JAMES AND...

James met a LOT of people on his trip to California. Here is a summary of his introductions...

First stop on the trip was Uncle Davey and Auntie Taryn, and cousin Eli. Dave told us that James has the best smile he's ever seen, a grin that lights up his whole face. We can't agree more. Dave also thinks that James is as loud as his daddy. Again, I can't agree more! Here are Dave and I holding our nephews the night we met:

James thought his Auntie Taryn was a lot of fun. She spent a lot of time shaking rattles at him and dancing around, getting him to smile. But she was also a great place for a nap. Here they are together, James looking about as comfy as a boy can get:

We're not sure what Eli thought of James, but he did give him the once-over a few times while they were together. Whereas James tends to glance all around and try to take in everything at once, Eli is much more focused. We're not even sure if James recognized Eli as another human (i.e. someone he can be social with), or if he just thought he was a handsome doll, like that baby he keeps seeing in the mirror... Regardless, they were adorable together. Here is Eli checking out his cousin, while James is busy smiling for the camera (don't mind the blur, babies move fast and their eyes aren't flash-friendly):

James also got to meet his great-grandparents. Here he is playing with his Great Grandma:

And here is James with his Great Grandpa, just chillin' (a rare occurance):

We took a 4 generation photo - James with his Grambot, Mommy, and Great Grandma:

James met his Uncle Jamie (also his Godfather) on his graduation day. The look on Jamie's face was priceless, and the photo is irreplaceable. (side note: I lost my camera at the graduation, and even though Jay, Jamie, and Jean searched for an hour, it was nowhere to be found - turns out that someone from administration had found it shortly after I dropped it running down a hill, and when they looked through the photos, they saw the one that Jay had taken of Jamie's thesis defense announcement, and were able to Google his name and find his phone number, and it was happily returned - amazing, eh?) Jamie thought James was awesome! He loved holding him, feeling his bones and muscles move. He told us that James is very fluid. Here is Jamie in awe of his nephew:

Next up were Michelle and Nicole. James had no problem breaking out the smiles to wow the pretty girls that were holding him, but we didn't capture any on film. He looks content none-the-less though:

And while this wasn't an introduction, I have to share this photo of James with his Grandpa because it captures his voice, which is something my dad hadn't really been introduced to yet. You can almost hear James demanding something, can't you?

James was also introduced to live music on this trip. Here he is listening to his Uncle Davey play the guitar while his Auntie Taryn was singing. They learned a couple of Pearl Jam songs just for James. Well, more for me I suppose, but I fully intend to convince James that Pearl Jam is the greatest band ever. He looks fascinated with the show, don't you think? His Grandpa had a hard time holding onto him because he was straining so much to get a good view:

Maybe I should break out my old flute one of these days...