My baby James:

I rolled around with you this morning, which was the best way to start my day! Dad and I love seeing your morning shine. You're the happiest when you fist wake up! I'll remember these moments when you're a grumpy teenager. Hehe

Morning pose

Guess what?! We survived a much-longer-than-we-should-have-ever-taken-you-on trip a couple weeks ago!! We flew from Portland to LA to NYC to Chicago and back. PHEW! We learned quite a bit from each other on this 9 day venture...

1. The outdoors win your heart every time.

... and not surprisingly, so did your tia Elena.

2. The only way to get you to smile in New York City is to kangaroo you in a tiger suit. 

3. You are a fantastic cheerleader!

Sooo all in all I suppose our trip was truly a success. I'm so happy that people I love all around the country got a chance to meet you.

In other news.. you're officially 9 months!! What can I say? You blow me, Dad, and everyone else around you away with every step, smile, laugh and crawl that we watch. You're growing stronger, smarter, more loving every day that passes. We're so proud of you! I'm excited to continue to watch you grow into your best self. Here's to another month full of giggles!

First pumpkin patch. Experiencing it from the ground up.

Dad and Jammer on a hay ride.

10/20/2014. happy 9 months!

Um, hi.

Mama love.

Standing like a champ.

Winter up top, summer down below.

Good night my baby boo. 

Love, 

Mama bear

October 1, 2014

Jam man, as we get ready to take our tour across the country to LA and NY and back to our Chicago homeland, I want to reminisce a little about your days as a newly minted walker. Congrats on passing the 8 month mark on two feet. You're already making me proud!

Your mom finally let me have access to this thing so I'm gonna milk it for all the father son moments I can squeeze out of you before you can start talking back...

You're not a fan of this carrier for more than a half hour we discovered on a hike in the Gorge. Well, until you collapsed asleep after we really got moving. 

Is it over yet?! You lived up to the Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne vibe the whole way through our fun run a few months back. But hey, your hair looks great so net net you're a winner.

A lil dance session after a big day out in the city! Maybe also followed by an at home karaoke sesh?

Remember that time Dad fed you an egg? Sorry about that man. Good thing you can play through the pain.

Bashful in front of the Trillium Lake crowd.

What a great guy, smiles and a swimmer's body!

Gotta call you out on only pretending to read though. Someday we'll get you into the words and pictures more than the tactile play with the book itself. At 7 months when this was taken though you're outdistancing me on the self control, in fairness!

Helping Mama Bear work as always. Love you guys!