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This past Tuesday, while I was at work, Daddy and Andy decided to have "man time" and grill a huge feast for dinner. For appetizers, they seared a huge tuna fish steak, then had pork chops, grilled veggies, and sweet potatoes for the main course. Dessert was ice cream with fresh raspberries. It was very delicious! I was fortunate enough to be the recipient of left-overs the next day. They can definitely cook!
Christopher helped prepare the grill...as evidenced by his blackened hands and arms, though he opted to eat crackers instead of the grilled meal. If only he knew what he was missing out on!
Ahh, the joys of having a toddler insist on feeding himself. He does a good job with a spoon and a fork, it just gets a little messy at times.
Saturday, we had the Eorgans and Hathaways over for a Memorial Day Weekend BBQ. Everyone stayed until almost 1 am - pretty late for us! =) Christopher and Sunny had lots of fun playing together, and finally made it to bed around 9:30.
Both kids enjoyed playing with Mr. Josh.
Playing inside the gym/pool in the backyard. No water this time, but still lots of fun.
These two videos are from Christopher's First Birthday. Blogger didn't allow video publishing at the time, so I didn't put them up. Now they do, and as Christopher and I were watching them this morning (he LOVES to watch these daily on the computer and name everyone and everything in them that he recognizes), I thought some of you might enjoy seeing them too. I'll post them here for a few weeks, then move them to his birthday post from Sept. last year.
This first one is of Christopher's NICU experience, and uses the song "He's My Son" by Mark Schultz. The second is of Christopher's First Year and uses the songs "Fingerprints of God" by Steven Curtis Chapman and "Upside Down" by Jack Johnson. Enjoy!
We had a fun weekend. Friday, Cousin Isaiah came to play with Christopher while his Mommy went shopping for his birthday party. After naps, the boys played with toys, we went "shopping" at Toys R Us and played with all the toys there, and then we went to the grocery store.
During snack time, Isaiah sat in Christopher's highchair, and Christopher stood beside him eating his snack off the top of a cooler. He was very interested in what Isaiah was doing - he kept picking up Isaiah's snack and trying to put it in his hand or mouth. When Isaiah had his sippy cup upside down, Christopher pulled it out of his mouth, turned it around for him, and stuck it back in his mouth. They were talking to each other and giving each other "head hugs and kisses" while they ate. It was pretty cute to watch...a good sign for us that Christopher will do all right with this next baby. He LOVES babies and is so excited to even just look at them. We'll see.... =)
When Andy came home from work, Christopher was eager to engage in his daily ritual of "driving" in the car with Daddy. Isaiah thought it looked like fun too and dove through the window onto Andy's lap. While Christopher pushed all the buttons, turned on the music and danced to his "beats," Isaiah held on to the steering wheel and bounced up and down repeatedly on Andy's lap. I wish I had gotten a video - we need to buy a video camera rather than borrow from people!
When Andy got out of the car, the boys were ticking and head-butting each other. Challenging to hold 50lbs of wiggling boys! =)
Christopher gives Isaiah a "hug."
Isaiah gives one back. Cute.
Saturday afternoon, we went to Isaiah's first birthday party. Christopher had fun playing with all the kids, and even riding on a bicycle with Babu's help.
Isaiah digging into his birthday cake.
Grandpa and Grandma Tolan, Aunt Donna and Joshua, Eric, and Erin were there too. It was fun to see all of them.
Great-Grandpa Tolan, Christopher, Babu, and Daddy.
After the party, we drove to Gatlinburg to stay in a condo with Mom and Tony. They're there for the week, so we decided to visit for a day. Lil' Tony joined us as well, and we had a fun time, eating, talking, walking, and swimming. Christopher was very excited about the "water" (pool) from the balcony, but a little overwhelmed by how big it was once we were actually down in it. He adjusted after a little coaxing and was even jumping in to Mommy from the side of the pool before we left on Sunday.
"Meemaw" and Christopher playing with coasters. That's the name he called her this weekend...we'll see if it sticks.
I was missing some pictures from Anna's camera, and then skipped a blog, so there are two new posts: April 5 and May 8. Enjoy the pictures!
This past Saturday we traveled to NC to climb Grandfather Mountain with some friends, the Eorgans. We left mid-morning, and spent our time before lunch crossing the mile-high swinging bridge and hiking around on the rocks. It was so beautiful!
Rachel (and baby), Andy, and Christopher.
Cortny looks out over the valley.
Cortny, Thomas and Sunny (age 1).
Christopher and Sunny love their backpacks. Both of them slept for awhile during our hike. The first part up at the top was pretty windy - which they didn't like so much, but after we started hiking the trails, they had a great time too.
Andy and Christopher check out the drop-off.
Crossing the swinging bridge.
For lunch, we ate sandwiches, veggies, left-overs and cookies at a picnic table near the car.
Christopher and Sunny checking out the gravel. Sunny isn't quite walking yet, so she crawled over to Christopher and used him to pull up and hold on to so she could stand. What a cute pair - it was fun to watch them play together.
After lunch we hiked through the forest on some beautiful trails. Part way up the mountain, we came upon a ladder we had to climb to keep going. The Dads and babies thought it was great, while the Mom's were a little worried about climbing ladders with babies strapped on someone's back. But all ended up ok.
Christopher is excited about the prospect of climbing higher.
Up they go.
At our turn-around point, we took a break and let the kids out of their carriers to stretch for awhile.
Christopher points out something interesting to Sunny.
Sunny shares a secret with Christopher.
Christopher, Rachel and Sunny Roan.
The Didyks.
The Eorgans.
We hiked about 5 miles before arriving back at the car. It was a great trip - very refreshing and fun to share with friends. On the way home, we drove through Banner Elk and stopped for supper at a small cafe. Needless to say, we were all quite hungry and put away a decent amount of food. I had a great time and felt great most of the way...toward the end I started having a few more Braxton Hicks contractions than I was comfortable with, so Andy and I stopped in a parking lot we had to cross through, while the Eorgans went to get the car and pick us up. With a little water and rest, the contractions quit...so lots of fun...but probably my last longer/more intense hike before Baby Didyk number 2 makes an appearance...at least until I'm 38 weeks along or so and ready to deliver. Then I might try it again to hurry things along! =)
I had a wonderful Mother's Day. My one wish was that I didn't have to cook all day. So for breakfast (brunch), Andy cooked delicious wheat waffles, topped with peaches, blackberries, mangoes, bananas and cool whip. Mmmmm...yummy! =) Great way to start the morning. Plus he washed all the dishes left from the night before as well as the breakfast dishes - bonus!
At 11:30, Christopher and I picked Daddy up at his house and we went to a motorcycle drag race. It was quite the cultural experience. Though not at all what either of us expected from what we'd been told about it, we still had fun, even though we stuck out among the bikers like two white people in Africa. It was pretty funny. For lunch we ate corn dogs and hot dogs.
Christopher and Babu watching motorcycles. He loved it! And it's cute to hear him say motorcycle too.
Two motorcycles raced at a time on a grass strip - some of them were quite fast.
When Christopher and I arrived home, Andy was out at the store buying supplies to make me dinner. I wasn't allowed in the kitchen, so I relaxed for an hour while Christopher napped and then he and I played together. After 3 hours of slaving in the kitchen, Andy called us to the dinner table. WOW! I was so impressed - we had a fresh salad, mustard greens, and a grilled chicken/vegetable wheat pasta dish that was fabulous! To top it off, Andy had baked just about the most delicious desert I've ever had. He baked a chocolate mousse - even found one that he had to bake since I can't eat raw eggs right now - and topped it with homemade whipped cream...that he made himself...and fresh raspberries. WOW! WOW! WOW! It was so good - I was glad he only made us one each, because I could have eaten my weight in that stuff. Mmm mmm. I made him take a picture for me so I could brag on how pretty it looked too. Thanks, Baby. You're wonderful! I greatly appreciated the relaxing day and not spending any time in the kitchen. XO
Me and my sweet boy on Mother's Day. He was much more interested in everything blowing around on the ground from the strong wind storm we were having rather than smiling at the camera.
Within the last week or two, Andy helped Christopher pick a flower for me one day. Now every flower he sees is "Mommy's" and something he wants to pick and give to me. Talk about melting a Mommy's heart. I love being a mom.
Christopher's new favorite thing: Babu's truck. He LOVES the truck and asks for it all the time whenever Babu is mentioned. Now every red truck is "Babu's truck." Christopher has learned his 's' and possessive nouns, so now everything is "Babu's truck" "Sho Sho's vrroom vrroom" (van) "Daddy's drive" and "Mommy's vrroom vrroom." First ride in Babu's truck. Christopher was spending a little while at Babu's house playing, and then Babu brought him home in his truck. He was NOT interested in getting out of there and coming to see Mommy.
Driving Babu's truck.
After Babu left, Christopher laid on the rug by the front door, crying, moaning, and repeating over and over and over in the saddest little voice "Babu. Babu. Babu. Babu." Not very obvious that he loves his Babu, is it?! =)After bathtime the other day, Christopher didn't want to give up his towel. So after we got him dressed, he put it back on his head and wore it around for about an hour or so.
We had Daddy, Mama, SB and Anna over for dinner tonight. Mama and Anna leave for Kenya tomorrow. Hopefully Daddy's back will heal quickly and he'll be able to follow them in a few days.
Christopher enjoyed opening and shutting the screen door and making faces at Anna while the men were outside cooking the BBQ chicken. Yum!
Trying on Babu's shoes. 
Beautiful ladies: Mama and Anna.
Beautiful SB playing with Christopher. Smile Christopher! Or make faces...
Andy, Christopher and I went camping on Friday night. Daddy and Mama have some beautiful property up on Lake Watauga, so we had a nice private campsite. We picked up a pizza for dinner on the way up to the lake, which made Christopher very happy. After unloading the car and hiking down to the water's edge, we set up the tent.
Christopher helping Daddy put everything inside the tent.
He was so wound up with excitement at being outside and getting to sleep in a tent, that he didn't go to sleep until around 10pm! As soon as we crawled in the tent and zipped the door shut, it was like a switch flipped on him and he went crazy! He was bouncing around the tent, climbing all over and giggling hysterically. His two favorite things to do were climb on Andy and pound on his chest, and shine the flashlight in Andy's eyes. Andy would say "I can't see," and Christopher would belly laugh and almost fall over. Then Christopher started saying "hard to see" every time he shined the light in Andy's face. We were about to puke and couldn't catch our breath from laughing so hard for so long.
"HARD TO SEE!!!!" Notice he also had a headlamp around his neck.
Andy bought Christopher a Lafuma sleeping bag rated at 40*F. It's nice and warm and very soft...but Christopher preferred the feel of the sleeping mat that was under his bag. Between 10:30 pm and 3:00am, I had to keep shoving him back in his bag, b/c he would crawl out in his sleep and then get cold. Finally after 3, he slept peacefully in his bag and didn't wake up again until 7:30.
Breakfast with Mommy. We ate oatmeal and Christopher had a breakfast cereal bar.
Sitting in his little camping chair.
Andy was shooting this picture of Christopher by holding his camera under the fly, so he couldn't actually see Christopher since he was on the other side. Little did he know...but came to find out...that Christopher was picking up hand-fulls of dirt and throwing them on the camera lens! Oops, Sorry Daddy!
We packed up quickly after breakfast and headed home, because it was supposed to rain Saturday...the rain started just as we were pulling into our driveway. Yeah-dry camping gear..barely. It was a great night of fun as a family, and something we're looking forward to doing more often now that it's warm...at least until the ground just gets too uncomfortable for me! =) Christopher had a wonderful time, and was sad to leave, especially when he had to say goodbye to all the butterflies flying around the edge of the lake.
We're so thankful that we were able to stop and see Grandpa and Jan on our way home last weekend. Jan was diagnosed with cancer a couple months ago, but the doctors thought they had removed it all and were ready to start chemo when they found a cyst on her ovary. They thought it might be benign, but went in on Tuesday to remove it and found it to be larger than they thought, though still unsure if it was cancer. She came home on Friday afternoon. That night after they went to bed, she was feeling funny and very restless, so she moved out to the couch so she wouldn't wake Grandpa. Jan died in her sleep shortly after that. We're all very shocked, and we're still not sure exactly what happened. Grandpa Dannemiller has 12 children, and Jan has 9, so together the support network is enormous, but the sudden loss is still devastating. Please pray for Grandpa as he deals with the loss of his second wife, and for all of the family on both sides. We will miss Jan very much and we're so grateful for the time we were able to share with her.
