Camden's First Christmas

Merry Christmas from Steve, Kimberly, Camden, and Oliver!

Achoooo!

Camden caught his first cold last week. Not sure where he contracted it from. Could have been daycare, could have been the flight. But the timing for his cold was a bit inconvenient. Not that there is a convenient time, but we probably would've chosen for it to happen while we had the comforts of home.

Nonetheless, last Friday morning, he woke up congested and had a runny nose. He also puked up a load of mucous. Nice image, huh. The sight of that just sent Mommy into tears. It's hard to see your child sick and uncomfortable. It's such a helpless feeling. We started a hot shower to steam up the bathroom so that we could give him a steam treatment. That seemed to help a little bit. He didn't appear to have a fever.

We called the nurse's line to get some advice. Good news is we had tried everything they suggested (steam shower, check for fever, make sure he's able to eat, etc), so that made us feel good. Unfortunately, there's no medication you can really give to a baby his age with a cold. He just has to ride it out. And so he has. He's still got a runny nose every once in awhile, but it's not too bad. Mommy and Daddy managed to catch cold while in Phoenix too. So the Nguyen's were a mess the whole trip. We're all feeling pretty good as we head into the Christmas holiday.

Up, Up, and Away!

We realize it's been awhile since we've blogged and our sincere apologies. As with everyone else this time of the year, it's become quite hectic. Our last few weeks have included the following:

• Camden's first two weeks in day care.
• Camden's first flight.
• Camden's first (and hopefully, ONLY) minivan experience.
• Camden's first cold.
  
• Camden's first Sindt Christmas.

We'll cover all or most of those topics in subsequent posts. Camden's been doing great in daycare. He's made so many new baby friends including Mason, Charlie, Henry, and fellow Buckeye baby Annabelle. Camden even has his first giiiiiiirlfriend. Her name is Paulina and they've been hanging out A LOT. They even slept next to each other! Don't worry, it's all innocent :) Recent daycare activities have included feet painting and generally being cute. His teacher, Tracy, says he's quite the charmer. He coos and smiles at everyone.

Camden also experienced his first flight last week. We packed up the family and went down to Phoenix for a little fun, sun, and to celebrate Dr. Auntie Paige's graduation from her PhD program at Arizona State. Oh, and we squeezed in an early Christmas celebration, too. Grandma and Grandpa Sindt flew out of Mpls with us and it was sooo nice to have them help us at the airport. Those days of traveling with only a carry on are long gone.

We felt like we were prepared. We had least one bottle for him during take off and landing. Camden did wonderful. You barely even knew he was there. He slept almost the entire time both ways. I remember having a lot of anxiety before boarding, not wanting to have that crying baby everyone dreads when they get on a plane.

We told ourselves, however, that if he did get fussy that we'd do what we could to calm him and not worry about what anyone else around us was thinking. It's not like we want him to cry. He's a baby and he's going to cry. Thankfully, we didn't have to worry about it. As we deplaned in Phoenix, the friendly NWA flight attendants (I know it sounds like an oxymoron) presented Camden with a "First Flight" certificate signed by the Captain. It was very nice.

When we arrived in Phoenix, Auntie Paige had been nice enough to arrange for us to use a minivan during our stay. Ok, ok, ok...I've been outspoken about not wanting a minivan and today my stance is still firm. But I have to admit that there were some nice conveniences. It had the automatic dual sliding doors, automatic rear hatch, and a lot of space. It was nice to be able to fit 5 people + Camden in his car seat comfortably. Oh, and our SUS (sport utility stroller) fit nicely in the rear.

Our version of the mom mobile was, however, severely lacking in some areas. There were no flip down screens for DVD viewing, or even satellite TV for that matter. There was no sun roof and no GPS unit either. The captain's chairs didn't swivel and there wasn't a place to fit a card table like in the new Dodge commercials. So from an amenity standpoint, this ride was a disaster. My "no" vote for the minivan still stands.

This post is getting a bit long and it's getting late. I did have to pause while writing this to feed Camden. He's sound asleep now. Let's hope he stays that way for another 7-8 hours. We'll cover Camden's first cold and his first Sindt Christmas in the coming days.

Day Care

Last Thursday, Camden started his first day of day care. It was a day of mixed emotions for his Mommy and Daddy. Kim has done such a wonderful job with him and it's hard to let go. Kim starts back to work tomorrow, so we wanted a few days to go through a little dry run.

Mommy was a wreck the day before day care started. Like I said, she's done such a good job with Camden and there's been so much mother-son bonding. She is so conflicted with letting someone else take care of him. Which is very understandable. We're trying to look at day care as a way for Camden to socialize a bit. The teachers at his day care are so good. They'll have him learning sign language, playing with other babies, and so much more than we might have time for or think of.

I've never spent any time in a day care, so I was amazed at how much the day care ladies can handle. They proficient at feeding one baby, comforting another with a song, and watching as another crawls around the nursery. It may seem like there's too much going on for them to keep track of, but it's an interesting display of controlled chaos.

How did Camden do? Well, by all accounts he did great. He seems to be adjusting to the change just fine.

So Kim starts back to work tomorrow. Conveniently for us, the day care is on site at Kim's work. I'm hoping that it will make it easier for Kim to go back to work because of it. She's free to stop in and check on Camden anytime she wants. Heck, it's even close enough for me to stop in during my lunch hour, too. Tomorrow starts a huge change to our daily life. It'll take some time to adjust to it, but Camden's such a good kid that I think he'll make it pretty easy for us.

Camden's Christening

For a precious baby boy:
Lord, protect this little boy
Who's loved so very much,
Show him everything there is
to see and hear and touch.

Thank You for Your presence
on this holy Christening Day....
May You lead this precious child
forever in Your way.

Sunday, November 25th was Camden's baptism. The event took place in Holstein at St. Paul Lutheran Church (the church I went to as I grew up). We asked my sister, my brother and my soon to be sister-in-law to be his Sponsors. Everything went so well! Grandma Sindt worked her sewing magic as Camden didn't quite fit into his baptism outfit.

Camden did really well during the service and exceptionally well during the celebration at the font. He only spit up once, fussed very little and seemed to enjoy looking at the congregation. We were quite pleased. We will always have such fond memories of Camden's first Thanksgiving Holiday and will always remember the promises we made at his Christening.

After the church service we celebrated the baptism with a big dinner held at Holstein's Community Center. We had barbecue ribs, chicken, and cheesy potatoes. Followed by tea ring, pumpkin pie, and a chiffon cake with strawberry/raspberry compote and whipped cream.

It was a rather large group with many long time friends of mine able to join us. Some who I haven't seen in a couple years. We couldn't have had a a more wonderful day!

A big thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Sindt for all the planning and execution. A special thank you to Aunt Paige who has made two trips from Phoenix during a very busy, very special time in her life (finishing her doctorate! My little sister is so dedicated and smart!).

And to Uncle Tony and Aunt Lisa who also have made two trips from Chicago to spoil the new little man. What great Godparents they will be to him.

Thanksgiving Turkey Coma

We loaded up the Camry this past holiday weekend and made the four and a half hour drive to Mommy's hometown of Holstein, Iowa for Camden's inaugural Thanksgiving. As you can see from the picture, Camden wasn't immune from the trytophan laced turkey that was transferred from Mommy to baby.

Camden did really well in the car. On the way down, he slept for a full two hours before we decided to stop for gas and lunch. Once the car stopped moving, I think that disturbed him and he decided to wake up and have lunch himself. Once we got him back in the car with a full tummy, he was out like a light for the rest of the trip to the farm.

Camden had many visitors throughout the weekend. Camden got to meet his cousins Sierra, Tessa, Joe, and Luann. Kim's childhood friends, Amy and Ann Buenger (yes, they're twins), also stopped by to say hi.

Camden's sleep schedule is getting much better. He's been getting to sleep around 1030pm or so and sleeping until about 4-430am. After a short feeding, he usually goes back to sleep until 7am or so.

Lots more to update on from this past weekend. Camden was baptized this past weekend as well. His sponsors, Uncle Tony, Aunt Lisa, and Aunt Paige all made it back for his special day. Kim will blog about that later and we have some great pictures to share. In the meantime, here are some more random pictures from this weekend:


Camden nearly rolls over.


Amy Buenger with Camden.


"Hey you look like that other person!" thinks Camden. Ann Buenger feeding Camden.


Camden is the apple of Mommy's eye.


Little Brady Hirschman devouring some BBQ ribs at Camden's baptism celebration lunch.


Camden's new friend, Lucas. Lucas is 1 month old.

Camden's 1st Win Against Michigan!

What a lucky kid. Camden gets to start his life 1-0 against Michigan :) And he couldn't be happier.

GO BUCKEYES!

Camden Has Something to Say

Babies 'R Us Coupon

Found another 15% off coupon at Babies 'R Us for those that are in need of baby stuff. It's only valid until December 2nd, 2007. When it comes up for you to print, make sure you print as many as you need. That or plan to make a few trips to your copy machine. You can't return to the page after you've closed your browser.

Starting To Figure Things Out

Camden is a little more than 2 months old now. Each day continues to bring new joys for us. He's beginning to become more aware of his surroundings and even responding to them. He's responding to our voices more and coos back at us when we talk to him as if we're having a conversation.

Camden has his own language and we're doing our best to decipher it. He also seems to have tremendous control of his neck. I'm not sure what's normal for his age, but he appears to be holding his head up really well.

His hands are his latest discovery. He holds them in front of his face and follows his fingers. He's also sticking fingers in his mouth now. A habit we're trying to help him curb early, but not sure how much success we'll have with that.



Sleeping is still somewhat sporadic, for both his parents and himself. A couple of nights ago he actually had 5 straight hours of sleep. He's probably going for about 3-4 hours at a time right now. He's taken to the bottle really well. Almost too well, for his Mommy's liking. Camden rarely "bellies up to the bar" anymore if you know what I mean.

I mentioned that each day we experience something new with Camden. Obviously, everyday brings something new for Camden too. In the spirit of doing something new everyday, I was made aware of an interesting blog. There is a woman in New York who is trying to do something new everyday. She started the day after she turned 29 and is continuing until her 30th. She's journaling everyday and it's a pretty interesting read. Check it out.

Littlest KG Fan

Last night Daddy and Camden watched our old friend Kevin Garnett make his debut with his new team, the Boston Celtics. It was tough to see KG in a uniform other than the Minnesota Timberwolves. It's a shame that KG had to leave Minneapolis. It's not just that he is a great player, but he is a great person.

Apparent in the passion KG shows for the game, he is the consummate professional. You never hear a bad thing about him. He's never been in trouble with the law and when push came to shove for him to be traded, he didn't say a word.

Before we had Camden, I always hoped that our child would have a quality local sports hero like KG to admire. When I knew we were going to have Camden and the news of KG leaving hit, I was disappointed to say the least. I guess Camden can still admire from afar, just like his Daddy had to with his childhood sports hero, Michael Jordan.

Camden goes to the Daycare

In just a few short weeks Camden and I will head to work together. Camden is going to Carlson's onsite daycare and I'll be returning to my job as a business analyst working on Employee Incentive software. I have very mixed feelings about this. I will admit that I often tear up just at the thought of putting Camden in daycare. However, I do feel very good after each visit to the Center. The director, Cindy, has made the beginning such a positive experience.

Today, Camden and I spent a good hour in his Infant Room. We had a really good time (well, Camden slept through the entire visit) but I enjoyed myself. Many of the kids were sleeping as it was just after lunch time. For the kids that were awake, they were smiley and playing in different activity areas. I was impressed with the controlled chaos, that's for sure. The "teachers", Denise and Teresa, I believe, obviously work well together and were on top of everything. The kids were all so cute it was easy to feel good about being there.

We're going to go back for a visit next week when Camden is awake. We're going to be right at home there as we already have a friend there, Mason Norwine. Mason's mommy, Jan, has been a great friend to us. She provided Camden with a drawer full of socks, me with a breastpump and some Phoenix friendly clothes for Camden since he only has Minnesota friendly clothes at this stage!! We can't thank her enough!

Well the baby cries!

Happy Halloween!

Camden's 1st Halloween! One day Camden will understand the true meaning of this day meant for tooth decay. But for now, it's fun to dress him in cute clothes. Camden chose to be a lion this year. Okay, okay...he didn't actually choose. The Halloween Gods chose for him since it was the last 0-3 month sized costume left at Babies 'R Us. There was a Tigger costume that he really wanted, but unfortunately it was too big for him. His parents were very happy with the choice he made anyway. Here are the pictures from Camden's very 1st Halloween! Our little lion cub :)

All Nude...Tastefully Done

Grandma Sindt loves setting up makeshift photo shoots. She may be able to make a career of it. Below are a few of her latest glamor shots.

The pictures reminded me of a commercial for ESPN the Magazine from awhile back that starred my favorite active NBA player, Kevin Garnett, "All nude...Tastefully Done." It was the first thing I thought of when Kim showed me the pictures. I found the commercial on YouTube. Check out the video, then check out the pictures. (For those viewing this from your place of employment, if you don't see the video below, your employer maybe blocking content from YouTube. Check it out when you get home.)

Daddy's Fall Trip

Daddy was able to get some sleep this week :) I had a conference in Orlando the first part of last week, so I had to leave little Camden behind. I was very apprehensive about doing so, but Kim insisted that she would be fine. And what happens when daddy leaves? Mommy breaks out the Iowa State Cyclone gear. I must admit he looks damn cute in that gold Cyclone onesie.

Camden also made his debut a few weeks back at the local Ohio State Alumni Chapter. Max, pictured to the right and not an alum, took quite a liking to Camden. Max has grown so much since the time we first met him back in the early 2000s. Max was so inquisitive and asking all kinds of questions about Camden. His dad told us how much Max loves babies and is always drawn to them. It's always fun to watch how children interact with Camden.

Camden went to his very first dinner party last night. Avid blog readers may recall when we had Mike and Susan Farmer over to visit Camden. Well, stupid mommy and daddy forgot to get a picture of them with Camden while they were here. It was their dinner party we were going to so we made sure to get some pictures with them this time. That's Camden wearing the outfit that the Farmer's got for him (Daddy's going to look back at this picture one day and think, "What's going on with my hair?" I already am thinking that).

It was such a great time. They had invited people of all different ethnicities and it was an international potluck style dinner. Camden was quite the charmer as he always is. He got passed between all the ladies.

We asked Camden to be on his best behavior so that we could use this night as a babysitting recruiting tool. And it worked :) We have a few good candidates that have stepped up.

Don't Wake Me, I'll Wake You

Camden is six weeks old this week continues to bless us every day in so many ways!! He has a onsie that sums up his night time schedule "Don't Wake Me, I'll Wake You".

For only being six weeks old, he's really quick to know what he likes and what he doesn't like so much. For instance, he prefers his crib (own room) over the bassinet. This mommy thought he would have a tough time moving to the crib, which we planned to do around 8-10 weeks. However, his nightime sleeping was digressing so we decided to try the crib. And what do you know....he really liked it!

He was still up every two hours to eat but he seemed to sleep better "sprawled" in his crib. As for the "Don't Wake Me" part of his mantra, we find it difficult to keep him awake during the day at times. He seems to enjoy his deepest sleep in the middle of the afternoon.

We continue to work on his circadian rhythms and slowly but surely we're seeing progress. Camden is starting to smile his toothless grins which we surely enjoy. However, with these smiles, we're also getting many other facial expressions! It's pretty impressive how expressive this boy of ours is. We'll have to work at capturing his pouty lip, his angry face and of course his smiles. We've seen them all and will continue to be patient as he continues to grow and express himself.

Mr. and Mrs. T-Bone

This past Sunday, Mr. and Mrs. T-Bone (aka. Mike and Sheila Trymucha) stopped by. They left their 14 month old daughter, Lauren, with her grandparents so that they could give their undivided attention to Camden.

Like most people that have visited, they wanted to see what all the hype was about with the Wii. I demonstrated my Wii Bowling prowess while holding Camden in one hand and the Wii remote in the other. Camden, however, doesn't come with a safety strap like the Wii remote does. Many have heard of Wii remotes flying into expensive TVs. Let's hope you don't hear about Camden flying into ours.

Camden still hasn't figured out how to sleep during the night. Not that we expect him to sleep all the way through, but a little longer between feedings would be nice. We're doing our best to make it difficult for him to sleep by turning all the lights up in the house, vacuuming, blasting the stereo, and talking to him loudly. The kid sleeps through all of it.

As a result, he's up at about midnight, 2am, 4am, and 6am pretty consistently. He's eating just fine. We can tell he's growing. Our non-scientific weighing method (weigh ourself holding Camden - weight not holding Camden = Camden's weight) has him at about 9.5 lbs. We've got him taking a bottle about once a day now. I think Mommy's was a little jealous of the bottle, but it's necessary.

The Duke and The Return of the 'Nak

Dugan and Mrnak came over to meet the newest member and we enjoyed introducing Camden to the guys. It's fun to watch the demeanor of men around babies. Some guys, like Mrnak, are very hands on and have no qualms about holding a baby. Dugan falls into another camp who aren't quite sure what they want to do. He's thinking, "Babies are cute and cuddly, but is he going to poop on me?" Then there's the last group of guys that thinks, "No way, dude. I'm not going to be responsible for dropping that thing."

I think I used to be in the same camp as Dugan. That's all changed now. I'm converted into a baby kissin' politician. Love 'em!

Camden goes to work -- Again!

Camden continued his road show the next day with a visit to Mommy's work! My co workers all gathered for pizza and cake and gave us a great little baby shower. My team was all very generous and we received a lot of useful baby gear. Camden can hardly wait to get into the Baby Einstein Activity Gym. I love the "My Mommy Rocks" onsie as well.

A big thanks to Jan Norwine as I know she spearheaded the effort. After being gone for so many weeks, it was certainly nice to see everyone again. Camden had been in that conference room many times when he was on the inside, but I think it was his first team meeting on the "outside". :-) What a great team!! My team mates will certainly make it easier to head back to work in 6 weeks. The first six weeks went so fast.... I hope the second six weeks don't speed by too fast!!!