SSSStretch

This is from our trip home. We stopped in Carthage, IL to stretch our legs and see some church history. Mason took full advantage of the few minutes out of his car seat. He copies EVERYTHING we do. His imitation of his dad stretching was adorable. He ran all over the place. He liked to hug the trees, look to see if I was looking, and then laugh. I am trying to persuade him to keep out of the dirt, to no avail. At least it the dirt looked clean...As clean as dirt can be.

You asked...

Many people have asked me how Mason did on the car ride home from Virginia. It went like this:Reading. Playing with plastic bags (I know, I know!). Discovering eyelashes. Sleeping (Have you met Jeffy Giraffee?)

He did a lot of reading and sleeping. There were some great toys that really saved us. We sang along to a kid CD so much I dreamed of wheels on the bus going round and round. Also I think I have tennis elbow from handing him countless goldfish crackers. He did MUCH better than I imagined.

Jamestown

We went to Jamestown with Grandma Heaton, Aunt Amy, and Uncle Jeff at the beginning of the summer but I just got my hands on the pictures. We told Uncle Jeff we'd give him money if he could touch the duck... :

More Last minute adventures: USS Wisconsin

I spy Mason laughing at silly Uncle Joe.

Groove

Do you remember this post about babies and dancing? When we were at the Children's Museum I finally got some of Mason's dancing on film. Here he performs his classic move, "Happy Feet", which consists of stomping each foot in rapid succession. He threw in some new moves for variety, one of which we now call "Shake your tail feather".

Last minute adventures: Portsmouth and Children's Museum

The firetruck picture was taken for cousin Jordan

Now we know why they charge the adults too

This ball floated in the air, just out of Mason's reach.

He's really into balls lately so he was not happy about this.

Blocks

Kids playing with blocks. That's nothing new. A kid that can stack them eight high. Maybe noteworthy. A kid that turns them round and round until they are upside down to stack them... perhaps concerning.

Really Mom? Really?

Yeah, I was probably asking for it. The good news is that Mason's darling (hand-me-down from cousin Ryan) Spiderman boxers weren't permanently stained. Have I mentioned I have white carpet?

He's the cutest little vampire boy I've ever seen.

Mason at Williamsburg

Here's Mason and his friend T.J:And of course showing the world his muscles:Being cute:

Being reverent:

And that was pretty much our trip:

Ziploc (150 count)

Mason got scared from the vacuum noise today. So I told him it was a tractor. He knows from a book that tractors go "rar rar rar". That seemed to do the trick.

TRICKS!

Everyday is like Christmas when you have a toddler. You never know what surprises you'll get. Mason is doing new things each day, some of them good, some of them bad. Giving kisses, good. Spitting in the toilet, bad.

Here are some of our favorites.

When we say "show me your face" he goes like this:

When we say "show me your muscles" he goes like this:

We also call it "chris farley face" :) Here's a video of more muscles:

(I especially like the part where his head gets to heavy for him to sit up for a while)

Here's a little video of more tricks:

More fun at Mt. Trashmore

First, a little information. Mt. Trashmore is a 165 acre park with hills over 60 feet high. They turned an abandoned landfill into a park by compacting the waste and covering it with soil. The park has a lake, a skate park, and playgrounds. Mason's favorite part appears to be the wood chips under the slide. We go to the park whenever the weather isn't too hot.

Jason and I went for a walk around the lake and then raced up the hill. Jason pushed Mace in the stroller and still beat me to the top. Here's Mason 'running' back down. The slope made him giggle. The video is poor quality, but you get the idea.

cRaBs!

I don't like seafood or anything about it. Poor Jason does. Luckily our friends Grant and Wendy invited us over and shared crabs they caught with my boys. I love Mason's expressions.

The 3 R's- Part III

Rocking Out!!!
I've been delaying posting this one since I was hoping to get video footage to prove it, but there is something about the appearance of a camera that inhibits Mason's groove.

I know there is music in heaven, and it's not all harps. You can tell by the way such little babies react to a beat. Despite the disproportionate heads and uncoordinated limbs, kids love music and want to express it with their bodies.

Whether it's a head bob, the classic knee dip, swinging arms, or swaying bodies- I love to watch kids dance.

Mason's favorite head bangers appear to be "Island in the Sun" by Weezer, "Take a chance on me" by ABBA, and of course "Wheels on the bus" by his mom.