Sunday, January 2, 2011

A December to Remember!

This December was truly amazing! It was our first Holiday season with our sweet boy and it all started after our wonderful thanksgiving when we put up our Christmas tree. I must admit I was a little hesitant about putting up our tree with our glass ornaments on our tile floor with a newly walking 11 month old, but i was so surprised by how great Mason was with the tree. We put out all our decorations while he was sleeping and the next morning when he woke up, i carried him into the living room and he was awe struck by the lighted Christmas tree. I was smart enough to put the less breakable ornaments on the bottom but Mason was so gentle with the tree. All month he has loved the tree, he waves at it, he sits next to it and stares, he touches the branches gently, he lightly touches the ornaments with his finger tips. He even tries his best to say the word tree, he says "eee". If you ask him where the tree is, he will walk over to it. I hate that we are going to have to pack it up, I'm afraid it will be disappointing to him. The one thing that we unfortunately cannot pack away and clear out of our living room is all the toys mason got for Christmas. On Christmas eve we went Landon's parents house in the afternoon and exchanged our gifts with them. Mason got a light up drum, two books, a megablocks boat, a music cube, and a toy tractor. Later we all headed to Landon's grandmother Hinson's house where Mason enjoyed playing with all of his cousins and we were excited to announce our family news. Mason enjoyed his new toy truck, race car, turtle toy, and new outfit. He loved being around all of the other kids and was so excited at everything that was going on. After a great night of wonderful family, food, and fun, we went home and put Mason to bed on his very first Christmas Eve! The next morning we woke up, Mason enjoyed his bottle on his bean bag and Landon and I enjoyed a cup of coffee. My mom came down the hill to our house and we opened our Christmas gifts. Mason had little interest in opening his gifts on his own, so Ling-Ling jumped right in and helped tear in to his gifts. He got a push cart, a monster puzzle, a pair of pj's, a tractor ride toy, some bath boats, train cars, stacking cups, and a play tent. Landon surprised me with a new ipod and a few weeks earlier i surprised him with a new salt water fish (a lunar wrasse) for our aquarium. After a few hours of playing, eating breakfast, and cooking our dishes for lunch at my moms, we got ready and went to my moms house for Christmas with my family. My brother and his wife and two girls came over and we had a delicious lunch and then opened gifts. Mason got an alligator piano, an Eeyore stuffed animal, a Monica the moo cow lawn mower, some clothes, and some cute little stocking stuffers. He got an adorable pair of toy story pj's from his cousins. Later that day we went to Landon's Grandparents on his dads side, the Greenes. They had music and food at the fellowship hall near their house and when we got there Landon jumped right in with his guitar and played hours of bluegrass while Mason and i visited, played, open presents, ate yummy food, danced to the music and played some more. Mason had such a big time walking around and being the center of attention, waving and smiling and being so adorably cute!! He loved the music so much and would wave at his daddy and walk over to his daddy while he was playing, he would try to touch his daddy's guitar and at one point even turned his papaws bass guitar off while he was playing. He loved bopping and dancing to the music and when the music would change to a fast paced song Mason would just about burst with excitement, clapping his hands and waving his arms around in excitement. He had a great time seeing everyone, being some place new and opening his gifts. He got so many neat toys like a set of weebles with a merry-g0-round, a sing-a-ma-jig doll, a jack in the box, a drum pad, a pillow pet puppy, a shape sorter toy, and a clock toy. He had such a great time playing with all of his new toys and was entertained for hours with them. He also loved playing with his cousin Carson who was there, and they had a lot of fun together. We also got to share our exciting announcement with Landon's family as well (more on the exciting news in an upcoming post). It was a long two days of Christmas celebrations but we enjoyed every minute of it!! And I'm really looking forward to next Christmas when Mason will hopefully get the hang of opening his own gifts!! Now we just have a couple of weeks till mason's first birthday!! I can't even believe he will be turning ONE! This year has flown by in a flash, and has been the happiest and most exciting and joyful year of my life!!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Mason's 11 month update a little late!

I'm a little behind on mason's 11 month update but there are just so many new things happening in our lives. In the last month Mason has become a confident well balanced walker! He walks EVERYWHERE all the time now and rarely crawls. He got his first pair of real walking shoes this month from stride rite, they are so adorable and stay on his feet well. He has also learned to stand up on his own without pulling up on anything. He is speaking some new words, the newest is "ahh-ohh" he says it everytime he drops something on the floor. Here is his current list: mama, daddy (no longer Dada), nah-nah (my mom), hey, bye, hi, eee (tree), baba, Go, and something that sounds like no-no but he says it more like (neh-neh). He waves all the time now and especially if someone says hello or bye-bye he waves. He shakes his little head side to side like he's saying no but he doesn't actually mean no, he just thinks it's cute. If you ask mason where his tongue is he will stick it out at you and if you ask where his paci goes he will stick his tongue out. He also likes to scrunch his nose up and snort at you, it looks so mean but he knows it is funny and loves to do it for attention. He loves music and likes to dance and bounce up and down when he hears any kind of rhythm. He also loves to try to sing a long with songs and will humm and make little noises that mimic the sounds. Mason has two new teeth coming in on the top next to his two front teeth. He really understands so many words and things that we say and do. If you ask him where the fish are he will look at the fish tank then walk over to it and wave at the fish. If you ask him where the Christmas tree is or where ling ling is, he will look at it or walk to it. He is eating so many new table foods, lately he loves his organic cereal/nutrigrain bars and cheerios with a fruit puree for breakfast, he has 4 bottles a day with 6 oz formula and an ounce or two of regular organic whole milk to transition him from soy, for dinner he has two vegetables and some of our dinner. He also has cereal for snacks during the day and eats a lot of things that we eat now too! He is drinking out of sippy cups with no problem other than he is a little messy with them compared to bottles, so we are still giving him his milk in bottles sometimes too. His favorite toys are still any type of cars or trucks, he loves pushing them around the house and he loves the wheels. He naps once in the morning and once in the afternoon on days that we are home. He likes to have his paci for his naps and he likes to have his glow seahorse on and his light up elephant on while he naps. we have to run two fans during nap time and bedtime because he is still a very light sleeper. He goes to bed around 8:30 and wakes around 8 am if nothing wakes him up earlier, occasionally he will sleep till 9 or 9:30 am. He is still wearing 9 month pants in the waist but needs 12 month length. My best guess is he weighs about 20 lbs. He is quickly outgrowing his rear facing car seat because his legs are so long. He loves to watch "Olivia", "toot and puddle", "the fresh beat band", and "Mrs. spiders sunny patch". Mason loves to play in the mirror, he likes to explore the house and he now will walk to his room, open the gate, and go into his room and play, then open the gate and come back out. He is such a happy little guy and everywhere we go people remark how happy he is, and they are so right. Mason is so very friendly to everyone he meets, he smiles and waves at people in stores and places we go, he makes everyone feel so special and when they talk to him he just lights up and gets so excited he kicks his legs and waves his little arms in the air in excitement. He is so delightful to be around and has such a great personality.