4 Months and a TOOTH!

 

I must jump to the most exciting thing to happen thus far with our baby, Mason. He has his first tooth!! On the day Mason turned 19 weeks old, we spotted his first tooth; came through the skin and everything. He was playing in his exer-saucer thing and sucking on my finger when I felt something sharp! I then shouted, "RICKY! He has his first tooth!" We then tried for a few minutes to pry his mouth open (goodness gracious that is hard to do to a baby!), shined a flashlight inside, and there it was plain as day, a white tooth, though the skin, on the bottom, in the middle. I cried from utter excitement, and pure pride for my son who struggled through many fussy moments over the last several weeks. After all of that hard work, it's here! Oh I couldn't be happier. I'm tearing up writing about it...I'm just so happy for this milestone. Here is a video we captured right after the initial viewing of the tooth!

In the last week Mason has also begun touching his toes! Well, more like grabbing his feet. It's so cute, and very handy when we're changing his diaper. Ricky and I get so excited when he does this, and so does Mason. Along with grabbing his feet, he makes the cutest sounds. Ricky calls them "raspberries"? I had never heard this term before; I just say he's buzzing his lips together. Either way it's so so cute too. He's really becoming so much fun! Oh and Mason loves putting everything in his mouth; this is actually pretty cute too. Here's an adorable video.

 

 

A couple weeks ago we introduced Mason to his exer-saucer, if that's what you want to call it. This thing I think is technically called a "Stand and Play"? I'm really not sure, but it plays music, lots of it. Mason's feet touch the piano keys, and there is a ton of things for him to play with; he loves it! It's so cute to hear his little piggies touching the keys and his hands touching the buttons to play music. Not only is it neat to see him playing, but it's finally given Ricky and I a chance to get things done around the house while he entertains himself; this is soooooooo needed!

 

 

We were asked to play Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus in our Church's Nativity play. It was very fun, and of course Ricky found a great deal on costumes at some warehouse in El Monte. That guy can find a deal on anything!

 

Mason had his 4 month check up recently and we are proud to announce he weighs 16 pounds 3 ounces!! He's a big boy! However, very normal and perfectly healthy...he's in the 75th percentile for both weight and height! He took his shots like a champ, thanks again to the Buzzy Bee - best invention ever (you can get it on Amazon; best $40 you'll spend!). Here's a pic of his adorable half naked body.

 

 

We recently took a walk through Naples to see the Christmas lights, it was so beautiful. Of course Uncle Kyle joined us. Look how cute they both are!

  

 

And finally to conclude this very exciting blog entry...Here are the last 3 weeks of pictures for our baby Mason. Seriously, he's so cute.

 







 

Gobble Gobble...I'm 30!

The week of November 25th was an awesome one; so much excitement and joy! I was fortunate enough to have the entire week off of school...that meant spending every day, every minute, and every second with Mason! We had a lot of fun together running around with Grandma Paulette getting ready for Thanksgiving. Our baby boy changed even more this week (if that's possible); he is now very easily grabbing for toys, pulling out his binky, rolling on to his side, entertaining himself on his play pad, talking a ton, and feeling even more sturdy and strong while trying to sit up.

While all of this is great and super fun, we think he's starting to teethe; not so fun. Poor Mason has been extra fussy in-between all of these fun moments. Thankfully we have so many friends who have offered fantastic advice...we're just awaiting the arrival of a tooth. In the meantime we have lots and lots of drool, a rash beginning to form around his mouth from the excessive amounts of drool, some fussiness, and frequent naps. Eh...a small price to pay for the priceless opportunity to be his parents :)

We spent Thanksgiving Day at Ricky's Uncle Gary's house in Visalia (near Fresno). It was, as usual, a really really fun day. We rode go-carts, played in a horse shoe tournament (where I seriously dominated....I don't know what got in to me!), ate some incredible food, semi-dominated once again in an Uno tournament (a family tradition) of which I lost (so did Ricky, I might add), then enjoyed sitting by a bon-fire. It was a beautiful day; we are thankful for so so much. Our biggest blessing of the year; Mason! Gosh we love him sooooooooooooooooooooooo much. Mason had a tough day at Uncle Gary's; his teething symptoms were in full force :(

The next day was my 30th birthday! I cannot tell you how excited I was/am to be 30! I am not one of those people who look at getting older as a bad thing; I love getting older each year. Ever since I was in middle school/high school and saw the episode of Friends when they turn 30, I've been so excited to be included in that age group; now I am! We spent my actual birthday with our close friends Sarah and Jared and their fun kids! We went to the LA Auto Show and it was amazing!! My birthdays are never just a day long, I try to stretch them out as much as possible...so the next day we hung out with the Hexberg's again, and had my huge celebration that evening at Medieval Times with 16 of my closest friends! It was a blast and totally worth the large ticket price per person; so so so so fun!

My week off was fantastic; so much family time, so much Mason time, and it concluded with a memorable 30th birthday! I'm so excited for December and the holidays to come with Mason and Ricky!

Back to work tomorrow...boo.

Uncle Kyle was a great help with Mason. It was so nice to have him with us on this family filled day!

Always so much fun at Uncle Gary's!

Poor Mason...not happy. But check out the button on his jeans, hilarious, right!?

Grandma took a nap with Mason :)

Look at his smile!!!

A special birthday morning delivery from Cherice :)

Medieval Times!!! GOSH I was excited!

I am now the very proud owner of these fabulous TOMS boots! Thank you so much to KATIE! Gosh I love them

 

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We got to try out Mason's future high chair with Rocky!

Mason's new pals, Thor and Winnie!

Blogging is hard (time-consuming)...

When you have a baby, that is. Goodness gracious. I'm so sorry...it's been almost 8 weeks since my last update. Mason has changed so much in 8 weeks; it's truly incredible! I could seriously type and type about how much he's grown, but instead I will give you some bullet points, and then lots of pictures and videos!

•  Week 10 started to "giggle". Lots of open mouth smiles!
• Week 11 Mason really started to chew on his hands! We now have drool on everything (drool has quickly taken the place of spit-up). Mason also began to coo a lot!!!
• Week 12 we ALL began sleeping through the night (thank you so much Mason!) - 7-9 hours each night. Also,  mason started holding on to toys or chewing blankets for short periods of times...loves to chew on things. Mason changed from newborn formula to infant!
• Fits in all normal, on-track, clothing sizes, and is currently wearing 3-6 month sizes!
• Week 13 we moved up in diaper size...wearing a size 2 now! This week he also developed a huge interest in looking at himself in the mirror!
• Week 14 began to "roll over"...well, start to roll over. He can move on to his side, but not a full rotation yet. I also put Mason in the baby bjorn facing forward for the first time; this was really fun (for both of us!). 

 

My co-workers gave me this idea...Mason was a burrito: Chicken w/Guac

There was no way he'd go trick-or-treating in the burrito outfit, so we opted for Scooby! He hated the head piece.

I tweeted Chipotle, hoping they'd give us free burritos since we dressed Mason up as one...but nope!

We HAD to take those classic pumpkin patch pictures!

Diaper change at church...

Sitting up "all by himself" (we're getting there)

Auntie Annette was SO excited to meet her first official nephew!

Grandma Paulette's boys. Mason's first cousins: Weston (left), and Landon (sitting next to Mason)

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As a family, plus Uncle Kyle and several friends, we participated in the Alzheimer's Walk in Long Beach: Team Rowe! In honor of my Grandma Yolande and remembrance of my Great Grandma Poppy

Mason's first experience at Dominico's (our favorite pizza place on 2nd Street)!

Our first softball game to see daddy play. Mason was asleep pretty much the whole game...whatever :)

Mason's first piece of mail!

The sweetest sign my Dad made for our baby shower in Grass Valley. This sign meant so much to me, and brought me to tears immediately. I was so touched, and I knew my dad meant every word. I love you dad! :)

3 Generations, plus Mason! My mom (Lolly), my Grandma Yolande (Mason's GREAT-Grandma) and me :)