50 weeks (May 8th)

We actually had nice weather for a day or two and tried to play with some bubbles outside. Apparently, the $1 deal bubbles at Target were not even worth a dollar. We'll have to get some more to try now that we're having warmer days.

We often see Canaan in this position when she's found anything on the floor. She picks it up and inspects it very seriously.

Enjoying some family time in Mom and Dad's room.

And then the weather got cold again. Here we are after a walk.

While Canaan and I were walking, Matthew and Max were playing. Max swam for a bit and played fetch. Once we all got home, Matthew noticed Max was bleeding and had quite the gash in one of his paws. So here we are at the emergency vet clinic. Max ended up getting 3 stitches in his paw.

Max was supposed to wear this cone for at least a week. He got it late Saturday night. The poor guy ran in to EVERYTHING with that thing on. He looked so depressed and wouldn't eat or go to the bathroom. Matthew took it off him Monday because he couldn't stand seeing Max in it anymore. Max did great and never tried to chew on his paw or bandage.

• Canaan LOVES to open and close everything - doors, her phone, books, etc. Grandma taught her open and close when they kept her a couple of weekends ago.
• She likes to play more (i.e. she teases us by "running" away from us).
• She laughs at, climbs on and over, and teases Max.
• When eating finger foods, Canaan will hold food out to Max, smile, and then put the food in her mouth.
  
  
  
  

11 months (April 23rd)

Out of all the portraits we've had made of Canaan at Target and JC Penney, I think these are my least favorite. It was really hard to get her to stay seated or standing without taking off in any direction. Now that she's really mobile, I have found it really hard to get good photos of Canaan. I still think these are cute because she's a cutie. My Aunt Bettie sent Canaan this outfit, and she can finally wear it. It was snowing the day we had these made, but I figured she should be wearing a springy outfit since it was the end of April.

49 weeks (May 1st)

Matthew rented a power rake and did this to the entire front and back lawn. He then spent several hours (with help from a friend) bagging all that grass.

This dog knows how to relax!

• If you point to something, generally you can get Canaan to look in that direction.
• When in a high chair in a restaurant, Canaan is really entertained by all that is going on all around her. It is hard to feed her at times because she is looking around.
• She likes to stand up in her bathtub. At almost every bath, she wants to touch the faucet and the drain.
• She fell down the two steps between our laundry room and garage and scraped the side of her face.

Most recent big news

Our biggest news as of late is this.



Our house is officially on the market! Matthew has done an incredible amount of work to get our house ready to sell. And he daily does a lot of work to keep it clean and picked up.

We have no idea what is to come, but we know that the financial obligation is just too much for us right now while Matthew is without a job. We hope it will sell quickly. Then the plan is to rent until we figure out what is next.

Happy Birthiversary!

In order to help celebrate my birthday and our 7th wedding anniversary, my parents came to town. They kept Canaan overnight at our house while Matthew and I drove into the mountains. We were only away from home 26 hours, but we had a wonderful time in the mountains. We did a lot of driving, ate a couple of nice meals, and spent the night at a bed and breakfast. After dinner Saturday night, we sat in the outdoor hot tub at the b&b which was crazy relaxing.

Ski season ended at most of the resorts the weekend before we drove up there so some of the places we visited were a ghost town. It was eerie to be there with no one else. We stopped in Keystone because we had not been there before. We saw a total of 8 people. Not a single shop was open.


We tried a new place for dinner with some interesting things on the menu. We started with a salad that had seared calamari. I didn't get a picture of it, but I really enjoyed it. For the main dish, Matthew enjoyed a lasagna dish made with buffalo while I had roasted pork in a blackberry sauce. We were surprised by the large portions and couldn't even order dessert. We had enjoyed some chocolate cake earlier in the day when we stopped at a coffee shop.

Thank you Mom and Dad for keeping Canaan (and Max) and giving us a night away!

48 weeks (April 24th)

• Canaan has learned to knock on windows or the glass door. Sometimes when Max is outside, she will knock on the glass door.
• She is walking all over the place. She has started carrying a toy when she's walking around.
• I think she finds ways to purposefully crawl/climb over Max.
• When "helping" with the laundry, she will pull things out of the dryer or laundry basket and start chewing on them. This girl puts EVERYTHING in her mouth.
• When she's standing in front of us facing us, she'll grab your pointer finger with one hand and then grab your other pointer finger with her other hand. This means she wants to be picked up.
• She is squatting to pick up her toys.
• She brings toys and books to us.
• She is very mindful of the little step in front of our fireplace.
• We put her in the swing at the park. She held on tightly with both hands.
• We ate dinner at Mimi's Cafe one night. Canaan tried to pick up a drop of water off the table and put it in her mouth.
• While we have had plenty of it this year, Canaan played with snow for the first time this week. It snowed at our place April 23rd and 24th. Grandma put some in a bowl and gave it to Canaan in her highchair. Even though it was cold, she mostly enjoyed eating it.

47 weeks (April 17th)

• 4/11 weighed 19.8 pounds with her clothes on
• Canaan likes to wave her arms when she's squealing and holds them tight to her body with a last, loud scream.
• 4/16 walked about 6 feet without falling or sitting down
• She has discovered how to unroll a roll of toilet paper. We now have to keep all bathroom doors closed. Anytime she hears a bathroom door open, she is there in a heartbeat.
• Canaan has tried some chunkier stage 3 baby foods. It appears she does not like the chunks/texture of some of them.
• Because of our busy schedule this week, she stayed up late each night. She ended up waking up during the night each of those nights.
• Matthew taught her how to high-five.

46 weeks (April 10th)

• Canaan is continuing to take more steps.
• She is interacting with us more. She reaches for our hands while she's eating.
• She responds to hearing any door open by heading that direction.
• She would love to play with Max's water and food, if allowed.
  

45 weeks (April 3rd)

Since I had to travel to Austin and Dallas for 2 work meetings, Matthew and Canaan went with me. We spent Easter weekend with some friends in Dallas. We enjoyed spending time with friends, the awesome warm sunny weather, and great food.

• Canaan started leaning back to look at the ceiling.
• She traveled by plane for the second time.
• She slept well at our friends' house.
• Canaan sat and crawled in the grass for the very first time. She was sure what to think of it. She didn't mind putting it in her mouth but wasn't sure she wanted to put her hands in it to crawl.
• While in Texas, she went from eating 2 jars of baby food to 3 jars at each meal. She stopped doing that once we got back home. Maybe she had been told that everything is bigger in Texas and wanted to play along. She also ate her first homemade tortilla. Yum!
• We went to the Arboretum on Saturday and saw many lovely flowers and enjoyed the excellent weather.
• While on the plane, Matthew taught Canaan how to turn around on a seat and slide down to the floor. She did this many times on the plane ride home.