James at Nine and a Half Months

 My sweet baby James. How time has flown.

The last month or two have been an awakening for James. It was a sweet moment the first time he really looked at me and reached out his hand to play with my hair. He has been such a content baby that placing toys just out of reach have not been much of an incentive. He'll look at the toy...regard it for a few moments...then decide that things are really fine the way they are. So we all clapped when he lunged for a toy the first time.

He is eating his solid food like a champ, now. He really doesn't seem to like the Gerber Puffs. He prefers the yogurt melts, but still manages to spit them out most of the time. He just can't seem to figure out how to keep it in! I've been using mostly store-bought baby food with him, but I'm going to start incorporating more homemade food. It has more texture, and should be a good stepping stone to solid foods.

James has also gotten a lot more smiley lately. His first big smiles were five months ago in the hospital. Still, it took quite a bit of interaction and eye contact to elicit that smile. Only recently has he started to consistently and quickly respond to people with smiles. If I thought the church members weren't wrapped around his little finger already, he's got them with his smile! And his laughing...sometimes he's on his playmat all by himself just laughing! He is a joyful little boy.

He absolutely adores his brother--a constant in his little life. Caleb can always elicit attention and smiles. Their relationship is truly sweet to see. Recently we went to our outdoor high school graduation. When names were called, all the graduate's friends would whoop and holler, which scared James. He started bawling. Of course, the names kept getting called, and friends kept yelling, so there was no calming him down. Caleb was very concerned, and came in close to James. James held his arms out, and Caleb gave him a big long hug and a kiss, hoping to help him feel better. I have a feeling James will always have a protector in Caleb.

A few days ago, I brought my boys home from a long trip, and the last 30 minutes of the trip (when things are usually at their worst), Caleb was leaning as far as his carseat would allow him toward James. Caleb was laughing a silly, contrived laugh in order to make James smile. And James was certainly smiling! It was fun to see.

James loves to be upright. He has sat unsupported for a few moments by himself, but usually topples over pretty quickly. He's so close, though, and I think he will master it soon!

He's also showing signs of wanting to crawl. He tucks his knees up under him, but leaves his arms slack by his sides. We're encouraging his arms to come out by putting a ball under his belly. He'll get there! Though he is such a content boy, there are times when I know he wishes he could move as he pleases (usually when I'm bathing Caleb in the bath and James is stuck in the bouncy, watching).

At the moment, James moves by rolling. I find him well off the carpet a lot these days! Our floor is too hard for him to be flip-flopping all over the house, but he manages to find enough fun things on the rug to keep him occupied. I think his favorite find is paper. Today he eyed my grocery list through the whole store. I finally gave it to him when I only had a couple items left, and it was a gooey mess in seconds.

Big news: James started waving this last week! It's sort of an awkward arm-flap, and super cute! I love it. I wondered today if he was giving me kisses, but couldn't replicate it, so I'll have to update you on that one some other time.

Ever since he got the jumper figured out, James has been a jumping fiend. I mean, the kid was wearing skin off his toes from jumping! He didn't get blisters or anything, but we started keeping socks on his feet just for jumping. Before that point, James hadn't really put weight on his legs, so I was really happy with this progress. Well, now he won't put weight on his legs except to push off in a jump, so he got banned from the jumper. Sad. But he plays in his exersaucer and just started trying out a walker to encourage sustained standing.

I'm so proud of James. Just like Caleb did (and still does), he makes us smile so much. I love my little cuddle boy. I enjoy all the snuggles, even as I look forward to the day that he says, "Bye Mom. Gotta go play!" as he runs off to join Caleb in some mischief. I'm content to enjoy what I have now, and not worry about when the rest will happen.