One for you...One for me...

This was so cute - I had to share! I gave Hampton a bowl of cheese crackers for a snack, and he sat down right next to Lexie to share with her. Of course, she loved it! One time, he held out the bowl to her. In that picture, it looks like she's snarling, but she must be licking her lips!!! I finally had to take the bowl away from him because he was giving her too many. At least he likes to share, right?

WEEKEND IN OCALA

We went to Ocala this past weekend, and we had a great time! Mom and Dad met us there, as it is almost a halfway point for us. We had hotel rooms right next door to each other, so we were able to spend a lot of good quality time together. It was a blast! Hampton spent the nights with his MawMaw and PawPaw. Sunday was Dad's birthday, so having Hampton wake up in his room was a great birthday present for him! Hampton is running around everywhere! He loved running to the end of the hall to look out the window. We took a day trip on Saturday into Gainesville and surprised my Aunt Mary Jo with a visit. She loved seeing Hampton! He played with her dolls at her apartment and carried around an Easter basket that he found there. While we were in Gainesville, we went to a butterfly place on the campus of The University of Florida. It was so beautiful! Hampton loved seeing the butterflies, but he must have been a little afraid because he didn't want to be put down to walk. We carried him through the exhibit. We took Aunt Jo to dinner, and Hampton had the best time flirting with the servers! He was something else! He "talked" to them so much, that we had to take his picture with them! His favorite one was the girl in the top right. We had a fun night. I finally found Hampton a little boy belt, and you can see him modeling it for me in the picture above. As you can see, when we made it back to the house after our trip ended (it was much too short!), Hampton got IN his toy box to play. It was so cute, I had to take a picture! What a great weekend!!!

Our little conductor - the evidence!

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had caught Hampton on video "directing" music. He LOVES to do this, and we really can't figure out how he picked up on it. It is SO CUTE, though! Anytime he hears music - from a toy, on TV, on the radio, etc - he swings his arms around. He does a pretty good job at keeping rhythm with the music too!

I was practicing a song with our ladies ensemble at church when I shot this video. He marched up to the piano amidst the ladies and began to "direct" us. Too cute!

Our Little Conductor

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while. I've been VERY busy chasing this little boy! I've also been battling a cold or something which makes things more difficult. I feel much better now, so I thought I'd update you on Hampton's world a little while I have a few quiet minutes (he's napping!). Hampton is into EVERYTHING. I know I've said that in previous posts, but he kicks it up a notch every day! On Sunday night, Clint and I were getting dinner ready to put on the table, and Clint looked over and told me to look at Hampton. Hampton had climbed up in the kitchen chair by himself and was sitting there holding his spoon up as if he were saying, "bring me something to eat!" We couldn't believe it! I said then, "Please help me, Lord!" I wasn't being facetious either! With him learning to climb like this, it raises the danger level and will make me stay on alert like never before! I had a "safe" zone that was out of his reach, but now that he can pull things up and climb, that idea is shot! Oh well...

He is SO much fun, though. He is starting to talk a little. His favorite food so far is PIZZA and he can say that word pretty clearly! I can get him to eat that when he won't eat anything else. As you can see in the pictures above, he REALLY enjoyed it this day!

The other picture was just really cute. He was in his PJ's and still had that sleepy look, so I wanted to take his picture.

The funniest thing about Hampton is that when he hears music, he waves his arms like he is directing it. We are not sure where he learned this unless it was when we took him into our Sunday School class at church and he saw the music minister doing it. It is the CUTEST thing! The other night, I was practicing with the Ladies Ensemble at church, and he was standing by the piano "directing" our group!!! I actually caught him on video on my cell phone doing it. I cannot figure out how to transfer that to the blog though. I'm going to keep working on it or see if I can catch him with the video camera. I think we have a future orchestra conductor, minister of music, or band director on our hands!!

Well, that's all for now. I'll try to be better about posting something sooner. Hampton's Nana, PawPaw, Mamaw and Tobie are coming to visit on Friday, so we'll have some pictures to share from that.

More to come,

Adrienne (for the three of us!)

My little boy is growing up!!! sniff...sniff...

Hampton is such a big boy now, that I had to post some pictures I've taken of him in the last couple of days. He loves his swing that Mamaw got him for Christmas. And check out the view he has when he swings! What's not to love?! I want to go back and find an infant picture of him in his crib so we can see a side-by-side comparison of how much he's grown. I remember, though. He used to be so tiny all swaddled up in a blanket. Now, he sprawls out and almost takes up the whole bed! We tried his little Bass Pro Shop folding chair again this week, and he can finally sit in it. It is still a bit big for him, so he slouches, but he had fun sitting in it, pushing it around the room, and folding and unfolding it over and over again.

He is SO MUCH FUN! I never dreamed I could love someone so deeply. I love my husband, my parents, my brother, my extended family and in-laws, and my friends; but the love you have for your child is just something special. It's a truly sacrificial kind of love, and it's taken me to a whole new level. He is amazing. His personality is becoming more evident. He is so sweet. He loves to give kisses and smile! He is walking everywhere now. His favorite thing to do is walk laps around the church after services. He is doing much better in the nursery too.

One quick funny story...we went out with some friends to Wendy's after church Sunday night, and their 5 year old son was asking me what words Hampton can say. So I told him his few-word vocabulary - mama, dada, uh-oh, no, hey, etc. I forget what happened to prompt this, but Hampton pitched a little fit about something, and I told him (as I VERY often do), "Hampton, watch your attitude." He responded very clearly with "aa-tude." The table erupted in laughter! I was amazed. Then he said it again! So, as you can see - either he's heard that so much that this is now part of his permanent vocabulary, or he was just mimicking me, which he really has started doing. It was TOO FUNNY! To repeat a phrase my parents always told me, he's "getting too big for his own britches"! HAHA!

Oh well. Enough narrative. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed reminiscing! Parenthood...what a ride!

It's a girls night!!

My good friend Becky Evers is moving back to Georgia in about a week. I am SO sad about this because she and I are best buds! the Lord truly sent her to me. We are very close - like sisters. She and I joke that it takes both of us to make a whole person...definitely a whole brain! We are each other's sanity sometimes!! She is such a wonderful friend. I told her I absolutely refuse to accept the fact that she's leaving until she actually pulls away in her car. With this in mind, I had a girls' get-together last night. But is was NOT a going-away party! (Remember, I'm not acknowledging that she's leaving yet!) No really, we had a blast hanging out together. There were several of our girlfriends who couldn't come for one reason or another, but the list that was there was (in the group shot from left to right) Mayleen, Angela, Kelly (top), Jennifer, Lynda, Becky (top), Tami, Me & Hampton, Tara, and Natalie (not pictured as she had to leave before we decided to take a picture). Of course we had to do a silly picture too (after much sugar and caffeine).

Happy New Year! Another year for FIRSTS.

We have experienced a lot of FIRSTS lately.

1. We are so excited that Hampton has started walking now! He took his first "official" step back in November, but it took him a while to get the hang of doing it full time. He is a pro now. Well, you know...he still has the "mummy walk," but he gets around pretty well. In fact, Clint and I have seen him do a little run a couple of times this past weekend. So he's getting more confident. I posted a video so you can see him walking too.

2. Hampton got his first haircut last Saturday. His hair was really getting long, and it was looking a little messy, so we took him to Cartoon Cuts at the mall. We were bracing ourselves for a stressful experience, but it was great! He sat there like a perfect little gentleman and let them cut his hair. He had been really cranky that day too, so it was a real surprise. We gave him a lollipop afterwards, and he loved it. I mean he really LOVED it - a real passion for candy! Uh-oh. And boy, was he wound up afterwards! We've never seen him so hyper! We love his haircut. I was so nervous and didn't want him to be scalped. I was made even more nervous when the hairstylist spoke virtually no English. But it turned out to be a really cute hair cut. Check out the pictures below. He looks like a little man now. You may want to click on the second picture so you can see it enlarged...check out his facial expression! I love the crooked smile!

3. He used a fork for the first time. I know...big deal...but this is my blog and my baby, so I can write about it if I want. HAHA! I'm proud of him!! I tried to catch him on video using it but to no avail.

Well, I hope you enjoy catching up on the "Hampton Happenings" for the week. Maybe I should've given the blog this name because it is all about our sweet little guy lately. We're boring, but he is the life of the party! Check out the video of him laughing...it is too funny!