Little Stud

We had Cannon's well check today. He was so happy and playful for the nurse and the doctor! He cooed and talked to them and really was a flirt. But he was VERY mad when he got his shots. Last time he only cried for less than a minute, but this time it was hard to get him to calm down. I've never heard him cry that hard. For the first time his cry sounded like an older baby's cry, not a newborn or little baby. But his doctor was very pleased with is progress. She even said that it was okay that I started him on rice cereal a little earlier than usual (that made me feel better because I felt guilty). She was happy to hear that the rice cereal has been helping his reflux significantly. Here are his current stats:
Length: 25" (50-75th percentile)-I think he has a growth spurt coming on; he usually gets really chubby first and then gets taller.
Weight: 16lbs 14oz (about 90th percentile)-He probably would have been 17lbs, but he had a huge poopy yesterday and one this morning.
Weight for length: 90-95th percentile
Head: 41 cm (about 20th percentile)

After the doctor's visit, we went home and he had a nap. After his nap we went to the grocery store. I had him in the Bjorn and lots of people came up to talk to him and to tell me how cute he is. He was being so cute and smiling at everyone. He had a great time at the store just looking at everyone and everything.


He looked so studly before church on Sunday. This was the first time I put a tie on him. It didn't bother him, but he did try to eat it. He's always in the best mood in the morning.

4 months old!

Today is Cannon's four month birthday. He has his well check on Monday, so I will do another post with his current measurements. He is definitely out of the newborn stage, which is kind of sad to me, but he still loves to be cuddled! Here are some things about him.

Favorite book: Goodnight Moon
Current hobbies: drooling, laughing at Blue chase her tail (and other dumb pet tricks), chewing on fingers, grabbing toys (or Mommy's hair) and eating them, watching Mommy brush her teeth, listening to piano music while watching the mobile, talking to himself, and being ticklish.
Dislikes: going to bed without being swaddled, raspberries from Daddy when he has a beard, acid reflux, and being hungry.

He is getting so strong and now he tries to sit up when we have him in a semi-reclined position.


Here he is watching Blue chase the frisbee.

He is also losing all his beautiful, thick hair he was born with! I can't even style it anymore! Notice exhibit A:



He's pretty much this cute all day!


Drool, our constant companion.


Check out that long drool about to hit Ryan's face!

He loves Daddy time! Ryan likes to bounce him on his knee.

Howdy

Two weeks ago I had another two hour glucose test to make sure the diabetes was gone and I met with my endocrinologist to discuss the results. My fasting blood sugar was perfect and the next two were normal, but my blood sugar at the two hour mark was too high. The diagnosis: impaired glucose tolerance. What does that mean? It's not diabetes. It means that when I eat too many carbs at one time, my blood sugar is really high two hours later because I don't have enough insulin. So what's the problem? The problem is that if it is not taken care of, it will probably lead to diabetes in the future. But as long as I exercise regularly and eat right, I will stay healthy. It is really a blessing to have this diagnosis. A lot of people have this, but don't know it because they don't have symptoms or their symptoms are really mild and then it does turn into diabetes later. I am lucky to have this knowledge so that I can prevent diabetes. So what do I have to do? I have to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight (eight more pounds to go!). My endocrinologist was happy with all the weight I have lost so far. I have to exercise regularly, even if it's just going for a daily walk. When I am finished nursing Cannon, I would like to start a more intense work out. I need to get rid of the fat and make muscle because muscle helps the insulin work better. When it comes to sweets and carbs, portion control is the key. I can eat 3-4 servings of carbs per meal. That shouldn't be too hard considering when I was pregnant I could only eat 1-2 servings! I really shouldn't eat things like candy and juice, but if I really want dessert then I have to eat less carbs for dinner. I also have to have a protein with every meal. So a lot of it is the same as before, just less intense. At first I will be checking my blood sugar just to make sure I have the portions just right and then I won't need to unless I have any symptoms. Because it is likely that I will have gestational diabetes with my next pregnancy, before I get pregnant again I will need to have the Hemoglobin A1C test to make sure my blood sugar is being controlled.

Summer fun

We spent the last week of July house sitting/dog sitting for our friends in South Austin. We mostly just hung out around the pool. We did take Cannon swimming in the early evening when the sun wasn't bright. The water temperature was 81 degrees which is perfect for me, a little warm for Ryan (especially when it's 104 degrees outside), and a little cool for Cannon. It would take him a minute, but he got used to the water and loved it! There are a lot of big windows in this house, so I was able to get some good pictures of Cannon. I don't know why, but these pictures turned out a little fuzzy after I uploaded them. Hopefully it's just my computer.


Cannon is such a happy baby! You can lay him just about anywhere and he is content to play.




Here he is just lounging on the lounge chair. It was cloudy one day, so he was able to chill outside for a little while. He is awake in this picture, but he closes his eyes when we go outside (even when it's not very bright). I guess his eyes are still so sensitive to light.






Tummy time! This is probably his favorite toy. Usually it hangs above his changing table so he can see himself in the mirror. But I brought it with us and realized he still likes it when it's on the floor. He gets so excited every time he sees it! He kicks his legs so hard and shakes his arms and then he talks to the baby in the mirror. So cute!


Ryan took this cute picture of us.


Cannon loves to bounce on Ryan's lap.


He was so happy to just float in the pool. It didn't seem to bother him that the water was a little cooler than what he is used to.


He would just lay flat on the floater and then Ryan would move him across the pool.


Then Ryan took him in the hot tub. Actually, the water temperature was like a warm bath. Cannon liked the bubbles.


This time we brought Blue with us. She lived inside the casita during our stay. The casita has concrete floors, so it was a good place for her to stay so she wouldn't get into any trouble in the house. Blue and Daisy became good friends. Daisy is 12 years old, but was still very playful with Blue. Daisy was the leader, but Blue wanted to be the leader. She would follow Daisy and copy whatever activity she was doing, but made sure to get in front of Daisy (like she was the leader). But she would often look back to make sure she was still doing what Daisy was doing.




On Friday night we had Ryan's brother, Robert, and his wife, Beverly, and their kids come for dinner. Jade and T spent the night and went swimming with us of Saturday.




We found out that Blue can swim! But she hates it!






After we got home I remembered that I had this door jumper, so I decided to try it. He is still kinda little for it, but he likes it. He just hangs out and pushes himself around because he's not strong enough to jump in it yet.


Ryan found these hats in Cannon drawer. I had never tried them on to see if they fit and I had actually forgotten about them. Both hats fit well and he looks so cute in them! Usually he doesn't like things on his head, but he didn't seem to mind this time.

3 months old!

Cannon turned 3 months old on the 21st. Now that he is on Prilosec, instead of Zantac, our happy baby has returned! He is content to do just about anything and is always smiling and cooing.


He swats at the links that dangle above him, but he can't quite grasp them yet. A couple of times he has managed to get them to his mouth, but I think that was just luck. However, he will grasp a link if you help him and then he will put it in his mouth.


I noticed that when he gets really excited he starts to kick, so we pulled out the kick-n-drive. When he kicks it the lights and music turn on. He loves it! The music gets annoying after awhile (for me) and he still likes it even after I turn it off. Notice Blue in the background.


I caught you!


He sure is a happy kid!


Ryan took him for a walk the other day and this was the end result. This was the first time he has fallen asleep in his stroller. I know he is getting chubby, but I think this picture is a bit exaggerated.


Look at those hunky arm muscles! Okay, it's probably fat rolls. He is rolling over more often now (from his tummy to back) and when he is on his back he can roll to his side. And when he is on his side, he can roll onto his tummy. But he hasn't quite put all the actions together yet.


His hair is getting more curls!


And look...what's this? Rice cereal! Originally I wanted to wait until he was six months old to try any solids. When he was two months old, I knew he wouldn't make it until then and decided that he would probably be ready at about four months. Well, I was getting that mommy prompting all day on Tuesday to try it. So the other night we decided to try it for a few different reasons: 1)His voracious appetite has been requiring him to eat every two to two-and-a-half hours for the past three weeks-this was no growth spurt; 2)He wakes up 45 minutes into his naps because he is hungry; 3)I thought that it would help his reflux; 4)Other readiness signs have been emerging: he can hold his body up when supported, he can hold his head up, his tongue reflex is fading, and he is starting to watch us when we eat. Neither Ryan or I have any food allergies, so we weren't very worried about that. I was just hoping that he would be able to digest it properly.


He took the first bite and had a stunned look on his face. He immediately wanted more. He did better than I thought as far as keeping the food in his mouth. The first little batch I made was very runny. After he ate that he started to fuss because he wanted more. I made some more and made it a little thicker and he seemed to take it better that way.


Towards the end, I could tell that he really like it! I gave him more on Wednesday and today. He has not shown any signs of a tummy ache, so I think we're good to go! He also thinks he is so cool that he sits in a highchair now. He likes to see everybody and everything. This also gives us a new place to keep him when we eat dinner.


I also wondered how it would affect his sleeping (meaning I was hoping he would go on longer stretches). Tuesday night and Wednesday day were pretty much the same. But last night he slept 13 hours with one feeding at the ten hour mark!

He is doing other new things too. When he is tired he rubs his eyes or buries his face in my shoulder. He can scream. Not a baby scream, but it sounds like a seven year old girl screaming! He has only done this three times, so he doesn't do it very often. He is a drooler! Ryan says it's because of the acid in his stomach. Ryan salivates more when he has heartburn. He likes to suck on the washcloth when I clean him gums. About three weeks ago he let out his first laugh! He only laughs about once a day and it's usually a little laugh. It hasn't turned into a giggle yet. Cannon is definitely a daddy's boy! Ryan doesn't have to do anything and Cannon will smile at him. It's so cute!

He also has lots of nicknames: Can Man, Cannon boy, Cutest, Cutie, Cutie Boy, Canister, Chubs, Biggest, Bigs, Champ, Champion.

In bad new, he has refused to take a bottle now. Ryan used to feed him a bottle about once a day, but when we were on our trip he got really bad when offered a bottle. Now that we're home, he has all out refused it from anyone, any time of the day! He screams like we are torturing him! I have tried nearly every intervention strategy that I can think of, but nothing has worked. I still want to nurse him, I just want him to take a bottle so that Ryan and I can go on a date.

Coney dog

Last Thursday Blue lost her womanhood. We had her spayed when we got home from our trip. Everything went well. They also removed her hernia, so the incision is a little longer than usual. She had to stay at the vets for about ten hours and then Ryan picked her up. For ten days she has to wear the cone thing around her head so she doesn't lick or remove the stitches. It was kind of sad to see her wearing that thing, we couldn't help but laugh at her! We do take it off when we take her for a walk, but she wears it the rest of the time. It has taken her a little while to get used to wearing it. She gets it caught on things and runs into the doorway and furniture. Sometimes she sits on the end of our bed and looks at herself in the mirror.


She is very ashamed to wear it.


And it makes her very sad.


But she is extra sweet around Cannon and even lets him kick her face.


Cole taunts her.


How she longs to be free again.