First Finger Paint
I bought some finger paint last week and decided to see if Christopher was old enough to enjoy it. I'll let you guess what my verdict was:
Before the finger paint...
We painted three pictures...after the first one, which used all 10 colors, my neat son only had paint on the pointer finger of his right hand. Amazing! I thought it would be all over his face, in his hair, covering his bib, etc...wrong! So I took his hand and shoved it in the bowl of paint to show him it was an ok thing to do. After that, we had a lot more fun.
Precious, little, colorful hands.
"Mess. Mess. Mess." is what he kept repeating after we were done. What's the matter, Christopher?
"Mommy. Mess!" He seemed so distressed...
...until I convinced him it was ok to be messy and that we would wash it off when Mommy was done taking pictures. Then he was ready to smile.
The verdict? He loved it. He painted a picture for his scrapbook (though he didn't know it). Then a picture for Babu, which he gave him as a get well card from his back surgery, and finally a picture for Daddy to hang in his office. He was very proud to pass them out later. We had fun!
Trip to Akron, OH
Friday after lunch, we left for Akron, OH. On the way we stopped at a neat little diner called "Lori's" for supper. It was delicious and a WAY BETTER than fast food...of course...dinner also took an hour instead of 5 minutes, but well worth it. We arrived in Akron and met up with Dad around 9pm. Not a bad trip at all - Christopher is such a wonderful traveler - we're definitely blessed by that.
Saturday, after Dad and Andy did some rewiring in Grandma Didyk's old house to get it ready to sell, we went out for lunch to "Hamburger Station." It's an old tradition, or I don't think I would have agreed to go...the burgers were a little sketchy. But the boys enjoyed them a lot, even Christopher ate two!
Christopher showing Deda all his cool toys.
Sunday, Mom, Megan and Jen drove over from Fort Wayne for a few hours to say hello to us. They said it was a short 4 hour drive compared to the 10 1/2 from IN to TN. When they walked in the door, Megan was in front. Christopher saw her and exclaimed very loudly and enthusiastically: "Megan!" (however he actually says it - but you can tell it's her name.) She about cried she was so excited by such a special greeting. It was the first time he recognized her and called her by name...special moment for her.
That afternoon, we went to the park for awhile so Christopher could play on the swings and slides.
Um...maybe a little small for a tall adult, but they had fun anyway!
Then we picked Dad up and went out for ice cream at Strickland's. I had fresh banana ice cream - DELICIOUS! I'm not a huge ice cream fan, but I'm pretty sure I could have eaten an entire gallon of that stuff it was so good.
After ice cream, we stopped by Dad's cousins house to say hello. They were having their family Orthodox Easter celebration, so we ended up eating some VERY GOOD food! It was fun to see/meet everyone. Christopher had a great time sitting by cousin Sam while he watched people play bowling on the Wii. It was pretty cute.
Monday, we packed up and headed for home. Our first stop was in Massillon, OH to see Grandpa and Grandma Jan Dannemiller. They hadn't met Christopher yet, so it was great to be able to finally meet up with them. We spent a wonderful 2 hours visiting and eating some yummy sloppy joes Jan had made for us. Great-Grandma Jan took Christopher into the back room and showed him all her toys...he liked the ones that made noise the best, particularly a couple trucks, an M&M telephone, and a Barney doll that sang a song. They played in there together for awhile before he chose a couple things to bring out in the living room.
This green truck was his favorite, and Great-Grandpa gave it to Christopher to bring home. It makes several noises, including one that says "Let's drive!" which Christopher thought was pretty cool. He pushed that button repeatedly and copied the voice by repeating "let's drive" then laughing for about 30 min or so after we left. At least he was content. =) Thank you for the truck, Great-Grandpa. I love you.
4th generation: Great-Grandpa Dannemiller (Mom's dad), Andy and Christopher. 
Christopher, Great-Grandpa and Grandma Jan.
The rest of our trip home was uneventful, though we did waste 1 1/2 hrs around supper time trying to find another cool little diner to eat at. After pulling off the interstate and driving around for about 1/2 hour, we finally ate at Lone Star Steak House. Not exactly what we were looking for, but still better than fast food. We arrived home around 10:30pm, tired yet refreshed from a fun weekend.
Fun Busyness
Definitely time for a new post. Here are LOTS of pictures for you.
March 19
Baby Didyk 2 - at about 9 1/2 weeks. You can already see a brain and 4 limbs. Amazing!
March 15-16
We went to the Bristol Motor Speedway to watch the Sharpie 300 and Food City 500. Andy "had" to accompany his clients to the races for the weekend, and he was able to get an extra ticket for me. We had a fun time. I've decided that I really like NASCAR racing - at least in person. We cheered for Kyle Busch in the M&M car #8. He was exciting to watch - a very aggressive driver on this course, and probably would have won the race if the power steering in his car hadn't gone out. He became our hero when he drove 170+ laps at high speeds around the track with NO power steering. I could hardly maneuver the van when our power steering went out, so we were quite impressed.
Before the races, we got track passes and walked around down on the track looking at all the cars and pit stops. Pretty cool!
All the trucks that carry the cars and equipment were parked in the middle.
Andy was able to get us and a few of n*tara's clients a helicopter ride from another client. 
Andy enjoying the ride.
We flew above the mountains around Johnson City, then circled the speedway before landing again. It was so beautiful! I had to try VERY hard not to throw-up from my pregnancy sickness, but it was still fun. Look at all the cars/campers/etc. Unbelievable! 
And click on this picture so you can see it larger, because the number of people walking all around is quite amazing.
A few weeks ago, I was out in the parking lot of a store with Christopher. Somehow in our conversation, pizza must have come up...because Christopher suddenly began asking for pizza and wanting to go back in the store. I asked if he wanted pizza, and he giggled and bounced in my arms and kept repeating "pizza, pizza, pizza!" So...we went to Little Ceasers to pick up a pizza...he kept saying "pizza" over and over all the way to the store and all the way home. I wondered if he would even eat it...and yes, he did. He ate two whole pieces while he watched Wheel of Fortune on TV. It's his favorite show that we occasionally allow him to watch. As soon as it comes on, he leans forward in his chair and yells "i." Then he repeats every letter they call out on the show, and claps and yells when they do. It's quite a treat to watch.
March 21-23
Jenny and Megan came down for the weekend, even though Rachel had the flu. They had been planning to for awhile, and still wanted to come so they could help out for the weekend. It was nice to have them here to help Andy while I sat on the couch, sick, the whole time.
Gramma and Papa sent a box of clothes, a book and a toy down for Christopher. He had the most fun opening and shutting the box. Once we finally convinced him to look inside, he enjoyed pulling everything out.
One item was a cute monkey cup, that has sparkling liquid trapped between two walls. Well...we thought Christopher would love it, until he became thoroughly frustrated that he could see water in the cup but not get any out when he tried to drink. Pretty funny!
Sidewalk chalk drawing with Auntie Jen.
Hero aunts take an overly excited nephew to the trash can.
Ah, the trash can. Christopher is quite obsessed with them these days. Andy and I wonder if he'll grow up and drive a garbage truck. We decided that if he remains this excited about them for the rest of his life, we'd be happy that's what he did because he'd probably be the happiest worker in the world.
Saturday, Jen and Andy hiked up the Balds, while the sickies stayed at home. Christopher came down with the flu and Megan had a stomach bug. They said it was beautiful and had a wonderful time.
Sunday, Christopher went on his first Easter egg hunt - around our living room. He thought it was great to find the eggs and put them in his basket...
...until he discovered that he could throw them like balls. That was much more interesting!
March 24
I wanted to bake some muffins, but Christopher didn't really want to be in his play room. As I was trying to figure out how to hold him and make muffins, I had a brilliant idea...so Christopher went into his highchair...I have him a bowl, a measuring cup, a measuring spoon, and a spoon...and Christopher baked too! As I added ingredients to my bowl, I dumped a little of each thing into his bowl too. He thought it was great to be helping Mommy cook. We had a fun time together.
It was a little challenging for him to try to pick up the flour and sugar with his fingers to put it all back in the bowl after he dumped it out.
When we finished baking, we headed into the living room, and stopped in surprise at the back door. It was snowing!
It stopped right before sunset, and was so beautiful with the light from the setting sun shining on the fresh snow. God's creation is so spectacular!
March 31
Gigi sent Christopher a special gift a few weeks back, and we finally got it out and set it up. While he was still alive, Great-grandpa Steury had found this racetrack in a store and bought it for his future grandkids. Well, Christopher was the lucky one to receive it as a gift after Gigi found it in her house. He really loves it.
After watching Andy do it ONCE, Christopher knows how to plug in the controls, put the car on the track, and then push the control buttons to make them race around. He holds one in each hand.
Of course, hands-on is always more fun, so he also tries to push them around the track while making all kinds of "car" noises. What a little boy.
