Hamish, I wrote this over a month ago and forgot to post it! ----------------------------- My sweet, sweet boy. Tonight, daddy went to pick you up to take you to bed and you scampered under the table. You then proceeded to crawl out of reach whenever daddy got near and I laughed the hardest I’ve laughed in a long time. It was so cute and so grown up. After you had been asleep for only an hour, I heard you through the monitor - you were sobbing. I ran in to you to find you a bit shaken and rather sweaty so I scooped you up and you nuzzled into the crook of my neck, where you stayed during my entire rendition of Brahm’s Lullaby. Once you had calmed down, I placed you back into your bed and you immediately rolled over to your side and began snoring gently. I stayed for a few moments, listening, watching. Then I tucked you in and placed a kiss from my hand to your forehead. My sweet boy, you are fast becoming a child, and you long to zoom through life and grow up quicker than I’m comfortable with… But stay at this stage a while, this baby stage where all you need is mummy to cuddle you and sing you a lullaby to feel safe again. If not for yourself, then for me… ----------------------------- Today you turn 11 months old. I've missed your 10 month update, but I promise to combine 10 and 11 months in one super post.... So much has happend! It's the early hours of the morning and your mum has insomnia and your dad has jetlag! You are the only one sleeping peacefully in this house. Ok, must at least try and shut my eyes... It's my birthday and daddy has some big surprise for me tomorrow! Yay!

Sharing Daddy's red juice!

Yummy veggie juice with Daddy! Beetroot makes good lipstick don't you think??

Well, Hello Blue Eyes!

Have I told you how much I love you lately?

Yes? Well, I'm telling you again.

I love you.

9 Months!!!

I had to put three exclamation points after that, because seriously? I'm the mother of a NINE month old?

First the business part of the evening:

Weight: 9.07kg

Length: 73cm

Teeth: Four on the top and 2 on the bottom.. and you now have the cutest cheesy grin in the world.

So what have you been up to?

Crawling and cruising, bumping and bruising.

You have now mastered the sounds "bababababa" and say them at varying decibels, including a whisper and a holler. We're trying hard to get you to say mama or dada... so far mama has slipped past your lips on queue... twice. And it was more like: "Hamish! Say Mama!" "Mamamabababababababa". Oh well. You're still the strong silent type. *********Stop the press... Mamamamamammamam is now your favourite thing to say! *************

Speaking of strong - I still watch you in amazement when I see you master more and more gross motor skills.

You are soooo close to giving walking a go. You'll happily cruise around furniture or take you pram for a walk, but you usually drop to your crawling position when you need to get from A to B. I'm happy for you to crawl as long as you like little boy - you're already to grown up! The teacher at Gymbaroo couldn't believe how big and strong you are at 9 months old. Today she thought you were closer to a year old. I'm always a little bit proud and smug when this happens. So sue me ;)

You love the water. Pools, the beach, the lake, your bath, a puddle of water on the ground, a fountain in the middle of Newcastle... you will lean in toward the liquid and grunt and point. You have mastered the fine art of splashing.

You've fallen asleep a number of time while eating your breakfast and lunch. It seems as though you think 5:30am is a great time to wake up for the day, but by the time we drag ourselves out of bed and bring you downstairs, you've conked out yourself!

You still love your music. Kids songs, top 40, mama's collection... any tune, and beat. You'll nod your head and bop up and down.. if you're standing, your little legs do an Elvis Priestly impersonation and thump to the beat. I still struggle to get you doing it on film! You catch me with my camera and give me your cheesiest smile and crawl over to me - ruining my shot!

Food - well, what we are eating at any given time is way better to you than what you've got. Sometimes you prefer finger food, sometimes purees with rice mixed in. You have started to hide things behind you so we think you've eaten loads.. and then we pick you up and find your stash. Your favourite food today, will be your most hated food tomorrow, but we seem to be on a winning streak with ravioli in tomato pasta sauce. You also love peas, corn and carrot in little pieces.. you love to pick each on up one by one and pop it in your little mouth. We spread out an old bed sheet underneath your high chair which catches all of your flotsam and jetsam, and we wash the sheet and your high chair cover every night. You are one messy eater! You often grab the spoon out of our hands when we are feeding you and try to feed yourself, even dipping the spoon into the bowl to get more. You don't get a whole lot down, but it's so great to see you try!

Sleep - we think we have you figured out, and then you go ahead and change your habits. So we'll mark this one as "In process".

And finally, your personality. I think the one word to describe you would be 'ham'. You love to make us laugh. If you do something and we laugh, you keep doing it, all the while flashing us your toothy grin. Things that come under this category: fart noises with your mouth (what monster have we created?), squarking loudly, poking your finger into our mouths, weird facial expressions. Even doing awkward or uncoordinated things - you take after your mother in this respect.

We love you little man. In fact, my love for you embodies all of the cliches: heart melting, life-changing, awe-inspiring LOVE.

You are 9 months old. You are amazing.

Our entry... and your new favourite thing.

Mummy took FOREVER to get this little project finished. FOREVER.

We love it. You love it.

Some mornings, as we carry you  down the stairs - you point at different faces and smile, squark or hmmmm. You especially love the pictures of yourself, but the one of cousin Josie laughing makes you giggle. It's super cute.

New playroom!!

Watch this space baby boy! Your playroom is getting an overhaul..Pictures to come!

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31/01/12



You love to carry these particular toys around in your mouth, they make crinkling sounds and it must feel nice!



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29/01/12



You're always slow to wake up from a sleep... just like your mummy. Very snuggly and cuddly until... snap! You're awake and ready to go.





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28/01/12

You LOVED Ikea!! (That's m'boy!)



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27/01/12

Cheeky pumpkin-eater



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26/01/12 (Australia Day!)

Rambo-style Australia Day garb (the headscarf lasted about 10 seconds after this picture was taken)



Your first go of the clowns!



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25/01/12

Bakin' a baby! (You like to sit in things)



Cuz Mama's lazy...

16 to 24/366

Left:

16/01/12 - A homemade cubby using a sheet and the unused playpen

17/01/12 - Watermelon face... and hands... and body

18/01/12 - Asleep on the job... again

19/01/12 - Meeting a new friend

Right:

20/01/12 - Dinner just isn't dinner without the mess

21/01/12 - Checking out the dinosaur exhibition.. playing paleontologist and digging for dino eggs

23/01/12 - Bubbles, bubbles everywhere!

24/01/12 - Conked out on the rug... at 8am. You'll learn that 5am isn't such a great wake-up time after all.

I don't have a picture for the 22/01/12 - your Aunty Sarah's engagement party! But, we'll get one and update soon.

Groovin'

My little man, you are one helluva groover.

Mama has tried out a bit of a varied playlist on you to see what you're into.

So far:

Joni Mitchell - lukewarm reception apart from a few of the faster songs
Ben Folds - yup! Can bop to that ok
The Beatles - oohhh yeah! You love a bit of the Beatles (in fact, when you fist came home from the hospital, you daddy would walk around the house with you late a night when you couldn't sleep, singing Yesterday. It always calmed you down.)
Regina Spektor - Well, you listened to a heap of Ms. Spektor while you were in my belly, so it is only fitting that she cheers you up when you're feeling low.
Ben Lee  - woohoo! We're all in this together!
Cat Stevens - Only the quicker songs make you smile and bop your head
Cat Empire - You love seeing mummy dance like a fool when Cat Empire come on. Actually, you love to see mummy dance like a fool any old time.
Dispatch - meh.
N.E.R.D - Absolutlely! Even if Daddy thinks the music is terrible.
Groove Armada - For Aunty Zali... this music has a beat you can grab. You love it!

The Killers, Justin Timberlake, James Taylor, Michael Buble, Lilly Allen...Oh, the list goes on.

We dance every day. You love to be spun around and around in my arms. Sometimes we slow dance, other times we jig around the room, giggling the whole time. It inevitably cheers you up when you're in a bit of a tough mood, and to be honest - it cheers me up too!

I hope I catch you on film soon - each time I get the camera out, you stop bopping and pose for a photo... you are so your daddy's son.

I've been taking you to music classes for a few months and you love it. You are able to play the chime bar during the Hello song and shake the bells and rattles to the beat. I can only hope that you don't take after daddy and me in the musical sense - I hope you pick and instrument and love it.. But if you don't want to play anything and just want to dance! Well, that's ok with me too

xoxo

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15/01/2010

Helping Dada clean the car!