My Baby is 1 YEAR Old!

I'm posting late of course. I didn't even realize I hadn't posted this one and my kid has been 1 for over a month now!



This year truly has flown by. It has been our favorite adventure watching our little baby grow into the little toddler he is now. He used to be this tiny little baby who would curl up into this tiny little ball and just snooze on my chest. Now, he's a rambunctious little toddler who has the most contagious laugh and thinks it's the funniest thing in the world when we chase him around the house. These are 2 totally different experiences that bring their own special kind of joy. I can't even express how it feels, so I won't attempt to. I'll just say it's the best. I know people say that all the time and sometimes they mean it figuratively. This is literally the best.

Mason's personality is growing and it's so fun to watch him change and develop preferences. He loves playing with balls, bubbles and balloons. He thinks flying is a blast and bouncing or rocking are crazy fun too. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a little daredevil on my hands. He'll give Daddy plenty of laughs and Mama lots of mini-heart attacks. He loves to chase his dog around and trying to get her to chase him. He is amazed by the outdoors and will instantly perk up when he goes outside if he's not in a good mood. He's a true little boy and loves to get his hands in the dirt. 

Watching him learn is also incredibly fulfilling. This kid didn't even know how to eat when he was born. He's learned so much in just a year! We've been working on baby sign with him and he's consistently signing "milk". It's the first thing he does when I pick him up at daycare. If he's in the middle of some serious play time and I ask him if he wants milk, he'll stop what he's doing, come over to me and start signing it. It's so freaking adorable. He signs food occasionally, but he still usually signs milk for that too. He will also occasionally sign "more".

He only has 2 teeth, but he has no trouble eating with his gums. I love his gummy little smile!

So far, he:
- crawls everywhere
- climbs the stairs
- walks with assistance
- pulls up on anything
- cruises furniture
- recognizes and plays with himself in the mirror
- points to himself and sometimes mama and dada
- turns light switches on and off
- pulls chain to turn fan light on and off
- plays drums (on everything)
- still sleeps through the night
- says "mama", "dada" and "byebye"
- claps (when he wants)
- points (also when he wants)
- waves hey and byebye
- signs "milk" and occasionally signs "food" and "more"
- throws tantrums if something gets taken from him
- loves food and bath time
- dances and bounces to music

We've had some fun little adventures with Mason. We've traveled with him quite a bit. He's already been to the mountains and the beach, as well as a few other states!

Other states Mason's visited:
Maryland (multiple times)


Massachusetts (At Harpoon with Dada)

 Maine - Hiking!


South Carolina -  On his actual birthday, we went to Greenville to see a total solar eclipse! Such a cool way to spend his birthday!

He still gets along great with Bailey! He adores her and I think she loves him too. We're working on teaching them both to be gentle. He likes to try to hit her and pull on her tail and ears. We're constantly redirecting him from doing these things and showing him how to gently pet her. Bailey is good with him, but if you've ever met her, you know how big of a weapon her tail is. She's also still quite rambunctious for an almost 7 year old dog and will run over him if she's going after a toy.

Here are some of Mason's adventures from this past month! (actually from July-August)

 At his 1 year appointment!


My last time putting my little infant to bed. Such a bittersweet moment!


Story time with Daddy on his birthday morning!

 He loves sleeping with his butt in the air.

 Big smiles during his first visit to Pullen Park! He also rode the train and the carousel. It was a fun, but HOT day!

Getting  a little dirty during outside time.

I seriously can't believe Mason's first year is over. I can't wait to see what this next year brings our way! 

Mason - 11 months!

This is all the excitement leading up to Mason's 11th month! 

Mason finally got his first tooth! I'm still breastfeeding, so I consider it a blessing that he just now got a tooth! I've been feeling his gums forever and I've been able to feel his teeth below the surface, but nothing that felt like it was about to pop through soon. We were at Josh's mom's one weekend and I noticed his hands were constantly in his mouth. He's been known to chew on his hands, but this was definitely more than usual. I decided to take a little feel and sure enough, he had his first tooth! He got his bottom left central incisor first. 

Mason is all about sticking his tongue out. He makes no exception when I try to look at his gums. 

 No joke, the kid's bottom lip is like a button that makes his tongue pop out. Look at those eyes!<3 p="">

He got to have fun with some of his cousins while we were at his Nana's house. 

 How adorable are these two?!?

His older cousin showing him how he likes to play with blocks.

Mason also started crawling this month! He's been trying to pull up to stand and didn't have much interest in being on all fours until a few weeks ago, so I was starting to think he was going to skip crawling all together. He took his time learning to crawl, but now that he's getting around, I also consider it a blessing that he didn't do that until 10 months! It's a LOT more work keeping up with this kid now!

 He started trying to eat our Aloe plant, so we had to move it.

 He learned to crawl under my desk pretty quickly.

He's standing up in his crib, so Josh lowered the crib mattress.


We also transitioned Mason to his big boy car seat! I loved the convenience of his infant seat, and he has not outgrown it yet, but he does seem a little cramped in it. Until he outgrows it, it will be our backup seat in the Honda. The convertible seat has taken some getting used to, but now that we've been using it for a couple weeks, I love it! He seems to be more comfortable in it and I really think he likes sitting in a more upright position a lot better!

Mason - 10 Month

Again...a little late. This is what happened leading up to Mason's 10th month!

When we went to Mason's 9 month appointment, his Dr. found an ear infection. He put him on Amoxicillin and did really well with it. This was his first ear infection and he didn't show any of the signs you would expect! I'm so glad we had the appointment and caught it early!

His personality is starting to shine and I love watching it develop! He absolutely loves watching Bailey and he's really starting to watch us when we do certain things. He's so interested in the vacuum cleaner and he just loves to watch me vacuum! He's still not crawling, but he's starting to do this inch worm thing and he's gotten pretty good at scooting. He's been rolling and scooting for a while, but he's getting better at getting where he wants to go. Sometimes he's not very motivated and he'll just chill on his tummy and watch Bailey or us. 

He loves just watching his surroundings and taking things in! I wish I could know what he thought!

We went to MD this past month for a wedding. Mason got to meet some new friends and try a crab cake for the first time! A friend babysat him for us while we were at the wedding and he did great for her! He got to hang out with Ashlyn and Zachary. It was our first trip to MD with Bailey and Mason together and they did great in the car. 

 

This is his first brewery tour! 

With Ashlyn! How cute are they?!?

Unfortunately, he got a virus shortly after our trip. Our poor little guy had a rough 2 weeks! His only symptoms with the virus were a fever and a rash, so it definitely could have been a lot worse! He handled it like a champ. He was super clingy, but he was still willing to play a bit. He missed a whole week of daycare. One thing I discovered (not that it was a doubt) is that my office is no longer a safe place for him to play now that he's more mobile. I sat him on his play mat and he kept moving to his tummy and making his way to my laptop charger! 

I put him back on the play mat and gave him some excited things that were not his toys (a box, napkin, piece of paper, etc).

Apparently, that wasn't dangerous and exciting enough for him. He wasn't very pleased with me.

He loves standing! He can't pull up on this toy yet. He has tried, but it just falls over on him. I let him pull up on my hands then he'll grab on to it.

Two of his favorite things...outside and his dog! 

He absolutely loves going outside! He likes to watch Bailey chase her balls and frisbee. He likes to sit in the grass and play. He loves to just look around. I hope he continues to love the outdoors!

Gimme that ball!

We had family over for Father's Day and had a great time!

Showing Uma (my mom) how he makes tunes on his activity table!

Too busy watching his dog to look at the camera. 

Again...the dog is more interesting. 

We made this Father's Day sign for Dada!

We also celebrated Mason's in & out day this month! On June 10, he had officially lived outside my belly for as long as he lived inside!

41 weeks 5 days on the inside. This is the last photo of me pregnant. I was in labor (early labor, between contractions) here. He didn't come until early the next morning, but I was in no mood to have my picture taken at that point. 

 

41 weeks 6 days out!

He got to meed his friend, Adrian for pizza! He hadn't seen her since he was 2 months old!

He got to have several play dates with his cousin, Savannah!

How cute are they?!?

He just loves to practice standing. 

He had another play date with Savannah and Claire. 

He has learned to turn the light on and off with the chain. He thinks it's so much fun!

I absolutely love waking up to this handsome face every morning!

Mason's first faux hawk! Nevermind the girly caterpillar...he's pretending it's a motorcycle.

Mason - 9 Months

This is late...of course, but Mason turned 9 months on May 21. These are the things that happened during Masons's 8 month, leading up to 5/21!

Mason is now easily pulling to a standing position while holding on to us. He's trying to pull up on other objects, but he either loses his grip or they fall over on him. He loves to hold on to things and stand, play with Bailey, go out side and take a bath. He pretty much hates having his diaper changed (this used to be one of his favorite things!). He's rolling and scooting around, but not crawling. He's still toothless, but he doesn't struggle to eat at all!

He got to go to his first family birthday party, Natalia's 10th birthday party. I got on the water slide with him and he splashed in the pool with me. He napped well at my sister's house, then had a good time hanging out with family.

He's always been a baby who plays with his tongue a lot, but he has REALLY gotten interested in it now. He also likes being upside down. 

He loves rocking and hanging with his cousin, Savannah!

We did a mini ball pit in his bath tub! He found the single tennis ball and decided to play with it. I guess he's been watching Bailey do that a lot. 

He's very interested in Bailey's toys (that spotted toy in front of him is Bailey's. He stretched out and grabbed it rather than playing with his own toys that were closer).

We celebrated my first Mother's Day! 

First Mother's Day roses!

Mason was dedicated on Mother's Day! Such a special day!

 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

- Proverbs 22:6

He's so handsome!

He's been working at holding a standing position and has gotten really good at it!

We went on our first family vacation during Mason's 9th month! Josh had a conference for work in Boston during the first week of May. Mason and I flew up to join him after the conference. I was worried about how it would be to fly alone with a baby, but it went well! 

On our way to go through security, which was a breeze! I highly recommend baby wearing in the airport if you travel with a little one!

We found Mason Place in Boston!

Mason is an amazing sleeper. He's been sleeping in his own bed and sleeping through the night since he was just a few months old. We've definitely gotten spoiled! On vacation, he took a break from being our perfect little sleeper. He slept great one or 2 nights, but he woke up during the night most nights and didn't want to go back to sleep in his crib. Since we were in a hotel and I couldn't have him crying at 2am, he ended up sleeping with us after he woke up most of the nights. 

I won't lie...I absolutely loved all the snuggles and this just melts my heart!

He was so happy to wake up and play in the mornings!

This is at our hotel in Bar Harbor, Maine. It's the cutest little town and I loved it!

We went for a 3 mile hike in Acadia National Park - it was absolutely beautiful!

After our hike.

He got to taste a little clam chowder and he loved it! He didn't want to give the spoon back to daddy though!

This is our first time eating out with him since he started eating solids. he did great!

He thoroughly enjoyed rolling around and playing on the hotel beds.

We went to a children's museum in Portland and we had so much fun! 

Touching a sea urchin at the touch tank

Touching a star fish

About to fly back home!!!

Another (not so fun) thing happened during Mason's 9th month. Mason got pink eye! It was awful! This is also when I first realized he has too many toys. 

I sanitized EVERYTHING that he had been in contact with for the past couple weeks. These are just the small toys, not including the ones that could be put in the washer. I did those, stuffed animals and his big toys all separately.

He also had his first bathtub poop during his 9th month. Luckily, I had him in his baby bath (I'm so glad we got the massive one we did!) so I could just dump it down the toiled and clean the tub out quickly. This is him watching me fill up his bath tub after I cleaned it back up. He was so interested in watching the water!