A Note From Teacher

Today we got a nice note from Cameron's daycare teacher that I wanted to share with the blogosphere:

"I am so thankful for Cameron! He is honestly never any trouble at all. He is always so nice to all of his friends and he is a lot of fun - everybody loves him. :) He's always eager to help me or the other kids with anything and he's already a great thinker and problem-solver. Thank you so much for being a part of our class!" - Miss Lynae

One. Proud. Mama.

School Pics

October 31 wasn't just Halloween for Cameron...it was also school picture day! While I think it's hilarious that an 18 to 24-month old class has school picture day, I also appreciate the person who thought of this. Anyways, we had no idea it was school picture day. Normally, I would have dressed Cameron in a cute little outfit, but instead, I had asked Mike to dress him up in a Halloween-appropriate shirt with bats all over it. Regardless, the little man looks adorable. I thought I would share the four different poses we have to choose from:

I especially love Pose 4. His expression is so hilarious! Every time I look at that picture, I laugh out loud. I love how his little hands are carefully positioned on his knees. This is what I imagine is going through his head:

Pose 1: Okay, I'll smile once. This isn't too bad.

Pose 2: (gritting teeth with half-smile) Hmm, how much longer do I have to sit on this stupid stump?!?

Pose 3: Now I'm pissed.

Pose 4: Oh, I see that cougar from the five-year-old class. (puts on Mr. Suave face) Hey cutie, come on over here. I may be almost two, but it's a very mature two.

The blue bat shirt is alright. Mike was going through a phase where he would try to shock me with Cameron's extreme mismatched outfits when I picked him up from daycare, so at least it wasn't school picture day on this day:

Keeping It Clean on Halloween

This year, we debated for quite a while what Cameron would be for Halloween. We knew from our experiences at the Children's Museum in Seattle this summer that Cam would not enjoy being a postal worker - I mean, we all know first hand that postal workers don't enjoy being postal workers!


He seemed to like being a fireman though. And in my humble opinion, he's good looking enough to be a fireman (inside joke for Mike's mom).

However, it just didn't seem right to dress him up in a random costume. We wanted to find something that was meaningful to him. A couple of weeks ago, Mike had this great epiphany: Cameron loves picking up trash and throwing it away, so he should be a garbage man for Halloween! I went on a hunt to find a mini-sized trash can that looks like the trash can that gets picked up every week, and let me tell you, this was harder than I thought it would be. While shopping for a basketball hoop at a sporting goods store, I found a small green cooler with wheels and a handle. When I showed it to Mike, he said, "Oh, a cooler." And when Cameron saw it, he immediately said, "Trash." So it was a winner!

I was also able to complete the garbage man look by finding a safety vest in the hunting section at the sporting goods store. (Why young children are hunting is an entirely separate discussion and blog post.) I printed off the Waste Management logo and pinned it all over the vest and trash can, and voila - we had ourselves our very own garbage man!

Cameron LOVED pulling around his own-sized trash can...until he found the real thing.

He seemed to enjoy walking around the neighborhood and ringing people's doorbells. When people told him he could pick out candy out of the bucket, he stared and studied all of his options. After careful examination, he would finally pick out a piece, and then if the candy-giver said he could have another one, the process repeated...and he would pick out the same exact kind of candy! He loved to put the candy in his trash can, and then he'd go back to the candy-giver and ask for more. At least he's not afraid to ask!

The little guy trick or treated around the neighborhood for about an hour and a half. Last year, we made it maybe half an hour and just went down our street. Unfortunately for him, he didn't partake in any of the candy, but fortunately for Mike and me, he got some good treats from the neighbors! And true to his profession for the night, he did pick up trash that he saw along the way and threw it in his trash can! Overall, it was a fun night. Special thanks to my dad, who tagged along and took pictures for us.