Dumser's Dairyland!

Mason got to enjoy his very first Dumser's ice cream while visiting Mom-mom this weekend. While Ryan was away on a business trip I drove down with the kids for some quality time with grandma. The kids enjoyed our walks on the beach/boardwalk and a trip to the Northside Park playground, after which they enjoyed this very special treat at Dumser's!

Mason's 10 Months Old!

There is so much going on these days it seems... Mason is eating a ton, not sure where he puts it all!! He is still drinking a few bottles a day, but also takes his milk through cups with straws, and occasionally sippy cups too.

As for mobility, he pulls himself up to standing easily, can walk around holding on with only one hand, and when he gets involved with a toy he has let go and managed to stay standing for 30 seconds or so before falling back on his bottom. Can also take a couple steps towards something before falling over.

Feisty - He knows what he likes and what he doesn't and has NO PROBLEMS vocalizing it. If he is unhappy with something his automatic response is to arch his back and fuss. As an infant we were always careful to make sure Hunter (who is a brute) didn't fall on Mason or accidentally hurt him. I don't think we had to worry much. Mason now crawls over to Hunter pulls himself on top of him, crawls all over him really. This morning Mason was standing up by the couch and I had a wind-up car which I propelled towards his foot. When it hit his foot, Mason squawked and then started kicking it away while fussing at it. I thought this totally captured his personality...he doesn't take crap from anything or anyone.

His expressions have really developed recently too. When something captures his attention, he really reacts with Ooos and Aahhs and has a really infectious smile.

He sleeps well, about 11 - 12 hrs a night plus 1-2 naps during the day, but still does not sleep in as much as we'd like. He is generally up around 6 a.m. or a little after and no matter how we move his bedtime we can't seem to get him to sleep in a bit longer. Oh well...

He leans in to give kisses now and loves doing so...he even gives kisses to the animals on the pages of his favorite book, Noisy Farm. He also loves blowing raspberries. We recently put his artwork up in his bedroom, one of which is a giant stuffed giraffe butt. When you ask him what a giraffe butt says, he lets out a big raspberry toot sound! He cracks us up!

He really does understand way more than he can communicate. If you ask him to open his mouth so we can clean his teeth, he will comply immediately. He follows a few other simple instructions too. He loves playing chase, if you say "I'm going to get you..." he takes off in the other direction giggling!

Love this little guy and can't believe his first birthday is right around the corner already...

This NEVER happens...

I actually caught Mason napping today. Generally he wakes up as soon as anyone enters his room, no matter how quietly, which is ironic because he can sleep through Hunter screaming and running around just outside of his bedroom when the door is closed.

Regardless, I truly don't think I've seen Mason sleeping since he was a newborn. So cute!

Gardening

We are going to put in a vegetable garden! YEA! Planning to have beans, eggplant, squash, zucchini, hot peppers, sweet peppers, onions, lettuce, spinach, carrots, brussels, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, butternut squash, pumplins, cantaloupe and watermelons. Haha...or whatever will grow!

It is true, we have definitely lost our minds and have no idea how we'll keep up with it over the summer, but we are super excited to grow our own food. Everyone keeps telling us to start small...so we are trying to heed their advice.

As Ryan told me, there is a reason most gardeners are older or retired...they have the time for it. Hopefully the kids will help us as they get older...slave labor is one of the benefits of having children, right?

Here are some pics of us preparing the area. Unfortunately there was a tiny tree overgrown with vines which had roots running about 15-20 ft under the ground. Ugh...it was a pain in the butt to get them all up, but we did it! We did most of the work while Hunter and Mason napped, but when Mason woke he instantly took on the role of foreman.

Our Dare Devil

Think we should worry?

Happy V Day!

Destructo!

He gets so much pleasure out of knocking blocks down...

Look who's walking!

9 Months Old!

At 9 months, Mason weighs 20lbs 12 ozs (51st percentile) and is 29.2 inches tall (76th percentile). He is a healthy, mobile, talkative little guy! We were surprised to learn that he wasn't at a higher percentile; he seems like such a big boy to us now. He definitely doesn't feel like a lightweight, that is for sure. The fact that he is pulling himself up to stand whenever he can and is already using his walking toys to toddle around the house adds to his "big boy" image. As does the fact that he prefers table food, is beginning to feed himself, and can play independently for short periods of time. He also reliably gives high fives, puts his arms above his head to show that he is "so big" and is beginning to put his knee up on the first stair to climb them. His curiosity has peaked too; he loves going from room to room to explore (especially things he shouldn't), which has made childproofing the house a priority. Perhaps this is all just par for the course for a second born child, but he certainly does surprise us to no end!

An addition...

We removed the old deck on our home and have replaced it with a new deck and 3-season room. Work started on January 3rd and was completed this week. Loving it!