Here are some fun or funny things my 10 month old is doing...

~~ Saying "Ba-ba" while waving with lots of passion when someone leaves (not prompted by us anymore). Last night we had life group at our house. When it was time for everyone to leave, he was so serious about waving to everyone that he didn't stop from the time the first person left until the last person left. He has a serious look on his face, and his whole arm moves up and down with great speed and strength.

~~ He's exploring the whole house by wall walking and crawling really fast. He'll turn around and see if we're following him once he's about to exit a room and loves it (starts going faster and squeeling) when we chase him.




~~ His favorite things to play with are drawers and cabinets. Nevermind all of the toys we have for him, he'd rather stand up to the end table, open the drawer, and pull out whatever's in there. Then he'll take one thing for each hand and crawl around, holding them wherever he goes.





~~ He's standing alone for a few seconds at a time.

~~ He's squating.

~~ He repeats us with wide eyes when we say, "No, no." He says, "Ni, ni."

~~ He says Mama, Dada, and Ba-ba on his own, but he repeats other words after we say them, like Josh, James, Hi, juice, etc., but in his own baby way. He'll sometimes mimic short sentences that we say to him with similar tone. He has no clue what he's saying, but he's experimenting with his voice and it's so neat to hear!


~~ He's gotten a MIND OF HIS OWN lately! This just started a couple of weeks ago, but he is getting to be very opinionated and has a little temper when he doesn't get his way. It's kinda funny, but I'm trying my hardest not to laugh so I don't reinforce a negative behavior. Sometimes I just can't help myself, though!

~~ He takes a little while to warm up to adults, but he feels immediately comfortable with children. I took him up to my old school, and he took a while to go to my teacher friends, but when I introduced him to a class, he started waving, laughing, and clapping for them. He was LOVING his big audience and did all of his tricks for them. They got the biggest kick out of him and started chanting, "All hail, King James!" over and over. It was hilarious!

~~He's giving kisses now, which is just him opening his mouth and putting it on ours when we pucker up. It's so sweet, though, and melts my heart everytime. Sometimes we get lucky and he'll reach up and put his hand on our faces.


Here are a few of his Sears 9 month pictures.






This was the outfit Thomas wore at our wedding.

 
*James's Mother's Day Out teachers did this, and I thought I'd share! It looks much better and clearer in person...this is a picture of a picture.

*This past weekend started with Josh, James, and I all getting sick. I went with James to the doctor on Friday and got an antibiotic for all three of us. Well, James and Josh got better almost immediately, but I took a turn for the worse on Saturday. I never went back to the doctor, but I know I had a mild case of the flu. Luckily I got a flu shot, so it didn't last nearly as long as it could've...and VERY luckily, it happened on the weekend so Josh could take over with James and let me rest. I'm feeling better everyday, but I still can't eat much.

*I decided to start weaning James this weekend. Josh and I are taking a trip for a week next month and just decided not to take him with us, so I thought I'd better get on that! Plus, it was easy to do, since I barely had the energy to hold him this weekend! It is going VERY well! It really just took a day to adjust. I think he was ready anyway, because he's just an active boy and was getting to be too busy as the day went on everyday. I'm doing formula for the middle two feeds, and it's going well. I'm going to gradually go down to one and then none.

*James is starting to become very opinionated! I even thought I saw a bit of a temper the past few days, but it could be that he's teething...who knows?

*We had Valentine's Day celebration at Mother's Day Out today, and I LOVE the way they all say Happy Valentines! It is so cute and I wouldn't dare try to correct them. They cutest was one of the girls, who says, "Happy Valenstime!"

So I'll leave you on that note...Have a Happy Valenstime's Day!

Please exuse my voice...I hate hearing my voice on camera! I tried to get him to do tricks at the end, but he wasn't in the mood! Below are some pictures of that day, too!



We went for a walk/run (my sister-in-law, Jo Anna inspired me to start running) and James was really enjoying soaking in the warm sun that day!

We got back late this afternoon from Atlanta. I wanted to thank you all for your prayers and sweet comments. The family enjoyed reading them, too. We all had such a nice time together, even though it was a sad occasion to get together. We all enjoyed telling and hearing Daddy Carl stories and remembering the full life he led. I know he would have been very happy listening to all of us if he were there. James had, I think, the best time out of all of us. Everywhere he went, there was his fan club, eager to hold him, kiss on him, make him laugh, and cheer when he did his tricks. Someone (I think Jo Anna) said, "No wonder he's so happy! We would be, too, if we had the same reception everytime we turned a corner!" His Georgia family taught him how to give a five, so he has given lots of fives in the past few days.

I started looking at my camera manuel, and I found out lots of things I didn't know I could do before. It pays to read, doesn't it? Not that y'all will notice a difference, since I turn pics to black and white on my computer, but I figured out that I can take b n w and cepia pictures.


Smiling at his daddy.

He sat very still in Mama Gloria's lap for 30 minutes (very rare), so Josh's cousin snapped a bunch of pictures.

Today we lost Josh's grandfather, fondly known in the family as Daddy Carl. He had been in bad health for the last 6 months and went to be with the Lord this afternoon. Daddy Carl was very well known for his singing voice. He and Josh's grandmother (Mama Gloria) first met in chorus at Lipscomb University and soon became college sweethearts. Mama Gloria was the first Homecoming Queen at Lipscomb, and Daddy Carl always told people he found "the best one there". The two of them were asked many, many times to sing in weddings together when they were newlyweds.

Daddy Carl seemed to always have a smile on his face. The best head massage I ever received was from him. Even to the end he shared his faith. He was talking with one of the nurses Tuesday evening about Jesus Christ, trying to convince her to become a Christian. Daddy Carl was very involved in Josh's life growing up. He was more mobile than Josh's other grandparents and always attended all the events he could of his grandchildren. Josh said he could always count on him to be at football games, baseball games, and wrestling matches and to support him in anyway. Daddy Carl loved his family deeply, and we all loved him too. Please pray for us as we travel to the funeral this weekend and for our family during this time.