Cannon is 11 Months & Cat vs. Dog

Cannon turned 11 months on the 21st. I meant to post it awhile ago, but I was waiting to take his picture. So yesterday I finally got around to taking some pictures of him.

Cannon has definitely had some big accomplishments lately, the biggest one was crawling! He finally crawled about a week ago and he's been polishing that skill ever since. He still doesn't crawl all the time, but I'd say it's about 30-40% of the time. He is still receiving PT from ECI and I also take him to a pediatric chiropractor. As I had mentioned earlier, his hip is higher on one side causing some difficulty with his left leg. Every time we go to the chiropractor, which so far has been once a week, she said his leg is stuck again, but she is not sure why. I will definitely talk to his pedi about that at his 12 month well check.

I love to hear Cannon talk. He always has stories to tell when he wakes up. It's so cute because he starts to babble, but he uses his hands to talk too! He is very serious about his stories too. I think it's safe to say that his first word is "Dada." Every time he sees Ryan he says, "Dada" or "Dad." He says mama, but not discriminately. He may have also said banana. A couple of weeks ago I was giving him a banana and he said, "na-na-na." He hasn't done it again, so we'll see if it counts. I also swear he said duck when he was playing with his rubber ducks in the bath. But it sounded more like, "dut." Again, I haven't heard him repeat it. But whether or not I was just hearing things, he is talking more. His receptive communication is getting pretty good too. If you ask him to give something a kiss, he will. If you say clap, he will. If you say hooray, he throws his hands in the air. If you say where's daddy or where's Blue, he looks around. He knows his name and he knows he not supposed to get into something if I say no or not for Cannon. He also knows what cat and bye-bye mean. There might be more words, but these are just the ones that are easy to notice.

He is getting good at protesting when he doesn't want to do something or if I deny him an opportunity. The dog food is a daily battle in our house. Cannon throws a little fit if I close the doors or move him away. Or if I pull out a diaper and he doesn't want his diaper changed. He also lets me know that he doesn't want to take a nap. We do our routine, read books in the rocking chair and then turn on his sound machine. He gets so mad when I turn it on because he knows that it's time to go to sleep. And he doesn't really let me rock him very much anymore (sad for me) and it's good if I can get through one song. Yesterday Cannon and I were out and about taking chips and salsa to some people from church. He quickly realized that we were only staying for a short time at each home and that he was going to have to get back in his car seat, so he got really mad each time I tried to get him in. At the last house the lady was trying to get him to smile, but he wouldn't. When we started to walk out the front door, he realized we were about to go to the car and he reached out for her to hold him. So she took him and he looked at me like he just outsmarted me! It's fun to watch him problem solve and think about things.

Cannon is still a pretty good eater. There was that bout for two weeks when he wouldn't eat anything because he was sick, but that has passed. But ever since his teeth started to come through, he has been a little pickier. I am guessing because his teeth/gums are a little sensitive right now. He doesn't like to eat cut up fruit right now, he would rather have it pureed. But he will eat anything it it's scrambled with eggs. He LOVES scrambled eggs and I'll add things like bell peppers, onions, spinach, etc. and he eats all of it!

In other news, we inherited a cat. He belongs to Beverly's mom, Linda (Bev is Ryan's brother's wife). She moved into an apartment and he is an outdoor cat, so she needed someone to take him permanently. His name is Sidney and he's a very sweet cat. Cannon just loves him and he is patient with Cannon. Our problem is with Blue. She used to like cats when she was a puppy, but now she barks and chases after them. Although Sid likes to be outside a lot, he does spend time inside and Blue goes crazy! Does anyone have any suggestions? Please? At first I let Blue sniff Sid's stuff including his carrier. And since Blue was calm, I praised her and gave her a treat. Then I put her leash on and let her see Sid, but she freaked! Today I tried scolding her when she barked at him. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do. It is just one of those things that that after time they will learn? I am afraid that Sid will scratch Blue and that she might bite back in defense. Or vice-versa, Blue will attack first and Sid will scratch back. My dream is that they will become best friends and we will all be a happy family! Ha!






He smiles like this a lot now. It's cute because you can see his one tooth. It's mate should be coming through any time now.


This is the battle. This was my fault because I left the room for a minute and I heard Blue's food, but I though SHE was eating it. When I came in I found that Cannon had splashed all the water onto himself and the floor and the dog food was now bloating in it. And yes, he ate quite a bit of it!


Cannon and Sidney.

Rodeo

On Saturday we went to the rodeo with my dad and cousins. Actually, on Friday night all the adults (including me and Ryan) went to the actual rodeo and concert and then on Saturday we took the kids to the carnival part. I was really looking forward to taking Cannon. We got there right when it opened, so we were the first ones to go into the petting zoo. Cannon got a kick out of all the animals! It was so cute watching him. Then we took him on the pony ride, which he absolutely loved! He was laughing the whole time! Then he got his face painted and he held still while the guy painted a longhorn. I thought by the end of the day he would be scratching it off, but he never touched it. Then we went and did the rides. Cannon was only tall enough to go on the ferris wheel and the little trains. Ryan didn't think he would like the ferris wheel, but he did. It was just Cannon and me that went and he just chilled on my lap. He liked it when the wind blew in his face and he was also clapping. He liked the trains too. He never got a morning nap that day, but he never got fussy or grumpy. He was having way too much fun! It was definitely fun for me and Ryan to watch Cannon have such a great time. The weather was perfect too. Cool in the morning, but it warmed up to about 80 in the afternoon.

p.s. that's my new hair cut and color












My dad really wanted to ride the train with Cannon. I think he was having just as much fun as the kids!

Baby O Baby!

On Tuesday we went down to College Station to stay with Kristina. Beverly and the kids came down too, but they stayed at Aunt Barbara's house (we call her Auntie B now). I was finally able to get a picture of all six grandkids together!



So here's the breakdown of the Rees grandkids: Jeremiah (aka, T), Jade and Ally are Robert and Beverly's kids (Rob is Ryan's brother); Cole and Lyla are Rick and Kristina's kids (Kristina is Ryan's sister); and then Cannon. We say that all the grandkids come in two's and it works out really well that way. And each pair has a connection. For example, Jade and T are a year apart, so they always have each other to play with and both their initials are JT (Jade Taylor and Jeremiah Teancum). Cole and Cannon are six months apart and both their names start with C. Ally and Lyla are three days apart and they both have the same letters in their names. So that's that!

We were having such a fun time in College Station! It was SO much fun having girl time and to be with Kristina, Bev, Aunt Barbara and all our babies. Barbara's great because she has all the kid stuff at her house. Cannon loves being at Kristina's house and he loves playing with Cole. My original plan was to stay from Saturday to Saturday over spring break so Ryan could study for his test. As you know, Cannon got croup last week, so plan B was to stay from Tuesday until Saturday. Well, Cannon got sick again! On Wednesday he started to get low fevers, but on Thursday he was having high fevers, 102 and 103. I called his doctor and she said she wanted to see him to rule out a chest cold or pneumonia. So we left on Thursday afternoon. It wasn't so bad because Bev was leaving at the same time so we caravan-ed.


These two boys have so much fun together! Cole is super anxious for Cannon to walk so that they can share in all the fun times.


Grandma Rees bought them twin outfits for Christmas, but it took us this long to take a picture!

I was finally able to take some pictures of Lyla, but our photo session was short this time. I got a few good ones, but hopefully I'll be able to get some more soon.


This one is my favorite!


She has such big eyes and she is so alert! Her eyes are blue and we think they are going to stay blue! She will be the only Rees grandchild with blue eyes. Everyone else has brown.






Cole is such a good big brother! He loves to give her kisses when she is crying and tries to help her feel better.





On Friday I took Cannon to his pediatrician. He came back negative for flu and ear infections. His chest x-ray and urine sample were clear. She took his blood and it showed that his white blood cell count was elevated, indicating an infection. She gave him a shot of antibiotics and a prescription for oral antibiotics. Today his fever was down to 101 which was a big improvement over yesterday's high temperature of 104! Last night he went to bed at 7pm and slept soundly until 7:30am, then went down for a nap at 9am and slept until 12:30, he then took a second nap from 2:30 until 4:15 and went to bed just after 7pm! He's definitely catching up on his sleep! I can tell that he really doesn't feel well. He is not his normal self. He is so fussy and clingy and he won't play. I even took a warm bath with him (which is usually his most favorite thing), but he cried the whole time. And he has lost his appetite. Usually he eats an incredible amount of food, but since he got croup his appetite has really diminished. Yesterday I got him to eat some scrambled eggs with spinach, but today he only ate half a jar of food. I've been trying to nurse him more and I've even given him formula bottles. He's also a little dehydrated and he's been drinking water like it's going out of style! He's never been sick like this before. I guess I'll stop bragging about how my baby never gets sick!

Part of the issue is that he is getting at least four teeth! One on bottom and one on top have already broke through. The other two on bottom and top are coming through any time now. I also noticed that several teeth are getting close to the edge of the gums, so he may be getting more teeth.






Until today, the weather here has been amazing! We have been trying to spend as much time playing outside as possible. Cannon loves riding his bike that Grandpa Smith got him for Christmas.


This is his latest interest.

My Poor Little Can Man

So this morning we started our day bright and early with a trip to the ER! At about 6:30 this morning I heard Cannon on the monitor screaming and wheezing. I rushed into his room and saw that he was struggling to breathe. I got him and then went to wake up Ryan saying, "Ryan, Cannon is having a hard time breathing!" His response, "Oh, poor little guy." I rephrased my sentence realizing that my previous statement must have lacked a sense of urgency, "RYAN, HE'S NOT BREATHING!!!" Ryan jumped out of bed and immediately decided that it was necessary to take him to the hospital. We were in the hospital by 6:45. He had no fever, no congestion, and no symptoms when I put him to bed that night, except for a little cough. I also realized this morning that his cough was like a barking cough. It sounded terrible and he cried every time he coughed. They first gave him a steroid. Usually they do that through an IV, but luckily they were able to just give it to him orally. Then they gave him a breathing treatment. He liked it at first, but then he kept smacking it down. Then he had a chest x-ray. Then he had another breathing treatment because the first one didn't work. This time he liked it and he held the tube and actually put it in his mouth for the remaining time. It was hilarious because he kept blowing out puffs of vapor. We stayed in the ER for about five hours and then we got to go home. Ryan didn't have time to call in a sub for his class, so I said he could go to work. Before he left he gave Cannon a priesthood blessing and I felt a lot better after that. It worked out because Beverly was taking in Ally for a weight check at the pediatrician's office, so she was nearby. She brought us breakfast and then picked us up when we were discharged. And when we got home, I realized that I was locked out of the house and she was able to break in and unlock the front door. She was a lifesaver in many ways today!

Diagnosis: croup. The steroid is supposed to last up to five days. Since this is viral, antibiotics won't work, so the doctor gave us some things we can do at home to help with the symptoms. And tomorrow morning Cannon will see his pediatrician. So far he is doing much better. He went to bed at 7 and I haven't heard him cough. He's sleeping with his humidifier so that should help.

What a Wonderful Day!

Today I had the wonderful experience of taking part in the birth of my new niece, Ally! A while ago my sister-in-law, Beverly, asked me if I would accompany her to her birth classes since her husband Robert was working during the times. I was really excited when she asked me! She chose to do hypnobirthing because she wanted to do it all natural this time. I highly recommend this method and I plan on using this method with my next kid. I won't go into all of the details of this method, but you can google it if you're really interested. Basically you are taught (from the classes, the book, and by practicing) how to get your body into total relaxation during labor so that you are not feeling the "pains." Of course there is a lot of discomfort and pressure, but when you are totally relaxed and focused, there is no pain. You also let your body do the work. The classes and the book were so educational to me. So much in fact that it has changed my philosophy on child birth. But anyway, Bev also asked me if I would act as her birthing coach when the time came. I was super excited for this because I have never witnessed a live birth.

On Friday night, Rob and Bev dropped the kids off at our house because we were going to keep them overnight so that they could go to the Temple in San Antonio. Well, Bev text me at 7:15 the next morning to tell me that she was in labor! Her contractions were 10 minutes apart, but she felt that she had a lot of time ahead of her (which she did!). They made it back to Austin in the afternoon and Rob went to work (he has a radio show). I took Bev, Cannon, and the kids to run some errands for Bev and then we went back to their house. And Ryan went to pick up Rob from work and record an interview for the next show. Bev wasn't due until March 9th, and we were planning on getting everything ready this coming week. So we were trying to put things together at the last minute. Linda (Bev's mom) came and picked up the kids and Ryan came back with Rob and took Cannon home. By this point her contractions were three minutes apart and getting stronger. I thought for sure that we would be going to the hospital that night, so I decided to spend the night. Bev really wanted to labor as much as possible at home because she thought she would be more comfortable. Also, Kylene and Jeff came over too, to bring some stuff we had them pick up at the store. So Bev decided to lay down in bed around 11pm. Her contractions actually stopped and she was able to sleep until about 4am. I got up around 7:30 and she was starting to have irregular contractions again. Ryan brought Cannon over so I could feed him. The Ryan left to go put Cannon down for his nap at our house. Well, about 45 minutes later, Bev announced that she thought it was time to go to the hospital. I had been timing her contractions and they were about five minutes apart, but then all of a sudden they sped up really fast. We got to the hospital at about 11:20 am. They had us go to triage first because they didn't believe she was in labor (she was staying relaxed). By this point her water was already broken, but they always have to check to make sure. And, although she was having lots of contractions, they had a hard time finding them on the monitor. After 30 minutes later they decided that she truly was in labor (she was at a 5), so they got her into a room. While in the triage room, she was really uncomfortable and was threatening to get an epidural. I knew that once we got her settled in her real room that she would be able to focus again. And that's just what happened. She got focused again and was able to get really relaxed. About an hour later, the doctor checked her and she was at a 9! The doctor said she would be back in about 10 minutes, because it could be that fast. And it was! I ran to get the nurses because Bev said it was time. The doctor told her to push, but as part of hypnobirthing, Bev really wanted to let the baby come out herself without pushing (yes, you can do it that way). The baby's heart rate was getting really low and the doctor said that she had to push. So with a few pushes later, baby Ally was born at 2:14 pm! It was so neat to be in the room and experience this! I was so proud of Beverly to do it all natural! And she had been in labor for 40 hours! With her other two children, she had pitocin and an epidural, but she said this experience was so completely worth it! She said she felt so good afterward and baby Ally was so alert and healthy. Oh, so Ally weighed 8lbs 9oz and was 20.5 inches. She is a content baby, unless you mess with her and then she shows her set of lungs! We also discovered that she has red hair! It's a darker red, like the color of Kylene's.


Here's Cannon just relaxing in Jade and T's little chair. And he is such a poser for the camera!


Here's T and grandpa. T is so excited to be a big brother! He wanted to hold her right away.


T, Cole, Cannon, and Ally were all born at the same hospital.


Look at those cheeks!










I didn't get any pictures of Jade yet, because she wasn't ready to hold Ally yet.




I told Cannon to give Ally a kiss and he tried to eat her. We thought it was so cute and we tried to get a picture, but every time we get the camera out he has to smile and pose!

Let It Snow!

On Tuesday we woke up to a very RARE event in Austin. Not only did it snow ALL day, but it stayed and didn't melt until the end of the next day. We got about two inches, but cities further north got many more inches. And I have never seen snowflakes so big! They were as big as silver dollars! Kids were able to build actual snowmen and I saw lots of kids sledding on the hills by our house (they used their boogie boards). Cannon and I went out in the morning when it just started. I really thought it was going to melt by the end of the day, but it just kept snowing! I wish I got more pictures because it really looked like we were in Utah.


Cannon actually really liked the snowflakes. I wish we had taken more time to play in the snow that day. We rushed outside in the morning to take this picture because I didn't think it would last very long.

Also on Tuesday, we had a baby shower for my sister-in-law, Beverly. Our friend's six month old daughter was thrilled with Cannon's presence. Cannon, on the other hand, was not quite sure what he thought of her excitement! He later stole her bow and tried to pull her pony tail.


This is an actual candid picture of Blue. She was attacking the blanket and took a moment to pause for the camera.

And in other news, Ryan's sister, Kristina, had her baby late Thursday night! Lyla Noel was 7lbs 3oz and 20 inches long. These are the only pictures I have, but I will get lots of pictures when we go visit them next week. Last month they moved to College Station, which is about two hours from us. So Cannon and I will go and help take care of Cole.


Isn't she cute? I think she looks a lot like Cole.

It Was Bound to Happen

I can't believe that I made it almost nine months before Cannon discovered the tupperware cabinet. Well he first discovered the cabinet with all the poisons, then the dishwasher, then the tupperware. Our house is SO not baby-proofed!

Cannon also turned 10 months old on Sunday, which is insane to me! We are already starting to plan his birthday party!

I guess things haven't changed too much since last month. He is able to scoot forward on his belly, like an army crawl. His PT pointed out to me that he only uses one leg to do this resulting in an asymetrical pattern. This is one thing we will be working on. But he is getting pretty good at his crawling and he can crawl over couch cushions and other things. When he's standing at the coffee table he can cruise one side, but he can't go around corners yet.

He LOVES to read books! Anytime he is fussy or sad, I'll just pull out some books. It's funny because he definitely has likes and dislikes. If he hates a book he will smack it down immediately! His favorite books right now are: anything lift-the-flap, Baby Einstein Mirror Me and Language Nursery, Here Are My Hands, the 10 Little Rubber Ducks, Fish Eyes, Baby World Playtime, I Love Colors, So Big, Cat (but he pulled off the tail so I have to fix it), and Dear Zoo.

Cannon and Blue have become quite the pair. Their mischievous act today included Blue retrieving a huge dryer lint ball from the laundry room and sharing it with Cannon. Yes, they both ate it. Speaking of eating, Cannon will literally eat anything. This includes carpet, hair, fur, leaves, old food, paper, string, rope, and other unknowns. It doesn't matter how many times I vacuum or how clean I thing the floor is. He will always find something!

As for real food, he can eat almost anything (even without teeth). We are holding off on citrus and tomato foods until he turns one. I let him try a clementine and he threw it up. He has also tried peanut butter and he seems to be okay with it. He still can't have anything dairy. Ryan and I let him have some pancake and he threw it up. I haven't given him any yogurt for a long time and I haven't given him cheese at all. I think we will use goat's milk or coconut milk when he turns one. He has had coconut milk yogurt and he is okay with it, but it's just so expensive. I've also given him plain goat's milk and he's okay with that too.

He sleeps well and goes down pretty easily. He prefers for either me or Ryan to put him to bed. He will let someone else, but he'll fuss for a few minutes. Separation anxiety has started, but it's really not as bad as I was expecting it to be. I totally thought I would have a complete mama's boy! Oh, and he has started sleeping with a stuffed animal. Over these last few weeks I have let him sleep with different stuffed animals, but nothing really stuck with him. Until Carmel. Carmel is a stuffed animal puppy that I got for Ryan a long time ago when his real dog, Sugar, died. Now Cannon loves him and he gets so excited when he sees Carmel in his crib! It's really cute. Cannon really likes anything with face on it. He even has a small truck that has a face and he smiles at it and talks to it.

I had a really hard time with this month's photo session. Cannon thinks he is supposed to crawl everywhere instead of stay perfectly still for me. I ended up sitting him on top of a chair or stool, which didn't always work. So these photos didn't turn out super fabulous, but they are still cute. On Sunday it was gloriously beautiful outside! It was sunny and very warm, so we spent some time outside. Cannon pretty much wears the same thing to church every Sunday because I refuse to buy him anymore winter church clothes at this point. I purchased his Easter outfit a while ago and I just had to put it on him. His white Easter outfit. I know the rules about babies and white, but I ignored it. I was just so excited that I got him dressed before his first nap, which is also before lunch. Of course 30 seconds after I got him dressed he spit up on the collar and proceeded to spit up six times more throughout the day. I even ignored the warning take off his white shorts while he ate lunch, which resulted in squash stains and an emergency wash and dry right before church.


Trouble!!!


Notice the tongue roll!















One picture of me.


It was sooo nice outside on Sunday. While Cannon's shorts were drying, we went outside. He would not sit up in the chair! The camera had a weird setting, so the pictures came out very bright.