You know what? You're a pretty awesome kid.

Every day I say to myself - "Man, my kid is just awesome."

Oh, you are!

Let's list the ways that make you awesome:

• You follow directions now! "Hamish - can you please shut that door/get me a nappy/put that clean washing in the basket/sit on your bottom so we can put your shoes on? Such a star.
• Dancing. Oh, how you groove - you've just mastered the 'tick-tick' from Gymbaroo and you do it with such pizzazz and a huge smile on your dial. Also a favourite - the "quick-step foot stomp" and the "spinner". 
• You are so affectionate. Not a day goes by that you don't grab me by my ears and plant a huge, open-mouth, slobbery kiss. You love to cuddle and often give whoever is cuddling you a little pat-pat-pat on the back.
• Everything is a phone to you. You'll pick up any random object and start 'chatting' to whoever is on the other end. It's adorable.
• You now sleep until EIGHT o'clock. Let me say that again: EIGHT O'CLOCK. It's amazing. Please make it last. You go to bed at about 7:30pm and often chat or moan to yourself for half an hour or so - but you don't scream and cry anymore. It's lovely.
• You are finally giving food a fair go. For a while there I thought you were going to exist on air, milk and water alone - but things have finally turned around and you'll usually try anything. Your favourites are sushi, spaghetti bol, ham and cheese toasties and fruit - oh how you LOVE fruit.
• You kicking balls of all kinds - sometimes when I'm not quick enough to throw your dirty nappy away, you'll kick it like a ball too! Daddy is pretty proud that you are taking after him and he can't wait to take you to the soccer lessons that are specifically for 18 month olds. Cute!
• You're also a keen golfer by the looks of it. Daddy bought you a plastic set of clubs and you love to knock those little balls around the house. We are surprised at how coordinated you have become so soon - a true sportsman already!
• You smile smile smile at people until they smile back. It can get rather awkward and uncomfortable if we are at a restaurant for dinner and you keep badgering other patrons for smiles, but luckily 99% of other people find it cute too.
• You LOVE other kids - and if we are out and about and there is a boisterous child nearby, you stand and stare, enamored by them. At the playground, you run straight up to other children and just smile in their faces. Half the time they get weirded out, but the other half of the time they invite you to play too. You copy their actions and run around after them - the other day we were at the Newcastle Museum soft play area and there was a little boy who was about 7 who was running around with a foam brick pretending it was a shield, he was making all the requisite sounds of ricocheting bullets - and who was that toddling after him making the same noises and actions? You! All 14 months of you. 
• You are a fabulous hider. I'll often say "Hamish, where are you?" and all I get is radio silence. Luckily, you have favourite spots - in the walk-in pantry, in the laundry, in mama's study behind the door. When you are finally found you giggle and squeal and roll into a ball because you know that tickles are not far away.

Oh how I could go on and on and on about how awesome you are kiddo. You really rock our world every single day.

Love you to the moon sweet boy.
xoxo

Dance moves :)

And you continue to spin when you dance... It's so cute!

Perhaps we should've stuck around to see if you'd won the prize for the best groover!

You are ONE!

Your amazing eyelashes that would
make any supermodel jealous.

Oh Baby Boy... you are not my little baby anymore! You'll always be MY baby, but not an actual baby. What I'm very ineloquently trying to say is - you are SO GROWN UP. Each and every day I stare at you in amazement as you do something new or better than you've done it before.

Outside - the place where you belong.

So, what have you been up to since my last update at (gasp) 9 months? Well, you began walking at 10 months (and running not long after that!) It has been so much fun seeing you so proud to be bipedal, being able to carry things in your hands while you motor around.

Straight for the lake... but it's getting too
cold to paddle - much to your displeasure!

You can say: Mama, baba, woof woof (for dog - or anything with 4 legs really), moooo (for cow), bbrrrrppp! (high pitched noise for birds) and lots and lots of babble. When you're angry, you HOLLER and when you're happy you chit chat. It's lovely to hear you find your voice. We're currently working on "Hello!" and "Ball"...

You love to mimic us! We cover our eyes for peekaboo, and you do the same. Mummy puts a hat on, so do you. We sweep, mop or vaccum the floor and you latch on and 'help' us. In fact, I've bought a new dustpan and brush for you to use yourself - you are ever so proud of yourself.

Eyes on the job Hamish!
You have mopping to do!

One of the things that I love about you most is your kind and gentle nature with other kids (apart from cousin Josie of course - family is different). You walk up to any kid on the street, a grin from ear to ear, ready to be pals. Sometimes the kids ignore you, some are just as happy to see you and others are a little less kind... but you persevere.

Hm.. what else? You have 8 teeth (4 top and 4 bottom), you weigh just a smidge over 10kgs and you've stretched to an impressive 75cm!

Oh! And you know sleep through the night (more or less)! We put you to bed at 7pm and you are all lovely and snuggly. You and I have a little ritual that we go through each night that leaves me smiling from ear to ear as I descend the stairs. First, we snuggle as I carry you up to your room - your little face in my neck - often blowing raspberries or humming in my ear. Then I pop you into your bed where you lay there and gargle your saliva (gross, weird, high pitched) and I get you into your sleeping bag. Next, you stick your hand through the gaps in the cot and I kiss your little fingers, then I stick my hand though and you open mouth kiss it. Finally, we wave to each other and I blow you kisses (which you've just started to try and copy). Each night, I leave you happy and chatty and you eventually fall asleep. 

Most mornings you are up at 6 or 6:30. It KILLS us each and every day. Your daddy and I are NOT morning people at ALL, so we take turns in getting up to you to feed you breakfast. Generally after you've eaten breakfast you are happy to play or watch Sesame Street until naptime which is around 8 or 8:30.

Ok - this update is much too overdue, so I won't go on, but I will post some pictures of your first birthday party soon :)
 

Your 1st Birthday Party

Hello baby boy,

We had your party on April 28th 2012...

And boy was it a blast!

We dressed you up in your finest bow tie and braces:

We had such a great time with some of your little friends and lots of family! I will include some more pictures when I finally get around to doing your ONE YEAR OLD post!

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!