First Thanksgiving

     I can't believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone already! It was Mason's last 'first' major holiday :(....which mean his first birthday is just right around the corner. Where has this year gone???
     Mason spent his first Thanksgiving with me at my parents' house visiting with relatives (cousins Jo and Susan and their families, Aunt Anna and Uncle Chuck). Doug came to my parents' for part of the day too. Mason really seemed to enjoy his cousin Izzy. It was so nice for him to have a little buddy his age visiting.
     Mason played and played while waiting for Thanksgiving dinner. He stayed awake all day with all of the activity going on. It was like he was afraid he would miss something important.
     FINALLY! Turkey's done! DINNER!!!!! Mason is normally a good eater and this meal was no exception. I let him try a little of this and a little of that. The only thing he seemed unsure of was the cranberry sauce, BUT he ate that too ;). Like I said a good eater.
      Through out the meal he 'talked' to Izzy and everyone else. I would put something on his tray, and he would gobble it down. I would put some more on his tray and he gobbled that down too. I guess he was trying to live up to the bib I bought him that read, 'Gobble! Gobble! Till I Wobble!'.  He seemed to enjoy his whole day! He really did well (especially with no naps, you couldn't even tell)!

This picture was taken after he and I split a homemade cupcake for dessert.

The Day of Mason's Baptism

       YEAH! It's FINALLY here....the day of Mason's Baptism! We invited a bunch of family and friends to join us for this important event. We ended up with 20-22 people....I lost count (too many changes of plans, people getting sick, etc.), so overall a great turnout!
        Everyone was invited to the service where Mason was going to be Baptized. We had such a big crowd that I didn't even hold Mason until the main event. Marie started out holding Mason but he went to Pam after a while and she used her relaxing touch, and he fell asleep! First time he has slept more than 10 minutes in church...only my child would do that ;). He slept through the entire Baptism....Pam past him off to me, I passed him off to Pastor Robb, Pastor Robb passed him back to me, he slept through ALL of it! He didn't wake up until we went to the back of the church for a meet and greet after the service. Hey beats a screaming, crying munchkin any day! If he doesn't believe us, we have the video to prove it :) (Thanks Mike!). All in all, a great service!

During the ceremony ;).

After the ceremony :).

The story behind Mason's Baptism

     We have been interested in getting Mason baptized for months (more me than Doug, but he wanted to also), but we needed to find a church and a religion we felt comfortable raising him up in. So I did a TON of research. I decided that the Methodist church fit the closest with my beliefs. So I found a local church and attended a few Sundays with Mason. When I was confident I found the church I was looking for, Doug joined me. Doug liked it too. We have been attending this church for about 5 months and have even gone to a few social functions (Trunk or Treat was fun! :). Yes a church we both like (we may get this child baptized yet, lol!).
      So we met with the pastor and selected a day for Mason to be baptized. We selected the Sunday after Thanksgiving in hopes that more of my family could attend, but unfortunately horrible things like school and that awful place that keeps everyone's paycheck got in the way....work  :(. Most of Doug's family was able to attend ;) (more on the actual day later).
     

Update- Mason's Milestones

    Mason has been seeing his OT (Miss Kelly) for about 2 months now. He has made some progress but has a long road ahead of him. In the beginning, Mason could not sit up at all, even when placed in a seat position (he would just fall backwards). While he still can't sit up on his own, he can now sit up for about 10 minutes when placed in a seated position :) (a lot of this depends on his attitude at the time, he seems to be quite content with lying down sometimes). Even though he still prefers lying down, there has been several hints that he is interested in learning to sit up (finally!). He will get frustrated when he can't reach something while lying down and only seems to be relieved when I sit him up ;). YEAH PROGRESS!
     His left hand is another story. He is starting to use it more but it is still severely lagging behind. Miss Kelly has ordered a splint that is supposed to help him use his left hand, but it has been repeatedly delayed thanks to freakin' Hurricane Sandy and her wake (the factory where it's was made was shut down for a while). I will write another update after he either sits up on his own or the splint has finally come in ;).

Cloth Diaper Update

     We have been using cloth diapers close to full-time (when we go out we use disposables and when grandmas babysit....other than that it is all cloth ;) for a couple of weeks. We are still gradually adding to our stash and recently made our first trip to a cloth diaper store. Oh the temptation! I was good though...only bought 1 CUTE Blueberry pocket diaper because they come highly recommended and a few cloth diaper accessories (some wipes and liners). I also love that this store ships to the US for free, just in case I can't get there again anytime soon ;).
      I have been using a variety of diapers with Mason. I plan to use his new Blueberry pocket diaper today and I have a Fuzzibunz coming to try. So far, my favorite brand hands down is the Flip diaper with either a Flip insert or a prefold diaper. I think it will continue to be my favorite because I just like the idea better than a pocket diaper....it's cheaper and much easier to use (no stuffing an insert or removing a wet/ dirty insert later). The Flip diaper with a long prefold folded over in front for extra protection is my go to night time choice for Mason. So far no leaks/ wicking with that ;).
     I have also discovered that the inserts that come with pocket diapers are worthless! They are crap! Keep in mind I haven't tried the Fuzzibunz or the Blueberry, so I am hoping to change my mind ;). What I have discovered that works the best with pocket diapers is a Flip insert (see why I LOVE my Flips ;).
     The pocket diapers we have tried are Bumgenius 4.0, Bumkins, a generic one from Amazon, and Mommy's Touch. The worst diaper by far is the Mommy's Touch. I tried HARD to like this diaper...it's just almost totally worthless. I tried it with it's insert....it bunched up and it leaked all over Mason. Then I tried a different insert in it....same problem. Then I tried a prefold, that was too bulky and kept sliding off of Mason. Then I tried a Flip insert with it, that worked better, but keeps me from using it in a Flip cover :(.
     So far as you can see I have made the transition very easily, I'm still working on getting Doug on board. He has had a few lessons and helped changed a few cloth diapers too ;). I think for now, on the rare occasion that I leave Doug with Mason, he will be in disposables.

First Halloween

     I had decided that dressing up a less than one-year-old and taking him trick or treating was silly. After all it's not like he would know what was going on and he certainly wasn't allowed to eat the candy, so why go. The only way I was gonna consider dressing him up was if we went to a party or to an event at church. As luck would have it our new church was hosting a Trunk or Treat. BINGO! PERFECT! So we went to meet new people, give out tons of candy, and to dress up Mason. Now the hard part....what would Mason be????
     Days later I was still trying to come up with an idea that was more original than making him a pumpkin or ghost AND wouldn't cost a bundle to make/ buy. Then I remembered a conversation his OT and I had had a few days earlier. She said there are 2 types of babies, ones that are motor driven and ones that are observers. She said Mason was definitely an observer and started calling him "baby Einstein". An idea was born! Mason would be 'baby Einstein'!
    I googled ideas on how to turn him into 'baby Einstein' for Halloween. I came across a picture of a baby with an iron-on on his onesie, E=mc2. EASY! First part of his costume was figured out. Then I wanted a way to temporarily dye his hair without him having to inhale harsh chemicals in a spray. My friend Bonnie helped with that. She said just put a little mousse and white make-up in his hair. Second part of his costume was figured out ;). What about a mustache???? After all how can you be Einstein without the wild hair AND a mustache???? The only problem was that I didn't want to glue or tape anything to his face. Enter Google again. I looked for more pictures of 'baby Einstein's. I found the perfect solution, attach it to his pacifier! Last piece of the puzzle was now in place. We were all set!
   So we went to church for the Trunk or Treat, passed out the candy, and met new people. So many people commented on how cute Mason was that night! He seemed to enjoy watching the children go from car to car. Who knows, maybe next year he can too ;)!

                This photo is copyright of Kimberly Baggett. All rights reserved.