Mason - 13 months!

Mason is 13 months old! What do you know...another late post.

This stage with Mason is challenging, but it's so much fun. He throws tantrums probably daily now, but I know it's just because he's learning to deal with his emotions. He's getting better about using baby sign when he wants something, he's getting around great, though he's not quite walking yet. He crawls, cruises and pushes thing to get where he wants. He used to just run his walker into walls, etc, but now he's starting to turn it around. He climbs the stairs like a champ and he's pretty good at getting back down the right way too (but sometimes, he still wants to sit down mid-descend). He makes us laugh every single day and I can't imagine a world without this little guy in it!

Some of his favorite things right now are food...(he is not a happy camper if there's food in sight and he can't have it), Bailey, bath time, pushing all of the things around and being outside.

 He's into everything and loves to try to help us.

 He loves going for rides

Speaking of rides, he got a wagon this month, which he absolutely loves! We can't wait for the weather to be nicer so we can take more walks!

He looks so much older!


He got to go on the boat to celebrate Dada's birthday.

He took his first trip to the West Coast! Josh had a conference in San Francisco and we met him out there afterward. I was SO nervous about going on such a long flight with a 1 year old solo, but it went well. He got restless a couple times on the longest leg of the flight (5.5 hours), but I was able to entertain him with books, snacks and nursing. The trip was a lot of fun, but so exhausting. He was a little confused with the 3 hour time difference, but overall, that went better than expected.


He was excited to help pack


We visited a friend's brewery and he gave Mason a private tour.


He got to see the most curved street in the world.


He got to see the sea lions at Pier 39


He got to ride on Daddy's shoulders


Stretching his legs at Golden Gate Park


Learning about bioluminescence


He took some AMAZING stroller naps while we were out and about in San Francisco. I was even able to pick him up from his stroller, hold him for a bit and put him back in the stroller all without him waking up. My child does NOT transfer while sleeping, so this was a huge deal!


Walking back to our room after having dinner in Chinatown. He was so tired and cranky, then we let him play with a fortune cookie package and he was good to go.


Then we got on the cable car and he passed out immediately.

 Munching on an apple on the plane.


Stretching his little legs during a layover.

 Story time with daddy while we wait to get off the plane.

It was challenging at times to be 3 timezones over with a toddler, but we had a great trip!


He loves getting to wake Daddy up and snuggle him in the mornings. His face seriously lights up when he sees him and it makes my heart melt!

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.