Happy Birthday, Grammy

For Grammy’s “50th” birthday, we hopped in the car for a birthday surprise in Charleston.  We met them at Red’s on Shem Creek for lunch and had a wonderful afternoon.

Aunt Cora and Uncle Mike brought the balloon, which provided much entertainment for quite a while.

James ate some lunch then, got ahold of my lemon from my water…

Although he didn’t think it was great, it didn’t seem that bad.  And he continued to eat it until he got one really bad bite.  (Looking at this picture makes me feel really guilty!)

I thought the day had taken a turn for the worse as James could not seem to get the sour taste out of his mouth.

Until he sat with Papa and had an all access pass to a basket of french fries.  Not the typical method we use to calm him, but it worked better than ever.  And happiness was the goal of the day.

He was so happy in fact, that he didn’t notice the fry that stuck around.

After he sucked the salt off the fries, he fed them to Papa and Grammy.  They love him so much, they would probably eat worms if he wanted them to.

Oh, but James loves his Grammy and Papa right back.  It’s so much fun now that he’s getting older and remembering the people in his life.  I can see it in his eyes, how much he loves his Grammy and Papa.

Before we headed home, we took James to the Parade Grounds at The Citadel so, he could get some energy out.  Although this baby was happy,

James Wallace walking around on the Parade Grounds was a dream come true to Daddy and Papa.

When James was a colicky little baby for 6 months, my parents came to my rescue over and over again.  They came to Columbia for the birth.  Then, we wouldn’t let them leave for weeks.  There were days and nights that we couldn’t have gotten through without them.  There were two people that could soothe this crying baby: Mommy and Grammy.  My mom would walk James up and down the hallway until he’d finally fall asleep.  She would rock him and rock him for hours.  And when I would incessantly thank them, my mom once said, “You have to take care of someone to really, really love them.  And I really love him.”  I think about that a lot, and I’m thankful for the bond my parents have made with James.  Thank you, Grammy, for being there for both the good times and the hard times. 

We love you, Grammy, and appreciate all that you do for our family.  Happy Birthday!