Cannon's Birthday Bash!

We had Cannon's birthday party on Saturday and it was so much fun! Most of his cousins, aunts, and uncles that live here were able to attend. There were about 20 adults and 11 kids ranging in age from 1 month to 12 years old. Since my dad's house is better, that's where we had the party. It was absolutely gorgeous outside and we couldn't have asked for better weather! Shae did a wonderful job taking pictures.

On Friday Cannon had his well check. Here are his stats:
weight: 22lbs 14oz (50th percentile)
length: 31.25 inches (90th percentile)
So as you can see, he is getting long and skinny! We have started using goat milk instead of cow's milk, given his sensitivities. His pedi said to try cow's milk yogurt again, which we did and he was able to tolerate it! We are only using sippy cups now and all the bottles are packed away. He has become less and less interested in nursing, so I only nurse him at night before bed and when he wakes up in the morning. So we'll see how long that goes on for. It's kind of bittersweet. I thought I would be ready to wean him, but I'm not! So the twice a day works great for us as long as he wants to.


Cannon thoroughly enjoyed his dinner!


This was my attempt to make a puppy cake. It didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, but at least everyone enjoyed it!


I made Cannon his own cupcake made from whole wheat and sweetened with honey. He LOVED it and ate the whole thing and then he ate a piece of real cake that my dad gave him (minus the frosting).


We also let him stick his hand in the dog cake. He really just wanted to grab the candle.


Here's the birthday spread! My dad made brisket, chicken fajitas, shrimp pasta, as well as mac and cheese and chicken nuggets for the kids. We also had veggies, fruit, breads, queso, and other yummy munchies. Cannon ate the brisket, beans, and lots of fruit.


The kids had fun playing on the playscape and playing baseball. Blue had a great time running around with the kids!


And what party is complete without silly string!?!


The kids also had fun playing in the fountain. My dad is such a big kid!


Everyone was trying to get Cannon to walk! He actually took one step on his own earlier that day!


Since the theme was dogs, my dad got a bunch of stuffed animal dogs to use as decorations on the tables. Cannon LOVES stuffed animals and loves to hug and cuddle them (just like his dad).


Here's a picture of outside before everyone arrived.


Everyone was so thoughtful and generous! Cannon is definitely one spoiled little guy!


He enjoyed tearing the wrapping paper and playing with the bows, but he really just wanted to crawl away and play.


Hayden and Ella


Kennedi


Bev and Ally


My dad hung the doorway jumper onto the playscape so he could swing Cannon. He was laughing and squealing, but when he was done he reached out to me and said, "mama!" That was his first time to call me by name! It just melted my heart!

Happy Birthday Cannon!

I really can't believe that one year ago today I became a mom! I can't believe that my little baby is a toddler! It went by so fast. It's sad that it has all passed, but I'm excited to see what this year will bring.

It seems like Cannon learns something new everyday. Here are some recent talent developments:

• mastered crawling (finally!!)
• pulls to stand and cruises
• climbs up stairs
• clicks with tongue
• points the remote at the TV
• tries to put his shoes on his feet
• gives Blue her toys
• tries to put the rings on the ring stacker
• occasionally signs "more" and "all done"
• says "dada" and "dog"
• waves bye-bye (but usually only when Ryan leaves for work)
• gives hugs to everyone
• he recognizes a lot of what we say to him
• he sorts his food

For the most part he has been really healthy, but we've had our moments too. He has been able to overcome acid reflux, a cyst in his eye, one cold, a staff infection, one sinus infection, and croup (which possibly may have been a misdiagnosis for asthma).

Other facts about Cannon:

• he loves, loves, LOVES animals
• loves to play with water
• his new favorite foods are bean burritos (no cheese) and grapefruit
• he'll eat anything if it's mixed with scrambled eggs
• he has started to throw temper tantrums
• he still loves to read books
• he has three, almost four, teeth
• he likes to feed us and the dog his food (with the dog he sneaks it under his highchair tray)

Today we had such a fun day. First we went to Zilker Park. We rode the train and had a picnic lunch. I let him play in the river for a bit and then he played on the playscape. Afterward we went down the street to the Austin Nature and Science Center. All the animals they have are rescue animals and they cannot go back into the wild. On the way back to the car, I realized that Cannon fell asleep in his stroller. He never falls asleep in his stroller, so he must have been so tired. We got home and he transferred nicely into his crib and slept until 4:40! After he woke up we went out to dinner at Chuys. Instead of bringing food for him, we decided to order a kids plate for him (his first restaurant dinner). He ate a bean burrito with ranchero sauce and some rice, which he loved! Then we went home, had a bath, a went to bed. We had such a fun day!

Cannon is such a blessing in our lives and he is a such a delightful little boy. We love him so much and I'm so glad he came to our family!


I let him open his presents this morning. We got him a see-n-say and a dog book. My mom got him two outfits and a gift card. I also got him lots of summer clothes, but I only wrapped the toys. He has his birthday party on Saturday, so I'm sure he will get lots of goodies.


He had so much fun riding the train!




Kennedi had fun too!


He loved playing on the playground, but he was obsessed with the pebbles.


Exhausted!


Dinner at Chuys







This is just a random picture. One thing he likes to do is crawl around while he has something in his mouth. This time it happened to be my niece's pacifier. Ironically, he loves to keep pacifiers in his mouth even though he never took one when he was a baby. I guess it feels good to chew.


This is my favorite picture! Shae took this picture of us on the day he was born.


Our first family photo.

Having Fun!

We have had lots of fun with my sister and her baby here. It's nice to have another adult around the house with me all day. Cannon is curious about Kennedi and he always tries to grab her, which means going for her eyes. So we are working on learning to be gentle. Kennedi had been really fussy and then yesterday we realized that a tooth popped through! And a second one is shorty behind! She's only five months old too. But now she is feeling much better and she has been so happy.

Last week we saw a pediatric allergy specialist, per Cannon's pediatrician's recommendation. After we took Cannon to the ER for croup, we followed up the next day with his pedi. I told her that I had noticed a few days earlier that he was wheezing when he was scooting really fast, not only at home, but at Ryan's parent's house and his brother's house too. She said that wasn't normal and made the recommendation. Anyway, the allergy specialist thinks that Cannon may have asthma and that the croup was a misdiagnosis. She said that asthma is commonly mistaken for croup in little kids. She also thought it was weird that he did not have any other symptoms, no fever, congestion, runny nose, etc. She hasn't made the asthma diagnosis, but she just doesn't want to rule it as virus if that's not what it was. She gave me an albuterol inhaler and a little mask for me to give him if he starts to wheeze or cough. I have to keep track of when I have to give it to him and then we will go back in mid June. She will also do the skin test to see what he is allergic to. So far I've only had to give it to him once and it worked immediately. I do think it is asthma because I have been paying extra attention to his breathing. No matter where we are it gets worse when he is crawling really fast, his form of heavy exercise. He usually has a little wheezing, but I know it gets bad when he coughs too. So we'll see what happens. His allergy specialist is hopeful that he will be able to grow out of it, especially since we caught it early and while he is so young.




My two puppies. Well, that's what Cannon thinks! Those two are always fighting over Blue's toys and chewies.


Blue fell asleep here, but she kept a paw on her frisbee.


On Saturday there was a festival just a few minutes from our house. It was SO much fun! First of all, it was free and the weather was perfect and it wasn't too crowded. There were lots of ponies and dogs to pet and a little petting zoo. They also had a train ride and pony rides, but we didn't feel like waiting in line. We caught up with Rob and Bev and their kids, so that made it more fun. JT entered a contest where he rode a stick horse during the music and he had to do some kind of dance and he won third place! It was so cute and he was super excited!


I could not get a good picture of them in the bath. Cannon's new thing is standing in the tub, so he is not very cooperative lately.


I can get Kennedi to smile and laugh at me all the time, unless I am trying to take her picture!


My little snaggletooth!

Easter

We had a great Easter holiday! It was even more fun because my sister Merci has been here with her baby Kennedi. They are visiting here from Salt Lake and are staying with us for three weeks!

We started the morning by letting the babies have their Easter baskets. They weren't really fancy and there was no candy (except for the PEZ my mom sent me). Each one got a book, an outfit, and some bubbles. Then we got ready and went over to my dad's house. We listened to General Conference and colored eggs. Afterward, we went and took pictures in the Bluebonnets. Bluebonnets are the state flower of Texas. It is a local tradition to have your picture taken in the Bluebonnets which are in beautiful bloom each spring. Cannon was just a newborn and too tiny last year, so I have been looking forward to this spring.

Then we headed over to Ryan's parent's house to watch the afternoon session of conference and have dinner. It was such a fun day to spend time with family and just relax. I tried to take lots of pictures, but I was in a photographic slump that day and the pictures didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. But my sister Shae took some good ones of us.


I love this picture! I think we are going to print it out and frame it since we don't even have a decent family picture.






I had the hardest time getting Cannon to smile in any picture. He wasn't grumpy that day, but he just would pose like he usually does.


My dad got him this HUGE basket filled with everything a little boy could hope for! I ate all the candy the next day.


Cannon loves Kennedi, but we are working on learning how to be gentle.


Me, Cannon, Kennedi, and Merci

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.