Halloween!

Thomas was Yoda for Halloween. He looked so cute in his little costume, but we didn't make him keep it on for very long. He has never been a fan of hats, so even getting it on him for a few minutes was something of a miracle. It was a big hit at the office.

Yesterday we took him up to Everett. It was Great Grandma Canfield's 75th birthday. The whole family was there for some afternoon cake and cookies. Then we got to have dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Canfield and Jason and Joanne and Catalina. The kids were real troopers, spending so much time in the car. Thomas was very tired on the way home and spent some time fighting off sleep. He finally gave in and fell asleep about 25 minutes from home.

It was the second night in a row that Thomas fell asleep in the car, so we ended up giving him a bath this morning. Of course, Thomas was up at 4:20 this morning. He doesn't really understand that we turned the clocks back, although we did our best to explain it to him. The nice part is that we could put him down for a nap at 8 and he can get 2 hours in before we go to church.

Now I have a little time to put my feet up and rest. Happy Halloween!

Getting closer!

I have been remiss in my blogging duties lately. The last couple of weeks at work have been very busy and we have been keeping busy on weekends as well. I'm at the stage of pregnancy when I get home from work every day and head straight to bed.

Josh has been doing a great job taking care of Thomas. They are exploring the mall, the yard, the driveway and today, Mommy's office. We have all the kids come to work for trick or treating and most of my coworkers had not seen Thomas for almost 6 months. He dressed up as Yoda and he looked so cute. Unfortunately, we were so taken with him that we forgot to take pictures.

After work, we went over to Jason and Joanne's and enjoyed some dinner with them. It is so fun to see Thomas and Catalina play together. They are still in the stage where they kind of play near each other rather than with each other.

Thomas also spends a lot of time with his aunt, Reba and the Leroy boys. He gets to spend more time with Noah, his youngest cousin because Noah is in Kindergarten and only goes to school 1/2 day. Thomas now says "Nah" for Noah.

He has also acquired the word "cookie" and knows that the sheep says "Baa" and while book, bath, ball and baa sound remarkably similar, his parents are starting to understand the distinction. It is remarkable to watch him gain language. I can't wait until we get full sentences.

Of course, we are now just counting the days until Charlotte joins our family. 31 days! We'll try to take some costume pictures tomorrow of our little Yoda and keep the blog more up to date!

How did my boy get so old?

I've mentioned before that Josh sends me pictures every day at work. On Thursday, he sent me this picture of Thomas eating a pear in the backyard. He looks like a little boy! Where did my baby go? He has been loving the pears (we have an Asian pear tree in our backyard) and he and his dad have been exploring the backyard. He is so mobile now that there is much more ability to get around.

This week there was a lot more teaching of how to eat with utensils, which is always a messy undertaking. This morning I got milk and yogurt all over my pajamas. He also tries to "escape" every time we change his diaper. That is what he is doing right now, running around naked while Josh chases him and tries to get his clothes and a diaper on.

We are going to head out for some adventures. Thomas does not love to be cooped up at home all the time, so we try to give him a little variety between naps.

Charlotte is doing well, moving around and quite obviously getting bigger. Amazingly, her arrival is only 7 weeks away. I'm at the point of pregnancy where I just feel HUGE and I don't move very fast. The other day, I ran down the hallway and provided a great deal of amusement to my coworkers.

Okay, must go, Thomas wants to collaborate and he doesn't type so well yet....

Experiments and trauma

Thomas had his first trauma today. He dropped a pot lid on his toe and according to Josh there was a lot of blood. He got a band aid and everything. That was really the first time Thomas had any bleeding. I'm so grateful that he has been so healthy, especially since he loves exploring and is afraid of nothing.

On the experimental side of things, we have been making the switch from baby to toddler. Because Thomas turned one, we are switching him off of formula and on to milk. So far he has liked it and hasn't been traumatized by the change. We are also trying to transition him to cups instead of bottles. We have tried sippy cups and cups with straws and (see picture above) even let him drink straight from the cup. Of course, the last one is a fairly messy proposition. Directly after the picture was taking, he attempted to hurl the cup across the room. He loves to throw things. We are also working on using utensils. Tonight, he was eating with a spoon. He was doing pretty well, but it was a good thing that we did it right before bath time.

We have found that the older our child gets, the more his personality comes out. Both Josh and I were particularly trying toddlers (according to our mothers), so we are getting what we deserve. While our boy remains a happy, laughing explorer, he certainly does have a stubborn streak. If he gets bored or wants to explore, he wants to do it NOW and definitely lets us know. We are so blown away by how smart he is and how he really keeps us wrapped around his finger. Can't wait to see what comes next.

On the Charlotte side of things, we are quickly approaching the due date. She is doing great, moving around like crazy and making her presence known. I am working on making her blanket now that we are in the home stretch. It is hard to find time to knit - I don't think Thomas would appreciate it if I tried to knit while he wanted to play with me, so I now try to just get in a few rows every night. So I am off to work on my next baby's blanket.

Pictures from the birthday party

Thanks to all our friends and family who made this such a fun event. Thomas had a great time and sat in his high chair like a King enjoying all of the attention.

Happy 1st Birthday

Today is Thomas' birthday, but we are really celebrating tomorrow with a big group of family and friends. I took the day off to hang out with Thomas and Josh and we spent most of the day cleaning and getting ready for tomorrow. Joanne and Catalina stopped by for a visit this afternoon and it was fun to get some time hanging out with them.

After dinner we took Thomas to DQ for some ice cream. :)

We told Thomas the story of his birth last night. Tonight we told him about his first night - how Josh wouldn't put him down for hours - he loved holding him. How we all slept in the same room in the hospital for a couple of days. It seems crazy to me that he has changed so much in the last year. I can't wait to see what the next year has to bring.

Happy Birthday, Thomas!

Who works on Friday?

I took the day off today. I had an ultrasound scheduled for this morning and I thought I would take a little rest today since I have been going about a million miles an hour at work and at home lately. We are on target to have a completely laid back weekend. Thomas is already participating by falling asleep in his carseat on the way home from the doctor. We have a trip to Target planned for this afternoon after we drop off my car for an oil change and 25K mile service check. I find it highly relaxing to get some of these things done so that we don't have to try to cram them in tomorrow.

The appointment this morning was good - I did have to get a flu shot (the regular one). We got to see little Charlie. She looks like she is a little mushier than last time - starting to put on some weight and having less space to move around. I already knew this due to the amazing amount of kicking this girl can do. We also found out that she is breech (bottom down). Thomas was head down almost the entire pregnancy, so it is fun to see something a little different. She is moving right along and we are looking forward to welcoming her - tentatively on November 30. We can't schedule the c-section for sure until 6 weeks out, but we are penciled in on the calendar so we can save the space on Dr. Z's schedule. I have to go do some paperwork at the hospital next week when I am taking the day off again.

While Thomas is napping, I am going to enjoy my book. I have my feet up on a pillow, enjoying the ultimate in lazy day activities. Have a great weekend!

How I get through the hours away

I was away in New York from Monday - Friday last week and Josh sent me the picture above of my little cheeseball eating ravioli. He is getting so big and with some of his newer clothes, he is really starting to look like a little boy. With the steadiness on his feet growing every day and his growing vocabulary, I can almost imagine the day when he will actually be able to talk to me on the phone.

Occasionally, he will now talk to me on speakerphone, but if he gets anywhere near the handset, he gets too distracted by the buttons and prefers to type out secret messages to me on the number pad.

We had a very full weekend after I returned. We spent some time visiting with both our families on Saturday and then took Rebecca and Robb to the Seahawk's game on Sunday for Rebecca's birthday. Needless to say, I am still in recovery from all the travel and I am taking Friday off to hang out with Josh and Thomas (oh, and to go to the doctor for an ultrasound). Next Friday is Thomas' birthday so I am taking it off as well, and we are trying to figure out something fun for Mom and Dad and Thomas to do together. Any suggestions?

Labor Day Weekend

Josh got a new computer on Friday so we have been going through old pictures as he plays with the facial recognition functionality in the new version of iPhoto. He also managed to share his photos with me, so I pulled this old one over on to my computer. It is from an afternoon in July. It must have been during the hot spell because Thomas is not wearing a shirt. He managed to get behind the chair where I keep my knitting and unraveled a ball of yarn. Hilarious. After that, we learned to block off that part of the living room so he can't go behind the chair. We have been having similar incidents for the last couple of months where we discover that Thomas has access to something he definitely should not have access to (the back door, the pantry, the garbage can, the cat's water...) and then we have to block him from getting to this because it has now become his new favorite thing to do.

I love it. I think it is great to see him growing and exploring, even if it means more chasing. He is now really walking around and choosing walking more over crawling. I can tell that he is really comfortable in our house because he does it the most at home. When we go to another house, he still starts out with the crawling, but the longer he is there, the more he walks.

This weekend, we spent a lot of time with family, enjoying meals together and hanging out. I also managed to get in a pedicure on Saturday - I've gotten to the point where I can't paint my own toenails.

Tomorrow I head off to NYC for a week of meetings and I am feeling a little weepy tonight. It gets harder to leave every time. I think it was difficult when I had to leave just Josh at home, but now leaving both Josh and Thomas makes me more emotional.

Better get to sleep. Charlotte is making me more and more tired these days :)

Busy weekend

We had a great, busy weekend and I don't have any pictures to post because Josh took all the good ones. However! He has finally updated his blog - mostly with pictures and a little commentary here and there, but it is great to see the pictures. Check it out here: The Daily Thomas.

We went to the fair yesterday with my parents and Thomas' cousins, Jacob, Jonah and Noah. I thought Thomas would enjoy some of the little kid rides, but he didn't really care about them. We'll have to see how he feels next summer.

Josh and I had signed up to supervise in the church nursery this morning. We picked the noon service - so we only had 3 kids (including Thomas). It went way better than I thought it would. We had no crying kids and it was fun to see them playing together. By the end all of the kids were starving and we had fun feeding them Cheerios and Animal Crackers.

We also managed to get in a trip to Target and one to Safeway, I made more zucchini bread (we can't get enough and have many more zucchini to eat from our garden) and I tackled a big project that I have been wanting to do for a long time.

I have been meaning to put away the clothes that Thomas has grown out of and my sister in law provided the perfect motivation - she gave me all the clothes that her baby girl has outgrown. I went back and got out all of Thomas' old clothes and decided what we could use that he wore. Some of the stuff was just really too 'boy', but some will work.

So I got all of the clothes organized and put away. We are really grateful for all of the clothes that we have for Charlotte. It was so fun to see them and imagine what it will like to have a girl join our family.

The other big Thomas milestone is that on Friday he stood up without using anything to pull himself up. Josh said he just did it, like he has always known how to stand up. He now stands up and starts walking around the room. He is still a little wobbly and he crashes, but he is well on his way to being a championship walker. I can't believe our little boy is so big. I love him so much and we are really enjoying seeing him grow up.

A quiet Sunday morning

It is a quiet morning at the Canfield house. Yesterday was a big day filled with activity. Jason and Joanne came over with CJ to visit and we had a fun time picking some plums off the tree and sitting outside enjoying the lovely day.



Here is Josh with two babies. CJ was really happy, but Thomas isn't sure about sharing his dad.
We went out to lunch all together and we let Thomas sit between us on a booster seat. He did pretty well, with a few attempts to crawl up on the table. We are trying to get him to sit still in his chair, but he still doesn't love to be confined. He loves to explore!

We also went over to Josh's parents so the boys (Josh and Jason) could challenge their Dad in a game of pool. And then we were off to the first home game for the Seahawks.

Josh and I have been on the Seahawks season ticket waiting list for a couple of years and this year we finally got to buy them. We bought 4 tickets so we could take people with us and last night we took my mom and my sister, Hannah. My dad was supposed to attend, but he was flying back from Africa yesterday and he missed his connection in New York. It all worked out as we were able to pick Dad up at the airport after the game. It was a great game and so fun - Hannah had never been to a pro football game before and she loved it.

Thomas stayed here in town with his aunt and uncle and cousins. Because he had so much excitement and skipped his nap in the afternoon, he passed out at about 7. We got back very late and transported him back to his own bed. He did manage to wake up at his usual time of 6:15 this morning, so Josh got up with him for the early shift - which is why Josh is currently napping.

All in all, a great weekend. I'm going to try to make some Zucchini bread this afternoon during Thomas' next nap. We pulled 9 giant Zucchini out of the garden yesterday! Happy weekend!

Thursday night

I'm waiting for Josh to get home with my treat from Dairy Queen. He has been taking a hockey class this week from 6-8 every night, so Thomas has been spending time with lots of family while I am driving home. It is fun to see him interacting with his grandparents and his cousins. He is getting so steady on his feet and everyone is trying to get him to say more words, so he is learning a bunch.

In my last post, I forgot to update his stats and as we are coming up on his 11 month birthday, I thought it would be great to note how big he was at his 9 month appointment - seems like yesterday. Thomas weighed in at a healthy 24 lbs and 30.5 inches long. He is off the chart for his age in height and almost in weight. The funny thing is that he doesn't look huge until you see him next to other kids his age.

My treat has arrived. I will try to find a picture to put up later. Thomas has been enjoying the nice weather this week and Josh got a great shot of him drinking from the hose.

Yes, I have decided to start blogging again. So much has been going on with Thomas lately that I want to brag a little bit :)

You can see from the above picture that Thomas loves to use toys like this push toy and he has been using them to gain more and more sure footing. He is now able to take about 6 steps on his own before he realizes that he needs to go back to crawling. It is so cute to watch him toddling around the room. We've had to baby proof everything in the room where Thomas normally plays. He likes to climb so we had to take out all the bookshelves.


This is my favorite picture of Thomas. He loves to eat and he really goes after it. He has two teeth on the bottom now which makes him even more destructive to cantaloupes everywhere. He is also now able to eat most of what we eat. In the past week he has started demonstrating when his distaste for specific foods by spitting them out of his mouth.

Yes, I know you are supposed to wait until the first birthday to let them eat cake, but we let Thomas try cake at his cousin Noah's birthday. Of course he loved it. We've also let him try white cake and he definitely prefers chocolate.

While Thomas has been saying "Mama" for a while, he has recently started adding more words to his repertoire. He definitely says "Bye bye" and when you ask him what a kitty says, he says "meow". Today, he was playing with his cousin and he learned how to say "bubble". It is amazing to watch him learn and grow.

We also are super excited to bring our new little girl into the family. She will be joining us in 3 1/2 short months.

That's all the updates and pictures for now. I promise to update more frequently in the future.

We are now blogging at...

Josh has been doing a great job taking pictures of Thomas every day and we have started a new website - The Daily Thomas. Josh is still working on posting the pictures to the website daily, but at least you know I will be posting at least weekly.

Smiley, Happy Baby

I didn't post last week on Sunday because we had the big Superbowl party. It was a rousing success. We know that we had way too many people in our house, but it was really fun. Thomas was a little overwhelmed by all of the preparation and the noise and he stayed awake too long in the afternoon without a nap. When he finally went down, he slept for almost 4 hours!

This week has been crazy at work for me as I was preparing for a business trip to New York. Josh was great and kept talking me through the fact that when I am 30 minutes coming home from work, Thomas is still happy to see me. He doesn't really have a concept of time yet :) Yes, Josh is the best husband ever. He also takes these great pictures and sneds them to me everyday.

Thomas continues to love his Jumperoo. He is so into the discovery part of it, moving himself in a circle to access all the different activities. As usual, this indicates to us that he is a genius. He also rolled himself all the way over this week. He only did it once and he hasn't done it again. He really doesn't like being on his tummy, so he rolled right back over. It is amazing how much he changes.

I leave on Monday for New York and won't be back until Friday. I'm have a lot of meetings scheduled, so I think I will be mostly okay, but I'm a little nervous about how much I will miss my little family. I try to be rational about it most of the time, but I think it will be tough to be away. I don't leave until 3:00 tomorrow so I will at least get to see Josh and Thomas before I leave. Most days I don't get to see them before I leave the house in the morning.

That's all for this week. If you are friends with Josh on Facebook, keep an eye on his profile page. He uploads some of the pictures that he sends me everyday and has even uploaded a video of Thomas in his Jumperoo.

Obsessed with lists this week

My sister Hannah just put up this list on her blog from a list posted by my friend Joanne and and it inspired me...

Have you had - 100 things to experience in your lifetime
1. Started your own blog
Yep, here it is
2. Slept under the stars
Yes, more than once
3. Played in a band
Tacks to Girls! I played the bass.
4. Visited Hawaii
More than once :)
5. Watched a meteor shower
I've seen a couple
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
Hmm, more than I can afford? Hard to decide.
7. Been to Disneyland/World
Both! Disneyland many times
8. Climbed a mountain
Um, no.
9. Held a praying mantis
Not likely to happen
10. Sang a solo
Not for a long, long time, but definitely in the far distant past.
11. Bungee jumped
I would love to, but I've never quite had the nerve
12. Visited Paris
Twice!
13. Watched a lightning storm
In Texas, Colorado and Washington. The Texas ones were the best.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
Knitting!
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
Never!
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
I've only seen it from Battery Park
18. Grown your own vegetables
On my counter :)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
Yes, it is very small and behind a lot of glass
20. Slept on an overnight train
Yes! From Florence to Paris.
21. Had a pillow fight
Only as a teenager
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
Yes, although we call that a mental health day
24. Built a snow fort
No, although I have built a snow man
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
Never!
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
Nope, didn't get to Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
As a little kid
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
Every day right now
31. Hit a home run
Does T Ball count?
32. Been on a cruise
On the Bateaux Mouche? Never a cruise where you sleep on the boat
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
From the Canada side
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
Where would that be? I've been to Chicago and San Francisco where my parents were born.
35. Seen an Amish community
Yes!
36. Taught yourself a new language
Not taugh myself
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
Yes, a nice feeling
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
Yes - it was really interesting and of course we did the photo where it looks like you are holding it up.
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person.
Yes - It was a lot bigger than I expected

I think the problem is that the 25 Random Things are going around Facebook. I like this much better. Filling in things is a little easier than coming up with 25 things.

Baby asleep - time for bed!

4 month doctor visit

We suspected that Thomas would move to the top of his growth charts with this doctor visit and he definitely did. He is now at 95-97% in all of the categories, weight, height and head size. He is also reaching all of his milestones except one - he doesn't roll over yet. This is not a surprise as he hates being on his stomach so we don't put him there often enough for him to really try to roll over :)

Okay, now for the stats:
Height - 26.5 inches
Head - 43.8 cm
Weight - 18 lbs

Don't ask me why they do the head in centimeters and the height in inches - that has never made sense to me.

Thomas also had to endure more shots today :( But, he calmed down quickly with his bottle and then went right to sleep for his long morning nap.

I'm posting this early since I wanted to update everyone on his progress (yep, I'm a proud mom). The picture above is one of my favorite from this week. Josh sends me a picture of Thomas every day at work and it is always great to see the little man smiling at me. We got some great pictures this week and I love that we do this everyday - it is going to give us a great record of his first year.

Hope all is well with you and yours.

Thomas is getting far too big! He has really outgrown the bassinet in his pack and play, so we have to start putting him in his crib. His room is upstairs, so we have been holding off as long as possible so that Josh doesn't have to try to climb the stairs in the middle of the night. Thomas still gets up for one feeding (usually around 4) so we have to take that into account. We also like having him in our room because it is convenient. I think this will be similar to when we had to move him into the bassinet from sleeping in our bed. It was tough for the first few nights because we had to keep getting up, but then we got used to it.

Josh is actually picking up the crib at Target right now. We had planned on using the crib that has been in my family for years, but due to a paint problem we cannot. Josh's mom has tried every furniture refinishing technique to get paint to stick to it and it just will not work.

Josh's parents came over to drop off the crib yesterday and stayed to play a game with us. Doesn't Thomas look like he really understands how to play and is actually helping his grandma?


We also put Thomas in his high chair for the first time yesterday. He is pretty good at sitting up by himself and it was nice to have him at the table with us while we were playing. Notice the 5 point harness they have in the high chair these days - very safe...


Josh has been taking a picture of Thomas everyday and sending it to me at work. He also posts these pictures on his Facebook page, so if these weekly updates aren't enough for you - you can look there.

Must go now - Thomas is desiring some entertainment.

First week back

We had a pretty good first week back. I find that it is pretty easy to get out of the house every morning, but harder to get back in the evening. I have no patience for how slow people are driving on the way home! I just want to be here with my little family.

On Thursday night, Josh had a hockey game, so we put Thomas in his bear suit and went to the Ice Rink. He looks so cute in his little outfit and he only protests a little when we put it on...

Josh injured his shoulder in the game, so I worked at home on Friday in case he needed help picking up Thomas. It turned out that my sister and brother in law were able to take him for the day, so I got lots of work done. It was nice to work at home because it took away all of that commuting time.
Yesterday, we had a baby shower for Jason and Joanne. They are expecting their new arrival sometime in the next 8ish weeks. We had a great time with friends and family. Thomas loved all the attention and was a happy little boy the entire time.


Finally, Thomas is getting very adept at holding things. Here is a picture of him holding his bottle. He is pretty good at holding on to it and actually getting it in his mouth. He still doesn't understand that in order to get the food he has to tip the bottle up.

Josh's shoulder is doing much better. He has a nasty bruise, but he is definitely on the mend. He has two more games left in this hockey season and then a total of 3 weeks off before the new season starts.

Hope you all had a good week :)

The last week

I've been enjoying the last week of my maternity leave and have been slacking on my blog. Thomas has wanted to play with us more and is having fun practicing his new skills. First, he has been sitting up a lot. He has his new Bumbo chair and can sit up at the table in it. He also likes to sit up on my lap and make faces at me. We have also noted that he likes to stand up a lot more now. He can almost stand up on his own - just holding on to our fingers. We are torn between thinking this is the cutest thing ever and wanting to slow him down. It is way too early for him to even think about standing up!

He has also been struggling with sleeping this year (he he - since Thursday). He had been sleeping for a long stretch at night and now he is awake again every couple of hours. He is also chewing on his hands and our fingers and his teething rings constantly, so he may be cutting some teeth. It is also way too early for teeth! Maybe he is so big that his body just thinks he is older. He is officially in only 6 month size clothing - and filling it out nicely. I can't wait to see how much he weighs at his next appointment.

Okay, okay, pictures:

First, can you believe this little face? Hannah took this picture and she got such a good shot of Thomas with his Great Grandma. He is learning to use all of those facial muscles!

Thomas with is Great Grandma and Grandpa. We need to take a 4 generations picture with them. My grandparents don't live that far away, but we only see them a couple of times a year. Recently, we have been talking about getting together more often. We decided that there is no reason to wait for holidays to see each other. We have a big group here in the Seattle/Tacoma area - 3 of my dad's 4 sisters live here and 4 of my cousins, in addition to my sisters and me. We plan to meet again in March for my grandparents birthdays.

Thomas at the hockey arena! Josh plays hockey and we go to watch his games most of the time. Sometimes we skip the 8:45 games. It is a great time for Thomas to hang out with his Aunt Jen since his Uncle Jeremy also plays hockey. I make Thomas wear his bear suit in the arena so that he doesn't get too cold.

Finally, a picture from Thomas' dedication. Chad, the pastor, remarked on how big Thomas is. Afterward, the rest of the family told us that the baby before him was 8 months old and about the same size as Thomas. Yes, he is going to be tall. Crazy.

We loved that a lot of our family was able to come. In addition to my parents, Hannah was able to attend as well as Robb and Reba and the boys. Josh's parents were also able to attend along with Thomas' Uncle Jimmy. It was a big group! Afterward, we all went to Red Robin for lunch.


That's about it. I'm going back to work tomorrow. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone. I'm really blessed to have a job that I like and a husband who is able to work at home. I know that Thomas will be in good hands and I don't have to worry. I'm going to miss them both like crazy every day, but I'm trying not to think about that part too much.

Blog posts going forward will probably slow down to once a week. I'm going to make an effort to update every Sunday. Hope everyone is having a great year so far.