The Children's Museum

Today we went to the Austin Children's Museum with Kristina and kids. I have been wanting to take Cannon for a long time, but I was waiting for him to walk. Once a week they have their baby bloomers program and the museum is only open for kids under age three (which makes it so nice for the little guys to run around). Well, I thought that it was on Tuesdays, but it's actually on Mondays. Despite all the big kids running around, it was still a lot of fun. Here's some of the fun stuff we did:


We played giant sudoku.


He loved the trains! He's never played with a train set before, but somehow he just knew to put the train on the track and push it. I tried to get lots of picture of Cole and Cannon together, but it's nearly impossible! And my camera was acting up, so a lot of the pictures turned out too blurry.


He was obsessed with this giant chess set. He kept carrying the pieces around, but I felt bad because there were some kids actually playing a game. But they were nice and let him play with the captured pieces.


Hiding behind a big connect 4 game


He did enjoy tearing paper and putting the crayons in and out of the box.


He loved these mirrors and kept coming back to them.


And he liked these strings too.

Park, Pool, and Paramedics

Rick and Kristina are in town for a few days, so today we went to Zilker Park with all the cousins.  It was scorching HOT, but it was still fun!  We weren't they for too long, but long enough to play on the playground and ride the train.  

Me and Cannon














Kristina, Lyla, Cole, and Rick














 JT, Kylene (who we call Aunt Ky Ky), and Jade

Then we went home for naps and met up for swimming later.  When we were at the pool there was a women who went unconscious and fell to the ground.  Bev, who used to be an EMT, rushed over to help.  She gave her a couple rescue breaths, but she couldn't find a pulse.  So she did two more breaths and then the lady opened her eyes.  Her daughter and grandkids were there and her daughter called 911.  Bev stayed with them until the paramedics arrived and helped her get in touch with their other family members.  She said that she had cancer and was receiving treatment.  I love to hear about Bev's paramedic stories, but it was really cool to see her in action!  She is awesome in an emergency!  She stays calm and she always knows what to do.  Add that with her swim instructor certification and you know that she's who you want with you when you're at the pool.

Cannon had another awesome day at the pool! Bev gave me the next steps to do with him.  

Fire Ants

Yesterday evening we were in the back yard and Cannon stepped and then fell into a fire ant mound! I didn't see the mound until he stepped in it, but I quickly grabbed him and ran him to the tub. He didn't cry, but he made faces as they were biting him. I felt so bad for him! His legs were really swollen so I called the pediatrician and talked to the on call doctor. First he told me to rub meat tenderizer on his legs (apparently there is some enzyme that stops the swelling and spread of the poison if you apply it immediately after the being bitten). Well, we didn't have any meat tenderizer so he said to use ice and that he could have a little Benadryl. He slept fine that night and was fine today, but the bites remain. However, they do go well with the 15 or so mosquito bites on his back and head.


This picture was taken this morning and looks a lot better than yesterday when his legs were swollen.

Nothing Much

I don't really have much to talk about, but I haven't had a new post in a while. I misplaced the cord that plugs into my camera battery (and now the battery is dead), so I haven't been taking pictures. We were going swimming several times a week, but that has slowed down. We had a couple weeks here where it rained almost everyday. It was actually kind of nice. It cooled the temperature and now everything is green again. I was worried that Cannon would lose some of his swimming skills, but we went one day last week and he didn't miss a beat! I still need to get a video of him swimming. He will jump off the side into the pool (well, it's more like stepping off the side) and we go under the water with him. He has also learned how to blow bubbles in the water. Even though he loves swimming and loves being in the water, he spends half his pool time just walking around.

Cannon is into everything! Basically, he just goes around to each room in the house and pulls out whatever he can and then moves on to the next place. It's so hard to keep a clean house. Oh the joys of toddlerhood! So I decided that it was time to teach him to put things away. He's starting to get the hang of it now. He helps me put his toys away and he likes to put silverware in the dishwasher. Sometimes I can get him to put his clothes back in the drawer, but he's still just interested in pulling them out. He has finally mastered the stairs. He can go up and down (on his belly) and he knows how to turn himself around. I've been waiting for this one for a long time. It's a pain when we're at Ryan's parent's house and worrying about Cannon on the stairs. Worry no more! Other things he's into right now are: 1. wearing glasses 2. wearing things around his neck 3. screaming 4. being a total ham!



Sometimes we are outside when Ryan gets home and Cannon (and Blue) like to ride in the front seat just around the cul-d-sac.


Like I said, he's into everything!

Look Who's Walking Now!

Cannon took his first steps just before he turned 13 months. And now that it's a month later, he's really walking! He's really started to take off this past week and now he walks more than he crawls. This happened really fast for me, especially since we weren't encouraging him. He walks pretty well, but he still can't get himself up without holding on to something.

Since he's been focusing on learning to walk, his communication has slowed down a bit. So I'm hoping that will pick up again once he masters walking. But he has learned to say, "yeah," and shake his head yes when I ask him a question. Once in a while he will shake his head no if he really means it.

He LOVES singing songs, especially if they have actions.

Another thing he likes to do is rub lotion on his hands. I tried to show him to put it other places too, but he prefers it on his hands.

The things that go on in our house

These are the happenings in and out of our home.





We put a basket on the sleeping cat.



We put a bow on Blue.



Cannon wore 3-D glasses.



We played in the rain.



Our first swim of the year, earlier in May.



And this is our third swim of the year.

A Little Bit of This and a Little of That

We've just been busy and having fun! I'm lovin' life right now!

Last week I experimented and let Cannon only take one nap and now he's officially taking just one nap! I love it because we can get out of the house and do more things, like story time at the library. I also love it because (and this may just be temporary) he is actually sleeping more. He's been going to bed at 8 or 8:30 and sleeping 12 hours AND he takes a 2-3 hour nap! Okay, so this morning he woke up at 7:15, but I'll take what I can get.

On Tuesday of last week we had a spur-of-the-moment evening. Robert got tickets for the whole family to the baseball game. And best of all, it was in a suite. Sweet! Cannon ate ice cream and made friends with the neighboring fans. The weather was perfect and the evening was perfect. It was a late evening, but Cannon slept in the next morning.

Also, on Tuesday of last week, that was my last day to nurse Cannon. I didn't know that it would be my last day, but it just happened that way. I was planning on letting things go naturally and they did, but just a little faster than I expected. Cannon just wasn't that interested anymore and neither was my body. So it was pretty easy for both of us. I guess it's a little bittersweet, but it's nice to be normal again. My goal was to do it at least until he was 12 months and then we would play it by ear. I am pretty proud of myself for nursing him for 13 months.

Cole came over to play with us on Saturday. Kristina's friend from New York came to see her, so she dropped off Cole at our house to play. It's great since the boys are on the same schedule now. They followed each other around and didn't have any problems taking turns with particular toys. The age gap is narrowing, but you can see how more cognitively developed Cole is compared to Cannon. He's starting to get into pretend play and stuff like that. Cole REALLY wants Cannon to walk and he tries to hold his hand. Cannon doesn't like to be bothered in that way, so he swats at Cole. It's fun to watch them play together. They really do love each other. Both boys took a nap at 12:30 and slept until 3:15. It was perfect!

Ryan had the day off on Memorial Day, so we went swimming with Rob and Bev and the kids. This was our second time to swim this year, but this time we were more prepared. Cannon LOVES the water and he thought it was hilarious that he could be in the water with Ryan. I think we will be doing a lot of swimming this summer. After swimming, we had a BBQ dinner at Ryan's parents. We have been spending a lot of time with the whole family and I love it!

Yesterday was Ryan's last day of school! I know we are so spoiled, but we just love spending all this time with him. One thing we have been working on is having family prayer and scripture study everyday. I made a chart so that I can keep track and we have been doing really well. We have also been teaching Cannon how to fold his arms when we pray. Now if you ask him to, he will fold his arms and, as an added bonus, will bow his head too! It just makes your heart melt.
















It's so hard to get good pictures of these boys together. .





Jade loves to hold Cannon and carry him around.