Favorite Past-times

Canon is now 16 months old, and no matter how much of a handful he gets, he is still my adorable little man.  I took him back to the doctor for a follow-up on his head growth.  All's fine and dandy in that department.  His weight is up to 21 lbs. 11 oz., so he's still a lightweight, but not too much to worry about.  As far as his language is concerned, there hasn't been too much improvement in word-usage.  However, I have reason to be hopeful. 

Canon has started to imitate animal sounds.  So far he can tell you the sounds made by the lion (tigers make the same one), the elephant, the snake (a close approximation to the sound I do), rabbit (tries to do what I do, but not very good at it, but he knows what it is), currently working on perfecting the parrot, cat, monkey, and cow.  I feel he will soon get to the dog and sheep too.   His all-time favorite is the elephant.  In fact, every time he sees an elephant in his books he buzzes his lips doing his imitation of the sound.  I can even ask at random what the animal says and he'll answer... so this is progress.  Just recently he learned where his belly button is too.  I thought that most kids start pointing to body parts earlier than this, but he just never seemed too interested.  I try to name all the body parts in the bath so that he knows what they are, but I never really tried to teach them outside of that, so I guess it's my fault.  So, we'll be working on body parts too.

I thought I ought to show what Canon has been up to lately so you can all see how busy this little guy really is.  Some of his favorite activities include:

Running after his bath to Daddy before Mommy can get a diaper on him.  Is it becoming a ritual that he runs around naked for a few minutes after bath-time?

Hamming it up for Mommy's camera (holding still long enough to get a great shot is a different story!)

climbing...

...as high as he can get

Spinning

Dancing to music on tv

Dancing when there isn't even music playing

I love how he waves good-bye to himself that the end of this video.

Playing with this spray bottle...EVERY CHANCE HE GETS.

Like here

and here

Playing with Mommy is definitely still among his favorite things to do.

I can't get enough of this handsome little man.

Canon's Playtime and Language

He was playing with a balloon last week and discovered that something about it was different than what he was used to- it went up when you let go, not down!  So he got used to playing with that balloon a little differently than the balls he had.  I tried to get a video of him being so funny with the balloon, but by the time the camera was out, he wasn't as funny anymore.  This is what I got... not terribly entertaining, but kinda cute still.  In fact, days later (when we had blown it up again with our breath and it now fell with gravity) when he lost sight of it he would look up for it before turning around.  That made us laugh...until the balloon popped.   Now we're back to just regular old balls.

Now, when it comes to Canon's playtime, I'd normally say that he is a little firecracker and just goes all over the place and won't hold still for very long.  I think he has a pretty good attention span when it comes to what he's playing with, but the past couple of days have been a bit different somehow.  I have been trying to not have him watch a lot of TV, not more than about 2 hours over the course of the entire day.  Yesterday and today he showed interest in just sitting on the couch and watching TV.  He's always trying to get his hands on the remotes, but this time he would get up on the couch and try to watch something.  So I put on Veggie Tales or Shaun the Sheep and he was just enthralled.  Honestly, that made me a bit nervous.  Am I turning my kid into a couch potato?  So after a short episode was over I turned it off, and Canon seemed to snap right out of his little TV trance.  He was right back up and playing again.  Phew!

I'm going to have to think of more things to do when playing with him.  It seems like I really need to work harder to give him language involvement with what he's doing, but most of the time I'm just interested in watching him...not narrating what he's doing.  The more I focus on trying to improve his language, the more I notice that he does seem behind.  I think about it and start to worry that he really will need some early intervention.   I just hope that one of these days he will just start using words to communicate.  I've been trying to get him to sign a couple things like "milk" or "drink" to tell me what he wants.  So far, I've seen him imitate "milk", but I don't know for sure if he was just moving his hand or if he was really trying to communicate "milk".  He seems like such a bright kid in every other aspect, just not speech.  I keep telling myself that he's just not ready to use words yet and that's ok.  Some kids just take longer to start talking, that's all.  At least he's started to use some approximations like "bah bah" for "ball" and "da da da" for "Daddy".  He's even started in with a hard "k" when he kicks the ball because I would always say "kick."  He's coming close, just not close enough for comfort just yet!  :-s

Mommy's Little Helper

Most of the cleaning I do when Canon is asleep because it always takes me so much longer when he's awake.  Can you imagine why?  Note: This is what he does EVERY time. :-D

Canon helping with the vacuuming

Canon wanted to control the speed and direction of the vacuum.

His favorite part is actually riding the vacuum cleaner and trying to see how long he can hold on. (Do I see a bull-rider in the making?)

 

When I was finished, Canon wanted to play with the attachments.

The broom is his favorite though, and he won't let me do the sweeping.

I wonder how much of it is him trying to imitate me and how much is that he wants to help me out.  Either way, he's a cute little hinderer helper, isn't he?

Canon Is Still Growing Strong

Canon had his 15-month wellness visit this morning, and I thought everything was perfectly normal until talking with the doctor. His height seems to be normal, 2' 8" which is the 75th percentile where he's been the past few visits. His weight is steady at the 10th percentile (21 lbs 6.5 oz), so that's good.  I'm not so nervous about his diet as I was the last time, however, now I have a new concern. Apparently Canon's head circumference of 49 cm is totally humongous.  His head has grown dramatically over the past few visits, so the doctor asked me to come back again next month to measure it again.  As long as he's not showing any other symptoms, like vomiting, then there's not big worry; but if his head continues in this trend, it could be sign of an abnormal growth and they would need to do a CT scan to make sure he doesn't have a tumor or whatever.  It's possible that he could just have a huge head that is growing faster, and the rest of his body will catch up soon.  I never noticed that his head looked big because he just seems to be doing great in everything else... and babies heads are just big.  I guess that might be the reason his shirts have started to feel snug.  I thought it was just because he's now 15 months, so I shouldn't expect that 12month clothes should still fit. (Silly mommy!)

But look at this face... does he look like his head is huge to you?

Also Canon's language might be lagging a little behind.  Now, to tell you the truth, I'm not really worried about it, but the doctor says that he should be saying a few words by now.  So, I need to work a little harder to limit the tv and rev-up the language stimulation.  The doctor suggests that I try to get him to actually say words instead of just pointing to things or going to get them.  I figured he's just not quite ready to talk, but it won't be too long.  Just the other night I told him to pick up his ball and he grabbed it and shouted, "Bah bah bah!"  So I think he's close, but not just there yet.  With a little more concentration on that aspect, I'm hoping we'll see improvement over the next month or so.

12 1/2 Month Check-up

Today (Feb. 1, 2011) I noticed that this post (started back in Dec. of 2010) was not published.  I guess I didn't finish it back then, but there's no reason to leave it unpublished... so here's the really late post.  (Actually, it may have been posted and then changed and therefore saved as a draft, but I'm not sure what happened...so if you've already read this, sorry!)

So Canon has been growing up so fast, and he's always seemed to be so good and healthy to me.  My pediatrician in Boston never seemed to give me any impression for the opposite, but the doctor here did.  Although she didn't seem terribly worried about it, she said that he was down to the 5th percentile in weight (only 19 lb 4 oz).  That in and of itself is not a big deal, but with him being in the 75th percentile in height (over 30" tall) and head circumference consistently going down in the charts for weight, she wanted me to change his diet and come back in a month to weigh him again.  She told me that I should offer him snacks all day long and increase his calorie count during meal times.  Canon never seems to show that he's hungry, so that's probably why I never really gave him many snacks before... although he usually would accept them if I did offer them. The doctor did mention that children like in his situation rarely show signs of hunger.

She also said that Canon ought to be further along in language development, such as being able to obey simple commands like "Bring me the ball."  When she asked about that, I told her that I think he might understand sometimes, but he seems to either not care that I'm making the request or not realize that when I tell him to do it that it means he's supposed to actually do it.  Either way, I had a couple things that I needed to work on before our next doctor's visit (which is on Dec. 21st).

Now, I'm not sure how much I like this doctor because I believe that if I offer him snacks all day long he won't be hungry enough to want to eat at mealtimes.  Honestly, I think I'm right.  Ever since I've been so much more concerned with calories and fattening up the little guy, I've been getting so frustrated with his diet.  It feels like I can't get him eat much of anything now.  I was so excited when I was able to use the last jar of baby food and last bottle of formula.  Yes, whole milk and real food!!  Yeah, well that wasn't long lasting.  I've gone back to baby food because I don't have problems getting him to eat that stuff.   Oh well, at least I know that he's getting his protein and veggies and that whole milk goes down nicely.  Although, he loves his snacks, the baby food ends up being his main source of nutrition... again.  *sigh*

I'm looking forward to this doctor's visit though because he seems to be gaining weight now, and he's starting to understand things better.  He'll also get his second shot for the flu vaccine.  So, if there's nothing else, I'll know he at least has one positive thing going for him concerning the doctor's opinions.  (He's still adorable, so that ought to count for something, right!)

Things I don't want to forget about this stage in his life:

1. He's walking around like crazy now, but most of the time his waddle reminds me cuter version of Frankenstein with his arms sticking out.  
2. He's now trying to climb up on things, like onto the couch (but it's too high) and onto boxes or into his toy basket.  He even tries to climb the safety gate, but it's only vertical bars past 4 inches off the floor, so it doesn't do much good.
3. He's pretty good at climbing up the stairs now, but he usually will get distracted part-way up, so it either takes a long time or I wind up picking him up to finish the flight of steep stairs.
4. Canon is learning about going down the stairs.  I still can't let him go down a single step by himself because they're so steep and dangerous, but he tries to.  The problem is that he won't make up his mind on which way to go down- bouncing on the bum or turned around backwards and going feet first.  All too often he stands up and reaches for the railing, which is obviously too high to be an help to him going down.  
5. He certainly loves to rough-house...nothing too painful.  Hanging upside down, "wrestling", jostling him around, pretending to drop him, and even bonking heads are some of his favorite things to do.  
6. He's become more hesitant about it, but Canon gives "kisses" which is totally adorable.  
7. One of my favorite things is to see him throw his arms out, get a huge open smile on his face, and watch him "run" excitedly towards me to give me a hug.  It just melts my heart!
8. Canon is such a sociable character.  He loves to smile at strangers who give him attention.  It almost seems like he watches someone, waiting for them to look at him to grin.  He LOVES getting attention.  He pretty much will go to any stranger as long as they seem friendly (which can be kinda scary).  I don't think he gets much stranger anxiety, and he doesn't seem to care if we're gone.  I don't know that he misses us... at least if there are some cool kids or toys to play with and explore.

Toddler Tantrums... Here They Come

Canon gets upset much more easily than he used to.  I think it's because he's getting to the stage where he wants to have control over his own life, and he knows what he wants... but I can't always let him get what he wants.  "Sorry, Canon!  I love you, but nope... you can't play with that knife!"  or "I know you want to go outside, but you're not wearing your coat and we're just not going outside right now."  or "Canon, would you please stay out of the dishwasher!"

I've learned that distraction doesn't always work, but if I let him choose I can often get him to do what I need him to do.  For instance, when I need to change his diaper and he just refuses, I give him a choice between two toys, and usually he'll just relax and fiddle with that toy until I finish.  Now when I give him the choice between doing what I want him to do himself or else I make him do it (like come down the stairs or get out of Daddy's office), he usually doesn't want to do it at all and I have to go grab him.  A short battle ensues, and then he calms down when he finds something to play with.  Canon has always been a really good kid, but I can see why some people can lose patience with their children.

He's getting a lot more difficult to handle during church too.  Those meetings are a really long time for a little kid to sit still and be reverent.  I can't even get him to be reverent for a whole prayer, let alone an entire meeting.  He's just at that age where he's so restless especially when he's tired (go figure!) and he just wants to get out of the pew and run up and down the aisles. (Not that I let him do that... but that's what he wants.) It's a good thing he's cute, and people are generally understanding and non-judgmental.  Pretty soon I'll be counting down the days until he can go into nursery.

Canon is starting to understand more and more of what we're saying.  I think he just chooses to not really listen to us.  One day about a week ago I was telling him that it was almost time to go pick up Daddy from work.  He looked at me and then over at the couch where all our coats were laying.  He walked over to the couch and grabbed his winter coat.  Wow!  Great job!  Yeah, we need to put on our coats so we can go outside to go get Daddy.  (Now, if only I could find a way to keep him from throwing a fit every time I strap him into his carseat.  Ok, so it's not every time, but most of the time he hates the carseat.)

Things I Wish I Had on Video

Memory #1
About a week ago I was out of the house for a while and Mark was tending Canon.  He told me that as he was playing with Canon he was just talking and making some random noises.  Mark decided to recite a line from one of Canon's storybooks, Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?:

 "BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Mr. Brown is a wonder.  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Mr. Brown makes thunder."

Apparently Canon got a little excited about that and ran over to his toy basket, moving his toys out of the way, digging around in there.  He picked out that book and brought it over to Mark.  So, Mark proceeded to read it to him.  Canon remembered where that line came from, and he knew where to go to find it.  I think it's so amazing because it shows that he understands some things that we say even though he can't talk to us yet.  Oh, I wish I was there to see that!  So cute!

Memory #2
Canon is always so happy to see me in the morning and right after his naps... that is, if he's completely rested, which is most of the time.  He stands up in his crib and has a huge grin behind his binky.  Sometimes he even bounces a little or stomps his feet out of excitement.  He is rarely a grouch after sleeping, and I am so grateful for that.  I'm hoping that he will always be a morning person... although, lately he's been waking up a little too early.  I'm thinking that has to do with the temperature changes as the heater kicks on in the morning, but we'll see what we can do about that one.

Memory #3
Lately Canon has found it quite fun to "dance" to music that he hears.  He'll stand up and start stomping his foot.  If he's really getting into it he spins in circles and stops to stomp both feet energetically.  Usually there will be a low yell in there too.  He also spins just to get our attention or to make us laugh.  Sometimes Canon gets Mark to join him in the spinning fun.  Canon, you're such a ham... and I LOVE IT!!

Memory #4
Many times when I am in the bathroom and Canon is just playing around, he'll enter the bathroom and start playing peek-a-boo with the shower curtain.  He'll hide behind the curtain and just giggle and giggle.  Sometimes he'll reach his hands out, so I can see his little finger prints through the curtain, and I'll reach out and touch his hands.  He just laughs and laughs at this.  Sometimes he'll grab my hands or he'll just pull his back to try to hide more.  Whatever I do though, he gets such a kick out of playing through the curtain.  It's like his new favorite game.

Memory #5
Canon absolutely LOVES Veggie Tales.  I shouldn't be turning my child into a couch-potato, but he gets so giddy when he hears the Veggie Tales theme song.  If he's out of the room, he'll come running to watch.  When he sees that tuba playing at the very beginning, his eyes light up and a smile comes to his face.  Often he'll point to the screen too.  Usually he'll sit through almost an entire short episode... on the couch... not moving a muscle... like he's mesmerized.  I told Mark today that it looks like I'm brainwashing him with the look he had on his face: eyes staring and jaw dropped, practically looking like he's in a trance.  Mark just replied, "You're not brainwashing him.  Besides, even if you were, this isn't something bad to brainwash him with!"  (He was watching the one called Silly Thing Called Love where they were talking about how we show God that we love Him.)  I don't really like to have Canon watching a lot of television, but when he does I think it's just the cutest thing EVER!