Conversations with Hunter

Me: "Hunter, would you like a banana?"
Hunter: "No, mommy.  The Babana would spill all over the couch and I don't want the couch to be dirty."

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Hunter: "I'm Hunter Daniel Hammans.  That is Adelyn Taylor Hammans.  You are Mommy Daniel Hammans and Daddy is Daddy Daniel Hammans!"

What is important?

We decided to take the kids to Chick-Fil-A this evening for a fun night out.  I have been so busy the past week due to beginning my internship as well as having multiple evening events.  I have missed my family time.  It was nice to be together.

Hunter ate all of his chicken so we let him go play in the playground.  Josh & I were right outside of the glass doors, watching him play and enjoying some adult conversation.  A few minutes into this, Hunter comes walking out to me and I said, "Hey bubba, how are you?"  Just then a woman across the restaurant looks at me and says, "Uh, he was just hitting a boy over and over up on the equipment."  I clarified, "Hunter was hitting another boy?"  She was laughing and said, "Yes, I just looked over and he was hitting.  It looked funny to me."

I was mortified. I know I immediately turned red.  In this moment I knew I had a choice.  The Lord is sanctifying my heart by teaching me that I have the choice to react to Hunter or to teach him.  It is my natural tendency to immediately wonder what the other parents are going to think of me and my parenting skills.  I fear judgement.  I fear other people disapproving of me and my family.  When I do this, I am forgetting what is most important: Hunter's heart.  He needs to learn that hitting is not a good choice, of course.  But he also needs to know that Mommy loves him even when he makes bad choices.  I want him to know that he matters more to me than what other people think of me.  Tonight I got to practice that.  

 I asked Hunter why he was hitting and he didn't respond.  So, my sweet husband went into the play area and found another set of parents consoling their son.  Josh helped Hunter to apologize.  In the moment I got nervous that other parents were going to act irrational.  Hunter has a lot of energy & is a very physical boy.  He is learning to control himself but it is a slow process.  The other parents were not mad at all and said they didn't see it happen either.  The boys were up in the equipment where it is really hard to see.  Thankfully, they just said they understood boys did this sometimes. 

I was so nervous, but I took myself into that playroom and sat across from the other parents.  I took Hunter by the hand and told him I loved him.  And after we got through the apology, we moved on.  I am so glad the parents were kind-- that helped me to not feel as shamed.  I pray that the Lord continues to help me put my son first-- even over and ahead of what other people think of me.  Although I do pray that I can learn this without Hunter hitting any more kids!!!

He is a sweet boy and generally his physicality is not malicious.  He is just physical and rough.  He enjoys it and assumes others do as well.  I desire to steer that energy in the right direction....  

After this incident, Hunter had a great time playing with the kids and even played a few rounds of hide-n-seek with them.  He did great.  Until he peed on the slide.

Oh, the joys.

Total side note: A few days ago on the playground, Hunter was hitting a boy about 2 years older than him.  I watched him hit several times, not hard, but even when his friend had asked him to stop.  I went over and said, "Hunter, why are you hitting your friend?"  He responded, "Mommy, I am a super hero and this is my super power!!"  I had to keep myself from laughing.  I said "Hunter, you need to find a new super power.  It is not ok to hit your friends."  Josh & I have laughed about this a lot since then!

Kid-isms

Tonight, when I was tucking Hunter in (for the 4th time), I said, "Good night Hunter!"  And a sweet little voice said back to me, "Good night, Mommy."
"I love you, son."
"I love you, too, Mommy."
OH!  Melt my heart my little boy is growing up.
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Hunter has a great vocabulary and talks a lot.  A LOT.  There are a few words he still gets a little wrong....
-- He still calls elevators "alligators."
-- Bananas are --> BaBanas.
-- He can't quite say Adelyn.  She is "AdeWin."  Which is funny, because he cannot say "Woody" (from Toy Story).  He calls Woody "Hoodie."

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Adelyn has taken to eating solid foods.  It took her a bit to warm up to the idea, but now she is full force eating away.  ;) The entire time she has something in her mouth, she sings.  Literally.  She has a lot to say about her food!  So cute.  I will try to capture this on film as it is hard to describe!

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Adelyn is a calm and happy baby, until she isn't.  Seriously, the girl can go from calm and mellow to freaking out in nothing flat.  Hunter always had a few warning signs at least and putting him in a moving car would always calm him down.  Not Adelyn.  When she is mad it doesn't matter what is happening, her needs will be tended to NOW or she will scream.  Sometimes this happens while I am driving or while I am doing something where my hands are not free and she must wait a moment.  But waiting is not.her.thing.  Hunter has started intentionally singing to her in moments like this.  He will start singing the ABCs or Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.  Calms her down, even if it is just for a moment.  Such a sweet older brother.

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The other morning I was in deep sleep and heard laughter.  Something about the sound of it set me off and I just KNEW something was wrong.  I was groggy but fumbled my way into Adelyn's room where I found Hunter INSIDE Adelyn's crib, covering her head with her blanket and laughing hysterically at her "disappearing."  Adelyn was obviously still asleep when Hunter broke into her room and had no idea what was happening to her.  Needless to say, we are CLOSING her door from now on!  We have a door gripper thing on her door so Hunter can't open that quite yet....

Hunter's birthday questions

On Hunter's birthday, I asked him several questions in order to remember all the details about his life.  Like a true 3-year-old boy, this was not done in one sitting!  HA!  I got the first few questions on the video and asked him the rest over the next few days.  Here are his answers.  Enjoy!

1. How old are you? I'm Freeeeeee

2. What is your favorite animal? Kobe Dog.  Or Penguins.

3. What is your favorite thing to eat? Peanut Butter Toast

4. What is your favorite game?  Hide & Seek

5. What is your favorite TV show? Bob the Builder

6. What is your favorite movie? Cars

7. What is your favorite color? Green. or Blue.

8. What do you and your mommy do together? We play.

9. What do you and your daddy do together? I wrestle daddy.

10. What makes Mommy Happy?  Sister makes mommy happy. 

11. What is your favorite sport? Soccer. Or baseball.

12. What is your favorite book?  Carl books

13. Where is your favorite place to go?  The Magic House

7 months

Adelyn is 7 months old!!

She weighs 15 lbs, 3 oz.  She learned to crawl around June 16, cut her first tooth on June 22, and learned to wave on June 27. She is growing up!!!

She is sitting up on her own much better yet still prefers to be "standing" with other people's assistance. When we were at my mom's house she refused to sit for her baths! She would go stiff as a board.  It was hilarious-- took one of us to hold her and another to wash her!

She can get where she wants to go for the most part, which means my job just got a little tougher.  She is slow but determined.  She does the cutest baby planks when she wants to crawl.

She is such a pleasant baby who usually has a smile on her face.  It was interesting to watch her around my family these past few weeks.  She would smile a hesitant smile around new people that looked like she was trying to decide whether to laugh or cry.  Sometimes she would cry.  But as she got more used to the "new" people the crying stopped.  For the most part, she is happy & cheerful.

Adelyn caught a virus somewhere along our travels and is still struggling a little bit with it.  Today is day 7 of fever, more sleepiness and less appetite.  We are hoping it goes away soon!  The doc has told us to keep doing what we are doing and if she still has fever tomorrow we will be heading back to see her.







I have been blown away by her development this month.  She is still so small (15th (ish) percentile!), but it is fun to watch someone so little maneuver around.  She is such a joy.

Mother's Day & Father's Day 2012

We are so blessed to  be called "Mommy" and "Daddy."  Here is a picture from Mother's Day this year.  It was a wonderful day where I felt so loved by my whole family.

 Here is a picture from today.  We celebrated by having a date yesterday afternoon to the Tap House and by a family lunch to Olive Garden today.

Both fun days to celebrate the joy of parenthood!

He is 3.

"Mommy I want my birthday to come back!" Hunter said as I struggled to get my eyes to focus.  "I want it to be my birthday AGAIN."  I couldn't think of a better way to wake up this morning.

"Oh sweetie, I am so glad you enjoyed your birthday.  Those only come once a year.  So glad yours was special,"  I told him.

Then I gathered him up, along with his brown blanket, paci and water cup and scooped him in to my bed.  He is a wonderful little cuddler.  He chatted this morning all about how much he loved his birthday and how, now that he is 3, he is big like daddy.   I wish I could have had a video camera because he was being so sweet and funny.  My heart is absolutely full.

On the morning of his birthday, I awoke to the sound of tissue paper.  I knew immediately that Hunter had found his presents and was helping himself!  I jumped out of bed and found him right where I thought he would be-- except he wasn't opening the presents.  He hadn't even tried.  He was touching one over and over and his eyes were as big as I had ever seen them.  He said, "Mommy, it's my birthday!  I am just sitting here checking out my presents!"  I laughed and told him I could see that.  He said, "Mommy, I didn't open them, I am just looking at them."  I told him that took great self-control and that I was proud of him for waiting for mommy & daddy.  Then I said, "Hunter did you see all of the decorations for your birthday?"  He said with awe in his eyes (I am not joking!), "Thank you, mommy!!!"  Oh my goodness I just about fell over.  He is the sweetest.

We then went together and woke up daddy (it was a little before 6 a.m. mind you!).  We all talked a bit and then decided Hunter should watch a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while we got ready.  He loved that idea.  Then I asked him if he wanted pancakes for breakfast, but he said he wanted his regular: peanut butter toast.  A good choice.

After breakfast, we let Hunter open his presents.  He got excited about every little thing and
since we gave him accessories for his new play kitchen, that was a lot of little things to get excited about.  We enjoyed suckers together as a family and played like we were calling each other with Hunter's new phones.  It was a magical time and though he may not always remember it, I will treasure that memory for years to come.

Daddy had class all day, so Hunter & Mommy got to play together all day!  We skyped with Grancie (My mom), watched Sesame Street, and then got ready to meet our friends at the Botanical Gardens.  Hunter officially needed a ticket this time!  Hunter had a great time with Anna and her brother Micah and I really enjoyed chatting with Rebekah.  We stayed for a long time.  Hunter's favorite was playing in a huge sand pit.  He dug in that thing for nearly an hour!

On the way home, both he and Adelyn fell asleep.  So when we got to our apartment, I sat outside on a park bench for about an hour.  It was great reading time for me & it was such a beautiful day.

 When Hunter woke up, we went upstairs to find another gift had been delivered!  Grancie & PaPaw got Hunter his first bicycle.  Daddy got home about this time and so we all went and enjoyed some time at the playground & seeing Hunter learn to ride his bike.

For dinner, we took Hunter to Chick-Fil-A (his favorite!).  Daddy & Hunter played Hide-N-Seek in the play area until way past bed time.  We let Hunter get as much out of his birthday as he possibly could! ;)

 Birthdays as a kid are so much fun.  But birthdays as a parent are so much fun, too!  I didn't know how much I could enjoy celebrating another human being.  I am starting to understand what delight is.  God Delights in his children and I get a little taste of what that is like with Hunter.  I loved seeing his eyes light up and his mind start to comprehend how he gets to do special things on his birthday.  What an honor and a privilege to be a part of his life.

When I put him to bed, I thanked God for the three years we have had with our little boy.  And I asked for many, many more.