Wednesday, October 31, 2012

little monkey

Mason,

Despite my threats to dress you as Oscar the Grouch this Halloween, you ended up with a monkey costume. Thank goodness for the darling and affordable plush costume at our neighborhood consignment shop, or you would have been wearing green and a garbage can. Even though your personality has come a long way from your earliest days, the grouch costume still would have been fitting. But, you made an adorable little monkey, so it all worked out fine.

Daddy was out of town the weekend before Halloween, so I took you to a festival at our local hardware store. We enjoyed the beautiful weather before Hurricane Sandy arrived.




You grew braver with walking this weekend.



By Halloween, you had turned into a full-fledged walker. (That's what being locked indoors for two days during a hurricane will do.) Thankfully, Hurricane Sandy had passed, and we could enjoy the evening outside.



Your first stop: trick-or-treating at our neighbor's house.


We went to Hilloween, our neighborhood's annual party, and saw Clydesdales and enjoyed a hayride.



We trick-or-treated at a bunch of houses on our walk home. You had no idea what you were doing, but by the end, you knew to lift your pumpkin up to the person at the door of each house. You even yelled at some much bigger kids in front of you who weren't walking fast enough--you turned into a bossy little monkey by the night's end!

Your cute costume scored us a bunch of candy, and Daddy and I are enjoying every last piece. We're wondering how many years we have left before we'll have to share your candy with you.

Love you, little monkey!

XOXO,

Mommy

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

life at 13 months

Mason,

Here is what you're up to at 13 months old:
  • Mommy weaned you from the breast, and the bottle shortly thereafter. A couple of days before we took your bottles away cold turkey, you learned to hold the bottle yourself. 

  • You're still not completely happy about cows' milk in a sippy cup, but we're working on it.
  • You have entered an affectionate stage, giving us kisses and zerberts all the time, voluntarily and when prompted. You constantly kiss pictures of all three of us and the characters in your favorite books. You kiss the poster in your room from this year's book festival. You try to kiss your baby friends and when they run away from you, you settle for kissing their mommies.
  • You've been described by several as sensitive. Even though you're often clingy and high maintenance in the church nursery, and you cry every time we leave you there, we love your passion and tender heart.
  • You can destroy something in a matter of seconds. 
  • You shy away from the camera and having your picture taken. It's rare to get a picture of you now when you're looking at the camera AND smiling. Our photographer had a heck of a time at your one-year photo shoot.
  • Once every 50 or so pictures we get lucky: eye contact and a smile.
  • You're walking very well in between people and furniture. Mommy coaxed you to walk the length of our living and dining rooms without any assistance, but you have yet to repeat that stunt for Daddy. As with other milestones, you seem to make good progress and then regress for a time. You're cautious, and even fearful at times, which may mean that we make fewer trips to the emergency room than the parents of another boy. We are patiently awaiting the day when you'll no longer need or want to hold on to our index fingers to walk around. You'll get there when you're ready.
  • Your appetite is still voracious, and you've learned to sign for "more". You can also feed yourself with a spoon.
Happy 13 months, Cupcake! We love you and are incredibly proud of you.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Saturday, October 13, 2012

pumpkin patch

Mason,

You're two for two with annual visits to the pumpkin patch!

We unwisely timed this visit for the day after we took your bottle away cold turkey. You were still a little angry at us.


Luckily, a snack temporarily distracted you from your bad mood, and you could begin the search for the perfect pumpkin.




We found one and enjoyed the rest of our day . . .




. . . until we got home and you remembered that you were still mad at us.


Sorry, Sweetie. Hope you like your pumpkin! We love you!

XOXO,
Mommy