Chandra's Journal
September 20, 2006
On Monday night we took the boys to the Tri-State Fair. We had such a blast! Our first stop was the petting zoo, and I don’t think any of the rides we took them on topped the opportunity to actually touch the animals that say “Maaa,” and “Baaa,” and “Mooo,” in our books that we read. This picture was one of the many times that we caught Canon hugging the animals. He walked around that little pen for probably 15 minutes going from animal to animal hugging them and chatting with them. One especially good-natured deer even let Canon sit on her for a while!
Creed was equally fascinated, but since he’s not quite as quick on his feet yet, we had to hold him most of the time, for fear of him walking underneath the wrong end of a llama.
After the petting zoo, we hit the rides. The boys were captivated by all the movement at the fair – the small kiddie rides going in endless circles, the kids bungee jumping to the far left, the big-kid rides that sped obnoxiously high into the air, twisting their captives every which way (making me feel sick just watching!). As the sun went down, the bright flashing lights seemed to overtake our entire field of vision, and we just walked through the rows, drenching all five senses with this once-a-year event.
Canon’s first roller coaster!
He was the best little boat captain out there!
Canon and Creed taking on the carousel horses!
Okay… sorry if that’s too many pictures! I just had to share a few!
The news update will be brief… I took Canon to Houston on the 6th for his 9-month check-up. His doctors were so happy with his status and Dr. Karpen actually said, “It’s truly a joy to see him; you know that, right?” They are sending us to pediatric neurologist for an evaluation, primarily because he still doesn’t have a lot of upper body strength. Where we notice it most is in his shoulders – he can’t brace his shoulders when we pick him up, and he has a hard time pulling. Dr. Higgins set us up with Dr. Evans at Covenant in Lubbock. That appointment is on October 10th.
In the couple of weeks since that trip to Houston, we have watched Creed go from crawling to walking! So, there has been a lot of squealing and cheering in our house lately. In the few days he has gone from looking at his feet while he walks to actually looking at where he’s going. With his arms way up in the air, he smiles all the way! Creed also learns new words every day. His latest favorites are ‘diaper’, ‘banana’, and ‘Nemo’ (we should have known, right?).
Canon also seems to be growing up rather fast these days. He is officially off the pacifier now! The first couple days were a little rough, but I think we’re over the hump. Wish they made a pacifier patch! The hardest is bedtime, because he can’t put himself to sleep as easily, so he ends up getting up out of his bed and getting in trouble more often. Last night, after I heard him open his door for the third time, I walked down the hall and said, “Canon, am I going to have to spank you?” He looked up at me and said, “Yes,” then with a big gesture he opened his door, stepped back and said, “Come in Mommy!” We can always count on him to make us all smile. He has hit the “Look at me, Mommy!” stage when he frequently wants an audience. If I’m not in the room, I’ve heard him say “Creed, watch me!” When we say goodbye to Rhonda and the boys he calls out, “See you later crocodiles!” I can’t tell you how many times a day he asks me, “Where’s Daddy?” “He’s at work, Canon.” “At Daddy’s school?” “Yes, at Daddy’s school.” “In Amarillo?” “Yes, he’s in Amarillo.” (The Amarillo question started when we were in Houston and my answer was, “Daddy’s at home in Amarillo.”) But my favorite Canon-ism is one that Drew started. He started telling Canon very slowly “You are my favorite two-year-old.” Now Canon will reciprocate with “You are my favorite Daddy,” or his favorite Mommy, or his favorite Creed. He uses his finger to poke me on every word for emphasis. It’s very sweet. How we made it through our days without hearing that I don’t know! He is picking up more and more movie lines and rehearsing them throughout the day. Some of the lines I’ve overheard lately are “Oh I forgot, you’re broken. I don’t want to play with you anymore,” (from Toy Story2), “As commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come,” (from VeggieTales), “That’s not funny. And I know funny – I’m a clownfish!” (from Nemo). There are many, many more of those I could share. What’s funny is the context that he uses them in. This stage is just so fun! The past couple of days he has been singing “He’s got the little bitty babies in his hands, he’s got the little bitty babies in his hands,…” over and over. Listening to his little voice singing that, reminding me of simple truths, gets me every time.
September 21, 2006 – The Other Canon
I just received a couple of email messages today about another little boy named Canon who had a heart transplant on Saturday in Little Rock, AR, and is in need of prayer. I thought the name “Canon” and the fact that he was a transplant child was similarity enough, but I went to his CaringBridge website (go to www.caringbridge.com then click on VISIT and type in “canonnorman”) and when I got there saw that his full name is Canon Andrew Norman! I couldn’t believe it! I know only what I have read from his mom on this website, and a separate blog that evidently his mom’s friend set up – www.prayforcanon.blogspot. So I truly have no personal connection to Canon’s story… but I do. My Andrew Canon and this Canon Andrew have the same God, who watches over them both and hears the prayers lifted up for both of them. So, I’m asking our huge family of prayer warriors that woke up in the middle of night praying for Canon when he was in ICU and shared our need for prayer across the country to pray for another Canon today and in the days to come. Pray for his mom, Carla, a single parent with two older children to stay strong for, struggling with all the same worries we did when we were waiting for Canon to wake up and be himself again. I remember how much the messages from people who added their hat to the prayer ring kept me afloat during Canon’s days in the hospital and our journey to a new life. So, however short, I encourage you to leave a message for Canon’s mom today. Pray also for the donor family, who had to wake up again today without their child. Enough said.
It’s all about faith, really. And the kind of weather your faith has had to endure. In fair weather, my faith can stand on its own, I think, simply because of the way I was raised. But in the storms, even as grounded as my faith was, I was sinking. Because I felt tired and helpless. My faith survived, however, because I was buoyed by so many others who came to my rescue in prayer. If faith was a physical thing, it might be broken after storms, scarred somehow, weaker. But isn’t it amazing that when our faith is truly restored after the storms, it is stronger than ever? Today I pray for those who have faith, but feel tired because they have had to tread water in a storm for too long by themselves. God, please give them rest. Whatever that looks like. Open my eyes to who those people might be, and give me the boldness to jump in.
Chandra
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
Hebrews 11:6