Jumping

I apologize for the poor quality of this video clip - I was using our digital camera instead of the video camera. (I actually need to figure out how to upload video from the video camera.)

This video clip is off Mason jumping and swinging in his jolly jumper. Towards the end he starts to "chew". This is one of his latest past times that I think is the result of teething.

Enjoy!

Hair, Hair Everywhere!

It almost seems as though overnight Mason has developed a full head of hair. He is starting to look more and more like a little boy everyday now. It looks as though he will be getting a haircut by his first birthday!

Finger Foods

So many new things to try! Mason is really starting to show an interest in feeding himself (he grabs the spoon while we feed him and intently watches us eat) so we gave him some puffs (baby finger foods that dissolve almost instantly) to see what he would do. The first puff sat on his tray for quite some time. Mason then showed some interest in the puff and began pushing it around the tray. He still hasn't developed a pincer grip yet so picking the puff up was a bit of challenge, so much so that we wet the puffs to make them sticky.
It was hilarious watching him make contact with the puff and then lifting up his hand to realize that the puff was sticking to it. His attempts to make contact with his mouth were also amusing as he couldn't quite manoeuver the puff in his hand so that it came close to his mouth.

He was able to get his fingers in his mouth almost everytime though. hee hee! Eventually I had to help him out and put the puff in his mouth. By this point the puff was pretty much a small ball of mush but Mason still thought that it tasted pretty good.

Daddy's Hat

Mason has just recently discovered Daddy's baseball caps and he is quite intrigued by them. Just like everything else that Mason comes into contact with, he wants to put the caps in his mouth.

Doctor Visit Update

Our visit to the opthalmologist went well. We were told that Mason definitely has a sty (which was reassuring) and that it is not affecting his eyesight. The sty could be removed although it would be simply cosmetic and would require Mason to be "put under" which has risks. Scott and I have decided that we will not take this risk and will continue to monitor the sty. The doctor told us that Mason could have the sty for a few years and that it may even come and go during this time. We have the option of having it removed in a few years (he would still have to be put under) or we can simply leave it and if Mason wishes to have it removed when he is older than we would also consider that option. We are just relieved to know that he is healthy and that his eyesight is not impaired. Can you see his two teeth in this picture?

The Sippy Cup

We (yes it is a group effort) are beginning to slowly wean Mason from nursing. Scott now gets up with Mason every morning to give him a bottle and Mason even drank from a bottle that I gave him the other morning. Our next step is introducing the sippy cup which we have been doing off and on for the past month. Mason thinks that this is a great teether and loves to chew on the spout. He will take a few sips from the cup but he isn't too sure yet whether or not he likes water. These first few pictures were taken right before bedtime the other night and he wasn't really impressed with the sippy cup at this point in time. Mason's cut his second tooth yesterday and as you can see from this picture he has been chewing like crazy.
Clearly from this picture he had had enough and was ready for bed. You can kind of see (get out your magnifying glass) where his two teeth have popped up on the bottom.
This morning he was a better participant and wanted to drink from the cup. He doesn't yet grasp the concept of tipping up the cup in order to allow the liquid to pour into the spout but we are making progress!
Hopefully by the time I go back to work (which is 4 months from today sniff, sniff) Mason will be completely weaned. Speaking of work, I spent this week trying to get daycare organized and this has been quite stressing. We are really hoping to get into a home daycare operated by a wonderful woman who has 4 teenage boys all of whom are amazing kids (they go to my school.) At the beginning of the week our getting into her care didn't seem very promising but since then we have spoken and she is trying to do some rearranging in order to make room for Mason. I am keeping my fingers crossed as I really, really want Mason to be in her care.

Hanging Out With Mommy

Here is a "self portrait" that I took of Mason and I the other day while we were hanging out at home and Scott was at work. I thought that it turned out pretty well.

Getting Ready to Move?

We are finally over the stomach bug and Mason is pretty much back to himself. Thank goodness! Scott and I now have colds and are hoping that Mason doesn't catch this too but I am sure that it is only a matter of time. He's building up his immune system right? That's what I have to keep reminding myself.

Mason is now getting quite good at pushing himself up while on his tummy. He will push himself up and then bend his arms and go back down and then push himself right back up again. It looks like he is doing pushups and we are just waiting for him to figure out how to bend his knees and lift his stomach and bottom off of the ground. He is on his way to crawling! (I will be saying this now for the next few months just as I went on about him cutting teeth. Heehee!) Strangely he still is not sitting completely on his own although we are pretty sure he is able to do this but just prefers being on his stomach. We will sit him up and he will sit for maybe 5 seconds and then he squirms himself backwards onto his back and immediately flips to his stomach. Hopefully he will be sitting on his own by the end of this next month!

Ava was trying to show him how to crawl from this position. Here's our happy little boy!

We go to the pediatric opthamologist on Monday (Mason will be 8 months that day) to have his sty (on his left eye) checked out. He has had this since he was 3 months old and although it is starting to look a little bit better lately, we want to make sure that this purple mark is only a sty and nothing more. Our optometrist told us that the opthamologist may simply "scoop" out the sty. I am trying not to think about how this procedure is done. I will update all of you after our appointment.

Happy New Year!

Wow! I can't believe that it is already 2008! Scott and I were talking about all of the exciting things that happened over the past year and how excited we are for all that is to come for 2008.

The first milestone of 2008: Mason has a tooth!!! Yeahhhhh!! Finally. It popped through yesterday (bottom right) which might also help to explain some of his "flu-like" symptoms. I have been telling Scott that Mason is "teething" since he was about 3 months old and Scott was beginning to get sick of hearing it. (I figured that I had to be right sooner or later.) We don't yet have a picture as it is just through the gums but hopefully I will be able to soon post his new smile. I am told that I will miss his gummy smile and I am sure that this is true but I am excited for his teeth.

I have included a few pictures here from our Christmas. We had fun putting all of the bows from our gifts on Mason's head.

Mason really enjoyed the wrapping paper.

Here is our little reindeer.

Happy 2008 to all of you! Stay tuned for more updates....

Battling the Bug!

We had a fantastic first Christmas with Mason and our family and friends but have since spent the latter part of the holiday fighting a really nasty stomach bug. (This isn't what was on any of our Christmas lists!) Scott and I got sick on the 27th and had to spend an extra day at his parents place because there was no way that we would have been able to look after Mason. I can't remember the last time that I had the stomach flu but I won't soon forget this past experience. It was brutal! Thank goodness for Scott's parents and for Uncle Karl who spent the day playing and entertaining Mason.
We thought that Mason had dodged the bug but he came down with it on Saturday morning. Let's just say that we now know the difference between vomitting and a little spit-up! Scott, the couch, and the floor received quite the coating. Projectile vomitting in an infant reminds me alot of the Exorcist - very scary!!! Poor little guy couldn't keep anything down all day and his temperature shot right up. We took Mason to the ER around 10 PM on Saturday night because he was starting to show signs of dehydration. The hospital ran a number of tests(bloodwork, urinalysis, and chest x-rays) to make sure that he didn't have a bacterial infection. Meanwhile he was given tylenol, gravol and pedialyte to try and replenish his lost fluids. Scary, scary times for mom and dad! We felt soooo badly (and helpless) for Mason and were feeling guilty for exposing him to this bug. We finally went home around 3 AM after the test results were clear and his fever had broken.
We thought that that was the end of the bug but we are still dealing with it and it seems to rear its ugly head at least once per day. Today has been the best day since last week so we are crossing our fingers that we are through the worst of it.
I know that Mason will get sick many more times in his life and that this is just something that is part of childhood but as a parent all you want is to be the one that is sick and not have your child in pain. Does it get any easier?
Any tips from other parents out there?