The Complication of Solids

Camryn is really starting to frustrate me with her hatred of solids.  At first I thought it was that she wasn't ready.  Then I thought she didn't like the taste of the cereal.  At times Jay and I think that maybe she is picky, but I'm not even sure that is the case.  When I talk to other people about it I've just decided to say she's complicated.  I don't know what else to call it.

I read a lot of blogs of families who have either adopted children or adopted embryos that are around Camryn's age.  All of those kids are eating solids, and according to the blogs loving it.  Those angelic children are eating all sorts of fruits and veggies by the truckloads.  I consider it a good day if Camryn eats a few of the Toys R Us puffs. 

From the tone of at least one of these blogs I'm sure one of the mothers would blame it on the fact I'm not making my own baby food.  I really did think about making my own this summer when the vegetables were in season.  Not so much because of thinking it was healthier, but that it might be easier.  We used to have a customer who grew green beans for Gerber.  I knew the strict guidelines Gerber had with those beans, so I'm not scared of baby food.  I thought it might be easier because I don't live or work by a Wal-Mart and if I bought baby food at the local grocery store Camryn's grocery budget would be as large as our family budget.  But I quickly put aside the idea of making my own.  Between holding Camryn and watching Frasier I really didn't have time for anything else the 12 weeks I was off work.  The way it's turned out though it's probably for the best.  Camryn really hates baby food.  I would've been even more frustrated if I had a freezer full of steamed veggies that she wouldn't open her mouth for.

I completely gave up on baby food months ago.  I smash up whatever we are eating and try that.  Most of the time she won't eat it.  It's not even that she doesn't like it...she won't even open her mouth to try it.  Her lips are sealed.  She also has a move that Jay and I call the cop out.  When she sees the spoon coming at her she rubs her eyes like she is tired.  Cade had the same "I'm tired" move when he started Kindergarten.  Any time we'd ask him about school he'd respond with "I'm tired" so we'd leave him alone.  After awhile I noticed that any time we asked him something or told him to do something he replied with "I'm tired".  He must have clued Camryn in on that..."hey if you act like you are tired the annoying ones will leave you alone". 

If it is a good night and she's not "tired" she might eat pretty good.  Pretty good for Camryn is 4 or 5 bites.  But what is so weird about her is that one night she might eat something and then the next night refuse it before she even tastes it.  Last night and tonight it was the opposite.  I fixed spaghetti last night and she refused.  I did force one bite in and she shivered trying to get it swallowed.  Tonight Jay is gone so we had the same spaghetti leftovers.  She ate it really well tonight.  Sometimes she likes bananas, sometimes she doesn't....she will eat oatmeal at the sitters but at home she dry heaves on it.  I'm sure I'm a bad mother, but some nights I don't even bother to try to feed her.   I know she will more than likely refuse it and if I'm not cooking anyway I don't mess with it. 

 I'm not so worried about her not eating, but I am starting to wonder what we do for it.  I would like to take her off of formula when she turns 1 but at this rate I don't know what I'll do.  She may be packing a thermos of Enfamil to kindergarten.  But she also refuses a sippy cup so I don't know what she will drink it out of.  That could be another post on its own. 

She's just complicated....

Is she going to bypass crawling?

Camryn has been spending a lot of time in this position.  She is trying so hard to stand up in the middle of the room.  I think this stage is so funny because they get themselves in these positions and can't figure out how to get out of them.  After I took these pictures I had to rescue her.  She couldn't figure out how to sit back down. 










Yesterday morning she backed herself under a kitchen chair and couldn't get out.  Of course I had to grab the camera before I would help her out of her prediciment.








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Goodbye Granddad

This weekend we headed to Fayetteville to celebrate the life of Jay's Granddad Hill Simmons.  It was one of those funerals that was definitely more of a celebration than a time of sadness.  We all knew where Hill was at.  After suffering with Alzheimers for several years we knew he was celebrating leaving his body behind for the glory of Heaven. 

Anyone who spent more than a few minutes around Hill found out he was a unique individual.  I enjoyed getting to know him the last 13 years and hearing stories about him.  One of my favorites is how he and Lorita started dating.  Hill and Lorita met at the University of Arkansas, but there was a problem....Lorita was dating someone else.  She happened to be dating Razorback Football player (and future NFL player and sports announcer) Pat Summerall.  Hill's university mailbox was close to Pat's so he started telling Nana that Pat was getting all kinds of letters from other girls.  Eventually he convinced Nana that she needed to go out with him instead of someone who might have other girlfriends.  Nana and Granddad went on a picnic together for their first date and never dated anyone else.  A year later they were married.  After they had been married for a couple of months Granddad finally admitted to Nana that he may not have been totally honest about Pat Summerall....  But it must have been ok with Nana because when Granddad passed away Thursday they were just a few weeks shy of their 62 Anniversary.  At the funeral the Minister said that when their daughter LeeAnn was visiting about a week before Granddad passed away he was able to communicate to LeeAnn that Nana needed flowers and chocolate for Valentines Day.  And he didn't want any of that generic chocolate.  It had to be Russell Stovers!  I'd say that everything worked out ok in their marriage.

Jay drafted some memories of his Granddad and ended up sharing them today at the funeral.  He did a really good job.  Since this is our family memory book I'm going to include it here. 

This evening my Grandad passed away.  While this is normally a sad time it was for me a time of great relief.  I have been watching for several years the deterioration of my Grandad from this disease called Alzheimer’s.  This is easily the cruelest diseases that I have ever witnessed.  It has taken one of the smartest men I have ever met to one that couldn’t even remember his own family’s name.  So I am reminded that this life is only temporary.  I must admit that I was even a little excited to think that at about 11 pm on February 16, 2012; my Grandad was getting to be shown around Heaven.  I mean just think about ole Hill’s odd smile, you know the one that actually looked like a frown, but you could read in his eyes that he was smiling.  And from all accounts he used to be a fast runner so I can just see him running to meet the Lord God Almighty face to face.  What a wonderful night Grandad has had.  The sad part is that I hadn’t seen that smile in a long time.

Some of my favorite memories of Grandad are when I was a kid.  He was just one of those special people that are often rare in life.  Many of the memories revolve around the life on the farm and cheering on the Razorbacks.  I would like to share just a few of those memories.  One summer in London I remember him taking us to the garden to plant pumpkins.  I don’t remember exactly but he made up some big story about having magic pumpkin seeds.  These magic seeds had to be planted with a bull horn.  So we made a mound of dirt and planted the seeds by dropping them down an old hollow bull horn.  We then covered them up with the horn and put some cow poop on it.  The cow poop was disguised as magic fertilizer as we went around the field and picked up dried and not so dried cow piles. What do you know we grew magic pumpkins. 

I also remember upon countless times of showing Hereford cattle that Grandad would always be on our side.  I don’t care if we had the worst heifer or the best heifer in the class he would always say ;” boys now she was the best heifer in the class!”  Sometimes we won but many times we lost but he always said she should’ve won!  What a confidence builder for a young boy to know that my Grandad was always on our side.  As I got older and could evaluate cattle on my own and more objectively it was always funny to hear him say,” boys you had the best one.”

I remember another time as a young boy that Grandad took the time to try to impress us as little boys.  As many of you know Hill would get up in the middle of the night for most of us.  But when we were kids and he was staying at our house I got up early with him.  We heard a mouse scurry across the kitchen counter.  So Grandad took me in there to catch this mouse.  His hands were so quick that he caught the mouse with his bare hands in one swoop with his little head sticking out over his fist.  He then briefly showed him to me and said,” Now you gotta hit’ em on the head fast or they will bite you.”  So he hit it on the head and killed it.  I am sure that he got as big a kick out of doing that as I did watching it.

Just like when we were showing cattle and Grandad was always bias even when we watched Terry play football.  He would boo the refs and yell things at the refs like no one I have ever heard.  Those of you that knew his voice knew that it would penetrate any amount of crowd noise there was.  I think that people in NW Arkansas expected to see Terry suited up for the Razorbacks because according to Hill he was one of the best linemen in the country.  Too bad Terry didn’t make it.  Grandad was just sure that you were the best in the world.

One of the most memorable experiences that we had as boys was a time that Grandad took us and two of my friends to an exhibition game of the 94 Hogs and the 90 Hogs basketball teams.  It was a lot of fun but after the game we were leaving and Grandad was like a bull in the line of traffic.  Normally most people alternate letting people into line but we did not.  We never did and got so close to people to close off the gap that we actually bumped the person in front of us.  The lighting in the parking lot was such that you could see in the windshield very easily.  Grandad began to look from side to side as if he was on a nice drive in the country while the four boys were getting all of the people in the back seat screaming and using hand motions that were less than appropriate.  We all tried the best we could to keep from busting out laughing but it was very very difficult.

Another time just a few short years ago Terry and I took Grandad to the Ole Miss and Arkansas game.  Let’s just say he was done with crowds at this point.  He yelled, “Down in front,” the whole games.  We knew then that he was going to be watching the rest of the games in the comfort of his couch and living room. 

Other memories that I have were:

Getting to buy fireworks when my parents wouldn’t let us.  You know they are a waste of money…..

Going to the Rodeo over the 4^th of July

Going to a Hereford Field Day and winning the livestock judging contest as a little kid.

Playing poker and he never let us win.

Nana and Grandad always coming to the county fair and many many others.

Wondering, “ why in the world does he get up so early ……everyday.

1 Corinthians 15:50-57 I declare to you, my brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery, We will not all sleep but we will be changed- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true. Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through Lord Jesus Christ.

Another thing that I remember about Grandad was that when he prayed he always started a prayer with, “Father, we are indeed grateful.”  I would like to say that we are indeed  Grateful to have known Hill Simmons and to have called him Grandad.

Teething

It is official. Camryn is a gnawer. We escaped Cade teething with with no teeth marks anywhere. His crib was left in good shape. Our furniture was in tact.

It is a different story with Camryn. She keeps biting our leather furniture. So far I've been able to catch her before she did any damage. I know the day is coming when I won't be quick enough.

From time to time I've found her with bits of paper in her mouth. It baffled me because I knew there was no paper around her. Last night when I picked up her toys I discovered the paper source....



I guess a person can not have too much fiber...

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Happy Valentines Day

Another Valentines Day....another Valentines Box.  This year was probably the easiest one we've done.  That may be because I didn't do it....This was supposed to be my year to help.  I did come up with the idea but Jay improved upon it....so I let him take care of it.  If you can't tell what it is, it is a Lego block.  I was going to cut out circles for the top but Jay said they needed to be 3D.  He got 2 Tuna Fish cans to use.  It does look better than my idea would have.  We bought 4 cans of tuna but the box was only big enough for 2.  We didn't open the tuna....so if Cade gets hungry today or stuck in a snow drift, he will have food.  In about 5 years I'll end up throwing away the tuna.  Not a big fan of it....

I had Cade stand in the kitchen for this picture.  I'm not sure why, but I've always taken his Valentines picture in the kitchen.  It made me think back to his other years.  I didn't get a picture with his box in 2nd or 3rd grade.  In 2nd grade we got the first "the call" the day before his party so we had other things on our minds.  Last year with all of the snow the party was messed up and we didn't get one taken. 

Here he is in Kindergarten

And 1st Grade

You can tell how much he has grown by looking at the curtain.  He is as tall as the curtain now. 

I will say this was the easiest Valentines Day to date.  Cade finally got the hang of filling out his own cards.  I use to dread it because it was such a high maintenace holiday, but this year it was fine.  Or then again that might have been because I didn't help him.....That's what is great about having a snow day when your husband is a teacher.  They still went to school and Cade filled them out while they were there.  But I'm pretty sure when Camryn starts school I'll be the one doing all the hearts and flowers boxes.

How Cade is handling it....

My friend Sandra asked me a few weeks ago how Cade was handling becoming a big brother.  I told her I thought he was adjusting fine, but that his therapist may tell me differently in 20 years.

Up until this weekend I think things have been fine.  The last few days I've wondered if he is finally going through an adjustment period.  I'm wondering if Camryn becoming more and more animated lately is causing it???

It started Friday night.  Camryn is still sleeping in our room in a pack and play.  Right now she is doing find and I don't have plans to move her yet.  We probably will when she turns 1, but she is a quiet sleeper and doesn't disturb us.  Also, the window in her room is huge and we need to have a blind specially cut for it.  We haven't gotten around to having that done and I won't put her in there until there is a blind.  She may be in school before we get it done.  Anyway, Cade let us know his thoughts on the subject Friday night.  This was out of the blue on the way home from Homecoming....

Cade:  When is Camryn ever going to sleep in her own room?
Me:  I don't know.  Is it bothering you?
Cade: (with a snotty tone to his voice)  She has a room.  If she's not going to sleep in it I don't understand why she even needs one.

Then Sunday night Jay's parents came over to see the kids, but I think Cade knew they wanted to see Camryn crawl.  He didn't want to sit in the family room with us.  When we finally got him in the room he sat in the chair and didn't say anything.  He did look like he didn't feel good so I asked him if he was ok.  He said his stomach hurt.  But when he started showing Memo and Papa Jim his Wii football game he started feeling a lot better.  We didn't hear anything about his stomach hurting the rest of the night. 

I knew there would be an adjustment period at some point.  I'm kind of surprised it hadn't happened sooner. 

She's Crawling!!!

Camryn started crawling Saturday night about 8:30.  She immediately found the basket of books under our end table.  She and Jay had quite a tugging match over a photo album.  I wasn't quick enough to get a picture of it.  By Sunday morning she was pulling herself up by holding on to the couch.  Things are going to get wild.  This afternoon I walked around the corner and found them like this....

Daddy did eventually win.  Camryn wasn't too pleased about it...