Cameron Counts

Yes, that's right, my developmentally delayed child counts to 10. He doesn't do "1" and he skips "7" but I figure it's good enough! He's been doing this for about a month, I think. Of course, once I turn the camera on him, he's not nearly as willing to do it so this is the best I could get. We are starting to learn that Cameron has decided that he is just going to do what he wants to do rather than what books and doctors tell him he should be doing. He's an enigma, that's for sure. But isn't he a cute enigma?

Stay tuned for some other out-of-the-ordinary things our not-quite-2-year-old is doing!

A Worthy Cause

As many of you already know, a friend of mine from Murphysboro's 2 year old son is battling cancer.  His name is Cole and he was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma in April.  He had to have one eye removed and has been doing rounds of chemo.  I have been following the family's journey through a blog that his mom writes and have been so inspired by the strength of everyone in their family.  It is amazing how much fight children have in them, as well as how much strength a parent somehow musters up when faced with such a serious illness attacking their child.  I am truly in awe of all of them.

When I saw what another one of my friends from college is doing, I just felt compelled to share it with all of you.  My friend, Bill, who is training to be a Chicago Fire Fighter, will be participating in St. Baldrick's on September 25th.  St. Baldrick's is the world's largest volunteer-driven fundraising event for childhood cancer research.  Thousands of volunteers shave their heads as a show of support and unity for children fighting cancer.  In turn, they ask for donations to fund childhood cancer research.  Bill, along with his Chicago Fire Department Academy class, will be shaving his head.  I will be donating in honor of Cole.  If you can, I urge you to visit Bill's donation site and donate to such a worthy cause.  They have nearly reached 50% of their goal, help them get to 100%!

I am happy to report that Cole is nearing the end of his journey with chemo and will hopefully be cancer free when he is done.  Yay for Cole!  Please keep him and his family in your prayers, along with all the many other children who are suffering in the world.  Now go hug your own babies!

Big Day in the Muhs Household!

Today started off with a bang in our house.  Not only is it Daddy's birthday, Owen had his first day of preschool this morning!  Daddy decided since it was such a big day for us he would take the whole day off.  We are so glad that we get to spend this special day with him!

We woke Owen up around 7:30am, an early morning in our house.  He ate his breakfast, got dressed and stopped to pose for a few pictures showcasing his backpack before we headed outside.

Portion Control is Overrated

As you can see, I've changed the look of the blog.  I also decided to add labels to all the posts.  You can find the "Labels" section over in the right colum.  Click on a label of your choice and it will take you to all posts that have been tagged with that label.  I am going back through and adding labels to everything so it will be a while before all the posts are labeled correctly.  I'm also thinking of doing a few other things here at Muhs News so stayed tuned for that! 

Anyway, on to a few "lost" pictures. (I also created a "jump" for posts.  You will have to click on "More Muhs News" to read the remainder of the post.  I'm kind of trying it out for now so I'm not sure if I'll stick with it.  I think it's good for longer posts so the whole thing doesn't load right on the first page.)  Let me know what you think about all the changes!)

An Evening in the Park

Last month we went to one of Owen's favorite parks one evening. It's a huge play structure made out of wood and kind of resembles a castle. There are lots of nooks and crannies to hide, lots of slides, and swings. Owen calls it "Wood Park." This was the first time we've ever taken Cameron there so it was fun to watch him explore it for the first time. He spent his time climbing on things and just running around enjoying his freedom!



Meanwhile, Big Brother weaved in and out of hiding places, stopping for a few quick seconds to let Mom snap a quick photo.

We even attempted to send Cam down the slide for the very first time. Cody went up there with him, got him all poised to slide, and he just kind of sat there not knowing what to do! Cody tried to give him a gentle nudge but his little body just couldn't figure this sliding thing out!



So what's a Dad to do? Go down with him, of course!

Now every time we go to a park and Cameron sees the slides he says, "Wheeeee!!!" He's even getting the hang of going down by himself...sort of.

Wrigley and Soldier Field in the same weekend?!?!

Yes, my husband was, indeed, in sports fan heaven. Not only did he and Owen get to watch the Bears practice at Soldier Field, it just so happened that the Iowa Cubs were playing a game at Wrigley Field that weekend, too. I, of course, thought this was too much to pack into one weekend but what do I know? Cody really wanted to take advantage of this because, like the Bears game, it was a cheap way to take Owen to Wrigley Field.

Ginna got to join in on the fun this time around.

Are they cute or what?

The next couple of pictures are a prime example of what we are going through these days in trying to get a good picture of Owen. Kid will not look at the freaking camera to save his life. Drives me nuts!

Oh well, at least that's a good one of Matt and Gianna! The real reason Cody wanted to go to this game was because after the game was over, all the kids in attendance got to run the bases. Yeah, Owen was excited about it but Cody was over the moon.

"I got to touch the ivy," was all he kept telling me. I'm surprised he was able to concentrate long enough to get pictures of the kids running the bases. I'm also surprised he didn't just take off and run with them!

The kids were allowed to run from first to home and then they were done. Come on, do you think that stopped our Owen? Of course not! He kept right on running, rounding home and making his way back to first! Here he is being instructed to go back to his father, that man over there who is drooling over the ivy and trying to think of a way to take some of it home, too busy to collect his son once he got to home base.

Once again, a good time was had by all. I'm just not sure who had more fun--the die-hard-Cubs-fans Daddies or the kids!

Grandma's Block Party

Grandma Lynn's neighborhood throws a kickin' block party every summer. We didn't realize just how kickin' it was until Cody and Owen were there to join in on the fun. Cody came home and told me it is worth planning a trip to Grandma's house just for the block party! Not that going just to see Grandma isn't worth it. ;) Owen had a grand time as is evidenced by the pictures:

He rode this train once with Grandma but then said he wanted to ride it by himself. Cody said he kept commenting on how this was his first time riding on a "real train!" I'm not quite sure why we spend so much money doing this every year if the above train qualifies as a "real" train. But I digress.




Owen has quite a love for inflatables so I'm certain he was in heaven on this thing!




Apparently he borrowed this from one of the neighbor kids.

Thanks to Grandma and her neighborhood for showing our boy a great time! Count us in for next year!

Bears Family Day

A few weekends ago, Daddy and Owen headed to Bolingbrook/Chicago for a Big Boys Only weekend. They had a weekend packed with fun that started with a day with the Bears!



Every year the Bears have a Family Day where you can pay about 7 bucks to go to Soldier Field, participate in some fun activities, and watch the Bears play a scrimmage game. We thought this was a good start for Owen since it was so cheap and didn't require him to sit still for a long period of time like a real game would. Uncle Matt, Dominic, Matt's brother, Dave, and his son, Jake joined them and a good time was had by all!

You know me, I have to include a picture of the band!

Look how close their seats were!

Look closely and you can spot Brian Urlacher!

We are looking forward to a time when Cameron is old enough to go so we can experience this as a family. Or maybe Daddy and the boys go and Mommy gets a shopping day all to herself? Stay tuned for more Chicago fun!

Lemonade Stand

One day Owen was watching an episode of "Max & Ruby" where they had a lemonade stand and he decided it looked like fun. So he asked me if we could make our own lemonade stand. This was also one of my favorites as a child so I could hardly refuse him! We made a sign and attached it to his little table and he used his little baseball bank to deposit his earnings. I, of course, had to be the customer.




He waited all day for Daddy to get home so he could sell him some lemonade. As Daddy walked in, he sat in the chair and said, "Hello, sir. Welcome to Owen's Lemonade Stand. Would you like to buy a glass?" It was just the cutest thing. Whenever he was done playing for the day we had to put a "Closed for the day" sign on the table. He played with it for a few days until he saw an episode about a bake sale. Now he keeps asking me when we can play that. That one's not quite as easy as lemonade!

Lazy Summer Days

One evening a few weeks ago, I took one look at the loads of unfinished laundry, the pile of dirty dishes, and the millions toys strewn about the living room and said, "Let's go to the pool!" We have a great community pool here in town and it stays open until 9:30pm a couple of nights a week. So as soon as Daddy got home from work, we suited up and headed out!

I tried a couple of times to get Cameron in a pool last summer but he was never a fan. I was so reluctant this summer that it took me until July to finally give it a try. Like most things with Cam, he was a little slow to warm up but by the end of the night he was screaming when we made him go home!

Judging by the smile on this face, a good time was had by all!

The Circus Clown

We have been so busy with so many fun things this summer that not only was I late on scheduling Cameron's 18-month well-check, I am late on blogging about the current status of our little guy as well. I'm pretty sure I'm going to just have "Better late than never..." printed on a t-shirt and never take it off.

Where to start? When I took Cameron for his well-check on July 29th I still had a lot of concerns regarding his development, even though our intervention teacher had been seeing him twice a month throughout the summer. I brought these concerns to the doctor's attention and she was concerned as well. We both felt that Cathryn (the interventionist) was really doing more evaulation than actual therapy. While evaluation is helpful for both his future in school and in tracking his current progress, the doctor and I both felt that he still needed some type of therapy to help with his progress. At the very least, we felt speech therapy was a good place to start since he uses very little words. So we agreed that I would discuss a new course of action with our case worker. Health wise, he still continues to grow well on his own curve and even worked his way up to about the 40th percentile in weight! He's still pretty vertically challenged like his mother but there's really not a whole lot we can do about that!

Last week I called our case worker, Jill, and discussed things with her. I told her that even though we'd been doing the early intervention stuff since the beginning of summer, he still wasn't waving "bye-bye," still wasn't referring to any of us by name, still not pointing at things. She told me that if I wasn't happy with how things were going, then we definitely needed to rework things. She and Cathryn came to the house the very next day armed with a new plan.

Cathryn will now come 3 times a month and work on specific activities with him each time she's here. She will bring some written information for me on each activity that she does so that I can read about it and continue the activity with him at home. We are working on a series of things that will hopefully, eventually lead to Cameron pointing at things when asked. It will be a gradual process that I won't really bore you with now since this is an already lengthy post. The goal is to have Cameron pointing by January 2010.

In addition to Cathryn's visits, we will also have a speech pathologist come once a month and work on word function with Cameron. He actually says a lot of words, but only uses a few. We think that Cameron and the rest of the family would be much happier if he could use more words to relay his needs and wants to us.

On top of all of this, someone from the Parents As Teachers organization (A great organization I highly recommend to any parent. It is for all kids, delayed or not.) will be coming once a month and working with us as well. She will communicate with AEA (intervention org.) about Cameron so she can plan her activities accordingly.

So, in case you've lost count, that's five visits per month for our little dude. It's a lot, I know, but we are really excited about it and think it is exactly what we need. I had lost my optimism for a while but I've got it back in full-force now! And as you can see, Cameron is pretty darn excited about it, too.

Like he's done his entire 20-months of life, we just keep holding up the hoops and our little circus clown jumps right through them. He rolls with the punches and amazes me everyday with how far he's come. He is a joy to be around and sometimes I wonder if he's teaching me more than I am teaching him.

But since I've already written a book, I'll save all the wonderful new things he's doing for future posts. For now, I'll just leave you with a few shots of my big boy taking a break in a big-boy chair. Because after all that hoop-jumping, sometimes a guy's just gotta sit back and take it easy.

We Welcome with Love...

Logan Jay Youngman

born August 5, 2009

7 lbs., 4 oz.

19.5 in. long

Logan is the firstborn of my cousin Matt and his wife, Jessica, whom we lovingly call Uncle Matt and Aunt Jess in our house. Someday the entire family will tell him how much we all wanted him for his mommy and daddy and how excited we all were when they announced they were pregnant with him. And someday, when he's a teenager and driving his mother crazy, she will remind him of how she suffered through 30 hours of labor and, finally, a c-section in order to bring him into this world. Is she a rock star or what?! But for now, we'll just cuddle him and love on him because he's just so darn cute!


Owen is beyond excited to have another new cousin and is anxiously awaiting to meet him. He asks me everyday when that day will happen. If I weren't so damn anxious myself, I might be annoyed with him.

Congrats to Matt and Jess who, before they were ever even parents, proved what rockin' parents they would be. I never thought I'd live to see the day that my big, manly cousin would call me talking to me about breast pumps, breast shields, and nursing holds. And yes, he knew all the correct terminology. Because he's just that awesome of a Daddy.

Logan, though we've yet to meet you, we love you so much and look forward to the day that we can snuggle and kiss you! And Owen can't wait to read to you!

Creating a Monster

One of Matt and Susie's favorite family activities is Geocaching. What is geocaching, you ask? Well, basically, you log on to geocaching.com, set up a username, search for caches hidden in your area (or any area you please), and you go out and find them using clues and latitude/longitude coordinates given to you by the person who hid the cache. What's the cache, you ask? Sometimes they are just logs, where you sign your name and the date you found it. Others have fun little toys inside that you can take, as well as leave something behind. We asked them if they would show us the ropes and take us on a few cache hunts with them. So, armed with their trusty new hand-held GPS, lots of sunblock, a little water, a few snacks, and a load of kids, we set out to see what this was all about!

Our first cache took us out to a State Park close to Newton, where we had to navigate through some woods to find it. Well, ok, the kids and the Dads did the navigating, while Susie and I hung back and did the Mom thing--took pictures.

You can see Gianna carrying this one, which was an ammo box full of goodies. Some are as small as a large screw and have tiny pieces of paper rolled up inside them to log your name. The smaller ones are usually magnetic.

Once they got out of the woods, Susie and I once again did the Mom thing and made them all pose for a picture. Four kids excited about seeing what's in the box and this is the best you get:

The kids couldn't wait to open it and see what was inside...


And what did Cameron do while all this madness ensued? He stayed close to his phone, just in case he got any important calls.

Owen was the first to actually spot the box in the woods so Matt and Susie said that, being his first find, he should get to choose the goodie to take. He chose a star watch that came out of a Happy Meal.

I'm still holding out for the cache that holds diamonds in it but I'm told not to lose any sleep over it.

We had a great time and discovered a great family activity that's free and easily accessible. Well, if you don't count the cost of a GPS. However, Matt and Susie graciously left us their old one until we can find the funds for a new one with a Geocaching feature.

Cody is now obsessed with this and has spent nights on the computer trying to decide which is the best system to buy. He sometimes finds caches in the morning before he goes into work, on his lunch hour, and he and Owen go out a lot together. Cam is still kind of little for it so he and I don't go as much. Although we all went out last weekend for a bit and I found my first one. Ok, so it was in plain sight and I saw it before I even got out of the car but I'm still counting it.

Thanks to Matt and Susie for showing us a great time!

Fun Times with Good Friends

Imagine our surprise when, a few months ago, our good friends, Matt and Susie, called and said they wanted to spend their family vacation in Iowa this summer. We don't exactly have people knocking down our door coming to visit us so we were in complete shock when, not only did they want to come visit, they wanted to use precious summer vacation time to do it. We were so excited about having visitors other than our parents and couldn't wait to have Matt, Susie, and their great kids, Dominic (6), Gianna (4), and Philip (2) at our house for an extra-long weekend. Owen was beside himself with excitement!

For those of you who don't know (or who have mom-nesia like me and can't remember anything), Cody grew up with Susie and her brothers and sister. Although the O'Brien household was already packed to the brim with 5 children, the O'Briens treated Cody like he was one of their own. There was even one year that Mama O'Brien insisted Cody be in their family picture! When all the kids met Matt in high school, Susie started dating him and he become one of Cody's best friends. The best part about this is that now our children have another set of grandparents, and a host of aunts, uncles, and cousins, who are all very special to us. They are the kind of friends who are more like family than friends and those are just the best kind of friends to have!

Matt, Susie, and the kids arrived on a Thursday night and stayed until Sunday. We packed the weekend with lots of activites and both the kids and the adults had a great time! Our first stop was the Science Center of Iowa, located in Des Moines, where the kids had an entire afternoon of hands-on, scientific fun!

Owen tries to operate a crane



Philip tried his hand at it, too.

They even had a train table there and you know my children gravitated to it like they were being pulled by some sort of magnetic force toward it. They can spot a train table from a mile away!

Gianna enjoyed a little lego-building time with her daddy, Matt.

The oldest of the bunch, Dominic, showed us just how big he is really getting!

What a face! And this little guy has a personality to match it! He is so cute and funny!

This was, without a doubt, Cameron's favorite activity of the day. It was a spiral thing with golf balls. You put the golf balls in the top and watch them spin around to the bottom. He could have stayed there all day!

Owen and Gianna behind the curtain getting ready to put on a puppet show. These two are only a few days apart and are just so darn cute together!

Gianna hanging out in a tube. She might be the only girl in the bunch, but she can hold her own with those boys!

Dominic does his best to reel in a big one!

Uncle Matt helping Owen and Gianna measure their fish that they "caught."

Cameron plays with Lego blocks bigger than he is!

A great time was had by all! I have so many good photos of our weekend together that I decided to split them up into a few different posts. Stay tuned for more!