{All boy}

Lately all Mason wants to do is climb on things! Doesn't matter what it is, he will try to climb on it. For instance:

- The back of the couch

- Our kitchen island

- His high chair

-Nana's fireplace

- The edge of the bathtub

etc and so forth...

Well, we went to Abilene this weekend to visit BrowerPower and the climbing just continued there. This boy has NO FEAR whatsoever. Yeah, we're in trouble. He was climbing on their couches, coffee table, Kloe's play kitchen, and even tried to climb on Krista's Elephant (huge stand-up decor).

We went to the grocery store one night and I had to buy Mason this adorable Adirondack chair!

Instant Love.

Trying to get seated...

Almost...

Thanks Mom for my cool chair!

But standing is more fun than siting!!

 (Don't ya just love a little diapered butt and chunky legs that beg to be tickled??)

 What mom?

And then these eyes completely melt me..

Every time we catch him climbing we say, "Mason you are such a little monkey"

His response....

"Ooohhh, Ooohh" (making his monkey sound)

Oh Mason, you are ALL boy son!

{My Little Fish}

Mason loves, loves, loves the water!!

{Video of Mason walking}

Still not walking on his own, but great with a little help :)

{Mason goes to school!!}

I have been putting this post off for a while now! I wanted to wait until I was in the right state of mind to talk about it. :) Long story short - Mason started school on Monday, June 13th. This is Mason's first time in a structured facility and it has been quite the adjustment (for all of us)!! 

Mason was born in May which was perfect. I was able to stay home with him for 2 months, and then my mother in law kept him until school started back in mid-August and then my sister has kept him since then. We feel very blessed to have those arrangements for Masons first year! However, we felt in our hearts that it was time to put Mason in "school". He's very smart and a quick learner. We knew he'd thrive and benefit from school. Plus, the challenge is always good. I prayed and prayed about it and God showed me in many ways this was the right thing to do.

The school we chose couldn't be more perfect! It's a Christian Academy and we are in love with it. It's in a small town outside of where we live so it's not overly crowded. Mason's teachers are amazing and the program is awesome. 

However, we are still in "transition" phase. It's been a battle, for sure. Mason's first 2 days were pretty horrible. He was fussy all day, wouldn't sleep, wouldn't eat. My heart was breaking and he had me feeling like I made the worst mistake of my life. I have always felt like a good Mom, until I was slapped in the face with those two days of heartache! Mason came home so cranky from not napping and it took us over 2 hours each night to get him to stop screaming and go to sleep. (I'd like to thank my husband for this one! His mom says he would do the exact same thing as an infant - get too tired to sleep. ha) Oh man were those 2 days hard on a mama! I felt like this awful woman dropping her kid off with strangers only to leave him miserable. So hard. I had to keep reminding myself that it's an adjustment phase and we will all get through this. But my heart couldn't help but break for Mason. I mean, new people, new sounds, new toys, new bed, etc. Must have been hard on my poor baby boy.

Wednesday,Thursday and Friday were much better days. Mason napped well, ate well and played and had a good time. This put an ounce or two of hope back into me!

I love that they send home a report card every day to let you know exactly how Mason's day was. It tells his mood, his activities he engaged in, any other comments, his napping schedule, how much and when and what he ate, and diaper changes. I look forward to reading these everyday and always pray for good report cards. I can't believe my baby boy is only 13 (almost) months old and I am already fretting over report cards! 

Here are Mason's "reports" for his first week:

Monday:

Mood - Quiet

Played games, listened to bible songs, swang and played with toys

Had to be rocked & swung to sleep. Nap times - 9:40 - 10:25, and 3:45-5:00

Tuesday:

Nap times - 9:50-10:15, 12:10-12:25, 1:30-1:45, 4:40-5:05

Wednesday:

Mood - Sleepy

Played games, read Peter Rabbit, went outside

Nap times - 8:25 - 11:40, 3:00-5:00

Thursday:

Went outside for a ride in the buggy, listened to lullabies in Spanish

Hate 2 ritz crackers (and didn't gag, YAY!)

Nap times - 7:35-8:20, 11:10-2:50

Friday:

Mood - busy

Played w/foam shapes and blocks, listened to Disney music

Note that Mason had dry cereal every morning for breakfast, and especially likes the marshmallows in Lucky Charms! 

Nap times - 11:10 - 1:40

They also send us home with a Monthly calendar that lets us know exactly what he's doing each day! 

We are a week and 3 days into it now and it's slowly getting better! Drop-offs are still tough. Mason doesn't want me to leave and cries. :( I hate being the mean one that drops him off. I just want to be the happy one to pick him up! ha

Sorry for not having pictures for this post!

{S.I.L.L.Y}

One of the things I love about Mason (among the gazillions) is his silly little personality. He loves to make people laugh and has no shame in being the loudest one laughing at himself. He's an absolute riot and I love it. We always call him a little HAM, because, well that's exactly what he is. He's a real charmer with the ladies and loves to be a part of every conversation. Mason is a talker, for sure. His Daddy says he doesn't know where Mason gets it from. Ha! (coming from the guy that can carry on a 30 minute conversation with a stranger at the gas pump)

Never a dull moment...



{Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes}

Knees and Toes!!!

Mason loves to sing this song and grab his head. It puts the biggest smile on his face.

And on mine.

Oh how I love him!!!!

(ignore my husbands hairy legs in the background!)



{Twelve Months}

{Memorial Day}

We had a great Memorial Day. We hung out...just the 3 of us all day. It was super nice. We had an errand to run in Ft Worth, so we made a visit to the TCU campus baseball fields. It was so much fun and to watch Mason check everything out. 

I'd be okay with Mason going to TCU. It's close to home!!

{Eating Issues}

Mason has always been a great eater. So it was a big surprise to us that he wouldn't eat many stage 3 baby foods, or any table foods. Apparently Mr. Mason has really strong gag reflexes. So bad that he would gag/choke and then puke. It's awful. Pure awful. We've tried many things with absolutely no luck at all. We've addressed this with his doctor and she's found no major issues rather than those daggum gag reflexes. All we can do is practice and practice. He's slowly getting better, but not quite eating chicken nuggets and pizza yet.

We bought him some of the little toddler trays to try. He only took a couple of "licks" off his fingers and played the rest of the time. So that was a bust. But the pictures are pretty fun. 

You can bet he went straight to the bath afterward!

{Birthday Party}

On Saturday, May 28th we had Mason's birthday party for family and friends at Getzendaner Park in Waxahachie. It was a success, but very hot. Nate and I were too busy working to take many pictures. We got a few, though. 

Mason had a great time visiting with everyone and opening his gifts. This boy has quite the Tractor collection now, that's for sure.

{First Birthday Cont...Rainforest Cafe}

{Catching Up!! Sorry I've gotten so behind!!}

The Sunday after Mason's birthday we went to the Rainforest Cafe. We thought he'd love it there. The host asked if it was okay to sit us by the Gorilla and naturally we said Yes! Oh boy!!!!!!!! We didn't know the ginormous Gorilla went off every 3 minutes making all kinds of noise and shaking his whole body. Mason was terrified. It was surprising because Mason's not scared of much! He just about jumped out of his high chair and into our arms! It was so sad, but I'm not gonna lie - it was nice knowing my baby boy needed his Momma!! When the Gorilla wasn't going nuts we would take Mason over and let him touch it. When he realized it was a "toy" and not going to hurt him then he got comfortable with it. Well, in the best way he could. He never turned his back to the Monkey. :) He loved the other parts of the Rainforest Cafe because there were birds everywhere. That boy loves birds! 

We had a really great time. After dinner we took him to Build-A-Bear. We went with the intentions of making the Longhorn so that it would go with his Farm themed room. But he picked out a Puppy instead. The boy knows what he wants! It's really cute and Mason loves it. 

Before the Gorilla went off:

And after:

And away from the Gorilla!:

{What is on your heart - 6.3.11}

What is on your heart??

My sweet sweet boy is on my heart today.
I love him more than words can ever describe.
I thank you, Jesus every day for choosing me to be his Mommy!
He makes me smile, makes me laugh, and makes me want to be the best I can possibly be.
Everyday with him is a brand new day, a new adventure and another day my heart is so full with love.


Masonbug, Daddy and I love you to the moon and back. You are so amazing and make our lives so much brighter.

{52 Weeks}

Our sweet baby boy is now 52 weeks!!!

(as of Tuesday, May 24th) 

365 days

8760hours

525,600 minutes

Most

LIFE-CHANGING

525,600 minutes of my life!! 

It’s your Birthday week and we have so much planned! It’s hard to believe you’ve been with us ONE whole year, Mason. You have brightened our lives in every way possibly and words could never begin to describe just how much we love you.

Let’s see, at 52 weeks...

-  You are still saying "Mama" more than Dada this week. Love it!

- Your vocabulary is growing. As of right now you can say
Dada/Daddy
Mama/Mommy
Nana
Papa
Hey

Dog
Diesel
Eddie
Yeah

Moon 

No

uh-huh

head

Okay

Bug

Bird

JoJo (uncle Jordan)

Duck

Big truck

*Bye bye

*Tickle tickle – I was tickling your feet one day and I said “Tickle, tickle” and you repeated and kept saying it over and over. So cute!

(* =  new word this week)

Your vocabulary just keeps growing!

-Still love to dance. So cute!

- You love for Mommy & Daddy to hold your hands and walk/run with you!

- You stand on your own really well, but you get stiff and will not take a step.

- Still love your toes. You are usually always playing with your feet. And you love to cross your feet/legs. So Cute! 

- Sleeping has been pretty good this week.

- Still doing well with the solids. You eat 1 4oz jar for breakfast, 2 4oz jars at lunch time and 2 4oz jars for dinner. Still on stage 2s. (separate post)

- You love to sit up on your own and play with your toys. Your favorite toys right now are your bugs. (You absolutely love bugs, so Mommy bought you some fake ones), any kind of tractor, your FJ Cruiser, and your “big truck”.

- You're in size 12 or 18 month clothes, but most 12 month clothes are getting snug. Most of your pajamas are 12 or 18 months and you are outgrowing those. Your belly hangs out of the tops and your pants are entirely too short.

- In size 4 diapers

- You do well with a sippy cup.

-          You absolutely LOVE your A,B,Cs. You can be fussy or very unhappy and we break out with the A B Cs and you're as happy as a clam.

-           

 - YOU'RE CRAWLING everywhere and getting faster and faster and more coordinated.

You love to crawl and push either your tractor or trucks. And you make your version of the car sound when doing so.

- You love the Moon!! We will ask you, "Where's the moon Mason?" You will look up in the sky, throw your arm up high in the air and point and say "mooooon". Yeah, it's the cutest.thing.ever.

- You give high fives, and then clap for yourself!!!!!!!!

- You will shake your head and say "uh-uh" or "no" if you do not want something or not want to do something. 

-          You now know where your head is!!! We sing the head, shoulders knees and toes song and the "head" part was your favorite. You grab your head with both hands and say "head, head head". 

-          Still teething. L Your top 2 teeth have broken through, but two more on the bottom are trying to come through.

New this week:

-          You are completely OFF formula and on whole milk!! You are doing really well with the adjustment. I think you like the milk because it’s cold! This transition just puts into perspective how big you’re getting!

- You’re only taking a bottle at bedtime/nap time. However I am sure you’ll be completely in a sippy cup before long.

-          You’ve started waving and saying Bye bye when you’re ready to leave somewhere.

-          You’re sporting a new bruise on your noggin’ this week. Complete opposite side as the last one. You were standing up playing and dropped a toy and bent over to pick it up and wacked your head on a little wooden rocking chair.  You only cried for a few seconds. Poor guy!

You're so smart and so cute and we love you so much Masonbug!

52 Week Pictures:

Standing on your own!!

{Embrace the Camera - 6.2.11}

My favorite time of the week!

………………………

Embrace the Camera

………………………

Go link up with Emily, I promise you’ll love it!

My picture for this week is from my sweet, sweet boy’s first birthday. What a special day it was. His face in this picture cracks me up. He wasn’t too much of a cake fan! Words can’t begin to say how much I love these two! I want to embrace every moment of every day with them!!

5.25.11