Dear Daddy: Day 2

Dear Daddy,
Your daughter has the worst timing. She's been really fussy and running a mild fever, so today I took her to see the on-call pediatrician. She's been pulling on her ears and refusing to eat or sleep, so the doc thought all her symptoms warranted an exam. Sure enough, she has double ear infections, and to put the cherry on top, she's cutting her top left tooth. To say the least, I've had my hands full!!
Auntie hung out with us this morning and was a huge help. She even let me get in a quick nap! I only slept about 2 hours last night...our house just didn't feel the same without you here, and I was worried about you traveling all night.
Camryn took a good nap around dinner time, so I made tacos and then got bored and baked a caked. Strawberry, yum! I may or may not have licked the beaters...and Cammy may or may not have tasted the frosting with me. Haha I let Monkey have a little taste of the cake with her dinner and she loved it! She's definitely her mothers daughter. :-)
We have been playing a LOT today! I've been trying to keep her very busy so she won't mess with her ears, and she's much less fussy when she's busy! We read almost all of her books...I think we need some new ones because I can recite all of them by memory now. She ripped the ears off the elephant in the "Heads" book and has been chewing on them. Our kid is quite destructive....I think she got that from you! ;-)
She's sticking out her tongue constantly, I think to help cut her tooth, and I've snapped some great pics!! Hope you like them.
We miss you so much, and we can't wait to see you, but we hope you're having a great time in India!! I can't believe you're seeing the Taj Mahal. Someday we'll go back as a family.
We love you,
Mommy & Camryn

Dear Daddy: Day 1

Dear Camryn,
Daddy is traveling to India today for business, so we're going to write him letters on your blog so he can feel like he was with us. This will be the longest amount of time that he's been away from you, and it's breaking his heart. He has texted me saying "tell Camryn how much I miss her" and "give Camryn lots of loving for me" about a million times! :-)

Dear Daddy,
Day one without you was pretty rough. After you left we were pretty sad, I (mommy) ugly cried for about 15 minutes before I pulled myself together. It was a bad day for Cam too. She's been running a low grade fever all day and refused ALL naps. We took a trip to Target to attempt to drown our sorrows in Starbucks and unnecessary purchases, but we didn't find anything fun to buy, and coffee wasn't enough to mend our broken hearts. <---- Exaggerate?! Never!!
Camryn had mango and blueberries for dinner and rubbed her head with sticky hands, so bath time shortly followed. Auntie came over and brought us some YUMMY dinner (you missed out), and then we gorged ourselves on ice cream. We stayed up way past our bedtimes studying for Aunties big test this week, so it's finally nighty night time!
We miss you like crazy, and we're counting down the seconds until you come back home to us!
We love you,
Mommy & Camryn :-)

Jetsetter

Dear Camryn,
You're taking your last nap in Mexico right now and when you wake we'll be leaving to the airport. This last week in Cabo has been so much fun! We brought Auntie with us on vacation so Daddy and I could spend some alone time together and do things that you can't do yet, like drink piña coladas. I think you and Auntie tricked us into bringing her so you two could party; the two of you are like Frick and Frack. Best friends for sure! :-)
We've had such a rough week. We relaxed by the pool, sunk our toes in the sandy beach, ate some incredible food, Daddy & I parasailed, jet skied in the Sea of Cortez and saw the Arcos de Los Cabos. Daddy deep sea fished on a 60' yacht, we shopped at the marina, Mommy ate every mexican dessert that exists, and you stole the hearts of all the staff at our resort. <3
We haven't even left yet, but Daddy and I are already planning our next escape from the real world. We love getting to travel with you! In the last year you've visited Washington, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Napa Valley, South Padre Island & Los Cabos. We're also heading back to Washington in August, and we are planning a trip to visit Aunt Molly and Uncle Brenden in Colorado. I think our next big trip will be somewhere tropical again...maybe Costa Rica, or the Virgin Islands?!

Crawling Beach Baby

Dear Camryn,

We took you to South Padre Island a few weeks ago for some family fun, and you had so much fun! You stood on the sand and felt your very first ocean wave crash against your little piggies. You were a skeptical at first, and the cold water wasn't as nice as bath water, but you had a great time after the initial shock wore off. You also floated around in the pool with me and Daddy, played in the sand with your buckets and shovel, ate every meal on the patio overlooking the ocean, and LEARNED TO CRAWL!!! :-)

You had started trying to move around for the last few months, and you would get on your knees and rock a lot, but you finally took off...we haven't been able to stop you since!! Now you are a baby on a mission. Crawling everywhere, climbing everything, pulling up and chewing on whatever fits in your mouth at face level, and being quite the unstoppable kid. You prefer to be on your knees over standing, and you can "walk" on your knees while holding onto furniture. You can also sit on your knees without any support. You love the sing "E I E I O" when I sing "old macdonald had a farm", and I think we make a pretty cute duet. ;-) You've started "dancing" too, and you play your ABC's on the CD player Nana bought you and smile SO BIG and start rocking and singing.

You haven't cut anymore teeth yet, but you can chew through just about anything with the two teeth you have. It's impressive. You eat pretty much whatever I'm eating these days; fruits, soft vegetables (green beans are your favorite), pasta, most meats, cereals, and then lots and lots of Mama milk.

Your first birthday is coming soon, and I just can't believe that Daddy and I have been so blessed beyond words to have you in our lives for an entire year already!! We are throwing you an "It's SWEET to be ONE!" retro candy shop party. Since you're only going to be one, the party is admittedly going to be for Daddy and I (for having survived year one and keeping you alive and well) as much as it is for you, so we'll be having candy themed drinks for the adults, as well as a full candy bar for both the kids and adults. I can't wait to watch you dig into your big girl cake!! I'm sure there will be tears....aren't I always sobbing for all your firsts?!
Love you, my little green eyed girl!
Mommy