Baby Hammar

I went to the doctor today and had Baby Hammar #2's first picture taken! The doctor said he thought the baby and its growing space were bigger than 8 weeks. So, he had the ultrasound technician do a quick ultrasound to see just how many babies are in my tummy. I was so nervous! Twins are not something I want at this time with Erika still being so little. And the verdict is....there is just one baby in there. I was extremely excited! I got to see its heartbeat even though it was only 13 mm long...amazing! Here's a picture of the baby. The baby is the little Cheeto in the dark black circle. Baby Hammar #2 will arrive on January 5.

And now some news about the Hammar baby who is already here. Erika loves nothing more than to be outside. She cries every time she sees Matt working out in the yard and she cannot be with him. Matt spent his four-day weekend working on landscaping in the backyard. It looks great! Tonight, he was moving rocks from one part of the yard to another. Rocks are Erika's new favorite toys. She loves to pick them up and bang two together to make noise. Anything noisy is okay with her! Anyway, while Matt was outside working tonight, Erika decided she wanted to help him with his chores. Our little 13 month old is already doing chores!

Fishing

Erika had a great time on her first fishing trip! She loved being outside and would cry when Matt would leave to go fishing without her. Since she hasn't mastered walking yet, we stayed in the cabin and played a lot in there but we went for a lot of walks with her in her stroller. She went out on the boat once, and since she doesn't like to sit still, I'm not exactly sure how much fun she had! Plus, right before we went out, I put sunscreen on her and she got some in her eyes so I think she was pretty miserable about that. Oops. It was a great, relaxing weekend...perfect weather and awesome scenery. It's good to be home where Erika is familiar with things and her routine isn't disturbed. We're looking forward to our next fishing trip, though! Maybe Erika won't have the problem of Mom putting sunscreen in her eyes next time.

Motorin'

Erika is almost an exclusive walker! She is quite stable and walks from furniture to furniture with a few breaks from time to time. It will be fun to be up at the lake with her this weekend and have her able to walk around outside with us. Wyatt has to get used to her walking, however. As you can see in one of the videos, he bumps her a lot and sends her to the floor. She doesn't seem to mind this distraction...she just gets back up and tries again!

Summer Cool

Erika has decided that she will no longer wear her sunhat when we are outside. So, we bought her some sunglasses to help protect her eyes. They wrap around her head so she can't take them off easily. Before the sunglasses, she would squint so bad whenever we took her for a walk or hike. Erika will already inherit bad eyes from her mom and dad so a little more protection for her can't hurt!

Give It a Try

An essential disclaimer about this blog: If you are looking for compelling, enlightening, witty commentary, you are reading the wrong blog. As a geotechnical engineer, I have been trained to use a minimal amount of words in order to make a point. That training will undoubtedly transfer to my blog. Therefore, long-winded, humorous articles will not be found on the Clipboard of Fun. However, if you are looking for adorable pictures of a cute, smart, funny little girl and stories to go along with the pictures, you found it! I enjoy reading other blogs and thought this would be a good way to share pictures and stories of Erika instead of mass e-mailing. Yes, most posts will involve Erika. Matt and I will probably make guest appearances, but as most parents know, once you have kids, what you do doesn't quite matter anymore. Except, of course, how often you send pictures to Grandma! So, here we go!

Erika turned one yesterday. Although everyone keeps saying "Where has the time gone?", I can tell you where it went. About half went to watching her in amazement every time she did something new. Another quarter went to just laughing with her when she found out she could do something new or when she discovered that when she laughed or smiled, Mom and Dad laughed and smiled. Only an eighth went to waking up during the night for her first nine months...I'm glad that is behind us. The rest went to praising God daily for blessing us with a beautiful daughter. I'm not to the point yet where "I can't believe how fast they grow up". However, last night we went out for her birthday and the song "You're Sixteen" was playing in the restaurant. I looked at Erika and got a little teary thinking that one day we would be celebrating her sixteenth birthday. On that birthday, I might wonder where the time has gone.