Oh, June!

June, you were not my favorite. Not even a little bit.

It actually started at the end of May when Andrew left. Who knows what it was?

It could have been that Cambria was slowly getting four canines. Why does it take so long for those teeth to come through?! I noticed swelling in those areas on March 23 and the final canine was still making its way through at the end of June--over three months later.

It could have been some separation anxiety because Andrew was now in Las Vegas and Cambria suddenly became clingy like white on rice. I could not leave her side without tears, frantic pulling at my clothes, and screams. No meals, sorting laundry, showers, bathroom breaks, NOTHING without it seeming like it was the end of the world for Cambria.

Maybe it was a growth spurt? She is now wearing 24 months/2T clothes.

Perhaps it was a disruption in her sleep routine? Our good friend, Kate Cook, stayed with us for a week and a half when her contract expired at her apartment and before she moved to join her husband in Texas for his rotation. She needed to stay and finish out the school year with her kiddos. I was so happy to have someone else around to help me not feel like a chicken at night and for regular adult conversation. It was wonderful! She stayed in the nursery since we have an extra bed in there and she just used Cambria's bathroom. I moved Cambria to a pack & play in our walk-in closet. As a result of the change, Cambria started having a hard time going to sleep. Then she couldn't stay asleep and would wake up frequently throughout the night. Finally, she started waking up for good at about 5:00 AM. A tired girl equals meltdown after meltdown after meltdown. And naps were no better.

I did everything I could to help Cambria out but I finally had to switch tactics and do everything I could to stay sane. One afternoon, I put her down for a nap, laid down myself to rest, with every intention to call my parents and say, "Get here, quickly!" as soon as we both woke up. I was done. I needed someone to come take care of Cambria so that I could check myself into the nut house. Really.

Really really.

But something magically changed that day. I promise we must have been sprinkled with fairy dust or something because when Cambria woke up from her nap, she was a changed girl. She was sweet, content to play by herself with her toys, cuddly but not clingy, and had the best disposition. It was a miracle!

And the two of us were going to make it.

That's not to say she didn't relapse a bit here and there but overall, life was much more manageable and the two of us settled into a great routine.

It's hard not to let the emotions of June overshadow the memories. I took lots of photos and videos to send to Andrew so he could keep up with our adventures so there is quite a bit to show for the month, but it's definitely not all roses.

Cambria has always enjoyed home videos. We have a few family videos set to music that are on a USB we keep hooked up to the TV, she watches the uploads on my YouTube channel via the Roku, and she likes to watch the "Cambria" photo stream slideshow on Andrew's iPad. Now that Andrew is gone, she really loves to watch anything with "Da-da" in it and will even "cry" for him and point to his picture.

No one does bath time with Cambria like Daddy can but we are having fun and figuring it all out.

Cambria loves to roll around on the bath mat to dry off. She actually loves the bath mat anytime and makes a beeline for it if I accidentally leave the door open.

This month I learned that sometimes a parent will give their kid anything they want just so they don't have to put up with any more tears, tantrums, whining, etc. This was my moment: I call it "Barbie in the Bathtub."

And this is what put an end to any after-bath shenanigans. Now it's straight from the tub to the changing table for a diaper! 

Cambria picked up some neat tricks this month. One of them was clicking her tongue:

I think she figured out how to click her tongue after watching "Frozen" enough times. There is a part during "Do You Want to Build A Snowman?" where Anna clicks her tongue in time with the ticking of a clock. I also noticed when Cambria and I were listening to the radio in the car about a week later that Cambria was clicking in time with the finger snaps of the song. That girl has rhythm and sure picks up on a lot of subtleties that will catch me off guard. Another song had "da-da-da" in the chorus and Cambria kept asking me, "Da-da? Da-da?" 

Cambria and I still go to Story Time every Monday and Thursday morning at the Forest Library. We really love Miss Carolyn and the fun songs and books that she chooses.

As a bonus, on Thursdays, the Strite's Donut Food Truck parks just down the street from the library and of course we have to stop and get a doughnut! The first time we went, I was foolish enough to think that Cambria and I could split one between the two of us. It was a maple frosted yeast doughnut and I promised myself I would never make that mistake again.

Guess what? I feel the same way!

One for you and one for me is a much happier way to eat doughnuts!

Cambria and I went to check out the Lynchburg Public library for a "Frozen Sing-Along." I have avoided that library because it is in a really shady location and there are a lot of interesting characters that loiter in front of the building. But the sing-along was so much fun! A lot of the kids dressed up and Cambria got to wear her beautiful Elsa dress from Aunt Sarah. She looked adorable!

There must have been a hundred people in the community room! The kids were all sitting on the carpet at the front and there was a large open space in front of the movie screen. As soon as the music started, Cambria rushed to the screen and started dancing and twirling in front of everyone by herself. I have to admit that hearing all of the kids sing along at the top of their lungs made my "Mommy heart" swell to near bursting and the tears threaten to spill over.

I love that the last part of the video captures how Cambria reacts when she sees other kids--they start running and she leaps at the chance to join in with their fun! Cue more Mommy tears.

I had a bunch of errands to run one morning and my Walmart list seemed especially long, so I decided to buy Cambria her first ICEE to see if that would distract her enough while I grabbed what I needed. She loves to point out the ICEE bear at the Walmart entrance!

Alas, the excitement of the ICEE did not captivate Cambria long enough and became quite a mess as she started using her straw to flick red slushie all over everything in the cart. Wah-wah!

After our ICEE misadventure at Walmart, we stopped by Old Navy so Cambria could visit the dog. We don't go to Old Navy very often--maybe just a handful of times since we moved here--but I noticed that the last time I pulled into the parking lot, Cambria started making her doggie sounds and didn't stop until she rushed through the front doors and right up to the dog statue at the front display.

Why we don't do plates yet (this was after she kept picking it up and holding it to her mouth so that she could just inhale her mac & cheese sans utensils):

Cambria has been a terribly picky eater lately. She pretty much just drinks juice and milk and will supplement her diet with the occasional carb or cheese snack. It's so frustrating. I pretty much give her whatever she wants just so that she is eating and so I don't have to deal with diaper after diaper (as well as diaper rash) caused by a liquid diet.

Cambria has started to linger in her crib when I go to get her up in the morning and from her naps. Sometimes it takes 30 minutes and gets a little frustrating because she will cry if I leave the room but throws herself down so that I can't bend over and reach her if I try to get her up.

We have been spending our afternoons at the pool here at our complex. Initially, Cambria spent most of her time outside of the water making the rounds. But she is gradually warming up to time in the pool with Mommy as the water (and temperatures!) also warm up.

One night after a particularly frustrating day with Cambria, I put her to bed and settled down to eat my dinner (I am telling you, this girl would not let me do ANYTHING for myself when she was awake!). After a few minutes, I heard her chattering to herself in the crib. I went into the room and leaned over and softly started to stroke her face. Cambria was so still and just sweetly watched me as I gently soothed her. I told her I loved her and crept out. It was a moment that I think both of us really needed after such a hard month.

Having Andrew gone at night has turned me into the biggest wimp:

Our family was finally able to get some answers regarding some eye problems that we had noticed with Cambria for the last several months. At the end of March, Cambria had a series of falls on her right side that really worried us. One afternoon, she tripped on the asphalt when she was walking with me. She got an icky strawberry to show for it, poor thing. The next day she fell down a flight of cement stairs at the babysitter's and had a nice-sized goose egg when Andrew came to pick her up.

With these two back-to-back falls, we kept a close eye on Cambria for the next little bit. Andrew and I know the signs of a concussion and were paying particular attention to her. I noticed that when she looked up, her right eye would stop at a certain point but her left eye would continue to nearly roll back in her head. Freaky! Andrew noticed it as well and we finally decided to take her to the Med Express on a Saturday night. The physician on call could not duplicate Cambria's symptoms but suggested that perhaps Cambria had a congenital problem that we had not previously noticed.

Through a series of coincidences including people being in the perfect place at the perfect time, we connected with Kristina Randolph at church the following day who gave us a recommendation for a local pediatric ophthalmologist and had us take a look at her 11-year old daughter, Ashley, who has Brown's Syndrome.

As we chatted and did a little further research, Andrew and I became suspicious that this is what might be bothering Cambria. It's a mechanical problem in which the superior oblique muscle on the outside of the eyeball is unable to lengthen and therefore does not move freely. Often, the higher eye is mistaken as the abnormal eye but that isn't the case. So for Cambria, even though we were noticing her left eye roll upwards, her right eye would be the one afflicted if she truly has Brown's Syndrome.

To get a diagnosis for Cambria, we had to first go through her pediatrician, wait on a referral and then wait to get into Dr. Ganser at Piedmont Eye Center. What a long process from the end of March to the middle of June!

Dr. Ganser determined that Cambria is extremely far-sighted in her left eye which is causing amblyopia and accomodative esotropia. This explains how occasionally Cambria's left eye turns inwards when she is looking at something very close to her nose but we weren't able to resolve the initial problem with the vertical eye movement. I am also a little concerned because when the eye tech gave Cambria the dilating drops, it didn't seem like she got it in her left eye. I'm glad that we have a follow up appointment because I would really like to double check this.

Dilated pupils!

We were instructed to patch her right eye two hours a day for six weeks to strengthen her left eye. And it didn't go well. We will just have to wait it out until Daddy gets back and we have our next appointment.

It was sad to spend Father's Day apart from Andrew. We did get a chance to FaceTime him and Cambria actually talked to him instead of running off like she usually does. On this day, Cambria decided to start saying "Daddy" instead of "Da-da" which was also super cute.

The last Sunday of the month, Cambria did something so adorable yet so disruptive during our Sacrament service. She spotted her friends Brooklyn and Sydney Malone sitting up at the front and got so excited that she started waving frantically and calling out to them and they started giggling and waving back. Cambria was freaking out with excitement to see her "besties." It was like a group of teenagers who hadn't seen each other in "like, forever!"

I did a lot of self-medicating with chocolate this month and was getting pretty nervous about my gestational diabetes test for Baby Boy. I was pretty sure that I was going to fail it miserably. Surprisingly, I passed! This kid is a gem! But the phlebotomist gave me something to remember her by. Eek! This bruise looked like this for two whole weeks! Have I ever mentioned before that IVs and blood draws GROSS ME OUT? This certainly wasn't helping my fear!

It wasn't just sweets that I was using to cope with my solo parenting days (Andrew hates supreme pizza):

Cambria may be our wild child but her brother seems pretty chill. He is content to sleep most of the day and stays pretty comfy in there. If I eat something, he may wake up about 10-15 minutes later to stretch out before snuggling back in for a snooze. I certainly hope he keeps it up because I told Andrew that if we have another "Cambria" on our hands then my limit was two kids! 

Cambria started to mellow out a bit towards the end of the month for which I am really grateful for. And she has become so snuggly! She always wants to be with me right now. Wherever I am sitting, she has to be on top of me. If I am laying down, she needs me to make room for her as well. And big hugs before bedtime always. She will find me wherever I am and grab my hand and sweetly lead me to where she wants me to go whether it is to play with toys on the floor or to read a book in her bedroom. Since it isn't accompanied by crying and whining and frantically pulling at my clothes, it's not frustrating for me in the least! When I talk to Andrew each night after a day like this, I tell him, "I can do this! I can handle this!"

And as June came to its final, painful, frustrating close, I finally had that moment of realization that I really needed. I sat and cuddled Cambria for a little while before I put her to bed and thought about how she isn't going to be my baby for too much longer. That she isn't going to be "my only one" after her brother gets here. And my heart nearly burst.