3 months down...

To my smiley baby Mason,
Holy smokes, it's been three months already... you are getting so big!

We learned last month that you really like it when the picture on the TV changes. Well, your love of the TV has only grown since then! You got a lot of Baby Einstein DVDs for Christmas and you love watching them. Now that you are smiling and cooing more, you talk to the videos every time a new character comes on the screen, especially when you watch the Baby Neptune one.

 You aren't really into any "games" or anything yet, but you love when mommy plays "peek-a-boo" with you. And you also love to clap your hands (with mommy's help), so we sing "If Your Happy and You Know It" all the time... it always get a laugh!

 You looooove to talk! You talk to your pictures by your changing table and you talk to the ceiling fans; really, you talk to everything. You watch people when they talk to you and try to imitate the noises that they make. Sometimes mommy catches you singing along to music in the car; it's super cute. A lot of times, you start talking, and then when you hear yourself talking, you talk even more!

We're still battling with the whole sleeping-in-your-crib thing, but we're making progress, sloooooowly but surely. And now that you're starting to roll around a little bit, I can see that our days on the couch are quickly coming to an end... mommy better get her butt in gear and get you used to sleeping in your crib!

You laughed for the first time at the beginning of this month! Every once in a while, when mommy or daddy talks to you, you smile and then... all of the sudden you laugh! It's so cute. When you were 11 weeks old, mommy took you out to run some errands in Castleton and we went to see Grampa at work. Mommy was holding you and Grampa was tickling you and all of the sudden, you threw your head back and laughed... and you did it again and again, every time Grampa tickled  you. It almost made me cry, it was so cute!

You've always cried when you're unhappy (duh) but lately you've started making this adorable little pouty face when you're mad or sad; it starts out with a little lip quiver, then you stick your bottom lip out and whimper a little bit. If your demands aren't met promptly, or to your specific liking, the pouty crying begins and I can't lie, it's adorable.

We got you a big boy bath tub last month and you've liked it since day 1, but now... you LOVE it! Your movements are starting to get more coordinated, so now you can splash in the water. Actually, you do more of an "old man shuffle" and kind of wiggle from side to side and that gets the water splashing, and then when you feel the water splashing, you flail your arms and legs about and that just gets the water splashing even more. And you smile and laugh and coo with every splash.

You are starting to develop quite the personality. In one word? Gregarious. You thoroughly enjoy other peoples' company, and you love to talk to people. You've been a little uncertain about people that you don't recognize, but after you study their face for a few minutes and start to warm up to them, you just smile and coo and try to talk to them. You are still very alert (mommy and daddy get comments on that whenever we take you out places) and, if it's possible, more observant than ever. Another trait that has come to light? You are very opinionated - you know what you want, you know how you feel, and you are by no means afraid to let us know. Going hand in hand with your studious behavior, you are also very curious; you like to watch things and when you do, I can almost see the gears turning in your brain. Lovey, lovey, lovey... you are so affectionate and you love to snuggle and get kisses. And you are a very, very happy baby - everything makes you smile and unless you are tired, you are almost always in a good mood!

And going along with your growing personality, you are starting to develop quite a few facial expressions!

Mommy loves watching you while you eat; you do such cute little things while nursing, it always makes me smile. At night, since we sleep on the couch, we usually nurse while laying down and we seem to fit perfectly together - for now, while you're still so small. You are a natural born leg-kicker, but somehow you know not to kick me while nursing, so you just stick your leg up on mine and wiggle it back and forth. You also love to touch me with your hands; sometimes you lay your sweet hand gently on my cheek (although sometimes you do it not so gently...), but usually you lay it on my chest, up by my neck. And the further you get in to your feeding, the sleepier you get, and you try to burrow and grab onto mommy's shirt. So sweet.



You are going through a phase where you don't want to be put down very often. Needless to say, mommy needs to have her hands free so I can get things done during the day, so I bought a Moby wrap. Thank goodness! You like being in it, snuggled close to mommy, and I don't have to hold you, so my hands are free to do dishes or work on the computer or fold laundry.

You are really starting to get control of your arm and leg movements; they don't randomly thrash about as much. You have started to try and reach for things now, too - not very successfully at this point, but when you see something that you want, you kind of stick your arm out and lean towards it. Sometimes you get lucky and actually get a hold of the thing you want and put your death grip on it; you love to hold on to things and you've got a good, firm grip, so you don't usually drop things very often. Since you've gotten more control of your arms, you've found your hands, and that is definitely a good thing! You suck on them all the time and mommy is a-okay with that. If you won't take a paci anymore, you can chew on your hands all you want if it keeps you from screaming. Your legs are constantly in motion. Seriously. Except for when you are in a deep sleep, your legs move all. the. time. I think you're gonna be a really good runner, or biker, or swimmer. And given the way you push your feet down, you may just be a race car driver.

You got your 2 month shots a few weeks ago and you weren't not happy about it! It was a little bit of a delayed reaction when the nurse stuck you with first shot, but man, oh man, you screamed your little head off. You quit crying as soon as mommy picked you up, but you were fussy the rest of the day. You fell asleep as soon as I put you in your car seat to leave, and  you slept for a good couple hours once we got home. You even slept through all the hammering and drilling while mommy was hanging up your new curtains and putting your new bookshelf together!

You rolled from your tummy to your back for mommy during tummy time! And then a couple weeks later, Nana was watching you while mommy was at school, and you rolled from your back to your tummy for the first time! Mommy was really sad that I missed your first back to tummy roll, but Nana said you just threw your leg over the other one and rolled on over!

You love to look at yourself, either in the mirror or on mommy's phone. We stood in front of the mirror this morning and as soon as you saw yourself, you started grinning from ear to ear. When mommy takes pictures of you on my phone, you like to get really close to it and check out the cute little baby on the screen.

You love it when mommy and daddy read books to you! You love to look at all the pictures, and when we read books that have a lot of words in them, you talk along with us!

Sometimes mommy just sits and watches you play or sleep; you are such a sweet sleeper, you look like a little angel when you sleep, and it melts my heart. Now that you've started moving around more, you grab for things when you play, like the little animals on the tray on your swing. Sometimes right after you wake up, you have these little quiet moments where you just lay there and look around at everything; I love these times and sometimes I lay my head down on your chest and hear your little heart beating so fast.

And no monthly summary post would be complete without your feet... because, yes, mommy is still obsessed with them!

 No one else will ever know the strength of my love for you ; after all , you're the only one who knows what my heart sounds like from the inside. I love you more today that yesterday...

<3 mommy

2 months down...

To my sweet baby boy,
It's been two months already, I can't believe it! You just keep growing like a weed; you went from 9 pounds 12 ounces at your 1 month appointment to 11 pounds 13 ounces at your 2 month check-up! You've finally outgrown all of your newborn clothes, except for your little brown zip-up jacket.

This month has been all about sleep! You still hate sleeping in your crib, so you sleep on the couch with me most of the time. Sometimes, on rare occasion, you will sleep in your bassinet, but not very often. When I put you in your crib, you just lay there and look at me like, "Um, get me out of here right now or I'll start screaming!" But we've been working on it the past couple weeks; you've started to take naps in there during the day, usually for about an hour at a time.

You are just like your mommy and daddy - night owls - and you usually stay up pretty late (which makes it hard for mommy to get anything done). Sometimes mommy just puts you on the counter or the dryer so I can get stuff done in the kitchen or fold laundry. But you have finally started to fall into a sleep routine! You get a bath between 7 and 8, nurse, and take a short nap until about 10 or 11. You get a diaper change, nurse again and fall asleep between midnight and 1, and then sleep until about 7. So mommy is finally starting to get some more sleep at night (and just in time, since I go back to school soon!)

You are so cute when you get tired and fall asleep. You've started rubbing your eyes now when you get sleepy, and you love to burrow your face in my neck or your blankie. And when you finally fall asleep, you can always be found in some cute position, usually with your hands up by your face.

When you wake up from a nap, you always do a cute little stretch, where you bunch up your legs, stick out your belly, and arch your back; then you stick your arms and legs straight out and stretch AAALLLLLLLLL the way out. And that is usually followed with your cute little open-eyed yawn. Adorable.

Even though swaddling has worked wonders for you, if you're not ready to go to sleep, you hate it. You wiggle all around and scream your head off. And you are a certified expert at getting your arms out; I call you my little Houdini because no matter how tightly I swaddle you, if you want your arms out, you'll shimmy back and forth until you work them free.

Since your umbilical stump finally fell off and you can have regular baths now, we finally bought you a big boy tub... and you LOVE IT! You love to sit in the water and watch your feet floating in front of you. You're not too big on splashing yet, but I'm sure that day is coming soon. Sometimes you smile when you feel the water on skin or when mommy washes your hair (you've always loved to have your head rubbed), but usually you just watch mommy wash you. And speaking of hair, yours is finally starting to grow! It's getting long enough on top now that mommy can "mess it up" when I run my hand over it!

Pacifiers have always been a struggle with you. You took the "Gumdrop" pacis when we first brought you home from the hospital, then after a couple weeks, you decided that you didn't want it anymore. And after I became your paci and you were hooked on a boob all the time, we tried to give you the paci again, but you didn't like it. We switched to a "Nuk" paci and you loved it! I think you liked the shape better, and it was easier for you to keep in your mouth. But, no surprise, after a couple weeks of the Nuk pacis, you decided you didn't want them anymore either. When we try to give it to you, you stick your tongue out to taste it, feel the silicone, and start crying and pushing the paci away from you. So now we're back to square one, no paci, just mommy.

Your first Christmas was this month! Mommy and daddy didn't really get you anything, you were so small, weren't really interested in any of it (except for the lights on Christmas trees), and you slept through most of our Christmas gatherings! But your family spoiled you enough to make up for it; you got lots of goodies from Nana & Papaw and Gramma & Grampa!

For Christmas, Gramma and Grampa got you the Baby Einstein "Neptune's Ocean Wonders" play mat that we wanted... and you L.O.V.E. it! You love to look at the lights on the musical aquarium; you also like to look at yourself in the mirror up on the very top. You just lay there, looking around, and kicking your feet like crazy! Since our house is kinda small, we put your play mat on floor in front of the TV (that's about the only place in the family room that we have to put it). That's when we discovered that you are intrigued by the television. It's actually kind of funny, you love to watch the picture change, and your eyes get really big when it does.

You smiled your first real smile this month! And ever since then, whenever mommy or daddy starts to talk to you, you always smile. It always melted mommy's heart when you smiled in your sleep, but even more so when you're awake and you look up at me and grin... gets me every time.

You don't like tummy time very much. Sometimes you like to watch the lights on your play mat, but most of the time you just fuss. You would much rather be on your back looking up at the ceiling fan (which you love to look at, even if it's not moving) or the pots and pans in the kitchen or at somebody's face. Even though you don't get quite as much tummy time as you probably should, you are really, really good at keeping your head up when sitting or being held upright. Everyone always says, "Look at how well he keeps his head up!" and then mommy doesn't feel quite so bad about not making you do enough tummy time.

I can't lie, I am still obsessed with your perfect little feet and your perfect little bubble toes. They just keep getting cuter and cuter!

 You started cooing in the past couple weeks. And mommy loves it. When you lay on your changing table, mommy will make noises like "oooooooh" and "aaaaaaaaah" and you try to copy me. We hang out on the couch a lot, and you like to sit in your Boppy and talk with me. I'll tell you about what we have planned for the day or I'll explain what I'm doing on my laptop and you'll just smile and talk back to me. Sometimes you make little outbursts when something excites you - it's almost like you're trying to laugh. So cute.

Mommy printed out some high-contrast pictures and hung them up by your changing table and on the inside of your crib and  you love to look at them. Every time we change your diaper, you turn your head to see the pictures, and recently you've started talking to them. And sometimes when mommy needs to do something while you're awake, I'll lay you in your crib and you'll just kick your feet and talk to the pictures in there, too.

 Your first New Year's Eve was this month, too! We had family over and we fixed a big feast for dinner, and there was so much going on, I don't think you slept all day. Mommy and daddy were trying to hang out later that night, but you would just NOT go to bed, you stayed up until mommy went to sleep around 2 am. And since you were awake that long, you thought you were hungry all day, so all mommy got to do was sit in the recliner and nurse you; but that's okay, I can't really think of any better way to ring in the new year than with my sweet baby boy.

So, that's what you've been up to for your second month of life! More growing, more changing, becoming more active, and learning how to interact with all sorts of things in your environment! You are getting so big and mommy can't wait to see what's in store for us next month!

No one else will ever know the strength of my love for you ; after all , you're the only one who knows what my heart sounds like from the inside. I love you more today that yesterday...

<3 mommy

1 month down...

To my baby Mason ,
I can't believe it's already been one month since we brought your sweet little self into this world ! So much has happened these past few weeks ; our lives will never be the same , but we are so glad that you are finally here ! You grew quite a bit in your first month ; you weighed 7 pounds 12 ounces when you were born , 8 pounds 3 ounces at 2 weeks old , and 9 pounds 12 ounces at 4 weeks !

You look just like your daddy , from your little ears that stick out just a little bit , to your perfect little nose , all the way down to your little pincher toes. But you've got my eyes ( I really hope they stay blue ) and my mouth , too.

You don't like sleeping in your crib... not at all. You've only been in there once since we brought you home. I think it's because you really don't like sleeping flat on your back. Even from day one , in the hospital , you had to sleep with either me or daddy , you would not sleep in the bassinet.

So at first , you slept in your bouncer a lot , but you got tired of that pretty quickly.

Then you started sleeping in your "bassinet" ( it's not really a bassinet , I guess its kind of like a cradle ) , but you got sick of that pretty soon , too.

So now , even though everyone says that you shouldn't , you just sleep on the couch with mommy. And you love it. Sometimes , you sleep for six or seven hours straight , which is pretty good for a newborn.

You are very alert for a newborn ; you love to just sit and study things , especially people's faces. You are also really good at focusing on objects placed in front of you , and can follow objects pretty well. We call you our little "observer". You recognize mommy and daddy's voices and love it when we talk to you.

 

You hate getting your diaper changed and getting dressed - I mean really hate it. And don't even get me started on bath time , that's a battle all in itself. You don't like being naked and you're not afraid to let us know that you are unhappy. Your umbilical stump held on for dear life and didn't fall of until the end of your first month , so you got sponge baths for a really long time.

We struggled with feeding you for the first two weeks of your life ; you had a really hard time getting latched on well enough to be able to eat , so we had to give you pumped bottles for a while. Once you got the hang of it though , you cluster fed all the time... like , pretty much your first four weeks of life were non-stop feeding.

Your first Thanksgiving happened this month ! You were two weeks old and it was your first holiday ; it was also the first time you met a lot of family on mommy's side , like cousins and second cousins and great-aunts and uncles.

We got your newborn pictures taken and everybody loved them. Mommy can't wait to have Lydia take your four month pictures!

You screamed a lot during your third and fourth week ; mommy and daddy weren't really sure what to do with you , and it broke our hearts when you cried like that. But soon we discovered the magical powers of swaddling , and mommy did some research online and found a product called Colic Calm that made your tummy feel better and the screaming stopped ! This was also when we discovered that you love car rides and they almost always put you to sleep. You love , love , LOVE getting in your car seat and going in the "bye-bye box" !

Mommy and daddy threw away our broken Christmas tree last year , so we had to go out and get another one after Thanksgiving , which was the first time that we went somewhere without you. Granted , we were only gone for like , 30 minutes , and you stayed with Nana , but still , you were only three weeks old and that was a big , BIG deal for mommy.

Mommy is obsessed with your little baby feet and your perfect little toes ! You may have your daddy's feet , but mommy loves them and I love taking pictures of them.

So , that what you've been up to this month. Lots and lots of growing. Lots and lots of observing. And lots and lots of getting used to being a small baby in this big world. You do something amazing every day , and we can't wait to see what month two has in store for us !

No one else will ever know the strength of my love for you ; after all , you're the only one who knows what my heart sounds like from the inside. I love you more today that yesterday...

<3 Mommy