Happy Halloween

Let's see, we stretched this Halloween holiday out...

Friday night was fun at the park with an inflatable Haunted House, trick-or-treating, hotdog meal, hayride (although we didn't participate...Gigi would appreciate this as she had fears of injury).

Since Mason rode in the stroller that night, the Ninja costume ended up being a good fit. Here he is in stealth mode.

But he didn't really appreciate the fact that Mommy wanted a Fall photo op. I guess either the hay was scary, or putting him down randomly and walking away to take a picture was...

On Saturday, we had a blast at Susie's Halloween party. First with teens and then with adults.

He soaked up the attention...as usual. Mason's such a party animal!

Mason says Happy Halloween!

Happy All Day Baby

Nighttime Mason...

Daytime Mason...

Yep, he's really letting go and trying to stand on his own. This time he only stood for about 5 seconds, but we're getting there slowly but surely!

Creepy Crawly...Bug's a Spider

Friday night Mason tanked up on 3 baby food jars in one sitting {of his own accord}. He was hyper, jumping off the walls for 30 minutes...

He kept following me around "Rawrrrrr"ing.

And then he got tired on me all of a sudden...it was no wonder he was knocked out an hour early!

So I was able to test out my domestic skills on his homemade Halloween costume...a midnight Martha Stewart project. Actually it was way past midnight...more like 4am, but some of that was attributed to an insomniac ADHD Mommy working on multiple projects at once. Before Mason was even born, I'd already decided his first Halloween costume, so I was bound and determined to complete the task.

It was all worth it. My Bug is a spider for Halloween, and the costume was completed in time for our church's Fall Festival Sunday night.Mason had a blast playing with all the toys and in particular he enjoyed climbing on the push toys {and even the sit and spin}, standing up to push/walk them around the gym. I've decided it's time to break down and get him a walking push toy so he can be more mobile. I've tried to avoid this as long as possible {our largest baby item outside of his nursery is the swing which I tried to hide in a corner} because I don't really like the baby mess taking over the house *sigh*. I placed him on his back to watch him squirm {bad Mommy!} and he looked like a smushed bug!

But of course he rolled over in no time and was crawling all over the place. The costume was great for a creepy crawly baby...the legs just kind of bobbed along while he scooted everywhere.
Here he is with Nanny C. I was so excited she and her hubby brought their daughter and some of their church friends up to celebrate too- there was face painting, grilled food and candies, pony rides, several inflatables, and they even won at the Cake Walk...so I think it was a hit.

The Spider and Web...

It's Halloween Week and it doesn't end until Saturday-there's still more to come!

Mommy Questions

The thing about Parenting is...there's no manual. There are so many decisions, big and small, that must be made regarding the safety, health, and upbringing of children. So it's no surprise that Mommies turn to their mothers, family members, friends, medical professionals, and the Internet for suggestions and advice.

And while I don't necessarily think the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is the know-all, end-all...they're certainly some of the best medical experts out there. Personally I haven't followed all of the AAP recommendations, but for the most part I find them a healthy guide. I think you should use your own Mommy intuition which trumps their advice...unless of course you have poor Mommy skills/intuition {**insert chuckle**}. Here are some of the more common Mommy questions and the AAP's opinion on the issues:

How early can I start my child on solid foods?

Most babies are ready between 4-6 months.

When can my child be in a forward-facing car seat?

At minimum, they should be at least 22 lbs AND 1 year old. {there's a joint conditional here}.

What are the safest sleep conditions / How can I reduce SIDS?

Place baby on their back to sleep, the safest place to sleep is in the same room {but not in the same bed}, and bumpers should not be "pillow" like. Find more HERE

Should we circumcise our son?

It's a personal opinion; HERE are the pros and cons to both options.

Should I breastfeed my baby?

Breastfeeding is the best nutrition for baby, it provides important disease and infection-fighting substances, and there are many psychological and medical benefits for both mother and baby.

Go To BED Mr Dinosaur!

My little Dinosaur has a weird tendency to want to fight off sleeping...

Every night around 9pm, he gets a burst of energy and does his pterodactyl yell {although I couldn't get a picture of him doing anything else other than pursing his lips-Silliness!}
I just about have to wrangle this monster to get him to calm down and stay still.

Homemade Babyfood

Haley rocks! She and Miss Mary Ella graciously lent us their superfancywaycool Beaba Babycook. I've been meaning to try out this culinary appliance for about 2 months now, but tonight I was finally able to get around to using it.

The magnificent contraption known as the Beaba Babycook

My humongous bag of organic carrots {oh and an apple I sliced for M to munch on while I was cooking}

Chop Chop!

Some Like it Hot

Pureed Carrot Mess

Et Voila! Mason will be able to see in the dark...

I was able to fix 5 medium-sized carrots at a time. The Babycook has greater capacity than you might initially think. I didn't have to worry about checking on the steam time as it's automatic, and the puree was of great consistency and very easy to blend. The Beaba is super cool as it steams, blends, warms, and defrosts...all in one machine.

Thank you Morgan family!

Cool Clothes for Cool Weather

I still stand my ground- cool infant boys clothes are tough to find. And while Mason's still too small for Crewcuts {seriously, I must be on a J.Crew kick}, there are some cute Fall playclothes at Baby Gap and Old Navy- they're even on sale.

Alas, Ralph Lauren {or rather not-on-sale-RL} doesn't fit the budget right now *sigh*...

Gorgeous and Crisp Fall Days

Mason *needs* some cold-weather clothes. I didn't really plan for it to get cool this soon, I guess the season just snuck up on me. And believe it or not, I actually don't have that many Winter clothes for him; even the jackets I have are all 12-mo so they're too large. It's tough to judge what size he'll be for the different seasons. And then now my boy is "flooding" with his khakis. Yep, it's definitely time to go back through his closet to sort through things and assess what he needs for the cold. I know I have some nice warm-weather clothes, tags still attached, that will be resold at consignment. Arrrrgggghhhhh! Didn't I just go on a shopping spree for my stylish boy?

Sunday I put a couple of layers on him and we went out to the park to enjoy the beautiful weather...blue skies, crisp air, and a sunshiney day.

Child of mine loves the swings!

Climb Every Mountain

Tuesday night we went over to the Grizzles for some yummy food (I want that recipe James!), excellent company, and fun entertainment. Some fun of the evening: we had a monkey who went straight for the electrical outlets, ate every sort of paper he could find, and apparently knows how to climb stairs.

Here he is with Ben spotting him. Mason acted like he's always been able to climb those steps, although prior to Tuesday I'd never seen him climb our stairs.

Go get the Marley cat!

And we only bonked once...I think.

Man, this kid is cute!

Mobile Pics

I feel very blessed to have a camera phone. I know that for a lot of people this is just a "normal everyday accessory", but it's become a big deal to me since I'm able to record the little candid moments with Mason.

5.5 months- After traveling for business, "Coming home to this smiley guy....ROCKS!"

6 months- "Laundry Pile- Where's WALDO?"

6.5 months- while shopping at J.Crew, M looks like he's a little grasshopper taking instruction from his wise Uncle, "Uncle Batman & the Bug"
6.5 months- at Rosie's in Florence while visiting Uncle Josh & Aunt Mary, "We eat TexMex, Mason eats LV...poor teething baby"

7 months- I loved these bright, colorful plastic bibs from Wal-Mart but they stained M's cheeks when they got wet, "Cheap Red Bib = Red-Faced Baby"

7 months- at Cracker Barrel for breakfast Mason stuffed a creamer container in his mouth, "M won't take a paci, but he'll take cream with his coffee"

7 months- we got to the point of playing with our food and I had to put a stop to it "Baby Guacamole = Green Gooey Mess"

7.5 months "Bet you know where the corner of that paper went..."

8-Months Old

At 8-months, Mason's...

...stuck on his Mama; seperation anxiety is not fun to deal with, even though it's nice to feel wanted. Big Boys don't cling, Mason!

...getting more teeth. He has 6 teeth now. His teething eruption pattern is a little odd: bottom 2 central incisors, top 2 lateral incisors, and now the top 2 central incisors. We're still nursing, but it's just about time to wean. Teeth are scary...

...moving constantly. Whether he's crawling, cruising, bouncing, scooting, or swinging; he's happiest on the go. When he's cruising he likes to find gaping areas where he can either turn to lean onto another surface or where he can pounce to another object. He still has poor balance (well, in my book) but he sure does like to let go and see if he can stand. There's little fear in this child!

...slick and is into everything. Here I caught him climbing the walker, and he really looked at me like, "Oh man I just got busted." He's also tried to eat houseplants; explores partially opened cabinets; will pull up on anything including table skirts and curtains; unpacks my kitchen island; and is on a mission to find every loose cord possible so he can pull appliances/lamps/electronics down.

...feeding himself with teething biscuits. He also likes the yogurt bites and he pincer grasps them but isn't yet coordinated enough to always get them in his mouth (hit or miss). We've been able to stick with organic-only foods so far although when we progress to table food, that may be a different story.

...teething on utensils rather than using them for feeding.

It's the 4-month countdown until his first birthday!