Cannon + Candy = Walking

So Cannon took his first three steps last Sunday, the day before his first birthday. He only takes about three-four steps at a time, but at least it is a start! His favorite thing to do is crawl up to something sturdy, stand up, look at his destination, and go at it full-force, almost like a lunge. However, over the week, his lunges have become less sloppy and more like actual movement. While attempting to walk, Cannon's hands are always way up, up, up in the air, which we think is just the cutest thing. It is also funny how Cannon won't always want to try walking, unless candy is involved. If we sit a few feet apart with candy in our hand or lap and reach out to him, calling him over, he never waits a minute to perform his drunken sailor walk over to us. Without candy, on the other hand, is another story.

Also, Cannon had his one year doctor appointment on Wednesday. He is still at 15% for height and weight, measuring 28.5 inches tall and 20.8 lbs.

Before I end this post, I have to share a funny story...well, funny now, not funny at the time! So yesterday afternoon I put Cannon down for a nap just before noon. We are now attempting the one nap per day deal, and it is not going well, might I add! Around 12:30pm I heard him up and talking in his room, and thought, "what the heck?, it has only been 45 minutes! I am not getting him up now!" Thinking that he would soon fall back to sleep since he wasn't crying, I went downstairs to get ready for work in the hopes that he would fall back to sleep if he didn't hear me getting ready in the room next door. Then at 1:40pm, I realized that Cannon was still awake and happily talking gibberish in his room. Knowing that he probably would not fall back asleep at this point, I went back upstairs to his room to get him up and ready to take to the babysitters house so I could go to work. When I opened the door to Cannon's room, he was standing up in his crib with the biggest smile on his face. I thought nothing of it, other than the awful smell of a messy diaper, until I got closer and closer to his face. Once up close, I noticed Cannon had poop smeared on his face, hands, legs, feet, and pretty much all over the sheets and bumper of his crib. I was completely mortified and must have showed it, because after one close-up look at Cannon, he started to cry. At that point, I did not know what to do first. I decided to pick him up and place him in the tub, clothes and all, and just wash all the poop off him. Let me tell you, this was probably close to the most disgusting thing I have cleaned up in my life, and I am a nurse!!!

On a happier and less disgusting note, I posted some pictures of Cannon walking below. Videos, you ask? No, just action shot pics. I have no idea how to video tape Cannon with our little camera, even though I know I could, if I knew how. So, pictures are what you get on here since I am not tech savvy.

Happy Birthday Cannon!

Happy Birthday Cannon! One year ago today, Cannon joined our family. This past year has gone by super fast. I cannot believe my baby boy is already one years old! Even though his birthday is today, we celebrated yesterday with his aunts and uncles. Because it was Cannon's first birthday party, we thought it would be fun to just have his aunts and uncles there, since they are the people he sees the most, and are really his only friends at this point. :)

Cannon started yesterday morning by having his Uncle Brandon, Uncle Kyle, and Aunt Tanaira over for brunch before heading to church. He even got to open an early birthday present from his Uncle Brandon, who was unable to attend his party later on during the day. After church, Cannon took a nap while his Aunt Tanaira and I decorated the house with green streamers and balloons. I decided to make Cannon's birthday party monkey themed, because I love monkey themed clothes and toys for little boys. Blaine and I tested our creativity by making Cannon's birthday banner, decorations, and cake. The party started after Cannon's nap, where he ate pizza, opened presents, and entertained us all by eating his birthday cake. Also, in the effort of keeping Cannon's older guests entertained, we had a "guess how many" jar filled with M&M's, and a couple of other games with prizes for the adults.

Overall, I think our first attempt at throwing a birthday party went well. I, for one, enjoyed planning and decorating for Cannon's first birthday party and look forward to the many more birthdays ahead. Happy Birthday little buddy, we love you!

Opening Uncle Brandon's present:




The Decorations and food:







The birthday boy and his party guests:






Eating birthday cake:






Opening presents:

Our Little Can-man

Cannon is getting so big! It makes it more difficult to notice how much bigger he gets each week when I see him every day. However, when I looked through his photo album the other day, I was shocked to see just how much he has grown over the past few months. Our 11 month-old is getting into EVERYTHING lately. I swear, the minute I put something away, Cannon is after that something to get it out again. This applies to putting toys away, placing things in drawers, throwing garbage away in the trash can, folding clothes and setting them aside, and throwing dirty clothes in the hamper. Cannon is definitely at the peak of curiosity and is not afraid to hide it.

In addition to his new found curiosity habits, Cannon is now eating just about everything Blaine and I eat. He loves food and like most babies, would rather eat off of our plate than his own. No matter what the food is or who is eating the food, Cannon wants it. It is funny to watch Cannon move from person to person to get a bite of whatever is being eaten. He is just too funny.

Anyway, like always, I wanted to post some new pictures of Cannon for the grandparents. I also wanted to include a few pictures of Cannon's early birthday present...a rocking horse, which he ABSOLUTELY loves. There are probably more than just a few pictures of him on his rocking horse because I love how happy he looks while riding it. Ride 'em cowboy!

Playing in his play pen:



Riding his first kiddie ride outside the Smith's grocery store:




Taking a ride on his new rocking horse:

Something to scream about

Cannon has recently started to scream and look at the camera when pictures are being taken of him. It is really hard to get a decent smile out of him when I am taking pictures now. I usually end up with getting a bunch of pictures with Cannon's mouth wide open. Even though it is frustrating while in the moment of trying to capture "the perfect picture", these pictures are funny to look back on. Most of the pictures on here are ones of Cannon playing his toy piano. I tried and tried to get a cute one of him smiling normally while playing his piano, but no such luck.

Wedding, Wedding, and Another Wedding

Since the last time I blogged, we have been to THREE weddings! Blaine and I were amazed that over the course of the summer, we were actually invited to 10 weddings! TEN! I still cannot believe that ten of our close friends/family members have gotten married, or are still about to get married, this summer. Unfortunately we have not been able to attend all of the weddings, but were able to go to almost half of them. The biggest weddings for us were my little brother Kyle's wedding and Blaine's younger brother Trevor's wedding. Kyle and Tanaira were married in the Salt Lake Temple on July 21st, and Trevor and Haley were married in the Spokane Temple on August 6th. Since I forgot my camera and had to buy a cheap disposable camera for Trevor's wedding, I was unable to post any pictures from his wedding on here. However, I did remember my camera for Kyle's wedding and posted some wedding/reception pictures below. The third wedding that we went to over the last month was my cousin Cameron's wedding last weekend. We are so happy and excited for all of the many couples who got married this summer and wish them the best!!!

Before I go, here is a little tidbit on Cannon: Six teeth and counting, pulls himself up onto everything, fascinated with dogs, dances to music, and will eat anything anyone gives to him. I'm glad he is not a picky eater like his mommy!

Kyle and Tanaira's Wedding Day:



Reception Pictures: