Baby's First Halloween and MORE!

I finally got around to uploading a whole bunch of pictures from this past week. It is SO hard to edit pictures of James because I think I need to keep every single one! He is such a little sweetie pie and I want to hold on to every moment with him.

Last Tuesday Lindsey and I went shopping for baby clothes. I found this little hat on the clearance rack at Children's Place. James was in his stroller looking at himself in a mirror. When I put this hat on his head he gave himself a huge smile so I HAD to buy it!


Every time we go into Target's toy department, James has his eye on this set of drums. They were charging $17 which I thought was a lot for a baby toy. This week I found them on Craigslist for $5 so I bought them for him. They would have been worth every penny of the $17 because he loves them!


After 7 1/2 months James is finally sitting up by himself! He has had the strength to do it for several weeks now, but he didn't want to try because he would much prefer to stand up or lay flat on the floor. I think he is finally starting to see the value in sitting...he can reach his toys much better!


I was doing laundry yesterday and plopped James down in the basket of clothes while I moved a batch from the washer into the dryer. He loves any new experience and this was no different. He laughed and watched my every move.


For James' first Halloween he dressed up as a lion. He does the cutest little growl that we say sounds like a lion cub...so it was a perfect match! He was somewhat overwhelmed by all the lights and noises so he didn't seem to even notice the costume.


This little boy is so lucky to have a bunch of grandparents who love him dearly. Here he is with Grandma Jo.


He had just finished giving Grandma Rose lots of kisses when this picture was taken.


Riding on (and sliming) Daddy's head is one of his favorite past-times. :)


Because we had to feed him, change him into his outfit, eat our dinner, hand out candy to the cousins, and take pictures, we ran out of time (and energy) to go Trick-or-treating. He got a little whiny by the end of the party.


This evening the kids in our neighborhood went TOTing. We sat on our front porch and gave out candy. James was really tired but he had fun looking at all the costumes and trying to get into the candy bowl. Here he is cheesin' with Daddy.

He had been trying to lick the pumpkin we have on our porch. Goofy little boy!

Cheesin' with Mama. It was quite windy...that's why his hair was going every different direction.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

My little pumpkin

The Target Dollar Spot had all kinds of cute little baby Halloween items last week. I bought the hat, bib, and socks for James. He wasn't too thrilled about being dressed up like a little doll, but he humored me. :)

7 months old

Here are some things I want to remember about James at this age.

*He loves noises. It seems like each day he discovers a new noise. Last week he started making this deep growl that Rod and I can't even do. He also likes to do a spitty "shhhh" sound. The squealing hasn't completely stopped but at least he mixes that in with other noises! He is fascinated when I make different noises at him and it is fun watching him try to copy me.

* James still loves to be outside even though the weather is getting cooler. He enjoys walks in the stroller, sitting on the porch watching the cars go by, and watching the trees go by as we ride in the car.

* He is definitely starting to recognize that Mommy is the best for cuddling with and Daddy is the most fun playmate in the whole world. Every time either of us walks in the room he gives us a huge smile.

* Crawling is definitely the next thing on his agenda. He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth. Sometimes he scoots backwards but usually it ends in him pushing forward and smashing his face on the ground.

* He has the strength and balance to sit if we trick him into it, but he will not willingly sit because he would much rather be standing up.

* He hasn't met a baby food that he doesn't like. The mesh feeder continues to be a great source of nutrition and entertainment for James. He also loves teether biscuits but he doesn't get them unless I have the energy to clean him from head to toe in addition to the floor, high chair, and wall. He makes a huge meses with them.

*Cause and effect are starting to make sense to him. Every time we walk by a lightswitch he reaches out and tries to turn the light off. He also makes a little "huh" noise if he wants your attention, then he laughs when you turn and look at him.

* Every day is a new adventure for our little guy and we can already see his love for learning.

Camping and Lemons

James went on his first camping adventure last weekend. We went with our friends Amy, Tony, and Lucas. It is an annual tradition of ours that has lasted over 10 years! A 6 month-old baby wasn't a good enough excuse to miss the trip (believe me...I tried!). It was a LOT of work but I'm glad we did it. James had been fussy the whole week prior and the weekend was no different. I spent most of the time holding him because he cried whenever I set him down. Thankfully we didn't have a lot of plans other than sitting around the fire so that allowed me plenty of time to cuddle my little whiner.

The hillbilly high chair (a booster seat on a campchair).

Getting ready to go on a walk with Daddy. We were really glad we brought this carrier because he seemed to be content if he was strapped to one of us.

He slept great in the pack 'n' play inside the tent.

The 2nd night was pretty chilly (in the lower 40s). In the morning I dressed James in this little fleece outfit. He liked it!

James and I accompanied Lindsey, Tyce, and Mom to Johns Hopkins earlier this week. Lindsey treated us all to the Cheesecake Factory on the way home! I gave James a little taste of a lemon and he loved it. One time when I wasn't looking he grabbed my hand and stuck the lemon in his mouth. I was amazed that he didn't even make a funny face when he first tried it.

Pumpkin Patch

I finally got around to uploading our pumpkin patch pictures from two weeks ago!

I LOVE fall and have dreamt about taking my little boy or girl on their first visit to the pumpkin patch for many many years. Our adventure was even more fun than I anticipated! James enjoyed every facet of our trip: riding on the hayride, picking out a pumpkin, and looking at the animals.

Here he is riding on the hayride with his Mommy.
"Let me taste this one and see if it meets my specifications."

What could be better than taking a walk on Daddy's shoulders on a beautiful fall day?

"Yum. This one tastes even better than the last one I tried!"

Rod did pretty good with this family self-portrait...he even got the pumpkin in there!

6-month Doctor's visit

James was 17.5 lbs and 28.75" long. This puts him in the 96th percentile for height and 37th percentile for weight. He got 4 shots during which he cried his little heart out. After I got him settled down and dressed again we walked out into the hallway. He smiled at most of the people out there but started screaming again as soon as he saw the nurse who had administered his shots...such a smart little cookie he is.