ICE!

We went to see ICE at the National Harbor today, featuring How the Grinch Stole Christmas! It was absolutely wonderful. Everything was hand carved in ice...amazing! Prior to entering ICE, they featured several other works by Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss. What an amazing artist/author/person.

Hunter even when down the ice slide! Though he didn't seem overly excited about it...

Giddyup Kitty Cat!

Poor Jack just can't get a break. Now Hunter wants to straddle and ride him!

We were able to catch this brief attempt on video.

Hunter enjoying his new toys!

Hunter enjoyed leading each person to his bike, so they could push him around on it...

Delighting in his remote controlled car...

Not sure who enjoyed the tunnel and tent more, Hunter or Jack the Cat...

And when Hunter went to sleep, Jack claimed the tunnel as his own...

Christmas 2010

This Christmas was quite a treat! Hunter is now old enough to really get into it. As everyone knows by now, he is quite the ham and loves entertaining a group! So when surrounded by family and friends, he is quite in his element, as it gives him the proper crowd needed to really show off his stuff.

Hunter had 3 back to back days of giving and receiving Christmas gifts. He really enjoyed tearing open the wrapping paper on his gifts...or helping others with theirs! It seemed like every gift given was his absolute favorite, until the next one was opened! haha! Everyone was really so generous and, of course, Ryan and I went overboard as usual, too. But Hunter really seems to be enjoying all his new play things and books, so it doesn't matter that we now need a bigger house to place them all in!

Hunter enjoying Dad and Uncle Scott's new toy!

Riding Thomas the Train

Our neighbors, the Wagners, have 2 sons who LOVE trains! Hunter has the best time checking out their collection of toys and trains when we go over there going over there. Tonight, we got together for dinner and they had a special treat set up just for Hunter. As you can see below...he was beyond thrilled!

2nd Haircut

We took Hunter to see my hairdresser Brian on the Avenue for his second ever haircut. Brian also plays soccer with Dad, so it was good to have someone we know do the job. Hunter was great in the chair! He didn't like the cape too much, but once he could get his hands free he felt much better. He took Brian's comb from him and "helped" with the haircut himself! What a good boy!

Afterwards, Hunter enjoyed the duck statues on The Avenue. Dad took pictures while Hunter jumped on and tried to ride them!

A Little Brother

We had an ultrasound on December 3rd, before we went on vacation, and saw our sweet little baby squirming around. For most of the appointment, he had his hands next to his face and eventually started sucking his fingers. A few times he seemed a little annoyed that the tech was pushing against him, so he started pushing back and, boy, did I feel it!

The tech asked if we wanted to know the sex and we told her we did, but asked that she give us a chance to look and guess before she told us. After taking several measurements, she told us that if the baby did not switch positions, she would be unable to see the sex. (Sounded awfully familiar to our experience with big brother, Hunter!) Luckily, I remembered to bring some orange juice with me, and sure enough after drinking some the baby moved around and ended in a better position. The tech said, "Well there you go. What do you see?" All we saw was a blurr, so she got another angle to give us another try.. Both Ryan and I knew immediately that we were looking a baby boy parts!!! We are absolutely ecstatic; and while I don't think you can ever know for sure the sex of a baby until you get an ultrasound, throughout this pregnancy we both thought we were going to have a boy...we only had fleeting moments where we second guessed ourselves.

So, on vacation in Punta Cana there were many many conversations about baby boy names. We finally came up with one we BOTH really like. We are keeping our options open, but Mason Alexander feels like it is the right fit for our second son right now.

Here is a sneak peek at our second little angel:

Giddyup!

Hunter's favorite thing to do these days is ride things. Whether it's his rocking horse, his bathroom stool, our suitcase...basically anything he can get his leg up and over to straddle. He climbs aboard and starts clicking his tongue, which is his sounds for a horse as it sounds like hooves walking.

Ryan and I have many times found ourselves down on our hands and knees searching under the couch or coffee table for a missing toy, when suddenly little hands grasp our shoulders and a leg gets thrown up on our back, then the clicking begins. It is hilarious!

Ornament Love!

This is the cutest thing! I mentioned in the previous post that there are a few ornaments towards the bottom of the Christmas tree that Hunter just goes crazy over! Well he has started giving kisses to the kitty ornament that actually looks a lot like our cat Jack. I was finally able to capture some pictures of him doing this...it is just so adorable!

2010 Christmas Tree

Upon our return from Punta Cana, we picked out our Christmas tree on Saturday and then spent all day Sunday in our pajamas decorating it and the house! Hunter loved all the ornaments and kept trying to get at them when we were unpacking and putting them on the tree. We finished up the decorating when he was napping and when we brought him downstairs upon waking, he saw the Christmas tree all lit up and gave a sigh of delight and awe. Such a sweet sound!

Since then he has been VERY good about not touching the tree or ornaments, but he loves to point at the ones at his eye level and tell us what they are. For example there is a kitty cat ornament he points to and yells "Jack" or "Kitty", a picture of mommy to which he squeals "Ma", a picture of daddy to which he squeals "Da", and a penguin that Hunter imitates by doing the "penguin walk". Gosh- he is just so amazing and too cute for words! We can't get enough of him!

Lizard Chasing

There were a ton of tiny lizards in Punta Cana! Hunter loved checking them out. Here are some short videos of us terrorizing one with him.

(Please note: No lizards were harmed in the making of this video.)

Punta Cana Vacation

We just returned from an awesome 5 night vacation in the Dominical Republic. The resort and weather were awesome! It was a much needed getaway for us all. Ryan and I admit that vacation with a toddler is not quite a relaxing as it was before (much time was spent ensuring Hunter didn't crack his head open on the marble floors throughout the resort), but we all had a blast together.

We all got a ton of beach and pool time and, given that it was an all inclusive resort, ate way too much! Many days, after a morning of hard play in the sand and surf, Hunter would cuddle up in one of our arms and take a snooze on the beach. Other times, we would even get a chance to make it back to our room to clean him up and put him down in his crib. There were also a few evenings when Hunter would crash right at dinner time, sometimes in the restaurant waiting for dinner.

He certainly didn't sleep his vacation away though! In fact, the little guy was making some moves! As you will see in the photos, the ladies were all over him on the beach; he even had his first vacation fling. After dinner we would often go to the lobby bar, there was a large open area for running around and a huge Christmas tree in the center. Many of the kids would end up there, running and playing with each other, while the parents had cocktails. One evening, a sassy little 10 month old named Emily latch on to Hunter...literally. She toddled up to him and grabbed him by the shirt collar and wouldn't let go, so Hunter did what any guy would do...he leaned forward and gave her 3 kisses right on the lips!! (All infront of her father no less...the kid has no fear!)

Hunter also met an (almost) 4 year old boy, who within 5 minutes taught him how to transform his hand into a gun and shoot invisible bullets at people. So now, of course, this is Hunter's favorite thing to do (lovely...sigh).

The staff at the resort were great. Very nice and attentive. Most genuinely seemed to enjoy children, so we got many comments regarding how handsome, cute, and BIG Hunter is. He certainly won the hearts of many Dominican hostesses and waitresses. One waiter in particular couldn't believe it when we told him Hunter was only 16 months old.

This wasn't the only way that Hunter seemed to mature during our vacation. He was great during our 9 hours of door to door travel time both to and from the Dominican, and overall, he was just a very good and listened to us very well. He stayed close when we asked him to, so we didn't have to worry too much about him running off or getting into too much danger/trouble. It was great!

Admittedly, we took a ridiculous amount of photos during this trip. Here are some of our favorites...

Spinning Spinning Spinning

It seems that Hunter is getting more and more energy in the evenings and is also getting more and more silly!

This particular evening he got into some stickers, so we put them all over him. Then he decided to entertain himself, and us, by spinning round and round...and round!

Big Boy Potty

Lately, Hunter has been very aware of when he has to go poo-poo. Many times he will get up and leave what he is doing, even if completely engaged in play with Mom or Dad, to find a quiet place to do his business. Often this involves going to a back corner or behind a big toy or piece of furniture. Afterwards he often pulls at his diaper and says something to us, which we interpret as "Hey guys, I just made a big nasty...new diaper please."

Since he has this awareness and is intrigued by the toilet, we decided to get him a little potty and put him on it from time to time. He hasn't done anything on it yet. If we ask him if he has to poo-poo, he'll push and strain a bit but nothing has ever come out...except for little squirts of pee from all the pushing.

Here is a short little video...love the little grunt! He is definitely his father's son!

A Bath Time Story

This may be a little inappropriate, but it was so funny, I feel the need to document for all!

The other night, Ryan and I were giving Hunter his bath when he let out a monster tub fart! Naturally, we started laughing. Hunter then proceeded to giggle and then push and grunt, trying to get more gas out. (He really is an entertainer...anything for a laugh!) Well nothing was coming out, but he was pushing so hard that we were afraid he was going to poop in the tub. Ryan then noticed that every time Hunter tried to push out a toot, a little bit of pee would shoot out! When I saw that, it just made me hysterical; I could not stop laughing. I would pull it together for a second and then just lose it again and go into hysterics, which of course made Hunter want to keep on trying. So I eventually left the bathroom so Ryan could get Hunter out of the tub. When I finally had myself under control and thought I was okay to return, Ryan had Hunter out of the tub and was getting his towel around him. Hunter took one look at me and started giggling and pushing again, shooting pee all over himself and Ryan. Ryan was taken by surprise and yelled exasperated, "Felicia, knock it off, he's peeing all over the place!"

Well I just lost it all over again, so of course Hunter pushed again and squirted a little more pee on himself and Ryan. I ran out of the room again hysterical! It was a vicious cycle...but soooo funny!

Fun with Dad!

Big Cheese

Hunter now cheeses for the camera!

Our Wild Thing

Hunter LOVES this story, especially when we get to the pictures of all the Wild Things!!

Thanksgiving

We celebrated another wonderful Thanksgiving with family this year! It started with an early Thanksgiving visit from Pop. Since his move to Florida it had been several months since he had seen Hunter and he was amazed at just how much he has grown and developed. It was a very nice visit.

On Thanksgiving day we went to Pop-pop and Granny J's house and enjoyed the day and a wonderful meal with them, Mom-Mom, Lee and Kathy. Despite Hunter's short 30 minute nap that day, he didn't slow down for one minute during our stay. Pop-pop even took him out to the barn to "show him the important things in life"...the tractors. On our way home we stopped for a surprise visit with Aunt Faye, Uncle Jerry and Nanny, and in spite of Hunter's short doze on the way to their house he perked right up when faced with the opportunity to entertain more people.

We drove to Pottstown, PA on Black Friday to spend the day with Ryan's extended family...probably about 30 or so in total. Once again, Hunter blended right in and didn't seem to be overwhelmed at all. He even played his first game of family football outside with the big boys! It was a wonderful day...Aunt Laurie outdid herself once again! Oh...and Hunter also won $5 by guessing the correct number of coins in the jar...an annual tradition. What a little smartie!

Reviewing the pictures, it is easy to see just how much we have to be thankful for...a loving family, great friends, a wonderful marriage, an amazing and beautiful son, another child on the way, the list goes on and on. We truly are grateful for all we have and the wonderful people in our lives!

We have a climber

Lately Hunter has been climbing on everything. Those things that are too high for him to climb, well they don't seem to slow him down much either. He tries his best to get his little knee up high enough to boost himself up. Sometimes he is successful, other times he runs to get Mom or Dad to help.

Here are a few pictures we were able to get of him at the very top of one of his toys. As you can see, he made himself quite comfortable up there! Lucky for us, we taught him early on how you get down...feet first...and he is pretty good about it so far.

Raspberries

Daddy showed Hunter a new way to blow raspberries...through the gate!

15 Months!

Hunter turned 15 months old on November 2nd and had his check-up appointment today. Our little monkey gained 3 pounds and grew 3 inches since his 12 month check-up! He now weighs in at 26 lbs 7 ozs (76th percentile) and is a very tall boy at 33.4 inches (96th percentile). The doctor was pleased with Hunter's development thus far and thinks he's right on track. He told us that his language will start to explode in the next few months and while he has been walking just fine on his own since his 1st birthday, he is going to get faster! We told Dr. D that we would soon be bringing #2 to him for routine check-ups and he congratulated us. He said not to bother trying to prepare Hunter for a baby because things just don't exist in his reality unless he can see, hear and feel them. Dr. D also said that since Hunter will be almost 2 years old when the baby is born, he probably won't have too much difficulty adjusting to a newborn as long as it doesn't disrupt his own schedule too much. Given that babies generally just need to be fed, changed, and sleep a lot, that shouldn't be a problem!

Hunter got 3 shots during this visit as well and handled them like a trooper, but afterwards he really got some knots in his thighs where he got them. They are a little bruised now, but he doesn't seem to be experiencing any pain there.

In addition to his check-up Hunter now has 7.5 teeth which he diligently brushes every morning and night. The .5 is for one of his upper molars that is not yet all the way through. He also has 1 additional front tooth and 3 more molars that are just under his gums and about to emerge!

Hunter is really enjoying the fall weather! He loves going outside to play with leaves and sticks and rocks that he finds in the yard, or just running around after the other kids in our neighborhood. He also loves playing with the soccer ball and can dribble it quite well across small distances (making his daddy so proud). Recently, Hunter has been playing with his football quite a bit. He loves to make touchdowns and do his touchdown dance!

He is learning new words everyday, but getting him to consistently use them is another matter. He may say them a few times and then he refuses. For the first time, we are having to rely on some disciplinary tactics as Hunter becomes more independent and therefore more defiant from time to time. Overall, he is a very good boy, but on occasion due to excitement, frustration, or just showing off he will do something we consider unacceptable and must be disciplined. Luckily, he has been reacting quite well when we count to 3 and/or put him in a time-out corner. As parents, we find it so hard to do that to him, especially when he starts to cry, but we know it will benefit him and us in the long run, so we are consistently sticking with it.

Hunter's next doctor's appointment will be at 18 months, so we can't imagine how big he'll be then and just how much he will have learned in the interim.

Here are a few pics we've taken over the last few months...

Ultrasound of "Thing 2"

Here are two pictures from a recent ultrasound we had on October 20th. Our #2 is looking quite good and healthy so far. One picture is a profile shot and the other is a leg/foot, which Ryan thinks looks like a great soccer leg!

Can't wait till our next sneak peek around week 20!

Happy Halloween!

Hunter had a very busy Halloween weekend! He went to a pumpkin farm with his buddies at Day Care and got to dress up with them, too! We also had his neighborhood friends, Ethan and Ian, over to make "Monster Cupcakes." He just loved playing and entertaining them at our house; he really adores those boys!

On Halloween day, we attended a party where the 20 or so kids from our neighborhood dressed up in their costumes. They really had a blast playing games together. Ryan raked a huge leaf pile and the kids spent hours jumping and playing in it, especially Hunter!

Later that evening we walked Hunter to a few of the houses in the neighborhood, so he could get a feel for the whole "Trick or Treating" thing. He was a hit and was completely exhausted by the time we got him in bed at 8:30. He passed out without a peep!

Pumpkin Carving

This year we rolled up Hunter's sleeves expecting him to cover himself from head to toe in pumpkin. Much to our surprise, he didn't want to touch the squishy insides at all. So we quickly adjusted our plans and tortured him with it instead!

Definitely our Child!

Hunter got ahold of the remote for his Daddy's Fart Machine and, much like Mom and Dad, he finds farts hilarious!!

The Question Was...

"Hunter what does a fishie do?"

Entertainment for the Whole Family!

Fall is Here!

Now that October has arrived and the weather has cooled, we've been out and about doing those things you do this time of year.

We took Hunter to the Fell's Point Festival and, while we were too busy looking at all the displays to take many pictures, Hunter did get his photo taken perched on top of a race car. (Baltimore is hosting its first Grand Prix next September so there was a sweet car on display to advertise it.)

We also took a trip with our dear friends and neighbors, the Wagners, to Applewood Farm. Hunter went last year, but was obviously limited in what he could enjoy. Not this year, he had a blast checking everything out. He started on their playground, then found his way through the corn maze, played antler toss, got a hayride to the pumpkin patch where he found his very own pumpkin, and visited the animals at the petting zoo. Unfortunately their train had derailed soon after we arrived, so we were unable to take a ride. We'll have to save that for next year!

Some small talk!

Hunter is now saying a few words to indicate what he wants! We are excited as we imagine there will be much less frustration on his part once he can better communicate what it is he wants. Although, we must say that he does a pretty good job with nonverbal communications now (a grunt and a point say so much!) and we've realized many times the frustration stems from him wanting things he cannot have!

His chosen first words are very telling... Here they are in order of first learned and used, to last.

1) Mama and Dada: he started using these months ago

2) Iddy At = kitty cat: again, he started saying this months ago

3) Up: this was perfected about 2 weeks

4) Kee or Coo = cookie: started saying this all the time just a few days ago, mysteriously after a visit from Mom-mom

5) Mor = more: said this for the first time this morning while making the sign language gesture for it at the same time. This blew me away because, interestingly enough, I was doing this sign and a few others with him a lot when he was around 4-7 months old, but stopped. We can't believe he just did it out of the blue with no provocation while eating breakfast this morning.

In addition to these words, he has learned several animal sounds which he started using many months ago. He moos like a cow, pants like a dog, clicks his tongue like a horse galloping, snorts like a pig, and roars like a lion. We couldn't be more proud!!

Rock and Roll Will Never Die!!

New Beginnings...

Here is the first photo ever taken of our little sprout #2!

I spoon now!

Big Drinker!

This is Hunter's first attempt at drinking from a cup all by himself. It went well at first, but after the refill his mouth was missed and milk got poured down him neck! Oooops...we'll work on it!

OKAY...

who just tooted?

Labor Day Weekend

We went to Ocean City for the long weekend. We spent a day at Assateague Beach where we saw the wild ponies, played in the sand and surf, and Hunter found his first horseshoe crab! We also took Hunter to the boardwalk one day, where he enjoyed his first amusement park rides. Given his size and age, he wasn't able to ride very much, but we got him on a few. He didn't like the carousel very much, but loved the airplane ride.

As usual he had a great time with his Mom-mom and they enjoyed many laughs together. They even spent an evening alone together, so Ryan and I could celebrate our 3 year anniversary wtih a nice dinner at Sunset Grill followed by some mini-golf! (In case you are wondering...I won despite my husband's smack talking! My reward was a back massage. It was a very nice evening, indeed!)

Quick video of Mom-mom acting silly, much to Hunter's delight!

Hunter's 1 Year Photos

We had professional photos taken of Hunter just after his first birthday and we just received them in the mail! Our photographer did an excellent job...we absolutely LOVE these shots!

BIG BROTHER!!

As eluded to in the prior post, Ryan and I have some very special news...WE ARE PREGNANT AGAIN!

We have known all along that we wanted to expand our family, so we decided last month to "not be so careful" and what do you know...this month I'm pregnant!

During our vacation last week in Cape Cod, I got sick one evening but Ryan got sick too, so we passed it off on something we ate or a little bug we caught. However, Ryan's passed immediately, whereas I had occasional waves of nausea which persisted. Something about that feeling just can't be mistaken, morning sickness has a slightly different feeling than nausea you experience when you have a stomach bug. So Ryan and I suspected we may be pregnant and joked about it during the 11 hour drive home. When we got home I looked for the pregnancy test I had left over from the 3 pack bought to test for Hunter's conception...it was 2 months expired, but what the heck! Ten seconds after peeing on it, Ryan went to check and gave me a "you are not going to believe this" look! I thought he was pulling my leg as the test is supposed to take 5 minutes for results, but as he turned it around so I could see, we both marveled at the positive sign! I believe my exact words were "Holy Crap, We're Pregnant!" followed by a lot of laughing. We are still just amazed at how quickly it happened for us, and know how blessed we are to have it so!

Now we are in for a wild ride ahead! Our newest family member is due for arrival on April 30th, thus 21 months younger than Hunter...OH BOY! We think Hunter is going to make an amazing big brother, he already shows some interest in babies and he is so sweet natured, I just can't wait to see them together!

Here are a few pics of Hunter rocking his "Big Brother" gear...I just couldn't resist running out and buying this right away!

Guess who's coming to dinner?

Aunt Joanie from St. Louis was in town for a visit with her sister and we got to meet up with them for a nice dinner together at Mimi and Opa's. It was a visit enjoyed by all and Hunter was in heaven running around entertaining everyone. We had some very special news to share with everyone, so Aunt Joan's visit couldn't have been better timed!

Of course, Ryan and I realized that we enjoyed the visit so much that we forgot to take as many pictures as we would have liked...

Vacation!

Summer Vacation...YEA! Ryan, Hunter, and I just returned from a wonderful trip together. We started in Newport, RI - what a cute little town! We spent two nights in an adorable B&B while we explored. Just loved all the artsy stores and the coastal living. We put Hunter in the backpack and hiked the famous Cliff Walk, which is lined with beautiful mansions. Such a pretty sight! Then, Hunter got a stroller ride around town, as we checked out downtown Newport with all it's shops and restaurants, and incidentally saw the most amazing sunset. We did a ton of walking and it felt wonderful!

Next, we headed further north to Cape Cod, MA to meet up with our good friends Ken, Greeta and their son, Bennet. We stayed in a beautiful home with several nearby beaches and really got down to some serious rest and relaxation. We stuffed ourselves with seafood (Ryan excluded) and ice cream, and went to the beach every day. What a great way to spend a vacation. Bennet and Hunter got along very well and were pretty easy to please! They had a blast playing with toys in the house and in the sand, and just went with the flow. I think they must inherently know that vacations are to be cherished!

A Visit with the Stokelys!

Hunter and I headed to Edgewater today to visit our dear friends the Stokely's and the newest addition to their family, Trisha. What a precious little girl! She was so tiny and sweet!

Of course, Hunter had the best time playing with his buddy AJ who was excited to show him all his favorite toys. It was a wonderful day with old (and new) friends.

Of course I wasn't able to post my FAVORITE picture which was of AJ wearing the hot pink tu-tu I made for his sister. I put it on him and he was spinning around like a beautiful little ballerina! His daddy was so proud! I promised his mommy I wouldn't post the pictures and I've kept that promise...but she didn't say anything about talking about it!

First Haircut

Hunter went to Carroll County to visit his great grandparents this weekend. His Memaw is a retired hairdresser, so we asked if she would give Hunter his very first haircut to make it extra special. Lucky us, she was able to do just that while his Great Aunt Faye held him. He was such a good boy, and it was an added bonus to watch the sisters poke fun at each other during the process.

And this is how Memaw cleaned all the hair off of Hunter afterwards. I'm pretty sure she didn't learn this at beauty school!

Big Fat No-No!

When I went to get Hunter up after his morning nap today, I found this:

Fortunately for you, the pictures do not depict the full nastiness of this scene. Hunter had apparently pooped during his nap, then proceeded to open his diaper and paint his crib with it. Even worse, his cute little fingers were covered in it as though he had been squeezing it through them, and there was a tiny smudge of on his cheek. (Not sure if he actually tasted it or not. There was none around his mouth and don't want to think about it too much.) UGH!! SO DISGUSTING!

Ryan and I did, however, learn a valuable lesson - Hunter will never be put to bed in just a diaper and t-shirt again. He will always get pants now! We are hoping this is the first and last appearance of our little Poo-Poo Picasso!

1 Year Check-up

Hunter had his 12 month check-up at the doctor's office today. He now weighs 23lbs 5ozs (59th percentile) and measures 30.6 inches long (75th percentile).

The doctor gave us the green light to give Hunter all the table food that we ourselves eat, with the exception of those things that may pose a choking hazard, which we were already doing this past month for the most part. The doctor also said we can now give him whole milk instead of formula or breast milk moving forward. So...it is time to start weaning from nursing (in the mornng and evenings), which is going to be bittersweet for Mommy. More big news - Hunter is taking his liquids during the day through a cup, so we are totally done with bottles now (HOORAY)!!

Our doctor also told us some things to look forward to over the next few months; we are looking forward to it!

Here are some of our favorite pics from this last month...Enjoy!

Our Little Cruiser!!

Seems that Hunter was just waiting for his 1st birthday to come and go before he really took off walking. Previously, he would take about 6 steps before losing his balance, now he just goes and goes and goes... Actually seems to prefer walking over crawling already!

Life just got a lot more interesting...

Hunter's First Trip Around the Sun

Soon after Hunter was born we began taking daily pictures of him (minus days we were out of town) to document his first trip around the sun.

It certainly got more and more challenging these last few months as Hunter became more mobile and less willing to lay on his back for a photo, but I'm so glad we stuck with it. It is amazing to see how much he has changed this first year!

Farm Fun Birthday Weekend!

We are now the proud parents of a one year old!!! Can you believe it??

We had a great weekend celebrating this momentous occasion with our little guy! On Saturday, we held his birthday party in our backyard with family, close friends and neighbors. Given that Hunter loves playing with his farm animal toys and (for quite some time now) has demonstrated that a cow says "Moooo," we used farm yard decorations. He especially loved the giant cow and pig balloons!

Hunter seemed to hold up pretty well with all the excitement, though there were times when he seemed a bit in awe of everything happening around him. He LOVED his cake and ice cream, and has really enjoyed playing with all the generous gifts given to him! Taking a page from his parent's book, by the end of his party he was under the table (literally)!

On Sunday, we continued the farm theme, by attending our local Harford County Farm Fair. Hunter got to see (and in some cases touch) cows, pigs, snakes, ducks, chickens, goats, rabbits, and roosters. We especially liked when we asked Hunter "What does the rooster say?" and a rooster nearby cried out "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" The look on Hunter's face was priceless!!

Monday was Hunter's actual birthday and he celebrated with another party at his Day Care, followed by lots of playtime, and another cupcake at dinner with Mom and Dad. We definitely saw the affects of a cupcake sugar rush as Hunter was playing with Jack the Cat in some of the tissue paper left from his gift bags. He didn't seem to know what to do with himself, and wanted to go in 5 different directions at once!

Needless to say, we all had a blast!!

SUGAR RUSH!!!

Beach Weekend

While Ryan was in Sweden for a conference, Hunter and I took a mini-vacation to Ocean City to visit Mom-Mom. As you can see from the pictures below we had a blast, filled with lots of quality time together!

Funniest moment of our visit: Mom-mom has a permit to take her truck onto the beach at Assateague Island, so that is where we went 3 out of our 4 day visit. It is nice because it is less crowded than the beach in OC and you don't have to lug all of your beach and baby stuff blocks to get there. You can just drive up and unload behind your truck. However, it can be a rough ride once you are cruising on the sand! So the first day out Hunter's eyes were as big as saucers as his head started bumping from side to side, and back and forth, against his car seat with his first 4-wheeling experience. The next morning as I put Hunter into his car seat to head back out to the beach, I was talking to him and said "Guess where we are going?" and he started throwing his head back and forth against his car seat like he was 4-wheeling again. That cracked us up! For the rest of the weekend, whenever we said "Do you want to go for a ride with Mom-mom?" he would start bumping around, so we figure he is going to associate horrible driving with her!

Sweetest moment of our visit: Our last day at the beach, Mom-mom was taking Hunter down to the water and he found a seashell. He kept turning around to look for me to see if I had noticed. Later when they walked back up to where I was sitting he still had the seashell in his hand and was holding it up in the air to show me with a huge smile on his face. He was so very proud of his very first beach treasure! The moment was so sweet. Now I have a pretty ugly seashell that I will keep and cherish forever!

Hunter's Favorite Game

is "I'm Gonna Get You"! He loves being chased around the house, giggling and squealing the whole time!

Dance Machine

Hunter loves to shake it to music. Whether sitting or standing, when he hears music he will start bobbing up and down or rocking back and forth! He's such a little cutie!

Walking Solo

Hunter is taking more and more steps by himself these days! Sometimes getting up to 6-7 steps! When he takes his time and goes slow he does very well, but he seems to be in a hurry to get everywhere and that trips him up a bit!

These aren't the best videos, but it's all I've been able to capture so far.

Fish Face

LOVE when Hunter makes fish lips!!

Vroom! Vroom!

The fascination with cars and ability to make the "vroom" sound must come naturally with the Y chromosome!

ESCAPE!

Our prisoners are trying to make a jail break!

Got Earplugs?

Independence Day

As with all the other major holidays this year, Hunter managed to get ill the Thursday before 4th of July. He had a horrible stomach bug that kept us up to our eyeballs in dirty diapers and laundry, and extremely worried about dehydration. Luckily, he started to get a bit of his energy and appetite back by Sunday. While we decided to cancel our prior plans to go to Uncle Scott's cookout and watch the fireworks in Havre de Grace, we were able to hang out with our neighbors and catch about 15 mins of fireworks in our neighborhood before Hunter hit a wall and needed to go to bed. He was a trooper though, and he didn't seem at all scared by the sparks or noises from the fireworks.

(Of course, he made a full recovery from his stomach virus by Monday afternoon...just in time for us to go back to work!)

11 Months Old!

Another month down and so much is going on!! Hunter now has 6 teeth, 4 on top and 2 on the bottom. This has helped him to eat more and more table food, to the point that we rarely mash or puree his food anymore. Hunter also mastered drinking from a straw the first time it was offered to him this past month. We've been told this is usually difficult for children, but it's no surprise to us as he seems to quickly adapt to anything involving food or drink! As a result, he continues to grow like a weed and, during his last doctor's visit, he weighed 22 lbs 14 ozs.

This past month Hunter's walking abilities have also improved. He is now walking very well with just a little assistance from us or things around him. He motors around holding on to one of our fingers or by using one hand to balance himself along a wall or the furniture. We figure it won't be much longer before he takes his first steps on his own. His energy level and curiosity have increased quite a bit. He is interacting more with the other kids in our neighborhood; he loves watching them run around and tries to reach for them so he can join in the fun. The other day one of the kids put his water gun on the ground and Hunter jumped at the chance to grab it up and play with it. We are starting to get our first taste of what it is going to take to keep up with him through the toddler years!!

Things have been very warm so far this summer, so we have been spending as much time as we can in the water. Hunter seems to enjoy splashing around in our community pool or in our inflatable pool in the backyard. Needless to say, he continues to impress us, and the photos below are just a sample of what we see on a daily basis. Enjoy!!!

New Crawl

Hunter finally decided to give up the "Combat Crawl" and began crawling on his hands and knees. It's a little odd that he started doing this now given that he generally prefers to walk everywhere while holding mom or dad's hand, but I guess it had to happen at some point.

Our hardwood floors will miss their daily shining from his belly...

Water Baby!

Our boy LOVES the water!

First Trip to the Zoo

We took Hunter to the National Zoo in D.C. this weekend. Unfortunately, we picked an extremely hot and humid day to do so and many of the animals were hiding in their dens in an attempt to cool off. Despite the heat it was still nice to walk around and see the different animals.

They also have a Kid's Farm where children can pet the cows, goats, pigs, etc. Hunter LOVES his toy cows so much, but he wasn't quite prepared for the size of a real cow. As we approached and asked if he wanted to pet her, he vigorously shook his head "NO"!

We plan to go back in the fall when the weather is a bit more forgiving and can hopefully catch a glimpse at more of the animals then.

An Eastern Shore Tragedy...

Although Hunter enjoyed crab cakes the week prior, he clearly rejected the lump crab meat we offered him while picking our first steamed crabs of summer. Naturally, his mommy was appalled!

Things I Can't Get Enough Of...

Hunter does so many adorable things that just melt my heart. Yet, as he continues to grow and change, so do his behaviors. I wanted to take a moment to capture a few of the things I can't get enough of right now at his current age!

I LOVE THE WAY HE:

- leans forward for kisses

- says ma-ma to me and looks for me when we ask "where's mommy?", but also uses ma-ma as his mantra for everything else he encounters throughout his day

- hesitantly curls his hand to wave "bye-bye" because it is a new skill and he is still a bit uncertain

- drops his head to the side and onto his shoulder when he wants to look coy and adorable

- bounces up and down while waving his arm in the air as a greeting for those he recognizes (and some he doesn't)

- squawks while he crawls frantically around the house chasing Jack the Cat

- pauses to shake his head when we say "no-no", but then does what we are forbidding anyway

- belly laughs at the simplest things which then gets everyone else in the room laughing with him

- looks around with a big bright smile on his face when he does something he is proud of to make sure someone else saw it, too

- drops his head on our shoulder when he is exhausted and snuggles in

- squeals while motoring away as fast as he can, when we declare "I'm gonna get Hunter!"

- knows the names of most of his toys, and can locate them if you ask him to

- gets excited when we play hide and seek or peek-a-boo

- very seriously studies something new before passing judgement on whether he likes it or not

- gives us the biggest smile of the day when he first wakes up in the morning

- bounces up and down when he hears music because he loves to dance (just like mommy)

- works his way all around the crib, in every position imaginable, when he sleeps at night

- talks to and cuddles with his giraffe and teddy before bed, and again as he is slowly waking up in the morning

- is developing such a big personality. He makes faces and does things to try to entertain us and then he laughs at himself as well. He's just so darn cute I want to gobble him up!

Proud Daddy!

Hunter could not have made his daddy happier today as he dribbled the soccer ball across the floor!

Somebody has World Cup Fever!!

Corn on the Cob...Yummy!

Hunter ate his first ear of corn today. It was really pretty funny. He seemed to like it but didn't want to pick it up at first, so he brought his mouth down to his tray to take bites. Eventually he got brave enough to touch it. We decided to take it away when he started wielding it in the air like a light saber!

Wave to the Camera

This is short, but I thought it was too cute not to post...

Stair Climber

Hunter has been climbing stairs since he was 9 months old! Generally we are unable to catch it on video, as we follow him up the stairs closely to make sure he doesn't fall. (Thank goodness for baby gates!)

Today the stars aligned and we were able to capture it for you!

Beachin' It!

We took a trip to Ocean City this weekend and Hunter proved that he is definitely a beach baby like his mama! He absolutely loved the sand and ocean...though not so much the taste of them! He didn't even get upset when a big wave knocked him over, though he was understandably surprised. Of course, we are still working to get the sand out of all his little crevices! Mom-mom had taken us to Assateague, so we even had an exciting visit from the local ponies who walked across our blanket in search of food.

Ryan and I had a great time playing with Hunter, and felt a bit like kids ourselves, as we splashed in the surf and tried to build structures in the sand for him to knock down. Most of all, we really loved watching Hunter experience one more thing completed brand-new to him. Couldn't think of a better way to spend our joint Birthday and 1st Father's Day!

And, of course, a 3 hour return drive home means getting creative with the entertainment...

Future NBA Star?

Probably not...but he seems to enjoy playing anyway!

SO BIG!!

Hunter has been doing this since he was 9 months old, but we were unable to catch it on video until now!

Incoming

Hunter just cut his two top front teeth...at the same time! He has been gnawing on his hand quite a bit lately and has been a little fussy/irritable, so we knew another tooth was coming, but we never could have guessed he was getting both of them together! Knowing that, and how painful it must have been for him, he has been a real trooper!

Given the chart below, it looks like we are right on schedule!

Eruption Sequence of baby teeth (also called "Deciduous Teeth" or "Primary Teeth") in months after birth:

Teeth	Average "eruption" time (in months after birth)
1) Lower central incisor	8 months
2) Upper central incisor	10 months
3) Upper lateral incisor	11 months
4) Lower lateral incisor	13 months
5) Lower first molar	16 months
6) Upper first molar	16 months
7) Upper canine	19 months
8) Lower canine	20 months
9) Lower second molar	27 months
10) Upper second molar	29 months

Eruption time averages have been calculated among the general population (US). They are average values, so the variation can range ±6 months

Raspberry Peek-a-Boos

What does the brown cow say?

Moooooooooooo!

Hunter is starting to learn his animal sounds...

10 Month's Old!

That's right, time keeps moving at warp speed and our son is now 2 month's shy of being a 1 year old! Unbelievable!!

We've had another great month with our little guy! With the onset of summer, we're spending a lot more time outside. This past weekend Hunter got to go swimming for the first time and seemed to have fun. That was no surprise given the way he splashes around in the bathtub.

Hunter is also continuing his progress towards walking. He's now using his walking/push toys unassisted and especially likes to walk around holding onto mom and dad's fingers (which is killing our backs). We feel he is getting closer to walking independently, but there are still many times he resembles a drunken sailor.

Hunter still has an insatiable appetite. In addition to eating a mixture of pureed foods at meal time, he is consistently eating small pieces of food directly from mom and dad's plates, as well. In fact, he seems to survey the food we are eating before he starts in on his meals to ensure that he is getting some of the same. If his food does not match ours, he will refuse to eat anything or sometimes grunt at our plates until we share! Sharing is something else that he picked up...if he has a piece of food or a toy in his hand and we ask him to "share" he will extend it toward us and he will even occasionally let it go once we have ahold of it. Though most times he pulls it back in a typical fake out move! One thing is for sure, he has become quite the pro at picking up pieces of food and feeding himself over these last several months. We are just starting to let him explore feeding himself with a spoon (which has had less reliable results).

Hunter has been sharing lots of love and kisses with everyone now, even leaning in to plant kisses on his favorite characters and animals in his books! It is also very evident that he understands a lot of what we say now. Dad thinks he can reliably pick out toys and colors based on what his descriptions, but this has yet to be demonstrated in front of any witnesses.

Hunter is becoming quite the ham! He enjoys clapping for himself when he does something he is proud of and also putting his hands above his head when we ask how big he is before declaring that he is "SO BIG"!

We are looking forward to next month, which should bring about lots of summer heat and humidity, and certainly more changes and surprises from Hunter.

Memorial Weekend

We had a very eventful weekend filled with family fun! We went to a cookout on Saturday at Aunt Faye's house, where we got to see several family members we haven't seen since last summer when I was VERY pregnant. Memaw, who just returned from Georgia for the summer, was also there and finally got to meet Hunter in person. They hit it off immediately! Hunter enjoyed being the center of attention, as usual. I think the highlight of his day was when his Uncle Lee held him next to the deviled eggs and allowed him to get a few handfuls from the tray to squish between his fingers!

On Sunday, we had another family cookout. This time at Uncle Dick's house where we celebrated Uncle Scott's 30th birthday. Hunter got into the pool for the first time, and while he groaned in protest each time another inch of his body was submerged into the cold water, he never cried. In fact, once he acclimated to the temperature he really seemed to enjoy it!

With the 3 day weekend, we took advantage of Monday too. No rest for the weary! Ryan went to visit an old friend while Hunter and I went to our community pool which I joined this summer. We stayed for a couple of hours and he really enjoyed watching all the kids splashing around in the water, but the second time we got into the water Hunter completely passed out on my shoulder. He was absolutely pooped from his busy weekend. So once he woke up we headed home to get cleaned up and fed before bedtime.

It was a great weekend and a perfect kick-off to summer!

LOVE

Hunter has really been showing his affection lately. In addition to leaning forward to give mom and dad kisses, he has now started to do the same to his favorite toys or book characters. It is the cutest thing!

Zzzzzzzzz

This seems to be Hunter's latest and greatest sleeping position...

Summer is a Comin'!

With the weather warming up, we have been getting outdoors every chance we get! Here are pics of some random cuteness! Playgrounds, grass stains and fudge-cicles...all the stuff great summers are made of!

Kisses

Hunter has just started leaning forward to give and receive kisses! (When he feels like it, of course!) It is the cutest darn thing...makes my heart melt every time!

BUBBLES!! Eeeeeeeeee!

Two things are certain:

1) Hunter really digs bubbles.

2) Hunter really digs his Opa.