11 months old

Mason you are now 11 months old! Sadly for Mama in 4 short weeks we will be celebrating your first birthday! We are so very happy to be celebrating this milestone with you along with surviving our first year as your parents but it is also bittersweet as you are no longer our little baby but now a little boy!

So much has changed over the course of this last year & at 11 months old I find myself having trouble keeping up with your little self. You are now fully mobile & get into anything & everything you can in a blink of an eye. How fast you have grown & developed continues to amaze us everyday & we can't wait to see what the new year has in store for all of us!!

Weight: If I had to guess, I would say you are around 25-26 lbs. You are wearing all 12 month clothing now & can even fit into some 18 month clothing. I foresee another shopping spree with mommy this spring as we have hardly any 18-24 month clothes for you - Fun Fun :) You are still wearing size 3 diapers but in a couple of weeks we will be moving to size 4's. 

Eating: You are now eating all solid food & continue to feed yourself with no troubles. You have also started to show some interest in using a spoon/fork with assistance. It usually ends up down the front of your bib or falls off the spoon before it gets to your mouth but we are working on it. 

This photo cracks me up. You had rubbed fruit juice all in your hair while eating & while I tried to get it out I formed a little mohawk. It didn't move & stayed like this all day. I'm thinking you could be the next spokesperson for the kewpie doll...

What do you think?

You have discovered a new love for pasta. I made cheese ravioli with meat sauce one night for dinner & you hammered it down & signed "more". Velveeta Shells & Cheese is also one of your new favorite foods - but what kid doesn't like mac-n-cheese?! You still like your chicken nuggets, peas, blueberry yogurt, applesauce & cheese. Oh how you love cheese! You would eat only cheese for dinner if we let you!

You are down to drinking around two-three 6-7 ounce bottles a day & this mommy is looking forward to transitioning you over to whole milk in a couple of months. It is ridiculous how expensive formula is!!

Sleeping: We have made MUCH improvement in this department these past couple of weeks. Not sure what happened but like magic you started to wake up only once at night. You are usually fast asleep by 8pm & wake up around 2am for a bottle & right back to sleep until 630am. FINALLY Mama is getting some sleep at night. Now we need to start working on getting rid of that 2am wake up but I will take what I can get....for now!

This fuzzy blanket is your absolute favorite & you love to curl up with it! Just like your daddy you love to have it snuggled up by your face when you sleep:

Milestones:
- you finally said "MaMa" & my heart melted. There is nothing better than hearing you say those words over & over & over....in front of daddy :)

- during all your fussiness, lack of sleeping through the night & illness you cut another tooth. Your right "fang" or incisor tooth came through & now you have a total of 6 teeth - 4 on the top & 2 on the bottom.

- you took your first steps shortly after you turned 10 months old & have now started to walk & can take around 6-8 steps before you fall down. You get so excited & are so proud of yourself when you are walking.

- you have learned to clap your hands & think it is SO fun when we play/sing Paddycake, Paddycake Baker's Man

- you love to open your dresser drawers & open/close all cabinets & 
doors. Another thing you like to do is empty said drawers & cabinets & can do this at lightening speed. I guess I am being paid back for all the times I emptied my dresser drawers & my mom had to pick up after me?!

- you love to take your Mega Blocks apart & throw them in your bin as well as knock down anything we have stacked to see it fall.

- you definitely have a strong sense of likes & dislikes & have had no problem learning to use your emotions to get what you want aka: throwing a temper tantrum.

- the word "no" is heard a lot around here & you seem to understand what the word means but will think it is funny to push limits & disobey when we tell you no.

- you can point to your nose & ear when asked & locate the dogs when asked

- you will sit quietly by yourself & look at your books, delicately turn the pages & I just love to watch while you do this.

- you can follow simple commands such as "go get the ball"

- and probably the biggest milestone yet: you are starting to transition into the 1 year old room at daycare & that not only makes your providers sad but makes mommy sad as well. It is a super exciting time for you & you are loving getting to play & interact with the little kids your age but this means you aren't a baby anymore & that is hard for mommy to accept :(

In one short month we will be celebrating your 1st birthday - along with the fact that mommy & daddy survived your first year! It is going to be a big party...one that you won't ever remember but I am hoping through all the pictures we are going to take & the stories you will hear when you are older will show you just how very special you are & that you are so loved by so very many!

Happy 11 months little man :)

Holiday Boutique

As I am looking through my blog drafts I noticed I have several posts that I started but never finished. So as I am down & out with illness today & while Mason is at daycare, I am going to take this time to try & get caught up. This one is from back in November...

November 17, 2013

Anyone who has been reading this blog for any amount of time knows that every year in October I go to an event called Holiday Mart. It is always held the 3rd weekend in October & after I have gone sets the mood for the upcoming holidays. 

I'm not sure what I was thinking when I planned a trip to Wisconsin to see my sister the very same weekend that Holiday Mart was being held?! As much as I wanted to see my sister & her family I was bummed I was going to be missing this annual event. 

But the Holiday God's seemed to be shining down upon me & one evening as I was watching TV I saw an ad for a similar event called Holiday Boutique being held in Nov at the same place Holiday Mart is held. You can bet I was sure not going to miss this one! 

I went with my dear friend Jill (aka: Aunt Jilly) & introduced Mason to this holiday craziness. 

 

It was set up just like Holiday Mart & even has a lot of the same vendors so I felt like I didn't miss out.

I saw lots of "things" I would have loved to have but decided on getting the flame-less pillar candles which I absolutely love. They are controlled by a little remote control, can be set on 8 different colors & look SO real. I also bought a couple of Christmas gifts for family as well!

Mason loved watching all the people & really enjoyed seeing all the twinkling lights & holiday decor - but why wouldn't he?! He is my boy after all :)

 

Mason also enjoyed spending some time with "Aunt Jilly":

 Earlier in the week we had dinner with Aunt Jilly also:

I am so very thankful for the friendship I have with Jilly! She is my "go-to" girl. The girl who is there for anything & everything I need. She will drop what she is doing & be over in a skinny minute if I need her. She has been one of my bestest friends for the last 13 years & we have been through so much together. Unfortunately, she was never able to have children of her own so Mason is very, very special to her & we are so glad to have her in our life!

We make it a point to get together at least once a month to hug, catch up & so that she can spend some quality "Mason time"! We are looking so forward to all our upcoming gatherings in 2014!!

We love you Aunt Jilly!!

1st Christmas

We celebrated another 1st in the Taylor house this week:

Mason's 1st Christmas! 

This year I was so very excited to wrap Mason's gifts, put them under the tree & start traditions that we will continue to share in years to come. 

The first of those traditions is new Christmas jammies. Every year Mason will get a new pair of Christmas PJ's to wear & get his picture taken by the tree on X-mas Eve:

 

Christmas Eve 2013

We awoke Christmas morning & I was SO excited for Mason to open his all his presents. I promised my husband I wouldn't go overboard this year so he only got 2 gifts from mommy & daddy & one from Santa. Along with all his gifts from Grandma & Grandpa "Farm", my siblings, & several dear girlfriends there were plenty of gifts under the tree for him to open.

I sat on the floor with Mason & handed out presents while Daddy took pictures. Here is the 1st gift he opened:

So serious looking! He was more interested in the bow than tearing the paper so Mommy had to help. He took one look at his electronic learning tablet & wasn't impressed at all which really surprised me since he loves to push buttons & watch them light up!?

Onto the next present. This box was from Grandma & Grandpa "Farm":

He was excited to see what was in the box & really liked his Fisher Price Laugh & Learn puppy & Mega Blocks dump truck: 

He likes to "dump" whatever he puts in the truck & loves pushing all the buttons on the puppy!

Next Mason opened his most favorite gift which was from my sister & her family - the Leap Frog Learning Table:

He absolutely loves this thing & will spend forever opening & closing the Hippo's mouth, pushing all the buttons & walking around the table. If you are looking for a good gift for a 9-12 month old this is definitely it!

He also got several cute outfits, some books & puzzles, a set of First Builder Mega Blocks, the Fisher Price Little People Fun Farm & Chatter Phone.

And we can't forget our furry kids! They had presents under the tree also & after we opened our gifts they got to tear into theirs:

Happy Bulldogs :)

When Mason gets a little older there will also be stockings to dig into once all the presents are open - tradition #2! I love that we do this at my parents house when we are all together. My parents, my siblings & all the spouses put a little something in everyone's stocking when we get there. Just when you think all the presents are open & we are done for another year we remember the stockings & have such fun seeing what is in them! 

After we opened our gifts I made breakfast for us all - tradition #3! Every year my mom would make us a huge breakfast feast after opening our gifts so I wanted to continue this tradition with our family. 

In the past I have always tried a new recipe for breakfast on Christmas morning. There has been a yummy French Toast Casserole, buttermilk pancakes, Belgium waffles & this year I made my mom's recipe for Egg Bake. I also made some cinnamon rolls & we all thoroughly enjoyed it!

After we stuffed ourselves with breakfast, we spent the rest of the day playing with Mason's new toys, watched a couple of movies & did a lot of lounging around! 

It was the perfect 1st Christmas for our little family of three! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas as well!

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Today the hubby & I enjoyed our first outing together without Mason. After 10 months, we decided it was time to start spending some "one on one" time with each other again doing the things we love to do & get back to "dating". We are going to try & do this at least once a month.

I had asked my brother Steve & his wife Meghan if they would would want to spend an afternoon with their God child & they said yes without hesitation. So they made there way to our house & we made our way downtown to the Sprint Center to watch the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert.

I went to this concert last year with my dear friend Jill & loved it so I was looking very forward to seeing them again. They are one of my favorite Christmas musicians & always stir up the Christmas spirit whenever I hear their songs.

This is my 3rd time seeing them & they were again amazing! They played Christmas music, music from other artists, songs from their new & old albums as well as all my favorites. The show started at 3pm & three hours later they were STILL playing!!

All the different singers were awesome as well as all the lights, lasers & strobe light effects!

It was a great afternoon spent with the hubby & so nice knowing that Mason was in such good hands. He had so much fun with Uncle Steve & Aunt Meggie! 

If you ever get the opportunity to go see TSO in concert I would highly recommend it! You definitely won't walk away disappointed!

One Extra

In the very early morning of Sunday, Nov. 24th I was blessed to gain another niece. My sister gave birth to Dana Jo - an 8lb 15oz, 21 inch long, dark haired, chunky little cheeked bundle of joy. 

Now any of you who know me know how very special my nephew's & niece's are to me. They don't call my their "favorite Aunt" for no reason! But this new little niece of mine is extra special. Not only is she the last baby my sister will ever have (God willing) but she was born with an extra special gift. You see, my precious niece has something that you & I don't -- one extra chromosome.

We all normally have 46 chromosomes but for some reason an unexplainable error in cell development resulted in Dana having 47 chromosomes. She has 3 copies of her 21st chromosome which is referred to as Trisomy 21 or Down Syndrome.

Her diagnoses was a surprise to us all. Her existence is a surprise in itself as my sister & her husband took great measures to prevent another pregnancy from happening after already having three children. But for whatever reason God had other plans & so she was conceived & has blessed us all with her presence.

Dana spent her first week of life in the NICU due to a low heart rate, low oxygen saturation's, pulmonary hypertension & 2 possible holes in the septum of her heart - a PFO & VSD.

Later in the week an ECHO showed that she does have a small VSD & a small PFO that they will continue to monitor. Her pulmonary hypertension eventually started to decrease, her oxygen sat's began to level off at normal levels & finally she was able to come home exactly a week after she was born.

For my sister's family, having a child with Down Syndrome will definitely be a challenge but it isn’t a tragedy & shouldn’t be treated as such. If any of you are blessed to know my sister, I have no doubt that she will be one of the biggest Down Syndrome advocates you ever did see :) Will there be hiccups? Sure. Will there be tough days? Of course. But we aren't guaranteed much in this life so we have to hold on to happiness no matter what unexpected form it may take. 

My niece is still the little baby that everyone was hoping for - except she has an extra chromosome - no big deal. Down Syndrome is just something she has but she will not be defined by it.

This beautiful baby girl is going to bring so much love into our lives & I know with the help of our family & my sister & brother-in-law's friends she will accomplish all of the goals set before her. It may take a little bit longer but she will do it. There is so much that Dana has to offer the world & we possess the unique privilege of helping her believe & achieve that truth.

This diagnosis is not the end of the world & no one has any reason to feel sorry for our family because my niece was born with an extra chromosome. Dana is a special gift & everyone who surrounds her will be made better because of her. She will be a teacher of humanity, patience, understanding & most importantly compassion.

I hope & pray that everyone who is blessed to meet this precious child will treat her like the child she is & will accept her for WHO she is rather than for what she has. 

This is my niece. She is already so very loved & this Aunt couldn't be more proud!!

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

Santa's Wonderland

Guess who had his 1st visit with Santa Claus??

THIS BOY ------------>

As you can tell in the picture Mason is not impressed with the jolly St. Nick. I think I was more excited than he was to see Santa but given my love for the holiday that is totally understandable! At least he didn't cry or scream his head off because I was truly expecting this: 

 

We went to Bass Pro Shop which I was told was thee place to be when it comes to visiting Santa & boy were they right! There is a whole winter wonderland set up with so much for the kids to do & see & I can't wait for when Mason is older to be able to join in the fun. 

When we first got there, we got our "pass" which is a card that tells you a time to get in the line to see Santa. They really have a slick way of moving people through the line so you aren't having to wait too long. Plus it is a pretty good way to get you to shop around the place - those people aren't dumb! We had 45 minutes to kill before we could even get in line so we walked around taking it all in.

There were all kinds of activities for little kids to do & games to play. They had stations set up where you could write a letter to Santa, make an ornament, take a carousel ride, play with the remote controlled cars or the train...so much going on & so many kids running all around. And the best part of the entire place - it was all FREE!! Even our picture with Santa - they even gave us a FREE 4x6 photo - who doesn't love that?!

Mommy took Mase on the carousel which he seemed to enjoy. He was fascinated by the antlers on the moose & kept wanting to touch them rather than hold onto the pole. Such a little daredevil :)

After we spent 45 minutes checking out the place we finally made our way into "the line"! We only had to wait about 15 minutes until it was our turn to sit on Santa's lap. I handed Mase over to Santa & to our surprise Mason didn't cry at all. For being over-stimulated & tired he did SO good! Shane & I stood in the corner taking our own pic's while they snapped the "professional" one & before I could even blink an elf was moving us along so another child could take a seat. Those elves in Santa's Wonderland don't mess around!

It was such a wonderful & magical place being there with my little family & it made me all warm & tingly inside. I have a feeling that this is going to be a family tradition for many years to come!

Thankful

This Thanksgiving was quite different than last year. If you recall, last year I had a little "turkey in the oven", was 31 weeks pregnant & looked like this: 

Now that little "turkey" is 10 months old:

My how time flies! We have so much to be thankful for this year & this holiday truly makes us take a step back & count our blessings. 

The day was spent together as a family & as usual I cooked the huge Thanksgiving meal. Shane's brother ended up coming over & we all enjoyed the day stuffing our bellies with the usual fixings, pecan pie & pumpkin cheesecake for dessert & plenty of football watching. 

Mason had his first taste of turkey, mashed potatoes & sweet potatoes which he loved. He also was given cheesecake for the first time & kept wanting more. That boy likes his food :)

It was a relaxing, enjoyable day & we are all looking forward to the rest of the upcoming holidays.

Hope you all were able to enjoy the blessings of the day with your families!

10 months old

Mason you are 10 months old! We are now in double digits - how can that possibly be? Gone are the days of having a sweet little baby laying around flashing toothless smiles, kicking those little legs, & flailing those cute chubby arms. Now our reality is a very active little boy who is all over the place, never sits still, has a mouth full of teeth, those little legs are learning to stand & walk & those arms are busy playing with all your toys, pulling yourself up onto anything & everything & shoving food into your mouth. 

Weight: After a recent visit to the Ped's office for your flu shot, you weighed in at a 24 lbs. While lugging you all around, this Mama can sure feel every pound! I think I will be glad when you are able to walk - or maybe not?! Since you are getting so big we upgraded your carseat to a rear-facing convertible carseat as you outgrew your other one & you always fight us when we put you into it - stinker! You continue to wear a size 3 diaper & are wearing all 12 month clothing now. I packed up all your 9 month clothes last week & like every other time, it brought tears to my eyes. You are growing at lightening speed & it just isn't fair :(

Sleeping: We continue to struggle in this area. We did the CIO method which worked well & you were sleeping through the night for about a week. Then you got a cold, were cutting 2 teeth & I think going through a growth spurt all in the same week so your sleep progress went out the window. You were waking up 2-4 times at night being fussy, wanting an extra bottle & was quite restless when you were asleep. 

After fighting this for several nights I caved & put you in the bed with us. Of course in the bed you sleep like an angel from 730pm-3am, wake for a bottle & then back to sleep until 6:30am. If you do the math that is 7.5 hours of sleep. Now I know this is considered "sleeping through the night" but I just wish you would do it in your crib & not in our bed. I have tried to put you in your crib but you will usually wake up at 9:30pm, 11:30pm, 2am & 4am. Working full-time this Mama does not have time or the energy to be getting up 4 x's a night during the week & with your daddy traveling 2 of those nights either does he. SO in our bed you go & in our bed you remain & everyone gets a good nights sleep.

Eating: You are quite the little eater! You don't care much for baby food anymore nor do you like your mommy or daddy to feed you. You are very independent & want to feed yourself - which is fine by us but boy do you make a mess!

 

You do awesome at picking up food & feeding yourself & it is so fun to watch. You still love applesauce, LOVE cheese, Cheerios, & are really enjoying eating waffles/pancakes, chicken, pork, hot dogs green beans & carrots - and last week your daddy told me you really like cookies. Hmmm - don't remember giving you any cookies?! Just when we think you are done you sign "more" & shovel more in. It has been really fun trying new foods with you & you definitely let us know what you don't like.

Milestones:
- You have started to show signs of shyness around strangers & a few weeks ago started wanting to be close to no-one other than Mama at all times. You would withdrawal from Daddy which kind of hurt his feelings but I promised him it was just a phase you were going through. After a couple of weeks, Daddy was once again your buddy but you continue to always keep a close eye on where your Mama is! You are definitely a "Mama's Boy" & I secretly love it!

- You said your first word & of course it was "DaDa"! Your Daddy was SO proud! We have been working on "MaMa" for a couple of months now but you chose to say DaDa. I guess you are saving the best for last :)

- Your two front teeth started poking through the gums earlier in the month & you were a little grizzly bear before that happened. You must have been really hurting as you were SO fussy! Motrin was our friend for several days during that week! Now that they are both through you like to grind your bottom teeth with your top teeth. It is the most annoying sound ever & from what I have read on Dr. Google is totally normal for someone your age & will create no harm to your teeth - which I am worried about. They say you will outgrow this bad habit & honestly I can't wait.

- Another phase you have begun is the "hitting" phase. You think it is funny to slap your Mama in the face, or your Daddy in the chest or even the kids at daycare & no matter how many times we say "no hit" or grab those little hands & say "no" or "stop" you laugh & giggle hysterically. This is yet another phase I will be glad when it passes.

- If I had to guess, I would say you will be walking before your birthday. You push things & will walk behind them across the floor in record time & you are also standing all by yourself for several seconds - until you realize you aren't holding onto anything & will get scared & fall down. 

- You gave Mama her first kiss ever & my heart melted. You will lean in with your mouth wide open & plant a wet, slobbery kiss right on my lips or on my cheek. Even cuter you started doing it to daddy too! You also will give hugs when asked - double melt!!

- We have discovered that you are not at all patient & you show frustration real easily. You will throw a tantrum if something doesn't go your way or you get stuck or we won't let you do something. I had no idea that temper tantrums start this early - God help us for when we hit those "terrible two's".

- You learned to crawl up the steps & LOVE to do this over & over. We just have to work on now getting down those steps safely. You know no fear!

Every week you do something or learn something new. Every month there is always so much more to share. We are looking so forward to what these next couple months bring before you turn 1 year old! 

Happy 10 months little man!