A Sad Goodbye

It has taken me a little while, but we are finally getting rid of Camille’s baby things that she doesn’t use anymore.  I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but I just wasn’t ready to part with her stuff.  I finally got some of the things out, wow what a walk down memory lane!  It seems like just yesterday she was laughing in her swing and falling asleep in her bouncy seat. 

We have sold some things and donated some others.  I made the mistake of having someone come to the house to look at a couple of her things while she was there.  Not a good idea!  They left with a couple of her baby things.  As they were walking out, Camille burst into tears. With tears rolling down her face, she is saying to my husband, Daddy get it back, please Daddy.  It really did break my heart in more ways than one   To watch her get so upset and to see the baby days going out the door.

xoxo,

Tracy

Heart Stopping

It’s happened to every parent that I know.  And now it has happened to us.  We were all at Olivia Kiska’s 3rd birthday party  (Newschannel 5’s Paul Kiska’s little girl).   My husband, Paul and me were all talking.   I looked up and Camille was gone. My heart dropped into my stomach, my heart rate shot up and all 3 of us took off.  Now, luckily, Paul and his wife had Olivia’s party at Chuck E Cheese and a child can’t get out the door with an adult unless the invisible stamps that are stamped on your arm when you come in, match.  As we were taking off to look for her, one lady told me she followed a little girl to another section of the restaurant, some of Paul’s relatives told him the same thing.  My husband and I both found her at the same time sitting in a ride waiting for someone to put a token in it for her    I’ve never experienced the panic I felt at that very moment in my life, even though I realized she probably couldn’t go far.  It was a good reminder to us that it only takes a second for a child to disappear and a good time to talk to Camille about walking away without Mommy or Daddy.   

All the kids really seemed to have a great time at Olivia’s birthday.  What kid doesn’t enjoy pizza and cake? I can’t believe Olivia turned 3, I remember when Camille and Liv couldn’t even walk.  Now they’re walking away and  keeping us on our toes..   Happy Birthday, Liv

xoxo,

Tracy

Lesson Learned

Camille looks a lot like her daddy, but it is clear that she got at least two  genes from me… the hunger gene and the tired gene…  When she is hungry or tired she is crabby.  I understand, I’m the same way. 

No matter what time Camille goes to bed, she is up at the same time each morning.  So, we try to put her to bed early at night.   When she goes to bed later, guaranteed she is cranky in the morning.  Well, Daddy learned that lesson the hard way.  The other night, while I was working, the two  of them were having a great time.  They made brownies and watched an animated movie. 

(You can tell by this picture that I’m not home, look at the hair in her eyes :)

They were having such a good time that my husband decided to keep her up a little later.  The next morning, we were all home, and she was anything but happy. In fact, nothing made her happy and daddy saw it first hand.   We all paid the price for Camille staying up late!  I’ll bet next time they start those brownies a little earlier

xoxo,

Tracy

A Surprising Call

I wonder what goes on at my house when I’m not home? Or on second thought, maybe I don’t want to know.  When I am at work, sometimes  it is  all “Daddy Daycare”.  

Well, I was at  work the other day, I answered my phone and at the other end,  a screaming toddler.  Camille was screaming at the top of her lungs, obviously, my husband dialed the number before she started to meltdown about something.  She was very unhappy about something.  I knew it wasn’t any kind of an emergency situation, because in a very calm voice he said “I’ll call you right back”.  But, Camille was obviously having an emergency of her own. Something wasn’t right in this 2 year old’s world.   Parents have heard it before, the cry, when they sob for a few minute in between the next scream.  For the first time, I felt helpless.  I was at work and there wasn’t anything I could do to calm her down.  I’ve said it before Mommys and Daddys parent differently, not better or worse, just different.  I, of course, feel that I can calm her down better than my husband.  I waited a few minutes and then called back.  I got the answering machine, so I knew she was still crying.  A little later, which seemed like an eternity, my phone rang again.  This time with a sweet little voice saying, “Mummy, I am going to watch baseball on tv with Daddy.” 

Daddy and daughter got some important bonding time and all was right in Camille’s world again

xoxo,

Tracy

My One And Only

I had a very nice lady stop us at the mall the other day.  She asked me if Camille was my only child, when I said yes, she told me that she had 6 kids and that I should get busy adding to my family.  That conversation got me thinking again about my one and only. 

There are more “onlies” now than ever before.  According to the US Census Bureau there are 20  million “only children”.  That’s up dratically from 50 years ago.  I suspect one reason is that women are waiting longer to have children.  Personally, I never wanted children until I fell in love with my husband, then I never wanted anything MORE  than I wanted Camille.  Thinking back to how badly I wanted a baby still brings out raw emotion.  We believe Camille is our gift from God.  Like any parents, we think Camille is the most special child on earth Camille is my miracle. 

For many of my friends,  having children and building their family came easy.  But for others it did not.  Some of my best friends never got a miracle. They are wonderful people who remain childless and it’s not by choice.  

 Some, unfairly, view only children as being spoiled, selfish, and unkind.  That view is changing.  One of my best friends, is an “onlie”. She is perhaps the most giving and kind person that I have ever met.

 I know raising an only child can have it’s challenges, but raising children in general has it’s challenges  It doesn’t matter how big your family is…ours is small… Mommy, Daddy and Camille..  You are a mother if you have one child or fourteen children.

xoxo,

Tracy

What An Imagination

With each new day, I notice something new about Camille.  She is really starting to use her imagination.  She takes care of her doll like a baby, she pretends to take our dog for a walk and the other day we had a tea party.  She made me tea and brownies in her little kitchen!   I know this is all old stuff for some seasoned moms, but being a relatively new mother, I am just thrilled to watch her use her imagination!  That tea party lasted a good long time, until we decided to make real brownies. 

As you can see she helped me stir the brownies and of course licked the spoon a few times It was a good day, we made brownies and priceless memories   (Daddy got the real brownies when he got home )

xoxo,

Tracy

What An Opinion!

Camille will be turning 2 1/2 very soon.  Apparently, along with the age comes an opinion.  My little one has developed an opinion about everything!  I  don’t like that hair bow, I want to wear those pj’s, I like  that kind of juice.. you get the picture.  All of a sudden, in her world, everything is up for discussion and she is more than willing to let us know  what she thinks about the topic of the minute!  Camille is pretty laid back, so it is kind of cute to see  her expressly expressing herself     She is growing up right in front of our eyes.  In my opinion, kids grow up too fast  

xoxo,

Tracy

Daily Battle

It is a battle that we have everyday in our house.  Getting Camille to take her vitamin is a daily struggle!  We have tried different brands, flavors, shapes, you name it.

I don’t understand it.  When we started giving her a vitamin, she loved them, she’d even ask for another one.  Then, all of sudden, she decided that she didn’t like them anymore. I’ve tried bribing, yelling, ignoring. … nothing works.  Doctors say don’t worry about a daily vitamin if  kids get a balanced diet, well sometimes that happens and sometimes not so much. (see ”you did what?” post)  Ideas? I’d love to hear them  

xoxo,

Tracy

Beach Babes!

The beautiful summer days, here in northeastern Ohio, make forgetting about the long, cold winters pretty easy!    We are lucky, there are so many beautiful places along the Lake Erie lake shore.  For those of you who are regular blog readers, you know that Camille and Olivia Kiska, Newschannel 5’s Paul Kiska’s daughter, are little friends.  We decided that our families would take in some  of  the natural beauty of  our area together.  Oh, what fun the two little ones had on the shores of Lake Erie

A bucket, a couple of cups, and some sand.. a wonderful recipe for summer fun for two 2 year olds.  It is always so much fun for us to watch the two of them together.   They get so excited to see one another, each and every time.  It’s like they haven’t seen each other in years. 

For just being 2 years old, they are so sweet to each other.  Olivia, or as Camille calls her, Liv fell down and got a boo-boo, she was crying.  Camille was very concerned about Liv and told her ” You’ll be okay.”

Olivia looks out for Camille too.  It’s amazing to me that these little ones show so much emotion and have such empathy for each other.  It is truly so sweet   

xoxo,

Tracy

Fireworks!

This year is the first time that Camille got to see fireworks!  We saw them last week , then again this holiday weekend.      

 We didn’t have to go far to see the fireworks where we live, we can see them from our backyard!  It was late by the time the colors lit up the sky and Camille was starting to get tired, but as soon as the fireworks started, she lit up too! She loved them.  I took some vacation time this weekend and we did a lot of family stuff together.  We had a great weekend. I hope you did too

xoxo,

Tracy