Developments after the Move

Many of you who follow this blog also follow my other blog...therefore you probably already know that our little family just moved across the country and are now living in Draper, UT with Mark's parents.  Since the move, Canon has made some really great strides in his development.  The entire time that we were traveling Canon barely ate anything.  He just wasn't interested in food.  (surprise, surprise!)  Although, I do recall him eating an entire bowl of oatmeal once on the trip...in fact it was the first time he fed himself for the majority of the meal. Up until then I couldn't seem to get him to eat unless I shoveled the food into his mouth.

 Here's the video!

However, most of the trip he did NOT want to eat.  Even when I told him to eat a cookie, he could not be tempted.  What kind of kid refuses to eat a cookie when mommy offers it?  I guess a kid who's teething... a few days after we arrived in Utah, Canon popped out a couple of his K-9 teeth.  

The first week we spent in Utah we had Canon's cousins over for a few days.  It was so awesome for Canon to have these bigger kids to play with, but the best part was someone to imitate.  Cameron put cardboard wrapping paper rolls on his hands, so Canon put cardboard wrapping paper rolls on his hands.  Megan and Cameron were eating their food at mealtimes, so Canon ate his food at mealtime.  Cameron was playing imaginative games, so Canon was playing imaginative games.  It was such a wonderful sight for a mother to see her child developing his social skills in a positive way.

I'm not sure that I can give you specifics of how Canon has grown, but I can say that he is making great improvements.  He is obsessed with cars, trucks, trains, planes, and anything else with wheels...but mostly cars.  His motivation for going to Nursery during church is knowing that he gets to play with cars and trucks once he gets there.  He is almost constantly talking about cars or trucks, although his words are limited.  He still has not strung two words together, but he loves the sound of his own voice.  He is usually making one sound or another, whether a word or not.   

Let's see if I can think of his newer words: car, truck (pronounced 'Rrrruck!'), plane (pronounced 'Lay'), train, bat, wombat (pronounced 'bombat), amen (pronounced 'muhmen'), cow, hen, fact, help (pronounced 'ept'), wee (when going down a slide or rocking in a chair- or spinning in circles like he is right now), grandma (pronounced 'gam-ma'), grandpa (pronounced 'bam-ba'), Jesus, one-two-free, butterfly and fly are both pronounced 'lye', hat, poopy, Lily, and a few colors.

Here are a few of the more fun shots of Canon since the move.

Shortly after our arrival was Alex's birthday, so we had a gathering at the house to celebrate.  This was when Canon got to meet the newest little cousin Lily.  He was so cute with the little baby, but he didn't really know how to be gentle right at first.  I know I shouldn't, but it makes me laugh every time when I see him poke her in the eye because he's naming her body parts that he knows. Meeting cousin Lily

That same day Canon also discovered the joy of playing whatever is available.  Playing in a Box

His cousin Cameron turned 5 years old a week later, so we went to his Star Wars birthday party.  Tiffany had some great ideas with destroying the (chalk) Death Star with water balloons; yoda sodas; a volcano fight scene cake; jedi training; and of course, a Darth Vader pinata.  The first time Canon got a turn to hit he shook like a leaf as the pinata swung back towards him.  It was so funny, poor guy, that he was so terrified of it.  Once he saw the bigger kids whack it apart, I think he got up the gumption to batting at it one more time. Birthday Party

We also had the chance to have dinner with friends from Boston, the Snyders.  Canon really loved playing with their older son Christian who's about a year older than Canon.  Yet again, a kid to play with and imitate will make Canon happy.  Playing with Christian

Christian and Canon looking out the window

We also met up with the Snyders at Thanksgiving Point for some fun at the Dinosaur Museum.  Got to love those $2 Tuesdays in August.  I think there were just too many people for Canon because he was just kind of anxious most of the time.  He's a somewhat timid little boy and doesn't like bigger kids pushing him around, so he mainly stands back.  It took a lot of coaxing, but I got him to play with some of the sand/water trough and other things.  They have a large room with several motion exhibits that was really fun for little kids.  Here's Canon at the museum.

Screaming at me because he couldn't find a decent spot to play.

thinking about actually getting his hands dirty with the wet sand

finally enjoying the toys and atmosphere

playing with other toys dinos at the museum

acting like the dino is a train

We also had a brief visit with my parents, Aunt Sylvia, my cousin Ragan and her kids, and my Grandma Brown.  We didn't really get to do a whole lot or visit for very long since Canon needed to nap, but it was still fun.  Plus, I got this little gem out of it:

4 Generation Picture: Mother and Son with Mother and Son
Michael Brown (aka Dad), Kathleen Mona Dahl (aka me), Canon Michael Dahl, Mona Brown (aka Grandma Brown)
Notice the namesakes?

More Words Yet?

Canon is finally starting to actually imitate our words.  Most of the time he doesn't really get the pronunciation quite right... or even close... but it's fun to see that he's trying to figure it out.  Recently I've heard him try to say the following words:

triangle, bicycle, thank you, kangaroo, bird, shoe, cheese (also attempting the sign) and wall

Another thing I find to be a really good sign of his understanding language is that when I tell him to "ask nicely" he will do the sign for "please" and shout "PEAS!"  He's also understanding when we tell him "no" for something that he wants to do.  He gets upset and starts to cry, but he knows that we're not letting him do it when we just tell him.  Discipline is going to be a challenge, but at least I know he will understand what we're telling him.

Such as this afternoon when he picked up a crayon, smiled up at me and pointed to the wall.  As he was walking over to his favorite section of colored-on wall, I sternly told him that it was not okay to draw on the wall.  Pointing to his beloved artwork, I told him that he wasn't allowed to do that.  He started crying and I could tell that he really wanted to, but he understood and was easily consoled and distracted with something else.

(Yeah, he's taken to drawing on the wall.  At least when he does it, it's always in the same spot.  That way when we move out in a month, there will be only one spot they'll have to paint due to his artwork instead of all over the place.  I think there are about 5 different colors there now.  Ugh!  Mom Dahl, I think it may be wise to invest in some butcher paper to put on your walls to protect them while we stay at your house.  You just never know what these little kids are capable of doing within the blink of an eye!)  ;0)

Oh, and one more random fun fact... about a month ago Canon had his 18-month check-up.  Apparently he's only gained a few ounces over the past 3 months.  Of course, the doctor wanted me to come back in a month (I think next week now) to check his weight.  I felt like I was getting pretty good at getting him to eat and everything.   For the past few days he just doesn't seem to ever want to eat anything at all.  He barely takes a few bites at any meal time.  He snacks alright, but not great.  He just is not interested in food.  No wonder he's not gaining any weight... but it's not like there's a whole lot more I can do for him.  We offer him foods that he likes, several times a day... he just doesn't want to eat.  (I think he's teething right now, so that could have something to do with it.)

Today I went through some of his old clothes to find shorts for him.  He still fits into his 6-month size shorts.  I was about to buy him some more because the weather is getting too hot for pants, but I guess I don't have to.  Can you believe he's so skinny that at 19 months he's wearing 6-month size?  He's too tall for that size pants, but the shorts still look perfect on him.  Am I the only one amused by this fact?

What's He Getting into Now?

Just a few images I thought you might like to see:

I let him play in the driver's seat once, and that's apparently been a mistake!!
 He hates being teased with the chance to sit up front and then brought in the back to his car seat.

Teaching him early!! :)
(Whenever I try to clean, he refuses to let me do it alone. )

Always wants to be the big kid, trying on Daddy's shoes.

Learning to walk a mile in someone else's shoes?

Walking in Daddy's shoes is so much fun.

So proud to show you his new masterpiece... wait for it....

Look, Mom!  Isn't it beautiful?  (Sure, Canon...if it weren't on the WALL, I'd love it!)

 It's been pretty warm lately, so I let Canon do one of his favorite past-times: spraying himself with the spray bottle.  I took off his shirt so he wouldn't be so wet, but then it ended up staying off the rest of the morning.

Here's a cute video of him spraying himself. 

 I have to say that I love the intensity he shows in this video.

I wish this was more centered, but I still think it's adorable.

It's been super hot, and our AC was having issues, so I let him run around without his shirt.
 I thought the whole look was just adorable.

I see that little belly and wonder how he can be too light!

Yea for smiles!

What, Mom?  I'm just looking at my shapes book.

Here's another video showing that Mark and I are teaching Canon some bad habits.

Sprinklers Rock!!

So, the other day was a bit on the warm side, and I was trying to come up with something to pass the time with Canon. I had washed the car not that long ago, and I know how much Canon liked to play with the hose... so I set up the sprinkler in the back yard to let him run around and play.

You can see in the video that Canon likes to shout "Go!" I love the look on his face when the water is splashing on him. I wish I had a better camera angle on that.

Playing in the Sprinkler

On other news, Canon seems to be improving in his speech, and I've not had him assessed by a speech pathologist. He's showing all the signs of progression I was told to look for, so I don't know why his doctor insists that he really should have more words than he has. So far he's gotten really good at following commands, practically understands everything we say to him... he just doesn't use his words very much. You can tell he's in that really frustrated stage where he really wants to communicate but doesn't really know how to yet. He's been throwing more tantrums lately, but I'm hoping he will learn how to use his words soon enough to tell me what he wants.

Canon's repertoire:
Signs he can use (if he wants to or is prompted to use):
more, drink, please, thank you, milk, again

Words he can say clearly and correctly:
uh-oh, no, eye, go, hi (sometimes), knee (used once)

Words he uses but doesn't say perfectly:
ball (by far his favorite word- uses it pointing at every circle he sees), Dad, echo (pronounced "gecko"), moon (pronounced "mooo"), nose (pronounced "no"), keys (pronounced "gee"), bye (pronounced "buh" while opening and closing his hand at himself), star (pronounced "darr")

Words he has attempted but doesn't really come that close:
sun (pronounced "ss ss ss"), ear, pickle, thank you

Animal sounds he'll imitate:
elephant, cow, dog, cat, parrot, monkey, lion/tiger/bear (all the same sound- includes hand motion), snake, rabbit, frog, duck (includes hand motion), fish, sheep, owl

Body parts he can identify:
hair, ear, eye, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, hands, fingers, elbow (working on perfecting that one), foot, toes, belly button, knee (working on perfecting that one too)

Some simple cute things he can do when asked (if he feels like it)
fold his arms when it's time for prayers, kiss your cheek, go up the steps and down the slide all by himself, high-5 and knuckle bump ("bones"), blow kisses and wave good-bye, point to almost whatever you ask him to while reading a storybook

He's so smart, but he's just taking his sweet time to decide to actually talk!

Easter Post (Better Late Than Never)

This year was the first Easter where Canon participated in the festivities.  We were planning on attending an Easter Egg Hunt on the Saturday before Easter, but the forecast was for rain all day long.  So, the lady in charge switched it to Friday instead.  The weather was awesome; I had Canon go down for an early nap and picked up Mark from work a couple hours early, and we all had a really fun time.  

Mark helped Canon dye an Easter Egg.  It was a beautiful bright blue, and Canon did not want to let go of it for the entire party.  He wouldn't even drop it to pick up another egg during the hunt.  In fact, he would have one egg in each hand and wouldn't grab any new ones to put them in the basket.  Behold:

See the blue egg in his right hand?

Refusing to put the eggs in the basket...

Trying to take someone else's eggs...

Enjoying a donut hole... Note the right hand stained blue!

After all the eggs and candy and other treats, his favorite part was the swing set!

 Canon also seemed to enjoy his first Easter Basket.  Thanks to the stuff sent by Grandma Dahl (Mark's mom), the candy Mark and I got, and the stuff from the Easter Egg Hunt (which we didn't realize we were getting, otherwise we wouldn't have bought our own candy), he had a really full basket. 

 Thanks for the outfit too, Grandma.  Canon looks super cute for church these days!

Look at all these eggs full of candy!!

Ooh!  I'm so excited!

Teeth + Words = Happy Mommy

That's right.  I'm so happy for those little molars to pop through.  Canon has been a much better eater lately.
Sometimes I can't get him to eat because he's being picky, or obviously not hungry when I thought he would be.  But he eats chicken, ground beef, and even cooked veggies now!  Oh, I'm so stoked about this!  YAAAYYYY!!!!  :-D

Oh yeah... does "uh-oh" count as a word?  Canon has totally mastered the intonation and timing of when to say "uh-oh!"  Alright, well if you don't really count that as a real word, then how about "eye" when pointing to his own eyes or to a picture of an animal?  I was hesitant to consider it because it's really only one phoneme- alright, so it's a diphthong... but it's still the appropriate sound associated with the appropriate thing.  In addition to that, Canon has now learned the word "no" and uses it frequently.  Any yes/no question that you ask will be answered "no" even if the answer really is "yes."  So far it hasn't gotten annoying, but I'm sure it will soon enough.

Needless to say, I'm really happy that he has these few words.  They may not be "milk" or "juice" like the doctor said it would be, but he has found a way to communicate what he wants.  He knows the moon and can point it out in storybooks and the sky, shouting out "moooo!"  He's been saying "bah" for a long time referring to a ball, and I think he's only closed the "L" once.  I wonder how long it will be until he perfects that word.  One time I was in the bathroom and Canon came up to me and said "hi!"  I hope that word comes more often soon.  He also has signs for "more," "please," and he used to do "milk" and "drink" but does those less often now.

Some of his newest adorable tricks are as follows:

-blowing kisses (He refuses to actually kiss our cheek now.  He even pushes away and runs away when we ask for one, but he'll blow a kiss, no problem!)
-throws diapers away (He loves to take his dirty diapers and bring them all the way up the stairs to his diaper pail.  I usually have to drag him away from the diaper genie.)
-gets shoes/jacket to go outside (He knows that putting these items on means that he can go outside, and will either love to go get them, or hate it- depending on whether he has to get in the car or not.)
-pointing out pictures (I've been trying to ask him to point out more things in his storybooks to see what he knows.  Quite often he surprises me with what he knows.  Other times I find that if I teach him one item, he'll be able to point that same thing out the next time we read it.  He's so smart!)

Sorry there are no pictures, but I need to go make dinner now.

Little Update on the Little Dahl-ling

So Canon was pretty touchy a few days back, and I've come to learn that he is growing molars on all four quadrants on his gums.  YAY...I mean, poor little guy!  But seriously, I'm so glad that he'd finally getting in those molars.  I'm hoping that it will help him to be better eater.  So far, my hopes haven't dashed yet.  Yesterday he did a pretty good job eating (for him anyways).  He actually ate dinner last night (a ham casserole with chunks of ham, broccoli, peppers, and hash-brown potatoes) after having a pretty good appetite the rest of the day too.  I was so happy about it because he ate a good portion.  I had to feed it to him for him to eat more, but that part I can deal with.  Oh...I really am glad for those little molars.  I can handle a touchy kid for a few days if it relieves a bit of this whole stress on his diet.

Another thing I'm so excited about is his language development.  No, he still doesn't have any words like he should, but I've seen a lot of progress over the past couple months.  He has reached the jargoning stage (I think) where he babbles on in his own language, and he can understand and follow simple commands.  The animal sounds was just the beginning of it, but his comprehension has seemed to really boom.  I'm expecting to actual words to be coming really soon.  Stay tuned for further updates in this category.

Oddly enough, today Canon has not been as active as he usually is... but here are a few shots of Canon just being a kid... doing what he does best... getting into stuff.