Screamer!

Cannon has really been into screaming, when he's happy or mad. He did it all day yesterday and this morning. I took this video this morning when he was playing in his crib. He talks to himself all the time! It's really cute.




So I decided it was time for him to learn how to sleep without being swaddled. This was my third attempt, but this time I was ready to deal with short naps and middle-of-the-night wake-ups. My reason for this was because he gets out of his swaddle at night, which wakes him, and the blanket gets around his neck and face (not safe!). He is also going to start rolling over any day now. So I started this on Saturday for naps. His naps were okay, but it went better than I thought. Then Saturday night he went to bed at 8:30. He is a champ when it comes to going to bed. We have our little routine and then I lay him in bed with his music on and he usually is quiet or talks himself to sleep. Saturday night was no different. And he slept until 6:30am, so I was happy about that! Sunday he had horrible naps. He never slept longer than 45 minutes! So last night I put him to bed at 8:15 and he slept until 7:20! And this morning he took a two hour morning nap! So hopefully this good sleeping will continue.

Look what I can do!

Cannon just started sitting up last week! At first it was only for about 10 seconds, but now he can sit for almost a minute. When I tried it the first time I thought maybe he could do the tri-pod pose, but I was surprised how upright he could sit. Of course, when I tried to take pictures he was never in his best sitting position. Sometimes I let him fall over and it doesn't seem to bother him. Yesterday he fell and accidentally hit his head on the wall. I felt bad, but he didn't cry, so I guess it didn't hurt.

Cannon is also starting to grow in new hair! He has all this new fuzz on the top of his head. I can't wait until it's long enough for me to style again! He isn't rolling over both ways yet, but I think he could if he really tried. He rolls to his side to reach for toys, but stops when he gets them. So I tried putting them a little out of his reach, but then he won't try to get them. Oh well, he'll do it soon enough. He has also been playing with his feet more. He grabs them, but he can't get them to his mouth yet.

This week he decided to only take two naps instead of three. I was okay with this because each nap was two hours long. It makes it tricky because when he wakes up from the second nap, it's too late to take a third nap but too long to wait until bed (unless I put him down at 6:45). So I've been doing my errands in the early evening and letting him sleep in the car for 10 or 15 minutes. It's just long enough to get him through until bedtime. He is still waking up in the night, actually it's the early morning, to eat and then go back to sleep. It's my goal to get him to sleep 11-12 hours, without eating, by the time he is six months old. So I've been tweaking his schedule a little and hopefully it will work. I'm just tired of getting up in the night. It wouldn't be so bad, but I can't fall back to sleep for almost an hour. He is also not very hungry when he wakes up for real at 8:00 or 8:30 because he just ate at 5:00 or 6:00am. So he should be eating during the day and not in the middle of the night. He was such a good sleeper as a newborn that I thought it would carry on. Don't get me wrong, he is a good sleeper now, but he hasn't really progressed recently. At age six weeks, he started sleeping eight hours at night. When I started solids, he was going 10 hours. One time he went 11, so I know he can do it. But right now he is back to eight or nine. So yesterday I gave him his "dinner" rice cereal right before his bedtime nursing instead of at our regular dinner time hoping that he could go longer (don't ask me about last night, he woke up at 2am). Then this morning I gave him a little bit of rice cereal after I nursed him. This will give him three solid food meals a day plus five nursings (four, once I cut out the 5am one). I'm not really sure how to cut out that 5am feeding, so I'm open to suggestions. I was thinking of only partially feeding him and gradually decreasing it. I've tried rocking him back to sleep, but that did not go over well at all! I'm hesitant to let him cry it out because he gets out of his swaddle that way and then I have to reswaddle him. I guess I could also teach him to sleep without his swaddle. Any other suggestions?

Ryan's Car

So, I have to better explain Ryan's car. Yes, it's a P.O.J. (piece of junk), but it's only a '99! It's not even that old! Ryan's parents bought it just before he came home from his mission in 2002. It was in perfect condition, with very low miles, and they even considered it a sports car (I considered it a grandma car). The first time Ryan ever came to my house, when we were just friends, I looked out the window when he left to see what kind of car he drove. I was surprised to see him driving an Oldsmobile. I was also surprised that he had a little white poof-ball dog named Sugar. Back then Ryan had a reputation for being wild, meaning that he went cliff jumping every night, he had bleached blond hair, and was once seen at church sporting half a go-tee. So seeing him with his old lady car and dog made me wonder about him. Anyway, getting back on the subject, Ryan has really prematurely aged his car. The high miles have come from many road trips from Austin to Salt Lake City and back again. Ryan also used to work at Papa Johns delivering pizzas and he also likes to drive around just for fun. So that's the story of Ryan's car. It's not old, just junked. Ryan is proud of it and it's smell. So don't feel sorry for us because he is the one that drives it, I only drive it once in a blue moon. It's paid for and it gets him from point A to point B. I just hope it a lasts a little longer!

Yes, the trunk is closed!

Notice the manila folders keeping the window up.

He loves it, for some reason.

Blue thinks she going too.

She's sad because she doesn't get to go bye-bye with Ryan.

So she chases after him.

Here's a cute picture of Cannon and his cousin Cole who is 11 months old. We actually had a few cool days this week. Lil' Buddy is a dog toy, not a baby toy.

Cannon is 5 Months Old & The Top 10 Reasons Why I Hate Driving Ryan's Car

Today Cannon is five months old! To celebrate, he got to eat nectarines for lunch. Of course he loved them! On Friday we are going to try peaches. He has sweet tooth, like his mommy, so he loves all fruits. Actually, he likes just about anything we give him. He has a definite interest in what we are eating, but doesn't understand why he can't have everything we have.

Here are the foods he eats so far: applesauce, avocado, carrots, green beans, nectarines, pears, prunes, rice cereal, squash, and sweet potato. His least favorite are green beans, but he will still eat them. Sometimes I get creative and mix foods together, such as squash-sweet potato-pears. He likes it when I do that. He eats solid foods twice a day. For lunch he will have a fruit or vegetable and for dinner he will have rice cereal mixed with formula and a fruit or veggie. He also nurses six times a day. Lately my milk has been really low for his bedtime feeding, but I have been able to get him to take 5-6 ounces of formula and then nurse. Ironically, I am the only one he will take a bottle for and he will only use the UT bottles Ryan got him for Christmas last year. I would like him to take a bottle for bed so that Ryan and I can go out and the baby-sitter can put him to bed. So far our bedtime routine is working well. He usually goes to bed around 8:00, sleeps for nine or ten hours, eats, and goes back to sleep until 8:00 or 8:30. He is still taking three naps during the day, two short and one long.

Other facts about Cannon:
-He screams like a girl
-Current play list: Jack Johnson, Oasis, Old McDonald had a Farm (with a cow), classical piano (bedtime only)
-He still likes to be swaddled for naps and bedtime
-He must be sung to before naps
-He like to go upside down (a daddy activity)
-Recently discovered Baby Einstein (from grandpa)
-Despite going bald, new growth is appearing
-He has harry legs

Today Ryan took my car to work because his had a flat tire. Cannon and I headed to Sears this morning to get his tire fixed. We ended up having to replace both rear tires because they were so bad. Ryan's car is junked, we are just waiting for it to die so he can get a new one. Hopefully it will last a while longer because we can't really afford a car payment right now. It is rare for me to drive his car, but being in it today caused me to reflect upon it's beauty. Here are the top 10 reasons why I hate driving his car:

10. The doors squeak when you open and close them

9. It smells

8. Ryan hasn't cleaned the inside in over a year

7. The fuel gauge is broken - you could be full, you could be empty

6. If you try to start the car too quickly, it goes into anti-theft-mode and you can't start it for 15 minutes

5. The back seat is falling off - yes, the seat

4. The rear windows fall down - manila folders have been shoved in the crevices to keep them up

3. The Service Engine Soon light is always on - yes, we serviced the engine...is there something still wrong with the engine...probably

2. It has 196,000+ miles - it could die at any moment

1. I'm sick of other cars telling me, "Your trunk is open!"

Many years ago, Ryan tried to tow another car by tying a rope to the inside of his trunk, thus jacking up his trunk. It does look like the trunk isn't closed all the way. I do have to point out that the AC in his car is super cold (nice for Texas summers) and Cannon's infant car seat fits incredible well in the middle spot (the broken seat in on the outboard).

Okay, after this long post, here are lots of pictures of Cannon.

Videos of Cannon

Here are a couple of recent videos of Cannon. They were taken with my phone, so I apologize for the low picture quality.

This first one is Cannon with my dad last Sunday. This was a miracle because he had been so miserable all day from teething . My dad can always get Cannon to laugh!





This one is Cannon is his jumpy thing. As you can see, he mostly just spins around in it. He loves watching Blue and this provides enough entertainment so that I can make dinner. Yes, Blue has to be a part of everything!




Cannon has recently discovered how to scream, like a ten-year-old girl. Ryan has a video of this on his phone, so I will post it soon.

'Lil Longhorn, 'Lil Cougar

Cannon was ready for both football games on Saturday. We were only able to watch the BYU game, which worked out because it was an awesome game! Ryan is looking forward to watching many more games with the Can Man.


He looks great in burnt orange!


And he looks great in blue!


Unfortunately he outgrew these shoes before he could wear them. I tried to squish his foot in it, at least so I could get a picture, but his foot is way too big.


Ryan took this family photo of us lounging on his mini couch.


My sister Shae is our #1 baby sitter. Cannon was getting relaxed as she rubbed his head. Maybe this will make his hair grow back!

Cannon's first football game

Last night we went to Stony Point's football game. Ryan teaches at Stony Point, but high school football here is big enough that you don't need a personal connection for attending the games. Plus, some of Ryan's students are on the team and Ryan wanted to show off Cannon. We thought that the Can Man would enjoy the sounds and colors and crowd, but we were wrong. He was really happy as Ryan carried him into the stadium. And he was content looking around while we were seated, but when the crowd cheered it startled him and he started to cry. It was too much stimulation for him, too much to see and hear all at the same time. After a little while he started to get used to it, but I took him home at half-time. I think that when he is a little older he will love football games. It was also close to his bedtime and I think that made him a little sensitive too. But it was still a fun little family outing. I know Ryan can't wait for Cannon to get bigger so he can teach him everything about football.


He had this worried look pretty much the whole time we were there.




This is a modified version of what his face looked like when the crowd cheered.


I finally found a way I can get ready with Cannon. He likes to sit in his little chair and look in the mirror!


Now we can both have a good time!