James is 10 months!

Our baby boy is two months away from his first birthday (cue the sobs! I can't believe it!).  After I took this adorable pictures - I uploaded them, then logged on to the blog to start my post . . . and realized he was wearing the same onesie as his 9 months photos.  Mom fail!  And confusing to say the least.  

Anyway, our sweet James has started babbling - we all agree his first word is "Lila" but he also says Mama and Dada.  He is rambunctious, always getting into everything, has learned how to open drawers and cabinet doors, climbs down the step into the playroom with ease, eats everything he gets his hands on (his favorite foods are avocado, strawberries, and any kind of bread), he is an early riser, and he belly laughs all day long.  We love this guy!

Still no teeth at 10 months - but those cheeks!  Love 'em.

He's learned to climb over the beanbag chair - such a boy!

I think this is his Peyton Manning pose.

We call this look his "stink eye"

Such a cutie!

Seriously - he looks like Peyton.

LOVE!

James turns 9 months - and his first trip to Disney!

Our baby boy is 9 months today!  He is always on the move - loves to eat everything in sight even though he has no teeth, and belly laughs at peek-a-boo every time.  He loves to snuggle, hug Lila, and smile, smile, smile!  I took these pictures today while he was playing:

He also celebrated an important milestone this past Tuesday - his first Disney trip!  He did awesome - his favorite ride was It's a Small World - he clapped the entire ride, it was adorable.  And he got his first Mickey - which he snuggled with the rest of the day.  Heart melting!

Big sister Lila got the royal treatment with a makeover at the Bibbiti-Bobbiti-Bootique:

Four generations at Disney!  And James snoozing away . . .

James loved Rapunzel from afar - but as soon as he got close he was not having it:

As you can see, Lila had a full day meeting princesses, Mickey and Mary Poppins - but all of us had a magical time at the happiest place on earth.  We can't wait for our next visit!

A few days late . . . James is eight (months!)

James turned 8 months on Wednesday!  He acts much older - he is crawling fast (and up and down the playroom step no problem), pulling up and cruising around whatever he can, trying to stand up without any support, high-fiving, and the very latest - clapping!

It is also increasingly more difficult to capture him on camera because he wants to move all. the. time.   I did my best to capture our sweet lovable boy!

I'm also happy to report that I have been taking his weekly photos and haven't missed a week yet!  I'm so glad I only have four more months to go!  Those are getting tricky too - here is a shot I got right before he flipped over and crawled away as fast as he could.  What a cutie pie!

In Memory of James Carson

Justin's grandfather, James Samuel Carson (Pop-Pop), left this world this past Tuesday, January 5.  He was a day short of being 104 and 8 months old.  We are grieving but we are also extremely grateful that he was on this earth with us for so long.  I especially feel lucky to have known him the last ten years.  Imagine meeting someone for the first time in their mid-90s and then still having another decade with him.  While I was pregnant with our James (and not knowing if he was a boy or a girl), Justin and I decided early on that if we did have a boy, he would be named James after his great-grandfather.  Not only did we have a boy, our James was born on Pop-Pop's birthday, May 6.  They were exactly 104 years apart.  I am getting choked up just thinking about God's plans for us - he knew all along that our baby would be a boy named James born on May 6.  And I feel so fortunate that we made the trip to Maryland this past August so that both James could meet.

Pop-Pop and Lila had a special connection from their very first visit.  Maybe because she heard his voice when we visited while I was pregnant:

Lila was entranced by him as a baby.  They had a wonderful visit together and Pop-Pop kept saying to her "You're a nice little youngster."  Lila spent a good half hour, maybe longer, just sitting on his lap, playing with his face and hands.

When we visited him again, it took her a little while to warm up and Pop-Pop was disappointed.

Which made their next reunion all the sweeter - Pop-Pop kept saying "We made up, we're in love again," about him and Lila.

I love this picture of them:

Pop-Pop's mind was more than sound - it was sharp - and he told the best stories - one in particular that I remember is when he was getting his engineering degree at University of Virginia (and being old school, he called it "Virginia" not "UVA") during the Great Depression.  He told us that sometimes he would be studying late into the night and would miss the meals available at the dining hall.  But his parents would send him a package once a month, and it always included some cheese and crackers, which he kept in a box under his bed, and that would be his dinner on those late nights.

One of Justin's favorite stories to tell about Pop-Pop is when Justin told him that he would be studying engineering at Virginia Tech.  Without missing a beat, Pop-Pop said, "Is it too late to get into Virginia?"  And Justin ended up as an accounting major, another story all together.

When Pop-Pop's health started to really decline last month, Justin flew up to Maryland and spent four days with him.  I know Justin will remember that visit for the rest of his life - he really got to spend so much quality time with him and hear more of his stories - and we even got to facetime with him while Justin was there.  It was remarkable actually - while we were facetiming, Justin explained how it worked, and Pop-Pop said, "I bet that soldiers overseas use this to talk to their families."  I remember another time we were visiting a few years ago, and he asked Justin and I to explain to him about twitter and tweeting - he was a huge sports fan and read the paper daily, and wanted to know exactly what this "tweeting" was.

I could probably go on for pages remembering little stories about him. . . I know that our children, and their children, will continue to tell his stories, throughout the history of our family.

I found some more pictures from the past decade that I wanted to share as well before I sign off -
One of the last times he traveled was for our engagement party in Virginia in 2007:

Pop-Pop and me on his 98th birthday:

Pop-Pop with Julianna and Abigail on his 98th birthday:

New Years Day 2010:

Pop-Pop turns 99!

4th of July 2010:

Pop-Pop loved Sandy too!  He always wanted us to bring her with us and was disappointed if we left her behind - and Sandy loved to lay near him.

PopPop turns 100!

The whole family celebrating his 100th year:

A holiday visit in 2011:

It is hard to put into words how best to describe such an amazing man - and harder to say how much of an impression he has made on all of us.  We will carry around our memories with him, he is in our hearts, and I know he has taken his place in God's kingdom, but it doesn't make saying good-bye any easier.  Justin will be traveling next week to pay his respects, but the kids and I are staying here in Florida.  This is my tribute to him - Pop-Pop and I were fond of each other from the very beginning.  He really liked my baking - if I showed up without my banana bread, I was in trouble.  He was happy that Justin found someone who wasn't a dodo (our floozy? we can never remember exactly what he was glad I wasn't!)  I am looking forward to being reunited with him in heaven when it is my time - and I can only hope that I live such a full and long life as he did.  We love you, PopPop and miss you.  Until we meet again.