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.

Five Months

It's only been five months, but we somehow cannot remember what life was like before lil' dude was around. He's been super active, very inquisitive, and generally happy (but not afraid to let you know when he's not). Here's a quick update on what life looks like with our guy.

Eating

Hamilton's been enjoying bananas and rice cereal lately. He gets so excited when he gets put in his booster chair--he knows what's coming. He grabs the spoon and sticks it in his mouth and actually gets most of it into his tummy. This is a picture of how happy he looked after a meal.

Crawling

Alright, not quite yet, but he's got some of the moves down. In fact, he seems to like this position a lot (even in his sleep).



The main problem is he seems stuck in reverse; he covers quite a bit of ground, but it's all going backwards. The result is usually something like this...

Teeth (Tooth)

Just tonight, we felt the first tooth coming in (I've been "seeing" it for months, so I had Freeman confirm). No pictures quite yet, but I have a feeling the days of letting him gnaw on our hands are coming to an end.

Apple Picking

The adventure this Saturday was some apple picking with the cousins. We didn't realize that we should have gone earlier in the season...when there were actually still more (edible) apples on the trees. Nonetheless, the little ones got to pick their own apples and run around. For us city folk, it was also a good chance to see some of the beauty of God's creation.

Jenny looking really ready to get picking and Hamilton wondering how to get that plastic bag (which, by the way, he does).

Check out the orchard in the background. It was smaller than we anticipated (though it probably seemed huge to the little ones).
Saraina showing off her Fuji apple.

We don't want to leave the littlest cousin off of this post! Paloma slept through most of the apple picking, but she and Hamilton got a chance to play before our train ride back into the city. (Yes, that is a look of sheer joy on Hamilton's face).

La mia famiglia

Hamilton got to see a good bit of his family this week and loved every moment of the love and attention.

First, we traveled to Aurora for a quick visit with the cousins which was so much fun. Hamilton couldn't stop laughing at Joshua and was straining to be put on the ground where he could play trains with Kadin. This picture is of Joshua and Saraina having a very sweet conversation with Hamilton.



Then, Oompah, Taita, and Sharif drove into the city to visit us. A good bit of time was spent with Hamilton trying out his new toy--a walker! Hamilton seemed to recognize Oompah at the door; Sharif got some pretty great squeals of joy; and Taita got lots of kisses. All of the excitement wore him out, though, and he's been asleep since 6:40 tonight!

Oompah's got the hold so that Hamilton can check out the goings on.

Taita lovin'!
The cool guys.

Afternoon at the CSO

Our neighbor, Walter, is on a committee with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra that puts on Macy's Day of Music every year. We decided to take him up on his invitation to attend this year and enjoyed a pleasant afternoon. Admittedly, we did not go to any performance that wasn't labeled "Family Friendly," but Hamilton seemed to enjoy being around so many people, sounds, and lights.

I know Freeman's head is partially blocked, but this photo shows what it's really like to be around Hamilton. He loves standing on laps, looking around, and chewing on fingers.