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.  :) 

Playing with Ollie

I had to split the videos up in order to post them.  Ollie played with Cal for a good 10 minutes like this....it was hilarious!  What a sweet, smart dog we have!

Visit from Grandpa Walt and Grandma Sooz

Cal had a great visit from Gma and Gpa Walter this week.  It rained for most of their trip, so we got in a lot of carpet playtime! Check out the new sports toy from his Walter grandparents!

Slam dunk!!

He's preparing to hit a homer.....or one of his parents.

He had such a good time playing with Sooz and Walt.

Big Smiles!!

Getting up close and personal with Gpa

We went over to the park and Big Don decided to fight his leash a little.  He's really into strength training. 

 We got a quick swing in while at the park!

On Friday we went to the Kansas Museum of History.  Cal took a good nap during the tour, which helped recharge him for some pictures afterwards!  We couldn't get a single picture where everyone was looking at the camera at the same time!

We ended the trip with a photo shoot at Old Town.  The tulips were in full bloom and the grass was so green because of all the recent rain.  So pretty!  Cal had his 9 month pictures done before we walked around....and he cried the entire time!  He didn't give our photographer a big smile, but we caught a few grins. 

Grandma Sooz and Cal had fun playing Pat-a-Cake, among other games!

Cal went from crawling one week to pulling himself up to stand the next!  He's changing so rapidly and becoming a really quick crawler!  I'm trying to get him on video while pulling himself up, but haven't had any luck yet.  I'm not quick enough!  He's also starting mimicking us when we clap and make sounds with our mouths.  He learns something new every day!

Don't bite your friends

Cal has become a terrible biter lately.  Whenever we pick him up he tries to bite our shoulder, collar bone, chin, etc.  He even tricks us into being unprepared when he innocently crawls over to us and bites our legs!  Unfortunately, his biting isn't limited to just his parents.  He tries to bite his daycare teacher and the little girl in the room with him.  Ironically enough, as I sit here writing this post, he has crawled over to me and is biting my shirt (I'm assuming he's trying to hit skin!!). 

Anyway, Cal and I were watching Yo Gabba Gabba (don't judge....Mommy needs two hands and a breather now and then!) and a they sang a very appropriate song on this episode.  I wish they would've had this show when Uncle Tony was a youngster.  He was the ultimate biter!  Don't deny it, T-Bird.  I think that I and all the neighbor kids could testify about your inclination to "bite first, ask questions later" mentality.  I'm so glad you outgrew that phase.....and so is society.

9 month milestones

Check out this cool dude in his plaid shorts!  So stylish.

Cal had his 9 month appointment last week and weighed in at 26.5 lbs and measured at 31" in length!  He was in the 100th percentile for both stats.

He started crawling at 9 months on the dot!  Oddly enough, he is extremely motivated by dopey Donnie and when he sauntered out of the room, Cal crawled after him!  Our 9 month old sweetheart also crawls towards us and when he reaches his destination, he'll either put his head in our lap (and sometimes try to bite us) or put his arms up so we can pick him up.  Both are sweet, but the first scenario has caught us off guard and left the marks to prove it!  Speaking of biting....we need to work on teaching him NOT to exercise his chompers on our sensitive skin!  Here's a small clip of our mobile little man. 

It has been in the 80's all week, so we've been slathering Cal in sunscreen and venturing outdoors as often as possible.  He loves water.  LOVES.  I'm so excited to take him to the pool this summer, and I believe I've said it before, but I'm hoping that he's a waterbug like his Mama so he won't get tired of our frequent swimming sessions this summer!  Anyway, I'm off topic again.  I'm like a bird around shiny things.  I filled a large bowl with water and we sat in the shade so he could splash around.  Little did I know that Cal wouldn't be the only one enjoying the cool water.

He had so much fun splashing around.

Cal has also started eating Nilla Wafers faster than imaginable.  Not surprisingly, as Cal's interest in these delicious little cookies has peaked, so has Ollie's.  She bird dogs him while he munches on anything, but especially Nilla Wafers.  He really enjoys feeding us when he has a cookie and he has transfered that skill over and now feeds the dogs. Atleast they're really gentle when they snatch the cookie out of his hand! 

"Here, Ollie....just don't tell Mom."

"Come back here, Nilla Wafers!"

"I'd better inspect every single cookie before selecting my snack."

In like a Lamb....

March has offered some soft rain, temperatures in the 70's, oh and one random snowstorm that melted upon impact.  Nothing like a little variety.  Kansas has to keep us on our toes, huh?!  It's been so nice that we've been frequenting the park down the street.  Cal loves the swing!


He's just chillin'. 

Yippee!!! 

We traveled over for another K-State basketball game and Cal enjoyed his car seat tent.....until he was really tired of sitting in it, which took 20 minutes or less.  Mommy may or may not have been trying to trick him into taking a nap.   I caught him during a happier moment of the drive.

 The key to a happy traveler is to never be bored.....NEVER. Even if it means that Mommy and Daddy have to sing songs, make funny mouth noises, or play with his toys for the quick jaunt to Dillons or the 3 hour drive to Larned.

Great Grandma came up for the KSU vs. Iowa State game.  Cal was so content with sitting on her lap that he just chewed on his Sophie and watched the game for well over an hour.

After the game, we went out to eat and Cal was sure thirsty and wanted to guzzle water out of our glasses.  He also wanted to show us how technologically savvy he is, but Grandma was so mean and wouldn't give him her expensive chew toy. 

Look at that ham!  Cal....not mom.

"Grandma, quit being so mean!  Just give me this bright, attractive, expensive chew toy!"  

Sometimes when I get the camera out, Cal immediately stops doing whatever I'm wanting to capture on film, and looks at me to ham it up.  For this reason, I have to approach the chance to snap a candid photo much like an animal trying to stealthily sneak up on his prey....nonchalantly, quietly, and quickly.  When he was playing with his frog, it was as though he was mad at it.  I think he's saying, "Frog, I'm tired of your lip.  Don't make me bap you!"  He means business. 

 

We've been introducing a lot of new foods to Cal.  He loves graham crackers, Nilla wafers, Cheerios, homemade mac n' cheese, and softened flakes out of Mommy's morning cereal just to name a few.  However, Daddy let him try the ultimate last weekend.....PIZZA!!!  It was love at first bite.

We helped the Cats wrap up their regular season by attending the last home game of the year on March 3rd.  Our friends from OSU came up for the game, which was especially exciting since all three of our boys were born between the months of February and June and hadn't all hung out together. 

(on the right) Maddox Machado, born in February 2011, is a mobile little bull of a boy.  He toppled into the cabinet and head first into the chair a few times, but he shed no tears.  He just got right back up and toddled away to begin his next adventure!  He's a tough guy.  I smell a future football player, just like his Daddy!

(on the left) Luke Beebe, born in early June 2011, has the sweetest smile.  His two bottom teeth punctuate his adorable grin and he was very interested in all the sights and sounds of the game.  He was very content to be held by his Mama for most of the game, but was open to a few snuggles from strangers (me).

Oh Lilah.....do you and Cal have a love/hate relationship? She doesn't look too upset that Cal is pulling her hair out in this picture (while the mothers smile and pose for the camera, mind you), which I think is a testament to her temperament. She's a very independent baby and doesn't get too riled up about many things, which is fitting because neither does her Mama! I think she's going to have Johnna's personality....and perhaps immaculate fashion sense!?! 

I'll wrap up this post with a sweet picture of our cuddly little Cal, who was soothed to sleep after Kiley held him for 2.5 seconds.  It was amazing.  She must move in with us.  Come on, Ki....Andrew can come, too!  We've got a comfy air mattress in the basement that has the Hamors' name all over it!