We are constantly amazed at how smart Cameron has become. I recently filmed him working his 24 piece Sesame Street puzzle. He has gotten really good at it, and we got him a new one today. I took him 24 minutes to put together the new one on the first try. However, he puts this one together in about 8 1/2. I had an idea for a video, so I got out the camera and filmed him putting it together. Cameron also knows all his ABC’s (the letters, not just the song) and can ‘read’ almost all his books (from memory). Anyways, we are very proud of him!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This is the first attempt at joining in “Not me!” Monday…so here it goes!

I did not let my sick 2 year old eat whatever he wanted, knowing that he would throw it up within an hour, but to avoid a fight I didn’t do it.

I did not proceed to throw the puked on laundry directly into the washing machine and expect it to work some sort of miracle on the stains, without pretreating them.

I did not feel like the worst parent in the world when the 2 year old escaped out of the backyard with the dog and trotted down the street. Only to be stopped by the neighbors, who called the cops!

I did not try to bribe my 2 year old to go potty with a present!

I did not ignore the dishes in the sink all weekend. Nope not me!

I did not wish that I could ignore my crying 3 month old and wonder when he is going to start sleeping through the night.

I certainly did not hope that my sleeping husband would get up and take care of the crying baby.

I did not wish that my husband would get a new job that he interviewed for last week so that we would have move into another house in a new town, no way was I wishing for that!

Please join in and check out MckMama’s site. It’s lots of fun!

Today I took Cameron to our friends’, Greg and Libby’s daughter Alexis’ 3rd birthday party at Playworld Down Under here in Chattanooga. It’s basically a kids play area and has party rooms so the kids can have pizza, cake, and open presents. After we sang Happy Birthday and finished eating and watching Alexis open her presents the kids went and played. Cameron has so much fun playing with the older kids – he is just younger than several of them so on some of the equipment he had to have some help keeping up. Thankfully his 10 year old cousin, Kylee was there and helped him out alot. He really enjoyed running around and playing. The only bad part was that I had to wake him up from his nap to go and let’s just say that he was not a happy camper! He fussed and whined on the way there, but once he was there he perked up. He still wouldn’t eat any pizza or cake (very unlike Cameron) and I was worried that he might still be a little under the weather. However, once it was time to play – watch out – that child was all over the place. I could just sit and watch him enjoying himself for hours. We really enjoyed ourselves and can’t wait to get together again soon.

  Alexis blowing out the candle!             Opening presents!                            Baby Lyla in her Valentine’s best!

          Little He-Man                        Cameron with Kylee & Reghan                      Turning those gears!

  Cameron being a cheeser!                Showing off his muscles!                               Cute Conner!

Well, I thought I would share some of the Valentine’s decorations I have put up around the house. I think I am enjoying each holiday that passes by more and more as the kids are getting older. The joy and excitement in their eyes and seeing something new is worth it for me to put in the extra time and effort.

I figure if I buy a little bit at a time it won’t seem like so much and especially with hitting the sales after the holiday, like after Valentine’s Day I will have to check out some of the sales on merchandise left over to seem if there is anything I want to keep for next year. I’m so excited though – this is the first time I have really tried to make an effort for any holiday other than Christmas, so I will update the blog with all that we did on Valentine’s Day when the time comes.

You wouldn’t believe how sad it is to watch your normally active (which is putting it mildly) 2 &1/2 year old lay around for the last couple of days sick! Cameron is a wild and crazy kid – constantly talking and asking questions, wanting to play outside, and wanting Mommy and Daddy to play with him. Well, since Wednesday the poor little guy just wants to be held and cuddled (totally not things Cameron likes to do at this age)! He’s been tired and groggy and unable to hold down much of anything (which makes me wonder whether or not it was a good idea to let him eat Cool Ranch Doritos, Daddy?) Anyway, here’s a picture of the little man when I got home from work after lunch to take over for Kerry so that he could go to work for a little bit!

The green blanket pictured is Cameron’s favorite – if he is tired he pops his thumb in his mouth and goes to sleep – it’s like magic. I just hope he starts to feel better soon.