Boston Boston Boston - Day 1

I made a personal goal of taking 400 pictures on our trip to Boston.  I patted myself on the back when I took number 400 on our way out of the city.  Now you can pat me on the back for posting selectively.  Here is day one:

happy to be at the hotel

penny for your thoughts, baby?

just chillin on the beach

love of my life!

the walk home from the beach... so sleepy!

I'm a sucker for baby bums!

L.O.V.E.

so sweet

the bell boy ;)

Breaking and Entering

This evening was part one of our ward camp out.  I really love camping and have been excited about the camp out for a while but as it neared I caught wind of a couple of moms planning to join in the Friday night fun, take their babies home to sleep, then come back for the activities the next morning.  To be honest, it would have been more fun to stay and I really wanted to but I was just exhausted today and (totally unlike me) did not want to put the necessary effort into planning for us to stay... so I joined in on the mommy carpool and brought Cannon home to sleep in his own bed.

As soon as the decision had been made, I was smitten with forgetfulness.  I got a ride home from a friend and as soon as we pulled up to my apartment I realized that I had left my house keys with Michael.  The only option... breaking and entering.  And here you have it; my second story balcony:

Game On, World.

I must say that even on the dullest days of staying at home I am happy not to be at a desk in an office full of me and a closet of medical supplies.  I can't blame Cannon for being unable to hold an adult conversation - I struggle with those myself sometimes.  Today, however, was not one of those days.  Today was one of those days that 6am seemed like the perfect time to greet the morning and the world was just waiting to be explored.  The options were endless!

After dropping a friend off at the airport my sidekick and I dropped by Blue Sky for a surprise visit.  Michael was hard at work (playing Worms) but was thoughtful enough to take a little break to say hello before his lunch break.  There is a group of guys that plays ultimate frisbee during their lunches and Michael almost always joins them... when he is not tied down by basketball or, you know, Worms.  Today we sat on the sidelines and I had a thoroughly enjoyable adult conversation with two women (ages 8 and 5) and one young man (age 3) that were not bashful about their talents, hobbies, likes, dislikes, or how cute my baby is.  I love people like that.  And I know a lot more about Bob the Builder now - which is evidently going to be Cannon's fave once he is old enough to watch TV.

Not a good photo... but proof that we were there!  The guy in the red is the one with the bracelet.  Michael has on light blue shorts and a gray shirt on the right hand side of the photo.

One of the other guys on the team wears this fancy bracelet all of the time and last time we were with him he told us about it.  The Nike Fuel Band looks like a black Livestrong band, just a little thicker, and monitors all of your activity during the day.  You get points for any activity done and you can compete against your friends/family online if they have bracelets too.  He has a daily fitness goal of 3,000 points.  I have no idea what that equates to but I like the sound of 3,000 rather than 150, which is normally what the treadmill tells me after I've run my butt off (once every 3 months - though I am still going to be a runner someday).  I can definitely see how online tracking, competition, the earning of points and a network of support would be a huge benefit to a person's exercise routine.  Downfalls are that you don't really get any points for going to the gym because anything stagnant isn't able to be monitored; and also that if you just sit and shake it you get points.  I would like to think I would not stoop that low but I have been known to do worse things in the face of competition.  All of that being said, I'm not going to get one.  But I think everyone else should because I really like hearing about the points.  And supposedly they come with the ability to make an awesome stone-cold sweaty face that is featured in every Nike ad.  Hence the bracelet's slogan 'Game on, world.'

Personal Hygiene

Some days I get home from a refreshing afternoon at Super Cuts, smile at the back of my head and think, "Hmm... we should really increase our personal hygiene budget". 

Five Months Already!

Cannon, five months

My Baby Canterbury,

You have grown so much this month!  You are now 15lbs and 2oz and still very tall.  Your eyes are looking more like Daddy's every day as they turn from a dusty blue to a pretty green color.  You love to flash your big gummy smile every chance you get and laugh hysterically without too much prodding.  You especially like it when daddy makes funny noises on your neck, ears, and tummy.  Your laughing is still a lot of darling shrieking and exaggerated gasps that make anyone around laugh too.

As you get older and more aware of your surroundings you are learning more about what to do with your little body.  One of your favorite new things to do this month is to play with your feet.  You like to grab your little toes while I change your diaper or while you are just laying on your back.  Another diaper-changing hazard has come with your new love of rolling over.  You rolled over before but now you can't seem to lay down without flopping back and forth!  You love to roll on the changing table and when you are supposed to be sleeping in your crib.  It often makes me nervous when you roll over in your sleep because you sometimes forget how to roll back onto your back and get stuck face-down.  While you are a master sleeper, if you get stuck you cry and cry until I come rescue you.  Other than rolling, your sleep pattern has not changed too much since last month.  You go to bed around 8/8:30pm and sleep until 6/7am.  You take a 1-2 hour nap in the mornings then a 3 hour nap in the afternoons.

After you wake up from your naps, your favorite thing to do is JUMP!  I put you in your little jumper and you cannot help but jump as high and hard as your little legs will take you.  It doesn't seem to matter whether you are jumping straight up or if you are flinging yourself backward, any jumping will do.  Once you have had enough jumping you like to cuddle up in my arms and eat as fast as you can.  Sometimes daddy gives me side glances that are meant to say 'like father like son' as you guzzle your formula, try to watch baseball over my shoulder or stick your hands down my shirt.  This past month we went through a couple of days in a row that you were considerably grumpier than normal.  You have a track record of spitting up A LOT but I decided not to bring it up to the doctor at your four-month visit since it didn't seem to be bothering you.  With acid reflux in mind I took you into the doctor to get his two cents.  He said that you do have acid reflux but that it does not need to be medicated since you are still gaining weight properly.  He also suggested that your volume of spitup could be a result of lactose intolerance and asked me to try a (really expensive) kind of formula without lactose in it.  I agreed.

After leaving the doctor's office I decided to make a stop at a new grocery store that opened near our house and to get some lunch.  While at the grocery store I spotted individual cups of Greek yogurt on sale and decided to buy myself one to eat with the sandwich I intended to buy at our next stop.  I wheeled our groceries to the car, then threw my yogurt in the stroller and walked over to Subway.  Not knowing previously that this was literally the world's smallest Subway I wheeled you in to stand in world's narrowest line, forcing at least 12 different people to have to move out of our way just to stand in line.  We sat down at the only available table and positioned the stroller in the only open area: the entryway.  I would have left, but you were very hungry and I didn't want to feed you in the hot car.  I pulled out your bottle and started feeding you with one hand while stirring my yogurt with the other.  We were about halfway through the bottle when another table opened up that would allow us to move the stroller out of the entrance!  I set your bottle down on the table and attempted to navigate the stroller to the other table with you and my yogurt in the other arm.  Unfortunately, as the stroller turned its handle knocked your glass bottle to the ground, where it shattered into a million pieces.  At the same time, my lactose intolerant baby that is not supposed to have anything save pureed veggies and formula stuffed his little fist deep into my yogurt and then plunged it into his mouth and spread the rest all over his face and clothes.  Since your burp rag was buried deep in the stroller and Subway keeps their napkins behind the counter I did what any gross mom would do and stuck your slobbery, yogurt-y hand in my mouth and pushed the stroller into place.  Luckily we were now the center of attention and had no problem guilting people into helping clean up the shards of glass as I tried to get the blueberries out of your shirt.  You were quite pleased with yourself.  Once the mess was cleaned up we left without eating lunch.

We tried the new formula for two weeks before deciding that it made no difference in your ability to spit up 300 times a day and continued feeding you 6oz of Kirkland formula 5-6 times a day (every 2-3 hours).  During the experimentation with other formulas we decided to stop feeding you solids temporarily to limit our variables.  I don't think you agree with this decision, though your digestive patterns are much more regular now which seems to make you happy.

Aside from your spitup rituals you have the world wrapped around your finger.  You have started to put your head down on my shoulder when you get tired and I can't help but melt.  When you are awake you like to try and grab at Tank, spend time outside, blow bubbles, spit at people then smile, pull long hair, or try and fit objects of all sizes into your tiny mouth.  We have been told on several separate occasions this month what an 'agreeable' baby you are.  I have decided that 'agreeable' is the perfect word for you.  You make yourself known if there is something to know and if there is not you just fill your time being cute and flirting with girls.  You are easy to take around and don't mind adjusting to our schedules when necessary.  It is typically very easy to have an adult conversation with you on my hip or knee and it makes me love you all the more.  Thank you for being such a sweet boy.  I am enjoying  you more every day.

Forever,

Mommy

Cannon Ball at Four Months!

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My Sweet Cannantaloupe,

You have grown like crazy this past month, weighing in at 14lbs, 12oz and measuring 25inches long.  You are in the 85^th percentile for height, 25^th for weight, and 95^th for head size.  You are my little lollipop, all stretched out and skinny with a sweet round head!  The doctor told me it was because you have such a big brain, which I have chosen to believe since you have come so far this past month.  You are enamored with EVERYTHING and cannot withhold a curious thought.  You reach for anything that catches your eye, especially faces, food, and Tank.  Your hand-eye coordination is amazing for your age and I’m sure you’ll be spoon-feeding yourself in no time, as you have been able to hold your own bottle since you were just 2.5 months old.

I think the main motivation behind your determination is food.  Like Daddy, you can definitely hold your own at the dinner table or anywhere else with refreshments.  We fed you solid food for the first time as soon as you turned four months and you were in absolute heaven.  I expected you to make faces or show some confusion as to why there was a big spoon headed toward your face but you were completely focused.  Your very first bite seemed to switch on a light in your little brain and there was no turning back.  You reached for the spoon and tried to get Daddy to shovel faster, like squash was manna from heaven.  We decided not to start you on rice cereal or oatmeal because you are not much of a pooper and we didn’t want you to get any more backed up than you already are.  I would also rather start you on something from the garden than something processed and there aren’t any unprocessed cereals that I know of for babies under 6 months old.  I loved watching you experience your first meal because I felt like it was the first memory we were creating with you rather than of you.  You probably won’t remember that exquisite jar of squash but we loved that it was a family affair that you were undoubtedly enjoying.

When you don’t have food in your darling little mouth you make sure that you have something else in its place at all times.  You love to suck on your hands or binki, chew on your thumb, or grab things to see how they taste.  Your favorite thing to grab is a finger; always holding Mommy’s hand, making her heart melt.  Another favorite is Tank, whenever you can reach him.   I sometimes try to help Tank understand that you love him by swinging you and letting you kick his ball for him.  You both seem to think that is pretty funny.

We love this new happy phase where you are alert, attentive, talkative and easy to laugh.  You are constantly shrieking with happiness, especially in the mornings and when Daddy plays with you.  You love to feel his hairy face on your tummy and feet – he will tickle you this way for as long as you can take it (you will laugh till you can’t breathe; it is adorable).  When you’re not laughing you love to babble and flirt with anyone around you.  You seem to have a special interest in nurses and are constantly drawing them in with your gummy smile.

Between wooing the young nurses we saw your pediatrician at your four-month check up and she let us know that you have hit all of your four-month landmarks!  Just before turning four months old you rolled from your back to your chest for the first time (front to back is a little bit easier and you nailed that one around 2.5 months), you are eating 6oz. of formula 5 times per day, you are drooling and spitting up like a mad man, you love to do a little windmill walk with your feet if I hold you up by your waist and seem to be very strong overall.  You love to move around however possible.  Your most effective method of movement at this point is bending your knees and pushing off with your little feet so that you can scoot around on your shoulder blades.  Earlier this week I set you on a blanket on the floor and when I came back a couple of minutes later you had scooted about four feet away from the blanket.  I guess there is no more leaving you alone!

You have continued to let Daddy and I sleep at nights as you go to sleep at 8/8:30pm and wake up between 6 and 7:30am.  About an hour after you wake up you go back down for a morning nap that typically lasts 1-2 hours, you’re awake for about 3 hours, then you go back down for an afternoon nap that lasts about 3 hours.  About half of the time you will take a third cat nap in the evening while I cook dinner, but I think that is just your way of getting out of setting the table.  You love to nap with your binki but at night you sleep without it.

Special things that happened this past month included spending Fourth of July with the Boothe family, where you and Max enjoyed your favorite activity together: pool time!  We did some BBQ-ing and enjoyed watching you two in your matching red, white, and blue outfits.  You also continued in your travels to the corners of the country with our trip out to Wyoming for Uncle Nick and Aunt Gabby’s wedding reception.  We flew into Salt Lake, spent a couple of days with family, and enjoyed the festivities in Evanston, WY.  You did wonderfully on the plane, convincing your parents that an infant passport might not be such a bad idea after all!  After returning from Wyoming we spent a weekend in Baltimore, Maryland with the Stonemans (Aunt Dani, Chandler, Sirri, and soon-to-be Baby Tanner) and Schaefers (Auntie Michelle and her sweet husband Nate).  The last big event of the month was the release of your Daddy’s very first official film: Ice Age 4: Continental Drift.  Since you were born during the film’s production your name is in the credits under Daddy’s in the section called ‘Ice Age Babies’.  Daddy is so proud.

Can Can, you are such a joy.  Thank you for brightening my days.  I love you more today than I did yesterday and can’t wait until tomorrow.  Let’s have a dance party.

Forever,

Mommy

Cannon's First Dinner

Cannon turned four months on Sunday.  I've taken his pictures but since his MD appt wasn't until yesterday I held off on finishing his letter...  I'll probably post the lot of it later today or tomorrow.  More exciting than his 1/3 birthday, however, was his VERY FIRST MEAL!  I knew Cannon was ready for food like 2 months ago but wanted to wait as long as I could for convenience and developmental reasons... Four months is typically the very earliest a baby starts solids... This baby could wait NO LONGER.  Check out the little video below to see what I mean.

CANNON'S FIRST MEAL VIDEO