel.  (After a quick stop off at the famous "United Dairy Farmers" for a delicious malt.)  Cameron did amazing in the hotel.  We were worried about him not sleeping well being in the Pack N' Play instead of his crib, but he did great.  In fact, I think we slept better than ever because we didn't have the video monitor with us, to keep us up all night, staring at the little prince, as we typically do when we're at home.

The following morning we headed to visit Grandma again for a few more hours before heading to the airport for our next flight.  While our trip was so busy, we had the best time seeing everyone!

Back to the airport...Mamaw and Papaw, here I come!

We had 2 flights until we reached Virginia.  This was certainly our busiest travel day of all.  

Snuggling and resting with Papaw.

Reading a book with Papaw and Daddy.

Posing with Mamaw.

Serious face!  (He's playing with a toy that was originally Aunt Melissa's from years ago!)

Sooo funny!

"Come on, Mamaw...keep up...places to go, people to see!"

Watching outside with Papaw.

 "Nothing is funnier than these feet!"

On Friday afternoon, Josh's sister, Melissa and our nieces, Meredith and Lauren, and nephew, Daniel came over for dinner.

Sitting on cousin Meredith's lap.

Cousins!

Posing with cousin Lauren.

The girls were SO sweet with Cameron! They held him, played with him, and read to him.  So precious!

Drooling with Aunt Melissa.

Sitting with cousin Daniel...so handsome!

On Saturday we drove out to Tyson's Corner to have lunch with a bunch of friends.  It shows how old we are now, in that everyone brings their kids!

 We spent Sunday morning at Josh's Dad's church.  Cameron and Josh were quite popular, with crowds of people wanting to say hello after the service.  What a great trip to VA!

Sunday afternoon, we headed home and celebrated the pumpkin's first Easter.

Easter Bunny Baby!

Kisses from Grammy.

What a BIG sweet boy!

A kiss for Grampy-G.

Beautiful face!

Waiting patiently for his Easter basket...

Yes!

Sitting happily on the couch....

This boy should be STUDIED!

Cameron is just 4.5 months old and he's already showing signs of being interested in walking.  (So advanced!)  He's absolutely incredible and blows my mind every day.  If I hold his waist, he pumps his legs, one and then the other!  He'll be off in no time!

18 weeks...and growing!

Cameron is 4.5 months old and one thing is for sure, he's a BIG boy...(almost 17lbs!)  It's so funny how he takes up our entire laps!

He's now very interested in his sweet little hamburger feet.  As you can see, he loves pulling off his socks.  

Cameron used to despise "Tummy Time", but now he's a pro.  He can hold his head and upper torso up perfectly, and each time he flashes a huge smile to show how pleased he his with himself!  

(The pediatrician said he had "superior trunk strength"...just saying. :))

What a gorgeous face!!

Cameron is now noticing and enjoying the pets.  If he sees a cat or dog walk by, he starts frantically waving his arms, wanting to "pet" them.  As you can imagine, he is the complete opposite of gentile, but he's sure loving "getting to know" them.

Relaxing with his feet on Callie.

I'm not sure if Cameron is more interested in Nola or vice versa, but the two have quite an interesting relationship.  

"Come on over here, Nola..."

...perhaps a little too rough with his puppy!

"Come back here, friend...I'm not done petting you!"

 

That said, our sweet little friend is precious, but still a TON of work!  Our greatest challenge right now is eating and sleeping.  (He's pretty much got "playing" down pat...go figure.)  He used to be a champion eater, but after his vaccines a week and a half ago, his appetite was terrible.  He would eat just a few ml's and then start swinging his head around like a crazy man and rolling around in my arms, crying.  We couldn't figure out if his tummy hurt or if he just wasn't hungry for some reason.  In addition to not eating great, his sleep was terrible.  He was waking up every 15min-1hr for about 9 days straight.  It was torture!!  We've been attempting to transition out of his swaddle (for the past 3 weeks!), which is not an easy feat.  We've successfully mastered one-arm, but as soon as he gets that 2nd arm out, he starts flailing around wildly and wakes himself up over and over again.  

I've adopted a schedule and am sticking to it, religiously, and I've finally seen an improvement.  Over the past 2 days, he's back to eating like a horse and his sleep is definitely improving.  (He can even put himself to sleep on his own in his crib.  So independent!!)

Discovery Place KIDS

We had so much fun with Cameron this past weekend.  We took him to this place called Discovery Place KIDS.  We've been to Discovery Place with Ella before, but this is a different location about 10 miles north of the city.  They have a special area for kids 0-36 months, so we thought we'd try it out.  As soon as we walked in, the lights, the colors, the noise, the action...it had Cameron mesmerized!  He was wide-eyed and so excited for nearly all of the exhibits.  Though there's not too much he could do yet, I think he really enjoyed it. 

Checking out a snake X-ray at the Veterinarian exhibit

Checking out a firetruck

Smelling the flowers...

 Being handy...

Checking out a race car!

Driving a mustang convertible.  What a cool dude! 

Checking out the bank.

Driving a tractor...Cameron was much more interested in looking out the window.

Riding a cow.

Who's that beautiful baby in the mirror?!  How you doin'?

Cameron got tired toward the end of his adventure!

Ready for a nap!

After a nice nap, looking handsome and having fun before church!

We probably had one of the most fun days with Cameron yet.  It's just incredible how much he is growing developmentally.  He coos and talks, he grabs at items (his favorite being wads of mommy-hair), he bares his weight on his legs, and even lifts his feet up and down.  He's just such a sweetie pie.

Visit with Tate and Julie at Grandmom and Granddad's

Last weekend, Tate and Julie were in town visiting with Dad and Donna.  We were so glad we were able to catch them and spend the afternoon with them and Ada and Zella.  

Cameron getting dressed up in his "best".  

(My friend, Sarah, actually made this adorable little onesie for Cameron.)

We haven't seen them since I was pregnant, so it was the first time they met Cameron.  Ada was quite the pro, holding her baby cousin. 

It was quite difficult to get a good picture of all three of the little ones...so this is the best we could do!  :)

 

Ada and Zella are just getting sooo big!  We celebrated Ada's birthday, a few weeks early, and just had a nice time catching up.