Quirks

Quirk #1: Naptime Comrades

Since Canaan turned 6 months I've allowed him to have one toy with him during naps & bedtime - specifically his glow seahorse ('glowy') because it's not too plush for safety's sake. Here and there I let him have another toy, or even... glowy AND back-up glowy at the SAME TIME. I know right, I'm blowing your MINDS.

Canaan and his comrades really bond during naptime, apparently. No matter what combination of friends are there with him - he insists that everyone come with him when naptime is over. NO ONE is to be left behind.

Canaan with his naptime buddies... post-naptime.





Quirk #2: Backwards Piggyback Rides

I don't know where he got this one from, but when I'm sitting Indian-style on the floor Canaan likes to stand with his back to mine... requesting that I pick him up that way.... the backwards piggy-back ride.

The Great Outdoors

Living where we do means long months inside... some many long months that Canaan's little feet have learned to walk inside - and had yet to hit the pavement directly (ie not with a thick layer of snow that basically inhibited any walking whatsoever) until a couple of weeks ago when the heavens opened up, angels sang and it was spring (at least for a little while).





Sunshine and warm weather are a bit hit with our little man (me too).



Right now... it's 61! Heading out with my two favorite guys for a little walk around the neighborhood!

Auction Kings

Our super adorable friends Kyle & Megan came to hang out this weekend! Last night we all hung out & played cards after the wee little one was dreaming.

Then......

This morning Megan and I headed over to the auction house for a little adventure. I've been to an estate sale and landscaping auction - but this was REALLY different.



The place was absolutly packed full of people (200-300) - which is not a good sign. The auctioneer started the opening bid on the first item of the day, his mouth rapid-fire - I looked at Megan and asked if her heart just started pounding too.



We had our eye on a few things we'd seen from the website - namely some collectable items that we'd checked out online. Megan scored this little beauty (not THIS one... but one just like it) for $35. I walked out empty handed sticking to my guns about my price limit on the Go-Boy gnomes.. These gnomes are going to haunt my dreams they were so stinking adorable.



YIIIIIIP!

Finished Photobooks

I was recently reading a blog post from Enjoying the Small Things (LOVE it!) - Kelle creates a book for every year of her children's lives, picking only her absolute favorite shots. I've been so overwhelmed by the amount of pictures I have of Canaan that I just stopped all together printing and filling photo albums (I have four albums for the first three months of Canaan's life... that had to stop). So I've decided to do something similar to Kelle's plan - create a family album at the end of each year with only my favorite 200 shots. Narrowed down from about 3000... that's a bit feat. So, my plan is to take it month by month in 2011, creating pages as the year goes by.

But of course to start with I had a little catching up to do. For years I have been promising BJ a wedding album. I'm not sure if it's the perfectionist graphic designer in me, but I started the project a dozen times over the last 5 1/2 years but never actually finished. Enter... Mixbook. In just a weeks time I managed to crank out three 12x12 albums - our wedding, our adventures (BJ and I's travels, etc since our wedding day), and our 2010 family album (with a bonus bit of 2009 to squeeze in the most amazing day of our lives... Canaan's birth day).







VIEW OUR ALBUMS

Our Wedding
Our Adventures
Our 2010 Family Album

Little Baby Shoes

A few weeks ago I came across this article detailing the process of making your own baby shoes and couldn't wait to give it a try. I ended up modifying the pattern and directions a bit to fit my taste and Canaan's shoe size. I flubbed up a few times but overall they turned out decent and fit Canaan just as well as his Robeez.





I'm planning on making another pair soon out of all fleece - some house booties! I might also have to make something sort of like this also - seriously how cute!

Our Little Globetrotter

I just love love LOVE this outfit from BJ's childhood - our very own little Harlem Globetrotter!







He has sweet Globetrotter moves, including banking blocks off of the baby gate.



More of Canaan during our little Mommy/baby photoshoot. What. is. this?



Canaan isn't too sure about this new hanging high chair...



Canaan has one new tooth (too small to be visible here) and three more on the way! No wonder his gums were swollen and bruised!

Sleepless Nights

This morning I asked BJ if sleep deprivation could kill you & he said no... but honey I looked it up and according to Wikipedia "long-term total sleep deprivation has caused death in lab animals".

Last night was, as I'm sure you could guess, one of those nights where I was up all night with the little man who for brief periods would decide to sleep... but then the dog to decide she needed outside desperately and then would refuse to come back in because she is STUBBORN and NUTS. And, by the time I'd located and dragged the dog back in and laid back down in my warm downy heavenly bed I'd hear the painful cries coming from Canaan's room. The kind of cries that as a mom you just can't ignore.

By 4:30am a little Tylenol and another bottle finally did the trick, but I'm still not quite sure what he was going through that kept him up over and over (my best guess... all of those teeth coming in at once).

How did I do this night after night just one year ago?

I'm amazed at how even in the middle of a night like that Canaan can still manage to make me laugh. During an especially long checkout experience at Meijer yesterday BJ taught him that squeezing our noses would bring on a "HONK!". There I am, 3am in in the dark nursery holding Canaan as he clutches the fins of his glow seahorse in one hand and my nose in the other.

I have no photos from last night (I do take a ridiculous amount of photos, but that would really be over the top), so I'll leave you with a few shots from this weekend with our little guy.

Saturday morning I set up a tripod and took some shots of Canaan and I with my handy dandy new remote control.