9 months old

January 15th marked the 9 month mark for Mason. He now has two teeth, although he is suffering from lock-jaw, when mom sticks a finger in to check the progress of their growth or try to take a picture. I will say he loves the clicking sound they make on a plastic cup when he drinks, but he has suffered horribly from several tongue-biting sessions.

We are starting, in earnest, the oh-so-messy process of letting him feed himself. And know that I use that term loosely. It's more an act of wearing his food rather than consuming, but we are trudging through. Momma does a little trick of giving him a baby spoon full of food, place it on his tray to work with and then sneak in a larger spoon full of food to eat while he connects his spoon to his mouth. And just like both parents, he is oh-so stubborn...he can do it himself, thank you very much.

We are also mastering the sippy cup. He has totally figured out how to suck the liquid through the mouth piece and is a HUGE fan of ice water and cold milk. But he is thoroughly convinced that he shouldn't hold the cup himself. Screams in fact when we try to make him hold the handles and drink. I left the cup on his high-chair tray the other day and he leaned over, put his mouth on the cup and sucked air. Like I said, he knows what to do, he's just stubborn to try what mom and dad suggest...is this telling of our future with this little big man?!?!

Mason is also enjoying, and benefiting, from additional time with Layton. The boys get two days a week together. As a matter of fact, he squeals when Clifton brings Layton in the room, offering baby hugs/kisses when Layton is set beside him. And he's learning to move around much more after watching Layton. Mason is just so layed back that crawling is just not on his radar. He'd rather have us walk him around the room. We are still working on the crawling (knowing that each kid will do what they choose to do, WHEN they choose to do it), but after some time with Layton, he has renewed interest in getting around on his hands and knees.

And speaking of Little Big Man, we continues to grow. After his recent 9 month well-check visit, his stats are:
Weight: 24 pounds (90% of his age bracket)
Height: 30.25 inches (95% of his age bracket)
Shoes: size 5 (far bigger than his counterparts)
Clothes: 12-18 months

Here are some recent photos of our little peanut.

Taste test

I don't know how else to introduce this video clip. This is hands-down the funniest video you will see today, and it's not just because I'm partial to the participants.

Mom's helper

So it's only natural that Mason would want to "help" me throughout the day since we have a lot of time together. But as I work on the laptop, he is so eager to tap the keys like mom. I was on the floor the other day doing double-duty...bookkeeping and playing with Mason. He scooted in my direction started whacking the keyboard. Let's just say it's a good thing QuickBooks has a feature that registers an entry with an audible ding...I was able to reverse what Mr. Helper entered.

Later in the week, JP caught Mason and I checking email while on the loveseat. He's such a ham when it comes a camera.

He's going up so fast. He'll be 9 months old tomorrow. He's cut his first tooth, is repeating all kinds of sounds and syllables that we throw at him and he's decided to bypass crawling for walking. About two weeks ago, he'd fuss like crazy when he was sitting down. So I'd offer my hands and he'd pull himself up and start taking steps. So now we are wrapping a towel around his chest and holding that to guide and balance him as he steps. He's still not sure what to do with his arms but he'd rather we walking than playing on the floor...life as we know it is changing daily. We are still working on the crawling but he is certainly taking after his momma in this department.

Trenchers for Hire

So we are starting a new service for those in need of trenching work. If you know of anyone that doesn't mind curving lines, I have just the crew for you.


Here's the back story. We have had a gopher in our extended yard for about a month now. Being that it is not up near the house, we haven't taken action to get rid of it. JP and I noticed a few weeks ago that it seemed that the gopher was digging holes in a straight line...their version of bread crumbs???

Seeing that we are having a beautifully sunny day today, I let the pooches run in the yard for a few hours. When Mason and I took a walk, I couldn't believe what Budro and Gracie were doing. Apparently they didn't waste any time getting busy following the mounds of dirt. This particular trench follows where there once were three mounds of dirt.

What was more amazing than watching the dogs determination in trying to find the gopher was there technique. Gracie would take a bite out of the top soil and then dig to progress the trench. Then Budro would come in and with his big paws, "sweep" out the excess dirt and dig a little. And then back and forth the process would go. Can't imagine how far they would have gotten if Mason and I hadn't gone for a walk. And yes, I yelled "GO HOME" and they put themselves in their pen...they didn't have the proper permits to continue!!

Christmas Memories

Our first Christmas with Mason can be wrapped up in one phrase...paper, paper, paper. We could have wrapped up rocks and he wouldn't have know the difference. At every Christmas stop, he had that look on his face when the presents came out. You know that one, he couldn't believe that we were letting him tear, rip and throw paper all over the room.

We did Christmas in four stages over the course of a week and had a great time at everyone's house. First stop was with the Padgett family. We instituted a new tradition this year. Rather than exchange gifts with all of the family, we baked (sister-in-law Becky did all the work) and packaged cookies for distribution in care packages. It was a great way to be of service with little effort. And a great reminder to share the love and joy with others, not just focusing on ourselves. But being his first Christmas, the family couldn't resist sharing a few presents with Mason.


We opted for a quiet Christmas eve and morning. I figured I'd grease the wheels with Santa and baked some chocolate chip cookies. Mason even joined in the fun, helping to pick out some cookies and surveying the cookie plate. Please notice the taste-tester in the picture...mind you he grabbed the cookie of his own choosing, and liked it.


And then Christmas morning came and the paper fun continued. He and his daddy were so proud of his new boots. Dad likes to call them Mason's new snake-boots but mom is not real sure about that.


Then it was off to Clifton & Amy's for Christmas lunch with mom & the Hindes family. Mason, Layton and Cooper (Amy's nephew) really put the season in perspective for all of us. It is a season of love and joy.


We concluded the Christmas tour the Sunday after Christmas with a lunch at Dad and Leigh's house. JP was hunting with all of the Padgett boys (minus Mason) and had to miss the festivities. We enjoyed our lunch, had a "little" bonfire (you had to be there) and then let the boys rip open more presents. Those boys are professional present unwrappers. The kids played for hours and did a lot of giggling back and forth with each other.


Great Christmas memories for 2009!!