Playing with a Ball

Hamilton has gotten much better at playing by himself.

Of course, it's still more fun to play with others!

Birthday Balloons

Aunt Kathy sent a darling teddy bear with colorful balloons to celebrate my birthday. It was Hamilton's first encounter. He absolutely loved them (though I have a sneaking suspicion that he was using the balloons to get to the camera in the last segment).

Thanks, Aunt Kathy!!!

Can You Clap Your Hands?

One of Hamilton's favorite songs from our library class is "Hello, Hello" by Super Simple Songs (view kids singing it here). Just last week, he surprised me by showing me some of the motions!

Since then, he has also figured out "stretch up high." But that's for a different video clip!


In other news, during today's nap I went in to check on Hamilton. What I found surprised me...


You see, all of those toys and things had been lined up on the edges of the crib and I put him in the center. And he had fallen asleep without making any noise (and I would know--since we live in a loft-style apartment). Apparently he wanted everyone else to go to sleep, too!

How've You Been?

I know...it's been a while. We've missed you all, too!

So, truth be told, the reason that there have been no posts is simply because I (Jenny) have perfectionist tendencies and was waiting for the best moment to create a great post. Then comes reality--so here are a few pictures to get the ball rolling again.
Here's Hamilton with his first spaghetti experience (can you take a guess who thought it would be funny to drape one on Hamilton's forehead?).

He's not walking...but he's pretty confidently moving around while barely touching the furniture. This particular picture was during a two-week period where he was sick (yuck!). The fun part though, is only apparent if you zoom in...

Teeth! They're still barely through in this picture..but he officially got the chompers on Valentine's Day (otherwise known as Granddad's birthday).

Here's the birthday boy with his little dude! This is Hamilton's first U2 album release, so when we saw a busstop with an advertisement, we just had to take a picture (this is about 3 minutes before Hamilton fell asleep).

Once again...The Children's Museum

What can I say...the free pass is often "in" at the Chicago Library when we go on Tuesdays and the #29 runs from right across the street straight to Navy Pier--so this has been a great mommy-son winter excursion.

You can see that he's a little more confident on the road (the picture on the left is from a little over a month ago).



Then he got the bright idea to stand up!



He enjoyed all of the exhibits and play centers, but the only thing that got this look was...

...the ceiling fan at the Crystal Garden, where we stopped to eat lunch.

Update

It's true--Hamilton hit the 9 month mark yesterday. We can't decide whether it feels like it's been that long or not. What we do know is that we learn more and more about our little dude everyday and although he can be challenging, we love him very much. Here is a little of what his life looks like right now.

Hamilton the Bookworm

Hamilton loves books. He loves having them read to him or just perusing them by himself.

Here he is with Oompah checking out his Word book (interestingly enough, many of the pages are themed after things that Hamilton doesn't encounter often, like "In the Garage" and "At the Farm," but he doesn't seem to mind).

On Tuesday mornings, we head to the library for a little story and song time. Hamilton really enjoys seeing the other children and always wants to check out the books after the session is over.

Hamilton the Nephew

Sharif is over a couple times a week and is teaching Hamilton fun things like waving goodbye, saying "yummmmm," and stopping when he reaches the edge of the couch.

Tant Mariam was over in January and Hamilton was all ready for her (decked out in the cute top she selected). Here she is showing him some old Murphy photos.

Hamilton the Helper (and Explorer)

Hamilton's favorite tasks around the house are in the kitchen.

The moment the dishwasher opens, little dude moves as quickly as he can towards it. Here is the day that he realized he could get closer if he just climbed up onto the door.

Once again, wanting to get a closer look, here's Hamilton inside of the cabinet.

Hamilton the Extrovert

We'll have to take pictures of Hamilton with other children--but there is no doubt in our minds that this son of two introverts is definitely an extrovert! In fact, when he hears his friends Mira and Ella out in the hallway, he books it to the door and starts banging to let me know he wants to be out there where the action is.

When there's no one around, though, Hamilton still wants to talk. So he finds his best friend, Marley, and chats up a storm.

Mr. Hamilton Goes To The Lone Star State

Hamilton made his first trip to the former nation and current state of Texas at the end of January to see Aunt Cristina, Uncle Tim, and cousins Emily and Allison. We got to enjoy temperatures above the freezing mark, several basketball games, the culinary delights of central Texas, and a lot of time to sit around and talk. Needless to say, a wonderful time was had by all.

Not bad for a first flight!


Hamilton was decked out in red and white to support the Belton HS Lady Tigers, but the excitement of the game was too much for even him!


We travelled to Cedar Park (near Austin) for Allison's basketball tournament on Saturday.


We all enjoyed some delicious Texas BBQ.


Despite how this picture makes it look, Hamilton had a great time getting to know the Waits family!