DEAR HUNTER // ELEVEN MONTHS








Once again, better late than never. And, these pictures are darker than I would like them to be because it was raining on his 11 month birthday, of course. My spunky little guy is officially one month away from being my big ONE YEAR OLD! I still remember having you like it was yesterday. I can't believe how fast these passed eleven months have gone. You're turning into be such a character. And you're very talkative. You say mama, dada, nana (banana), num-num, hmm? and that's about it. Still mostly just jabber away in your little baby talk, though. Sometimes when you eat instead of saying num-num you say mama. We'll blame that one on your Nonna though because she taught you that. You'll go "hmm?" a lot as if you're asking a question about something. It's the cutest thing!!

You've learned to clap and point. Whenever we ask, "Do you want to play patty cake?" You clap and clap away. It's pretty darn cute. You point at things all the time. Every time I open the pantry you point at the popcorn for some reason, even though you've never even had it! I think you're getting closer to walking. You can stand for a little bit on your own. You just have a problem with standing on your tippy-toes which causes you to lose your balance. You'll get there when you're ready though, I'm not too worried about it!

You have 8 (sharp) little teeth! Four on top and four on bottom. You are becoming a little picky when it comes to food though. You HATE mashed potatoes!?!?! Are you even my son?! Without fail you make a face and spit them out. It's not even the texture because you absolutely love mashed sweet potatoes. Insanity my child, insanity. I just hope you don't become too picky when it comes to food! Lately, you haven't been too interested in your bottles. I don't know if you're just not growing at the moment and aren't hungry enough, or if you're just getting to a stage where you don't want it anymore. I guess only time will tell.

Playing is your favorite past time. You love to zoom all your little cars around and you make a buzzing noise when you do it. You also love to chase this big green ball around. We love to play that together. You also love to wrestle us and climb all over. You are surely testing your boundaries lately though. You know the word, "no", but like to see what you get away with. You've pretty much mastered tantrums now too. Throwing yourself back and crying, sometimes I just laugh at it. You're giving us a run for our money that's for sure. I think we've reached the terrible two's a year early! You've discovered the stairs at Nonna's house... You think it's so much fun to climb them and give everyone a heart attack. You are learning the safe way to go up and to slide down on stomach though, just in case.

You still aren't too keen on taking naps, but you do mostly sleep all through the night. Sometimes you'll wake up at about 6 or 7 in the morning though and I'll just take you on the couch and cuddle you. We'll fall back asleep until 8 when we have to be up. I cherish those moments with you so much.

LOVES // trucks, your green ball, stuffed animals, clapping, and climbing stairs!

HATES // mashed potatoes, getting diaper changed still (apparently you don't mind being dirty?), when people tell you no


Feel free to stay my baby forever, little man. I love you more than I ever thought possible!

DEAR HUNTER // TEN MONTHS







Somebody pinch me... I honestly cannot even fathom how fast this has gone by. You're now learning words and developing such a funny and sweet personality. You are seriously SO sweet. You still love to be cuddly and it melts my heart when you hug or kiss me on a whim. Melts my heart into a puddle, every single time I tell ya. I always think it isn't possible for me to love you more, and then another day goes by and my heart grows more and more fond of you. I simply cannot imagine my life without you in it, and I wonder constantly how I went on so long without you.

I'm so excited for the holidays. I'm sure you're going to LOVE thanksgiving because you are in love with eating. Seriously, you can eat. You always need to have what I'm having and you're getting too busy for your bottles. You can't sit still (except for the one right before bed) to finish it. Sometimes it takes you 30-45 minutes to finish one because you have to take little play/explore time. It can get frustrating, but it really is adorable how interested you are in learning about your surroundings. You know what "no" means, although you can be pretty stubborn. Sometimes when you are crawling somewhere you know you're not supposed to and you hear me getting up to come get you, you crawl faster and giggle. It makes me laugh every time without fail. You honestly just have the cutest personality. Any time you see dogs or cats (or any animal really) you squeal and kick your legs. You completely love animals.

You love playing and sometimes you are pretty independent and then like a flip of a switch you can become super clingy and just want to be held. You are such a mama's boy, I really do love it. I miss you and am always thinking about you during the day when you're not around. Wondering what you're doing. You have said a couple "one-time" words. You've said "uh-uh" when Elijah (your first real play-date friend) took one of your toys. You've said "kitty" in reference to a picture on the doctor's office wall and even about your favorite kitty, Missy! "Whoa" has been said a couple times too. It's mostly just gibberish nonsense right now. Very very cute gibberish nonsense. You love your stuffed animals, especially your moose and your brand new elk we got you on our trip to Baker City. Any time you see a stuffed animal you grab it and cuddle it. You sleep every night with your moose, and when I check on you in the night you're never far from it or it's wrapped in your arms.

We have you on a pretty good schedule right now. You are sleeping through the night and getting much better at napping. You still don't like them usually, but they are getting better. Bath time is your favorite, you love to splash around. We share bananas together, you take tiny bites off of them. It's pretty cute. I'm just loving this stage you're at, and not wanting it to end.

I need to find a pause button quick.

LOVES // bath time, cars (you make buzzing noises for them!!), your moose, animals, books, FOOOOOD

HATES // diaper changes (who has time for that anyway, right?), having stuff taken away from you that you're not supposed to have, dogs barking



I just want to bottle these memories up and keep them forever. You are my best little friend Hunter Michael Hampton, I love you for eternity.

Dear Hunter // Nine Months






Are you kidding me? I can't believe on the 13th of this month my tiny squishy newborn actually turned nine months old and isn't so tiny anymore. Honestly, like where has the time gone? I feel like it was just yesterday I was in the hospital for 42 hours screaming for somebody to just take you out. And now, you're crawling around like crazy, getting in to everything, pulling yourself up and walking while holding things, and so much more. It's incredible just how much growing babies do in their first year of life. I'm excited to have your first birthday, but it's so bittersweet to see you grow so fast.

I'm so excited for this upcoming holiday season. We've gone to the pumpkin patch already and found your first pumpkin! You LOVED the pumpkin patch and playing on the hay bales. We even took your first hay ride. I'm excited to let you paint your pumpkin this year.

You are so independent and always wanting to be down and exploring. On October 2nd, you said your first word... "MAMA!" You say it all the time when you're trying to get my attention, never when I ask you to. On October 6th you said "dada", I even caught it on video but you haven't said it much since. You are such a mama's boy too.

You've been sleeping so well in your crib at night. We finally made the transition. Your dad can take all the credit here. We had to go with the cry it out method, which completely sucked but you've done really well with it, it's what your doctor recommended. You go down usually around 8:30 and then sleep until 7-7:30. It's really nice. Your naps really could use improvement though. They haven't been the best. We couldn't love you more though, you're seriously the best little guy ever.

You still absolutely love to eat. When people go to put something you open yours really wide expecting a bite. It's the cutest thing. You are such a good eater too. You've only thrown peas once.

LOVES // books, playing with buttons on shirts, crawling around, destroying mom's makeup bag, water bottles, eating, and bath time.

HATES // taking naps (you're afraid you'll miss something I think), getting in and out of the carseat when you're tired, and sometimes getting your diaper changed.



You are so much fun these days. It's incredible to see you learning and growing. I even enjoy when you're getting into trouble. I just have to tell myself that these days are fleeting and I only get to see you grow up once. I couldn't be happier being your mom. I love you.

Aquarium Time!

Back in July (HA I suck at being a blogger, I say for the thousandth time) we went to our local aquarium. It's just a tiny little place but it's so much fun! Hunter had a blast looking at all the animals. We got to feed fish, sharks, and sting rays! And, play with a tegu and boa. Not that I don't play with reptiles and fish all day long at work, but it's different when they are animals you don't take care of I guess. Plus, I don't have a Tegu. Anyway, this post is long overdue. On to the pictures!


























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Dear Hunter // Eight Months

Again, I'm two weeks late on this thing. But better late than never.





Eight months. E-I-G-H-T months. I have a hard time realizing that in just 4 short months you'll be O-N-E Y-E-A-R-S O-L-D. Where has the time gone? Honestly though. You just amaze me everyday with all the things you learn everyday and how curious you are about everything. 

In this last short month we went on your first mini-vacation. We went to McCall on our family reunion like we do every year. It was a semi-rough trip because you were teething and you now have three bottom teeth! We went to the lake for the first time. You absolutely love the water and just kick your feet in it. You also love to play (and try to eat!) the sand. You rode on your first jet ski for like 30 seconds before you started to cry and want to be back on shore with me. You tried your first bite of ice cream also! You may be addicted later on in life because you just wanted to eat my whole ice cream cone. We had a fun little four day trip there, and I'm super excited for next year to go again and see how much you love to run around and be in the water when you're actually independent. 


You have since learned to crawl. After our McCall trip on August 17, you started getting brave and using your knees. And now, you are cruising all over the place and really fine tuning it. You get into everything! You can sit up from crawling, and you try walking when we have you balanced on your feet. You like to pull yourself up onto stuff so you're standing. Especially on the coffee table to grab all the coasters. I think you might be an early walker. Lord, help us now. You are ALL boy. It's so incredible to see you growing up into such an incredible little boy. I couldn't love you more. 


Still co-sleeping here. But, I think we're getting closer to making a transition. You still can't fall asleep unless you're in my arms. And you're constantly curled up next to me at night. You've become extremely dependent on me when it comes to getting and staying to sleep. We want to get you to a place where you can soothe yourself so we don't have troubles five years down the road with you not being able to sleep on your own.

LOVES // being in the water, swings, playing with toys, eating, crawling all over and getting into things

HATES // when you pick him up while he's on a mission, being alone, and taking naps (he doesn't want to miss out on anything)


I love you little munchkin. You make my heart a puddle. You bring the light to my life. I'm looking forward to this upcoming holiday season and fall time with you. Pumpkin picking, Halloween, Thanksgiving, mom's birthday, Christmas, and then you'll be ONE! 


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