Taking a Walk

Hamilton is really enjoying exploring his world. Many days, that includes going outside. And although that didn't happen today (the temperature is -17 right now--not taking windchill into account), he still manages to find new ways to entertain himself.

This is one of his favorite things to do right now--find something (anything) and push it around. (and for those of you concerned about the lack of pants in this weather, thanks to a southern exposure, our unit is a toasty 76 degrees).

Active Little Boy

Lately Hamilton has been VERY active. He has figured out how to follow me down our long hallway, pull himself to standing and push whatever object is in front of him, and is coming close to climbing onto the lowest shelf of our TV cart.

So, in this big wintery city, we've had to find some outlets for that energy. Fortunately, we've got a playgroup in our building on Wednesdays and Jenny works in the church nursery Thursday mornings...but what about the rest of those days?

Monday, we met Krista and her daughter, Grace, at the Chicago Children's Museum.

They were very fascinated by the plastic fruit. Time to learn about sharing.

Then, when we got home, Sharif came over and ran up and down the hallways with Hamilton on his shoulders.

Hamilton was asleep within 10 minutes after Sharif's departure.

Wednesday, Oompah came over and we headed back to the Children's Museum (we had a free week-long pass from the library--and now I knew which exhibits to go to).

This entertained the adults much more than Hamilton--if you stood in front of the screen, the projector would cause the petals to fall around you.

Hamilton loved being inside a giant shoe. In the second picture he was trying to grab the rubber above his head to pull himself to standing. Thankfully, Oompah was close by and able to help.



This was quite a challenge for little dude. This little bit in the "waddler road" was arched, which really threw him off. He couldn't stand up on it, yet he couldn't just crawl.

Then, believe it or not, Sharif came back over. More fun (but no more pictures).

Friday, we headed to the Art Institute with Stacy and her girls, Katherine and Audrey. Unfortunately, no pics--but he did enjoy the children's library and watching Katherine imitate the El train. We've yet to see whether this visit instilled a love of Impressionism in him.

A New Family History Blog for Team Whitney

Team Whitney has a second blog started on the topic of family history. The blog is located at http://team-whitneysfamilyhistory.blogspot.com and there is a link in the "Links We Like" section.

Please take a look when you have a chance!!!

The Rest of the Story

Not only did we get some great time with Jenny's Aunt and Uncle on the trip to Central IL, there was also plenty of loving going on with Grammy and Granddad. Some of the more memorable moments include:

• Hamilton using several toys as walking aids to make his way from one side of the den to the other.
  
• Little dude watching the Bowls with Granddad (apparently Hamilton loves football).
• Grammy singing songs and cuddling with her littlest grandson (including a song about a fruit called a paw-paw).

Unfortunately, there are no pictures of these things, so I'll leave you with a sweet one of the GPs with our little dude.

Grammy and Granddad, thank you so much for all of your love and hospitality. We are so thankful for you.