The Backyardigans

James woke up from his nap today with some energy!

And with so many toys to play with…

he chose to explore his other options.

He found Daddy’s Citadel Ring (which won’t happen again. A. because I’d be willing to bet, it’s more important to Justin than his wedding ring and B. because it’s a choking hazard.)

And he practiced holding his own bottle. Practice has yet to make perfect. And he dropped it on Lynyrd’s head.

Given the beautiful weather and all this energy, we decided to take our baby boy outside to play for the very first time on his own two feet! {If this picture could talk, I think it would say, “Now. What. Do. You. Think. About. That?”}

Not to be a stage mom, but I’m really hoping James is walking by his first birthday so, he can play outside with his friends. So we took his walker outside and put him to work!

Up and down the backyard.

Mowing the lawn… I mean, learning to walk.

We stopped to smile for Mommy, of course.

And we laughed with Daddy.

And we were quite distracted by the leaves and the grass and all the newness of our environment.

As big of a boy as he’s becoming, James just looked like such a little baby sitting in the big backyard.

As much fun as I had today, I think the true proud parent was Justin.

You could see a glimpse of the future in his eye: playing catch in the backyard, building a snowman in the winter, learning to ride a bike, working on projects in the garage. Yup, Justin has his boy he has always wanted. And James has the best father in the world.