18 MONTHS!!

So I may or may not have been slacking in the blog department recently.  I've let the last 2 months slide I guess.  I figured I'd better make sure I do a post for the big 18 month milestone!  I hope you have some time, this could get long! :)

  Mason is so much fun these days.  Along with the fun comes the typical toddler misbehaving, though, as well.

18 Mason Facts:

1.  Mason doesn't have his 18 month appt until October 22 because we are switching doctors.  Health insurance got too expensive at my job, so we found another option and are able to switch to a doctor closer to home.  I've been trying to weigh and measure him with our scale and tape measure, though, and the last I got was about 24-25 lbs and STILL 31 1/2 inches!  I don't understand how this kid's pants can get too short for him, but yet he hasn't grown.  Or he can now reach stuff on the kitchen table and bathroom counter, but yet he stays the same height.  I'm really interested to see what his stats are at his appt in a few weeks!

2.  Mason's words have taken off!!  He is such a smart kid.  He understands basically everything we say, and says quite a bit too.  Somedays he mumbles more than others, though.  He can identify all household and farm animals and tell us what sound they make.  He says "Hi" and "Byebye" all the time.  He signs and say "more" (usually referring to food), says "all done" and "all gone".  "Uh oh" is still one we hear quite often.  I really need to make a list of words he says because I can never remember them when I try to think of them.  He knows the difference between a basketball, football, and baseball.  He just started saying "No" yesterday and I just cringed.  He's held off saying it for so long, I was hoping it'd still be awhile.  It's so hard not to laugh when he says it, though, because he purses his lips up tight when he does it.  He's usually being a little stinker and pushing mama's buttons when he says it, though, so I do everything I can not to laugh. I could probably be here all day coming up with words, so I'll try and make a list before next month.

3.  Mason has 10 teeth, with no more in sight at this time.  He has the 4 front teeth on the top and bottom and all 4 of his 1 year molars.  He's always been behind the curve with teeth, so I assume the canines will still be awhile.

4. Mason pretty much runs wherever he goes, and he LOVES to be on the move.  His newest and proudest accomplishment lately is that he can jump.  It started off with a week or so of what Mason thought was jumping, but his feet never left the ground.  Then one day he started jumping with his feet off the ground and he now will jump forward a few inches.  He loves to do it and is so proud of himself when he does.  Mason is also a climbing machine!!  He will climb anything and everything he possibly can. 

5.  Due to his toddler never stop, no fear mode, Mason ended up with his first "big" injury a couple weeks ago.  He fell in the driveway and ended up with a face full of scratches!  :(

  

6.  Mason's favorite animals right now are puppies and lions.  Since pretty much everything in the last year and a half has been puppy themed for Mason, we decided to have him be a lion for Halloween.  Whenever you ask him "Mason, what does a lion say?"  He does this completely adorable little growl.  Can't wait to show him off on Halloween.  Here's a preview of his costume.

7.  On July 31, my brother and Mason's Uncle Nicholas moved to San Diego.  It was a heart breaking time for me, especially, because we are the only siblings and we are extremely close.  It also broke my heart to know that he wouldn't be getting to see Mason very often as he grows up.  Nicholas came home for a week last week, so we got to see lots of him!!  Mason sure loves his Uncle Nicholas.  :)

 

Jackson also missed Uncle Nicholas a lot.  I wish I would have gotten his first reaction, but this is after he had already freaked out for about a minute.

 

8.  Mason is still pretty on and off with food, although he is getting better.  He still is SUPER picky about meat.  He will rarely eat meat here at home, unless it's hot dogs.  He sure does love spaghetti night though!

9.  Mason also LOVES chips!!  He will stop at nothing to get them.  One day, he kept going in the cupboard and getting the bag of chips.  I kept telling him no and putting them back.  He took an opportunity while I was going to the bathroom.  I came out of the bathroom and couldn't find him anywhere.  I finally saw a couple little toes sticking out from behind the recliner in his bedroom.  The little stinker had gotten the bag of chips, and hid behind the chair eating them as quietly as he possibly could.  We're in trouble....

10. Mason is still such a big helper.  He loves to help sweep, load/unload the dishwasher, clean his highchair tray off, help with laundry, etc.  

11.  Along with helping around the house, Mason also loves to clean himself, whether it's washing his hands and feet in the sink or taking a bath!  We are very thankful for this as it makes bathtime incredibly easy and fun!

12.  Mason loves water and is constantly asking for more "wa wa".  :)

13.  Mason has a newfound love of books.  He doesn't really like to sit a listen to a whole story read, but rather he likes to interact by asking us what everything is, repeating us, and pointing to things when we ask.  He has an alphabet book that we read with him and he has started repeating all the letters after us.  It is so cute!

14.  Mason still yells to get what he wants, but not all the time anymore.  He is getting much better at asking for "more".  If he doesn't get what he wants after about 20 seconds, THEN he starts yelling.  We're glad it's improving, though.  :)

15.  Mason's fine motor and hand-eye coordination is very good!  He likes to try and stack things and will try to pick up the littlest things off the ground, usually a crumb of some sort.  :)

16.  We found out that Mason loves the apple orchard.  The last few years, we have gone to Bauer's in La Crescent to get our apples in the fall, but this year we decided to go to Ferguson's in Centerville, since there was more for Mason to do there.  We went twice in one week and he loved it!

17.  Mason continues to be a pretty good sleeper, sleeping through the night 95% of the time.  The last few nights we think he has been having nightmares, though, because he will make some sounds in his sleep like he's scared and then wake up screaming.  Poor guy.  :(

 18.  Mason is still such a goofball and we love him so much!  Even though he can be exhausting at times, he brightens our days and makes us laugh so much!

Decided he didn't want to take a nap

Thought it was hilarious to throw his blanket on Jackson's head

So excited to be drinking out of a big boy cup for the first time

I told him to make a funny face   :)

He thinks it's funny to make anything that's not a hat, a hat.  On the contrary, he hates wearing hats...

See what I mean??

 I'll leave you with one last video....   :)

Have a great month!
Love,
Amy, Garret, and Mason

15 Months!

Oops, a little late on this one, but we've been outside a lot more with the nice weather lately!  Happy early 4th of July to everybody!  We are planning on going to the fireworks on Thursday night, but Mason hasn't been out that late is way longer than I can even remember.  I hope it doesn't screw up his sleep schedule too much.  Without further ado, 15 Mason facts!

1.  Mason had his 15 month appt on June 25.  He was 22lbs 6 oz and 31 1/2 inches.  He grew exactly 1 inch and 1 pound.  He is 25% for weight and 70% for height, which is where he's been almost every appt.

2. Mason has a couple new words.  He say Go when he's on the swing or running around the house.  OK, I actually can't think of any new words.  I'm sure he has some though.  The biggest verbal milestone is that he said his first sentence.  On Saturday, we were in his room and Jackson walked in.  He got this big smile on his face and said "Hi Jackson!"  Go figure he would be talking to Jackson when he says his first sentence.  He just adores his "big brother". :)

 

Giving Jackson a kiss  :)

3. Mason now has 10 teeth.  He has the front 4 on the top and bottom and also has his first top molars on both sides.  I think the bottom molars will still be awhile.

4.  Last month, we had a walker on our hands.  Mason is now running.  He runs everywhere around the house.  He tries to run outside, too, but the terrain is a little more uneven.  :)

5.  Mason's favorite thing to play in is water.  Whenever we are inside, the first place Mason goes to is the kitchen so he can check if Jackson's water bowl is accessible.  If so, he will splash away in it until we can get there to take it away.  Last night, I went and got Mason a water table.  We set it up for the first time today and he had a blast!

6.  Mason still loves to give kisses, but has finally figured out hugs.  I ask him to give me a hug and he lays his head down on my shoulder.  It just melts my heart!

7.  Mason has been pretty on and off with eating.  Some days, he eats everything we give him and still asks for more, but then other days, he will throw everything we give him on the floor. 

 

8.  Mason has also become quite the climber.  He has been climbing stairs for a very long time, but now he's been trying to climb on boxes, toys, furniture, everything!  Just this morning, he got up on the coffee table.  I guess we will be living in fear now!

He was so proud of himself.  How devious does he look....

9. Mason is such a big helper!  He loves to help us with anything around the house.  He helps clean up his toys, sweep, wipe off his highchair tray after meals, and will close any drawer and door that we ask him to.  He also loves to be in the kitchen when I'm cooking.  He's going to be such a big help around the house when he's old enough to do a little more.  He's always so proud of himself when he helps with something.

10. He is still wearing 12 & 18 month clothes, size 4 diapers, and size 4 shoes.  Since he's only gained 1 pound and grown 1 inch in the last 3 months, that doesn't really surprise me.

11.  Mason finished his swim class last Thursday.  He had so much fun in the pool.  We will definitely have to take him to the pool this summer.  Garret and I were both in the pool with him every week too, we are all sad it is over.

12. He has a horrible habit right now.  Mason knows the sign for "more" and uses it all the time.  However, he feels the need to scream first to get what he wants.  And let me tell you, this kid has vocal cords!  It is so loud and annoying, especially at the end of the day when I'm exhausted.  Ugh!

13. Garret told me a fun story last night.  He was home with Mason last night while I was at a meeting.  Garret laid on the floor, covered his head with a blanket, and told Mason to go hide.  We have never played hide-and-seek before, so Garret was shocked when he went and hid behind the recliner in his room.  Wish I would have been  home to see it.  What a cutie!!

14.  Mason got to spend a weekend with Grandma & Grandpa Prince, Uncle Tim, and Aunt Marcy a couple weekends ago.  Tim had a baseball tournament in town, so they stayed with us for the weekend.  Mason had so much fun playing with everybody!

15. Mason has also gotten very good with his pincher grasp and finger isolation.  He points to everything and it's so cute because his hands are so little. He is also able to pick up the tiniest things using his thumb and index finger.

Hope I got everything important this month!  Thanks for reading!

Apparently the dirt tasted really good that day.

One more little video to leave you with.  Mason had his first experience with water balloons today.  He just loved to bite them to pop them.  Then he looked all over for it because it "disappeared".  It was hilarious!