M's Monday Morning Meal

Mason's getting much better about eating with his utensils. Now if only his mommy would give him more practice...it's just that he gets terribly messy!

He's such a fickle toddler- lately he's been wanting BABY FOOD rather than regular food...seriously. And then sometimes he actually wants me to spoon-feed him rather than he feed himself. So weird! And then there are days, like today when he wants to do everything himself. He's such a picky and moody eater now!

But I think we're doing pretty good about getting the correct food groups and portions in each day. If you check out his ridiculously fat thunder thighs, you can clearly see that this little boy isn't starving.

Mason's Monday Morning Memorial Meal...brought to you today by the letter "M"

The Run Around

Mason always seems to give me the run around =) So this is why I'm worn out at the end of the day...

P.S. He kept looking up because he was amused by his reflection in the skylights. This video was taken at nighttime...he's like the Energizer Bunny!

Hump Day

Poor Baby!

But don't feel too bad...this was just seconds later. Check out the "bug eyes"---it's his newest trick. I ask him to show me "bug eyes" {or "big eyes"} and I'm lately catching him making this cheesey face when I take his picture.
Oh and is it weird that he's not really attached to a soft toy or object yet? According to the developmental milestone chart, he should have this "skill" mastered by 16 months...which is in a couple of weeks. So I keep trying to force this monkey blanket on him. Not really interested...at all.

All By Himself

I should pay more attention to these things.

Tonight Mason was clapping his hands...and I looked over and he'd built a tower 8-blocks high. I congratulated him of course, ran to grab my camera and then looked it up Online. Check this out {HERE}- at 15 months, he's already building on a 2-3 year old level. Oh my sweet little construction worker!

Of course, after the gratuitous praise, it only encouraged him to add another block. And no, the 9th block tumbled his tower. But I say add a little height to the booger and he'd have it smoothly built in no time.

Some Like it Hot

Gigi and Grandadder picked up the Melissa & Doug wooden kitchen accessory kit that had been on Mason's Wish List {still love it Momma!} YAY!

Here's Mason in his man-apron cooking the strawberries on a skillet. Yes, we need to work on better recipes.
How cool is this?
Someones Mommy needs to make some more felt food soon!

Thank You G!

Botanical Gardens

This past weekend we took a little roadtrip to Huntsville Botanical Gardens and met up with some of our "Bump friends" & Aunt Mary with Baby Sophie. I was remiss in getting group photos and in fact only took one at the Gardens of Mason. But we had an absolute blast with 7 Mommies {1 to-be} and our kiddos. It was like a baby water park with a plethora of water features, fun activities, and special treehouse exhibits. We only saw a small fraction of the gardens but I would highly recommend a visit.

Here's Baby Sophie chilling...or trying to. It was very hot and humid so we cut our visit a little short. Mason is about to zonk out...can you tell?

And while this is a super cheesy photo, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Mason's "bug eyes" face. He's a ham in front of the camera anyway, but I've tried to train him to make big "bug eyes" and he cracks himself up everytime! I'm going to have the goofiest toddler eva...

A Very Short Story

See Mason.
See Mason test gravity. Drop the ducky, drop!

See Batman.

See Batman and Mason.

See Batman and Mason cheer on the Texas Rangers.

Go Rangers Go!

Burn Baby Burn (WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES)

Mason developed a weird rash tonight, it must itch and is definitely a sensitive spot. I didn't notice it at all until I drew his bathwater (~7:45pm) and he yelped when the hot water touched it and then later kept lifting his shirt and poked at it with a toy.

It's on his trunk in 3 areas. The largest 2 are almost symmetrical, placed right below the ribs. The third spot is right under his belly button. WEIRD!

He has a very low-grade temp (100.9 rectal) and no other symptoms. And NO, this post is not going in the journal...but I did want to post pics in case any one can give their Mommy advice so I don't have to pay out-of-pocket expenses to go to the Pedi just to have them tell me there's nothing they can do (DARN, why did this have to happen right after my former employer cancelled insurance but before my individual BCBS picks up on June 1?).

I'm going to monitor to see if it spreads and then will call the Pedi tomorrow morning to see what they say. I did do the "glass tumbler check" and know that it's not a petechial rash (so it's NOT meningitis) I'm sure he's likely fine... It is possible we could have had secondary contact from someone whose child has hand-foot-mouth disease today BUT she was still very careful and I made sure to use Purell the moment we hit the car and there wasn't any direct contact. Although if it were HFM disease then at least it'd be an "easy cure" with at-home remedies (HFM Disease is viral & there aren't clinical treatments it just has to run its course). Who knows!

Half Week

We've had a busy week so far. I've been blessed to get to spend a lot more one-on-one with Mason during the week, have a good time management system down for balancing getting hours in, AND have some great "irons in the fire" and it's only week #2 {praise God!}. But enough of the boring stuff and onto our week so far:

___________________________________

MONDAY

Coloring a picture for Gigi & Grandadder

He's a Picasso in progress...
Check out that work of art! And then we took a stroll to the neighborhood playground and he conquered the tall spiral slide and the tall jungle gym too:

TUESDAY

I had a busy day "work"-wise and interview-wise, but Mason and I were still able to spend the morning goofing off.

He LOVES rocking it out! {yes, excuse that 2nd nasty look he gives me at the beginning, like he's saying "Mommy, you're interrupting me jamming"} It's so funny at the end when he really gets going, but I had to stop videoing because he grabbed for the laptop- an excited toddler with expensive electronics is not a good combination.

WEDNESDAY

Well, so far today we've eaten breakfast, chased each other around the house, watched some Disney Playhouse {well while Mommy worked & made calls}, read a book, built a block tower, zoomed on our car, and Mason's been showing off and giggling. Pretty good day so far! We'll be running errands until he takes his nap now {I need to wear him out!}.

The Busiest Weekend Ever

Friday we headed down to Auburn to see Batman graduate {aka Uncle Ashton...although he specifically requested to be called "Batman" so that name remains}.

We were all so very proud of Batman and his accomplishment!

Mason did really well throughout the 2.5 hour ceremony...

But towards the end Grandadder and Uncle Sean took him out for a walk around the Coliseum to wear his restless energy out...

And it must have worked...he passed out in Grandadders arms!

I'm so proud of him for making it through an extremely hectic weekend-

Friday: a trip to Auburn and back, 14-hour day total

Saturday: errands all morning, company in the afternoon, and then a friend's wedding until 10:45pm

Sunday: early service at church, brunch, Gigi & Grandadder left then finally a NAP {for all those left- Mason, Mommy & Batman}

15-Months Old

At 15 Months-Old, Mason...

...mimics adult actions like trying on my shoes, vacuuming the floor with his walker, feeding others food, and he plays in his play kitchen when Mommy cooks {although he often has to check in to make sure that I'm preparing his meal correctly}. He also dusts his hands off after he falls, he occasionally puts away his toys {but not really to clean, more because it's a game...which is fine by me!}, and he's quite the gestur-er when he gets to talking {where does he learn this stuff?}

...is still an adventurer. He's a proficient stair climber and he easily comes down the steps by sliding on his belly. He also climbs much more frequently so this has added another level of baby proofing.

...has a budding personality. While I've seen strong signs of toddler tantrums {stomps his feet, will flail when picked up after getting in trouble, hits when he's mad---this is really bad, runs away} he's still a pretty good kiddo and he remains sociable and full of humor {he cracks himself up}, and it's still hilarious to see the "Ladies Man" in action as he flirts with other girls.

...is a dancing fool- I love this photo from my Birthday as he's doing some crazy dance move. He is big into music and moving to the rhythm

...is my joy. I simply cannot put it any other way. I love this little boy with a love that goes beyond anything I've ever experienced. And just when I think I can't love him any more, I find that my love grows deeper every day.

Developmentally, Mason does well with all of his charts {well, he's always in the lower percentiles for height & weight but I know he'll be petite anyway}. But he's been stacking blocks 6 and 7 high for several weeks now; he says "No" but mostly he says "Don't" or "Don't (do) that"; he can scribble but he loses interest quickly and wants to eat his crayon; he RUNS quickly like a crazy man; and he talks up a storm. His current vocab:

1. Bah-bah {for his bottle of milk}
2. Baby
3. Bye Bye
4. Don't & "Don't (do) that"
5. Gigi / "G"
6. Hi / "Hi Gigi"
7. Me
8. Momma
9. No
10. That
11. "There it is" {slightly slurred together though}
12. This

Mother's Day

On Mother's Day, Mary's dad Al prepared a beautiful luncheon in honor of Mary and me at his home. What a lovely day and a blessing to spend it with family!

Mason got to see his cousin Sophie...she's growing and has even more HAIR than before! I'm not too surprised but Mary's OB/GYN has been delivering babies for 30 years and remarked that Sophie had the most hair out of all the babies he's ever delivered...and he called nurses and staff in to support his remarks.

Mason quite enjoyed getting to see his baby cousin...

And then he wanted to be a baby again...

And when I explained he couldn't go backwards, he decided he wanted to be a puppy dog...

But then by the end of the day, he resolved that being a little boy ain't so bad afterall...

While he was never really jealous of Sophie, Mason did expect all eyes and attention to be on him. I fear he's caught a case of the only-child-syndrome. And well, Mommy can't do a thing about that one right now!

Sophie had a great spirit of patience with her cousin. She let him dance with her and hug on her and kiss her. She just didn't like it when he got too close to her face.

So we're trying to teach Mason to be gentle and to remember the personal space "bubble."

We had a wonderful time...

And Happy Mother's Day to all those brave women out there who bear the title!

Love you "G"