Just call me "Bob"

Lately both Hambone and I have abandoned our quests to get Hamslice's first word to be "boogers" and "boom," respectively. Hambone heard me coaching Hamslice to say "Mama," which prompted a counter-campaign for "Dada."

Yesterday morning, I went to get Hamslice for breakfast. He rolled over in the crib, gave me the most brilliant smile and called me "Bob."

Since then he has called out for "Bob" a couple of times.

I hope he knows how much his "Bob" loves him.

Getting to be an Old Pro

Yesterday I went to Wegman's to pick up some food for Hamslice. When I arrived in the baby food aisle, I noticed a fellow skulking off to the side. I walked right past him, grabbed the juice and Gerber's step 1 food, and went on my way.

In thinking about this, it seemed clear that the skulking fellow was a new dad. Boy didn't I look like the expert just breezing right through the baby products like I'd been doing it for years. That thought made me laugh right out loud, because not two weeks ago it was ME skulking around, waiting to see what everybody else bought so I could see what was the right stuff to get.

I wondered if he had the same desperate envy that I had. Early on in the "real food" process, I really had hoped that the selection would be a little more intuitive. I was jealous of anyone who looked like they knew what they were doing.

So now I guess I've figured a little bit out. But I'm not getting cocky about it. Not this early anyway.

Chillin' with Hamslice

Our little Hamslice caught a cold that morphed into a sinus/ear infection over the past few days. He was a sick little boy, and he only wanted to spend time with Hambone.

Here's Hambone showing me that "this fatherhood thing is a piece of cake."

Hamslice Ad Guru

One of my coworkers mentioned yesterday that Hamslice looks a bit like the Lee Jeans Icon "Buddy Lee". I looked this up today, and have to say the comment has a little merit. What do you guys think?

Cutest Baby EVER

There's nothing particularly new this week, except for a super adorable picture of Hamslice. We all went to the craft show this weekend, so he got to see lots of colored glass and crafts. Some of the vendors there said it would be good for his brain. I hope so.

Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick...BOOM!

Yesterday I discovered that Hamslice is a big fan of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. We were listening to our IPod during breakfast, and the song "Boom, Shake Shake the Room" came on and Hamslice started laughing and laughing. Later, when he was fussy before bed I sang a little of it to him, and he perked right up with a huge grin.

Meanwhile, the ladies at day care are teaching him nice, practical things like how to drink from a bottle by himself. Seems to me that I am now the "bad" influence in his life. I think it's more fun to be on this side.

Strike a Pose

I was in the back seat with Hamslice this Saturday and snapped three pictures in a row -- what a range of expressions this guy has now. My Goodness

Surprising New Development

Hamslice is now in the phase (I am sure this is the first of many) where he seems to be actively trying to freak Hambone and me out. When we change his diaper, and are reaching for powder or a new diaper or what have you, he turns his arms completely backward so that his palms face toward the ceiling.

The first time he did it was with Hambone. And poor Hambone was so freaked out he didn't even tell me about it because he thought he had injured Hamslice.

When he did it to me, I thought for sure I had dislocated his shoulder and was racked with guilt. I told Hambone and he started laughing and told me about how he had seen the same thing.

I see we're in for quite a ride here. With such a sweet little face, it's surprising to know there's a stinker in there somewhere.

Fear Factor Cheese Night

For Christmas this year, Hambone bought me a subscription to the Cheese of the Month club, which was so sweet because I DO LOVE CHEESE.

The first shipment came to Hambone's office last week. He had it shipped there so he could surprise me with the actual cheeses. This round was all artisan soft cheeses, which tend to be a little...fragrant.

During that afternoon, one of Hambone's vendors came in, and said in a stage whisper, "I think something died in your office."

Later in the evening Hambone described the cheese aroma as "a dead rat wrapped in a dirty diaper." But, we were really curious to see what it would taste like, so we dared each other into taking a taste. We dubbed the event " Fear Factor Cheese Night. "

It was actually rather tasty, if you didn't smell it first. We ate most of it in a race between our tongues and our noses.

Ah, the things you do for love.

Gratuitous Hamslice Pic

Hamslice is getting bigger all the time. Recently he's grown into his 9 month clothes and shows no signs of slowing down.

He is also starting to figure more stuff out. For instance, he knows that if he whines long enough, *I* will pick him up. And he knows that Hambone probably won't. He has different jokes for the two of us as well. It's pretty amazing if you asked me.

Porking it up with Kiddo

This weekend my brother "Kiddo" came to town and went Wild Russian Boar hunting with Hambone.

They got a good one (Kiddo tried the Maim-then-kill technique) and on Sunday we processed it into a couple of ham steaks, lots of sausage, and four killer racks of ribs.

Here's a picture of Kiddo making sausage. We make all our guest chefs wear that apron. =)

Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas

Hamslice's daycare facility had their Christmas party yesterday, so I dressed our little guy up for the occasion. He totally stole the show with his mini-Santa gear.

Hambone was mortified on behalf of Hamslice.

Here's to Wenda

Hamslice's grandma died peacefully one afternoon this month. It's difficult to know exactly how she would like to be remembered, except to say that we are all glad to have had the chance to see each other once more before the end.

And I know Grandma liked to have things posted about her on this blog, so here you go Wenda. You'll be digitally remembered for all time. We will all miss you.

Picture day at Day Care

Yesterday and Today were picture days at Day Care -- Hamslice slept through the hours the photographer was there yesterday, my hope is they caught him today in his cute little outfit.

Surely he's the cutest baby in the place.

"Getting" It

You know, I think I'm finally starting to "get" what motherhood means. And it's true that you can't understand it until you have kids of your own...

I used to gush over babies to the best of my ability before Hamslice, but there was a certain disgenuine nature to it because I was really just trying to get the words out before I got puked on.

Now that I have one of my own, I understand the gift that these tiny people are, and what a miracle they are in everything they do. It's overwhelming sometimes to think about how much this all means to me, and how much life will be different from now on.

Hawkeye in the Genes

Hamslice is now growing so fast he's into clothes sized for six month old babies, even though he's only 2.5 months old. I can't complain though, because the "big boy" outfits are way cuter than all the sleepers.

=)

Day Care Follies

Yesterday was Hamslice's first day of day care. He was sleeping peacefully when I dropped him off, and I thought for sure he'd be the cutest little boy in the place.

Around 11AM the day care called me and asked what they could do to get him to stop crying. Evidently, he started shouting soon after I left and hadn't stopped for three hours. The worker sounded a little stressed...

I went to pick him up at 3pm (a couple of hours early) and heard the worker muttering to a colleague "I just got him to sleep a minute ago and NOW she comes to pick him up. Sheesh"

Today I dropped him off and three hours later HAMBONE called me up and said the sugar factory next to the daycare had an explosion, and shouldn't we go get Hamslice in case there's an evacuation.

This whole day care thing is not as easy as I thought it would be.

I'll take the Poopie with a side of rotten fish, please

So our adorable little boy, whose little poopies used to smell like sunshine and clotted cream seems to have grown out of the sweet smelling stage.

I switched Hamslice over to formula a couple of weeks ago after I tried to attend meetings at work, only to discover that two hours into them it felt like my breasts were going to explode.

He started out with Enfamil formula, which definitely changed his aroma but it was still manageable. However, the last time we went to Target for more of it, they were completely sold out. Not a grain of formula in sight.

Because desperate times call for desperate measures, we bought the Target brand formula. Two days later, our adorable little pooper started pushing out the smell of a dirty old man who had been eating rotten fish. Gooooood grief.

Even our quiet, Mexican nanny mentioned something, and she never really speaks up about things that bother her.

Peee - Youuuu

K-9 Super Shabby

If you all have read my blog for the past few years, you would have heard me gush copiously about Maggie the dog, who was the single most important fixture in my world before I met Hambone.

Since the birth of Hamslice, I've noticed that she has become just the slightest bit shabby and unkempt. I think she has been stressed by all the changes, but also have to admit that I haven't been as speedy with her brushing and bathing as I once was. I find this troubling.

Yesterday, however, it all came into perspective when I saw another dog-owning family walk down the street. This family had twin babies and a dog, and let me just mention how super shabby this dog was. I suppose as the "dog parents" get busier being "people parents," the dogs sort of muddle along for a while until the parents figure it all out.

Patience, Mags. It will all come back together soon...

Capturing the Moment

On Sunday the three of us went to a birthday party for one of our friends' one-year-old. Now that we have our own kid, the normal tedium of these events transformed into the most adorable thing ever.

When we were in the car on the way home, Hambone and I noted that less than a year from now Hamslice will be walking and starting to talk. At that moment it hit both of us that these days of having a tiny baby are fleeting, and we should drink in every moment we have.

Upon arriving home, Hambone grabbed the camera and took nearly thirty pictures of Hamslice. The poor kid must have seen spots from the flash bulb for hours.

=)