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.

The 3 R's- Part II

wRiting!

At his age Mason seems to enjoy dumping out the crayons as much as "writing" with them, but coloring is an activity we can pull out when we desperately need a distraction (or for those of you that are around him much- when he starts making "that noise").

The thing that is most entertaining about Mason's "writing" is that no matter which way we hand him the crayon he always turns it upside down to color. We've tried helping him, but he prefers it pointy side up. Also, he seems to pick out the white ones to color with. Doesn't sound very satisfying does it? It's one of those pointless things that drive me crazy but Mason enjoys it so I'll let it be.

The 3 R's- Part I

Reading!
One day at the library we were asked if Mason had signed up for the reading program. You have to read 10 hours with your kid, and fill in a little bubble for each 10 minutes read. 10 hours? Easy, I read with Mason all time. I figured it would take me about two days. Three tops.
Fast forward a few weeks, add in some serious reading sessions and some very worn out books and we're finally done. Mason got a free aquarium pass, a bowling ticket, and a free book for reaching his (crazy mom's) goal. He picked a book full of messy kid pictures. Figures. I love that I'll check on him in his room and he's sitting on the floor reading a book. I don't even care that it's upside down.

I also love that he anticipates what is on the next page. One of his favorite books is Peek-a-Who? He tries to skip to the page, "peek-a-boo" because that's when I scare him. When we get to the "peek-a-choo choo" he knows he's in for train tickles on his tummy. The other night when I put him in bed I asked, "Do you know who loves you?" His response, "Who? Who?"

Other favorites: Big Plans, Big Smile Baby, Buzz Buzz Busy Bees, Haaatch, and Hungry Monsters.

Favorite reading quote: "It's not right for a woman to read. Soon she starts getting *ideas*, and *thinking*..."

What is your favorite kid book? I need to add some variety to our collection!

Brought to you by the letter K

I love being a mom. I really do. Today at the grocery store Mason helped me unload the cart. Unfortunately he was throwing stuff on the floor while I was trying to get it on the conveyor belt. Also unfortunately I couldn't stop laughing. Behavior enforced.

I went to make some toast today and the toaster was unplugged. I plugged it in and when I turned it on it started smoking horribly. I found a refrigerator magnet- formerly in the shape of the letter K- melted inside. Only too late did I remember why the toaster was unplugged in the first place. I had Mason on the counter while I was making sandwiches the other day. I unplugged it so he wouldn't get shocked if he put something it in. Well...he put something in it...

I really like these moments because they are silly events that otherwise wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been blessed with my little boy. How can you get annoyed when it's just evidence of how great life is?

We decided it was time that Mason had some responsibilities around the house. He is now officially in charge of getting us up in the morning, reminding us to bless the food before we eat, and throwing away the diapers. Here's proof:

Funny and "MORE"

Here's a quick update on Mason. First off, he's got such a little funny bone. Even a simple look sets him off giggling. Stop short in the hallway and he's rolling with laughter. He still loves to be tickled but I found a new spot right under his chin. He gets especially goofy when he's tired (but not too tired. Too tired is Tantrum Town). Today when putting him down for his one and only nap he dropped his monkey. I picked it up and he dropped it again. Then he almost fell out of my arms with laughter. Did you know that dropping your monkey is really funny stuff? I didn't. Jason is best at getting Mason laughing over the silliest things. Must be a boy thing.

Mason loves water. Take him to the ocean and he crawls right in. Same with the pool or the tub. Yesterday at the beach we practiced going under water without inhaling. He did really well, and was able to do it again today at the pool. He's made huge improvement from the first of the summer when water on his face distressed him. Now tip his face in and he laughs. See above paragraph.

After a few weeks of losing some skills I am glad to say he's picking up new words and signs. He says "maMa" and I think he might mean me. He still says Dadadada for Jason, Hot for food, and Uh-Oh for everything. I tried to tell him you can't throw your food on the floor and then say Uh-Oh like it's a mistake. He just laughed (paragraph 1 again).

He's also signing "Please" in addition to food, milk, more, and folding his arms to pray. I like "Please" a lot more than the desperate "more, more, more" sign. You'd think I starve the kid for how frantically he signs "more food".

Other than that he's your typical amazing one-of-a-kind genius baby. Oh! And he loves his toes. He'll be walking around. Stop. Sit down. Pull up one foot and look closely. Then the other foot. The switch back to the first one. Over and over a dozen times and then move on.