in with the new

22 Months Old!

Mason's 22nd month was a fun one! I cannot believe he will be 2 years old in 2 months! Time flies when the times are fun.

A lot has developed in Casa Mason this month. Let's start with the talking. We still only have one-word sentences. But he is enunciating words here and there. He says "Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" clear as a bell and to everyone. He calls me mama instead of baba. Over the course of a couple of weeks, he was calling me both, and then I magically became mama. When Will becomes dada instead of lala, even more of little baby Mason will be gone. Sad and happy and exciting! One other word he says very clearly now is juice.

When I tell him we're going to Target, Starbucks or the Farmer's Market, he "tuts" his tongue. That means cake. He KNOWS that we are going to get him cake! We don't do those things very often, but he still remembers!

Preferences surfaced big time this month. He now asks for different songs in the car besides the "no no" song ("Don't Lie" by the Black Eyed Peas). He can identify four or five Sesame Street songs and asks for them (Grover, Manamana, LaLaLa - "Sing, Sing a Song"). He requests specific pajamas (mickey) or a tshirt (dinosaur or pirate).

He's gotten more physical this month. He can throw, kick and roll a ball like a champ! He has a new baseball tee and can set it up and hit himself. He still isn't technically running, but he moves quickly on those little legs! He loves to jump (we help), hang from the bar, walk on the beam, and do forward rolls at The Little Gym.

He got a haircut! It is a really bad haircut. We buzzed it ourselves, and stopped when we thought he couldn't take it any longer. It's growing in badly, but he's so cute anyway! It makes him look like a big boy (with a blind stylist!).

He had visits with all grandparents this month. It is fun to spend time with our parents. They get such a kick out of Mason.

He has four squirting dogs and one fish in the bath. He named the dogs Pippy (Basher's nickname from me and Will), Pippy, Mama and Lala. He named the fish "Bobo" (Grover).

He will negotiate now. He knows that if he wants to go outside, he has to wear shoes (I don't want him getting a bee sting on his foot!). If we want him to eat a little more, we offer to sing a song, and he'll eat more while we sing. Crayons work, too.

Speaking of crayons, he's drawing more and more. I tried fingerpaints with him this month. I was glad I had a paper towel next to me. He HATED it! So I got a turkey brush and he made his first painting instead!

He gives the most delicious "Elmo" kisses and neck squeezes now!

He's been working on holding up fingers for each number one through five. He can identify so many letters now and their sounds because of the fridgephonics (V, P, D, Y, M, N, O, A...)

His sleep is pretty regular. He has a 2.5ish hour nap daily and goes to sleep (pretty much) without issue. He sometimes gets up in the middle of the night and needs comforting. This happens more often when he is sick than other times, but there's no rhyme or reason to it.

He had a very high fever a couple of days ago. He had 103.4, but the doctor said it was a 48 hour virus. The fever went away,but the sniffles stayed and gave him ANOTHER ear infection! We're on amoxicillin again! Argh!

He has his first chore! I typed last month that he helped me get Basher's food. THIS month, he gets me the bowl, I help him pour the food in, he watches me lock ("dah!") the food container, and then he walks the food back himself!

21 Months Old!

Mason is a year and three quarters now! He knows SO many words and loves music.

Shopping in the grocery store is such fun with him, as it always has been. Now Mas can name a lot of foods, especially in the produce section: oranges ("oh-yo"), onions ("on-yo"), bananas ("hahaha"), apples ("apa"), grapes ("gzah"). He always points out and sometimes wants to kiss Paul Newman on his various packages. And he doesn't just wave to fellow shoppers anymore, there's a cute "hi" that accompanies the wave. And he won't stop until the hello is reciprocated.

Mas knows a few numbers: 3 ("ah-yeee"), 4 ("oh" rhymes with or), 5 ("iy-yah"). Four is the most consistent and he notices it when not in the context of his "10 Little Ladybugs" book. He knows colors: green ("doh"), purple ("oh-oh"), orange ("oh-yo"), blue ("boo"), sometimes yellow and red. He knows shapes: triangle ("neh neh"), circle ("yuh-yuh"), star ("dow"). He has other new words: soda ("ooo you"), Starbucks ("da da" - he knows the logo!).

We are officially out of the bath ring for baths. I was afraid of baths without it, but his Grandma Helen always gives him baths that way, and he has such fun! He swims (he says, "meee!" for swim) and splashes and knocks all the bath animals around. He sometimes falls into the water, but I catch him. But he cries if he gets his face wet. It's usually fun times!

Mason holds up his little pointer when you ask, "how old are you?" He signs all done and more (while saying "ah-yah" or "mo"). At the Little Gym, he can now hang from the bar for a few seconds without assistance! He drops himself onto the mat when he gets tired and giggles because he loves being dropped.

He helps us feed Basher. He brings her empty bowl to us in the pantry, we fill the scoop with food and (assist him while) he dumps the food in her bowl. Then he puts the scoop back in and gets a few more morsels for her bowl.

This month he learned to read the letters of his name off of his ceiling. As of  5/24, he can spell his name from memory! He points up when he says each letter, like he's still reading from the ceiling. Also, he knows "M says mmmm" from the refrigerator Leap Frog toy. We change the letter every other day or so. Also also, he thinks "W" is a funny letter!

Mason loves dancing. He rocks his head back and forth if he's sitting. He rocks his whole body if he's standing. He can spin, twist or "wag his tail" (he's obsessed with tails these days!). He loves musical toys and rocks back and forth with huge eyes when he plays music.

Aw, he had the WORST diaper rash this month! He sat too long in a stinky diaper (due to a long car trip) and there were at least three days of raw butt. We skipped a bath one night, and had two baking soda baths. Those made him SO soft and really helped. We went through a ton of Triple Paste. It should be called Miracle Paste!

Wow, so much happened this month! His little brain is synapsing away. Yay brain! Yay Mason!

20 Months Old!!!

Another fun month in the house of Mason! And another very busy month.

We started the month with a lot of lasts. Last night in the St. Pete house, last Wednesday morning at Panera with our girlfriends, last Toddler Play class, last trip to the zoo with our girlfriends, last swing on the swings at Crescent Lake Park. We started with a lot of firsts, too. First night in our new house in NC, first time to class at the "Little Gym", first time to several new playgrounds, first time to the new doctor (ear infection #3).

We saw all grandparents this month. Plus an aunt, a great grandma and great aunt and uncle and cousins! Plus a long-lost high school friend of mommy's.

There are a lot of new words this month. On our walks around our block, Mason has learned mailbox ("muh-muh"), lawn mower ("muh-muh" but different than mailbox), garage ("zha-zha"), door and door bell ("doe-doe"). We have been playing with sidewalk chalk a lot, he likes to draw (it's a guttural sound kind of like "zha"). He knows what a circle ("yu-yu"), triangle ("nee-nee") and star ("doe") are. He can identify boys ("bee") and girls ("doe").

Mason is getting better with his shape sorter toy. He no longer tries to put a shape in only one hole. If it doesn't work in one, he moves on to the next. He still hasn't made the "this shape goes in the same shaped hole" connection, but he will!

He loves to throw balls! I thought we'd have to teach him, because he just wasn't getting it. But he got it! He and I had a GREAT time in Old Navy this month. I gave him a ball from their bin, and he went crazy with it all over the store! He had so much fun. I bought him 2 balls that day (one from ON and one from Target).

He is still making up funny words for things:

• he makes a growl sound for our neighbor John's name
• "gggg-yoooo" for grandma, motorcycle, music
• "doe" for girl
• "hahahaha" for banana
• he clucks his tongue to mean cake, egg, leg and TV

He requests food now. He asks for or identifies "mee" (milk), "hahahaha" (bananas), "ah-mah" (macaroni and cheese), "a-blah" (pizza), "gzaa" (grapes), "ba" (berries), "dgooo" (juice), "ah-mee" (ice cream). When he sees a bag from Starbucks (you know, the skinny ones they put pastries in?) he points and tells us it's cake.

Will has taken Mason on many exciting day trips! There are so many places to go here! They have driven on the Blue Ridge Parkway, strolled through the NC Arboretum, and walked through the NC Botanical Gardens!

Mason can identify several sports, which I'm sure I've typed before. His newest addition to his sports cache is saying Goooooooooal! ("doooooooooooowwwww!") with his fingers pointed in the air. He's known for a while how to do touchdown and homerun.

Will taught Mas to smile this month. Yes, he was doing it before, but not when you asked! It's a big, funny, cheesy smile! He also will do a yawn if you ask.

He is starting to learn colors! He knows blue ("boo") and a lot of times knows orange ("ah-yuh"), purple ("yuh-yuh"), yellow (sounds like orange, I think), and green ("doe"). And he is starting to recognize numbers! When we count down the ladybugs in "10 Little Ladybugs", a handful of the numbers sound the same when he says them (I let him say them first) but five is "iy-uh", four is "ooo" (like the "o" in "or"), three is "ah-yee" and two is "ah-yoo".

Speaking of "ah-yoo", that's what Mas says when we sneeze or blow our noses! Bless yoooooooooooooou! Fun month!

18 AND 19 Months Old!

I put off the 18-month report for so long that I figured I'd just do an extra big post for the 19-month post.

To celebrate Mason's 18-month birthday, we had a small puppy cake. I plan on having a cake for him for every half birthday. Who doesn't love cake?!? We had it while we were in Asheville searching for our new home. We got Mason a house for his half birthday!!! Yahoo!

Have I mentioned before that every month Mason is more and more fun? He is, you know! He is a fricking comedian. He makes himself laugh, he makes us laugh, he makes Basher laugh... OK that last part was an exaggeration.

We were on the deck the other day. He was taking bottles out of the recycling bin and tossing them on the deck. Every time a bottle landed, he cracked up! Also, he loves to see that he effects things. Last night he was on his changing table, and pushing me away. I  exaggeratedly (is that a word?) fell backward with each push, and he was beside himself with laughter. He reacts the same way when he slams the door on Will and Will "falls" from the door slam.

His vocabulary has exploded in the past two months. There are a lot of words I don't understand, and "a-ba" still means a lot of things. But he has new syllables, "bee" and "mee", and uses them for a bunch of things:

• "Bee-bee" = baby
• "Mee-mee" = medicine
• "Mee" = Milk
• "Bee" = Boy

When we were in Asheville, Mason learned the word "tea". His grandma drinks a lot of it. Now whenever we take a mug out, he points and says, "tea, tea, tea, tea" in his cute highpitched voice.

He is walking like a champ now, there is no stopping him.

The bedtime sleep, it's been good and it's been bad. There used to be nights where I could put him down, and he'd roll over, hug his lovey and go to sleep. Not anymore. Now the good nights are nights when I can sing and rock him to sleep and put him down sleeping. If I put him down awake, he screams, gets worked up, and can't get himself to sleep. So we take him out of his crib, and he does a triumphant walk (not a nyah-nyah, more like an elated walk) into the living room. Then he sits on his puppy chair and reads books while we eat. Then we try again with the bedtime 45 minutes to an hour later, and sometimes it takes, and sometimes it still doesn't. It will pass. He used to know how to go to sleep, and he will again.

We've had a busy two months: a couple of visits with Aunt Jackie, visits to Grandma Susie and Grandpa David, a visit to a senior center to wish the seniors Happy Valentine's Day and hand out Valentines, a trip to see the Yankees at spring training, fun times at the St. Lucie County Fair (pic on left with the "guhs"), the big trip to Asheville with Grandma Helen and Grandpa Ken  to find our house, a few trips to the Tampa Zoo, tons of trips to the playground, a Superbowl, and a haircut.

The playground is a much more fun place these days! Mason climbs up the stairs to the slide ("i-ya") and goes down by himself. We usually follow him up, since he has a better chance of getting hurt up top than at  the bottom of the slide.

Mason is gentler with Basher now. He gives her hugs and pats instead of pulling her ears and slapping her. (All of which she takes because she hearts Mason so much.)

I can't wait to see how much more the language explodes and the physicality explodes over the coming months!

17 Months Old!!!

I can't believe the little guy is going to be a year and a half old next month!!!! Every day there is something new to report!

We started month 17 off in NC at Will's parents' house at Christmastime. Mason saw his grandma and grandpa, aunt Meg, aunt Julie and cousin Ezra, visited goats, opened presents, and slept superbadly. Poor grandma Helen was sick for a lot of the visit.

We spent New Year's Eve with his girlfriend Olivia and her parents. The cute babies went to sleep around 8, and we all hung out, ate, watched a movie and were merry (drank a little) until 11ish.

We watched a lot of Giants games at Ferg's, our local "family" sports bar. We took Mason's portable highchair, and reinforcements for him, and he ate that and a little bit of our chicken wings. People around us liked Mason's shouting and touchdown and laughing at the football. He liked waving to the people and all the dogs that were in the bar. They're in the Superbowl this weekend... Go Giants!

Mason's Aunt Jackie came for a visit this month. She moved back to FL, where she is finishing school. Mason calls her "Ah-Zha" in a high-pitched voice.

The end of the month was capped off by a visit to my parents. Grandma and grandpa took us to the zoo. Mason fed goats, saw monkeys, birds, bears... As I've typed before, he knows so many animal noises! It was a really fun trip, way more fun than the trip we took there last July (which was fun, but no comparison...).

Walking is Mason's main mode of transport now. He no longer travels around looking like Frankenstein's baby. He holds his arms to the sides instead of right in front of him. He's got a little speed, but is still a little wobbly. And he can stand up on his own now! Will and I have seen him do it a handful of times. Pulling up on furniture is still preferred, but he gets better and better with his balance and his legs all the time!

He climbs in and out of his stroller now! He likes to go in and out, and gets a little pissy when the game is over and he gets strapped in.

Hooray for our adventuresome month!

16.5 Months Old!!!

This past month has been an explosion of words, understanding and walking!

Mason isn't fully walking yet, but it is his preferred mode of transportation! He sometimes crawls, and I caught him army crawling this morning (for shits and giggles, I presume). He still doesn't stand up by himself yet. He uses our legs, Basher, furniture, doorways... to get up. But once he's up, look out!

He has added new consonants to his speaking stable. He uses "G", "S", "C" and "N" a lot more. Some new and old words and names from the little guy...

"SSSSSSSSeSS" = glasses
"a-Zshah" = socks
"Geeeee-Ah" = Grandma, Grandpa
"EEEEEEE-Ah" = Leah
"A-Ma" = Matt
"Nuh" = Nuts
"Guh" = Goat, Goldfish, Mother Goose
"Pa" (highpitched) = Pear
"Ah-Muh" = Aunt Meg
"Coo-Coo" = Cookie, Cookie Monster

He knows so many animal sounds, as well! He has at least 3 animal books where he knows all of the animal sounds. It's really fun to read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see" to him because of that. He knows so many that I forget all the animals he knows! He knows:

bear (whispery roar)
bird (tries to whistle)
duck (ya ya ya ya)
horse (high pitched closed lip raspberry)
frog ("a-bah")
cat (strange gutteral noise)
dog ("vvvv-ffffff")
sheep ("ahahahahah" - a laugh noise)
fish (fish face)
pig (snot horking noise accompanied by funny face)
cow (low pitched closed lip raspberry)
chicken (Bah-Bah second syllable drawn out)
butt (full on raspberry) I know it isn't an animal...
crab (tongue clucking)
boat (low pitched "oooooooooo")
monkey ("ooooo ooooooo")

Just a cute side note, when we say "kitchen", he makes the chicken sound.

He knows a lot of his body parts. Ask him where certain parts are, he may grab (hair, tummy), rub (nose), or lift them (feet). He knows hands, fingers, nose, tongue, mouth, arms, feet, piggies, penis (it's important to be self aware!), tummy (or belly), ears, neck, chin.

I say this every month, and I don't know how it is possible, but he is MORE fun now than ever before!

15.5 Months Old!!!

This one is so late, that I'm going to let it encompass the past 6+ weeks instead of just a month. Mason is a little sponge! He absorbs so much!

He is walking! He walks between me and Will, he walks across a room. Crawling is still his main mode of self-transport, but he is getting less wobbly with each day of walking practice. He still walks like Frankenstein, with his arms out. He doesn't stand up by himself yet, but I'm sure that's coming!

He has learned so many things in the past week, let alone the past SIX weeks! Some things he is saying:

• What does a pig say? He snorts long and then laughs
• What does a butt say? He blows a spitty raspberry
• "Tha Ga!" ("That Guy")
• What does Santa say? "Oh Oh Oh"
• What does a snake say? (His version of) "SSSSSSSSS"
• What does a crab say? He clicks his tongue loudly
• What does a boat say? "OOOOOOOOOOOO"
• Socks = "A-Zhah"
• Adriana = "Nah Nah Nah"
• Leah = "Eeeee-ah" (sometimes, other times it's "a-buh", which is Olivia, her daughter)
• Grandma/Grandpa = "Geeeeeee-a"
• Aunt Meg = "Ah Muh" (But shhhh, it's a surprise for her when we see her later this week!)
• Aunt Jackie = "Zha" (sometimes)

Ask him to knock, and he knocks on the door, wall, floor... He learned it from the numerous times we have told him the story of the three little pigs. He loves when the wolf bangs on the door and yells, "Little Pig, Little Pig, LET ME IN!" I've shortened that story to 2 pigs, so I can tell the whole story while putting his diaper and PJs on. The end is kinder/gentler: the pigs invite the wolf in for tea and crumpets, or beer and football...

He loves the Foo Fighters' song "The Pretender". He smiles big when he hears it start in the car. He laughs when the tempo picks up and we rock out to the song. He is mesmerized by the video!

He loves and is calmed by the Sesame Street CD we have in the car. Big Bird's "ABCDEFGHI..." is his favorite (where Big Bird thinks the alphabet is a word). He smiles big when that song comes on. He also likes counting songs a lot.

There has been a decent amount of travelling around Florida the past 6 weeks! We went to Miami and Islamorada for his casting calls and photo shoot. We visited Great Grandma Gladys for her birthday and for Chanukah. We stayed at my parents' and celebrated Chanukah.

Mason does "touchdown" when we ask. He holds his arms up over his head (below). He does the same if we say, "Yay!". Speaking of touchdowns, he thinks football is the funniest thing ever. He laughs a high-pitched, shrieky laugh when you ask if football's funny, or if he just happens to see it on the TV.

The most awesome development this month is something I typed about yesterday. Mason told us he wanted something! He did it in Mason language, but we understood and were able to deliver!

14 Months Old!!!

Another fun month! SO many new things going on! Mason's talking more, he knows more body parts, more animal sounds. He's happier and more confident around other people. He ventures out a little more when we go to toddler play, and is more interactive with his little girlfriends.

He had 11 teeth at the end of this month! The 12th tooth (the 4th molar) is SO close!

Mason can tell you what a duck says. A duck whispers "a ya ya ya ya". He also knows what a cat says. Cats don't say meow, they make a sound like they're coughing up a hairball. He makes new "word" sounds, "ge ge ge ge" and "ne ne ne ne". He says "mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" at whatever we're eating, and to his Cheerios. And when we ask him if he wants to eat.

He calls me "babababababa"~ I finally have a name!

He got way too active in the bath this month. He was standing up and crawling in the water. He fell into the water a couple of times. I got him a tub seat on eBay. Too many close calls!

Mason knows Elmo's name, just from a picture on his diaper. The same with Big Bird, who he makes the cute whistley bird noise at.

He puts his hand to his ear whenever he sees people on the phone. Sometimes both hands. He says, "abaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" when he hears other people saying goodbye on the phone. He's gotten very good at opening and closing the clam-style cell phones.

He makes the bed sign at babies in strollers. He makes it at Basher when she's laying down. He makes it to bread when he's going to eat it

He loves when we head bang to loud, hard music. When The Foo Fighters' "The Pretender" comes on the radio, he smiles when the music gets faster. He also digs my air guitar. Hee.

When Will clears his throat, Mason imitates him. When I do it, he laughs at me. If you say "touch Mason's head", he'll grab your hand and put it on his head.

Mason blows kisses from the back of his hand. It's so noisy and sweet! When he gets dressed in the morning, he gives me his piggies to put on shoes. He knows where his shoes are. Someone in the library said she liked his shoes, and he held out a pointed toe to her.

He started using walking/push toys this month. He calls for help when he pushes into the wall. We keep telling him to turn it, but he tricks us into turning it every time!

He doesn't wear bibs anymore. He hates them and pulls them off soon into the meal. I have accepted the fact that he's going to be extra dirty and rough and tumbley.

13 Months Old!!!

Sorry so late...

I know I say or think this every time I type one of these, but Mason is even MORE fun this month than he was last month!

Early in the month, he discovered the stairs. He's climbed them pretty well from the get-go. He's not obsessed with climbing them. He just wants to get up them to go see La La. He reserves obsession for going after Basher's bowls or our new laptop.

  Ask Mason, "where are your piggies?" and he'll hold up his foot for you while grinning the crinkle-faced grin. He knows what a bunny says. He makes a buck-toothed face and sucks onhis bottom lip. During the reading portion of the bedtime routine, he pulls out his pacifier and makes the bunny noise  when I pull out a book that has a bunny on the first page.

Mason now sleeps or cuddles on our shoulders. It is so sweet. It feels like he's saying "I love you" to us.

We took two plane trips this month. We flew to North Carolina to celebrate his birthday a second time. A week later we flew to NYC for a nice 5 night trip. He was great on the plane, as always. This was the first time that nursing wasn't an option on the plane. We took bottles (filled them after security at Starbucks) and it worked great. He sometimes slept, sometimes played, but was always well behaved.

While in NY, Mason started his "look under the bathroom door" business. If someone is in the bathroom with the door shut, he tries to peek under it and put his fingers under the door. So funny.

He claps now! At first he was clapping one hand on his wrist. But he got the hang of it pretty quickly and is a great clapper now. He claps whenever we say "Yay!" for him, and whenever he hears clapping on the TV. During Regis and Kelly in the morning, there is a lot of clapping!

We tell Mason "no" when he's doing something  he shouldn't. He'll keep doing the "bad" thing but he'll shake his head because he knows he's not supposed to do it!

12 Months Old!!!

Mason turned ONE year old! Every month is more fun than the last!

This month started with something not-so-fun. He went through a biting phase for a few weeks. He was biting my boobs, he bit Will's stomach (he broke skin!), he was biting when he kissed. It got to be too much for me. I stopped nursing. Or maybe he stopped nursing. We nursed for 11 months and 1 week. I'm so happy I was able to do it for so long. He transitioned to milk very easily, and now has 3 bottles of whole milk each day.

The transition to milk may have helped him organize his sleep. Maybe he felt he didn't need to get up for boob juice, because the whole milk was more filling. Or maybe it was a coincidence. About a week after the bottles started, he started sleeping through the night. He's been pretty consistent with it, sleeping 10 - 13 hours without crying for us for comfort. If he wakes up in the middle of the night, he cries for a minute or two and gets himself back to sleep.

His spoken vocabulary didn't grow very much this month, he says "La la" for daddy and "Ba" for bath, bed, Basher, car, truck, Olivia ("mmmmm-ba")... He doesn't say "mama" much, less than once a day. I think he thinks we're connected, so why consider me something else with a name? He understands so much more than ever before:

What does Basher/dog/puppy say? Woof ("vvvvvvffffffff").

What does a bird say? Tries to "whistle", blows air from a little round mouth.

Fish? sucks in his cheeks. He knows the goldfish crackers are fish, he knows photos and drawings of fish are fish.

What does a cow say? "mmmmmvvvvvvv".

He laughs at the end of the ABC son when his Leap toy laughs.

He likes to turn lights off (he can't do on).

He looks for and points to lights. He likes when we make them blink on and off.

Will asks "Watch Baseball?" and he looks at the tv.

If I ask him to play music, he'll bang on his gym toy until a song plays.

He knows what to do when we tell him to "play with your toys".

I'm trying to teach him to use his "lalalala" to sing. Sometimes it works.

He is still shaking his head no in protest. No nodding yet.

He waves hello and goodbye very consistently. Shopping with him is such fun, he brings smiles to so many faces.

"Do 'meep' to mommy or daddy", and he grabs our noses

He holds up his feet when we ask where his piggies are (this is new in month 13...)

He had several trips to pools and the beach this month. He loves the water! His girlfriend Olivia taught him to jump into the pool from the side. Will didn't know about this trick. He put Mason on the ledge of the pool, and Mason rocked himself into (a surprised!) Will's arms.

He doesn't like to miss out on things. When we take him on a walk, if we pass the swings or dog run without stopping he cries in protest. He yells and makes a mad/sad face when mother goose leaves the room. She should be in there with him! He makes a funny whistle-ey "ooh ooh" noise when he wants to eat something we're eating.

Speaking of eating, he likes so many foods now. He even eats things I don't like, like strong flavored garlic and onion potato chips! He eats whole fruit from the pit, nectarines and pluots. He LOVES strawberries. He eats chicken, meatloaf, lentil soup, bread, cookies, yogurt, baby fruits, baby oatmeal, cheese (sharp cheddar, manchego, parrano). In a couple of weeks, I'm going to leave him with the spoon and see how he does.

Probably the biggest development this month is Mason's cruising! He has gotten SO good at it! He doesn't fall on his head several times a day like when he first started standing! He's even graceful at sitting now, not so much flopping down on his bum any more! He's also crawling "normal" now. Sometimes he army crawls. But the last 2 weeks of the 12th month showed great improvement in "normal" crawling.

His 12 month appointment was last week. He is 28", 19 lbs. 10 oz., his head is 18.25". He is in the 10 - 25%ile for height and weight, and the 50 - 75%ile for his head! Big brained lollipop head! Yay! Love him!