Six Months

On December 19 we went in for Mason's 6 month appointment! Here are his six month stats:
28" long (92 percentile)
17.5 lbs (50 percentile)


At six months, he has mastered rolling over in both directions. He still doesn't love being on his stomach very long, though. He has one tooth. He can sit up pretty well on his own. He loves scratching anything with texture, and wants to chew on everything. He babbles a lot more, and laughs a lot more. He also gets pretty cranky when he is tired and cries more than he ever has before. He loves playing with my hair and loves touching my face, especially while he is feeding or falling asleep. He loves baths now and has learned to kick to splash water everywhere. He has also started being more cuddly than he used to. When he gets tired he grabs both sides of my face and snuggles his face next to mine, or sometimes he just puts his head on my shoulder and climbs closer. It is always short lived, but it is cute. He still only likes to eat squash and applesauce. He falls asleep easily but does not stay asleep, still waking up every 1.5 - 3 hours. He has started to sleep on his side, and migrates around the crib as he's sleeping. He hasn't shown any signs of separation anxiety yet, but he is scared of my dad. He has started crying when he sees him and it takes awhile to warm up to him. He has started standing on his legs instead of just bouncing all of the time. He is still super curious about everything and wants to be in the middle of whatever I'm doing. 


I'm sure there are plenty of other things I could write, but that's all I can think of for now. He seems to learn new things every day, and he is constantly changing!

Chompers

Well, this little guy got his first tooth on Saturday! Damen discovered it while I was napping. I was surprisingly excited about it. Partly because it is a milestone, and partly because it explained his fussiness and barfing the day before. 


I guess that also explains some of the rough(er) nights lately. Saturday night was certainly the worst as the tooth made its way to freedom. I have a feeling I'm not going to love teething. He was just starting to enjoy playing on the floor by himself. Now he is upset if I'm not with him at all times. And he still rarely naps more than 45 minutes at a time. Awesome. 


Last week we saw the doctor and she prescribed something for his acid reflux. I was hoping that would help his sleeping, but I guess we'll have to wait to find out. She thought he was 9 months based on his size, so she also recommended feeding him more during the day. 


It's a good thing I love this kid so much! Here he is yesterday in his high chair. He is finally strong enough to sit in it. He played with everything he could reach on the counter while I got dinner ready. I usually have about 15 minutes before he is done and wants to be picked up again. He was cracking me up with all his talking and noises.

Monday we have his 6 month checkup. I'm interested to see how he's doing. Hopefully we'll have some progress to report.

Torture and Joy

I looked at my last post from nearly a month ago, and laughed. Here is what I had to say:


"Each of the past few nights he has had one stretch of sleep lasting four hours. Hopefully this trend continues."


Often I am very glad that I can't see the future. Living through the present can be a lot easier than knowing it's going to get worse before it gets better. 


Between getting sick, traveling for the holidays, and a crazy storm driving us to stay at my dad's, Mason's sleeping has gotten worse. The nights when he sleeps for 2 - 3 hours at a time now feel like heaven. On bad nights we are up every 15 - 90 minutes through the night. It was sad and scary while he was sick, and felt like torture once I got sick. We have had three weeks of this sleep pattern with a couple good nights sprinkled in. It has been emotionally grueling as much as physically. So, I've been reading up on baby sleep topics and we have an appointment tomorrow for Mason to get checked out for any physical issues. Wish me luck.


We've all been pretty exhausted. Here's a photo I took as I emerged from a nap one day...

I don't mean to sound pessimistic or ungrateful. We really are so blessed and have a wonderful, healthy, happy boy. So, onto the JOY part of the post. 


We had a fun Thanksgiving visiting with family. First we went to Koosharem and had a great Thanksgiving Day with my family. Then we got to spend the rest of the weekend with Damen's family which was wonderful. We even got to go to Grandpa Burnham's 95th birthday party.


Here's a picture of Mason as we were riding FrontRunner to Ogden to meet Damen on Black Friday.

He was so cute and so content all morning. I love this boy.


Over just the past couple weeks, his curiosity has turned on full speed! He is interested in everything, especially the computer, phone and remote...a true Burnham boy. The dexterity in his hands is getting better, so he wants to touch and hold everything. He laughs more and is more interactive. He is also experimenting with his voice, so he likes to yell often. (I love the way his tongue rolls sideways and sticks out the corner of his mouth when he tries to "talk".) He has become interested in his toys, but also wants to be in the middle of whatever we are doing. It has been a lot of fun to see his curiosity grow and to watch him begin to explore things. The only negative side affects are that EVERYTHING gets shoved into the mouth, and he fusses a lot because that is the only way he can communicate. 


Here he is, fascinated with something I'm holding. I love his bright, blue eyes and the serious face he pulls when he is intently studying something.

I've never been more exhausted in my life, but this guy is definitely worth it. As I am typing he is rolling on the floor smiling at me, chewing on a finger, and gurgling happily. It makes me smile, makes me happy inside, and almost makes me forget how many times we were up last night. 

Squash - My New Hero

Starting on solid foods wasn't as smooth as I had expected. I didn't expect to go home after talking to the doctor, serve Mason a full meal, and then have him sleep 12 hours that night. I may have secretly hoped for it, but didn't expect it. 


That first week we tried brown rice cereal. Gag. Sweet potatoes. Gag and heave. Peas. Gag. Rice cereal mixed in breast milk. Gag. Formula mixed in breast milk. Gag and heave. He wouldn't eat anything and I was devastated.


Finally, we got him to drink a bottle of breast milk with a little brown rice cereal mixed in. We kept adding more until it was barely thin enough to make it through the nipple. That was it for a couple weeks. 


After he got used to the rice, I went to the store and bought a few different kinds of baby food to see if Mason would eat anything else. I know it can take up to ten offerings before they like a certain type of food. I also figured I would stop trying to mash my own food for now since I've heard some babies do better with the thinner, smoother texture of store baby food.


Here's Mason eating peas. Mmm, "nature's candy" as Damen always jokes. Apparently Grandma loves peas, but he and Kade never did. This is the most common look I get when I try to feed Mason. Peas, no. Bananas, no. Sweet potatoes, no. Carrots, no.

Fortunately we gave squash a try. This is currently the only food Mason will eat without making a face. He loves it! We have only been feeding him squash for just over a week now, and he will eat a 4 oz jar in one sitting. He often makes noises, and it sounds like he is saying "Mmm" the whole time he eats. (Butternut squash was the food I hated most as a kid, go figure.)

Each of the past few nights he has had one stretch of sleep lasting four hours. Hopefully this trend continues. I love you squash!

Tractor Beam

I've been working on photos for this post for awhile now, but this is as close as I could get. Mason has started noticing his hands, and sucking on his fingers. He'll suck on any individual finger, or as many as he can fit into his mouth. It seems like every time I turn around he is eating his fingers or shoving something into his mouth. Kade described his mouth as a tractor beam...it just draws everything in. So here we have a few examples...

The two-finger suck. This used to be his preferred method, but it is dwindling. He also sucks on just his ring finger, and sometimes his thumb, but that involves having an open hand with the rest of his fingers poking him in the eye. I could never get a photo any of those.

The inadvertent finger-in-the-nose finger sucking...

Grabbing my hands to eat them or whatever I'm holding.

The double-hand shove...his current preferred method.

The grab-anything-near-me-and-shove-it-in-despite-how-it-tastes trick. This is a Happy Birthday Grandma sign I was trying to take his picture with.

Ah, and finally my favorite...sucking on the toes. I generally find him like this a couple times a day. 

Now I am trying to get him to keep FOOD in his mouth. We'll blog about that later.

Trick or Treat

I played in the Halloween Hat tournament last Saturday. Mason and I went as Little Bo Peep and a sheep. The costume idea came from Toy Story. Damen had to work or I would have dressed him as Woody. It was a fun day playing ultimate, and Mason seemed to like being outside. His furry costume kept him nice and warm during the chilly morning. I had a good time getting out and running around this weekend. I paid for it in sore muscles and exhaustion, but it was worth it. (My mom was kind enough to watch Mason for a few hours Monday while I slept...that helped!)


Here we are Saturday morning in our costumes.

Here is Mason on Halloween. I made Damen take his picture along with our carved pumpkins. I don't think Mason loved his costume, but I sure did! 

 He got tired of our picture taking quickly enough...

And like good parents we laughed and kept taking photos before rescuing him. Happy Halloween!

Give the Boy Some Solids!

Mason's four month stats:

Weight: 15.1 lbs (56 percentile, down from 59% at 2 months)

Height: 26.5" (94 percentile, up from 88% at 2 months)

Apparently a boy his weight should be able to sleep 12 hours at night. He still eats every 2-3 hours around the clock. Because he eats so much, and because he just keeps getting longer and longer...the doctor recommended we start Mason on some solid foods.


Here is what else Mason is up to at four months:

The bouncer - this kid loves to move! His limbs don't stop until he is asleep. He is small enough that we usually stuff a blanket in the bouncer with him so he doesn't slosh around too much. He gets tired after about 5 minutes, but he loves being upright and playing in the bouncer. He is starting to figure out how to make it work. At first I don't think he knew he was the one spinning himself in circles...now he can get going up and down pretty well.

Mason has found his feet! He will hold them up in the air and stare at them or grab at them. Sometimes he tries to get them into his mouth...along with everything else. He has one finger in his mouth in this photo. He usually has at least one finger in there, sometimes his whole fist.

Mason gets interested in the camera, so some things are hard to catch. This is a photo of him doing one of his "crunches". He doesn't like laying down too long. He is always trying to sit up when I lay him on the couch or when I put him in his car seat. I have a feeling once he can move on his own I'll be in trouble. 

Mason also loves to get outside. Really he loves anywhere that's new. Here he is on one of our walks. He stares at everything passing by, especially the trees. He was fascinated during this walk...until he crashed and fell asleep just before we made it home.

Within the past few days he has really started to giggle. Before he would laugh occasionally but not often. Now he finds a lot more things funny, especially when he is tired! When I hold him at night he stares up at me. He spits out his binki, sticks out his tongue, and makes a high-pitched happy squeal. Then if I make faces, he will giggle. Eventually he gets tired enough to fuss, but we have a great time until then. 

We love this kid so much! 

I Love Utah

I love Utah! I decided to take Mason on his first hike a couple weeks ago. This trail was only a 6 minute drive from our house. It was also covered with trees, so it wasn't too sunny for the boy. 

He used to hate being in the front pack, and has only started to tolerate it recently. I didn't go too far in case he decided to throw a fit about it. But, he seemed to do well and had a good time looking around at all the trees. He did get pretty sleepy on the way down.

Since Mason did so well, we met Jamie at work last week and went hiking in Neffs Canyon. It was beautiful with all the fall leaves! 

Here is a view up the canyon...

And down into the city.

It got a little chilly, so we pulled up Mason's hood. He did really well and only fussed when I took him out to try and feed him. He seemed happy as a little clam the whole time he was in the front pack.

Here's the three of us...stopped for a little snack and some water.

I also had my question answered on whether or not he could fall asleep in the front pack while moving. Yes, yes he can. 

Enjoying the Good

I took this picture on Saturday morning to remember how cute Mason is when he's happy and laughing. 


This photo was taken after a 40 minute nap. It took me an hour to get him to calm down enough to even take a nap. That was after retrieving him from the couch where Damen had been with him since 4 am. Damen got up with him because after a day of crying and a night of waking frequently, I was exhausted. 


Looking back, I think he was getting his first cold and he was uncomfortable. (Although his symptoms still seem pretty mild. If I weren't sick I wouldn't have known he was.)


So, we've had some pretty sleepless nights this week. Fortunately, Mason still seems to wake up in the morning with a smile on his face regardless of how restless he was the night before.


It's hard to believe that it was just a week ago when I had one of the BEST mornings since Mason was born. Damen and I woke up to the alarm at 8 am! I can't remember the last time we didn't wake up to Mason squawking for us. It was stormy and we snuggled for just a few minutes under the warm covers in our cold room and listened to the rain hit the window. It was heaven. Once Damen got up to shower I heard a little sneeze and a coo coming from Mason's room. I went to look in on him. He was awake and looking around. It was such a peaceful morning!


Don't get me wrong, it had been a pretty typical night otherwise. I had been up to feed him 3 times and once to put his blankets back on because he was cold. But, for a morning we enjoyed waking up without immediately jumping out of bed...and Damen got to sleep past 6:45 am baby duty.  

Change of Scenery

Since Mason loves new places, and since I love to get out of our small apartment when I can, we went to Silver Lake last Friday with my dad and my sister. The leaves are starting to change, it was beautiful!

In other news from last week...Mason rolled over on his own for the first time! Sometimes he hates being on his stomach, and sometimes he loves it. This time we got a big smile...

Looking unsure...

 Screaming at us for not helping....

 And finally success.

I can't believe how big he is getting, and I suspect he is growing again. He seems tired all the time, cries a lot more, and is back to eating every 2 - 2.5 hours, even through the night. Perhaps we'll get out for another change of scenery again today.

From Blob to Boy

We have loved every moment with Mason over the past three months, but it is a lot of fun now that he is interested in things and beginning to interact more. So, here's what's new...

His eyes are getting much better. He loves looking at his hands, and especially the ceiling fan. He gets really interested in looking around when we go new places.

He is getting much stronger. He can hold his head up, but still looks like a bobble-head.  He is unsteady, but gets stronger all the time.

He has started drooling and loves chewing on his fingers while grunting and talking. He is also getting better dexterity and can start to grab things we put in front of him.

He has also started to figure out what he likes, and doesn't like. He loves being held and loves attention. A lot of times when I set him down he'll start to cry but cheers up immediately if I sit down next to him and talk to him. He also loves to fight sleep. This week he also gave me his first laugh (while awake). I can't quite figure out what he found so funny, but I can't wait until he starts laughing more.

The hardest part for me is still sleep. Mason rarely sleeps more than four hours at a time, and that's usually only once per night. Some nights he's up every three hours, sometimes every two, and on bad nights every hour. He also has replaced his long afternoon nap with a series of cat naps, with fussing in between. I have been assured this will pass, so I've tried to embrace being tired for now.

Overall Mason is such a good baby! He is always so happy when he wakes up in the morning, which I love. He also loves the changing table, for some reason it always makes him smile and talk. He only really fusses when he is tired and when he is hungry. Other than that he is starting to entertain himself and loves to be entertained.

He loves his dad...he watches him walk around the room when he gets home until he comes over to play with him. He loves mom when he's hungry, but is going through a phase where he likes to scream at me instead of eating.

Three months ago we watched our newborn blob and were amazed at his yawns and his big blue eyes. Now he is turning into a little boy with a personality. Time goes by so quickly, and he changes so quickly. I try to enjoy every day because I'm sure one day I'll wonder where the time has gone.

Blessing

Over Labor Day weekend, we had Mason's baby blessing. (A little late blogging, I know.) It was fun to spend time with so much family! It was the first time Great Grandpa Burnham got to meet Mason. Thanks to everyone who came and spent the day with us. We loved seeing all of you.

Here are photos of Mason with all his living Great Grandparents.

Grandpa Burnham

Grandma and Grandpa Davis

Grandma Pam Crane

Grandma Huckaby