A Dad and His Dude

So what are Freeman and Hamilton up to when they've got time together? All kinds of things.

This Saturday morning was something we've not done in a while--Daddy and Dude day (a.k.a. Jenny says "please-get-the-baby-out-of-the-house-so-I-can-finally-sleep" day).

We spent the morning traveling by bus (the #62 to the #22) up to the north side of the city. Some of you will recognize the State Street/14th Place stop:Once we got to the north side, we went to one of Freeman's favorite places, Reckless Records:Hamilton was helpful in looking for good records and compact discs, and we managed to find two out-of-print CD singles to pick up. Hamilton really enjoyed watching all of the people flip through the vinyl and the music that was playing. After that, we walked down Broadway to stop in to CVS looking for coupons for Jenny.

Then, on to lunch at Chipotle. I had the barbacoa burrito, Hamilton ate some banana. He also found much entertainment in climbing all over the wooden bench we sat on and attempting to scale the seat back to touch some shiny metal just beyond his reach. To cap it off, he was able to chew on a napkin while climbing and found himself being fawned over by the restaurant staff. What a time we had.After that, we went down Clark Street to the eyeglass store to get an adjustment on Freeman's glasses, and then back home via the CTA. A great day out for 2/3 of Team Whitney!

All Boy

It's a good thing there are dads and uncles in this world! I've realized that I am really good for comforting and nurturing, but they are much better for encouraging Hamilton in things like...


...playing catch...

...and climbing...

Now, for those of you who got nervous watching the second video...I promise that we recognize that we have an adventurer on our hands and he's really never out of our sight. In fact, most of the time, we're spotting him (like in gym class).

But we do love that little adventurous spirit!

Flying Saucer?

So, today Hamilton was playing in his jumperoo and I looked over there and couldn't see his legs!

No, this is not Photoshopped (and Grammy and Taita, this is not what it looked like when I told you he was trying to get out of the jumperoo that one time).

So I got a little closer to show you all his new little trick.


Everyday there is something new...and I love it!

ARM no longer MIA

I realized recently that I had no pictures of Hamilton with my youngest brother, ARM (short for AbdelRahman Murphy). Well, that changed today.

Here he is showing the little dude my dad's cool new iPod Touch.














Here's a little trick ARM was showing HIW (initials are not nearly as catchy).












Just a little word about the difference between old pros and newbies. When I feed Hamilton, it involves taking off anything that might be stained, setting him up in his booster seat and really working to keep his hand off the spoon (lest the food end up in my hair).

Watch my parents take on the same challenge...

...on the lap, no bib, with a completely cooperative grandson.

Children's children are a crown to the aged,
and parents are the pride of their children.

Update

So, since the last post, I was putting sheets on the bed and put Hamilton in his crib (for those who've not seen our place--Hamilton shares our room). I sat him up, facing me, and the next thing I knew---he was pulling himself up to standing!

When I had a second, I grabbed the camera and repositioned him to see if he'd do it again. Well, as you can see in the photos, I didn't even have time to turn the camera on before he'd started again. (Note: We'll be dropping the mattress level asap.)

(Taking the opportunity to chew on the railing on his way.)

















(Somebody's pretty pleased with himself.)

Whoa--Maybe Time to Childproof!

As you may have noticed in the last post, Hamilton loves sitting up. So, today he was sitting in his crib, checking out his aquarium when the following happened.

(And, yes, we will be taking down that mirror.)

Shedd Aquarium

Today, we took advantage of the beautiful weather (low 70s) and the free admission and headed to the Shedd. Between checking out the fish, the lights, and the people...Hamilton was one very happy boy! (I thought we'd be there about 30 minutes but he was so content, we stayed over an hour.)

On the walk over, we stopped to play in the leaves.

Once there, we had our picture snapped (I'll post the official picture here when it's available online). Hamilton was completely silent for a very long while as we walked through the "Ocean Floor" and "Great Lakes" exhibits. He watched as fishes passed in front of him and seemed to forget anyone else was there.

Then, we found an exhibit where he could sit beside the glass. That brought on squeals of joy.

It was tricky to take photographs of quick-moving fish and Hamilton indoors. Here he was trying to touch the darting fish (if you look closely, you'll see them).
















Here's an attempt at a picture without the flash. As you can see, little dude was pretty excited!


All of the fish watching wore him out, though. He napped the entire walk home under several trains and through Lake Shore Drive traffic.

Recent Trip to Springfield

Yes, we were back in Central Illinois a couple of weeks ago. As always, it was a relaxing and enjoyable time to visit with family and friends.

Hamilton hanging out with his great-aunt Tabby and sporting his cool new hat made especially for him (for the record, great-aunt is not only the honorific...but a great descriptor).

Here's Hamilton wearing baby Freeman's cowboy hat and riding in baby Freeman's blue horse. This is a smiling photo, but most of the time while he was on this toy, he looked like this...
He's not unhappy, just taking his job of watching cattle very seriously!

Monkey on the Move

Life's pretty exciting around here. Hamilton does not want to stay still for very long. Here are three examples of his favorite pastimes.

Walker

Taita got Hamilton one of the few walkers left in this country (don't worry...we don't have stairs and he's always in sight). Hamilton loves being able to move around and explore. Here he is trying to get a hold of the video camera.

Jumperoo

Grammy saw the need for Hamilton to have more to do at home (especially given the cold winters). So she got him a jumperoo (which is helpful given the lack of doors in our loft-style place). He's always liked chewing on the flower toy, but he's beginning to figure out the jumping now.

Scooting

Even though he has so many toys, our boy sure does love being on the floor. Especially since he figured out his little one-person-fetch game. Basically, he takes an object and throws it...then goes to get it. Repeat. The end of this clip shows his favorite thing to crawl towards: paper.