Seven months...

There was absolutely positively no way this photo session was going to happen without plenty of toys for Scott so my 'seven months' blocks would stay in place. Gone are the days of cute, still, smiling baby where I can snap away and get literally hundreds of perfect shots...no knocked over blocks, no hands in mouth, no crawling away etc. The above picture is one of literally two with a smile sans truck/block/hand in mouth AND looking at the camera. Most of the time he was way too engrossed in his toys (see below) to give me a second look.

And at least two thirds of this photo shoot was spent encouraging Scott to sit down at all! He would much rather play with that handsome fellow in the mirror than sit and take a picture with mommy ("MOM! This is lame!!!!").

These days Scott is crawling (old news) all over. He mastered the one step in our house (from family room to living room) on the first try....lovely, something else to baby proof. He is not so great at getting down that step yet though. He is standing up anywhere he can find a way to leverage himself into place, then promptly letting go with both hands to see how long he can balance. We have suffered our first black eye and countless other head bumps this past month. He is getting better at picking up small items (pincher grip has emerged) and likes to pick up tiny bits of banana and peach that I let him play with as well as grass, small rocks, and piece of anything sharp and dangerous and small that he might find in the carpet or on the floor. He is a pretty good eater, not the best but he will do it. We do all kinds of veggies and a few fruits (big pieces in his chewy are the big hit) and recently I introduced rice milk and coconut milk based yogurt - holy deliciousness Scott is in heaven, he simply cannot get enough and would probably eat the whole container if I served it to him!
Scott loves his cousin Parker, they are best buds and we are lucky that they get to hang out several times a week! They definitely crack each other up and I think they have a language because it truly seems like they egg each other on. The other day I was changing Scott's diaper and I swear he looked at Parker and said "hey cousin watch this" and proceeded to take off crawling away from me with his bare poopy tushy, Parker started cracking up, Scott started cracking up, I was freaking out and then Scott looked at Parker again and 'said': "look how pissed my mom is...funny right?" Those two are going to be T-R-O-U-B-L-E!!!!! Scott also loves Charlie and climbs all over him! He is still a total mama's boy but has been so into his Daddy lately. When hear Brian's car pull up I let Scott know that Daddy is home and he gets all excited and looks around and when Brian walks in Scott screams with delight and jumps into his arms....MELT.MY.HEART!
I cannot believe we have a seven month old, where has the time gone? Over halfway to one...let the birthday party planning begin : ) And wish me luck in the coming months of monthly photo block pictures...I'm sure they are only going to get more difficult!

Splish Splash...

Scotty P and Parker J had their first bath together...it was...hectic...but fun! I'm sure it is the first of many to come and that these photos (and those more 'graphic' that I can't post, sad that there are so many weirdos out there) will embarrass them for years!!

Ridin' solo....

Scott just loves cruising in his car! Last night we pushed him all over the house!

Just checking under the hood making sure everything is in working order!

Last night Scott also had his first solo bath! Thank heavens for the Elmo bath mat or this may have never been possible. Scott slips and slides all over and until now we have always had to get in the bath with him but the bath mat helped keep him in place! Scott loves the bath and will stay in forever so its a fun activity!

A new house for the St. Amants

Hilary & Matt got the keys to their new house yesterday!

"Welcome to my new pad, let me show you around!" - Parker J.

The backyard

The garage

The office

Parker's bathroom

Parker J.'s room

The master bedroom

The master bathroom

The kitchen

Just having a ball while Hilary works in the kitchen!

Our boys are such gentlemen, we set up a blanket for them and they played for hours while we got sooo much accomplished around the house!

PSYCH!

On your mark...get set....

GO!!!! Parker is pushing up...next step: crawling! And the world keeps getting crazier by the minute!

BJ Palmer: eat your heart out...

A future chiropractor??

Could be the best ischial tuberosity adjustment I've seen in a while!

The things {I think} he says...

So Scott talks non stop these days! Yada yada this, booga booga that...he has so much to say! I am not going to kid myself or be that crazy mother who says he is already talking (call the guiness book because he would be the youngest kid in history right?!) but there are a few sounds that are so funny and so appropriately placed that it just sounds like he knows exactly what he's talking about! The current "words" are:
"Yeah" - He says this one all day every day...when he is playing with a toy, when he is eating, when he wants something its: "yeah yeah yeah"
"Hi" - sometimes its "I" but it always sounds like "hi", I've even had people ask me: "oh my gosh did he say hi?"....No I don't think he's quite there yet but thanks for thinking my child is soooo advanced...haha! This is the one he places so appropriately: when someone walks in a room, when he's looking out the window...its like he is saying hi to everyone...how sweet of him! The other day I turned on Sesame Street and he said hi to each new puppet that came on! And who knows maybe he really is trying to mimic "hi" because he hears it all the time!
"EEEE" - just his happy noise! So funny! We wondered if he is mimicking this noise too (well obviously babies mimic all noises, that's how they learn to talk) because we always say Momm"eee" Dad"eee" Charl"eee" Scott"eee"?!
"Bub bub bub bub bub" - another happy noise. He definitely found his lips and loves using them to make this noise.
All his "words" on top of the things I say for him - our little dude is becoming quite a chatter box- wonder where he gets it?

Treats...

I know its fall and I just said that I can't wait for all things fall and ice cream doesn't really fall into that category, but its still HOT here so give a girl a break! One of my favorite things to make is ice cream, its easy and fun to make and delicious to serve and its so much yummier than store bought! The only flavor I haven't figured out how to make well is strawberry. Every time I make it it comes out icy or too sweet or no strawberry flavor, so when I saw this starter at Williams Sonoma - hello! - I had to try it! I only had to add half and half, cream, and I added a handful of fresh diced strawberries for good measure! It came out AMAZING - I only licked the spatula (I can't actually eat ice cream), so I will be waiting on the final verdict from the real ice cream critic of the house (Brian) once he gets back from Big Bear with a new couch and new (old) truck!

Lucky Dog!

Charlie is such a good dog! Scott has taken to climbing all over him and he doesn't budge! Right after these pictures were taken Scott used Charlie's ears to pull himself to standing. The poor pup has always had very sensitive ears due to chronic ear infections so he hates having his ears touched. When Scott pulled on the Charlie let out a long cry but didn't move at all! I thought for sure he would nip at Scott for such an offense but he is the perfect dog! Lately Charlie has been trying to get Scott to "play" but batting at him, I don't think Charlie realizes that Scott isn't big enough to chase after him yet...I'm sure he will be there before we know it!

About to race?

Aren't they cute best pals?

You should see the other guy...

Ok I know that I am way exaggerating here but Scott had his first injury and I'm traumatized! You can see in the picture above that his left eye is a little black and blue : ( Yesterday he woke up with it after whacking his face either on the crib rail or the window. Not even an hour after he got up he face planted onto the mirror...hard...I checked to see if the mirror broke that's how hard it sounded. Thank God for making kids resilient!

Scott felt much better once I gave him a piece of peach in his chewy!

Aside from the injury we are having a bit of a rough week, I think its teething. Low grade fever on and off and super congestion last night with a nose that won't stop running today (clear!). Scott is acting like his normal self, happy and full of energy so I'm not worried but it still makes for a rough time for the little guy! And how much do I wish I could teach him how to blow his nose into a kleenex!

Shoes...

Day-O!

Scott has a new favorite song! So long patty cake...hello Day-O by Harry Belafonte! Grandpa Don introduced Scott to it while in Hawaii. Anytime Scott was fussy or bored he would sing it, very animatedly! Scott loved it! Since we've been home I found it on itunes and play it for it often and it always gets his attention. I just let him watch Harry Belafonte on a clip from the Muppet Show on you tube...he was mesmerized! Can't wait for him to see Beetlejuice but that will have to wait a few years!

Food critic...

So I was the typical naive mom who just knew my child was going to like everything I fed him, especially veggies! Scott has been having tastes here and there of solid foods for about a month or so now and its been going great - he still loves all things food related (cups, spoons, bowls, and of course food itself). Now that he is 6 months we have gotten more serious with eating solids and I have started making lots of batches of baby food and letting him try different things in larger quantities. He is fine with cauliflower and zucchini (his first foods) and now he has tried butternut squash (not a hit) carrots (he could take 'em or leave 'em) green beans (worst ever) and pears ("Mom, why would you feed me anything but this sweet delicious fruit!??"). We have not done any grains (ie rice cereal, oatmeal) and we won't be adding those for a while yet (if you want to know why I have a great article written by a pediatrician in NY that I would be happy to send you!). Scott hates green beans and squash so much he makes himself gag and cough to try to get it out of his mouth. So I trick him into eating those foods by mixing in some delicious pears! You do what you have to right?!

Looking forward to fall...

Growing up I never understood people who said how much they loved fall! To me fall always meant back to school and that summer was over - boo! But now I totally get it! I'm so excited for the change of seasons (not that southern Cali really gets that big of a weather change) some cooler weather, the smells, the foods, the football. Today I passed Pierce College on my way to get fitted for my bridesmaids dress for Alyson and Steve's wedding (July 30th, 2011 - cannot wait!!!!) and there was the sign for the Harvest & Halloween festival starting September 24th and going until Halloween! I could not be more excited! I'm planning on taking Scott at least 4 times! There is a pumpkin patch and a corn maze and all sorts of fun fall activities! Get your cameras ready people! Football is back on TV which is always a fun way to spend a Saturday (part of a Saturday for some of us, all of a Saturday and sometimes NFL on Sunday for others of us). I'm ready to bust out the pumpkin scented candles (and my pumpkin scentsy - thanks kelly!) and to bake all things pumpkin and squash as well as make chili and soup! It also means the holidays are right around the corner. It is all I can do to hold off on the Christmas music....and movies.....and decor.....and baking! But I will enjoy the fall for now and get ready for Halloween first, speaking of which there are entirely too many cute baby Halloween costumes, there is a chance I will dress Scott up in more than one just for the pictures!
Happy Fall everyone!

Aloha!!!

Hawaii or bust...

Our trip to Maui started bright and early on Tuesday morning! We got up around 5:30am to get to the airport on time. In order to guarantee that Scott would take a nap on the flight we did not let him sleep the entire time until we took off at around 9:30. I'm talking we tortured the kid, every time he would dose off we would get out a new toy, change positions, walk around...whatever it took! Sounds kind of mean but he slept for 3 hours out of 5 so it paid off!

Look at those sleepy eyes!

This was Scott's first plane flight! You might think we would have been smart enough to take a shorter, practice flight sometime during the months leading up to this trip, but in the spirit of 'go big or go home' we decided that 5 hours and 20 minutes would be a good first time! We figured if we kept doing short flights, 45 mins, 2 hours etc. that each time the flight got longer we would have anxiety about flying with a little one - now that we've done a long trip anything shorter will be a breeze!

Sitting like a big boy in his own seat! We didn't pay for a seat for Scott but luckily going out it wasn't a full flight (wish the same could be said for the return trip) and the man next to us who had 3 seats to himself traded with us - so helpful!!! And funny story: he was seated next to us on our return flight!

So we made it to Maui without incident! As soon as we got there we headed for the beach and the pool! This was Scott's first time in the ocean. He loved tasting the water - whether it was licking it out of his floaty, putting his face in the water or licking the salt off of his or our skin once we were out - he couldn't get enough.

The next day we went to "baby beach". There were hardly any waves and lots of shade so it was the perfect spot for us to hang out!

Scott decided to try sand for the first time! No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get it all off of his face and I know he ate some - a little sand never hurt anyone right?!

Wish we could have gotten a smile out of Scott for this picture!

3 generations of Campbell men!

One day we went for a hike (the same hike Brian and I did on our honeymoon, let's just say its a bit longer with a baby). Scott did great in the front pack and we switched off carrying him on the way up and back! That extra 20 lbs attached to you really ups the workout factor! The hike was gorgeous and we all enjoyed the scenery!

All the work will take it outta a kid - gotta refuel with some water from the camelback!

Scott fell asleep about 20 minutes from reaching the top...poor kid probably thinks we never made it! He didn't wake up until we were half way down either!

Just enjoying the pool at the Ritz thanks to our friends!

On Friday night our friends Amy and Scott invited us to hang out at Duke's with them and some friends and watch the sunset! It was so much fun! We had great company, great food and a gorgeous view. Scott did well and had a great time playing with the other kiddos! Friday night was a highlight of our trip for sure!

Hawaiian sunset!

Scott giving Amy a smooch!

We ventured to the northern part of the island for some walking and site seeing!

I love looking up at palm trees (my attempt at being Peter Lik, not so much I know but after our trip to his gallery, a must every time we are in Maui, I realized I will be taking my own pictures for a while not buying his).

Scott says: "Aloha Maui friends!"

Scott has now mastered pulling himself up to standing...on everything. And the kid is fearless - he is already pulling the "look mom, no hands" trick! Not cool! He has also mastered sitting and crawling (real crawling, not army style!) So he is definitely on the move!

Could he be happier to be standing up?

We got to do lots of swimming and snorkeling and thanks to Grandpa Don for watching Scott so Brian and I could swim together! We also went to the little town of Paia to go to the Paia Fish Market which I had seen on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate". One of the features on the show was their fish tacos so I had to be a foodie and go try them...they didn't disappoint! I could eat fish tacos and pineapples all day and be so content! Yummy!!!
We came home on a red eye which was great for Scott but crappy for us...we got no sleep and the plane was packed so we didn't have any extra room! Now that we are back we are just trying to get Scott used to the time change again....he was up until midnight last night : / and he would have slept until noon today if I had let him but I'm attempting to get him back to a normal schedule so I got him up at 9 today! Kids adapt well so I'm sure we'll be back to normal in no time!

We had a wonderful week and got to spend lots of quality time together as a family! We are refreshed and relaxed...now bring on FALL!!!