Mr. Happy

Final Layover

Our final stop on our week long trek was back in Chicago. This time, Uncle Tony and Aunt Lisa were around to meet up with us. Tony and Lisa have had a busy summer as they prepare for their wedding on September 6th. On the Sunday we met up with them, they had just returned from their home in Michigan where their wedding will be.

So we all met up and went to Egg'lectic Cafe‎ in Rolling Meadows, IL. If you couldn't guess by the name, the menu is full of egg dishes. Perfect place for brunch. While the adults enjoyed our breakfast/lunch combinations, Camden chowed down on his own version of brunch which consisted of peas, cheerios, and grapes. And after all the food was gone, of course we had to take some pictures.

Camden shows off the Sindt/Hill commemorative coozie.

Happy to be with Aunt Lisa.

"Mommy, I'd much rather ride home on this, than the minivan!"

Trouble Sr. and Trouble Jr.

An Eggsellent visit in Chicago.

Marsh! Marsh! Marsh!

We took Camden to Lebanon, OH to visit my good friend Evan and his son Blake and brand new daughter, Peri. Well, as brand new as Camden is. She's about 3 weeks older. Unfortunately, their mother, Mandy wasn't around but it was nice to see as many Marsh family members as we could. Blake is 4 years old and, as you can see in the pictures below, a Carson Palmer fan.

Peri is such a cute little chunk of a girl. Obviously, not something anyone should call her later in life, but it's an appropriate description of her at this stage. She couldn't be more different than Camden. Where Camden screams bloody murder when he wakes up from sleeping, Peri is content to just lay in her crib. Just patiently waiting for anyone to come get her. Where Camden is walking and on the go, Peri barely crawls and is happy to just sit and watch her surroundings. Where Camden is very communicative with his own words, Peri just charms you with her smile.

It'll be fun to watch Camden and Peri develop over time.

Left to Right: Evan, Peri, Blake, Daddy, Camden

Peri's beaming smile!

Camden sharing his ball with Peri.

Camden and Blake.

Playtime with Maxwell

During our trip back to Ohio, Camden finally got a chance to meet, hang out, and play with his good buddy Maxwell Myser (go to his blog and check out his pictures of Max in his tuxedo. Freakin cute!). It was long overdue, but I think it was a good age for both of them to interact with one another. Max is about 4 months older than Camden, but he seems like he's about 10 times bigger. It was fun to see Max and interact with him.

There were just too many good pictures to choose from. The sampling below is actually just a small subset of what we actually have. If you want to see more of them, you can always peruse the thousands of pictures in our Flickr photostream :)

Max offers Camden some advice in negotiating the staircase.

B and Camden. Reunited again.

Max is such a cutie.

Max celebrating his triumphant ascent to the top of the stairs.

Bigger, bluer eyes. Camden gnaws on a door stop.

"Man, that kid is huge!"

Daddy gets used to holding two kids at once. Camden's not sure about sharing his daddy.

"I got your nose!"

From left to right: Bethel/Scarlet, Steve/Camden, Mike/Max

Summer in Ohio with the Grandparents

The Nguyen family hit the road beginning the night of Friday, August 1st. My good friend Eric Myser was getting married in Columbus on 08.08.08 so we decided to make a week out of it. We left early in the evening so that Camden could sleep in the car and we could keep him as close to a normal sleep schedule as possible. Our plan was to drive the first six hours and stop somewhere near Chicago.

Katie did really well getting us to Rockford, IL on one tank of gas. Camden woke up at our pit stop and we took some time to give him a bottle and change his diaper. We packed him back up and went another hour or so to Schaumburg, IL just outside Chicago and found a hotel for the evening.

The next day, which happened to be mommy and daddy's 5th wedding anniversary, we departed Chicago with Dayton, Ohio being our goal. We made one stop at Purdue University just to get Camden out of the car for a bit during the day. We had a nice picnic on campus and got back on the road, anxious to get to Ohio.

Ong Noi and Ba Noi were anxious to see their baby boy. They got a lot of good bonding time with him as they discovered all Camden's new abilities. My parents' house is pretty spacious so he had a lot of room to roam around on foot and on all fours.

Camden discovered the door stops and just had a ball with them. I'm thinking we need to make some kind of toy that's a board with a bunch of door stops stuck to it. He would be entertained for days. Later in the week we took Camden to a friend's house and he was immediately drawn to their door stops too.

Overall, Camden had a great week with his grandparents. They loved seeing all his new developmental milestones and it was great to see him interacting with them so happily. The drive back was relatively uneventful. Except that the Chicago to Minneapolis leg took 9 hours when it should only take about 6. Parts of the interstate were shut down because of accidents, so that made it a little more miserable for all of us. All in all, the trip was a success. We'll post a few more highlights from the trip soon.

Play Ball!

Camden discovered that he can do some fun things with round objects. There's a toy ball we have that he's never paid much attention to until Grandma Sindt re-introduced it to him. He picked it up, threw it around, and laughed and laughed and laughed.

Then we started playing with his little nerf baseball. More happiness ensued.

Baby Steps

Camden got to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa Sindt this past weekend. Daddy took a trip with the boys to New Orleans, so Mommy took the opportunity to go back to the farm in Iowa. Grandpa Sindt was gracious enough to come pick Camden and Mommy up so that they didn't have to drive alone. The whole crew returned on Sunday, along with Daddy, and we were all reunited.

We continue to get that perfect clip of Camden waltzing across the floor, but as soon as we get the camera out it seems as if he forgets how to do it. It's obvious from other videos on his blog that he's not camera shy, so that's not it. We'll keep working on it, but in the meantime....more baby steps...

Walkin' and Talkin'

We're documenting this past week as the week Camden officially took his first steps on his own. It wasn't the moment I pictured or expected in my mind. Monumental for sure. Absolutely a tremendous milestone in our lives. But it was a little anticlimactic. Camden has been so mobile for so long now, I knew it was just a matter of time before this moment happened.

He's only taking a few steps at a time before he falls down. Maybe moving about 3-4 feet at a time. We're still trying to capture it on video, but for now you can see him walking with his truck as a crutch. We'll also try to post a video of him scaling the stairs, but it's a little difficult to catch that, hold a camera, and keep him safe at the same time.

The Turnipseeds

On Sunday, we went to visit an old co-worker of mine, Fernanda. Fernanda has one of the most interesting surnames I've ever encountered, Turnipseed. When I first met her, I called her everything from Greenbean, to Pumpkinseed, to Limabean. She was good natured about it. Fernanda and her husband Tre have a 4 year old (?) named Nicholas and they recently welcomed two beautiful twin boys into their lives, Enzo and Matteo. Needless to say, their lives are VERY busy these days.

By the way, Tre is one of those rare men that WANTS a minivan. When he realized we have one ourselves, he practically begged me to take it out for a drive. I suppose with a 4 year old and twins, a minivan is pretty much required.

Anyways, we had brought over some lunch and offered some extra arms to hold the babies. Nicholas helped us keep Camden entertained.

Nicholas playing tag with Camden.

Nicholas shows Camden one of his toys.

Nicholas let Camden take a ride in his Indy Car.

Keep your hands on the wheel, kid!

Daddy teaching Camden how to drive. This is the start of a budding career in NASCAR.

Chicks dig red sports cars.

Just chillin'.

Look Ma! No Hands!

It's only a matter of time before those legs start moving in step. For now, he's demonstrated his ability to stand in place. If only for less than a minute at a time, but he still likes showing off his new talent for the camera.

Camden's "Little" Buddy

Remember little Alex Franson? Well, he's all grown up. Born about 3 weeks after Camden, he seems like he's double in size. The kid is just solid. As a result, Alex has been a little reluctant to become as mobile as Camden. Each time we get the two of them together, Alex sits stationary while Camden crawls around Alex and climbs on him. Alex just sits there with a look on his face like, "What the hell are you doing? Don't know these big people will bring you stuff? You don't have to chase after it."

"Sindt-sational Summer Visits"

We've had several Sindt gatherings in the past two months, in which we've been delayed in getting posted. Here's a recap:

1. April/May Visit by Grandma and Grandpa Sindt.
2. May Visit Visit from Aunt Peaches (AKA Dr. Paige!)
3. June roadtrip to Uncle Tony's and Aunt Lisa! (Uncle Tony had a lovely wedding shower!)
4. June return of Grandma and Grandpa Sindt so mom and dad could go on their first vacation without baby!
   

Such wonderful times!! I will be sure to post pictures soon.

Pool Party II

Camden loves his baths and he seems to just love water. Whenever there's a faucet running, he enjoys reaching his hands out underneath the running water. So we decided to bring his bathtub outside and fill it up and let him splash around a little bit. I know, I know. There aren't any pictures of him actually splashing around IN the tub/pool. Don't ask me why. Just enjoy the pics :)

Mommy and Camden lounging by the "pool". Mommy is about 24 weeks pregnant.

Camden lovin' his outside time.

Camden reaching for Mr. Crabby in the "pool".

Hi Daddy!

Anything within Camden's reach is of interest to him these days.

Happy Father's Day!

Footprints

"Walk a little slower daddy," said a child so small.
"I'm following in your footsteps and I don't want to fall.
Sometimes your steps are very fast, sometime they're hard to see; so walk a little slower, Daddy for you are leading me.

Someday when I'm all grown up, you're what I want to be; then I will have a little child who'll want to follow me. And I would want to lead just right, and know that I was true; so walk a little slower, Daddy, for I must follow you"

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

That was the poem Camden gave to me for Father's Day with a picture of his footprints on it. Needless to say, I couldn't hold back the tears as I read it on my very first Father's day. We went out for breakfast in the morning and then Mommy and Camden presented me with my gift. They got me an iHome. It's perfect for the kitchen where we can dock the iPod and get music throughout the house. The rest of the day was very relaxing as I got to sit back watch the end of the US Open and then transitioned right into the Boston Celtics/LA Lakers NBA Final Game Six. Perfect.

I always looked forward to this day. I always remember honoring my dad on this day and I looked forward to having a child of my own that would look up to me. It's quite special to me. Happy Father's Day to all the Daddy's out there.