First steps!

This little leaf, stuck to the window, inspired James to take his first few steps on his own this morning!

Heading into the kitchen to make some coffee to start our day, James spotted this leaf and immediately wanted to go get a closer look. So, off he crawled to scope it out. Sure enough, he pulled up on the window to standing to get a better view, talked to it a bit, then turned, let go of the windowsill and took a few steps to get to the side table nearby! Phil and I looked at each other, amazed! Did we just see James take his first steps?! We did! So glad Phil was still home so we could witness this first hand together!

Looks like our predictions that he will be walking by Thanksgiving may come true!

Until then... I will follow him with video ready to try and capture it to share!

10 Months Old!

James is TEN months old!

Pumpkin Picking!

October 26, 2013

A few weekends ago, we took James to Red Wagon Farm to pick out his very first pumpkin. Although it was a little too cold for the hay ride around the farm, James had a blast checking out all of the pumpkins in the pumpkin patch. And, we had a blast watching his amazement!

 

One thing is for sure, James LOVES pumpkins! 

Gearing up for Halloween, he couldn't get enough of "visiting" all of the pumpkins around the house. He now whispers "pump" as he points them out! 

He LOVED the little farm! 

Looks like we'll be back next year!

And, though it is James' first Halloween this year, it also marks Phil's FIRST time carving a pumpkin! Yes. EVER.  

I think he did a pretty good job for his first attempt! Good thing he got his practice in now, next year James will be directing him on what to carve into that pumpkin!

The 1st Great Gibbs family pumpkin!

9 Month Stats!

We will let the Florida pictures serve as James' 9 month "photo shoot." However, once we got back home, I had to try for a chair picture, just to see how much he has grown! Due to the trip, we had to reschedule James' 9 month appointment, which happened closer to his 10 month mark, but here were his stats: 

Weight: 20 lb

Height: 28 in

(Oddly, the same as his 8 months stats; I must have over-guesstimated...)

Jamesy LOVES:
Sofie giraffe, people watching, airplane rides, the ocean/beach, sand, pureed fruits & veggies (always mixed, not separately), clapping, all things music, observing mini golf, walking laps in his pack n' play, "talking" (Mama, Papa, Pa-pow, Dada, Oh! Oh! Oh!, Oh wow, Ut Oh!, to name a few of his most popular choices), wedding festivities (10.12.13!), the ladies, toes (both his and others), wildly protesting getting into highchair or car seat (temper, temper? already?!), pumpkins, nature, animals, pulling up to standing on everything (one-handed now!), dancing/jumping, crawling FAST, chasing after rolling balls, turning pages of books (and studying/reading them upside down!), stroller rides, shopping, watching football with Daddy, cruising along couch and all furniture/walls (he is determined to walk soon, eek!), crouching down to crawl through things like chairs/coffee tables or look under the couch for a lost toy - too funny!), emptying investigating everything (toy bin, DVDs, kitchen cabinets, k-cup boxes, books, etc), interactively playing peek-a-boo

James DOESN'T LOVE:
 Being fed in the back seat of a rental car, the taste of sand, teething, sitting still, diaper changes

Florida (Part 2)

September 23-29, 2013

The temperature is getting chilly here in Ohio! We wish we were back on the beach! Speaking of, here are more Florida pictures. Why? Because I took entirely way too many pictures, James makes the funniest faces, and I want to capture our time there on this blog (since I will turn it into a book at the end of the year). Time to catch up! Enjoy!

Florida was just what we needed. Fun, sun and relaxation. What did we do? Not much of anything!

We took morning walks on the boardwalk and watched the beach "wake up." We took naps during the morning rain. We ventured to the beach for some ocean family fun. We de-sanded and bathed our little mini before heading out to dinner. We mini-golfed. We ate dessert on the patio and listened to the waves as James was asleep for the night. We just enjoyed our time together as a family; which seems to be fleeting these days with hectic work and travel schedules. Then, did all over again each day, for a week!  That is, until the big waves came crashing and washed our beach tent away. Then, we had had enough! (Thankfully this happened on our last beach day for the week. We can laugh about it now...). Okay, and we took a day trip to St. Augustine to see a fort and historic town, too.

After a few visits to the ocean, James ended up loving it. He couldn't get enough of crawling around on the sand and splashing in the water. He definitely wasn't shy about getting friendly with the sand. Great first family vacation!

Project De-sand the Baby

Mr. Talkative  (video to post soon)

James, 9 months! 

Mini Golfer

St. Augustine ~ Fort Castillo de San Marcos