January 9, 2009

Speed Racer


Thanks to the severity of his anemia (from Fifth Disease), Cameron pretty much slept through his first three months of life. Fortunately, he's not doing scary things anymore like sleeping through his blood draws, but he is still pretty groggy a lot of the time.

In our constant battle to find creative ways to simultaneously entertain our older children and keep Cameron awake for more than 10 minute stretches, my husband and I built a makeshift racetrack around the perimeter of the first floor of our house. Several times a day, we strap Cameron into his sister's doll stroller and let the older kids take turns doing laps around the kitchen and dining rooms. To prevent catnaps (and unlawful speeding), we built in a few sharp turns and speed bumps.

At first, the kids fought over who got to push Cameron and for how long. After a few days, however, the novelty wore off. Now it's a chore.

"I need ten laps out of you while I make dinner," I told Cortlen last night.

"I don't want to!" whined the disgruntled driver in reply.

"Life is a highway," I said nervously as I nibbled on my fingernails. "You'd better get going before you get run over."

I meant what I said literally. Camber had been watching our exchange from the living room and didn't like the way that her brother was breathing on her doll stroller. As Cortlen strolled casually down the hallway, he had no way of knowing that he was about to get sideswiped by a fast-moving semi.

22 comments

Reese said...

Oh, that cute little face. I hope he continues to improve.......sounds like your ingenious methods are doing the trick!

Unknown said...

Jana, your Cameron is so cute, I hope he continues to grow and improve.
I love the humor you find in life, it's really so nice to read.

chelsea said...

We are obessed with your blog!! Thanks for letting us steal Amy for a few days and tell the boys we LOVE the unicorn--it will have a permanent spot on top of our TV. :)

Mrs. Booms said...

He's gorgeous.

Anonymous said...

He looks like a perfectly healthy boy! Finton (his baby twin, remember?) weighed 10lbs 6ozs on Tuesday! Almost doubled our weight in 3 months!! The funniest part of the pic is that you can make it larger and see the caution on the side of the stroller that reads "This is a toy item. Do not put child in stroller" LOL!

Liz said...

Completely adorable!! Go speed racer! :)

Stoker Family said...

he is so cute. My kids would love to push Henry around. I still catch Charlotte putting Henry in our doll stroller and he loves it.

Diane said...

I didn't realize Cameron was in a doll stroller at first and was impressed at how big he was. It sounds like a good Idea, especially during these dreary winter months. He looks to cute.

Kimberly said...

Holy cow! What a sweet face; he LOOKS like a doll :-D

Ally in Wonderland said...

I'm so glad you document these things. When Cameron comes to figure out exactly what has happened, the sale of these photos should pay for his therapy.

That Girl said...

Hey - just discovered you from Steph and Diapers and Divinity.

And I'm hooked.

Isn't it amazing that ANYTHING will become boring when repeated?

Beth said...

He looks like a doll. Really, he is cute!

Ice Cream said...

Can I have a turn? Me! Me! I wanna play with Cameron.

Talk about the cutest doll EVER.

Staci said...

Thank you to Finton's Mommy for a second round of laughter - I cracked up after enlarging the picture to read the warning label.

becca said...

I am in the process of reading all your archives. I might be a stalker. But mostly I just find you quite funny! I read an old post about random socks, and I wanted you to know I was chuckling to myself today as I have so far collected about 35 individual socks this morning. :)

Alisha said...

I love your blog! You made me laugh, which is hard to do on blogs. I found you from my friends blog (Tonya). Hope you don't mind me checking in from time to time.

April said...

oh, he's gorgeous. hope this keep getting better :-)

Anonymous said...

Sounds dangerous...

Jana said...

Thanks for your good thoughts and ongoing support re. Cameron. Welcome new readers! I'm so glad that you're here!

Erin said...

man he's cute.

Dolly said...

My 11 yr.old daughter would LOVE to push baby Cameron around the track! She's so into babysitting-it drives her 4 yr old brother crazy!

Lady of Perpetual Chaos said...

Hey, we have that exact same stroller at our house. It gets similar use occasionally. ;o)