Cam lost his first front tooth yesterday… And he’s days away from losing the other one. He’s so proud AND having fun with the strange feeling of a huge gap in the top of his mouth. The added plus: He talks funny. I can’t wait to hear him try to talk with both front teeth missing.

SO… we’re very close to his birthday. I was telling him how seven years ago I was really really really wishing he would be born. He thought that was pretty cool… we talked about how happy I was when he arrived and how lucky I am to be his mom. Just as I walked out of his room he asked me: “Mom. How do you know when the baby is ready to be born?” I simply responded: “It hurts. A lot.”

He seemed to be okay with that answer.

I feel terrible for not sharing Cameron’s big trip to Jefferson City until now… But here’s the scoop.
We were in town for an appointment so I figured we should stop by the State Capitol to see how state government works. Cam’s been really interested in politics since the presidential election. So he was very excited to see how things work in our state. We met up with a former student who now works for the state house communications department. He told Cam about the history of the building and let him visit the press area in the house chambers. He also took him into the senate chambers (which is smaller and doesn’t actually have a specific portion of the room exclusive to the media). Cameron was impressed and excited to see the huge building. To add to the excitement, a person I talk to on Twitter read how we were in the building… And he had a key to portions of the building you can’t easily see: the top of the dome!

He took us up to the top of the Whispering Gallery – it’s a balcony that spans the inside of the dome. When you whisper on one side, a person standing across from you can hear everything you say. Cam thought that was really cool. Then it got more exciting. We talked Cam into walking up a TON of stairs to get to the highest accessible point of the building. We got to see all of the views of Jefferson City from the very top. Cam wasn’t scared – the only thing that spooked him a bit was the last bit of stairs. He’s clearly much less afraid of heights than I am!

We almost immediately took the pictures we took to Walgreens and printed out photos to bring to school the next day. Cameron was able to bring the photos and tell everyone about his awesome experience. He now tells me he thinks Jefferson City is the coolest place in the whole world.

Cameron lost his Mama Dot last week… And he’s taking it pretty well, but this has been pretty hard for him. He’s so lucky to have had a great-grandma until he was almost seven years old! I had always wished I had known my great-grandparents. He’s one of the lucky few. Cameron had a chance to meet my Grandma James. She was so awesome. We lost her when Cam was only three. He was there for the funeral, but he doesn’t remember the experience. So this was a tough one.

Cam experienced a visitation and a funeral that included a burial service. He watched as drivers pulls to the side of the road in respect as the procession drove to the cemetery. It’s a lot for a young guy to ingest. And he’s doing pretty well. We took a really long walk after we got home from Kentucky today to help him get all of the energy out. He’s upset. He’s sad. He misses Mama Dot. It’s totally understandable. But he and I also talked about how lucky he was to really know her and spend so much time with her. Plus, it was so nice to have the kids around during this sad time. There’s something about little kids that make you want to smile… Which is why I’m trying not to feel guilty about a little laughter outburst he and I had during the end of the funeral service. He clearly needed a little joke… So I taught him:

Why is six afraid of seven?
Because seven “ate” nine!!!!

Too funny for us at the moment. And it helped him relax a bit while everyone else thought we were a bit off. But, we’ll do what we need to do to get through sad times.

We’ll miss you Mama Dot! Cameron misses you very very much!