a quick update: walking!

My little monkey has been really starting to take steps here recently. He has been taking 2 maaaybe 3 steps for a while now, but just this past week he took 6 steps (at 11 months exactly)! Today, though, was the most we've seen so far. He walked from one end of of living room to the other! Wow! I was so surprised b/c I never expected him to make it that far. We also went over to Jordan's parents' house where he showed off his new skill. He still prefers crawling, but I feel that he's about to take off any day now. And, quite frankly, I'm a little nervous...! ;)

11 months!

::sigh:: Yep. That's all I have to say right now.

Let's see what has been going on in the little monkey's 10th month...
-Words: dada, mama, baba, hey, bye, no no, dog. I think that's it. Here's the kicker-he hardly ever says them. He won't say anything when asked, but I'll randomly hear him saying words while playing or over the monitor! So cute!
-Teeth: He got 2 more this month. Grand total of 6! 4 on top, 2 on bottom.
-How he gets around: He loves to be upright and is gaining confidence by the day. Today he took SIX STEPS! That's the most he's done. He mostly crawls or cruises around the room scaling furniture, walls, laundry baskets, and whatever will help him!
-Food: He's giving us a hard time when it comes to transitioning to table food. He loves breakfast, and that's about it. He throws food off of the highchair and will clamp his jaw shut so tightly when I try to feed him. So, we're working on it slowly, but for now, we're still doing a lot of purees.
-Clothes: He's in mostly 12 month clothes now, but still some 6-12 and 9 months; size 4 diapers.
-Randoms: He gives high-fives, bangs on the table/highchair tray when someone yells "drums," gives the sweetest kisses and hugs, clicks his tongue, makes the "motorboat" sound with his mouth, now has his "big boy carseat", laughs all the time, went on his first beach trip, had his first stomach virus & diaper rash, and has no interest in watching cartoons/tv unless he is sitting there with a bottle-bottle's done, he's off!

Loves: his mama (and his daddy!), getting his teeth brushed, bananas, cheerios, pancakes, bread of any kind, applesauce, yogurt, walking with his walker, juice, snuggling, bath time, stuffed animals, peek-a-boo, light switches, opening and closing doors, being in the car, cell phones, and banging the keys on our laptops

Hates: diaper changes (most of the time), all foods other than those mentioned above, sippy cups, when you don't hand him his bottle the.very.second that he sees it, getting out of the bath and putting a hooded towel on, getting his nose suctioned

That's all my tired brain can think of right now. I'm sure I'll update as I remember things.

church nursery

Sunday has got to be our hardest day of the week. Church is right at nap time, you see, and there is a certain little monkey who does not want to nap in the nursery. Well, how can he, with so many other babies in the room WAILING the whole time? Seriously, his room is total craziness every time we go to drop him off. This morning, he fell asleep on the way to church (as he usually does), and try as I might, he woke up as I was getting him out of the car. We got him to the nursery where there were about 2 adults and 9-10 babies, and at least half of those were screaming. Hampton has never had a problem going in to the nursery, but this morning, he clung to me. I gave him a kiss and he finally went to the teacher. As we turned to walk away, I looked back to see him clinging to her, crying and red-faced. We made it to the sanctuary, and I immediately sent Jordan back to get him. I just couldn't handle it! He came back a few minutes later-empty handed-and said everything was much better; they were about to go on a stroller ride, Hampton was perfectly happy, and they had recruited a couple more teachers for all the babies. I hate that he misses his morning nap. It just throws the little monkey out of whack. He looks so exhausted when we pick him up. We're not going to stop going to church, so I guess we're just going to have to deal for now. Thankfully, he usually takes a nice afternoon nap and snaps back into his nice routine.

And just because it's too cute not to show:

beach vacation: part 2

This is long over due, but I am finally getting around to it....

Crazy things that happened on this trip:

-Monday afternoon, there was a really bad thunderstorm that popped up very fast. We had come up from the beach and were rinsing off the chairs and stroller when I felt something. I stood frozen in my tracks, and then heard the loudest crackle and clap of thunder. Mom and I had both felt the lightning. How freaking scary! Jordan had Hampton at the back of the house rinsing him off in the shower, and I went nuts trying to get around to him to get.the.baby.inside.now. Well, being the good dad that he was, he was already there. Phew!

-Two crazy news stories on Tuesday: There was someone struck by lightning through her phone during the storm and the face of the blackberry was burned on to her face. Ouch! There was a shark attack. Double ouch!! (both victims were okay, thank God!)

-I saw several creatures on this trip- 1. A newt: Whatever. Not that interesting, but I don't really ever see those. 2. A mouse: Eek! Thankfully it was outside and far enough away from our walking path that I just looked, and walked along...a little faster. 3. Several dolphins. I love dolphins and just love to see them moving through the water. I wish I could have gotten a picture! & 4. A SHARK! I had taken Hampton out to the water to rinse him off as I had several times already. This time, dolphins were nearby, so we were standing there watching them. I turned around, about knee deep in the water, and looked down to see a shark swim right by my leg!! It was really small, maaaybe a couple feet, but you better believe that I BOOKED IT out of there! Where there are baby sharks, there are mama sharks. Yikes!

Packing for the beach was no joke. It was like a puzzle trying to find spaces where everything could fit, yet leave enough room for Jordan to see out the back window. Stuff had to be unpacked in order to get Hampton out! It was craziness. I know so many people who say, "If I only knew...we wouldn't have packed (fill in the blank) because we never used it." But for us, I don't think there is one thing I wouldn't pack again. We'll just have to buy a bigger car when another little one joins the family!! ;)

Here are more pics from the beach! Man, I miss it already!

Mom made us dress alike. She's kewl.

You have to admit, we're a pretty good looking group.

(Adam, Ashley (sis), Taylor (bro), mom, dad, me, Monkey, Jordan)

Me and my boys :)

We're a fun group!

Crawling into the waves!

Splashing is fun!

Don't even TRY to build a sand castle daddy: I WILL destroy it!

My little model The "kids"

I'm still here!

We've survived our first stomach virus. Hampton's diarrhea and diaper rash started off our week, and we finished it with his right leg covered in a rash from spider bites, his fever spiking again, and exorcist style vomiting. Hampton was a little trooper, but I sure do miss my perky baby. He's just been pitiful, whiny, and only wanted his mama. That last one's not a terrible problem to have, but poor Jordan felt useless (which he wasn't AT ALL!). We've paced and rocked and cuddled and swayed and paced some more, and we have finally made it! Today was a much better day. The little monkey is still a little whiny, but I can tell he's feeling better. I hope this virus is out of our house and stays far, far away!

we're having a bad week

Poor little Hampton is sick. He has a stomach virus, which is causing diarrhea. Yuck. With that, has come his first diaper rash (sent straight from the devil I am sure). Bless his heart, he is miserable. It's not keeping him from having fun playing, it's just keeping him from sitting to play. He stands there or squats and if he gets tired, he carefully falls forward onto all fours. I'm giving him pedialyte for the next 24 hours and am hoping it will work it's way out soon.

friday night entertainment

...and I wouldn't trade it for the world!! :)

the rat race known as mommyhood

WOW!! I had no idea what I was getting myself into by having a baby. I mean, I thought it was all about having a little one to love, teach right and wrong, and share our lives with. Ha! Recently, I've realized what an insane competition it is here in mommy-land:

My baby did *this* by X months!
My baby doesn't even need to use *enter whatever "baby" product your child is too good for here*!
My baby walked, crawled, ran, sat up, talked, did a somersault, you.get.the.idea. before your baby did!
My baby has slept through the night since day 1!! (P.S. I don't believe you...!)
I could go on, but do I really need to?? 9

Why are people so anxious for their babies to grow up so quickly?? Or at least quicker than the other children their age? Stop worrying so much about what everyone else is doing. Enjoy it! Your baby walks? Great! Go outside and play with him/her! Your baby doesn't walk? Great! Go outside and play with him/her!!

I love getting advice from other moms. If I have a question, moms of little ones around Hampton's age are the first I turn to, but I'm not asking to compare my child to yours. I'm asking because I need help. Encouragement. A friend to say, "You're not alone!" Not one to say, "Wait, is Hampton already *enter whatever action your child isn't doing at 10 months here*?!?!" (with a shocked look on their face). It's so funny how people give compliments and throw in a random question in order to not seem competitive, but they obviously are checking to see if your child has done something their child has yet to do. I don't get it. Who cares?

But then again...I think Hampton has done well by hitting most of his milestones around a normal time, but it's hard to not say, "Is he behind? Is he ahead? Should I be doing what she's doing? WHY is she doing that?? I would never!!" See? I'm pulled into it without even realizing it! It's craziness, and I am trying to get away from it! I don't want to compete with all these other moms! I want to enjoy raising my little monkey and not care if he didn't do something at the same time as someone else's child or if he did something much earlier. Whenever he decides to reach each milestone is the perfect time!

I'm up for a competitive sports game or some friendly competition amongst friends on game night, but I'm over this rat race. Find someone else to play!

Love me or hate me, that's what's on my mind.

picture perfect

I am so excited to finally have my hands on these!! I had such a tough time choosing which pictures to get (remember we won 10 images on a CD and 2 5x7s), and I took forever to narrow it down! I could have ordered many more b/c Amber did such a wonderful job (oh, adorable naked baby pictures--how I wanted thee :( ), but I just couldn't afford to. I can't thank Amber enough for this generous gift and the opportunity to get some pictures of my little monkey and our family. And, of course, thanks again to all of my readers who took the time to vote!

If you're in the Charlotte, NC area, and you are looking for someone to catch some great images of your kids, you and your spouse, or whoever, definitely check out Amber Herlocker Photography. She is so easy to work with, does a FAB job, and is such a sweetie! Thanks again, Amber! Hope to see you again, soon :)

Beach vacation: part 1!

We had a wonderful time at the beach last week. We spent the week in Isle of Palms, SC, with my parents, brother, sister & her boyfriend, and my grandparents were even able to make it for a couple of nights. This was our first time there, and I really loved it. We weren't right on the beach (which we usually are in Hilton Head), but my dad got a house that was a four minute walk from the beach, so it wasn't bad at all. We spent time down at the beach every day. I was so hoping that Hampton would love the beach, and he absolutely did! I mean, from the second we put him down, he flew to the water. He crawled around, splashed, & went face first into waves. Seriously, he must have been a fish in a former life! ;) He also loved the sand. He loved to eat it. He loved to fling himself into it (face and all!). And he loved to smash Jordan's sand castle. Most of all, though, he love love loved...the umbrella pole. Yeah, it was captivating. HA! Jordan and I talked a lot before the trip how we would go about our day: Would we go out and let the monkey nap on the beach? Would we go out and then come back in for nap time, then go out again? Should we do one day at the beach and the next at the pool? Etc, etc, etc... You know, really important stuff! It worked out that we stayed up at the house until after his morning nap, fed him lunch, and then headed down to the beach. Once we could tell he was exhausted from playing, someone would put him in his stroller, and take a walk. Usually he was out within minutes, got parked in the shade, and mommy got some QT in the sun. And we didn't go to the pool even one day! SO not like us, but we were having such a great time! (and Jordan and I both got in the ocean, which we don't do. Ever. This whole parenting thing really has changed us-hehe!)

Mom has many more pictures on her camera, so when I get my hands on those, I'll post about our oh-so-fun family pictures (decked out in khaki and white, no less!) and some crazy happenings while we were away! Oh, and the adventure that is packing a car for a week long trip with a baby (& all the crap that he needed)!

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