Christmas morning checklist

1. Look to see if there are presents.  

Check-  Looks like Santa pulled through.

2. Turn on fire in the fireplace.

Check- Now we can get started.

3. Open presents!

CHECK, CHECK, CHECK!!!

And yes, for those of you who were curious, Santa did leave a whole bag of "Sacrament Meeting" in my stocking!

Great one-liners

Today in sacrament meeting, Molly showed Cannon a photocopy of the cover of this month's New Era, depicting Mary holding the baby Jesus, both of them draped in white, evidently not much unlike the way Molly wraps herself and Cannon up in our white towels when they get out of the shower:


"OOH! IT'S BABY JESUS!" he yelled out, loudly enough for everyone around us to hear. "TAKING A BATH SHOWER!"

Molly has been trying hard to keep him sitting with us during sacrament meeting for as long as possible--at the very least until after the sacrament has been served. We're not above bribery. We offered him all of his favorites if he would endure quietly until the sacrament: M&Ms, fruit snacks, and apple juice. He did pretty well. After the sacrament was passed, he quickly consumed his rewards, and then yelled out, "Mommy, I want MORE sacrament meeting!" We thought perhaps he meant that these perks were making the experience rather enjoyable. But as soon as we got home, he climbed up to the counter and started digging through the diaper bag, exclaiming, "I want SACRAMENT MEETING!" Evidently, sacrament meeting literally means M&Ms and fruit snacks.

Tonight, we met with all the cousins at Nana's house for dinner, and then Nana had us all go Christmas caroling to several of her friends in the area. At each house we visited we left a little bag of chocolates. Cannon felt that if we were giving them treats, they ought to give us treats in return. The first family we visited invited us inside, and Cannon immediately noticed the bowl of chocolates sitting on a small table in the entry way. "Oooh! CHOCOLATES!" Of course, they couldn't resist offering him a piece, which meant they had to offer one to everyone else as well. Cannon was very polite, and responded loudly: "THANK you!"

At another house, the front porch was small and so we were sprawled out on the walkway, me holding Cannon in the very back, about 15 feet from the door, with all the other 11 of us standing in between. Cannon watched as one of the cousins standing close to the door handed the family their bag of treats, and yelled out, "PLEASE HAVE SOME TREATS, PLEASE?!" The poor man at the door laughed and said, almost inaudibly to us in the back, "Well, we do have some mints. Would you like some mints?" Mary told him no, thank you, we have dessert waiting at home. I hoped Cannon hadn't heard the little exchange. No such luck. "I WANT SOME MINTS!" He threw a fit and I had to wrestle him back into his car seat.

A couple of days ago Molly was in the living room preparing some things for Christmas, and Cannon was busy running about pretending to be a Kung Fu Panda and getting into whatever he could. After a while he put on Molly's shoes and one of my gloves, worked his way over to Molly, and said, "Mommy, have to go to a meeting."


Apparently this was an important meeting, because he decided he needed to upgrade to Daddy's shoes and add some accessories:

It's a boy!   

Now tell me, honestly, who is surprised?

Grandma Hadfield said she didn't have any suggestions for names except that we shouldn't name him "Barack." But I already showed Mom and Dad the old ultrasound this morning and said "Barack Obama."  So that's one vote for and one vote against... what do you guys think?

Growing Up Fast

It is amazing to us to see how quickly Cannon is learning and becoming increasingly independent. 

He loves pumkins. He calls them "pokins." Yesterday he went to the doctor for his two-year checkup and got some shots. When he came home, I asked him if the doctor had given him a poke in the leg. I expected him to put on a sad face and tell me how it had hurt. Instead, he got excited, exclaimed "Pokin! Pokin!" and ran to see the pumkin we have sitting on the living room cabinets.

He loves to help mom make scrambled eggs, which has become one of Molly's favorite breakfasts this pregnancy. He stands on a little step ladder to help her pour the "ewey gooey eggs" into the frying pan. He calls the ladder his "step skull."

Lately his favorite song seems to have moved from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to Old MacDonald Had a Farm. It seems to have become his favorite now that he's decided he doesn't have to be restricted to typical farm animals. Instead, Old MacDonald typically has a dinosaur, a T. Rex, a baby T. Rex, a car, a stick, a tree, M&Ms, a baby... and then back to a dinosaur, a T. Rex, a baby T. Rex....

He's beginning to get excited about trains. Not quite as much as his cousin Jaron (yet), but he really likes them. For his birthday, Molly's mom got him a Molly train (from Thomas & Friends) and Molly's sister got him a little blue Sir Topham Hatt car. Cannon calls him "Got A Hat." 

He lost his "milkie" privileges this week. He's used to having a bottle before going to bed, but lately he has been drinking less and less of it--but he still wants it. Finally, two nights in a row this week, he insisted on us getting his milkie, but as soon as Molly gave it to him, he handed it back to her and said, "All done"--without even putting it in his mouth. Sorry, Cannon... no more bedtime milkie for you.

Update (10/29/08)

I forgot to add another one of our favorites: "fwootbeer juice." He loves it. So does Dad.

Mickey Mouse CLUBHOUSE!!!

Check out my costume for Halloween! It just came in the mail. It's awesome. Mom helped me get in it and then we went downstairs to show Dad. As soon as Dad saw me, I yelled "Mickey Mouse CLUBHOUSE!" with a huge smile. I let him take a few pictures, but I was anxious to play Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the computer.

Halloween is going to be so great.

We're going to have a baby!

You've probably already suspected this, but we are officially coming out of the closet with it: Dad is gay. Just kidding. We're going to have a baby! The due date is March 18. We've asked Cannon several times whether he wants a brother or a sister, a boy or a girl, and although we're not sure whether he understands the question, his answers have been consistent: he wants a sister. Dad wants both. (Not on the same baby; twins.)

Anyway, thanks for being polite all this time and not asking Molly if she's pregnant, and thanks for not asking too many times when the heck we're going to have another one. We like to take our time and cook 'em good. 

Lunch with Alaina

Today we went to lunch at Pier 49 Pizza with Alaina to celebrate her birthday way back in June. While we were eating we asked her what she wanted to do when she grew up. (This is to the best of my memory, which isn't that great these days.)

Alaina: "Umm.. a mom."
Uncle Nate: "That's a good thing to be! How many kids are you going to have?"
Alaina: "Well.. Jeremy and Wesley and Timmy."
Uncle Nate: "That will be a great family."
Alaina: "And probably Robbie will be my honey."

[A bit later]

Alaina: "Know what? Someday when I'm a mommy my mom will be a grandma!" (Laughs.)

Alaina is really great with Cannon. He had a great time with her. On the way, we asked Alaina if she would help him count to ten:

Alaina: "Cannon, say one."
Cannon: "One!"
Alaina: "Great job! Cannon, say two."
Cannon: "Two!"
Alaina: "Great job! Cannon, say three."
Cannon: "Three!"
Alaina: "Great job! Cannon, say four."

... you get the idea. :-)

Party at Uncle Vard's House

Tonight Dad and I went to Uncle Vard and Aunt Becky's house to play with my cousins while Mom, Aunt Becky, and Aunt Tamra did scrap-booking. I really like running around like a crazy guy with all of my cousins. Wesley had the great idea of shooting the garden hose on the trampoline, and pretty soon everyone joined in. It was so fun... but also a little cold.

After we had played in the water on the trampoline for about an hour, Uncle Vard thought it would be fun for all of us to go warm up in the Jacuzzi. We had lots and LOTS of bubbles. It was so great.

Christian the Lion

This is an amazing true story. You can read more about it here and at Snopes.com.

A great song I made up myself

My favorite song is the Hot Dog! song they sing on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I also like to sing about the parts of my body, and I'm really excited to see the new Wall-E movie. This morning while Dad was changing my diaper, I made up a great song about all these things:

(To be sung at the top of my lungs...)

MICKEY MOOOOUSE!

WAAAALL-E MOOOOVIEEEEE!

PEEEENIS!

MICKEY MOOOOUSE!

Kayaking!

We are out by Utah Lake kayaking up the Provo River. Mom's cousin
April let us borrow their kayaks. It's pretty cool. We saw lots of
ducks and birdies. But no fishies. Dad thinks we should get some kayaks.

A Note to Parents of My Cuzzes:

Dear parents of my cuzzes,

Please bring my cuzzes to see me ASAP.

I am really fun.  I like to play peek-a-boo as you can clearly see.  I want to play peek-a-boo with my cuzzes.  Thank you for your time.

Hugs and slobbery kisses,

Cannon.

p.s.  References concerning my funness are available upon request.

Crocko PJs

Check out my new crocko PJs. They have crockos on them!

My new baby

On Sunday Mom went to see what was in our mailbox and there was a big package for me. It had a baby inside that looks just like me! He even has an outtie belly button, like mine. His name is "Baby" and I take good care of him. Today he was thirsty so we took turns drinking water out of my sippie cup. Mom got me a stroller so I can push him around the house. It's pretty great.

Dad says that my cousins Chels and Mackel like to look at my bog before they go to bed, so this post is dedicated to them. Hi Chels and Mackel!

By the way, check out my sweet hairdo in these pictures. I rubbed the ketchup in by myself and Mom helped me style it.

Still at Arches

Here I am with Dad at Delicate Arch. We are having a great time.

We met up with the cousins this morning at the visitors' center and
then we hiked to Delicate Arch. I hiked most of the way back from
Delicate Arch all by myself. A lot of people smiled at me and said I
was so cute.

Greetings from Arches!

We just met up with Varden and Becky and my cousins. I'll write more
later.

Fun Times at the Duplex

We are remodeling the duplex #1 apartment right now. We're turning the laundry room into a bathroom like they did on the other side before I was even born, remodeling the kitchen, and painting the whole apartment. I really like playing in the duplex because it's such a mess and there are interesting tools everywhere. 

Here is a picture of the bathroom after Bill Staiger and Ardian broke up the concrete and put in plumbing for the toilet and bathtub.

Bill also retiled the kitchen floor and added more support to it so it doesn't bounce and squeak anymore. He put in new cabinets, a new countertop, a new oven, and new light fixtures.  He still has to put in tile for the backsplash, but as you can see it's looking really good. Bill is a very good craftsman. Notice how well he did the filler strips around the sink and dishwasher where there were gaps between the cabinets.

Snow... again!

This morning I slept in until 8:00--a full hour later than usual! I was really tired last night because I had run around like a crazy man with my cousins and played ishie with Dad for several hours. I might have slept even longer but I awoke to the loud sound of little hard balls of white stuff bouncing off the roof. 

It's an hour and a half later now and the little balls have turned into big snowflakes. Dad says it's not supposed to be snowing this late in the year. I don't know if I believe him. We've had snow like this for over one third of my lifetime and I don't know why it would stop now. 

I don't mind really. The snow is fun to play in, except it's really cold if you touch it. Also, when there's snow outside I get to wear my moon boots, which are really awesome. In fact, they're so great, I like to wear them inside, too.

Giddyap, ishie!

I really like it when Dad turns into an ishie and gallops around the house. I like ishies now almost as much as I like doggies. Last week we were driving to Lowe's in Lehi to get cabinets for the duplex when I saw some ishies out my window. "Ishies! Mom! Ishies!" I yelled. Mom  and Dad said I was really great to have found those real-life ishies all by myself.

Yesterday at Nana's house I played wild and crazy man with my cousins for five hours straight. I really like running around Nana's house with my cousins. I also got to ride my favorite ishie (Dad) with my cousin Alexander.

A few days ago mom asked if I wanted to ride on my "horsie" (that's what Mom calls ishies). I didn't realize she meant my rocking ishie. I got really excited and ran right over to Dad. Dad is the best ishie ever.

My Awesome Tower

Today while I was waiting patiently for my Baff Time with Dad, I built a really awesome tower using ALL of my "bockies"--even the ones I usually keep stashed in the fridge by the TV!

By the way, do you like my hairdo in these photos? I did it myself with the syrup from my pancakes. Whenever I'm done eating, I like to experiment with different foods in my hair. Syrup isn't bad, but it just doesn't have the same styling impact as spaghetti sauce. Plus, the doggies like to lick it, which quickly becomes annoying.

Waiting for Baff Time With Dad

A few days ago, Dad was taking forever to get ready for Baff Time With Dad (which I really like), so I decided to have a better look at the interesting things Dad leaves on his night stand. Unfortunately, it's a bit high for me when I'm not on the bed, and Mom and Dad don't usually let me stay on the bed very long because they think I squirm around too much and they don't think it's as funny as I do when I whack them in the face with my milkies. 

In the past I could only get to a few things around the edges of the nightstand, but Mom got this really cool drum for me and as you can see it's pretty useful. I can't really remember what's in the plastic bag I'm holding. There was obviously a lot of interesting stuff to check out, and there was a phone so I could tell Nana about it. Nana doesn't always talk back when I call her, but the phone makes lots of fun noises and lights when I push the buttons.

By the way, Mom thinks I have a really cute bum. She thinks Dad has a cute bum too.

Mmm... Tseats!

Tonight mom had to go visiting teaching so I got to stay home and play with dad. Dad is great because he lets me eat "tseats." Tseats are really delish. In fact, I really don't see why they make me eat anything besides tseats. I could probably eat tseats all day.