7 months!

we've been blessed with 211 days with mason so far and can hardly remember what life was like before he was here (except for those long-lost days of laying on the couch!) our boy is growing like a weed and will switch to the big-boy carseat tomorrow. he is quite the veggie eater (green beans, peas, squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes) and tried his first fruit (avacado -- yes, it's a fruit) yesterday. pappy thought he should eat it with a chip, but mommy vetoed that plan. he might soon be crunching on something, though, as his first tooth has finally broken the surface of his bottom gumline!

cassie dog is among his favorite mammals - we think she ranks over us at the moment! mason looks for her everywhere and tries to pet her whenever she is close by. cassie, so far, is obliging. she's learned to sit with her back toward him and let him pet her (otherwise, he grabs her ever-so-tempting long ears). every time mason spots her, he just giggles and giggles.

mason is sitting up very well on his own. this started a week or so before his 6 month marker and he's gotten better and better - he no longer topples forward when reaching for toys! he also loves to pull up on mommy's hands. after a friend (thanks kimberly!) warned about babies not knowing how to sit once they pull up to the standing position, we've been playing the 1-2-3 UP and 1-2-3 DOWN game. i'm sure it's all in vain, but it is a feeble attempt to not have to run to his room in the middle of the night when he's able to pull himself up in the crib, but can't get back down. (this hasn't happened yet, we're just practicing for the future!)

perhaps the most endearing new trick is that he started reaching for us when we go to pick him up. the "arms up" position with the smiling face is such a treat, particularly after a long day at work.

mason is sleeping about 12 hours a night, and 90% of the time sleeps hard. about 9% of the time, we hear him grunting over the monitor, so we get up to pop the pacifier back in his mouth and he falls right back to sleep. the remaining 1% of the time (and yes, i'm totally making up these percentages), he decides he really doesn't feel like sleeping and starts jabbering away in the middle of the night. you see, he's happy until we go in there to check on him. that quickly changes when we don't pick him up to play. the words, "it's night-night time mason" can result in some extreme crying (the boy has pipes!). these are the nights that we consider giving him away... just kidding... it just so happens that the 1% happened multiple times last week. we're not sure what the deal was, but mommy and daddy are still trying to recover from the lack of sleep.

despite the temporary bags under our eyes, we still wouldn't trade him for the world. our lives are more full because of him and life just looks more beautiful through the eyes of parenthood. thank you God for this precious gift.

"sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him." - psalm 127:3