18 Months and Counting

Last Thursday Cannon turned 18 months and I feel like we've turned a corner. We're in to new territory now and I am starting to see him slowly go from baby to boy. Sniff sniff. I miss my fat baby, but I love watching his personality emerge. He is a little person with his own ideas and agenda. I love it! He's a perfect fit for our family.

He had his well check today, which went well. He's basically a big guy. 34.25" tall (95th percentile) and 28lbs (75th percentile). This time he got to stand on the big adult scale, which he did willingly. I think it would have been a bigger fight to get him to sit on the infant scale.

Here are some other facts about Cannon:

-instinctively knows to laugh at gas
-thinks words like "pamphlet" and "product registration" are funny
-favorite hummus flavor: roasted red pepper
-turns his music on when he reads his books
-favorite shape: circle
-favorite color: purple
-favorite vegetable: zucchini
-gets his groove on to almost any music, but prefers classical or swing style
-when given the look, he will retrieve the object out of his mouth and bring it to you
-says more than 50 words

On Sunday he went to the nursery at church for the first time. The week before I took him to meet his teachers and see his classroom. His teacher's name is Gigi and he was saying "Gigi" all week. All week we talked about going to nursery on Sunday. And when the time came he went right to his teacher without a fuss! They said he played well, sat for the lesson, folded his arms for prayer, sang the songs, and ate his snack. I was so proud of him! I was expecting some sort of crying or hesitation from him, but I guess not! He did get a big bonk on his head when he collided with friend, but they said he only cried for a few minutes and then he went on his way. I hope the following weeks will go as smoothly!

I've Been Hired

Today was my first day at my new job. I'm happy about it. I'm not wild about leaving Cannon (even if it is just for a few hours each day), but this is the best thing for our family right now.

I've been looking for a job for awhile. I applied to so many different jobs (full and part time) and had a few interviews, but nothing felt right. I thought that I would probably look for something at a really nice child care center so I could take Cannon with me. I was offered a full time position at a nice center, but I turned it down. I just had a bad feeling. They even called me back to try to negotiate! I finally came across something that I knew would be a perfect fit. I applied, but didn't hear back from them for awhile. I prayed that I would at least get an interview. Well, I got the interview and I got the job! So what is it? I am a parent educator for a substance abuse facility for women. This means that I will be working 20 hours a week (generally Mon-Fri 4-8). This facility allows clients to bring up to two children (under the age of 6) to stay with them while they are receiving inpatient treatment. The kids attend a nearby child care center while the moms attend their classes and therapies. My job will be to help them learn how to be a parent including discipline, attachment, play, nutrition, sleep, and anything else they need help with. I will also train the evening and weekend staff on child development and such since they are lacking education in that department. I will also teach a parenting class once a week and do lots of other things too. There are a lot of changes going on at this facility and they said my position is a first of its kind and still a work in progress. It all sounds fun and challenging!

I spent a full day there today just training and going to meetings. I was amazed at how my mind was flooded with ideas to help the program! I am really excited to get to work! Kylene was so nice to watch Cannon for me today and I have to admit that I was so busy that I didn't think about him until after several hours had passed. Of course on the way home I couldn't wait to see him! I feel really lucky that I still get to spend most of the day with him, even though I will be giving up some family dinners and bedtime. I am excited about sharpening my professional skills and being able to help other families and children. I thought about my salary from this job compared to the one at the child care center. When you factor in that I would have had to pay a portion of Cannon's child care (50% discount for employees), I am still making more money working part time than if I would have taken the full time child care job. And I get to spend more time with Cannon. During work today I had a feeling that this is where I am supposed to be working. It's a peaceful feeling to know that you are doing the right thing.

Even though it's a little bit thrilling to leave this tantrumming toddler into the hands of another caring adult, I'm sure the novelty will wear off eventually. I am a little bit nervous about leaving him on a regular basis since I have never done that before, but I'm sure we'll get used to it. I am starting to get that sinking feeling inside, oh man I have to work tomorrow, but it's all psychological. That's just the lazy side of me coming out! I'll have to be more diligent in keeping up with my daily chores to make sure everything gets done. But mostly, Cannon and I will have lots of fun times together each morning.

Sweet Berry Farm

Last Saturday we took an hour trip out to Marble Falls to go to Sweet Berry Farm. It's a fabulous place and we had a great time, but the lesson we learned is do not go on the weekend! Everyone and their dog was there! Ryan and I aren't really crowd people, so the next time we go will be on a weekday for sure. The highlights of our little trip included pumpkin pie ice cream, petting the goats, picking flowers, and touring the endless exotic pumpkins and gourds. Cannon had fun doing his thing, just running around.

I was a little bummed because there were thousands of great photo opportunities and I only had my non-good camera with a low battery. The good news is that I finally ordered a battery for my good camera which should arrive today or tomorrow! So get ready for some awesome pictures soon!






So much fun picking flowers!


Our final selection included an apple gourd and a pumpkin.


Here's my bouquet arrangement.

Time to Say Goodbye

Last weekend our neighborhood pools closed for the winter. So sad. It was still hot on Saturday, so we went for one last swim. Cannon and I had gone swimming earlier that week and I was boasting to Ryan how Cannon would jump off the step, swim out, turn around, and swim back to the step all by himself. Since this effort took every bit of energy he had, he could only do it two or three times during our first five minutes of being in the water and he couldn't do it again during the rest of our swim time. I really wanted Ryan to witness this feat of strength and I really wanted to get it on video. Of course, with Ryan being present, Cannon acted like he had forgotten everything about swimming.

We have had such fun swimming this summer. I'm sad the pools are closed, but maybe we'll find an indoor pool to continue swimming. The other thing I really enjoyed this summer was getting to ride our bike to the pool. It made it so fun and easy. Cannon LOVES riding in his bike seat and luckily that is something we can keep doing all year round.


Despite the look on his face, he was really excited about going for a ride.

Blast From the Past

I remembered that I had some of Ryan's baby clothes in my cedar chest, so I pulled them out to see if they would fit Cannon yet. I'm glad I remembered, otherwise I would have missed out on this sweet opportunity.




Bell-bottom jumpsuit



I have also come to the conclusion the Cannon is looking more and more like Ryan everyday. Don't get me wrong, I think I am in the mix somewhere.


That curly fro, now where have I seen that before? Hmmm.





That's me at a year old. Cannon obviously has me beat in the hair and teeth department.


Just turned two here.

He's Growing Up!

And way too fast! Here's the proof:


He likes football games now!


Last year he didn't.


He has huge feet! Maddi's foot on the left (13 months old), Cannon's foot on the right (16 months old).


Not only has he learned to pick his own nose, he knows how to pick donkey noses as well.


And he gets to wear cool outfits like this.

The word on the street is "uh-oh," which suits him well since he's usually caught in an uh-oh kind of activity.

I never could imagine that he could get cuter everyday! Oh how I love this guy!

This..

...is what makes grocery shopping possible.



Yes, he is wearing cowboy boots. He's cool like that.