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.