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Keeping up with Camden: 4 months



Height
26 inches 
Weight
At her last doctor's appointment {two months ago}, she was 12 pounds. Whenever J and I lift her up, we always comment on how heavy she is now. Our guess is that our little chunk is now 15-17 pounds. We will find out this Wednesday. 
Milestones
* Sat on the Bumbo for the first time. She likes it, but doesn't quite get it yet, that she's got this cool tray to put her toys on and play on.
* Sitting up {with some help} on her own. She still has the tendency to lean forward, but she's definitely working it!
* First REAL long laugh! On Mommy's birthday, she gave me the BEST present! Since then, she has been laughing so much and it has been so wonderful to be able to make our little girl giggle. What an amazing sound. 

Notable Events
* First Halloween Party: The Mathis Halloween Party
* Tried cotton candy for the first time and LOVED it!

* Three (yes, THREE) trips to the pumpkin patch! She melted down the first time as Mommy and Daddy didn't plan it too well around her naptime. If you ask me, I think it was because we placed her in costume very haphazardly {so as to make it as quick as possible} in a pile of pumpkins and she was so discomforted by it that it led to a meltdown.
The second time, we planned it so well -- we went early to meet up with our friends, put her in costume for a few quick pictures, and changed her into street clothes quickly after. Ahh, success.
 The third time was a trip to Tanaka Farms, a local working farm, with our friends Melanie and her two sweet girls, Makenna and Kamryn. Camden loved it so much she... uhhh... fell asleep ;-) This was also her first playdate.
* Baby's first Halloween! By the time Halloween came around, she was so used to wearing her costume {we had had 4 different occasions when she had to wear it prior to the actual holiday} that it was a piece of cake for her. Our neighborhood had a party, and we had our friends Steve & Melanie come with Makenna and Kamryn and we all trick-or-treated together. Well, the babies stayed in their strollers, and Mommy and Makenna walked up to the doors to gather loot.

* Camden was there for the first time to celebrate Mommy's birthday. {NOT gonna share how old. Let's just say this is the last birthday I will want to acknowledge.} The Saturday prior to my birthday, we went out with my mom and brother to dinner at one of J's and my favorite restaurants, Cucina Enoteca, and on the actual day itself {Tuesday}, we had a casual dinner with our neighborhood friends at a local pizza place, Selma's. Through both dinners, Cam did not want to be in her seat -- she HAD to be in my lap, sitting up the whole time, so that she can socialize and be part of the group. Any and all meals have been the same ever since.

* Meltdown City: Camden met some relatives from my side of the family who were visiting from the Philippines. I'm pretty sure this little turd was too overwhelmed and was in meltdown mode THE.ENTIRE.TIME. It was so much that we had to leave early, and the combination of the car ride and her exhaustion from spending hours wailing on and off knocked her out within three minutes of leaving the party.

New places visited
* Kaiser Hospital - Daddy's gall bladder removal surgery - I guess it wasn't really "new" to her, as she was born there, but it was her first time as a visitor. I have to say, Camden was such a good baby. She was quiet, well behaved, and she self-entertained most of the time. She only got cranky when it was naptime, during which time I put her in her carseat {on her stroller}, put the canopy down, and she fell right to sleep. This poor sweet girl was dragged around so much in those two days and her schedule was so thrown off, but it was like she knew she had to be a big girl, and gave us the best version of herself possible.
* When my former boss / our dear family friend, Tina, had to get surgery at the UC Irvine Medical Center, Camden and I were among her many visitors. By this time, Cam was an expert hospital visitor. She kept her Thea Tina smiling and just sat quietly and watched TV with her. We also visited Tina when she came home to recover.
* Camden went with us to my informal high school reunion and the Homecoming football game that followed. While the high school reunion was a bust {only 6 of my graduating class of 162 showed up}, it was actually fun because those of us who were there all had kids ages 3 and under, with one on the way. We all were able to relate with each other on kid meltdowns, feeding babies, and we all even valeted our strollers one behind the other in the large football stadium. 

Personality Revealed: Our Quirky Girl
* Cam is such a creature of habit. She likes her routine so much that she freaks out when she's thrown off and takes a day {or more} just to recover. 
* We tried to have her sleep in her own room as soon as she turned 3 months, but we have found that {a} she really likes to sleep with a warm body next to {or at least, within arm's reach from} her and {b} she isn't completely sleeping through the night yet, and in the interest of getting any sleep at all, it's best to keep her in her co-sleeper in our room until she can sleep through the night. In the early hours of the morning, we move her to our bed so we can have a few hours of cuddling, and this is where she seems most comfortable. I figure, why rush it? She won't be this small and cuddly forever. 
* When she wakes up every morning, her favorite thing to do is "talk" to Daddy. She coos and makes all sort of extremely loud sounds as her Daddy talks to her. She loves it, and of course, so do we.

* Another favorite of hers is slow dancing with Daddy. She cuddles with her dad like no other. On weekend mornings, J lets me sleep in and takes her into the family room to watch {gulp!} The Military Channel with him, and they spend a lot of time slow dancing together. It's the sweetest thing.
* This silly little girl likes to have the blanket over her face to go to sleep. I understand the sighs of disdain coming from many of you. Yes, she uses a blanket because it's the only way she sleeps. When I rock her to sleep, she lays across my lap facing me on her Boppy and I have to either cover her entire head by a blanket {which I remove later on} or with my hand covering her eyes. I'm tempted to make her a baby eye mask.
* She is starting to understand the concept of peek-a-boo. She loves to play it and just laughs so loud when we do.
* Swim class is going so well! As long as we keep her on a good nap and feeding schedule throughout the day, she is a happy camper at swim class. She knows to hold her breath when she is dunked underwater and is worlds braver when we do back floats. I'm pretty sure her favorite part of class is doing the back float while we sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. 
* Favorite thing ever: her swing. There have been a handful of times when she would be so fussy and can't just figure out that she is, in fact, sleepy and that she shouldn't fight it, so she gets cranky, so we put her in her swing with her lovey over her eyes and BOOM! within 30 seconds {no joke} she's out.

How is it possible that this sweet little baby is now 4 months old? As the days go by, I realize more and more the truth to everyone saying "It goes by so fast". It does. So many times, I want to freeze time and just be with her like this, cuddled up in our bed on a cold and rainy day. The truth of the matter is that being a mom has been the sweetest, most rewarding thing I have ever done, and this little blessing that is currently so cuddled up next to me that I am almost out of room in our Cal-king sized bed, is the best thing that's ever happened to J and me.