And we're back!

Here's Mason in his Halloween 'costume'. He's a lost boy from Peter pan. What a cutie.

The past few months in a nutshell: we all made it back to Utah safe and sound. Life goes on and Mason is simply amazing. Sadly our computer was stolen and if it weren't for this silly blog we would have lost all our pictures of Mason! We are trying to focus on that and not on all the lost pictures from Mexico, Cali, South Carolina, DEN, Oregon, Peru and all of our adventures inbetween.

Great Grandpa Horsley

I'm so grateful to have caught this moment on video. Who knew a rough and tough cowboy could be so sweet?

Return to the land of 10000 lakes

I had to return to work by the first of August so Mason and I flew back to Utah and have been staying with my parents there for the past few weeks. Jason was getting a little too used to the bachelor life so we came back for a little visit. Mas' has changed a ton, but his dad still recognized him. Jason keeps asking me "does he normally do this?"

Does he normally hold his head up so well? Yes
Does he normally kick so hard? Yes
Does he normally babble and chirp so much? Um, no. That's a new one.

Mason has been talkative for a while now but since we arrived in MSP he hasn't stopped. He goes on and on. And he's loud! Last night we put him to bed, but heard noises a few minutes later. We crawled into his room and listened while our little guy went on and on. He finally talked himself to dreamland.

Visit from the Starr Grandparents

Richard and EvaDean flew out to visit for about a week. Although flying stand by was a bit of an adventure (sorry about getting special screening by TSA so many times) we had a blast. We drove up to North Shore and saw all the amazing scenery by Lake Superior. But the best part was showing off Mason and how much he's grown up. Here's a great picture of the three generations of Starrs.

Happy 4th of July!

Apparently Mason doesn't like it when we play dress up too much. But isn't he a cute little surfer dude?

It's a miracle!

Mason is 8 weeks old today! He's spent most of the day smiling at Jason. It's astonishing how much he's grown up. He's not a newborn anymore. Mason has really filled out this past week and no longer fits in some of his clothes. His chubby cheeks are back! In the last post I mentioned he seemed to be aware of the colorful toys hanging on his car seat. Well, now he is certainly aware and playful. As a matter of fact he thinks he can pull himself to freedom.

To celebrate the two month make, Mason got his own room. Jas' was jealous since he didn't get his own room until he was a senior in High School. We put Mason's crib in the guest room; we'll see how that goes tonight. But the miracle is that for the first time, since we left Utah, he actually went to sleep on his own. Usually he goes from wide awake and happy to overly tired and cranky. Once he starts screaming it's pretty hard to get him to wind down. Well tonight our zero-to-sixty little man went to bed sans the walking/rocking/pacifier-ing/tub-running/bribing/bouncing. I hardly know what to do. I'd knock on wood but I'm afraid it would wake him up.

Better late than never...

Just like Mason, this blog is a little late in coming. Mason is almost two months old now and doing great. We're all getting over colds, so in addition to his usual growls, chirps, coos, and squeaks- he's a little stuffy too. He blows us away with how alert he is. He's hard to hold because he's always arching his back and lifting his head up to check out the world. He also thinks it's time to start crawling. When playing on his stomach, Jason and I will put our hands under his feet. Mason will push against our hands and wiggle forward.

He's still a handful but is sleeping a bit better at night. His favorite activities are bath time (sometimes he even falls asleep), hanging out on Jason's chest, and of course getting his diaper changed. You'd think he was at Disneyland for as happy as that makes him.

Today for the first time he seemed to make the connection that hitting his toys makes a noise. I wouldn't say that he was "playing" or even enjoying the noise (the look on his face said: Why are those hangy things getting in the way of my arm?) , but it's so neat to see him grow and develop.

Once upon a time Mom and Dad found out they were going to have the best kid ever. They called him The Bean. Little did they know that the little guy growing in Mom's stomach was not The Bean, he was The Boss. From day one, he's let us know who is in charge. Mom says he can be the boss but she needs a raise.