10 Months Old!

Guess what? I'm 10 months old! It is so hard to believe that I will be one year old in just 2 months. I really have a personality now, and I love to show it. Mom decided to take my 10 month picture in front of the baby gate - to signify my LOVE of getting into EVERYTHING. I don't stop moving all day long!! There are days that mom doesn't even get to sit down until I go to bed at night!

I thought I would list a few of my favorite things for you:

1. Graham Crackers. This is the only solid food I will eat. I used to love little strips of lettuce, but after a bad gagging episode that ended in projectile vomiting (the lettuce got stuck in the back of my throat), i'm not such a big fan anymore. Unfortunately, the big "Lettuce Gag of 2010" happened at Chilli's - where a crowded restaurant of people eating food witnessed me vomit out an entire jar of baby food. It was so awesome.

2. The Cable Box. I love to pound the cable box with my hands. There is no place mom and dad can put it that will be out of my reach - so they ATTEMPT to police it, but I am too sneaky for them. The other day, mom found my stash of toys and dirty bottles back behind the box. Guess I will have to find a new secret place to hide things.

3. Playing the piano. I love to pull myself up on the edge of the piano and play a song. Mom will have to post a video of it - it is precious, if I do say so myself.

4. Throwing things on the floor. Dropsies is SO FUN! It is so funny to watch mom and dad get irritated when I throw everything on the floor. Especially at church. I have a buddy at church named Joey. He is 6 weeks older than me. Joey managed to throw a phone over 2 pews in the middle of church on Wednesday! I think I might have to give that one a try in the future.

5. Animals. Especially Jake. I finally tricked him into liking me. First, I tried to dangle my toys through the baby gate to lure him over. But that didn't work. Then I tried screaming at him to get his attention. That didn't work either. But now, he loves to follow me around...because I'm really good at leaving graham crackers on the floor for him. Mom and dad think I'm just not coordinated enough to get them in my mouth, but really, I am working on my diplomatic relations with the dog. Negotiations are coming along nicely. He has recently taken to licking my face - which mom hates. I keep trying to snuggle up in his bed with him. But mom always stops me. She mumbles about dog hair all over my clothes or something.

6. Being held. Mom says I hit the "independent" "clingy" stages backwards. I was so independent at 6 or 7 months. Now, most of my days are spent chasing mom and screaming at her to pick me up. I am also good at flopping down on the floor and pretending my world is ending when she sets me down so she can go do something. She's pretty tough. I think it might take a while to win this one. She keeps telling me this motto...something about "if mama isn't happy ain't nobody happy", but I have yet to figure out what this means.

I am really looking forward to my first birthday party. It will be coming up here before too long. I hear from the kids at church that the first b-day party is totally awesome. I can't wait! Well, guess that's all for now. There is some graham cracker calling my name in the kitchen. Until next time!

Mason

Family Portraits!

Last Saturday, a friend from church came to our house to do some portraits of us! He is launching his own photography business and asked if he could use Mason as a model. We said sure! - And then we coerced him into doing some family shots as well! He also decided to do some of Mike in his uniform - they came out great. For your entertainment, bloopers have been included at the end. Here is a sampling of some of the photos he took. Enjoy!!

Family Shots

Mason Shots

Military Shots

Bloopers!!!!

"I'm so over this"

"Get off me, Mom."

"Now feels like a good time for a dip."

"Save...me...please"

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

Mom gives up

Finally, "Cheeeeese!"

Thanks for the pics, Launey!! You did an amazing job!!!

9 Months Old!

Wow, I can't believe my little guy turned 9 months old today! Where has the time gone?! I must admit, the first 5 months seemed to crawl by so slowly. I was looking forward to him being able to play and interact more. After he reached that point, it has really flown by!

Mason is all over the place and into EVERYTHING! Which has brought a new first into our lives...injury. He is standing and creeping along furniture now all on his own, and occasionally has a fall. He has really got a set of lungs on him! Last night he was crawling towards the kitchen and somehow banged his head on the stone step leading to our kitchen. I thought for sure it would bruise but he was good as new this morning!

He is starting to "talk" to us more. He jabbers along like we really understand what he is telling us. Wednesday night on the way home from church, he proceeded to tell his blanket all about something-or-other. We were cracking up in the front seat just imagining what it was he was talking about. What a sweetheart!

It is very nice to see his growing independence everyday. However, that independence is a real challenge at times too. Here are a few of his new favorite things:

• Flipping over on his tummy while you are trying to change his diaper/dress him. It's not so bad as long as it's not a poopy diaper. Then, well, all I can say is there have been a lot of baths going on.


• That leads me to his next favorite thing: Trying to climb out of the bathtub during bathing. Have you ever tried to hold a slippery baby with one hand while trying to wash him with the other hand? It's not that fun.


• Eating things. Any thing. Every thing.


• Protesting. No, he hasn't joined any organized marches out in town. But this kid is an expert at letting you know he disagrees with what you are doing/taking away from him. We may have another lawyer on our hands!


• Smiling. He has the BIGGEST smile in the world. All the more precious since he doesn't have a SINGLE tooth yet. Nothing but gums!
  
• Animals. He especially loves Jake. Jake, on the other hand, is still holding out hope that this new baby in the house is a "temporary arrangement." His role as "baby" of the family has been replaced. We don't have the heart to tell him he is, in reality, just a dog.


• Mommy and Daddy. He loves playing with Daddy. But not with me! He always wants Mommy to hold him. Whenever I pick him up he snuggles his little head on my shoulder and throws his arms around my neck. I think it must be a glimpse of what Heaven will feel like.

We can already see some of that rambunctious boy coming out in him! He is such a precious boy and we are looking forward to watching him continue to grow and learn.

Mason - we are so blessed to have you! We love you and are so proud of your sweet spirit. Happy 9 Months!

My First Christmas

Well, it happened. Mom and Dad have been talking about this thing called Christmas for months now. They said it would be so fun and exciting and, well...it was! I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

To start with, all the cousins on Mom's side of the family came out (and my aunts and uncles, too). Even though they are all girls, I had a lot of fun with them. They carried me around, played games with me, and snuck in a few hugs and kisses sometimes (gross!). We got to go to the zoo. We went shopping down by the Bay, and also went to the children's museum. I also got to see how smores were made! We built a big fire in the fire pit and roasted some marshmallows. It was so much fun.

On Christmas Eve we watched movies and decorated cookies for Santa. I don't do girly things like that so I just watched from a distance...(and mom mentioned something about the dye in the icing being permanent, whatever that means.) Then the big day was here!! When I woke up Santa had eaten the cookies and left me some PRESENTS!! Mom and Dad totally forgotten to mention the presents. That was the best part!

Santa brought me all kinds of things to play with. I got some tissue paper, and some gift bags, and even a few bows and boxes. They were the best toys I'd ever had. Mom and Dad kept taking them away from me though, and trying to get me to play with these things that came INSIDE the bags. I don't know what that was about. I went looking for the presents because I wanted to chew on the tissue paper some more, but I couldn't find them anywhere! I guess I will have to settle for this stuff that came inside the presents instead. Oh well. There's always next year.

We have just been playing and hanging out since our family left. I got my first haircut this morning because it was starting to hang in my eyes. Mommy trimmed it up for me and I have to say I look smashing. I just seem to get cuter as the days go by.

I thought I would post some pictures from Christmas so you can enjoy my cuteness some more. Here you go!

Here I am on the morning of the 22nd...my 8th month "birthday" - I think 8 months is pretty cool. And so is my hair.

Here we are making smores! It was so much fun.

Here I am with Uncle Doug and Cousin Braden. They are pretty cool.

Here is some of the gang decorating cookies!! Yum.

Here we are at the zoo. I am reading the map because no one could figure out how to get where we wanted to go. I got us back on track.

All that map reading wore me out. I took a good long nap in the stroller.

Here we are shopping down by the bay. I love my mom and dad.

This is one of me and Mom down on the Seal Beach. I really liked watching the seals sleep in the sun. They are pretty cute.

Dad took this picture of a guy proposing to his girlfriend. What a Kodak Moment! Great timing dad!

And it's Christmas!! Here we are all ready to open up presents!!

Me and some of my cousins!

This is what Santa brought me! A giant animal ring stacker and a stuffed frog. The frog is bigger than me! But I will catch up to him!

Super excited about my frog.

Here is me and Dad opening up presents. So fun!

Here is cousin Avery giving me a hug. (I am trying to pretend like I don't like it)

Overall, Christmas was pretty awesome. I can't wait til next year!!

The Wild Animal Park

Last Saturday we decided to hit up the Wild Animal Park! We had never been before, and we both get in free (I have a membership to the zoo that also includes the WAP, and Mike gets in for free with his Active Duty Military ID!!). We had a blast. It turned out to be the perfect day to go. It was pretty chilly, and on top of that I think everyone was out doing Christmas shopping. We enjoyed getting to take our time looking at the animals and not waiting in line for anything! It was so nice just to have some family time. Seems like all we ever have time for is running errands and cleaning! This was a nice change of pace.
Below are the photos!! There are a lot - just warning you...but pics are always fun to look at :)


Here are the sweet deer from the petting zoo. It was honestly the best petting zoo I have been to! The deer were HUGE!

Here is Mike feeding the sweet deer.

More food!

Here I am petting the deer (Mason was napping!)

This pic was taken on the caravan tour. It is a part of the park only accessible from the safari vehicles they have.

More safari pics!

Here is Mason and Mom on the safari!

The King of the Jungle

These next few were taken on a platform that overlooks the park

Mason napping on dad's shoulder

Checkin out the birds

Petting an Australian bird that looks like an owl - I can't remember the name of him, but he was sooo soft!

Close up

M chillin in the stoller

Mom looking at the camera, Mason looking at a bird...

My boys!

He's the best :)