New Stage in Life

Canon recently has been telling me every time (practically) that he is "poopy!"  So that means it is time for... you guessed it... a new bed?  Well, yes!  I wanted Canon to be out of his crib before I start the potty-training, and I think that time may be closer than I want it to be.  Although not having to worry about diapers would be completely awesome, I'm not sure that I'm quite up for the process of potty-training.  (Any tips on how to go about teaching a little boy to use the toilet or knowing when they're ready are welcomed in the comment area.) I'm hoping that he will just be ready to sit on the pot and go with no more instruction necessary, but I know that's completely unreasonable.  We were just assuming we should wait until he can communicate a little better.  Canon has a ton of words now, but he's not really stringing 2 words together yet... but I don't think it will be too long.  I just figured he should be old enough to reason with, but a lot can happen in 6 months or so.

Anyway, my sister-in-law Lucia told me a couple weeks ago that she had a blue car toddler bed in her basement for when I decided I wanted it.  Apparently her son never even used it, and it's just been sitting there.  Well, Canon had always been pretty good at going down in his crib, and I figured that if I kept his routines the same, maybe he would be good at going down on a bed too.  So, I figured the time was coming close to make the transition from a crib to a bed.   I was trying to get Canon excited about the idea by talking about him getting a bed for about 2 days before we went to my brother's house to get it.  (We ended up having to return the next day with a truck because we couldn't disassemble it, and it didn't fit in the car or their van.)  I was planning on feeling it out for a couple more days to see if Canon would be ready for the new bed.  I asked Mark to drop us off at the park for the weekly play-group, and when we got back I saw Mark was taking apart the crib and getting the bed into its place.  I guess I didn't really communicate my full intentions very well.  Oops!  My bad!  So Mark got it all set up, just in time for Canon's nap!

This is the new car bed, where the crib used to be!

When Canon saw the new bed he was shouting, "Car! Car!"  He is obsessed with cars, trucks...pretty much anything with wheels.  He L-O-O-O-O-V-E-S his new bed.  He climbed right onto it and started riding down the "hood" like a slide...a very short slide, but that's what he does.  Here's a video.  At the end of the video he gets hurt, but it doesn't take long for him to calm down, and he's never done it since...so he still likes his bed.

Crawling up and down.

Rolling around, getting used to the new experience, without bars!

kicking his feet up, not letting me get a good shot of him.

The first time I had to put Canon down into the bed, he refused to go to sleep.  He was so ecstatic and just wanted to play with the car.  I listened at the door and heard a thump...thump...Wheee! I had to go in to him 4 times.  I actually had to just rock him to sleep before putting him down.  I was expecting it to take a few days of Canon getting up each time he was supposed to be sleeping.  That same night, I put him down awake, and he actually just stayed there and went to sleep.  In fact, every time Canon wakes up he waits for someone to come and get him.  Both my mother-in-law and I keep trying to convince Canon that he can get up when he's awake.  That's what's so great about being in a bed, you can get out of it whenever you want.  For whatever reason, habit or otherwise, he needs to be convinced to get out of bed.  Maybe it's just that he likes his bed so much he just wants to hang out there...I don't know.

I read online that you should make a big production of the bed by inviting everyone to come see the new bed.  This helps the child become more excited about the bed to help them transition.  For some reason that really stuck with me, and I tell Canon to show it to anyone who comes over to the house.  However, I don't think that Canon really needs to get any more excited about it.  Last night we had Uncle Rob and Aunt Li-Ling with their kids over for dinner and FHE.  When I told Canon he should show Uncle Rob the bed, he actually took Rob's hand and brought him from the dining room to the bedroom. He doesn't take just anyone's hand, even when they offer it.  I thought it was pretty cute!  He seems to be doing just fine with the change.  So well that he actually didn't give me any troubles going down last night while we were having a rather fun, loud party going on.  It was fantastic!!

"Thank you so much, Lucia!  The bed is a total hit!"

Canon couldn't be happier!

The Day Started Out Fun

Yesterday our little family rode the Trax to downtown Salt Lake so that Daddy could check out the law library at the courthouse.  Canon really liked riding on the train... saying "choo choo" the entire time.  Sometimes he'd point out something through the window, but he basically just constantly reminded us that he was on a train.

Trying to get Canon to pose, but he was more excited about something outside.

After Daddy finished exploring the library, we walked around downtown and played in the water fountain at the Gateway Mall.  This was the first time I had been there when the water was going, and I thought Canon would have a blast...I guess I should have known better, huh?

All sun-screened up, in his swimwear, all set for the water...but he's not sure that he really wants to go in.

Noticing how cold the water is that splashes him.  

 It took a lot of coaxing to get him to just go and play in the fountain.  He would walk part-way, between two shooting spots, but he didn't want to walk into the water, like he didn't really want to get all wet.  I put on my flip-flops and walked him right up into the middle, hoping that he'd brave the heart of the fountain beast.  Once he just barely got up the gumption to get down and play in the middle, the fountain shot him right in the face.  It totally scared him and he came crying to me.  I was able to console him, and eventually I got him to go back into the fountain, but he still played it safe the WHOLE TIME.  He would NOT stand above where the water shoots up.

With Mommy by his side, he knows he'll be safe.

Just starting to play with the water holes again.

watching the other kids his age getting totally soaked...and he doesn't seem  to want that for himself

 By the time he seemed to be enjoying it the most, it was time to head back home for his nap.  That was the only time he kept running away from me because it was time to leave.  Once we were on our way, however, he was a pleasant little rider.

trying to have a conversation with Daddy

just being silly... sticking his tongue out

See?  He had a great time!!

So the day started out really fun for us.  Canon got down about an hour later than we would've liked for his nap, but he went down fine (as long as I left his milk with him-and I hate leaving his cup with him in bed), and he slept really well.  Everything seemed all fine and dandy...until dinner time.  He didn't really want to eat anything at dinner, but that's pretty commonplace... until he vomited.  He was not a happy camper after that.  I then gave him some chocolate milk to try to give him a better taste in his mouth, but then as I was trying to put him to bed, he vomited again.  We threw out the rest of the milk from that gallon, assuming that it was probably spoiled.  After all the commotion, Canon finally got to bed around 9:30pm.  At least he was pleasant in his demeanor... not much whining during the whole ordeal.

Canon slept really well through the night, and woke up about an hour later than usual...and everything seemed great all morning...until I tried to put him down for his nap again.  Since he wasn't eating anything for breakfast and practically nothing for lunch, I figured I'd give him some of the Carnation Brand breakfast powdered chocolate milk.  He drank about 1/2 of it with no problem, but a few moments after I laid him down he vomited again.  This time it wasn't so much...so I'm hoping it was just what was left over from last night.  I used a new gallon of milk, so it definitely was not spoiled.  

I guess his little tummy has been a little more sensitive lately.  I'm hoping we've seen the last of it because we're planning on leaving to go to the family cabin for the weekend, and I really don't want a vomiting baby away from home.  He doesn't act sick and he doesn't have a fever, so I'm just crossing my fingers!  Poor little guy!

Pictures of the Growing Boy

Some of these were posted on the family blog, but if you're only following Canon's blog, I figured you should see these.  Not much to post now...just some cute shots!

Pool Party with Jane Meservy

Isn't she cute?

Such a happy boy!

and cute to boot!

Uncle Andy's house back in July... this is a picture from Mom's camera that I didn't have before

Having fun being silly in the new living room

discovering his new favorite chair

smiles for Grandma during lunch

cuddles with the moose on Grandma's rocking chair

say "cheese!"

my handsome boy

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!