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. :-)