Happy New Year

Happy New Year from our family to yours!!

Happy Friday!

So little Kenna is doing her best to grow up. She's cruising along the furniture now, and more often than not, we find her standing up. She's mastered her real crawl, and has even learned to crawl fast. Of course when she wants more speed, she knows to do her army crawl, but she doesn't do that too often. We bought her a little play table & chairs for her room, and she loves to play on them. This is a short video of Kenna acting like a big girl, as she sits at her table and attempts to read one of her favorite books. She's closing in on the 10 month mark, and we find ourselves asking, "where has the time gone?" Enjoy, Happy Friday, and Happy Holidays!!!

4th Annual Camero Christmas Party

The 4th Annual Camero Christmas party was yet another success, and it appeared that a great time was had by all. Enz & I worked furiously into Saturday afternoon to get everything in order before the party began, and I commended her on a job well done! This year, the dynamic of the party seemed to have changed a little, for obvious reasons. A few people even mentioned that there were more kids & less drinking this year than previous years. Ain't that the truth!

This year, we had a visit from the jolly old fat man himself, Santa Claus, and what a treat that was! Almost all of the kids were a bit apprehensive of Santa, and a few even chose not to sit on his lap. The ones that were brave enough to sit on his lap, had the blank stare of confusion or fear on their faces. One brave little soul, Emily Mock, was the first one to encounter Santa, and seemed to be in awe of his presence. She couldn't believe he was in front of her, in the flesh, and she rattled off the list of toys that she wanted for Christmas! Elliott was another brave one, although it took a little more convincing to get him to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what he wanted. All in all, Santa's visit was a fun experience, and I suspect that it will become a tradition as this group of kids grows older.

Santa and Makenna

Santa and Emily

Santa and Elliott

Santa and Brianna

Santa and Kevan

Santa and Kaelyn

Santa and Jake

Santa and Grace

No longer Phinless....

It took 15 weeks. but the Phins finally pulled it off! Not like it really matters anyway, just thought I'd post this for the heck of it. Way to not make this the first 0-16 season ever! I guess that is cause for celebration, right?

Happy Friday!!!

Just a short video to showcase Makenna's newly found cruising abilities. She's been pretty active as of late, and has been really trying daddy's patience with her curiosity. I guess I can't get mad, I'll just have to learn to deal with it! As she becomes more and more mobile, we find ourselves needing to become more aware of all of our surroundings to make sure she doesn't get into too much trouble. Eventually she'll learn what she can and can't do, but until then, its all about trial and error. Happy Friday!

Our little big girl...

Little Makenna isn't so little anymore! Her appointment went well yesterday, aside from the flu shot & blood test, she handled everything like a trooper. She didn't really care for the shots, then again, what kid does? The blood test wouldn't have been so bad, but I think Kenna was bothered by the finger squeezing action. Anyway, here are Kenna's new measurements: she is 28 inches long, which puts her in the 70th percentile for height, and she weighs 21 pounds, which puts her in the 75th percentile for weight. Her dome measured around 44.5 cm (big head=big brain). The doctor said she looked really good and that she's thinned out substantially from her last appointment. She was previously in the 95th percentile for weight, so all that cardio she's been doing has been paying off! This weekend she gets to attend her very first Camero Christmas party, so that should be tons of fun for the not so little one!

Another Hump Day

Here's a short video clip of Makenna as she enjoys a Christmas toy she has. She was initially afraid of it when she first got it, but now she loves to wave her hands and "dance" to the melody! What a ham!

She has a doctor's appointment this afternoon, so we'll be able to find out just how much the little stinker weighs! We know she's gone through a considerable growth spurt as of late because we can't hold her for too long without our arms getting tired!

Jerry junior?

If the news hasn't already gotten to you, its official, we're having a boy! We finally shared the news with our family this past weekend, and the news was well received. This time around, it was pretty much unanimous, and almost everyone guessed correctly. We feel so blessed and want to share the news with everyone. It seems that I'm following in my father's footsteps with the "girl first, boy second." At this point in time, we're not sure whether we'll call it quits and stop at two. For now, we'll just enjoy the current size of our little family and see what the future holds!

Of course Kenna doesn't understand what it means to be a big sister just yet. She'll probably be confused when her little brother is here, but at the same time we know she'll be excited. There'll be another baby around 24/7 for her to play with! I'm sure we'll get great use from our cameras in the coming years!

I'm 9 months old today!

Today is Kenna's 9 month birthday, and she just keeps on changing. She's really into her independence, although I never thought I'd be saying that at 9 months old! She's gotten the hang of standing up on her own, and we always catch her in the upright position. The pace of her crawl has quickened, and she knows that she'll move faster if she uses her army crawl. Now she's getting pretty daring, and we find her standing up and balancing without holding onto anything. She's had her share of spills, but unless it looks or sounds really bad, we try not to react in a way that'll make her a sissy. Hehehe, just kidding!

We've seen her take a few steps, but that's while she was still holding onto the couch. She's also mastered going from the standing position to the sitting position. Its funny to watch her balance and then bend at the waist so that gravity pulls her down on her butt, and then its business as usual. This kid is going to make a great big sister with her care-free attitude and persistence!

Baby Coconut

So our appointment went well yesterday, and the doctor said that everything looks fine. They were able to determine the sex of Baby Coconut, and once we share the news with our families this weekend, we'll share with the rest of the world. Stay tuned!

Happy Hump Day!

Well, today's the day we've been waiting for. This afternoon we find out the sex of Baby Coconut! While we're both very excited, I've said it before that we're also very nervous. Kenna just carries on because it's obvious that she's too young to understand what's really going on. I'm sure that once she actually gets to see & touch her baby brother or sister, things will change a little. She'll have her very own playmate, someone she can be a role model to, or someone she can beat up on! Either way, things are changing in the Camero household... Happy Wednesday!

Makenna's attempt at clapping

This weekend was a fun one for little Makenna. We took her to the mall so she could meet Santa Claus. As expected, she didn't have any problem with him, and was able to sit on his lap without any issues. I think she was into his beard because she just kept on staring at him, trying to figure him out. Santa thought he could get her to laugh and smile by bouncing her on his knee, but I think that scared her a bit. She started to whine a little, but didn't cry much. Its ok though, because now we're hoping she won't be afraid when she sees Santa again. It turned out for the best.

We've been working on teaching Makenna how to clap her hands, and this short video clip shows what she's learned. Its not a full on clap, but you'll be able to see that she knows what we're asking of her. Its kind of like her army crawl, not quite a crawl but it gets her where she wants to go. With her clapping, she's only going through the motions, no clapping sound just yet. Won't be long though, since this girl seems to be a really quick learner!

On a side note, we'll be finding out the sex of Baby Coconut this Wednesday afternoon. Can't wait!!

Makenna being silly

Here's a short video clip of Makenna repeating what I say, to an extent. She's already proven that she can say da da, and has also learned to say mom. Her new thing is saying ba ba although we don't know where that came from. Nevertheless, its always fun to hear her say whatever it is that comes out of her mouth!

We're planning on taking her to see Santa Claus this weekend, so that in itself should be interesting. We're wondering how she'll react to the jolly old fat man, and we're hoping for a decent reaction, although we're not ruling out the possibility that she may be terrified! Either way, it should make for some great video footage. For now, enjoy this little clip and have a great weekend!

Happy Hump Day!

Hey, there are only 26 days left (excluding today) until my first Christmas!! Can't wait to see what Santa brings =)

First holiday weekend...

This year we celebrated Makenna's first Thanksgiving and she had a blast! We did our best to prepare her for all the excitement, especially since we figured it would be a fairly long day for the little one. She made it through without much of a hitch, or much of a nap for that matter! And although she didn't get to taste any turkey just yet, she did have fun sitting at the table with the family!


We spent the early part of the afternoon with Enza's family, and then moved over to my family's celebration later in the evening. Makenna took the evening in stride, as she was smothered by all of my aunts and uncles, who enjoyed passing her around and dancing with her. It worked out well because they completely tired her out!


The day after Thanksgiving, we followed our yearly tradition of picking out our Christmas tree. This year Enz wasn't interested in getting the tallest tree, but she was in search of the fattest tree, and I think we found it! We spent the majority of the day and much of the weekend decorating the tree & the house. It's all the same every year, but being Makenna's first Christmas made the decorating much more meaningful.

We didn't know how she would react to all the different things around the house, or all the colorful lights, but as you can see in the picture below, we got a terrific reaction.Here is an actual picture of Makenna's initial reaction when she first saw the Christmas tree with all the lights & decorations on it. Talk about PRICELESS! Now we really can't wait to see how she reacts to all the gift opening!!

And on a side note, we have approximately 10 weeks left until Baby #2 (coconut) graces us with his/her presence. We're both very nervous & excited, so much so that we may vomit....

Makenna sorts her laundry

I caught Makenna getting into the laundry basket full of her clothes that Enza was folding. She was able to stand up and sort through her stuff, almost as if she was looking for something to wear! Marino joined her at the end and was really interested in licking her hands and face. I guess that was a good way to get her to stop rummaging, right? Enjoy & Happy Thanksgiving!

Fun-filled Weekend!

This weekend was full of activities that kept us busy with the little one. She's going through a big teething phase as her top two teeth continue to make their way in, and with that comes the fussiness. She's been off her schedule a bit, possibly due to being uncomfortable, but we manage to adjust accordingly. We figured out that if she acts up with one of us, that's her way of letting us know that she'd rather be with the other parent. Go figure!

Yesterday morning Makenna surprised us both with her "real crawl!" I caught a short glimpse of it on video, and if you listen, you can hear the both of us loudly cheering her on, almost as if she was in the final stretch of a marathon! While it may not be that big a deal to others, it sure shocked the hell out of us! Now its only a matter of time before we see her taking her first steps...



On Saturday, we took Makenna to dinner to celebrate Aunt B's 37th birthday. We were a bit apprehensive at having Kenna out in the evening, especially since she had been a bit fussy throughout the day, but what's one night, right? Once we got around the family and the noise of the restaurant, its like she did a complete 180, and she was all laughs & smiles!


On Sunday, we brought Makenna to the 2nd birthday celebration of Marcos, and although it was a little chilly, she had a great time at the playground. We had her bundled up like she was headed for the snow. She didn't know any different anyway, and kept on enjoying herself. She had fun on the slide as well as the children's swings. It'll be much more fun in the near future when she's able to run around and get through the playground on her own!





Big El on the slide
Wes on the swing
Happy 2nd Birthday Marcos!

Makenna in a basket..

This picture of the little one kinda says it all. She's really into watching her favorite tv shows, either Barney or any of the Baby Einstein DVD's. And she's into touching EVERYTHING! If it lights up, she'll touch it. If it makes noise, she'll touch it. But mainly if its something we tell her not to touch, she'll touch it! It's obvious that she's getting to one of those stages that will test our patience and sanity. We've been preparing for these times, but one can only prepare for so much! With #2 on the way, we're still able to play "man-to-man" defense, so we'll see how we hold up before thinking about #3!!!

HAPPY FRIDAY! YIPPEE!!!

Welcome Kaelyn Ellagrace Cunanan!

CONGRATULATIONS to our friends The Cunanan Family and the arrival of their baby girl Kaelyn Ellagrace Cunanan! She was born on November 14, 2007 @ 10:41pm. She weighed 8lbs 6oz and was 20 1/4" long. We wish the family all the best & a speedy recovery for 'chelle! We look forward to meeting the little one soon!

Hump Day...

Makenna has been in a really great mood as of late, but then again, that's not really anything new. She almost always is in good spirits, but has her off days much like any other kid her age. If you think about it, what has she got to be mad at, especially at this point in her life? All she cares about is getting fed when she's hungry, and playing until she gets tired. No real worries yet, its all about being care-free. Must be nice!

Anyway, as I've mentioned before, we're pretty fortunate that Makenna isn't afraid of Marino, or that Marino isn't jealous of Makenna. Its not like he has any say in the matter, but we always try to make sure that he still gets lots of attention as well. The two get along fine as this video shows more interaction between the two. I was merely the mediator in case Marino felt like licking Makenna to death! I didn't realize Enza was catching it on video, I thought she was taking a picture!

Another relaxing weekend...

Not much on the social events calendar this past weekend, just a couple of days off to spend with the little one. Both Enz & I were home on Saturday, and we didn't do anything really, especially due to the weather. Sunday, Enz went out for a spa day with her sisters, so that gave me some time to hang out with Kenna. She's been on the fussier side of things these past few days, and we're pretty sure its due to teething. Her upper gums are really inflamed and her two front teeth have finally broken through. Whenever we try to get a look at her upper teeth, she quickly pushes away, and we can see the discomfort whenever we try to touch her gums in that particular area.
Aside from the teething, she was pretty much all smiles yesterday! Having time with her is fun, especially when she's in a good mood =) She's starting to get the hang of pulling herself up onto her knees, and on occasion, she'll end up standing on her feet. She's still doing her army crawl, but now she does the whole "rocking back & forth motion" on her hands and knees. It'll be fun to see her if & when she learns to crawl on her hands and knees. By the looks of things, she may just go from the army crawl to walking, but then again, that could be wishful thinking. Maybe we're pushing her to grow up too fast?
Lately, Makenna has taken a greater interest in Marino. She's been exposed to him since day 1, and she's been sniffed & licked on numerous occasions, many of which, she didn't really care for. Ever since she's become mobile, she's been on the hunt for the dog, and we've had to stop her a few times from crawling into his bed or picking up his toys! Whenever she sees him, she waves to him and immediately tries to crawl to him. For those of you who know Marino, you know that he's a big ball of energy, but when it comes to Makenna, he knows his boundaries so he "tones it down" just a bit. She loves to pet his nose and in the process, she gets her hands licked. If we don't keep an eye on him, he'll always try to lick her face, probably hoping to get a taste of the baby food she's eaten! Its a great relief to know that these two get along!

"I'm 8 months old today!"

How time flies! Not so little Kenna is 8 months old today, and we can't begin to count how many times people have guessed her age to be around 1 year old! HA! She continues to grow like a weed, and every day its like a new adventure with her. We always hear how parents mention that a particular age is "a fun stage," but for us, it seems like any time is a fun stage with the little bugger! Happy 8 months Makenna! Wow, only 4 months to go until she's a year old, oh my!

Here's that video I promised awhile back that shows Kenna reaching for her "favorite" dvd. Enjoy!

Another cold for the little one...

The little one picked up a cold and hasn't been sleeping all that well. At night, we can hear her labored breathing with all her congestion, and even though she tries to keep her spirits up, she ends up on the cranky side when she has trouble breathing. Poor thing =( Nevertheless, she was in a great mood yesterday afternoon! She took a long morning nap at her Nonna's and a shorter afternoon nap, so by the time I picked her up, she was full of smiles!

She's into one of her new toys, which is a "Sing-a-long stage" as seen above. Its activated by the different buttons which represent different instruments, as well as the "magic" microphone she has in her hand. She can sit in front of that thing for a long stretch without getting bored, especially since it has a mirror on it, and she loves to watch herself-what a narcissist! Hehehe! Its probably one of her favorite toys, and I'll even find myself trying to master the sounds on it (while I'm playing with her of course!) It keeps her occupied, and at the same time, keeps her out of trouble! Even though she's not at 100%, her new toy seems to keep her happy =)

Reppin' The U

Kenna stands up by herself!

So this past weekend, Makenna amazed us once again. We've been watching her crawl faster and faster, and on Friday, she actually reached up onto one of her toys and pulled herself up! Enz was playing with her when she first did it, and screamed for me to come out & watch Kenna. Of course, judging by the type of scream Enz let out, I immediately thought something was wrong. When I rushed out, she told me what Kenna did so I grabbed the camera and started taping, hoping for the best. I thought she'd get camera shy again, but sure enough, she pulled herself up into a standing position.

Now, we obviously think this is a great milestone, a great accomplishment for the little one. What we're not seeing, or maybe we're just not quite ready to see, is the fact that this may rapidly lead to Makenna taking her first steps, which means she may be walking soon... YIKES! As if it wasn't hard enough chasing her around while she's crawling! But maybe we're jumping the gun a little too soon? All we know is that since she's around her cousins a lot, she's constantly trying to do what they do. I'm sure it'll be fun to have Kenna walking around, but wow, time is moving sooooo fast!

Kenna's first Halloween

We didn't have any trick or treaters last night, then again, we weren't home, so even if we did have some we would've never known! Our first stop was over at Grandma's house, and of course, she let Makenna pick her own candy. Makenna just grabbed whatever she could get her hands on, so I picked out stuff for myself =) Grandma had a great time with the little bumblebee, and was able to get her to dance and jump around.

Afterwards, it was over to Nonno & Nonna's house where Makenna was able to play for a bit with the kids, Elliott the lion, Wesley the cow, & fellow bumblebee Joya. Its always difficult to snap a photo when all the kids are looking at the same camera, so we all did our best to capture the moment. Kenna got yet another bag of goodies from Nonno & Nonna, but we all know that Enz & I will dip into it (for safety reasons, hahaha).
After being out for a few hours, the little one let us know that she was ready to call it an evening, so we brought her home. It was still early enough for some kids, but no one rang our doorbell. Oh well, more chocolate for the Camero family I guess! By this time, Kenna was out of her costume and was just about ready for bed. She was getting a little fussy, so rather than dressing her back up and dealing with any unnecessary crying, we opted to take her picture with her first pumpkin out of costume. She really enjoyed her pumpkin, and we had to keep her from tipping it over as she playfully pounded on it. All in all, it was a terrific first Halloween for the little one!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

So this is obviously Makenna's first Halloween, and guess what she is?! We actually took this picture a couple of weeks ago when we took Kenna to her first pumpkin patch with cousins Elliott & Wesley. People were probably wondering why we had the kids dressed up so early, but who cares? They all looked damn cute anyway! Since Kenna is still too young to indulge in all the sweets involved with this holiday, we won't take her door to door just yet. She will be making appearances at her grandparent's homes so they can all get a glimpse of her in costume, that is, if she hasn't already grown out of it! Happy Halloween!

Kenna says Mama!

Auntie Sarah bought Makenna her first set of Mickey (or should I say Minnie) ears. Even though its still a bit large for Kenna, there's not much room for her big head to grow! Hehehe, just kidding!

Kenna's new word is Mama, and although she still isn't saying it on command, she does say it every now and then. We first heard her say it this past weekend, and she's been saying it for the last couple of days, mixed in with her normal chant of dada =) We're pretty sure her next word will be Marino, since she hears his name more than anything. Who knows? Maybe "mama" is her first attempt at saying Ma-rino? At least she called for her mommy before calling out for her pup =)

Happy Monday!

We had a fairly relaxing weekend, not much planned, but nevertheless a fun weekend with the little one. Her crawling has become a lot faster now, even though she's still using her elbows more than her hands. She has also started to master some yoga poses, and even freezes in the upper position of a push-up! She'll get on her hands and knees, and start to rock back and forth, but she has yet to master the actual "hands and knees" crawl. Regardless of her form, she's still a speedy little squirt, and I can't recall how many times I had to get up and chase after her. She ends up in the same spot though, in front of our first dvd rack, and she grabs the same movie, Collateral Damage. Not quite sure if she wants to watch it, or if she likes Arnold. Whatever the attraction is, we'll never know. She always goes for that same disk!

Here's a little video clip to start the week off right. Its one of Kenna as she cracks up at my expense. I never realized how much beating myself up could make the little one laugh! Enjoy & Happy Monday!

Getting over the hump...

Kenna has become a lot more vocal as of late, although a good majority of what comes out of her mouth is dadada! Its fun to watch her as she watches us and attempts to imitate our words, but in the end, it always comes out as dadada or lalala. On a couple of occasions, we've heard an inadvertent "mom" slip out, but we haven't been able to get her to do it on command. Its coming soon though, no worries!

Makenna's new thing is noticing scents, especially from food. If we've eaten something sweet, and its on our breath, Kenna notices. If one of us is holding her, she'll immediately plant her mouth on our lips to get a taste of what it is! It comes across as a kiss, but we know better. She's just trying to get a jump start on eating real food! How smart is that?

More Dada

So my computer took a dump yesterday & I wasn't able to update the blog. Now I'm back up and running, so I'll do my best this week to get all caught up.

For starters, Makenna just keeps on growing. She's graduated to the larger containers of baby food & will begin the fruit stage later this week. We're both sure that she'll enjoy that, without a doubt. Her top two teeth are starting to poke through her gums, and we think that's the reason why she hasn't been eating like the hoover she's become! She hasn't had a problem eating her veggies, but once those teeth started poking through, she's become a little more fussy. Hopefully that phase will pass when those teeth are in. She still loves to call for her Daddy, and we're constantly hearing her through the monitor whispering "dadada" to herself before busting out in song =) Someday soon she'll be able to say "mama."

On another note, Enz has been feeling baby #2 move around a lot more. So much so, that she started to feel some kicks. Sunday was the first time I was able to feel the baby kick, and it was just like we started over again. Then again, it wasn't but about a year ago that we were going through the exact same stuff. We'll keep you posted on more of baby #2's development. Now that Enz has reached the 6 month mark, it's starting to feel a little more real. Hmmmmm.....

Happy Friday!

So another week has passed, and little Kenna continues to prove that she's going to be an independent one in the near future. She's learning things very quickly and we attribute a lot of that to her cousins Elliott & Wesley. Maybe its her desire to play with the both of them whenever she sees them, but whatever it is has her picking up on things quickly and easily. As promised, here's a short video clip of Kenna as she practices her finger dexterity with Cheerios. Both of us were so proud, and it was for something so simple. Go figure! Happy Friday & have a great weekend!

Stand Up!

Although I've said it before, I can't help but notice how much Makenna wants to stand up, even though she's not yet able to do so on her own. She loves to "crawl" and she's getting to be a real champ at it (as sloppy as it may be). Once she gets to one of the couches, she immediately reaches up as if she wants to pull herself to stand. One of us will usually stand her up, and she gets so happy when she's upright! Its almost as if she enjoys the new view. It'll be interesting to see when she gets to that phase on her own, and maybe then we'll get more aggressive with baby-proofing the house.

Happy Hump Day!

Makenna must know that there's something going on in her Mommy's belly. Now that it's grown to a more noticeable size, Kenna has been placing her hand on mommy's stomach whenever she's near. Although we still don't know whether its a boy or girl, we do know that he or she likes to eat, and we're guessing that this one will be another big baby! Here's a pic of Kenna patting Mommy's belly as she attempts to give her a bottle...


Now that Kenna is on the move, she prefers playing on the ground to being in her activity center, or even sitting up playing with her toys. Once she gets down, its off to the races so to speak, and we're constantly having to pick her up and turn her in another direction. Her favorite places to go are towards the tv (obviously), and also towards the sliding glass door. She already crawled into the glass on more than one occasion, and the thumps on the head haven't phased her yet. I always said it would be fun to see her crawling around, little did I know the consequences of when it would actually take place! And who'd a thought it would be happening so soon?!



*this post was late due to the site being down yesterday*

Makenna's Baptism

This past Saturday was Makenna's baptism, and what an event it was! Even though Makenna still wasn't 100%, her spirits were high and she did her best to entertain the families! We were surprised that she didn't cry in the church, she probably thought she was getting a bath! And she was able to get through the reception with little rest. We've already figured that she loves to be around people, and the constant passing around on Saturday didn't bother her one bit!

Thanks to our families for helping to make this special event memorable, and an extra special Thank You to Rick, Merr, Dennis & Sarah for graciously accepting the resposibility in guiding Kenna with her spiritual growth!

Today's my baptism & grandma made my pretty dress!

Newly baptized with Mommy & Daddy

Makenna with Father Ben, parents & godparents

Ninong Ricky & Ninang Merr with Makenna

Ninong Dennis & Ninang Sarah with Makenna