Baby C

Here are a bunch of fall pics... pumpkins... our little halloween skunk!... running around crazy with teddy... flying with dad... visit from Grandpa S... "peeeek-a-boo!"... and our little cookie monster with his fav snack- oreos. :) For some reason I can never just pick a couple pics... either I take too many! OR C is extremely photogenic... you can decide. :)

Let's not forget the doggies!

People often ask how Christian is with our dogs... two min pins & a yorkie. Well, he LOVES them... and they don't mind him too much. :) He was pretty interested in them when he started "scooching" across the floor- and they's sit pretty still when he'd go near them. THEN, crawling happened and C would dart to the dogs- and they would quickly dart away from him. :) He kinda stayed away for a while, but recently, his interest in the doggies has peaked... and now he loves running after them and is getting bold to try and "pet" them. Sadie (black one) just sits there and lets him pet/touch her... he's actually pretty gentle with her most of the time... monitored closely!! (more for the sake of the dogs!) And every now and then Sophie will stick around while he's trying to touch her... she'll lick his fingers and he'll laugh out loud! So silly. And when Mark gives the dogs treats, C will run around and go crazy laughing!! It's pretty funny. :) I guess we keep taking videos and no pictures... so this first pic below is pretty old, but I love it! I'll try to take some more recent pics of the chaos that comes when we say "treat?!"

And yes, I do still take pics of little Sophie... this was at the lake this past summer- sure was windy on that boat! (before & during!)

I love my little sopher fur ball. :)

Just for fun...

Figures...

I saw this cute "look-a-like" meter (below) on a friend's blog, so I thought I'd try it out! Christian still has all our friends stumped... still not looking more like Mark or me... still just a perfect mix. :) Well, I thought I could solve the mystery with this little tool! It scanned all of our faces... and we waited for the meter to sway... a little more one way and then the other... then it stopped, right in the middle. :)

Hammond Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Vintage pics - Family name origins

He's ONE!

This day used to seem so far away... and now it's come and gone! We officially have a one year old... a toddler! :) We've had a pretty busy summer... I wasn't surprised that my last post was the beginning of June. ;) Christian has changed a lot! So here are some pics below of what we've been up to just in the last month...

LOVE this face! Christian now has 4 teeth on the top (3 in this picture!) and 2 on the bottom.

Trip to the zoo with Grandma & Grandpa Hammond- an early birthday surprise- he loved it!

A couple weeks ago was Mark's kick-off at church. We had a huge youth tailgate party (during the Colt's game) to gear up for the fall... my wonderful husband said he'd shave his head if we had over 100 kids there... the total? 106. :) Now Christian has more hair than Daddy! Sailing! Pastor Stan took us out on his boat for the last sail of the season- beautiful day!

Birthday Party! On Sept 27, we had a party down in Decatur so that Mark's grandparents and other family members could celebrate with us! We had a football/sports theme and Christian had his first taste of chocolate frosting. :) Then again on the 30th for this actual birthday... and again on Oct 1 when we celebrated with small group! He was on a sugar high all week!! :)

Up on his feet! He's been taking lots of steps for a while now, but hasn't officially taken off yet!!

And you may (or may not!) be wondering how the chocolate made it's way all over his face? Well, he started out simple with a little chocolate beard, but then decided to play peek-a-boo! Yes, he loves playing this most during meals. SO, his little chocolate hands covered his eyes... and then boo! Such fun. (though at our party in Decatur, everyone laughed when he did this and I think Christian got scared. He started crying and reaching up to me with his chocolate covered arms! He was so cute, but definitely not ready to be picked up and cuddled, so we got him settled back down and into more of his football cake... then off to the sink for a mini-bath!)

Thanks for sharing in our lives and celebrating this big milestone with us!! One year down... :)

At the Lake!

Just this past weekend, we had our first trip to the lake! Mark's parents bought a mobile home on Crooked Lake in Angola, IN... they used to go up there as a family when Mark was little- so many fond memories. :) Now, Mark get's to make new memories with his own little boy! Here are some pics...

Showing off his crawling skills to Grandma and Grandpa Hammond! Notice... Christian and Sophie going in opposited directions. :)
It looked big... but it fits!! And he didn't cry! He smiled!! We were hoping to try out the boat later that day, but Christian decided to take a nice long nap instead... maybe next time. :)
...a scrunchy nose smile. :)

I have a tooth!

Yes it's true... last Sunday (June 1)... Christian grabbed my finger and pulled it into his mouth. Nothing new there! Everything's been going in his mouth for the last few months! Anyway, this time, there was something different... his bottom left tooth was barely poking through! Big news in the Hammond household. :) Christian's been pretty good so far... we'll keep you posted!
Finally- three months of drool has produced a tooth! :) What a little drool baby...

Trip to Florida!

I can't believe it's been a month since our trip! Time is just flying by! As promised, here are some of the pics from our trip down to Florida to see Grandma and Grandpa Strubhar! SO much fun! And lots of firsts... first trip on an airplane (he did great!), first time in the pool, first visit to the beach, first sleep-over (again- great! He even slept in!)... and my first Mother's Day! Most of the week, Mark and I just hung out at my parents' house and their pool- Christian loved it. Here are some highlights...

He seemed to think the fountain was a "drinking" fountain. :) He kept sticking out his tongue for a lick! Sunscreen mohawk!
Loved his little boat so much, he drifted off to sleep. :)

All wrapped up- snuggly cuddly!
We also took a couple trips to the beach... one time for brunch! Yummy!

And then we went back to the beach where Mark proposed (4 years ago!)... and dipped in our toes for the first time. :)

Mother's Day! We were so excited to have my dad (Grandpa Strubhar) dedicate Christian on this day... just like my Grandpa Strubhar dedicated me 30 years ago! This meant so much to us! And check out the duds that Daddy bought for Christian... my Mother's Day surprise- 2 handsome men. :)

My little man. :)

Moms!!

And the ride home... Christian was a good little traveler. :)