Keeping Up With the Joneses

I discovered a new way to post pictures where I can write around them. These are pictures my dad took while we were in Canada. So here are Mason and Daddy sleeping on the couch at Grandma and Grandpa Goates' one morning when Mason decided he wanted to wake up way too early. Here are Jessica and Daniel opening wedding presents--Mason is very interested. Mason and Daddy wrestling. Mason in the cool car at Grandma and Grandpa's house. He just is amazed at all the presents. And finally, just cute pictures of the cutest boy on earth.

Mason is going through so many changes lately. This morning, one of his top teeth poked through. He hasn't seemed to be bothered by the pain of teething lately, which we are very thankful for. Last night Mason was a little goof. It was our anniversary, and I wanted to make Marshall a nice dinner. So I put Mason in his high chair, started the bread and other things cooking, and mixed up a big bowl of cereal for Mason. I tried feeding him, and he was refusing to eat it. Finally, I left it on his tray as I went to check on the bread. I got distracted and checked on a few other things, and a few minutes later when I looked back at Mason, he had grabbed the bowl of cereal and dumped it all over him. When I finally noticed, he was in the process of rubbing it through his hair. It was so messy--I wish I had thought to take a picture. I was still in my work clothes, and I didn't want to get cereal all over me, so I ran a bath and put him fully clothed into the bath. Boy was he ma...

Mason's New Found Jungle Gym 

My Best Men 

Goates Kids 

Marshall, Melissa, and Mason with Mason's Great-Great Grandpa Hall 

The Goates Family plus recent additions. 

We just got back from a trip to Canada for Jessica's wedding. It was a good trip, though when we got back and finally made it into bed, Marshall said that he needed a vacation to recover from the one we just had. Our drive home yesterday, which normally takes about 12 hours, took us 16 hours because of the horrible roads. Everytime we do this we swear we will never drive up in the winter again, but we always forget the misery. It is also different with Mason in the car. Not only do we need to keep him entertained, but we find ourselves driving a lot more carefully. Mason has been so clingy to his parents lately. I drove up to Canada with Mason and Annie (sister-in-law) on Saturday, and Marshall drove up with Scott on Wednesday. From Saturday to Wednesday, Mason would not let me out of his sight. His grandpa wanted to play with him so bad, but if I wasn't in the room, Mason would get so upset. Then when Marshall got there Wednesday night until now, Mason hardly notices me. H...

Mason finally has teeth! A few days ago we checked and nothing, and then on Sunday he was chewing on my finger and all of a sudden he had two teeth on the bottom. It makes sense, he's had his fingers in his mouth a lot lately. We're so proud of him--he's growing up so fast. We had a really rough night last night, which I'm attributing to the teething. He woke up about 10:30, and we got him back to sleep by 11. But then at 3 he woke up crying, standing up in his crib. I rocked him back to sleep, but as soon as I put him back in his crib he started crying and standing up again. So I took him downstairs and put him in the swing, where he slept for about 20 minutes and then started crying again. So I ended up sleeping with him on the couch until Marshall came and woke us up around 6:30 AM. Mason was fine as long as his mommy was holding him. I'm a little worried about what we'll do without the swing when we go to Canada next week for Jessica's wedding. He...

All Done! 

Putting the Tools Away 

 

 

 

Getting Distracted by my Hand 

Helping Daddy Out 

Yummy! 

Making a Mess 

Eating Blueberries 

Mason in His Swing 

Mason and his Daddy 

I think Mason is beginning to understand what no means! Yesterday he was heading over towards the tv cords, where he knows he is not allowed to play. I said "Mason, no!" and he stopped and looked at me for a few seconds, then turned around and kept going. I said "Mason, no!" again and he looked at me and again turned around and headed towards the cords. I said "Mason, no!" a third time, and he stopped, looked at me, then crawled towards some other toys. He did the same thing a few nights ago with the stairs. Of course, I'm not telling you about the many times he ignores me saying "no", but at least I think he might be starting to get it. Since we started giving Mason cheerios, our kitchen has been a mess. I sweep at least twice a day, and still you can 't walk across the floor without stepping on a cheerio. He loves them and gets so excited when he sees us getting the bag out, but I'm starting to re-think the idea.

Marshall won tickets to a movie on the radio station last Thursday, and so we quickly found babysitters--Uncle Eric and Aunt Jessica. He's been clingy lately, so I was a little worried about leaving him. Eric came over and as soon as he walked in the door, Mason started jumping up and down like he does when Marshall comes home (I was meeting Marshall at work). He reached out for Eric and didn't even notice when I said good-bye. I was hoping that he would realize it was not his dad before I left, but he didn't. So when we got back Eric said that Mason was perfectly happy as long as Eric was in the room, but as soon as he left or Jessica picked him up, he would start crying. Eric was holding Mason when Marshall walked in, and Mason looked back and forth at the two of them for a few seconds and then all of a sudden this huge look of confusion and then recognition came over his face, and he reached out for Marshall. The whole time we were gone, he was perfectly happy with h...

Mason finally broke his sleeping-all-night streak last night. He started crying about 3 AM, and when I went in his diaper had leaked. After I changed him he was really tired still, so I just took him back to bed with me, thinking that he'd fall right asleep. No Way! He got so hyper. He was poking Marshall's face, pulling my hair, chattering away. Finally at about 3:45 I was so exhausted that I just put him in his crib and went back to bed. A few minutes later I wake up to him screaming at the top of his lungs. I waited a few minutes to see if he would stop, and when he didn't I went in to see if he was okay. As soon as he saw me he closed his eyes and relaxed. But when I started leaving the room, his eyes flipped open and he started screaming again. As long as I was in view, he was fine. I even tried sleeping on the floor by his crib, but as soon as he couldn't see me or hear me, he started crying. Finally at about 4:30 AM I took him downstairs and put him in the swin...

Well, Mason enjoyed his first halloween. I picked him up from the babysitter's house early and we went trick-or-treating to our neighbors and friends. Mason really enjoyed being carried around by mommy but he got this really funny look on his face when people would tell him how cute he was and give him candy. I wish I had a picture of it--it was utter confusion. He'd look at them and then up at me like "why is everyone giving us candy?" But I enjoyed showing him off and visiting with friends and neighbors. Then Scott, Annie, Jessica, and Joy came over for dinner (just left-over soup from Sunday) and s'mores. It was fun roasting the marshmallows in the smore kit Jessica gave us for our wedding--this was the first time we got around to using it. We all ate way too much candy, but I think everyone left satisfied. Mason has been really good about sleeping through the night for over a week now. It was hard getting him back on schedule after he was sick, but now he...