Cian has been learning to talk! He has been fairly talkative for a long time now, but he is actually starting to use words that we can understand! Yesterday he started using the word “couch.” We bought a new couch – which he immediately turned into his own private jungle gym. Who needs toys when you have a couch to bounce on?

I have recently discovered that we have a budding artist in the house. Cian has discovered the joy of drawing. Scribbling, really – he hasn’t quite discovered that he can draw things. But so far Cian has been trying out as many different types of canvases as he can. We have discovered marker, pen, or colored pencil on Cian, the walls, his books, my cookbooks, the sheets on our bed, the phone book, the computer, and (just yesterday) several sections in Kevin’s professional engineering exam reference book.

Picture day at daycare!

Dressed up on Easter, trying to open an egg

Exploring tide pools on the southern Oregon coast

Reading with Grandpa Bob

Sleeping on Aunt Katie

At Crater Lake with my family

Always wear a helmet while riding a tomato box!

Finger paints!

Cian wearing my cousin Shelby's shoes

Cian runs most everywhere and climbs on anything he can. He is attempting to talk as well. He babbles constantly. I think that he has invented his own language. A lot of the things he says are very consistent. For instance, he will use the same sound combinations whenever he would like a cup of milk — it just doesn’t sound anything like English! Some of his words are remarkably similar to their “adult speak” counterparts. He says “Uh-Dye” for “Outside,” “Peezh” for “Please,” and “Duh-bi-duh-bi-duh” for “Banana.”

Now we are at the end of summer. It has already snowed here in Salt Lake City. It didn’t stick – but did snow on the last day of September. We have been enjoying the chilly and clear weather for the past few days. I have been digging through the closets and boxes finding all of our colder-weather clothing. Cian was really not wild about the fact that I started making him wear clothes every day. But he is actually getting used to it (the lower temperatures help, I’m sure). He is learning that to go outside we now put on coats and shoes. Today he actually came and sat in my lap to get his shoes on instead of running away! It has been really funny watching him learn to walk while wearing shoes. He is still getting used to it. Before he just wore soft soled shoes, so now he is learning what to do with thick, stiff soles. He trips over them quite a bit still.

One slightly distressing newer development is that Cian is going through a very severe phase of separation anxiety. He has always been a rather clingy child, but now Kevin and I can’t even go into another room of the house and close the door without Cian panicking. Cian can be at the back of the house, with noisy toys going and somehow hear the front door close – no matter how softly. He will throw himself at the door and wail as if you are never coming back. Poor kid. I hope for everyone’s sake he develops his concept of “object permanence” sooner rather than later! (For those not versed in child development lingo that is the stage where they understand that just because they can’t see it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist anymore…so they can understand that Mom didn’t disappear from the universe simply because they can’t see her)

A few weeks ago Cian decided to boycott any food that was offered to him on a spoon or a fork (that he wasn’t holding himself that is). While this was, of course, a perfectly normal thing – but difficult despite its normalcy. It was a bit sad that he would not eat some of his favorite foods, like yogurt, ricotta, or applesauce. He had not yet mastered the use of a spoon and although he could use a fork, he preferred to spear food and then wave the fork around until the food flew off across the room. So Cian using untensils was, sadly, not an option.  After having several great conversations with other parents about different parenting philosophies we decided to not turn this into a food battle (I figured I would lose anyways… ) and feed him a well-balanced diet of foods that he could eat with his fingers. That turned out to be rather tricky in practice, though! For instance, it was a bit challenging to feed him enough protein during the day. He would eat meat and at the same time were trying to drastically scale back our food budget. So buying him “Quorn” (which he LOVES) wasn’t an option. Lentils don’t really make great finger foods! Thankfully he is open to trying new foods, so I broke out the cookbooks and he got to try such new foods as falafel and polenta slices! He was barely tolerant of the falafel but gobbled up the polenta. I ended up feeding it to him every morning for breakfast! It turned out to be a very good thing that we didn’t choose to fight over him demanding to self-feed, because he has now decided that being fed from a spoon or fork isn’t so bad after all! I’m sure had we tried to push the issue we would still be battling it out! But the great news is that Cian is now back to enjoying yogurt and applesauce as well as now discovering new favorites such as chicken with dumplings and lentil soup (he has also decided that meat isn’t that bad tasting).

I could leave for a second and come back to a diaper-less baby

I'm starving Mom!

If I could just get a little higher!

MMMmmm birthday cake!

Post-birthday-cake sugar crash

Reading to himself on the way to Oregon

At the Oregon zoo with Dad

Giving Grandma Janette some love

Celebrating after demolishing an entire roll of paper towels

Warming up after taking a dive into the ocean at Cannon Beach, Oregon

Helping Uncle Jimmy and Cousin David build a sandcastle

Enjoying a Burger Ville shake like a true Pacific Northwesterner!

Getting some kitty love

On a hike in the Wasatch National Forest

Keeping Steve company by the campfire

Drawing with Dad

Sweeping for Mom!

May 28th was Kevin’s and my anniversary. We have now been married for 4 years! Wow. Where has time gone to so fast? Kevin was still working nights in Rock Springs, Wyoming so Cian and I drove up to see him. He wasn’t able to take a whole day off, but he did manage to work it out so that he went in later than usual. (He told them he had an “appointment” ) So we got to spend a lovely afternoon and evening together. We started out by going to the bank to get a power of attorney noterized  so that I would be able to sign the papers to close on our house in Salt Lake – since Kevin was stuck in Wyoming. Then I made dinner for us back at the hotel. After dinner we took Cian down to the hotel pool. It was the first time Cian had ever been in a pool. He LOVED it, of course. The child lives to get into the bath tub. So it was a pretty fair bet that if the tub is that great, one thousand times more water would be that much better! The next day Cian and I drove back to Salt Lake and signed a mountain of paperwork (well – I signed and Cian ate cookies and pulled all the peat moss out of the fake plants), then drove home to the house that we now actually own!!! So I guess we could add that it was the first time Cian had attended a house closing. (I might as well see how many firsts I can rack up here…)

Cian also went with me to see his first movie in the theaters! We went to see Up! Unfortunately it was a bit loud for his tastes. I spent the first half of the movie watching it from the side of the theater because the sounds scared him. He fell asleep after a while, so I was able to watch the rest of the movie sitting down!

On the 12th of June we helped Kevin move back from Wyoming! It has been so amazing to have him back home. We all survived the two months of Kevin being gone…but I’m not sure that I would voluntarily sign up for it again!

On Sunday the 14th we drove to the airport and boarded a plane to Orlando, Florida. While it was not Cian’s first time flying, it was the first time we all got to fly together as a family! And while we are adding firsts I suppose we could count that it was Cian’s first visit to Florida (and Mom and Dad’s too!). Kevin’s work was sending him to a class there so we figured we would make a vacation out of it! The class was held at the Hilton at the Walt Disney World Resort, so we stayed there during the class. We were right across from Downtown Disney, so we walked around there a couple times. One evening while we were walking back we got caught in a terrible thunderstorm. I like to think that I’m somewhat experienced when it comes to rain, having grown up in the green and very soggy Northwest. But I wasn’t ready for this. It was like taking a shower. Alas, several items we were carrying met their demise in that storm. Kevin’s work cell phone, his mp3 player, and Cian’s birth certificate (which was in the diaper bag) ended the evening significantly less functional than before. Cian’s birth certificate was at least still legible after being dried out, but will definately need replacing.

After the class was over on Thursday we checked out of the hotel and moved to another hotel right next to Sea World. We figured that Cian was a bit too young to appreciate Disney World, but he loves fish! So we picked Sea World instead. We went several times that weekend and we all had a blast. So it was Cian’s first trip to a theme park. We got to see dolphins, manatees, penguins, sharks, rays, fish, sea horses and sea dragons. We watched sea lions, walruses, and otters perform – and of course Shamu! It was swelteringly hot and humid, so we decided that next time we won’t go in June! But we had so much fun.

Just before we left to go to Orlando, Cian took his first tentative steps on his own! At first I think he did it a bit on accident and didn’t really realize what he had done. But while we were in Florida he started trying to walk in earnest.  He now loves walking so much that he hardly ever crawls.

While we were in Florida, we took a trip to the Atlantic coast for Cian’s first visit to the beach! He was in heaven playing in the sand – until he discovered the water! I could hardly keep him out of it after that. He kept crawling back towards the water.

This past weekend Cian attended his first Irish dance competition. I was helping my dance school with the feis they were putting on. Cian came with me Friday morning when I went to see if they needed help setting up. It turns out that they had everything pretty much under control so I let Cian run around the gym it was in and play with some of the kids from dance. As I was sitting on the edge of the bleachers chatting with one of the dance moms, Cian came toddling over towards me headed for the bleacher stairs. Just as I was turning to shoo him away from the stairs (he climbs now!) he tripped, fell, and cut the side of his face on the corner of the metal step! So we had to make a dash to the doctor’s office for Cian’s first trip to the doctor with an injury. Of all the firsts I think I would have prefered to do without this one! He had a gash from the corner of his left eye out about an inch. He didn’t hurt the eye itself – thank goodness! It wasn’t deep enough for stitches so the doctor taped up the cut with some steri strips. The doctor put the rest of the package of steri strips in my diaper bag, smiled, and told me “You will probably be needing these.” Ah the joys of raising a boy! He is certainly his father’s son.

Baby loves asparagus!

Playing in the wet sand with Dad

Throwing wet sand with Dad

Dad and Cian at Sea World!

Watching fish with Mom!

Hi Fish!

And more fish...

Baby climbs in...diapers fly out.

Cian's first big "owie"

Two days after we got back to Salt Lake, Kevin was able to come home for the weekend! It was really amazing having him back for a couple days! We will be so happy when he is done with this stint in Wyoming! On the same day Kevin came back, we got a house guest. Two year-old Ele came to stay with us for a week while his parents were in Mexico. Ele is the youngest son of some friends of ours from church. It was definately a new experience for me to have two small children in the house! Ele has a great personality and was a lot of fun. Cian loved having him here, he was a great big brother to play with!

Cian is getting dangerously close to walking! He can stand up without holding on to things, and can walk by pushing things across the floor. He is also enjoying learning to use his new teeth! Besides learning that he can bite into foods now (like watermelon!) he has also occasionally chomps down on a finger or two of mine. He doesn’t do it in a malicious way, thankfully. Mostly he is just learning how they work!

I realized yesterday morning (rather suddenly!) that Cian will be a year old in less than two months! I can’t believe he is ten months old already. Time flies by much too fast! I still can’t believe that I have been a mom for almost a year. It doesn’t seem like that long!

In the sink at a gas station

bath time in the sink

waiting to get on the plane to go home

type type type

Cian and Ele helping in the kitchen

Cian and I have been lucky so far in that we have been able to go and visit Kevin once a week. It is a 200 mile drive which we are usually able to do in one straight shot. If I can feed Cian and fill the gas tank right before we leave, then he will typically sleep for the 2 1/2 hours it takes to get there. Otherwise we have to stop in between and it takes longer. Once we are there, we still don’t get to spend much time together with Dad because he is working 12 hour night shift every night, all week long – until June. But it is definately worth it to get even a few hours. Cian’s face just beams whenever he sees his dad and he gets really excited. He sure loves his daddy! Last time we were up there he stood up at the door after Kevin had left for work and waved while saying “da da da da da da da da.” I’m not entirely sure he knew what he was saying, but it was really adorable!

Cian finally got a hair cut a couple weeks back. It was just getting so shaggy around his ears and in the back – I couldn’t take it anymore. So I trimmed the hair around the sides and in the back, but left all the fun spikey hair on top! We still get all kinds of comments from people about how great or adorable his hair is, every time we go out!

The past few weeks Cian and I have been outside quite a bit. The sun has been out a lot and so I have been trying to get the yard in shape. It’s quite a big job, since the house sat vacant for two summers and the yard was completely neglected. I have been spending most of the time de-weeding the front “lawn.” (It should be a lawn, but isn’t much of one right now…) Really it was more weed than grass. I transplanted a peach tree and planted two grape vines. I am in the process of getting my seedlings used to being outside so that they will survive when I put them in the garden! Cian has been superb through the whole process. He loves being outside. He will often just play in his play crib on the porch for hours while I work in the yard. A couple times he has “helped” me pull weeds. I sat him on the ground and he proceeded to pull up grass and then started to sample the flavors of dirt. I tried to keep him from scarfing too much of it, but really…what can you do? Later he proceeded to “sort” through the pile of weeds I had already pulled up (much like he goes through the spice cabnet or the laundry basket) by grabbing them and throwing them every-which-way as fast as he could. He also nibbled a bit on some dandelion roots and flowers (which are technically edible…). When it was all over I took him inside, striped him down, and put him in the tub. I figured there was no way I would be able to just wipe off the dirt. He was coated in it from head to toe. I wish I had the camera at that point, but I didn’t have it with me!

I have been trying to get Cian to eat more lately. In the past I was not terribly great about keeping him on a set schedule for eating solid foods, and that may be affecting his eating now. For a while I couldn’t get him to eat much of anything. He would take a few bites here and there of some foods, some he wouldn’t even touch, but he would eat lots of Cheerios and crackers. He does seem to be less interested in anything that comes from a spoon, and more interested in bite-size things. It’s not that he doesn’t like it when I feed him. He doesn’t seem to care whether I’m feeding him bites of food or he is feeding himself bites. Such a strange child. The past couple days, though, I have had more success in the food department. Today he had some Cream of Wheat and Cheerios for breakfast, bites of crackers spread with riccota cheese followed by mango pieces for lunch, and black beans and applesauce for dinner. I finally found an applesauce at the store that he will actually eat. I had gone through several varieties without success until now. The 365 Organic brand from Whole Foods tastes fairly similar to the type I make, which is probably why he likes it! I would feed him just home-made applesauce…but there is the time factor, and the fact that it’s just not very economical when you have to buy the apples at the store. I’ll make a bunch this fall from the apples on our apple tree, but until then it’s store bought applesauce for Cian! In general, I really like the 365 Organic brand. I decided a long time ago not to feed Cian anything that I wouldn’t eat. Since I have so many restrictions that I follow for myself, it’s hard to find packaged food that fits all the criteria (namely soy free and no additives/preservatives). They have some great crackers (ritz style and graham crackers) that I love. Of course, it’s great that I have a Whole Foods store three blocks from my house!   Over all he seems to like a lot of variety in his food, which is great! I can do variety. So hopefully I can get him eating more foods from now on!

Before the hair cut

After the hair cut

What happens when Cian plays in the kitchen...

Apparently garlic bulbs are good for chewing...

Studying the garlic

Tasty graham cracker

The little man is now getting into EVERYTHING. And I thought it was bad last week. Though I have to say, he does have the funniest laugh that he makes when he thinks that he is doing something that he shouldn’t. I did get that on video this week, when he was pulling things out of my spice cabnet. He is allowed to play with the spice cabnet…but I thinks that he is doing something incredibly naughty when he does it. He is really hillarious.

Cian is about ready to cut about SIX new teeth. He has them all lined up along his top gum, just poised to come through. No joke – SIX of them. Good grief. It may be another couple weeks yet before they decide to come that last milimeter and pop through, but they are really close. I’m not looking forward to those all coming through at the same time!

Cian loves being read to. I know I’ve probably said that before. Well, now he really loves to be read to when he is tired. When he’s not tired he would rather be on the run. (of course!) We have been amassing quite the Dr. Seuss collection. He seems to enjoy them a lot! I am starting to have large chunks of Dr. Seuss stories memorized. Our most used book of them all, so far, is Dr. Seuss’ The Sleep Book. It’s really great. We read it each night now. First we put his pajamas on, brush his teeth (both of them!:)), then he snuggles up on my lap with a furry stuffed animal and one of his big quilts and we read The Sleep Book. So far we have only actually made it through the book once or twice. He usually starts dozing off before we get to the end! The only side effect is that I now occasionally find myself reciting random bits of the book during the day…(“Do you know who’s asleep out in Foona-Lagoona? Two very nice Foona-Lagoona-Baboona!”)…

So today was Cian’s very first Easter! I had wanted to attend our church’s sunrise service at 7am, but we got home at about midnight from Wyoming…so we ended up just attending the regular service a bit later! (not to mention the fact that since I drank a bunch of caffeine to keep me awake on the drive home, Cian was awake half the night after that!) But we had a great time at church, then we came home and decided to go to the zoo! It was a gloriously beautiful day today. So not only was it Cian’s first Easter, it was his first trip to the zoo! He LOVED it! His favorite things were the monkeys and the penguins (probably because they moved around the most!). I also made him an Easter basket. I took some plastic eggs and filled them with Cheerios and animal cookies! Kevin also “hid” Cian’s basket so that he had to find it. (An Easter tradition started by Kevin’s dad)

Tomorrow (Monday) Kevin goes back up to Wyoming (after having just been here for Easter day!) for two months. So it will be just Cian and I here at home for most of that time. We will go up and visit, and Kevin will get an occasional day off, but for the most part we won’t see him a lot. So that will be interesting! I’m not sure how I will do as a “single” parent…but thankfully it’s only for two months.

Yes, he really does sleep like that.

MMmmm...coriander!

Playing with Grandma Jan

Getting some grandma love!

Munching on some celery (and occasionally the table...) at the pizzaria in Pinedale, WY with Grandma Jan

Cian and Dad at the zoo!

Watching the monkeys

Checking out the penguins with Mom

and of course...the giraffes!

He is really mastering his crawling skills! He has also started pulling himself up on things and standing up more. He is still fairly wobbly, but he is definately trying.

Cian has been eating more crunchy foods lately. He LOVES crackers, Cheerios and such things. Usually the majority of the Cheerios that he eats actually end up down in the seat of his high chair or inside his shirt. He still hasn’t quite mastered the technique of getting them into his mouth. He does alright, but the fine motor skills aren’t quite developed yet. It’s hilarious to watch though!

Ha Ha! I got Mom's drill!

Now just how does this thing work?

What is this evil new barrier? I can't get to the stairs now!

Cian took his very first trip on an airplane! He and I flew back to the Northwest to see some family for a week. The trip was unfortunately not long enough to see as many people as I would have liked – but that is usually the way things end up! Cian was a fantastic traveler. He wasn’t grumpy at all (except for when he got a bit hungry right before take off!). I was worried about how he would react to the change in pressure when we took off and landed, but he didn’t seem to notice it at all! We went to see his Uncle Jimmy performing in Beauty and the Beast at Washougal High School (as the Beast). We went 3 times! It was a blast and I was very glad I got to go. Cian wasn’t completely wild about sitting still for 2 hours in the dark though. We had to stand up and walk a bit once and his Grandma Julie also took him out into the lobby once. The rest of the time he obligingly (or mercifully) fell asleep. Hopefully when he is a bit older he will enjoy the theater a bit more!

Cian has also learned to wave! It is really cute. He likes to wave randomly at people. He still has not quite figured out that he should wave back when someone waves at him first. He understands that people should wave at him when he waves, but hasn’t grasped the reverse idea! I haven’t caught it on video yet, but I will try and get a shot of him waving this week. He was all kinds of amusing in the airport as he would wave at just about anyone!

For many weeks now Cian has been working on cutting his first teeth. He started the process in earnest about 3 or 4 weeks ago when he suddenly got a fever and wouldn’t let me touch his mouth. That lasted about 2  or 3 days (and nights…) then things calmed down a bit to where he just chomped down on anything he could get into his mouth and wanted his pacifier all the time. While we were back in the Northwest, his first bottom incisor broke through. The second one, right next to it, is just about to come through as well! Needless to say – now that he has a nice, new, sharp baby tooth – we have to discourage Cian from gnawing on Mom and Dad’s fingers.

The only new development that I’m not much thrilled with is that Cian is going through the “separation anxiety” phase. This has manifested itself in two ways. There is the usual must have mommy near at all times part – in fact he just prefers to be held most of the time. This is especially inconvenient when Mom needs to go somewhere that Cian can’t. Staying with a babysitter used to be no big deal…but now it is somewhat traumatic. The other thing this has done is that he is now waking up many times a night and won’t go back to sleep until I come in, pick him up, and hold him for a few seconds. He needs his mommy snuggle to fall back to sleep. While it’s somewhat sweet that I am his favorite person – having to wake up all night long at intervals anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours is getting a bit old. So I am hoping he grows out of that soon!

While watching a movie, Cian found the best use for the empty popcorn bowl!

Sweatshirt strings!!! Yay!!!

Yes! Mom finally gave me some of that celery!

Cian found the celing fan.

Helping Aunt Katie roll the newspapers for her route

Learning to play guitar with Cousin Jake

Helping Dad solve his sudoku puzzle

Helping Mom plant seeds!

Dirt all over the floor and a tractor...what more could a baby want?

He REALLY loves celery...I'm not making it up!

Cian made quick work of his cupcake

Another cupcake?