Secure in His Manhood

While in Houston, Canaan got his fill of PINK! He slept in two different girly pink bedrooms, sat in a pink high chair, and played with pink toys. We did refrain from dressing him in any pink dresses- we must draw the line somewhere! But, Canaan is secure enough in his manhood not to be bothered by it!

Cousin Ashtin

My cousin Ashtin is living in town going to the AIM program. Even though she is busy, we get to see her when she comes over to do laundry. I thought it was so cute as Ashtin was reading to Canaan. I couldn’t tell who was having more fun- Ashtin or Canaan!

Toys

Canaan has learned that he can put the rings back on the stacker! It is so exciting. He’s been doing it for about a month now, and he never puts them on in a certain order. He just grabs whatever ring is closest or his favorite at the moment. He has also learned that he can put the shape blocks back in their box. He doesn’t put them through the shape matching lid- that is a little ways down the road still- but he does take off the lid and plop the blocks in. It is fun to watch how he is growing and learning to do things on his own!

The Boy in Him

Canaan is definitely all boy! He has always loved making lots of loud noises. One of his favorite pastimes is to take two toys and bang them together. If they don’t make much noise, then those aren’t his favorite toys. Now Canaan is starting to play with a ball (since we finally found one for him). We will roll it back and forth, only he doesn’t roll the ball- he picks it up and hands it to me to roll back to him. It is great fun and way too cute! The other new boy thing is his obsession with trucks (“ucks”). Dougle and I bought him a Tonka truck to stand behind and push. It also has a cool steering wheel where each thing (blinker, horn, key) makes different noises then turned or pushed. He just loves his truck! He walks behind it everywhere. It really just goes in a straight line, so when he ran into things that stopped him, he would grunt for us to come over and turn it around for him. Now he has learned that he can just walk to the other end, and push it right back the way it came- all by himself. He is so cute to watch! He also recognizes real trucks (anything from a riding lawnmower to a big vehicle he calls a “uck”). He especially loves it when they drive by making lots of noise! So now, his two favorite words are “book” and “uck”. That’s our boy!

The Stages and Phases

Since he was born, Dougle and I have always tried to be parents who enjoy each and every stage that Canaan goes through. We don’t want to be parents who wish their baby stayed a baby forever, rather we want to be parents who cherish each new phase of growth. For the most part, it has been exceptionally easy; we get so excited at each new thing that he does or is about to do. Until Now. This newest phase is not so fun: it is the clingy phase. From birth, we have made an effort to let lots of different people hold Canaan and play with him, so that he gets used to being with many and new people. But now, he will have none of it. He has started to cry when I drop him off in the nursery for Bible Class- which he used to love. He doesn’t want to go see anyone and gets worried and cries when anyone other than his favorite six people hold him. I realize that this is just a temporary thing (hopefully). In a way it makes me feel good that he loves to be with people he is familiar with, but I also wish he would enjoy other people too. I’ve heard that Canaan will probably go through another one or two clingy stages after this one, so I guess I’ll have plenty of time to learn to cherish them. So, until it is over, I am trying to soak in all the hugs he gives me (when he is turning away from someone he doesn’t want to go to) and all the times he chooses me over others.

Another interesting thing is the way that he will do things for a few weeks, and then decide he doesn’t want to do it any more. For instance, walking. He would take 20-30 steps easily across the living room from one person to another. And he was very proud of himself too! Now, he doesn’t want to take two steps to get from one person to another, but instead will go down to his hands and knees and crawl the distance! What a funny little boy!

Also as a side note: Canaan has learned to climb the stairs. So now, we must always use the gate, or we will find him 6 steps high in a flash!

Hair

Those of you who aren’t around all the time will laugh at this. Okay, even those of you I see often might laugh too. But Canaan’s hair is growing! You can see a little shadow in pictures and he even has a small little line of thicker hair in one or two places on his head. I just wanted you to know, my baby does have hair and it is growing…slowly but surely! In the meantime, isn’t he just the cutest little baldy you have ever seen?!

The Fair

It is tradition. A Martin Family Tradition. The first Monday of the fair, we work at the LCU pie booth, from 4-8pm. This year was no exception. We all headed out to the fair to sell pies and enjoy the good food (why else do you go to the fair, if not to eat?). As soon as we arrived, I discovered that the pie booth was no place for Canaan; to top it off, I had forgotten his stroller. But, Grand-dad decided to take advantage of the situation right away. He grabbed Canaan and away they went to stroll through the cattle and swine barns, peek in on the petting zoo, and just walk around and enjoy looking at all the people. They came back long enough to eat. I bought Canaan a big potato with broccoli and cheese topping- and he loved it. He ate almost the entire potato. We had to distract him to get him to stop eating; he was just enjoying it so much! A little bit later, Auntie Livia took Canaan around the fair, then Grand-dad again, next Daddy got a turn, and then it was time to leave. On our way out, Dougle and I walked through an animal barn with him. It was fun. There was even a petting zoo with goats and sheep. The funny thing was that Canaan was more interested in running after the other little kids than petting the animals. He has really taken an interest in other little kids lately. Overall, the fair was once again a fun family time, and I think Canaan’s relatives all enjoyed taking him around and spending some good quality time with him. It was a great year, adding yet another family member to our great tradition!