Paint

My little artist hard at work...

 So in love with this little face!

My Sweet Boy

I am loving watching my boys grow up.  A huge part of me wants them to stay little forever.  I can't seem to get enough of their kisses and snuggles and giggles, and truth be told, I'm terrified of having teenagers.  I mean, it's just so scary to think of all the trouble kids get into these days.  I just pray that we raise good boys with a strong conviction and a strong faith - and even though they will still mess up, hopefully they won't kill me in the process!

Anyways, Camden has been such a joy recently.  From the time he turned two until sometime this fall following his third birthday he was very challenging.  He is very strong willed, and we were in a season of many tears, perceived injustices and frustration.  But recently he has been so much fun.  He's more patient with Micah.  His imagination is incredible.  He loves to act out stories (we "played" the Three Little Pigs four times in a row today!).  He loves to read.  We will sit and read for 45 minutes at a time, sometimes multiple times a day.  He loves games - he honestly beat both Scott and me at Go Fish recently and we play a round of Guess Who every morning at the breakfast table!

 Lots of games in the closet...

Playing in their kitchen...

Camden loves to strum on this little guitar and make up songs...

 A masterpiece!

 Camden wrote his name all by himself!!!!!

 And he's drawing people now!!!  This is our family.  Love it!  :)

One thing I love about Camden is that he has no sense of what is expected of him or what the world deems appropriate or acceptable for a young boy.  This is probably due, in part, to the fact that he's not in daycare or preschool and he doesn't have the huge influence of other children in his life yet.  We have plenty of play dates and he goes to Sunday School at church, but he's not as influenced on a daily basis by other children as he would be if I wasn't home with him.  We also don't have a television, and although he watches a few select shows that we get out of the library and watch on the computer (his favorites are Curious George, Thomas and Word World) he doesn't see any commercials and he doesn't know what toys boys are supposed to play with.  As a result, two of the things on Camden's Christmas list were a dollhouse and a tea set.  Many parents would probably cringe if their son asked for these things, but I was proud to give these gifts to him.  We gave him my old dollhouse that I played with as a child and my sister passed along an extra tea set (a real, breakable one!) that she had and he loves both of them!

In his own little world...

Tea with Paige...

 Apparently, three year old boys can't smile like a normal person!

Although Camden is happy to sit down and have a tea party with friends, he is also a crazy, active, energetic little boy.  He loves playing trucks (his new thing is causing huge crashes with all of his matchbox cars).  He loves to wrestle, play basketball and football, have pretend mountain bike races (which consist of him sprinting around the circle in our house), put on circuses and tons of other fun and imaginative games. 

 The boys in their three-point stance...

 Here is a short clip of the boys playing basketball and football in the house.  This happens on a daily basis! 

A couple months ago we had the following conversation while we were driving in the car.  Be still my heart!

Camden:  When I'm 29 I can drive this car.  You and Daddy can say, "Take Micah to the store" and I'll take him in the car with me.
Mama:  That would be so nice of you.  You know, you can probably drive this car when you're sixteen...that's when you're allowed to drive.
Camden:  No thank you.  I'll wait until 29.
Mama:  You might have a family when you're 29.  Do you think you'll have a wife and maybe some kids?
Camden:  No, I think I'm going to live with you forever. 
Mama:  Awww....I would love that!
Camden: I want to stay with you forever so I can play with Micah. 

He is always coming up with new ways to make us smile.  I'm so thankful for the little boy he is turning out to be.  

Gender - painted toenails and little boys

If you have a minute, click here to watch a three minute clip from Good Morning America to get a little background on this post...

 This advertisement, which was sent out to J Crew customers in a recent email, has created quite a stir.  I'm sure many of you have heard about it.  The ad shows the President and Creative Director of J Crew painting her son's toenails pink.  Oh the outrage this simple picture has created!  One psychiatrist wrote on a Foxnews.com column, “This is a dramatic example of the way that our culture is being encouraged to abandon all trappings of gender identity.”  Another woman from the Media Research Center called the ad, “blatant propaganda celebrating transgendered children.”  Are you kidding me?  Maybe it's the sociologist in me, but this kind of commentary makes my blood boil.  First of all, what child wouldn't find nail polish fun to play with?  Kids like to paint.  Kids like to make messes.  Kids like to dress up.  Kids like to imitate their elders.  Girls and boys...what's the difference? 

Secondly, I'm pretty sure I know plenty of very masculine men who were dressed up by their older sisters when they were little and turned out just fine.  The concept that at such a young age, girls are only to play with "girl toys" and boys are only allowed to play with "boy toys" drives me nuts.  I'm not gonna lie, Camden loves trucks.  He loves getting dirty.  He seems to be a natural athlete.  He is very physical.  But, he is also sensitive.  He loves to read.  He loves to sing and dance.  He loves to snuggle.  He loves to push Buddy (his little felted bunny) or Green Monkey (creative name, huh?) around in his stroller (gasp!) and the other day he pretended to be pregnant with twins and put stuffed animals down his pjs (double gasp! Yes, our friends just gave birth to twins...Camden wanted in on the excitement!).  Are we setting our child up for a lifetime of torment?  Does playing with a stuffed animal or even a doll mean that our two and a half year old is going to automatically be gay?  OR are we allowing our child to learn to play.  To create.  To imagine.  The way he takes care of his little stuffed animals and tells me to be quiet when they are "sleeping" makes me think that he's going to make a pretty great Daddy someday (and he already is a great older brother!).  Is there something wrong with allowing our sons to develop a sensitive side? 

And I'm not on my own with this one.  Scott and I were watching an episode of What Would You Do? on television recently that tackled a similar topic.  Hidden cameras captured how people reacted to seeing a young boy in a toy store begging for a doll.  They then took it a step further and had the little boy wearing a dress.  Scott and I were glued to the show, discussing different people's reactions to the situation and how we would handle something like that ourselves.  I said something to the effect of, "I would have no problem with Camden playing dressup and wearing a dress at home or at a friend's house, but I'm not sure I'd want him to walk around in public like that."  Scott shocked me with his response: "Why not?  He's two years old...it really doesn't mean anything." 
Let's be clear here, I'm not going to actively encourage my son to wear dresses and paint his toenails, but I'm also not going to judge those parents who do.  And I'm not going to make assumptions about those little boys and their sexuality.  And I'm not going to stifle my child's imagination, just because he might be crossing gender barriers with the toys he chooses to play with.  I'm kind of proud that among the matchbox cars, fire trucks, train tracks, hockey sticks and blocks that litter our house, you can also find a "doll" stroller, stuffed animals, and a little doll who likes to have his imaginary diaper changed. 
Camden brought Buddy and his stroller with him when we ran a few errands last week.  We were quite the pair with our two strollers and we received so many smiles from friends and strangers alike as we walked around the stores.  People struck up conversation with him and wanted to see his little toy.  He was proud.  And so was I.

What do you think?  Do/would you let your children play with toys that aren't marketed to their specific gender? Do you think there will be long-term effects on allowing children this freedom?

New Sandbox

We splurged and bought one of those awesome/ugly sandboxes for Camden. It was on sale and we knew he would absolutely love it, so we decided to get it. We were right...he LOVES it!  He played in it all afternoon yesterday, until we had to force him inside due to the onslaught of black flies and unfortunately it rained all day today.  Hopefully we'll have warm weather again soon and Camden can get back outside to his lovely green turtle!