We Crammed a lot into October!

 Having taken all of my necessary PIR days over the summer, I was lucky enough to have a few days off in October. Our luck increased when we were able to procure tickets to a Griz game that same weekend! So we packed up the Hamster (and half the house it seemed) and headed to Missoula. Unfortunately, about an hour in, we realized we left said tickets on the fridge in Billings. Sigh. Such is life! Sweet baby slept the ENTIRE way there, which was a blessing until 4 am hit and he woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed! We stayed with Dan, Gaaby, and fam, and as you can see above, Hamilton was quite loved! This was his first ride on the carousel - Zach was such a trooper with his little cousin!

 Hamilton loves his Aunt Jenny - I tried to feed him his bottle and he cried until I gave him back to Jenny. We spent some good time together chatting during the game, and it was so good to see my sistul again!

 Unfortunately, Hamilton came down with a cold, which took a very fast turn for the worse. He was coughing a lot and really wheezing and struggling to breathe. So much so, that we ended up taking him into the ER. Boy, you'd be surprised how fast a nursing staff moves when they see a baby's chest rising and falling like that! Poor boy had RSV and had to have a few breathing treatments. They also sent us home with an inhaler to use if it ever happens again.

 This picture is from after the breathing treatments. It was AMAZING how quickly he turned around. I'm so glad we went in; as first time parents we never know when it's something that will be ok, or something that could be serious.

 Hamilton was such a good traveling buddy! The way back to Billings included lots of peek-a-boo and books.

 Hamilton LOVES being outside. He is getting better about not eating *everything* he finds on the ground, and now that he's walking, he's much easier to take places. Oh - did I forget to mention that? HE'S WALKING. Or as Seth says, "ambulating". Either way, the kid is everywhere. He pretty much doesn't crawl anymore, and practically runs wherever he needs to go. He started just a few days after he turned 10 months, and we haven't been able to keep him down since!

 I didn't get many good pictures, but Hamilton was a dragon/dinosaur/Godzilla for Halloween. Mostly he was just cute. We went to family fun night at school, and to Kayla and Jody's for Halloween for pie. He wasn't too impressed.

 Cedar and Hamilton continue to learn how to interact and "play" together. Basically they ignore each other until Hamilton decides to eat or attack Cedar, or until Cedar decides Hamilton is the funniest person on Earth. It's adorable.

 Hello? He's repeating a lot of what we say and do, though we don't have any real words. He's very close to "uh-oh", "mama", "dada", and "up", but nothing I can call "words" yet. He's also still into the stacking cups (he can stack about 5 now by himself!), and throwing things down the stairs. He's thrilled to put things into containers and take them out again over and over and over. Which is great, until it's our keys in the garbage (not yet, thank God)!

 We've had a few "incidents" at day care. Hamilton was "picking on" another little guy, and he finally got sick of it and bit Hamilton. We were hoping that would nip it in the bud (I'm all for natural consequences!) but the other guy figured out that biting is a pretty effective way to get rid of Ham, so it happened again. His poor mother apologized over and over, and I reassured her that no apology was necessary! Babies are tricky creatures- they have all these emotions and needs and wants, and no way to express them. Hamilton can be a bit of a pill himself. We are beginning the discipline stage, and ... it's confusing. And hard. And confusing. But onward we march!

Seth brought in Hamilton to school to see my kids. As they circled around him, Hamilton laughed and walked and fell and kicked and checked to make sure everyone was watching and did it all over again! As I watched my 20 children born from other mothers watch my one amazing child that I bore myself, my heart truly felt like it was going to explode. My greatest loves together, interacting, smiling and laughing. My cup runneth over!