Meeting Friends

Matthew got a call on Friday that our great friends the Bells would be delayed in our local airport for several hours. So after church on Sunday we drove to the airport to hang out with them. They had not yet met Canaan in person.

As we waited at the top of the escalator, we saw Nathan but couldn't find Melinda. It turns out that she was really sick and had stayed at the terminal to rest until their next flight.

Canaan did very well. She was in her car seat about 3 1/2 hours. And while at the airport, she wasn't able to crawl around. I was very impressed that she didn't have a meltdown. We got home in time to feed her dinner, give her a bath, and get her in bed just a bit later than normal.

Here are pictures of Canaan meeting Nathan. Who would have thought we've have pictures of Nathan and Canaan before we had pictures of Melinda and Canaan?

We are looking forward to spending time with Nathan and Melinda sometime soon!

40 Weeks

You can see that Canaan has been teething on her bed.

Our very good friends are moving this week out of state. We are going to miss our friends terribly. They gave Canaan these shoes for her very first birthday present. She decided they would be some good chewing...at least they are clean!

While in the basement with Daddy earlier this week, Canaan decided to start climbing the stairs. She climbed all the way to the top!

A lady I work with sent Canaan several of these pink rubber duckies. We only opened one, but it has been a BIG hit. Canaan has really enjoyed playing during bath time. We have also discovered her a couple of times during the day between the toilet and the bathtub playing with this duck.

A group of ladies from a retirement home made this blanket and hat for Canaan. They gave it to us weeks after she was born. This was the first time I had put the hat on her. Surprisingly, it still fits.

• Canaan can stand for quite a while without holding on to anything.
• If we are standing still enough, she will pull up on our legs.
• Every time she hears the GE commercial that begins with the little girl saying "ahh" to the doctor, she will stop what she's doing and listen to the entire commercial...even if she cannot see the television.
• She has been trying to pull up on other children. They generally have a concerned look on their faces.
• She has tried several times to stand up in the middle of the floor. She has not been successful at this.
  
  

9 Months

Canaan turned 9 months on February 23rd. She had two doctor's appointments that day.

First, we saw her pediatrician. He was very pleased with how she is doing. He said he likes to see a one year old around 20 pounds and 30 inches long. With a slightly wet diaper, she weighed 18 pounds. She was 28 inches long. She is doing well developmentally as well. The only question we couldn't really answer affirmatively was whether she understood the word "no". She gave the doctor a good examination of her own. She only had to get one shot today. She cried for just a bit until we picked her up off the exam table.

A couple of hours later we went to the gastroenterologist. We removed her diaper here, and she weighed 17 pounds 10.5 ounces. She hadn't eaten anything in between so this must be a more accurate reading. He basically said that if we can transition her to regular formula without any problems, then we don't need to go back to see him. Yeah! Matthew has suspected for quite a while that she had outgrown whatever issue she used to have with the milk protein allergy. We should find out soon how she'll do on regular formula.

39 Weeks (as of February 20)

Canaan has discovered the door stops. She likes to make them make noise.

She enjoys trying to get the spoon from us during meal time. Occasionally, she is successful in her attempt.

This has been a cold winter, and we've had snow several times recently.

If you look REALLY closely, you can see one of Canaan's bottom teeth in this picture.

• Canaan has discovered that she likes to spit with food in her mouth. We are trying to teach her to stop doing that, but it has been challenging. We don't think she understands "no" yet.
• Sometimes she gets her feelings hurt when we say "no". I'm not sure if it's the word or the tone of voice that upsets her.
• She likes to cuddle with a blanket and her frog in bed. She will pull the frog close to her face and suck on her thumb generally.
• She has thrown a couple of fits (i.e. when I wouldn't let her play with Max's toy).
• She laughs at Max.
• Canaan will sometimes stiffen up when you try to put her in the highchair or change her diaper.
• She has started being clingy when you try to put her down after holding her. She will hold tightly to your clothes.
• She doesn't enjoy baths as much right now because I won't let her stand in the tub.
• We think she's trying to kiss us. She will open her mouth and put it on our faces.
• Canaan has figured out when we are teasing/playing with her.
• When she holds her bottle, she holds onto the nipple rather than the bottle.
• She will follow us around and, when we stop walking, will pull up on our pants.
• She has started standing on her tip-toes to look at things or put something in her mouth.
• She stopped nursing this week. I hoped to make it a year, but that didn't work out for us.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love, Canaan

38 Weeks (as of Feb 13, 2010)

Canaan has learned to climb as well as crawl. Daddy took this picture while I was at work one day last week. Canaan has not been allowed up here again. She looks proud of herself, doesn't she?

I can't get enough of this chubbiness. Look at those wrist rolls.

Another fish face. Canaan and Matthew go back-and-forth making fish faces and other noises while Canaan is eating.

As you saw in a previous photo, Canaan has discovered the dvd player and amplifier. She always wants to crawl over to them and try to put knobs in her mouth. She ends up settling for licking the amplifier.

Here she is looking out the back door again.

She doesn't like things on her head, but she wore this bunny hat the other day for quite a while before pulling it off. We were about to take Daddy to the doctor. Whatever nasty sickness he's had, she has managed to avoid so far.

She loves the phone. When one of us is on the phone, she will laugh and squeal. Matthew was using speaker phone this night so we got a photo of her reaction to Nathan talking on the other end.

She still loves Max. She follows him around and pretty much wants to pester the poor guy. He has let her touch his nose the last couple of days. Yesterday she tried to put her mouth on his nose and also on his paw. Here she is playing with his tail.

Last weekend her friend Samuel discovered the front windows. She enjoyed looking out yesterday afternoon.

This is her first baby doll. I bought it before she was born, but we've only gotten it out a couple of times. She wanted to share with Max and enjoyed chewing on her doll.

This week she tried a banana in the mesh bag. That mesh bag is one nasty thing to clean.

Canaan is learning when she gets stuck somewhere to turn around and crawl the other direction. She has not figured out how to back up.

She has learned how to sit from crawling.

She tried to mimick what we are doing with our mouths/sounds.