Downward Facing Hamslice

Big news! Last night Hamslice rolled over in his crib for the first time. When I went to get him this morning, he was doing a near perfect "Upward facing dog" yoga pose. I'd been wondering when he would get around to rolling over, glad to see he's up to the challenge.=)

It seems these advancements come in spurts. He's also trying to figure out how to make different sounds. His newest one is the "inward groan" which sounds a little like this

Hamslice Strikes a Pose

As many of you know, Hamslice can certainly work the camera. Yesterday at breakfast, he was hamming it up big time, so I snapped some pictures. If you play the movie, you can see his super star modeling =)

After breakfast, when he was in his bouncy chair, Maggie came up and shared her rawhide treat with him. All Hambone and I knew was that we looked over at him and he had the rawhide hanging out of his mouth. Interestingly, Hamslice really REALLY didn't want to give us the rawhide. His little teeth were clamped on that thing so hard -- it took a few minutes to get it away from him.

In other news, The Ham Family will be traveling to Michigan for the 4th of July holiday. All of you out there that want to take us out for breakfast can write in and we'll save a time slot for yeh.

See you all soon!

Little Ebes version

Little Ebes made this version of the video -- it's adorable!

Thank you Auntie Bet!

My brother and his wife came to visit us last weekend, and they brought a sweater that Auntie Bet had knit for Hamslice.

It's the most adorable thing, knit from camouflage patterned yarn. It's the perfect thing for a little tough guy. For now it's a bit too big, so we are looking forward to him sporting it in the fall as he rides his John Deere plastic lawn tractor around the cement pad in the back yard.

Thanks Auntie Bet!

One more time with My version of Sound

A couple of Hamslice fans have offered to put music behind the air guitar video. I can't wait to see how these videos look =)

To stay with them all, I've taken a crack at this too. Here's Hamslice playing Air Guitar to Guns N Roses.

Hamslice as Air Guitar Champion

Last weekend we all went out for lunch in a rather rowdy restaurant. Lots of '80s heavy guitar music there...

Hambone pointed at Hamslice and mentioned that it looked like he was playing air guitar along with the music. I'll be doggoned but I believe he's right. Click the video -- someday I'll put music to it, but for now here's the visual anyway.

Air guitar enthusiasts, look out.

Yes! Michigan

Last weekend Hamslice got a whole new batch of clothes from Auntie Nina to fit his growing body. This new size (12-18 months) made me wonder what was hanging out in the closet for him in this size.

When I peeked, I was quite pleased to see that his University of Michigan outfit now fits like a glove.

How nice that I can now balance out the Iowa Hawkeyes paraphernalia that he's been sporting since birth.

Go Wolverines!

Hamslice for President

I do believe Hamslice has been inspired by the presidential race. Yesterday when I was snapping some pictures for Grandma T, he gave me this very "commander in chief" pose.

Hmmm. Maybe there are big things ahead of him =)

Becoming Friends

Miss Maggie Moo and Hamslice have regarded each other with great curiosity from afar to this point. Last weekend they started to interact a little more, where Maggie would give Hamslice a tiny lick on the cheek, and receive huge smiles and giggles.

On Sunday, Hamslice reached out to Maggie and grabbed one of her lips in each fist. She was so sweet... she just stood there waiting for him to let go. Since then, however, she's faster with the kisses and doesn't stand within grabbing range.

And so it goes.

Hamslice, Extra Large

When we went to the doctor the other day, the doctor took his height, weight, and head circumference. I watched closely as he charted them on the "Normal" graph. Hamslice has a perfectly normal sized head, and weight that's in the 75th percentile (which is still in the normal range, according to the arcs that indicate normal on his chart).

However, when we got to height, Hamslice wasn't even CLOSE to the normal range. He must be three or four inches taller than other babies his age. I mean, the dot on the chart was way out in space above the arc of "normal."

This makes a lot of sense to me, because when I look at Hamslice in the crib, I can't help but think, "Man. With a body like that you should be walking. What's up?"

See how he's almost outgrown his pack-N-play already? He is growing about an inch a month!

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.