He has changed a lot since I wrote about him at 13 months! He is running, climbing, getting into everything! He is ALL boy! Some words that he is saying are Hi, hot, ball, banana, book, balloon, mama, dada, spoon, please and thank you. I think there might be a couple more, but I can't think of them. He is still signing More, please, all done, drink, and eat. He knows several of the sounds that animals make, like a fish, cow, lion, snake, and of course dog (his favorite animal) He can point out his eyes, ears, head, tummy, mouth and nose. He has also just found his nostrils and likes to put his finger in them! He likes our nostrils too and if we are holding him, he will try to stick his finger in mine! He is doing really good at eating with a fork and spoon. He understands so much and can follow some simple instructions like "go get your cup, ball, etc" or "give this to daddy" He knows when I am getting dressed that we are going "byebye" and will start waving and heading to to door. I have to keep all the doors locked now because he can open them. I found him in the garage the other day! He always keeps me on my toes. He still has the backwards wave which I love. My absolute favorite thing that he is doing now is coming up to me and kissing me without me even having to ask for it. He will pucker his lips and make the kissing sound and give me kisses randomly throughout the day. He also kisses inanimate objects. He is such a sweet, loving little boy! He is also showing signs of a short temper. He gets frustrated when told no and still hits things and bangs his head. He gets over it just as fast though. He is becoming a picky eater (like me!) and I tend to get frustrated with him easily. We have to force feed him for him to understand that it tastes good. If something looks different to him, he will just say no or throw it without even trying it. Somedays he will like something and then the next time I try to give it to him he won't touch it! I hope this is only a phase. He still only has 6 teeth (4 on top and 2 on bottom) so I am hoping once he gets more he will be able to eat more foods. It looks like 2 of his top molars are coming through, but still nothing on bottom! He has had 4 haircuts now, and we pretty much have to go every 6-8 weeks. His favorite toys are his cars (I love it when he makes the "vroom" sound!), blocks, balls, his lawn mower, his hammer bench, and Little People. We still go to Gymboree and have recently started going to a Library story time. He seems to enjoy it so far. He is still in Mother's Day Out on Wednesdays, but I have signed him up for 2 days a week next year. It kind of makes me sad that he is turning more and more into a toddler and less a baby, but I love watching him grow and learn daily!

I wanted to write down some of the things he is doing at 13 months. He loves to eat! He loves yogurt, grilled cheese, mac and cheese, beans, broccoli, pancakes, pears, peaches, just to name a few. He is kind of picky when it comes to meats. It might just be the fact that he only has 4 teeth and can't chew it up very well! He pretty much just swallows everything whole. He still gags at the taste of milk. I have tried mixing it with several different things but he will not drink it. He prefers to drink only water. He is now signing "more" and "all done." He will point at things he wants like his cup, so we are working on giving everything a name so he will learn the sounds. He is cutting 2 more teeth on top, so I am sure they will be all the way through soon. He has gotten up to about 5-6 steps on his own. He is getting much braver and letting go more and more. I'm sure he will be walking before we know it! He is now taking one nap a day usually from about 12-2:30. He will not sleep at MDO, so he is exhausted once he gets home and will sleep from about 2:30-5! His bed time is around 8 or 8:30 and he still sleeps until around 8. I love getting him in the morning...he always has the biggest smile on his face and gives me a big kiss! He loves dogs, and will say "woof" when we ask what a puppy says. He is understanding what "no" means and does not like it! If I am holding him and tell him he can't have my phone or the remote or whatever it is he might want, he has started swatting me in the face. I grab his hand and tell him no, and then he starts crying. I hope this hitting phase is not permanent!! Another strange thing he does when he is told no, is if he is sitting down he hits his head on the ground. I have no idea where he got this, but he does it and then looks at me to make sure I notice it. Such a stinker! One of my favorite moments happened just the other night. I had read him his night time books, turned off his light and was getting up to put him in his crib for the night, and he started crying (which he never does) I kissed him and was about to put him down, but then he pointed at his chair. I took him and sat back down and we rocked, talked and sang for another 20 minutes or so. He didn't fall asleep but just snuggled with me while I sang. After that, I got up to put him down, and he just went right to sleep. It was so sweet that all he wanted was a little extra mommy time! I love moments like that! I can't imagine our lives without our little man!

Yesterday morning Mason woke up screaming. I ran upstairs to get him and I could not get him to calm down. I think he was still half asleep, but he would not stop crying no matter what Matthew and I tried. He eventually threw up on me, but thankfully that only happened once. He finally fell asleep while I was rocking him, but the minute I tried to put him down it started all over again. I sat and rocked him while he fell back asleep for another hour or so. When he got up he ate and was acting more like himself. We still ended up going to eat breakfast with mom and dad, and he was acting fine there too. Once we got back home though things started to get worse. He was crying non stop and only wanted me to hold him. He took a couple of naps with me on the couch, but would wake up fussy again. He did have a low grade fever, so I kept giving him some Tylenol. I thought that he would have a rough night last night, but he actually went to bed on his own around 7:30 and slept all night until 8 this morning. He woke up really happy and with no fever. He is smiling and laughing today, so whatever it was hopefully it is gone for good! It was so sad to see him so unhappy and not be able to fix it, but I loved all the extra snuggle time I got with him. I definitely have a "momma's boy" and I love it!

We have had an eventful few weeks! Lezlee and Joel came to visit for my birthday weekend and they had been planning a surprise party for me! They pulled it off, as I was completely shocked! Donna came into town and the Wolfe's, Buteau's, Phillips', Eskew's, and Katy all made it to the party. It was an afternoon of fun! Donna ended up staying Sunday night too since she was off on Monday. Memorial Day afternoon we went over to the Buteau's for dinner with them and the Lewis'. The kiddos loved swimming in the pool and Georgia was so sweet to share her toys. Over the weekend we noticed that Mason had kind of a barking cough so since we were headed out of town we thought we should get him into the doctor. I was not prepared for them to want to take blood, but luckily he didn't even flinch! Then we found out he was getting the beginning stages of croup so he needed a steroid shot. The shot went in and I picked him up and he didn't shed a tear! He curled out his bottom lip to the nurse but no cries! He is a brave little boy! So after the doctor assured me that he would be fine and that we should still go out of town, we loaded up and headed to Ennis. Matthew and I left on Wednesday morning for Seattle. I did shed a few tears, but then I was excited for a vacation. Matthew and I had a great time together and loved being able to sleep when we wanted and do a lot of sightseeing. I only called to check on Mason about once a day, so I thought that was pretty good!:) We missed him like crazy, but we heard he had so much fun! Aunt Sarah took him around town to show him off, took him on some walks, and played and took cared of him while Donna was at work. Donna would take over when she got home and took him swimming and got lots of snuggles with him! Mike even kept him for a few hours too! He learned some new tricks while we were gone too--he can clap now, which is so cute! He is pulling up more and more and is getting around so much better. Sunday was a long day of travel, but it was worth it to be able to see that little boy of mine again! I was so happy to see him! We are so grateful that Mason has such great grandparents(and Aunt) that were willing to keep him so we could get away. This week is Mason's first swim lesson and I am so looking forward to it! Mason's friends, Bennett and Georgia, are in his class and Matthew is going to do the lessons with him. Next week we have his 9 month check up so I will update with his weight/height.

We have been staying really busy lately. We have gotten settled into our new house and are loving it! Mason and I love to go on walks in the neighborhood in the morning and love to sit outside and wait on Matthew to get home. We spent last weekend in Ennis with Caroline and Leo and Sarah. It was fun to all be together for a couple of days. We are spending my first Mother's Day at home and I am looking forward to it. I am getting a massage on Saturday and we are going to Brunch after church on Sunday. Should be a lot of fun just hanging out with my favorite boys! Mason is growing cuter and cuter everyday. I love to go get him in the morning because he gets the biggest smile on his face and just kicks and kicks because he is so excited to see me! I am so ready for his first tooth to come in. As you can see in most of the pictures, he ALWAYS has a bib on, and sometimes even two!! He soaks about 4 bibs a day with drool! He has been having diarrhea for almost a week so hopefully that is because of teething and not a virus. He is acting like his normal happy self, so that is one good thing. He is sitting really well and will stay on all fours if I put him there. He will rock back and forth, but has no idea how to move forward yet. He loves standing on two feet. I have a feeling once he starts moving he will never slow down!! Matthew and I are getting ready for a big "first" too. We are going to Seattle for 5 days at the end of the month. I am excited to take a trip with Matthew, but also sad at the thought of not seeing Mason for that long! Donna and Sarah will be taking care of him, so I know he will be in great hands! We have another photo shoot with our photographer tomorrow so I will be sure to post those as soon as I get them. That's all for now...