Camper

Maggie Gyllenhaal Sums Up What is to Become a Mother

I love this quote from Maggie Gyllenhaal about the wonders and life-changing aspects of becoming a mother!

"I think having a child changes everything and has deepened everything in my life. I never knew that I could be so tired. I never knew that I could work so hard. I never knew that I could love so much or be so patient or be so excited by the tiniest, tiniest little thing. Everything about it has surprised me."

I agree 1000% - there's nothing better!  And how cute is this little family!?

By the by - Adam and I are both totally stoked for the upcoming Batman release!

Little Miss Hollywood

Check it out . . . Our little star!  She already looks annoyed by the paparazzi!

Redneck Follow-up

A quick follow-up to my last post.  The following is a conversation relayed to me by Nathaniel's grandma (Campbell's Aunt Gina) who owns a local deli.

Customer: "I saw that little grandson of yours at the Diaper Derby."

Gina: "Yeah. If he hadn't stopped to flirt he would have won."

Customer: "My friend entered her little girl in the 7-12 months contest.  We painted her little fingernails and toes and she had on the cutest little sandals and a pretty dress with a matching bow and little bracelets and earrings.  And can you believe she didn't even win anything?"

Gina: (fighting back a sly smile) "Really."

Customer: "We were so mad because one of the little girls that won didn't even have on shoes and her dress was dirty!"

Yup! That's my grimy, barefoot little beauty!

You Might be a Redneck if . . .

  . . . you enter your baby in the county fair baby contest.  And that is exactly what Adam did last night! Much to my dismay - we were there to cheer for Nathaniel as he competed in the Diaper Derby and Daddy's pride got the best of him as he looked around at the other baby contest entrants and the next thing I know Campbell is entry #10 in the 6-12 month age group! (Thanks, too, to Aunt Gina for pushing Adam - not that he needed much convincing!)

I wasn't sure about the whole baby contest thing for several reasons not the least of which being a very real fear that I might get up there and not be able to contain myself is she didn't win. So, since it was his bright idea Daddy took her up on stage and the two hams in the family had their 15 seconds of fame. As it was she finished second out of 18 - not bad.  (There is no way the baby that won is cuter than my kid but, WHATEVER!) Not too shabby really when you consider that all the other babies were decked out in frilly dresses and bows and those goofy headband things.  I think Campbell was the only one without her ears pierced (my biggest baby pet peeve, by the way!)  She was there straight from daycare with lunch still on her shirt and in her hair.

 

It was her beautiful personality that put her over the top and out shone all those tiny little fake diamond earrings.  She got up there and waved and smiled and all the judges went "Aw" at the same time.  Atta girl!  This will be her one and only beauty pageant appearance because I am determined that she will not skate by on her good looks and I will not teach her that being pretty or "hot" is all there is to being a girl. So, if she had to be in the contest I'm glad it was her adorable, magnetic spirit that won over the judges. Incidentally, speaking of personality - Nathaniel also finished second in his contest.  He would have won the Diaper Derby but for his pause at the beginning to stop and smile and flirt with the judges before crawling.

After their unofficial awards photo shoot we took the winners on a victory lap around the carousel.  Campbell loved it! Nathaniel wasn't so sure but seemed to enjoy it, too. 

Campbell even did the daredevil one-handed move - maybe she has some of my reckless streak in her after all.  It's hard to tell - I think Daddy's cautious side and Mama's devil may care attitude battle it out inside her a lot.  Her tentative crawling is a score for Daddy's caution.  The back flips and hanging upside down tricks and love of speed are scores for Mama.  If I can get her walking and show her she can make herself go fast I may make a hurdler out of her yet . . .

Creeping and Crawling - The Video

Campbell is definitely getting the hang of crawling.  Her speed has increased since this video . . . though the long gearing-up process is still in full effect.  Notice how she has to test the waters a few times before she actually moves anywhere.  But at least she seems to be having fun during the prep work. (An apology for the poor quality . . . alas videography in a dark dining room is not the best and the dogs don't help.)

baby steps from Adam Johnson on Vimeo.

Creeping and Crawling

It was a big weekend at our house . . . Campbell started to crawl.  Well, at this stage creep might be the more accurate term.  At first it started out as this adorable frog-legged little scooch and push method that involved her little bottom sticking up in the air.  But she is actually going through a true crawling motion now - though it is happening at a very deliberate pace. Which might not be all bad as Adam and I are perhaps being eased into the new mobile baby stage a little more than some parents.

Campbell has not quit figured out the potential freedom and big wide world crawling might offer her.  Right now she still views it as purely utilitarian.  "Hmmm, I really want that ball but it's over there . . . I can't stretch that far. . . I guess I'll crawl."  She's so funny because she has to gear up which often involves a couple of false starts as she gets into position then sits back up and gets into position and sits back up . . .  Then she will slowly crawl forward a couple of "steps" and then lay down and stretch. If she still can't reach her target then she'll - seemingly reluctantly - get back into crawling position and move a few more "steps" until she can finally stretch with her Go-Go-Gadget arms and reel in what she's after. 

I figure we are but days away from her figuring out that this crawling thing isn't so bad because it means that the other side of the room isn't so far way after all and all those books on the shelf aren't really out of reach.  I'm guessing she will come home from the sitter one day this week, we'll set her on the floor and find the days of chasing her around have arrived. But that's okay.  I'm glad she's finally mobile. I was beginning to fear her one year check-up and having to defend my perfect baby to the doctor whose eyebrow raised at the "No she doesn't move" revelation. 

I am doubly glad that she crawled for the first time in front of me - at home.  One of my biggest fears about being a working mother is that I will miss too much - especially too many firsts.  So far I've been lucky and so far as I know all of her firsts have happened at home.  Here's to hoping it stays that way!

Snores like Daa-dee

Here is a "new" video of Campbell.  It's actually almost two months old and is from an evening when she was having tummy troubles and very uncharacteristically snuggled up to Mama and fell asleep.  You must turn up the volume to fully appreciate the "Ah, bless her heart" value of this one . . .

Snoring from Adam Johnson on Vimeo.

The Full Monty

PARENTAL ADVISORY WARNING: Some of the images below may not be suitable for young eyes.

Well, our vacation is coming to an end and I am very sad to say so. It has been a wonderful week. With the exception of some rain this morning it has been picture perfect beach weather. Speaking of the beach . . . we took our last trip to the beach this afternoon and got some great shots of Campbell playing in the sand and took a video of her swimming (that will be posted when we get home as we (insert Adam) forgot the computer cord).  It was a memorable trip to the beach - to put it mildly.

To give a little context we are staying at Kiawah Island off the coast of Charleston, SC.  For those not familiar with Kiawah it is a private community where my family has been coming for vacation for years.  One of our favorite past times while here is riding bikes or walking the beaches to marvel at the ENORMOUS homes all over the island.  Each vacation is a visit to Ritzville and a chance to see how the other half - or to be more accurate the other two percent - lives. All of that to say that the beach at Kiawah is not where you expect to get flashed and yet . . .

There we were taking pictures of our sweet baby girl in her sweet little pink daisy swimsuit when Adam gasps and says "I was not expecting that!"  I turn to get an eye full of boobs and, yes, the full monty (thankfully not on the same body).

 

I am just hoping Campbell is looking at the stick beside her and not the crew in the upper left of the screen.

That is Adam's shot of my reaction to the unexpected vajayjay.

So, now that I have dispensed with the shock value segment of this post we will commense with the aw value . . . A few more shots of Little Miss.

Gotta love those thighs! I keep telling her to enjoy it now because this is the only time in her life when thighs that fat are so darn cute!

Hang Ten Baby!

We made it!  I can feel myself rejuvenating already. I needed this vacation! It has been a success so far . . . We have ridden bikes - Campbell likes her little buggy behind Daddy's bike. We've been to Cindy's (the best fried shrimp and tuna salad on earth - the key lime pie is pretty awesome, too). And we've been to the beach.  The weather today was perfect!

Campbell saved up all her energy for the vacation itself. And it's a good thing because vacationing is apparently hard work. She slept 10 straight hours last night, had a 2.5 hour nap this morning and an hour on the beach - normally so much sleeping is totally unheard of.  But she loved the beach. Even after getting a little wave in the face, she laughed it off and splashed some more.  Her immediate love of the beach and water made the surfer swim suit a fitting choice (even if it didn't fit so well as it was hard to get over her rather large head and doesn't cover her rather large belly).

The water is warm enough to swim which was a nice surprise. Adam and I have been in swimming and had a blast.  It was while swimming that Adam said the catchphrase of the trip so far:

"Dude! We totally need a bogey board!"

A Few Oars May Not Be in the Water

The following is the actual fax cover page Adam used a few minutes ago to send me a flexible spending reimbursement form.

We have a central fax machine at the front desk of our office and he knows it. What am I going to do with him?