Happy 8-Month Birthday, Mason!!

Our little boy turned 8 months old on January 11, 2009. We cannot believe it!!! He is finally doing all this big boy stuff that we've been waiting on for several months now. Well, I don't really sit around and wait for him to turn a month older cuz it makes me the saddest, but according to Dr. Hain and the baby books, there were some sweet milestones that happen around 6 to 8 months old that we've been waiting for Mason to bust out with any day now. They're finally all happening!

Mason had been teething since about 3 months old, but we noticed even more pain and fussiness around the holidays. His first little tooth started peeping through around Thanksgiving and was really showing by Christmas Day. Well, out of nowhere, he woke up the day after Christmas with not just that one little tooth, but a second one perched up right beside it! I guess it needed a friend. :) I cried when I saw it and took him running into the brown room where Marc was on the computer. All of Mason's fussiness was suddenly gone. So, we're saying that around 7 1/2 months Mason got his first 2 teeth.

Up to this point Mason hasn't really been babbling any specific syllables. He has been going on and on about something, but no consistent sounds. Well, on January 12, the day after his 8-month birthday, Mason woke up saying "bah bah"! Marc was with him in our nursery and yelled for me to come in there. Marc had him laying on his bear on the bed and Mason was "bah-bahing" away! It was the cutest thing!!! He takes his lower lip and tucks it in (which he has been doing for several weeks now but we had no idea it was leading up to his first syllable!). It is just the loudest and most distinct "bah" you have ever heard. He mostly does it when Marc is playing with him. For about a week he would wake up from every nap yelling it in his crib.

Well, it doesn't stop there! This past Saturday (Jan. 17) Mason woke up saying "da da"! Marc was with him again. Mason's daddy sure brings out the best in him! :) Of course we were the most excited. So, now he talks all day long with his bahs and das. All of this is happening soooo quickly, so who knows what he will do next! I'm just waiting for the first "ma ma" as I'm picking him up and loving on him! :)

So Mason's big moves the last couple of months have been sitting up (this started at 6 1/2 months, around Thanksgiving), getting his first 2 teeth, "graduating" from the church nursery, and now using syllables. Not yet crawling, but this Momma is relieved for that! :) Marc and my mom have been working with him trying to get him to crawl, but he's showing signs that he's not really ready yet to do that. He looks like he's about to take off crawling, but then he just rolls over and falls down on his back, like he's exasperated at us for making him do that. Besides these things, Mason is also into some serious baby food. We started baby food jars around 6 months and he loves it. He still mostly breastfeeds, but once a day we'll give him one jar of veggies and one jar of a fruit. This is his special meal of the day that he so looks forward to! We don't really do the rice cereal as much, but we do give him a couple of bottles of formula a day. It'll be interesting at his 9-month check-up to see what his weight will be after we have been feeding him this mixture of different types of foods for a couple of months.

Here are some pics of Mason doing all of these big boy things! I just cannot believe we have this little person in our house doing all of these new things each and every month. It really is amazing how much they change. It doesn't even seem like I had a lot of those days when Mason was so tiny and would just nurse and sleep in my arms. That just went by so quickly and now here he is with this HUGE personality wanting to explore the world! Marc and I say all the time how much joy Mason has brought us and how happy we are when we are with him. Being Mason's mommy and daddy has definitely changed us in indescribable ways!!!

December 26th, the day Mason's second tooth popped out!! I tried to get a good picture of his teeth, but instead I got a good one of him pooping! Thank you. He was not wanting to show his teeth off cuz he was being stubborn, but I managed to capture his famous pooping face after eating sweet potatoes and green beans. Those would do it!

All cleaned up after dinner... Quality time with Dad! I love these moments!

Of course, quality time with Dad also means fitting in some good 'ole tv watching!! Marc took one of our old remote controls and cleaned it all up just for Mason! Remote controls and cell phones are his new favorite toys, so we thought we would start with his very own remote control. And he's settling for a toy cell phone for now from his Grandy C!
Ah ha! Finally!! On December 27th, Mason finally started showing off his sweet teeth!! They make him look like the cutest little boy!



January 11, 2009... Mason's officially 8 months old!!! Here little stinker is with Mr. Stinker.... Will Logue! Mason LOVES his Uncle Will! This was taken in the church foyer on our way to put Mason in big boy class for the very first time!
And here it is... Mason has officially moved out of the nursery and into the bucket seat class! Most of the other kids are around 10 months, but since Mason is sitting up pretty well and so observant of everything we thought he would be ready for this move. Our friends Mark & Tamara McLean are the teachers this quarter, but they were gone this day and Tim & Katie Chick were filling in for them. And my son is already making the moves on the older women!! He and sweet Caitlin Moore (no relation!) are having a serious discussion about their duckies. This started the second we put him in his little seat. He sure doesn't waste any time!
And of course Mason immediately spit up... Mr. Tim came to the rescue and jumped right up to get Mason's burp cloth from the diaper bag. Tim and Katie are such good little teachers! :)
Katie singing away about ducks
I think that is baby Claire Hudson in the background being so content in her car seat... But wait, why was she back there? I'm the most confused!
Mommy and Daddy so proud of our sweet little boy who is growing right up!