Daavix's Picture Gallery - Page 2
The Pooh Page
On October 17, 1997, life as I knew it changed. No matter how much a first-time father thinks he's prepared for the arrival of his child, it is always something more amazing and more special than he ever could have imagined. The arrival of my son came after 18 hours of labor. Although I know it was much worse for her, I felt like my wife and I shared the difficulty of child-birth. She did the physical pain, I did the frustration of everything seeming to go too slowly. In the end, though, we were blessed with a perfectly healthy, beautiful little boy (little being nine pounds!). He was everything I had expected and more. He opened his eyes, stopped crying, and looked at me with the deep blue eyes that only newborns have. It was a moment that I will remember until the day I die. My son was perfect. The picture to the left was taken at 3 months. It was one of the first studio pictures taken of him, and he took to the camera like a natural.
The pictures to the right were taken along with the one above. Christian was a natural in front of the camera. Both Tarrah and I were amazed at how well he took pictures. Not only was he beautiful in them, but he really enjoyed it. All of the horror stories I had heard about taking kids to have their pictures made vanished without a trace. As you can see, Christian is not at all afraid to smile!
To the left is one of the first pictures we took of Christian smiling. Although the picture is a little blurry, thanks to Daddy's fine photography skills, it was a keeper from the beginning. Once Christian smiled once, it was non-stop from there. He was always a happy child, and after that point, he had a way to show the world.
These two pictures were taken at 6 months. They're part of the second set of studio pictures he's had made. They were as good as the first and Christian still seemed to love the camera. So, as is his way to this day, he hammed it up!
This is Tarrah's favorite. It was taken on the top of Kennesaw Mt. After a 2 mile hike uphill, we were sitting down for a little rest. I grabbed the camera and popped off two quick pictures. This was one of them. Whenever I see this picture, I can't help wondering if he's thinking... "Gee, Dad, of course I look cute..."
The pictures that follow were taken over a very long period of time. The way things work with pictures around here is this: take, take, take; save, save, save; and develop like mad. For example, these came from a series of seven rolls of film, which spanned about a year. There are a lot of different views of Christian in many different stages. Some of these pictures show him doing things that we are unable to get him to do anymore. Looking cute was never a problem, but getting him to repeat some of these things is. I'll explain more as we go.
Here are some pics of Christian's more serious side. Although he's only two, and even less in these pictures, he has a serious side. It only adds to his charm.
The one on the right is Christian in his toy basket. He decided one day to dig out all of the toys and climb inside. He's always enjoyed climbing inside of things. Above, Christian is sitting on the kitchen floor giving one very serious look. On the left, a curious little boy (guess who...) is wondering what that thing Dad is pointing at him is.
These two were taken somewhere at around 16 to 18 months. Christian's hair was still pretty short and he was becoming more and more curious. He began to pick up a lot of words just after this, but he didn't really start to talk until two. Now, at the time of this revision, he is saying all kinds of things. He names facial features (hair, eyes, nose, mouth, etc.) and says mommy and daddy all of the time. Also among his vocabulary are the words: please, thank you, play, eat, cheese, milk, water, bath, no, night-night, bye-bye, see ya, do what, aw man, and hot. He's really getting to where he can communicate with Tarrah and I.
Here's one of those things that Christian did that he won't do anymore. I'm not sure where or when he picked it up, but he did it for a while. I got a few pictures of it and am glad I did. I've tried to get him to do it again, but so far have met with no sucess. One of the biggest bummers of your children growing up is that they don't continue to do all of the cute things they did when they were little.
On Easter 1999, we went to Christian's grandma and grandpa's house. He spent almost every moment he spent inside by this window looking out. Christian loves the outdoors, although it is not always a good idea for him to be outside roaming free. Later that day, we had an easter egg hunt, which ended with Christian throwing all of his eggs around the yard. It was fun and we all had a great time.
Here's Christian with one of his many vehicles. He loves to ride around the house on them. He also loves matchbox cars. I think that if we packed up all of his toys except for his bikes and cars, he would be just as happy. Among his other favorites are books, anything to write with, and balls.
Christian decked out in a winter coat. If he wasn't warm in this coat, he wasn't warm in anything! He looks like a little eskimo, ready for the arctic!
Unlike most children his age, Christian always like wearing sunglasses. It seems like every pair Tarrah or I have had wind up mixed with his toys. As you can see, he's not afraid to strike a pose in them either.
This was an interesting moment, and it never occurred again. Christian, with no prompting at all, pulled his little chair in front of the TV, got a blanket and a book, pulled the blanket over his legs, opened the book, and watched cartoons. I thought it was a pretty cool moment, so I snapped off a quick picture. I'm glad I did, as this never happened again.
These pics were taken high up in the mountains on our trip to the Smokeys in the summer of 1999. Pictures of Christian with us are rare, and these are some of the best. It's hard to get a picture of Tarrah, Christian, and I all at once, especially when one of us has to do the picture taking. This was a really fun trip. We got to see a lot of great scenery, went on a couple of hikes, ate like kings, and had the family picture on Page 1 taken on our last day.
Here it is...TOUGH GUY! "Tough Guy," began as something bad and ended up being one of the funniest, cutest things that Christian did. Needless to say, this became a casualty to growing up, but it is still fresh in my memory. When he first did this, he was showing his temper. He would barr his teeth, clench his whole body, and shake with anger. I decided to get it out of his system before it got worse, so I turned it into a game. I'd say, "Christian, show me tough guy" and he'd do it. Eventually, he didn't do it out of anger, only as a game to play with Daddy. This is the only picture I have of it and since he won't do it anymore, it's the only one I'll ever have. Things like Tough Guy remind me of why pictures are so precious to me.
One night, as Christian was taking a bath, Tarrah decided to blow some bubbles to see how he would react. He loved them! We got several pictures, but this one is by far the best. As usual, there's nothing Christian does that doesn't charm his parents!
Here's Christian with one of his trademark hairdos. This was taken just after a bath. His hair was pretty long by this time and loved to stand on end. Only my son could have hair this wild and still be beautiful!
Here are some more pictures from our Smokey Mountains trip in the summer of '99. To the left is Christian in the carrier that he rode in on the way up and down the hiking trails we walked. He was happy with it for a while then decided it wasn't so great. This picture must have been taken on the first day. To the right is Christian getting his first driving lesson from Pop (my Dad). There's nothing like an 18 month-old piloting down a winding mountain road to get the old pulse racing!
The really great thing about posting pictures of my son is that there are always more. Keep checking back here for more pictures. I'll put them up as I get them.
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