Moving right along

Cal is aching to walk.  He uses his walking push toy every chance he gets and motors around the house....until he hits a corner or some furniture.  At that point, he takes to screaming so that one of us can come over to steer him in towards a clear path.  He is changing so rapidly that it's hard to keep up.  Literally.  A typical movement pattern of young Cal looks something like this:

Crawl towards the sliding door, stand up, bang on the door while making noises, get bored and crawl towards one of the dogs to antagonize them.  Pull their hair or bap their face, find Mommy in the kitchen, crawl to the dogs' water bowl, splash in it before Mommy stops me.  Make a parent help me walk over to the couch where I cruise over to my toys.  Play.  Crawl back into the kitchen and use toy walker to maneuver around the house.  Repeat.

(Note to reader: I hope your back hurts from reading that.)

We've been pretty busy in the last few weeks.  Here's a quick run-down:

Alexandra Hachenberg celebrated her 1st birthday....and this is seriously the only picture I took of her.  Wonder why?  Please read the "movement paragraph" and that explains it all. It was so fun seeing all of my KC girlfriends.

Happy Birthday, sweet girl!!

Oh wait, here's the other pic.  You're welcome, Nat.  :)  Cal was intrigued by Natalie.  She said, "I think you'll be taller than me by the time you're five."  hahaha

Why is this the universal baby/toddler sleeping position?  I remember sleeping like this as a child.  I just love when he does this....look at that little rump!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

We've got an ice cream lover!  Granted, ice cream is delicious, but I think his love runs in his genes.  Don't buy a gallon of ice cream and expect it to be in the freezer a week later with Mitch in the house!! 

 On a somber note, the world lost a wonderful woman this week.  My Great Aunt Mary Helen Cross lost her battle to cancer on Sunday the 22nd.  She was an impossibly energetic woman who loved coffee and candy.  This picture was taken in 2005, but I think it best depicts what a wonderfully enthusiastic person she was.

Cal and I drove back to Larned for her funeral.  Mitch is in the thick of finals and was unable to make the trip.  We were able to see a lot of family and celebrate Aunt Mary's life through stories and pictures.  She would have been thrilled to see so many generations reunited.  Since this was the first time that we had all of the Cross/Gatterman babies together, we tried to have a quick photo shoot.  It was a comical affair, as you can tell!

Left to Right, Back to Front: Carrie Newbern with Caton and William, Cal and I, Aimee Rottinghaus and Paul, Charlotte, and Charlie, Andrew and Thoran Cross

I've heard many stories about how ornery Dad and his cousins were as kids, although the stories didn't necessarily end with their adolescent years.  :) 

It makes me wonder if their wonder years offer an insight to the fun that the new generation will have???  :)

Why yes, Andrew is making Charlie smell his shoe. 

Good looking group of guys



Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.
  ----Irish Proverb----

We love and miss you, Aunt Mary.

Hippity Hoppity

The Easter Bunny dashed in and out during our very busy weekend.  We went back to Larned last weekend for Cal's baptism and Easter.  During our visit, we got to spend a lot of time with family and fit in a few (few too many, in fact) great meals.  Since Cal is eating more table food (I have to stop myself from saying "People Food" like I do with the dogs), he got a taste of Grandma Gatt's culinary creations.  I'm doomed.  I'll never live up to my mother's kitchen creations.  We're currently surviving on leftovers still, but once they're gone my son will look at me for the fraudulent cook that I am.  I'm dreading that moment, but until then Cal and I can continue our carefree mealtimes of feeding each other baby food.  By the way, baby food bananas are amazing.   I wish they came in containers like cottage cheese.  I'd eat the whole thing.

He loves fruit and tried some strawberries for the first time......LOVE AT FIRST BITE!

Cal and his best bud like looking outside together.  In fact, Cal pulls himself up and stands all the time now.  He even pulls his hands back to test his balance.  After a few seconds of independence, he gets a huge grin and starts giggling uncontrollably. 

Cal was baptized on April 7, 2012 in the United Methodist Church in Larned.  Great Grandma and Phyllis Foster, a dear and longtime family friend, came to witness the ceremony.

Aunt Susie and Tessa spent the rest of the day with us all and we had so much fun visiting, laughing, and playing with Cal.  He loved Tessa and her long pretty hair. 

We woke up on Sunday and the Easter Bunny had come and gone, leaving Cal some toys and an adorable pair of ears in his wake.  Mitch just shook his head at me when I put these on his head.  He was mortified for his son, but also couldn't stop saying how adorable he looked. Talk about speaking out of both sides of your mouth!! :)

This was my rocking horse when I was a little girl.  Cal loved it! 

Someone wasn't enjoying his ears by this point.


It is a family tradition that everybody must hunt eggs, no matter your age.  For some reason, Mom and Gma are usually exempt, but I must say that I get a kick out of my giant father hunting tiny, colorful plastic eggs so I let their absence slide.  

We definitely missed Tony this year, but he lives so far away that traveling for a weekend visit is tough.  Perhaps the next Easter he visits, he will be subjected to a make-up hunt and have to search for all of the eggs that he's missed in the past years.  :)