Mason's First Christmas

We hosted Christmas at our house this year. My parents joined us for five days, which we thoroughly enjoyed, and Trent, Nick, and Adrian's Aunt Janice and cousin Cailin (and boyfriend Greg) came over to spend Christmas day. Mason scored lots of good stuff, including books, clothes, and a talking Elmo. My dad did the lion's share of the cooking (and even made us a delicious turkey soup the day after). Thankfully, he was willing and able to help! Overall, it was a successful first Christmas for us in many ways.

Mason and his friend Angel

Our nanny sometimes brings her little boy with her to work. He's about 6 weeks older than Mason (and about twice the size). You'd think they would be too young to interact with each other, but it's cute to see how much they enjoy looking at each other. Maybe Angel will teach Mason a few things, like how to roll over?

Mmmmmm, feet!

Mason has recently discovered his feet. We knew that after he could grab onto them, it wouldn't be long before they made it into his mouth!

Five Months Old

Getting big!

Mason at the Beach

Mason saw the ocean for the first time over Thanksgiving weekend. We made our usual trip to Cocoa Beach and had a great time hanging out with Adrian's paternal grandparents, dad and step-mom, aunts Barbara and Cyndi, uncle Pete, great uncle John and cousin David (and of course the many manatee and dolphin).

Delicious cereals

Yep, we've started with rice cereal. He had no idea what to do for the first week, and honestly, some days I just gave up, diluted it down and fed it to him in a bottle. But tonight was definitely a turning point! I think he's finally getting the whole idea of eating and how it differs from sucking. Looks like we'll be ready for other foods in a month or so. Fun!

Lovin' the playgrounds in my new nabe

Dalila takes Mason to the playground whenever it's nice out (and we've had some really nice days lately). I never knew that a 4-month-old was big enough for the swings, but he seems to like it a lot!

Music Together

Mason is 7 weeks into his infant music class. Some may think it's stupid to pay for a music class for a baby his age, but he's really responding to the stuff they do in the class and is already starting to recognize some of the songs. We discovered early on that he likes music a lot and especially likes when we sing to him. In this picture he's playing a drum (of course with some help!).

Lots to laugh about

Halloween in New Haven

The three of us spent Halloween hanging out with friends in New Haven. Either we just happened to be trick-or-treating on the coolest block in town, or this place is simply a kid's Halloween dream! Every house was tricked out in full Halloween regalia - even the owners were in costume.

Mason dressed up as a penguin and Finn as Charlie Brown. The weekend was spent eating lots of delicious, home-made cupcakes, mashed potato & bacon pizza, mini chocolate bars, and candy corn/peanut mix. An excellent little trip overall.

Uncle John & Aunt Erica meet Mason

It's been a few weeks since they were here, but John & Erica (without kids) came up to meet Mason and spend a few days with us in Brooklyn. We did some things that none of us had done before, such as visit Governor's Island and walk on the Highline. They also scored tickets to the dress rehearsal of SNL. Overall, it was a great weekend - one we look forward to repeating in the near future.

First pair of shoes

Mason scored his first pair of shoes on Sunday - Air Jordan soft bottoms. They've helped add at least 7 inches to his vertical leap.

New Digs

Hi friends! We've had a very busy couple of weeks, which is why there've been no posts recently. I'm back at work now, so Mason is with a nanny during the day. It seems to be working out pretty well so far. Mason's nanny is great. She's from Nicaragua and speaks only Spanish to him. It'll be a necessary skill for him to have!

We've also moved to a new apartment! We closed on the sale of our old apartment on Thursday afternoon, then closed on the purchase on Friday and moved in that evening. We're quickly getting everything out of the boxes and put away. It's so great to have more space!

Here are some pictures from the move. The first is what the old place looked like packed up. The next is our celebratory lunch at White Castle after the purchase closing. The next two are in the new space, and the last is Mason holding his own bottle (of course he does it only for a few seconds, but he's reached a big milestone grabbing/holding things).

Trip to Arizona

Mason took his first plane ride this past weekend. We went out to Phoenix to visit my grandma and some friends of ours that recently moved there. Overall, the trip was pretty swell, though traveling with a 3-month-old definitely requires two sets of hands! Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Blender Demon - Busted!

(As reported by Dad)
Last weekend, little Mason, evidently disgruntled by the number of feedings he'd had that day, attempted to make his escape. He donned baby camo and commenced a commando crawl across his blanket to freedom. As you can see from the pictures, it was the perfect crime. Note that in the first image, the little demon is nearly absolutely imperceptible to the naked eye. The second image is the same image but digitally enhanced to reveal the rascal making his escape. Unfortunately for little Mason, he was apprehended mid-flight, due to the ever vigilant sKimski surveillance system. After his arraignment, he now must wear his recently-received, handmade booties (courtesy of Ali), to neutralize the baby camo. We'll report back on the success of this method in preventing future escape attempts. Stay tuned.

Mason meets Marinita

So my intention with this blog was to provide updates frequently (at least a couple of times a week) but I've been very delinquent in the last month. Now I plan to be back on track and provide twice weekly updates on Tuesday and Fridays.

This past week and a half has been busy. I've been to Canada twice for MBA recruiting events, so the little guy was with his dad on both occasions. All went well overall, though it's very hard to be away from the babe for a whole day. Luckily I only have one more work trip on the calendar between now and November.

Last weekend Javier, Marina, and Marinita came out to Brooklyn to see us and meet Mason. We had brunch at Flatbush Farm and then took a walk around the neighborhood, grabbing some ice cream and coffee along the way. Marinita is about 6 weeks older than Mason.

We also got Mason a Bumbo seat, which the pediatrician recommended. He has always had impressive head control but his doctor says he has a stiff neck, and apparently the Bumbo is supposed to help remedy this.

Early to Bed, Early to Rise

Apparently the definition of "sleeping through the night" is sleeping five straight hours, no matter what time of night those hours are. So by definition, Mason is sleeping through the night. Unfortunately, it's not my night he sleeps through. We usually put him down at 8 or 9 p.m. and he'll stay asleep until 1 or 2 a.m. After that, he's up every other hour. Maybe only for a couple of minutes at a time (i.e. I'll just need to stick his pacifier in his mouth), but it get's me up every time, which is starting to take it's toll a little. I'm hoping that this sleeping trend doesn't continue for much longer, because I have to go back to work in a few weeks and won't be able to make up for lost night sleep with an afternoon nap. Luckily I have Adrian to help with night duty when that time comes!

Just being silly

Cute video of Mason laughing

Two months old!

Little guy has had a busy weekend of picnics and barbecues with family and friends. He's really starting to be interactive with us - mimicking our facial expressions, smiling and laughing. Nights are still touch and go. He sleeps at least 4 hours in the early part of the night (and has stretched that to 5, 6, and even 7.5 hours!). It's the second part of the night that's been a challenge for Mom, where he wakes up every hour or two. Seems he's right on track for two months. We're falling into a schedule of naps, feedings and bedtime routine. Here are some pictures taken this weekend.

Eight weeks old!

Here's a cute video taken this morning.

Busy weekend

We were busy these past several days. Thursday, Mason and I went to our first mom/baby movie at the neighborhood theater. We saw Julie & Julia with about 25 other moms and babes. It was lots of fun! I was pleasantly surprised with how nice the film was too.

Friday our friend Rebecca was in town from Japan. She stops through every summer for a few days, and we were lucky that she was able to come over to meet Mason. Sunday we had visits from Theda and later from the bruders - Trent, Nick and Gregg. Despite having rain in the forecast, it ended up being a gorgeous day. I'm thinking we won't need to use the air conditioner again until next year.

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Mason meets Nico & Andrew

Nico, Andrew and Finn visited last weekend from New Haven on their way to the Jersey Shore. We all met up at The Gate for an afternoon of catching up and enjoying some cold ones. Mason also met Tanya for the first time and saw his buddies Siobhan and the Roth-man.

Mason is starting to have longer periods of alertness and is recently finding his activity gym pretty entertaining. I can leave him under there for a good 20 minutes before he gets bored, which is a perfect amount of time for me to do things like eat!

Today is supposed to be the last hot day for a while, thank goodness. We'll be able to do a lot more outdoor stuff once it starts cooling down a bit.

T-minus 2 weeks to the first shots! I will feel much better once he's had them. After that he'll be able to go on the subway and visit mine and Adrian's office friends. We'll have so much more freedom that it'll seem like a whole new world!