Mason - 8 Months

Mason Richard Burnside

Age: 8 months
Weight: 21 lbs, 6 oz

Height: ?
(we will find this out @ his 9 mo. check up!)

Mason loves:

• Rollin, rollin, rollin! - Mason has decided that instead of crawling, he's going to ROLL everywhere! Literally. He will get up on his knees and rock back and forth and then roll back over on his back. He will roll himself all over the house! Even into other rooms!
• FOOD - I feel like this is a given. But, just within the last couple of weeks we have started giving him some solid foods. (Soft ones of course) And he is LOVING it! 
• Riding in the buggy - Since the worst of flu season has past, I can take Mason in public now! (YAY!) He loves strollin thru Brookeshires & Target :) He normally does pretty well too!

Food: As you read above, this is a popular topic with Mason right now! He's still taking 3-4 bottles of formula a day and about 3 servings of baby food a day. He has started picking up the cereal puffs and feeding himself (it's SO cute!) and he's not choking on them anymore ;) We also have started giving him some solids. Breads, veggies & fruits...things that dissolve or pretty much melt! But so far he hasn't had any texture issues. Other than super cold things (like a sugar free popcicle we let him taste...I mean how can you not like a popcicle?!)

Sleep: You will read more about this below!

Milestones: Mason is sitting up even better now and for longer periods of time. He was sitting in his crib Sunday morning while I was getting ready and he started to pull up on the side. Of course I freaked out. He just pulled up to rest on his knees but still. It deserved a freak out. And like I said above, he isn't crawling yet because he keeps rolling everywhere! He loves to stand up and will sometimes fight be to sit down because he'd rather stand up. Like in his high chair. Child, you cannot stand up in your high chair! [said daily in our household] He will lock his knees up and bow his back. Strong-willed and stubborn. Just like his momma! ;) He also is in the process of getting his first 4 teeth! Please read more below. Oh..and he's wearing 12mo clothes now. Excuse me while I go have a cryfest.

Soooo....Mason is teething. And it's rockin our world a little bit! It started about a week ago and it hit pretty hard Wednesday night when his bottom two teeth starting cutting through his gums. About two weeks ago, we had reached a point where we could lay Mason down in his crib awake and he would fall asleep on his own. (I PROMISE I'M NOT BRAGGING! DON'T HATE ME!) And then teething happened. RAWR. He will go to sleep and I can lay him in his crib, but he wakes up several times in the night. Sometimes I can soothe him in his crib. If I have to pick him up, sometimes I can rock him back to sleep. Sometimes he ends up in the bed with Brandon and me. Whatever works, right?! We have been soooo blessed with Mason's good sleeping habits & routines! But this teething mess is giving us a run for our money. (Shout out to all you parents out there who have to deal with a non-sleeping baby every night. I think of you & pray for you -seriously- every night when Mason wakes up! Since we have not had to go through that, we did not know how lucky we really were and it's made me feel for yall. And I mean that as seriously as I can!)

Yall. I've had about 3 major breakdowns within this past week. And it's not just because he's teething. It's because my BABY IS GROWING UP AND I CAN NOT HANDLE IT. The worst thing I can do right now is look back on old photos of him. (I speak from experience.) He is growing up so fast. He's getting teeth. He's wearing 12mo clothes. He's eating real food. He responds to me (sometimes) when I talk to him. I need to quit discussing this or I will have another breakdown. Seriously..it's bad.
*Note-I'm so happy I have a growing, healthy baby. It's fun to watch him grow & develop. It's just so bittersweet. I soak in every.single.moment I can get with him. I nap with him. I play in the floor with him. I sing to him. I read to him. I spend every moment possible with him while he still lets me!

And just one more....because I can't resist ;)