This page updated Feb 2007 (NEW in November, 2006)

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Mini-Blog:

November '06 (month 25):  So many new words we can't keep track.  Sings all of the words and tune to 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' (more or less).  Very nice to his baby sister but really demands/wants attention from Mommy (why always at 2am and 4am?!  Ergh.)  Loves popcorn (hmm, so that IS genetic!)...Asks daddy to make popcorn for him (DADDEEEEE PUPCONE!!!)...picks up dropped popcorn and throws them away ('deetee').  Likes to do "Ready...Set!...GO!" for things like eating popcorn, knocking over a tower of blocks, etc.  At the kitchen table, makes everyone get up, rearranges all four chairs (usually in a line), and tells everyone where to sit.  Insists on feeding himself cereal & milk...while sitting on a regular chair and using a regular bowl with a regular spoon...and ends up wearing much of the milk.  Gives hugs and kisses to his 'beebee sistah Towhee'.  MUST watch the badage tuck (garbage truck) in action every Monday morning.  Still very helpful...now even better at throwing away diapers, helping load/unload laundry, pouring his own milk and juice (uhh, with a bit of help), putting away toys into boxes (sometimes...), etc.  Crazy about trains (still).  Took 1st full shower (with help).  Can loosen/tighten screws with a screwdriver (to replace battees in toys).  Made 1st collection (of three dozen cardboard disks from party poppers at a surprise party).  Hard to take vid or pics 'cause he runs over and wants to SEE what I'm looking at on the screen.  Is pretty much done with:  stroller, booster chair, high chair, us feeding him, us washing his face (occasionally does it himself now), us brushing his teeth (doesn't do it himself often), us opening a door for him, etc. 

December '06 (month 26, 35.5" tall):  Acts like a doggie sometimes.  Loves batting a balloon around...we're halfway to training him to be a volleyball star.  Can do simple puzzles (3x3) lickety-split!  Likes to sing 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' and has the ABCs down pretty well.  Points out the 'pretty lights on the tree' (holiday xmas lights) everywhere.  Fried stuff is better than ANYTHING...yumm.  Seems like he is almost done with the stroller for any longer than a short walk.  Says full sentences like, "Daddee, go downstairs cook eggs."  Imitates most anything we say or sounds we make (gotta be REALLY careful).  Vocabulary growing by many words per day due to constant imitation and asking 'what dees?'  Actually says, 'wash hands?' before eating and wants to go wash hands.  Has stopped fighting us and in fact ASKS (sometimes) to have his pooey diaper changed (you'd think that's a given).  Acts like a dinosaur.  Understands ownership...'Cameron's Truck' and 'Cameron's spoon' and 'Daddy's car'.  Really watches and is fascinated by the fish, snake, and other animal exhibits at places like Academy of Science museum.  Creates action games, like everybody running/crawling in circles around an object acting like trains/dinosaurs/people/dogs.  Hugely insistent on doing things his way...example, rearranges all the chairs at the table and assigns who sits where...opens/closes/locks some doors...must be the only one who is singing along with 'Land of Discovery' (Snook, of Big Big World).  Sometimes likes to watch us intently and imitate everything exactly, especially musical drumming, humming, and singing with related arm motions.  Likes to sit and 'read' books to himself or to us (in his own uhhh, interpretive babble-speak).  Still doesn't sleep thru the night.  Is gentle and nice to Cori, but very needy (of mommy mostly) at times...sometimes is upset and insists on MORE of mommy's attention.  Repetition, repetition, repetition!  Loves to do things over and over and over sometimes...puzzles, games, etc.  More eating with chopsticks.  Favorites include tofu, rice, and corkscrew pasta.  Sometimes helps clean up toys.  Scared of TMX tickle me Elmo.

January '07 (month 27, hit 36" in late Jan):  Been saying more and more short sentences (actually, sometimes very LONG sentences.  Often wakes up very unhappy (why?  no idea), BUT is the happiest kid in daycare...upon returning to daycare after 10 days off, every other kid was mopey and/or crying and/or listless and/or unhelpful.  Not Cam!  On Day 1 back, helped move chairs, tables, & cots, handed out materials for drawing time, sang during circle time, picked up toys and papers that other unhappy mopesters threw on the ground.   Not scared of tickle me Elmo anymore, plays with him many times.  Suddenly GETS that numbers go in ORDER and can be used to count things such as steps, cats, etc...up to six or so only...oh wait, by late January he counts to 10 when playing hide n' seek.  GETS how to use the laptop computer touchpad!  In fact, can turn on computer, click Explorer, click the 'pbskids.org' hotlink, click on Curious George (or whatever), and play simple games...we almost miss being 'forced' to play the games for him for hours.  Creates new games, all with the basic premise of running in circles around the livingroom...sometimes we're trains, sometimes we're lions, sometimes we're pillow-hat-wearing people...but we're always chasing around in circles.  Traces letters (and other things) better than most 3-3.5 year olds ever at daycare (according to Yan).

February '07 (month 28):  Still oftens yells, "I did it!" in a quite self-congratulatory way.  Put on his own velcro-strap sneakers (and yells "I did it!").  Backseat driver tells us GO when the stoplight is green, STOP when it is red...learned that from 'Go Dogs Go'?  Uses (toy) pliers properly (sort of)l...to pull things apart.  Using much longer sentences such as "Daddy?  Mommy Cameron go to store buy food!"  Likes to 'read' to us or just aloud...he uses about 10x more babbling words than are actually on the page...very cute because he is very intent on telling his version/interpretation of the story.  As soon as Mommy or Daddy leaves the room, he says "where Mommy/Daddy go?!"...in fact, sometimes says "where Daddy go?!" as soon as Daddy is not in his field of view.  Got into his 1st rumble at daycare...boys will be boys...he would've taken down that 3-year old in a second but Yan broke it up.  Started having to use the threat of TIMEOUTs to, umm, steer behavior...but haven't really actually used a TIMEOUT...yet.  Did 1st somersault (learned at daycare?).  Pretty good at shooting baskets on his mini-basketball hoop (set to 3' high).  Says 'Pato' (tomato) and 'yeddow' (yellow)...cute ;)  Tried pineapple, likes it.  Wants to see EVERYTHING you are doing..."Wadooing? wadooing? I see? I see? wadooing?".  Pretty good at catching stuff (nerf football).  Can put (velcro lace) shoes on by self...though he usually wants us to do it.  Only thing he remembers about his last zoo trip (Seattle zoo) is "zebra go pee!".  Really likes to play chase-chase around the livingroom 800 laps at a time.  Said, "ohhh myyy gawshh!" out of the blue one day. 

March '07 (month 29):  Has perfected the Atomic Meltdown which includes elements such as '2am' 'crying' 'yelling' 'whining' 'I want milk' 'lying on the floor' 'kicking' 'wanting mommy's bellybutton' and it can go on for awhile...usually triggered by something very minor and ended after a long time.  Likes to listen to and sing Ants Go Marching (calls it the "Hurrah" song) and Itsy Bitsy Spider.  Threw rocks into creek for the 1st time (Sunol Regional Wilderness).  Knew EXACTLY what Daddy meant by "try to hit that big rock"...kept trying 'til he hit it...must be a genetic/guy thing.  GETS why the silly nonsense song "Apples and Bananas" is funny when they start mashing up the words into "eeples and beeneenees" and "ayeples and banaynays".  Asks regularly for popcorn or scrambled eggs and insists on helping to make them or at least watch every step.  Things he likes to exclaim very loudly, "AGAIN?!", "I SEE I SEE?", "WHERE'S MOMMY/DADDY/MUDPIE/MISO GO?!", "MORE!?", "I DO IT!", "I DID IT!!", "I LIKE IT!!", "WAIT!! WAIT!!", "WADOOING?!" and "AHHH?" (the chinese version of "HUH?").   His favorite is "AHHHH?!" which is very cute in an annoying way when he does it 5 times in a row. Definitely seems like a lefty, as are his cousins Aren and Miles, when coloring/tracing/drawing.  But throws balls about equally well with either hand.  1st Easter Egg hunt (Newark Community Center)...got good at finding the same dozen chocolate eggs that Daddy would sneak out of his basket and re-hide when he looked the other direction.  Gets separation anxiety somethin' fierce at times. 

April '07 (month 30):  Tries purposely to get Cori to smile at him (which she does easily) and says "Cori smile!" when she does...seems to know he is her big brother and likes it.  Did we mention the FIERCE separation anxiety he gets if you even turn away from him when he is in a vulnerable, attention-wanting mood?  Likes to run around singing/bellowing "itsy bitsy spider", "twinkle twinkle little star" and "ABCs".  Still loves to play chase-chase while listening to chinese kids songs and making us run 50+ laps around the livingroom.  Is good at connect-the-dots (though doesn't do them in numerical order, just whichever dot is closest is next).    Adores his baby sistah, likes trying to make her smile and laugh using funny antics and rolling around on the floor when she is rolling around on the floor.  Still wakes up unhappy at midnite or so and comes running over to our room to sleep on the floor (well, comforter and pillows that we put down) next to our bed.  Really pretty darn good at throwing rocks (Quarry Lakes Park, Fremont) a solid 10-12 feet with right hand, 4-6 with left, so maybe not a lefty after all?  Re-interested in toy trains (wooden ones).  Very insistent when he wants some popcorn, repeating "I want popcorn" about 150 times (literally).  parKA.  Has a play farm set...when asked "is that a windmill" he says "no, daddy, FLOWER!" and when asked what all the farm animals are eating, he says "BUTTER!" (the little toy hay bale...).  Used 'because' causality.  Can count to fifteen...usually in order and correctly!  Can sing his ABCs, usually in order!  Started to make up games, rules keep changing, we can't win his games.  Very demanding.

May '07 (2nd year 7th month):  Getting even more separation anxiety...major meltdowns just because we (usually Mommy) leaves the room when he is 'in a mood'.  Blew out candles on daddy's bday cake like nobody's business...must've had practice at daycare or something!?  Likes to sing more and more...got him singing "Do You Hear the People Sing?" from Les Miserables.  When driving by them, recognizes places he went to weeks ago (like Lake Elizabeth park), who he went with, and what he played.  We gotta use TIME OUTs again for the 1st time in months...seems to work okay though!  Got his 1st real Time Out at daycare.  Likes puzzles and can put an alphabet puzzle together extremely quickly.  Becoming very detailed when in a demanding mood..."I want SOY milk in a BOTTLE...NOW...no WATER!" (we were diluting his bedtime milk).  1st time in the jet boat...loved it!  When daddy drove slowly at first, he immediately exclaimed, "GO FASTER DADDY NOW!" to which daddy obliged and said, "That's my boy!"

June '07 (2nd year 8th month):  Sometimes doesn't want to go to daycare...found out it is because he got a Time Out or two the previous day.  STILL likes to sing, trains big & small, farm animal mini toys (wood, plastic, stuffed), airplanes, helping out in general (putting dishes in dishwasher, clothes in clotheswasher, setting plates & utensils, throwing away diapers, baking muffins (uhh, after washing hands)).  Mentions every time he hears a train whistle or spots an airplane (still...).  FIRSTS:  pushes back a few steps and swings on the swing by himself, 'reads' books by repeating/imitating us, defeating of child safety cabinet/drawer locks, caught 2 Bluegills (Dad's 1st 2 were Sunfish at 7 years old) with Grandpa Andy's help, regressed...likes to eat baby food...loves when Cori doesn't finish her jar of food, friends with Mudpie finally -- Mpie lets Cam feed him treats and pet him (a little bit), and 'drove' the boat at full throttle.  Flew a stunt kite (with help from Daddy) for the 1st time.  Called Daddy 'Mommy' by accident, so Daddy called him 'Mudpie', and Cam picked up the humor and started a fun, silly game of hilarious strings of creative 'name calling' and giggling.  Continues to adore his baby sistah Cowhee...brings her snacks, toys, and giggles & smiles with his antics. 

July '07 (2nd year 9th month) (30 lbs, 38" tall):  Sherry says he has a deep voice which she likes a lot...we didn't specifically notice until she said that, and now we notice it all the time!  Noticed that sometimes he 'uses' an even deeper voice than other times.  Likes to imitate everything...words, gestures, actions.  Loves his baby sis.  Tries to pick her up and carry her...a 30-lb skinny tall kid trying to lift a 20-lb round little chub-ster...very cute.  Gives her hugs.  Really helpful in the kitchen and picking up (some of) his toys.  Went camping for the 3rd time...enjoyed running around a lot....didn't sleep too well just like her sis.  2nd time in the boat, didn't mine going full-tilt (45mph), hard turns, and wake jumping.  Caught his FIRST (two) FISH (Bluegills) at Rollins Lake with the help of Grandpa Yee.  Also really enjoyed casting and reeling in 837 fishies (well, actually the same orange plastic one) that we had attached to the end of his fishing line.  Likes his various little farm animal toys (from 3 or 4 different 'sources').  Likes taking his backpack with him.  Insists on filling his backpack with 15 farm animal toys before we can leave the house...  Likes to count--as he has for a couple of months--but now is pretty good at it up to 15.  Assembled his 1st small-toy parade on the livingroom floor and it was a doozy...15 farm animal toys, 5 train cars, a caboose, 6 dinosaurs, 4 plastic tools, a plastic donut, cars, a monster truck, bowling pin, canister of cat treats, and some other miscellany.  Has gained a new type of meltdown that Dave calls the "stunned delayed overreaction plus NO meltdown"...example:  we'll be playing 'Farm', then Daddy will still be playing (putting all the cows in the barn or something), Cam will get quiet and stop moving, Daddy will stop and go play something else, then Cam will pout, swing his arm in a mock hit, and yell NO, DADDY, NO COW IN BARN, and get teary-eyed.  Luckily this is a rare occurence usually caused by him being hungry or over-tired.

August '07 (2nd year 10th month):  1st time on BIG, must-be-36"-or-taller-to-ride Carnival rides (Santa Clara County Fair).  1st time riding a (training-wheeled) bike (Yosemite Lakes Resort).  Started to use convincing arguments:  recently tried to take the laptop computer upstairs to his room...Mommy said NO...Cam said, "But Daddy take compooter uptairs!" which he does sometimes.  Still like bubbles.  Has this MEAN wrinkle-nose squinty expression, and a STUBBORN look with the creased brow and lowered upper eyelids...annoying but cute that he uses these two looks several hundred times on certain days.  1st time rode a bicycle (with training wheels and some help steering).  Likes to set up and play store/restaurant...the prices are good -- Give him some money, he punches some keys on the 'register', then gives your change back (which is all your money back), along with the imaginary pizza or dump truck or that you ordered.  He even rolls the dough using a pipe-foam-insulator as a rolling pin.  Interested in hitting a ball with a bat.  Still loves to make Cowhee laugh, or to hold her bottle, or give her some Cheerios to eat.  Not always so excited about her taking his toys.  Still addicted to milk...specifically SOY milk...in a bottle...stubbornly against weaning from a bottle...speaking of which, still likes Mommy's bellybutton as a comfort object.  Creates his own games and directs Mommy Daddy to "do this" "stand here" "throw ball" "hide under blanket" "be bear".  Likes building & hiding in forts.  Getting tired of "Do You Hear the People Sing?" and now requests "Castle on a Cloud" (also from Les Miserables) and has learned all the lyrics (but NOT the tune!).  Knows which way to turn a steering wheel to go left, and which to go right!  Saw picture of a Shelby Cobra (no people in the pic) that we viewed in the Hot August Niles car show 2.5 weeks previous and immediately said, "I had a hot dog and there was a band"...neat to see him making associations and that his long-term memory is working just fine!

September '07 (2nd year 11th month):  Has begun to hold 'conversations' with Cori, who pretty much says, "ack!" or "ahhh!".  Cam will imitate her sound, then she'll 'say' something else and he'll imitate that and they'll both giggle.  They can do this for 30 minutes!  Mostly a happy kid, he does throw long-lasting tantrums over nothing sometimes.  Had a great time jumping off sofa into pile of pillows at Auntie E's house.  Loves dinosaurs, bears, and fire trucks (the usual!).  Keeps telling mommy, "mommy stay home, daddy take Cameron to Chuck E Cheese" even though he has never been there.  Says he has lots of tails...hands out tails for you to attach above your 'butt-butt'.  Feels that the baby is "too loud".  Learning dino names, knows stegosaurus, triceratops, and tyrannosaurus rex.  Big first:  Can take off and put on his shirt by himself!  Makes it that much easier for us...uhh, except when he gets 'stuck' in his shirt somehow!  Also took pictures on his own.  And went all the way across a balance beam on his own with no help.  Sort of 'reads' books to US, from phonetic memory more than from actually reading the words, but very cute ;).  Passes hearing test and vision test:  hears airplanes in the distance and points them out, even if they are miles away on a bright overcast day.  Passes long-term memory test:  6 weeks after Hot August Niles car show, he associates a video of him sitting on a street bench with the Niles show.  Passes abstraction test:  Imitates a dancing, stomping, jumping stick figure on his Leapfrog Learning Drum that is made up of a super LOW-res 5x7 grid of LEDs.

October '07 (3rd year):  Passed a super long-term-memory test...went to Navlet's Nursery one year ago for a pumpkin carving event where he watched some fish in a fishpond...hasn't been there since until this year's pumpkin event where, as soon as we pulled into the parking lot he said "where'd fish go?"  Can change all his own clothes, shirt, pants, socks.   Knows he is 3 years old, that he lives in Fremont, and what cities other family members live, like Linda's parents are in Walmut Creep.  Learned the weather forecast map icons.  Wanted to use the camera on his own, went and took 100 pictures in 20 minutes...many were in focus and not tilted and didn't have a finger in front of the lens or flash ;)

Cam loves to build up a box tower (complete with balloon), then give it a Belly Bump to knock it over:

Balloons are fun!  Cam lines 'em up, then tries to walk over them without knocking them out of place:

Halloween trick-or-treating with Winnie-the-Pooh/Chanan.  Lots o' fun!:

What a neat water fountain!  I think I'll take a drink!

Fun with Mommy, fun at the Tech Museum, fun watching the SJ Veteran's Day parade:

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