cheesing...

mason's first date

we spent the weekend with our dear friends, the bledsoes, in honor of riley's first birthday. we had a fantastic time catching up and mason, riley, and ryan played until they could play no more (to put it in perspective, mason actually took two naps, totaling 3.5 hours on sunday -- absolutely unheard of in our world!)

in the midst of all the fun, mason also had his first date... he and riley dined in style in riley's new kitchen/diner. ryan served up delicious hamburgers, ice cream, and some pie to his hungry guests. needless to say, neither one was too nervous to eat! too cute...

a nice day for a swim

after a few false starts...

we found the winning combination
(hint: let the water warm up in the sun!)

shaggy no more

you might have noticed that mason was beginning to look a little shaggy. his hair was almost hanging in his eyes, his ears were practically non-existent, and he just wasn't looking like a clean-cut, pint-sized whipper-snapper any more... so at 8.5 months of age, mason got his first haircut.

before the fun begins

whoa that's a long mohawk!

just chillin' while i get my hair cut...

the finished product!

i saw him standing there

new day. new trick.

see ya later

i am not a vegetarian

for the past few weeks, mason has been waking up around midnight STARVING. how do we know? well, there's a certain cry (ok, more like a scream) that signals nothing but food will do. small whimpers will resolve themselves. little cries persisting more than 10 minutes can be soothed by the snuggly blanket and pacifier. short, loud cries can be comforted by a quick pick-up by mommy or daddy - a rub on the back, kiss on top of the head and back to bed. the starving cries don't stop. they are long, loud, and absolutely inconsolable without a bottle. confirmation is received when your child reaches up, grabs the bottle, and stuffs it in his own mouth before downing the 8 ounces. yes, it was time for a change.

so this week, we had turkey. a lot of it. and you know what? mason is still waking up hungry!! obviously, we are not parental geniuses, but it turns out, mason has no intentions of being a vegetarian. he scarfed down the turkey and has moved on to chicken. now if only he had a few more teeth, we could forego the gerber "meat mash" and give him the good stuff... all in due time.

tub friends...

out of all of mason's tub friends...

why is it that the *free* plastic bowl from the hospital is his absolute favorite?

very special day

today was a very special day. not only was it my first official mother's day; it was also my 31st birthday! mason was still feeling a bit under the weather, so it wasn't exactly a crying-free day, but it was special nonetheless.

brad treated me to a date night last weekend, complete with an overnight stay downtown while grammy and pappy kept mason (his first overnight trip too, sans parents). we saw the musical rent, as it stopped in houston and had a fun evening. while we had big intentions of staying up late and sleeping in the next morning, we pretty much turned into pumpkins right after we returned from the hobby center and woke up the next morning by 7:30 am!

this weekend was a little more low key. the photography class i signed up for ages ago finally happened on saturday (yay!). and due to mason's health status we sat out the baby dedication (boo!). my parents, sister, and aunt came over for dinner on saturday night (fun!). and today, brad, mason, and i just lounged around at home for most of the day except for a quick outing to academy and a to-go order run to lupe tortillas (what's a birthday without lupe's?!)

my birthday and mother's day only coincide every so often, so it was a nice surprise when this year offered a double treat. thanks to all for making it so special!

my first fever :(

apparently our cinco de mayo festivities (ie staying at home, feeding mason puffs) were too much for our little guy. at school wednesday, he started acting funny... as in coughing, refusing food (this has NEVER happened!), and taking an hour and 45 minute nap (also NEVER happened at school). they called me at 4:45 to let me know his temperature was 100.9. i immediately called the doctor and we headed straight there for our pediatrician's after hours clinic. mason cried the whole way (also NEVER happened before). by the time we arrived at 5:30, his temperature had risen to 102. not a good sign.

with him wailing, the doctor checked him out and after a flu swab test and a blood draw, ruled out swine flu (or any other kind) and any bacterial infections. the diagnosis? a virus - projected to last 3 to 4 days. most likely mason picked up the same junk brad and i have been fighting for the last couple of weeks. finally, the sick train goes both ways!

the timing couldn't have been worse, with me having 3 big meetings/presentations today and brad having a mandatory meeting on the other side of town this morning. pappy to the rescue! my dad graciously agreed to be at our house at 6:45 am so we could make it to everything on time. he played, fed, diapered, and generally loved on our sick little one all day until brad could make it home. (thanks, pappy!)

mason seems to be feeling a bit better, but was still running a little fever today. time will tell if we get to make it to the scheduled baby dedication at church saturday night. it's a bit disappointing that our chances aren't great to make it, but between the fear that he'd get 60+ other babies sick and the fact that we dedicated him to God in our hearts the moment we found out we were pregnant, i'm sure it will be fine either way. unfortunately, our church only does this once a year, so it's now, or chance it next year when he's running around on the stage like a wild banshee...

while it seems to us that there's never a dull moment, we wouldn't have it any other way. get well soon baby!

8 months!

in honor of mason reaching the 8 month mark, we celebrated by giving him a few "puffs" - he showed off by picking them up (go pincer grasp!) and stuffing them in his mouth (ok, 2 of them made it in the mouth, one got stuck to the highchair, another dropped into his lap, and the other managed to stay stuck to his hand!). so far he doesn't seem very impressed with his "advanced" food!

other achievements we've noted during the last month include pulling up on select items (hands are his favorite, but he also likes to grab onto the side of the exersaucer and occasionally the music table), army crawling, taking big boy baths, and expanding his diet to include pears, peaches, applesauce, and bananas (yum, yum!). we've really noticed him filling out lately, with his little tummy testing the limits of the 9 month waistbands!

our boy loves to laugh! our favorite part of day is when we all sit in the den before dinner and play on the floor. he gets the giggles every time... whether it's a cassie drive-by, brad stomping his feet, me making faces, or us all singing silly songs.

his two bottom teeth are in and he's putting them to good use, chomping on assorted toys and even our fingers if he can get a hold of them. ouch!

all in all, we couldn't be happier with our little addition. he's a keeper! :)

eyeing the puff

into the mouth!

what the heck is this??

i'm saving this one for later!

one mean army crawl...

mason has a new trick. and while he hasn't quite figured out the whole "legs underneath him" part, he's getting pretty adept at moving around the living room. the following took place early last week. after brad dangled the carrot blackberry in front of him for 10 minutes, i finally ran to get the camera. mason, as you'll see, is a little tired after the intense workout, but you still get the idea. child-proofing, here we come!

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