walk this way, talk this way...

We have a little boy who is getting braver and braver each day...he can stand for a good 20-30 seconds now and has taken 4 steps before falling down.

Also, in the past few weeks, Mason has expanded his vocabulary beyond mama and dada...the words he currently repeats and uses on his own are:

yes
no
uh oh
all done
touchdown
wow
nanas (bananas)

Last week, when he was put into his crib for a nap at daycare, he took his pacifier from his mouth and threw it out of his crib, then said "all done." He also goes after Shiloh's water dish but says "no" as he reaches for it. Or when you tell him to stop doing whatever he's doing, he says "no" back at you.

It's so crazy to think he understands us more then we realize. Even though he can't verbalize everything yet, he definitely is catching on very quickly to what we are saying. He knows his name and what "stop" means. He knows what "come here" means too. He gives high fives and has a pretty good idea what "I love you" means because I get a big smile whenever I tell him so. And he's learned to put his arms up whenever we say touchdown! It's pretty adorable.

This little boy is growing up and changing way too fast...we are already transitioning baby food out and going to straight table food now. And we will be introducing whole milk in just a few weeks. Please life, slow the heck down!!!

11 months

Here are the photos from Mason's 11 month session...I was home by myself that night, so I didn't have Joe there to distract him from climbing out of the chair so fast...so here is what I was able to capture!

Give me back that teething ring, mom!

I'm tired of pictures mom!

 A small break and distraction...

 And back into the chair...

sleep training...

...sucks!

I hate every single second of it. I know it's for his own good but seriously, it's the worst 30 minutes of my day. We started last Friday night and he cried for 30 minutes before finally passing out, sitting up with his head propped in the corner of his bed. It was the saddest thing I've ever seen. Saturday night was not any better...and he didn't pass out. By Sunday night, I was done...we caved and I nursed and rocked him to sleep that night. In fact, I think I spent most of the night in the chair with him...I felt so incredibly guilty. The naps over the weekend were a little easier but it still took 20 minutes of crying. My poor baby, he napped for almost 2 hours on Saturday...he must have been exhausted from the trauma we forced upon on the night before.

In those moments, I have never felt so helpless, so heartless, so cold...and so full of self doubt, wondering if I'm cut out to actually be a parent because this will not be the hardest thing I'll have to do ever...not even by a long shot.

On Monday morning, I talked with Mason's teacher about what we were doing and she was on full board, ready to deal with a screaming baby twice a day at nap times. Monday and Tuesday were a little rough both at school and going to sleep at night. By Wednesday, it did start to get a little easier. On Thursday, he cried for a few minutes but I laid him on his belly, rubbed his back and gave him his music seahorse and a few minutes later, he was out. He only woke up once but he woke up coughing...Joe went into calm him down and I grabbed some water. He drank a little water and after a few minutes of back rubs, he was back out until 6:15 this morning! He basically slept through the night....he hasn't done that since he was 5 months old and I can count on ONE hand the number of nights he's done this in his short 11 months on this earth. It was a dream.

Tonight, I nursed and fed him his bottle and laid him in his crib, still half awake. I turned him over, gave him his seahorse and rubbed his back. Out again. I heard him wake and coo over the baby monitor for a few minutes after I had left but he has been  sleeping since.

Seriously, where did Mason go? Did someone swap my baby? For a little man who has fought sleep and naps his entire life, I'm shocked at what a difference a week makes. He takes his naps quite easily now, he will fuss in his crib but after a quick back rub, he's out. And he's napping for 1+ hours, which is UNHEARD of in this household.

Part of me wishes we had started this sooner...yet part of me knows he wasn't ready before. And we probably weren't either. But whether it was intuition or just being fed up with his crappy sleep patterns, I knew it was time and even though it has been the hardest week yet, I'm glad we did it and stayed strong and didn't give up. I just hope this continues!

It's hard to believe we actually did this...no books, no special techniques and no rhyme or reason for what we did and didn't do. We just did, without thinking...and followed our gut, knowing our baby better than any doctor, teacher or author could ever know. And at the end of it all, one of the greatest lessons I continue to learn over and over again...that parenthood is not a science and is never black and white. But if follow your intuition, you can't fail at this. It's not possible.

august updates...

It's been a busy month...if my lack of posts for over 2 weeks doesn't already give that away?

Oy...where to begin...

Mason is getting better and better at eating food...he definitely prefers finger food now but we aren't quite ready to switch over completely yet, I still find plenty of food in his bib and high chair when he's done.

Hanging out with dad at the AT&T store...what a cool dude!

Two weekends ago, we had ventured over to WI to visit my parents at the lake. They were starting their week vacation there. Joe & my Dad got some fishing in and Mason and I got some quality Grandma time. We had a great time with my parents, it was very relaxing. It was nice to get away from home...because every woman knows that even a weekend at home does not result in a relaxing time. There is always something that needs to be washed or cleaned. Mason was obessed with the sliding glass door...this is what my Dad was seeing on the other side of the window.

And now for some recent videos. Here is Mason hanging out at the back door while Daddy was mowing the lawn....

Here is Mason on the move...he's crawling like he's been doing this since he was born. My favorite part is when he sees where he wants to go and the head goes down and off he goes. And the slapping...I love that sound. It makes me giggle. Not only is it cute but it lets us know he's on the move if we aren't watching...we are going to miss that when he starts walking!

Mason also likes to hang out at the baby gate. You can see that he not only walks along one thing but now moves from item to item as he walks.

Work has been insanely busy lately, which makes the days and weeks go by way too fast. And Joe has been working late the past few weeks, getting home after 8pm most week nights which means I'm on my own most of the time. By the time I get Mason fed, bathed, down for the night, house picked up and everything ready for the next day, it's bedtime. I don't even turn the TV most nights, with the exception of my summer guilty pleasure of bachelor pad :)

Mason is constantly on the go and into everything these days...his new favorite past time is opening and closing the cupboard we keep Shiloh's food in...I swear he would do this for hours if we let him! He is a video from tonight after his bath...

In other baby related news, we've been battling a bad case of diaper rashes the past month or two...yeast diaper rashes with cloth diapers...not a good combination. I hope I've finally washed our diapers enough that the yeast is finally dead and gone for good. While I've enjoyed the convenience of disposables, it's time to get back to washing and to keep the earth a little cleaner...plus the extra $$ will be nice too! I've also been slowly weaning my pumping sessions at work where I'm almost ready to just nurse at home in the mornings and before bedtime. I got pretty sick about a month ago and my supply never made it back to what it was. Plus we'll start switching over to whole milk in a little over a month...seriously how crazy is that?!? While I'm sad to see these days leaving, I'm really looking forward to having my body back and to not have the stress of squeezing time into busy days at work.

We are still struggling to get Mason to take longer naps and to sleep through the night...I don't think we've had a full night sleep since he was 5 months old and gave us those few teaser nights. Le sigh. However, I used to spend most nights in the chair and we have come a VERY long way from there...but between the teeth and colds, there has rarely been a time when he wasn't in some sort of pain or discomfort so he's still waking up. Most nights lately, he sleeps until 2am...and then I go in to rock him and I end up falling asleep until my alarm is going off. Not ideal...but at least it's a step in the right direction. All I can say is if there is ever a next nursery, it will have a single bed in it. I won't do it any other way.

Mason also has cut his 6th tooth today...he now has 4 pearly whites on top and two on the bottom. He also has a nasty cold and cough this week, which has also moved on to Joe and myself. Ugh, the joys of daycare right? I call it the daycare drip...the noses never stop running!

And one last video to leave you with...here is Mason tonight during dinner...clearly missing his daddy!