Making Lemonade

Yesterday Brad put Camden up on the kitchen counter where he discovered our lemonade pitcher. Brad is addicted to Crystal Light lemonade and drinks about a pitcher a day, so it's pointless for me to put the pitcher away. If I did, Brad would just be asking me where it was, cause you know men can't find anything. But, I digress. Camden thought this pitcher was the best thing since pancakes!

He also grabbed the dish scrub brush and wouldn't let go.

This kid sure does like household cleaning tools!

He was too intent on the pumping the pitcher handle for me to get a good face shot.

Up, down, up, down! Who knew a lemondade pitcher could be so much fun!

Speaking of the dentist, (we weren't? oh well, we are now) Camden had his first dentist appointment this week. He tagged along to my regular cleaning. He was so good! He sat in his stroller and watched in fascination as I had my teeth cleaned. Then the dentist looked at his teeth and discovered two new ones! We thought he was teething because he was drooling like Niagara Falls and he was chewing on stuff in the back. Both his upper and lower right cuspids have broken through. Then last night I was feeling his gums and discovered his upper left cuspid is also coming through. Wow! We are so fortunate that Camden does not get fussy when he is teething, and that his teeth emerge quickly. At the rate his teeth are coming, Camden will be eating steak and corn on the cob by the end of the year!

We are headed to the Big Spring Jam tonight, and plan to take Camden along for at least part of it. I think he is really going to enjoy the music and the people watching. I will be sure to post pictures tomorrow!

I'm going to be a Firefighter when I grow up!

Oh, the cuteness. 

On.

Off.

On.

Playing with Nana.

"Shapes are in my cookie jar..." 

Camden is getting really good at putting the shapes in the cookie jar. This is one of his favorite toys and he plays with it everyday. We definitely know that blue is his favorite color, because he always fishes out the blue square and carries it around with him.

Lo Mein

Mr. Hollywood! Camden has always been obsessed with glasses. If you have 'em, he wants 'em! Only recently has he started wearing them, oh so briefly. What a movie star!

We ate Chinese food the other day and this was his first time eating lo mein noodles. He love fried rice, hot and sour soup, crunchies (that go in the soup), general tso's chicken & fortune cookies. So it was  no surprise that he also love lo mein! It was pretty amusing watching him eat it.

Camden is still a very good eater, and seems to like spicy food. He's over blueberries, though. I think the last batch we had was too tart. 

Mommy's Little Helper

Camden is becoming quite the little helper with housework. Thank goodness, because I can't stand to do it. But really, who does enjoy washing endless dishes and cleaning toilets?

Camden really enjoys sweeping with the Swivel Sweeper. If I could just get to focus on sweeping up the trail of Cheerios instead of playing with the handle.

"I think it's full. Let me dump it out right here in the dining room."

Camden's newest trick is to help with the dishes. What a relief!

Hey, wait, are you loading or unloading? Those dishes are dirty!

No, that's not quite how the silverware goes in.

Camden is also very helpful with cleaning the bathtub. He takes his toys out of the tub and gives them to me! One by one! 

Or just throws them on the floor if my hands are full. Thanks!

He's getting very useful at beer fetching. Now that is handy!

I didn't teach him that. Granddaddy did. 

Yup, he's the littlest minion!

Well, I've been doing all the talking for awhile now. I would love to hear from all you readers! Leave me a comment and tell me why you read my blog or how you found me!

Dance, Dance, Dance!

Camden is really showing off his dancing skills lately. He loves to bop up and down along with the music, whether he's sitting, standing or being held. He loves all the little songs his various toys plays. Here he is dancing with his activity mat. I was just getting ready to pack this away when he started pulling up on it and dancing! I hope he gets his Daddy's rhythm, because Momma ain't got none!

Flying Monkey

Last night we packed up and headed down to the Flying Monkey at Lowe Mill Village to hear a concert by The Believers and Tara Nevins from Donna the Buffalo and Charlie Howell from the Snake Doctors. Normally these concerts are outside, but this one was moved indoors due to the rain. We took Camden and met up with my Dad and a bunch of friends. 

Craig, Charlie, Tara & Cyd

Camden had so much fun! He was dancing on the floor and kicking his legs when Brad held him up. He started clapping after each song, which was a first! I tried to get video of Cam dancing and kicking, but it was too dark.

Later, he sat in Granddaddy's lap, flirting with the ladies and playing with his cane.

There's Erika and Beth in the background - the ladies Cam was flirting with.

Camden & Granddaddy. We sure did have a great time! Thanks for asking us to go, Dad!

Pets

This is Cracker. He is a meathead. He sits like this all the time. 

This is Jasper. He's just mocking me. 

This is Camden trying to "pet" Cracker.

Cracker is actually more patient than Jasper now when it comes to letting Camden "pet" him. He will usually tolerate a few seconds of ear, tail and fur pulling before he runs away. Jasper is still very interested in Camden and often stays in the room with him when he is napping or we put him to bed at night. However, the second Camden shows an interest in Jasper and tries to pet him, Jasper is gone in a flash.

Is it any wonder the cats run away when Camden tries to "pet" them? He always goes straight for the tail! If the tail is not in reach, he pulls on the ears. I'm sure if the cats had strings tied around their neck, he would try his hardest to hold them up in the air by them!

Labor Day Weekend ~ A Little Late

I just realized I never posted any pictures from Labor Day weekend. We really didn't do much. We grilled out at the pool Friday night. Saturday the pool was closed so we hung out at home and watched football. Sunday we went to see a fun band at the pool. And Monday we hung out at my Dad's house all day. Pretty low key. But I did get some cute pics of Brad & Camden at the pool Friday night. If you are wondering why you don't see as many pictures of the two of them together, it's because Brad is very uncooperative. He usually ends up looking like this:

"Hey Lady! Quit taking my picture!"

This is the classic Camden signal that means "I'm tired. Please let me take a nap." However, he will only sleep in a pack 'n play or his crib. So napping on the fly is a bit of a problem.

Thumb sucking and hair twirling. Does it get any sweeter?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: So stinkin' cute!

Buckets and Balls ~ two favorites.

Granddaddy & Camden

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend!

Atlanta

Saturday night we ate dinner at Uncle Julio's Casa Grande in Buckhead. That was the best mexican I've ever had - even better than Rosie's! Their margaritas were delicious. Camden really enjoyed the guacamole. We sat on the patio and the weather was perfect and it was much quieter than inside. After we ate Camden stretched his legs and crawled all over the patio. We really enjoyed this meal.

When we rolled into town on Friday, we went to a little rib joint near Virginia Highlands. Dad swore it would be delicious, but I was a little skeptical, judging by it's hole-in-the-wall appearance and all the great ribs I've had in Alabama. 

Once again, we sat outside. The table next to us had a very fat dog with them and Camden was fascinated with him. Later, the dog was nice enough to eat Camden's leftovers he threw on the ground.

You place your order and pay at the window and then they give you a card to place on your table to find you. Brad, please note our card read "Don King Copping a Feel." Not Comping!

Here's the flip side, and you can just barely make out that D.K. has his hand on the lady on the right's butt. Fatt Matt's did not disappoint. Those ribs were scrumptious! They fell off the bone and were so tender. They ranked right up there with Dreamland (the original) and Brad's ribs.

Camden loved our hotel room. He did not love being in the pack 'n play while we were lounging around. He was way too excited to take a nap when there was so much exploring to do. So he would stand up in the pack 'n play and act pitiful. Poor little guy. Maybe we should have just turned off the lights and gone down to the bar. No, we didn't actually do that. But I did seriously considering sitting in the hall. We will have to come up with a different plan next time we travel.

By the end of the trip, he was so tired all he could do was suck his thumb and twirl his hair. Except when Dad put out tip money for the maid and then he perked right up playing with that money. Until, of course, I got out the camera and then he went back to thumb sucking and hair twirling. Poor little guy.

After eating at a restaurant with no high chairs, I invested in a portable booster seat. This one is self-inflating and very neat. Camden could get right up to the table with it. He liked it fine til he was done eating, and then he wanted to sit in my lap. In fact, the last 3 times we have eaten out, he has insisted on sitting in my lap after just minutes of sitting in a highchair or booster seat. I'm not liking where this is heading. 

Here he is in his booster chair at Johnny Rocket's.

Camden volunteered to drive us home from Atlanta. Dad & I sure enjoyed our nap while Cam took the wheel!

Turtle!

The window over my desk faces our front yard and street. Since we are the first house on the street, people often use our driveway to turn around. Today, a car with two teenagers pulled up just past our driveway right next to the curb. I was watching to see what they were doing when suddenly the driver started throwing things out of the window onto the curb. This is right where us and our next door neighbors put out our trash, so I thought there was a trash bag he was aiming for. After he threw out a water bottle and what appeared to be change, I decided to put a stop to it. As soon as I opened the front door, they took off. I went out to pick up the trash and see what the trash bag was all about. To my surprise, it wasn't a trash bag, but a pretty darn big turtle!

I'm no turtle expert, but I know some of them are snapping turtles, so I kept my distance. Here he had already turned around and was headed back towards the neighbor's house.

I had never seen a turtle this big up close and on land. His body is so big under that shell! Look at that tail!

The way he has his head up here reminded me of a cobra.

When I got too close he shrank into his shell.

He headed straight for the neighbor's front door. I watched him for awhile and then went back inside. I hope he found his way back to his pond!

I know turtles are infamous for being slow, but this rascal is moving pretty quickly. It's a good thing, or I would've had turtle soup for dinner! 

World Of Coke

I had been wanting to visit the World of Coke for quite awhile. My mom was a die hard Coca-Cola classic drinker. She had to have one every morning, ice cold out of the bottle, poured over ice in a glass. She always talked about that first swallow that burned so good. I'm sure I would have followed in her Coke footsteps, if not for my unfortunate cavity-prone teeth. The dentist said to keep me away from sugar. So instead of Coke, I was only allowed to drink Tab. Ha! That kept me from wanting any kind of coke products for years! No wonder I like water so much. But now, Diet Coke is my caffeinated beverage of choice. Along with Mom's love of Coke, came a love of Coke memorabilia, which rubbed off on me, as well. So when the travel section of the paper recently highlighted the Coke Museum, I knew it was time to go. While Brad jetted off to Israel, Dad, Camden & I loaded up and drove over to Atlanta. 

I'm making a goofy face here because I was trying to get Camden to smile. This is a statue of Dr. John S. Pemberton, the inventor of Coca-Cola. See the bronze glass of Coke Camden's holding on to?

He decided he needed to taste it.

Apparently he thought it tasted good, cause he laughed and laughed.

Here I am outside the museum with my sleep deprived child. He decided hotels are not for napping so he was a zombie by this point.

I dipped his thumb in Coke to get him to suck it. I'm kidding! He always sucks his thumb when he's tired.

This was the lobby. I loved this giant bottles of coke. They were all made out of different materials and represented different things. 

Check out those awesome hip huggers on the left! Who would've worn those?! Although, I have seen some remarkably similar pants, with elephants instead of Coke logos, at many Alabama games. On men!

That white figure all across the top of the display reminds me of the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man. I think that was one of the first mascots for Coke. I didn't get a close-up, but the framed picture on the right side of the display was an original Norman Rockwell painting of a boy drinking a coke with his dog. It is worth $2.5 million!

This urn was the oldest Coke memorabilia. It was from the 1800s. When Cokes were made at a soda fountain, they put the soda water and carbonation in a glass and then held it under the urn and syrup poured in from the top. 

I love this Coke bottle with a chandelier hanging from the top! They had fabulously decorated Coke bottles everywhere!

Here we are with various Coke machines. The one right behind me was Asian and new. Most of the others were old-fashioned. See that thing hanging from the ceiling at the top middle of the picture?

Here's a close-up. This Coke machine was on the space shuttle! Way to go NASA! Tang is so old-school. Those astronauts need their Diet Coke!

Do I look as crazy as Paula Abdul? This was the couch the American Idol judges sat on during season 5 or so. I remember that season they had huge product placement. 

I tried to frame us up ala The Brady Bunch, but as you can see, Camden had other ideas. The museum was really cool and I would like to go back. There was a ton of other neat stuff, but I got tired of taking pictures. Next time I want to go the Aquarium next door and spend some time hanging out in Centennial Park. The whole area was super cool and very family friendly. Next time you're in Atlanta, check it out!