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Keeping Up With Camden: 6 Months!



Height
{to be updated after her 6 month checkup}

Weight
{to be updated after her 6 month checkup . . . although I would venture to guess that she is about 18+ pounds now} 

Milestones
* We think that someone will be talking pretty early. Cam has been practicing her sounds all the time. All she wants to do is talk, talk, talk!
* Although she has been sitting up already, it's pretty cool to see her improvements in stability. I would say that almost daily, you could tell how her muscles are getting stronger, not just in sitting up, but in standing too.

* Our big girl is quite the food connoisseur too. I know it's pushing the limit, but aside from her baby food, she also LOVES ice cream and creme brûlée, which I have allowed her a few bites of every so often.

* One of my favorite things she has learned is how to raise her arms up when she wants to be picked up. Now, when I ask her "uppie?" she raises her arms and squirms around. Also, she starts to lean and raise her arms towards J or me or my mom now when she wants to go with that particular person. So sweet!

Notable Events
* Camden's first trip to Big Bear: Our dear friends, the Simpsons, {NOT the cartoons} invited us to go on an overnight trip to the frigid mountain town. There was no snow yet, but we had a wonderful time doing "our" Christmas with them, with the dads went off-roading for a few hours while we mommies napped with our little ones in the afternoon, then in the evening,  Camden and their daughter, Olivia, exchanging Christmas presents, cuddled by the fire.

* Camden's first Christmas! Like most families, our Christmas season consists of several events. This year, Camden went to her first Bench Christmas, which we celebrate with J's dad's side of the family every December 23rd. It is a tradition that has been upheld in his family for generations. One of the biggest parts of it is the opening of presents, which is done one person at a time, in age order from youngest to oldest. This year, Camden was able to open her presents first.

* Following Bench Christmas, we took Camden on her first road trip to Northern California to spend her first actual Christmas there. J's aunt, uncle, and cousins live in the East Bay area, and we spent 5 wonderful days with them, celebrating Christmas, eating, and relaxing.
 Camden left a note for Santa on Christmas Eve. She tried to stay up and wait for him by the Christmas tree, but she didn't last too long and fell asleep.

* On our last full day, J, Camden, and I headed off to San Francisco to eat and take pictures for Cam's first trip.
Little City Girl is bundled up and ready to take on SF!

Here is our little fromagier at one of our favorite stores in the Ferry Building, Cowgirl Creamery.
Although she was tired by the time we got to the Golden Gate Bridge, she still obliged and was ready for some pictures.

* The Big Move: We found out at the beginning of December that J was getting a promotion within the company, and we were asked to move temporarily to Lancaster, the city where his company's corporate office is, and is where I grew up and where J and I met. The move was quite the culture shock, as it is worlds different from our life in Orange County, but we are slowly adjusting to our new digs and our new surroundings. It was definitely very difficult to say goodbye to our neighbors and friends in Orange County, but we know we are only 2 hours away, and we will visit them and vice versa. 
We are, however, completely thankful for this move. While it was the most difficult decision to leave our life in OC, it was the best decision for us. Being in Lancaster allows us to be closer to our families and we also still have lots of friends here. We will be able to save more money, and the house we got is literally twice the size of our house in OC. Not many people are given the opportunity to be able to regroup their lives, but we were, and I am so grateful. 

Personality Revealed: Our Quirky Little Girl
* Camden, from the time she was in utero, has always responded well to music. While she still likes "Spin Around" by the Fresh Beats Band, she has gone back to her original roots of loving Van Morrison. When I was pregnant with her, I played Van Morrison for her and I have a video of her kicking to it. On her first night home from the hospital, I played her "Crazy Love" and her eyes got bigger and she looked around as if looking for where that familiar music was coming from. Now, at six months, she still loves Van Morrison. We play her "Crazy Love", "Into the Mystic", or "These Are The Days" and immediately, she calms down. and relaxes. Similarly, she now does the same when I sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to her. I sing that to her when she is relaxing on my lap before bed, or to stop her from squirming when I am cleaning her ears and nose after her baths, and almost immediately, she smiles and just lays there listening.
* Camden is also now discovering her consonants. She loves "talking" and spends hours a day yelling and talking as she plays. She loves making sounds using our fingers on her mouth.
Now that the holidays are over, and the stress of the big move is slowly dwindling, both J and I are able to take a step back and look at how much our little girl is growing up. I, for one, have dreamt of doing a first Christmas for my own child, and I was able to enjoy that with her this past month. Despite an unusually stressful holiday season, we were able to give her the kind of holiday that we dreamt of for her. Just like her, it was perfect, and we could not be more thankful.