Poor Baby!

This is what happens when you tell Mason no or take away something he shouldn't have! It's pretty hard to say no when he looks at you like that!

Learning and Understanding

Mason about to teach Daddy a golf lesson before the big tournament (look, Mason is standing)!
Mason in his swimming boat

Today Rob played in a golf tournament with Rick. It was the same tournament that he played in last year that resulted in winning our new car! This year, there was no car won. However, Rob played well and they had a fun guys day out.

Mason and I joined my friend Julie and her two boys at the pool today. The baby pool is only one foot deep. Mason loved the fact that he could touch and walk all over while in his swimming boat. After a good nap, Mason and I had so much fun playing together. I realized today how smart he is and how much he understands. We were playing with blocks and I would ask him to place one block on top of the other. He would do what I asked, I would clap and cheer and then he would do his little dance in excitement. I asked him to do several tasks today and he would try each one. He could put blocks in a bucket and open and close his play kitchen doors when asked. He is also working on walking! He took two steps yesterday and today without holding on! Mason turned ten months old earlier this week. It is amazing how much he has learned in his first ten months.

Just Peachy!

Sunday, Cathy and I decided to try canning peaches for the first time. We are so excited that all of our jars turned out! We have decided to try and can other things later this summer as long as we get all of the correct supplies. We did learn some lessons from not having the correct tools. For example, we definitely need canning jar tongs to remove hot jars from boiling water! Getting splashed with boiling water just isn't that much fun!

Beautiful Garden

Mason and Aunt Cathy waiting for the fireworks to start.

I harvested crops from my garden last week! I picked all of the lettuce and a zucchini. The tomato bushes are loaded and hopefully they will ripen soon. Yesterday I noticed that the cantaloupe plants finally had little cantaloupes growing! I will harvest two more zucchini tomorrow. It is exciting to see how well everything is growing!

On the Fourth of July I ran a 5K race with Cathy and Julie. I was proud of myself for running the whole thing. However, I ended up hurting my knee. Thus, I was unable to attend the training session today. My knee is feeling a bit better so hopefully I will be back in action soon! We spent the rest of the Fourth with Rick, Cathy and the Boys. We watched fireworks and Mason enjoyed them. He didn't even flinch with the big booms!

Thursday night Mason attended his first baseball game. We went to a AAA game; Richmond Braves vs. Syracuse Chiefs. Unfortunately there was a rain delay so the game started late. We ended up leaving in the seventh inning as it was already 11:15 pm. Mason did well but he was extremely tired from being up late two nights in a row... and so was I! Mason ate his first hot dog at a ball game!

Mason is on his way to standing on his own. He has been standing up from sitting without pulling up on anything. He has also started shaking his head no when I tell him "no, no". Too cute! He has also been using the sign for milk when he sees a bottle or when he wants some milk. He is pretty smart!

Look at that hair!

This is what Mason looked like when he woke up this morning! His hair is getting really long on top and sometimes looks like a comb over! Mason had his nine month checkup today. He is very long, in the 75th percentile, and measured 28.75 inches long. He weighed in at 19 pounds which to my surprise, is in the 30th percentile. The Dr. said Mason will probably be a tall and thin child. We are going to try and plump him up a bit with adding dairy products. Mason likes to feed himself and is almost done with the jars of baby food. He prefers "real" food! He added a new word to his vocabulary this week... dog! He even said "dog" when we saw dogs other than ours at the park! He actually says it more like "gog" but we know what he means. A new talent that emerged tonight is throwing objects. It is cute now but I am sure I won't be laughing when he gets some power behind that throw!

I started my training for the Women's 4 Miler race that takes place in September. Until the race, I will meet hundreds of other women on Saturday morning to train. It is a really neat program and it is exciting to see so many women running or walking at one time! I haven't run in over ten years. It is amazing that all of my old feelings for running came back as soon as I completed that first lap. I am excited about the challenge of getting back into shape and I have to remember to pace myself. Cathy, Marilyn and I went to a fabulous running store to purchase good running shoes. They actually watch you walk and jog to determine what shoes will work best for your foot. I am hoping my new shoes will prevent my previous foot injury from coming back!

Uh Oh!

Mason and I made it back from California! We had a whirlwind of a trip and luckily Mason is a great traveler! We had a busy schedule of visiting friends and family, attended Cal Ploy graduation and went to a wedding. It was great to see everyone and I wish we could have stayed longer.

Mason now has two teeth on the bottom! You can see one of them in the picture above. He is also saying uh oh! It is really cute! Mason crawls super fast now and loves to push the walker around. He also loves to play with children. He gets so excited when he sees other children. While in California, I took Mason to the park with a friend. He loved the swing! He also crawled all over the grass and tried to eat sticks and leaves! On the flight home Mason learned how to drink from a straw! On the last plane change I grabbed a smoothie and I let Mason try the straw. To my surprise, he could do it and he ended up eating half of my smoothie!

Rob was happy to see us! He said that Mason looked a little different! Rob kept busy with yard work and watching the US Open. He took care of my garden which grew huge while I was gone. I will have to take some pictures of the garden and post it soon.

Virginian's for a Year!

It is hard to believe that we have lived in Virginia for one year now! We are enjoying it so much and are glad we made the move. Mason continues to amaze us at how fast he is learning! He has discovered how to climb stairs and how to yell! He has stood a few times by himself and then quickly realizes he isn't holding on and then squats down. He has been exercising using his push walker... going all over the house! Mason finally has a tooth coming in... I can actually see it now! I believe he is also trying to say ball. He makes a baw sound when he sees a ball!

Earlier this week, Mason was able to spend some time with Uncle Rick and the boys. His new sitter's daughter has been very sick. So, Uncle Rick filled in. They had so much fun! The weather has been perfect so the boys pent all day outside. Mason loves the outdoors.

Next week Mason and I head to California for a quick visit. We are so excited to see friends and family. It will be an adventure traveling alone with Mason!