A Gift from Aunt Mae

Dougle’s sister-in-law, Marta, just sent us this adorable and beautiful bunny she made for Canaan. We took it out of the box and Canaan

immediately gave it a big kiss and hug. It was so sweet. I think he must have felt the love from Aunt Mae radiating from it! Thank you, Aunt Marta!!

Sleepy Boy

We were able to go to the Eastern European Mission’s Summit 2 this past weekend. It was very encouraging to see all those interested in and working in Easter Europe. We were even able to meet two missionaries who are working in Russia. On the trip down, Canaan fell asleep. In the middle of his nap, he started lifting his foot in the air. It was so funny; I just had to take a picture. His little reflexes were just a-going!

Canaan Talking

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This is Canaan laughing and talking. He has this funny little fake laugh. Gran-Dad and Gran-Nan had him at Taco Bueno today and said when things got quiet between them, he would just start fake laughing. Then they would laugh at him, which caused him to laugh more. They were cracking up the whole time together (as they fed him his first tamale!).
At 10.5 months, Canaan now has 13 words: uh-oh, auntie (ah-tie), bye-bye (ba-ba), bath (ab), bible (bi-bo), dad, gran-dad (ded-ded), gran-nan (na-nan), book (boo), up, UD (ud is what he calls his uncle david), peek-a-boo (a-boo), and all done (ah-do). He is not consistent with using all of them, but he has said them all within the past three days. He also signs four signs: more, all done, milk (for bottle), and elephant. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get him to use all his words on one video, but he did pretty good! We are just the proudest parents ever!

First Steps!

I keep hearing our lives will never be the same again . . . because Canaan is now taking his first steps! On August 31st he started taking a few steps on his own. He only walks when we set him up and prompt him to walk toward us, but he will take from 5 to 25 steps all by himself to reach one of us! It is just amazing how fast our little boy is growing up and reaching all these milestones! We thank God every night for giving us such a wonderful gift!
P.S. I will try to put the little video of him walking on the blog soon!

The Tonka Truck

Mommy and Daddy bought Canaan a Tonka Truck. It is really cool, because pre-walking babies can stand behind it, hold on, and walk. Then, when they get older, they can sit on it and ride. It also makes the coolest sounds. It has a blinker, a horn with four different sounds, a gear shift, and a key to start it up (the engine makes a sputtering noise when you first turn the key and you have to turn it again to make the engine rev and run). I thought it was the greatest thing and was hoping it would be a nice substitute for all of us holding Canaan's hands and walking him around the house. We brought it home, got it out, and set Canaan up behind it to walk. He did not like that idea! So, for a few days, it just sat in the living room. Canaan played with it while sitting down, especially enjoying turning it over with the wheels in the air and spinning them. (He is such a boy!) Finally, a few days later, we got it out and tried letting him walk behind it again and he loved it! He wanted to walk all over the house with it. He can't turn it on his own, so when he runs into a wall, he grunts and we run over and turn it around so he can walk across the room again! He has the biggest grin when he is walking with it. It is adorable to watch him, and Canaan thinks he is "big stuff" walking behind the Tonka Truck!

Mouth Maladies

On Sunday, August 26th, Canaan started to stick his tongue out. I just thought he'd re-discovered it, or was trying to be funny. Then I realized the real reason: he had a big, white ulcer on the tip of his tongue! Poor baby! This was at the same time he contracted his first ear infection and then had a bad reaction to the medicine. After about 4 or 5 days of going around with his tongue out, he got better. Now he just sticks his tongue out from force of habit, or to be funny. The other day, Daddy leaned down and looked in Canaan's eyes and said, "I love you Canaan." Canaan just stuck out his tongue in reply! By the way, a wonderful lady from church gave us some beet root juice and told us that it helps cure those nasty mouth sores! Just thought you'd like to know.

Mr. Center of Attention

Yes, Canaan is my (Lucy's) parents' first grandchild. He is also Livia and David's only nephew. I couldn't help but take a picture of this scene. What happened was that Canaan had just taken a bath and I had to run get him a diaper from upstairs. Canaan doesn't like laying on the floor waiting for his diaper and starts to get upset. So, here come Auntie Livi and Gran-Nan to the rescue! Gran-Nan pulled his naked little tooshie onto her lap and Auntie Livi quickly grabbed a book to entertain him in the 30 seconds it took for me to run upstairs and get a new diaper. So, I thought I'd make all their efforts to sooth Mr. Center of Attention (aka. Canaan) a little more worth while by taking more time to take this picture. I just wished all families were as pathetic as we are and doted on their nephews and grandkids like ours does. Canaan won't always be center of attention, especially if Liv and David ever get around to giving him some cousins, but I know for sure that he feels completely loved. And as his parents, we feel so blessed by such a wonderful family.
To all those family members who are far away: we know you love Canaan SO MUCH too! I wish you all could spend as much time with him as Gran-Nan and Auntie Livi!

Team Time

Recently we had some "team time" in the park. The Hindmans, Nelsons and McDougles: the team going to Russia in 2008, all had a good time. We were blessed with a beautiful evening with wonderful weather and great fellowship. We are taking a class about team stuff from Chris Swinford and he encouraged us to have some "fun time" together. Going to the park and grilling reminded us that while all the "buisness" stuff of planning and forming a team are necessary, it is also good just to relax and build memories having fun together. As I hope you can see from the pictures, we all had a blast!

Riding a Four-Wheeler

So, this is an old picture I found recently. I just wanted everyone to know who it is that is spoiling our little boy and taking him out on a four-wheeler. It is not mommy and daddy, but the Grandparents!! My, my, my!