James 1st Beach Trip

Memorial Weekend we headed down south to the Gulf of Mexico for James' first trip to Emerald Coast.  It was a beautiful weekend but was also very crowded.  Here is James right before we left.  You can tell how thrilled he is about the 4 1/2 hour drive...

 

 

His outfit was perfect for the day it says, "Beach Bound, Road Trip"  So stinkin' cute :)

 

The first three hours were almost flawless until we stopped to change his diaper and give him a bottle.  He decided at that moment that he did NOT want to be in the car any longer.  He pretty much cried/screamed the rest of the way.  Geez...  This was one Mommy who needed cold one as soon as we got to the condo.

 

When we arrived at the condo, Nannie was already there waiting on us.  Luckily, she had already done all the grocery shopping so all we needed to do was put on our swimsuits and head to the pool!

 

The first day, we just went to the indoor pool.  The water was as warm as bath water... baby steps :)

 



The next morning, we hit the beach bright and early before the crowd got there.  Yep, we were those people who go to the beach at 8:00 in the morning.  I always wondered why on earth you would get there so early?!  Now I know... few people, sun isn't too blazing, and a happy morning baby!

 

 

 

The baby swimming pool is a MUST at the beach!  He loved splashing in the water.  He would put his hands in his mouth and tasted the salt water.  He wasn't so sure about the taste but that didn't stop him.

 



At first, he did not like the sand.  He cried a little and then stuck his hands and feet all in it.  He played and played!

 



 

After our mid-morning nap, Uncle John, Aunt Amy, and cousin Thomas came to visit.  We went back to the pool for the boys to play some more. We pretty stayed at the pool the rest of the weekend.  James LOVED the pool. He loved splashing mommy and daddy too!

 

 

Cousins!!!

 



Sunday consisted of more beach and pool time.  Needless to say James was exhausted!  However, it was hard getting him to nap for long periods of time because he just didn't want to miss out on any fun :)

 

I caught a good picture of him passed out after a trip to the pool. Sweetie :)

 

 

Sunday night, we tried a family photo shoot before dinner.  Since there was no professional photographer around, this is what we ended up with.

 

 

For dinner, we went to Bear Point Marina.  James had a blast!  There was live music, a lot of people watching and boats coming in and out of the Marina.  After eating, we took a walk around to look at the all the boats.

 

Thank you Nannie and Grandpa for an amazing and fun-filled 1st Beach Trip!  We had so much fun!

 







 

9 months!

James is 9 months old!!  He weighs 18 pounds, 14 ounces and is 29 inches long!  I probably say this every month, but 9 months is my favorite age so far!  He has really starting exploring things and is crawling all over the place.  He loves to pull up on anything around him: tables, chairs, couches, mommy, etc. 

 

At 9 months, James is eating a ton of food!  He still has about five 6 ounce bottles a day PLUS fruit and oatmeal for breakfast, vegetables for lunch and dinner, and sometimes a snack of yogurt in the afternoon.  He loves pureed food.  Not so fond of any food that is not pureed.  We will continue working on that :)

 

He is still such a happy baby and loves to play outside, read books, and watch Mickey Mouse on TV.  He also loves to point at everything and everyone!

 

Over Memorial weekend, we went to the beach for the first time and he LOVED it!  He loved the pool, the beach, didn't really love the ocean but he will one day.  I will write about our beach vacation in another blog though :)

 

Last Friday, we went to the park in our neighborhood with my cousin and her cutie pie kids.  James loved the swing and the "tunnel" on the play ground.  Here's a picture of him exploring...

 

 

I wish he could stay this sweet and innocent forever!  He is growing and learning so much everyday and we are having a blast watching him!

 



8 Months!

 

James turned 8 months old about two weeks ago! (I know I'm a little behind).  He is still such a happy baby and so much fun!  He weighs about 18 pounds and is about 28.5 inches long.  We aren't sure of the exact measurements since we haven't had to go to the doctor in a while!

 

James is eating so much these days.  He has about 28 ounces of formula and three meals of day of Stage 2 vegetables and fruits.  Still no teeth but I just love his toothless grin :) He is working very hard on crawling but can't quite get the courage to take the first step.  Just this past weekend, he pulled up all by himself!  He needs Mommy's help once he's up, but is so proud of himself after he pulls up.  He just looks at me and smiles so big and lets out a high pitched squeal!  He knows he is turning in to such a big boy.

 

Time has flown by!  I know that I'm going to miss these days of James squealing and laughing at Mommy and Daddy dancing to music.  He is such a sweet boy as he loves to smile and coo all day long.  James also started "kissing" when he puts it's open mouth up to your cheek and either blows or makes a "ahh" sound.  He is just too sweet!

 

As an 8 month old, James is getting into everything.  I'm a little relieve that he's not mobile yet, because I'm exhausted from taking things out of his mouth from just him sitting still! 

 

To give you a little idea of a few minutes in the life of having an 8 month old, here's how it went trying to get a decent picture of him this time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phew!  I'm exhausted just looking at the photos!  But's it worth every minute of it! 



7 months and Easter

James turned 7 months old on Easter weekend.  He weighs about 17 pounds and is about 28.5 inches long.  He is keeping his figure slender while his legs are growing so long!  James loves to sit up by himself and play with all of his toys!  He loves having all of his toys surrounding him at one time so he pick one up at any time.  He is eating about three "meals" a day and about 30 ounces of formula a day!  He is really a growing boy!

 

He is really starting to babble a lot and still squeals when he's happy.  He is starting to say consonant sounds and words such as "ba-ba" and "da-da".  Sometimes he babbles so much that I know he's telling me such an interesting story.  I just wish I could understand!  But I love to just sit there and listen to him "talk."

 

Most of all, James loves to smile!  It never gets old to see his lovable smile :) 

 

 

 

Easter morning, we showed him his Easter basket full of toys and clothes.  The first thing he did was take everything out of the basket.  He had to have everything surrounding him before he could start playing with it all.  He was so excited to play with his new toys!

 

We went to Mass downtown at the Cathedral on Easter because we were going to KoKo's house for lunch right around the corner.  James was LOVING church.  He loves to listen to the music and watch all the people walking by. 

 

At one point during Mass, I was holding James trying to get him to stop babbling to the kids in the pew behind us when I felt something...  something warm... something wet...

Yep!  You guessed it!  He peed right on my hip.  RIGHT on my Easter dress.  Needless to say, we didn't make it through the rest of the service and headed to KoKo's right away.

 

After our outfit change and lunch with KoKo, we headed back to the house to try to finally get some good pictures of James' first Easter.  I love the way they turned out!

 

 

Hmmmm... I wonder if this would fit in my mouth??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He was fascinated by the plastic eggs

 







 

 

 

I just can't get enough of his smile!

6 Months (and 3 weeks)

 

 

James turned 6 months... three weeks ago!  Haha!  I know, I know.  I've been so busy, that I totally forgot to post about his 6 month birthday!  He is growing so fast and is such a happy baby!  When we took his 6 month pictures, he had a rash on his chin that we weren't sure where it came from.  Luckily, it went away the next day :)

 

At 6 months, James weighed 16 lbs and 6 ounces and was 28 inches long!  He is wearing 6-9 month clothing but is very close to having to go up a size due to his long body!  He is still the sweetest little boy I know and loves to read books, play in his activity bouncer, and squeal for mommy and daddy!  He is eating so much ALL THE TIME!  He is eating about 35 ounces of formula with two meals each day.  He has oatmeal with apples in the morning and a vegetable at night.  We are upping his meals to three a day today so we will see how that goes!  So, far he likes green beans, apples, and peas.  He does not like carrots but will tolerate them enough to eat them when he's hungry :)

 

He is sitting up on his own for the most part but will tumble over after a while.  He loves being outside and being pushed in his stroller :)

 

Just yesterday at daycare, they told me how much he loves the song "Old McDonald" and how he tries to imitate the animal noises!  He is such a smart boy!

 

Here are some more recent pictures of James so you can see the many faces he has

 

 

In honor of Dr. Seuss' Birthday



Sweet face

Worried Face

 

Happy Face!

Happy to be posing face

I got caught face

 

Being a mommy to James is more and more fun each day.  I look forward to waking up each morning to his toothless grin and seeing the excitement on his face when I pick him up from daycare.   Just when we think it couldn't get any better than this, he surprises us again with so much joy!





A Growing Boy!

It has been a crazy few months around here.  So much is going on and time is going by so fast!  Our sweet little boy has had a rough month as he has been sick since about Christmas.  It has been viral infection after viral infection since we put him in daycare.  We are all exhausted from all the doctors and hospital visits!  Thankfully, James is doing great this week and we hope he continues to be a healthy baby boy!

 

Since the last time, James has had 3 "monthly" birthdays!  Look at how he has grown!

 

3 months

 

4 months

 



5 months

 



 

At 5 months, James is very active (when he's not sick).  He wants to sit up on his own so badly!  I think he's almost there!  He is wearing 6-9 month clothing and still on formula.  He is such a sweet little boy.  He loves to smile, squeal and kick his legs when he's excited.  We've had a few moments of laughter and it is such a joy to listen to him play! 

 

He is a growing boy and our love for him grows everyday!



Roll Tide!!

Since the Tide is back in the running for their 15th National Championship, we would just like to give a Roll Tide to everyone from the Wallaces!

Two Months Old

 

 

I know this is two weeks late, but at two months old, James is such a joy!  He is such a happy baby and loves to smile and coo at Mommy and Daddy. 

 

At his two month doctor's appointment, he weighed in at 11 pounds 14 ounces and 24.5 inches long!  He is still in the 50th percentile for weight and 90th for height.

 

Every morning I look forward to having a special time with James as he smiles and coos as if it's been a long time since he has seen me. He is really getting attached to Mommy and I am getting so attached to him!

 

James also likes playing on his activity mat and gym.  He works so hard to hit the animals hanging from the gym.  He can play for several minutes at a time now.

 

He is still trying to hold up his head on his own.  He can hold it up for a very short period of time but it is just so big and heavy! 

 

Every day there is a new development with James.  He is changing and growing so fast.  He is our pride and joy and we can't imaging life without him!

 

 

 

 



Road Trip and a Baby Shower!

A couple of weeks ago, we made our first family road trip to Daphne to visit Nanny and Grandpa.  Mommy was quite nervous about how Baby James would act on the almost 4 hour drive.  To our surprise, he did very well if you take away the breakdown James had about 30 mintues before our final destination.  But who could blame him?  I act the same way when I'm hungry!

That Friday night, we went to visit James' great-grandparents and his namesake.  I believe they were in love at first sight!

 

The next day, we helped host a baby shower for my sister in-law and James' soon to be cousin, Thomas!  James "pretended" to be asleep through most of the shower.  Too many women sitting around talking! 

 

 

But when he was awake, he was a hit!

 

The theme of the baby shower for Amy and Thomas was "She's About to POP!".  So, we had many things to go along with that theme...

 

POPcorn

Fruit with POPpyseed dressing

Cake POPs

Here a pic of me and the next mommy-to-be!  I can't wait to meet Thomas!  I'm looking forward to many family outings with Thomas and James.  I have a feeling they are going to be getting into a lot of trouble together...

 

On Sunday, we went to visit James' great-aunt and another great grandfather.  But first, we had a photo session with Daddy...

 

James with Grandpa Vernon and Aunt Wendy

 

Or first trip out of Birmingham was almost flawless!  James (and Mommy and Daddy) was exhausted from all the family time and snuggles frome everyone.  The first night we were at my parents' house, James slept for 6 1/2 hours straight!  That was nice but unfortunately has not happened since.

 

Here is what we learned from the trip:

 

1.  Four hours is 30 minutes too long without a pit stop.  All hell will break loose after 3 1/2 hours.

 

2.  Be prepared with at least four diapers for the first diaper change once out of the car and to our destination.  There will be a MASSIVES blowout!

 

3.  Take your parents' offer to watch the baby while you meet friends for drinks.  It is totally worth getting out and socializing with adults!

 

4.  Sonic is our new favorite restaurant.  You can easily stop there on a road trip to feed yourselves and the baby.  Also easy to change the baby in the car while your spouse is eating in the car.  Unfortunately, we did not figure this out until the ride home.  So, the Sonic on Exit 130 in Greenville will be seeing  us again.