Christmas with the cousins and Pappy & Nina

We spent Christmas in Des Moines with my brother (John) and sister-in-law (Erica), their kids, Zack (4 1/2) and Leah (2 1/2), and my parents (known as Pappy & Nina to the kids). I think Mason really enjoyed being around the older kids. He came back with a few new words in his vocabulary. We had a visit from Santa on Christmas eve and did a lot of playing with all the new toys the rest of the time. Adrian was instrumental in training the young Padawans the Jedi ways. We were lucky enough to get on a flight to Hartford when our Monday afternoon flight to La Guardia was cancelled. After a short flight from Des Moines to Chicago, a 2-hour layover and 3-hour delay at O'hare, a 2-hour flight to Hartford, and a 2 hour car ride from there, we were home. It was a long day, but we were so thankful not to get stranded like so many others did! Here are some highlights of the trip.

The tree is up!

We got our tree this afternoon and had it up and decorated in just a couple of hours. We opted for a smaller one this year, since we decided to keep it on top of a table so curious hands wouldn't be pulling off the fragile ornaments.

Here are also a few photos from marathon weekend that we didn't ever post.

Halloween Redux

I posted a bunch of Halloween pictures on Facebook, but since some of us (gasp) are not on FB, here are some of the highlights.

Children's Museum

Dalila took Mason and Angel to the Brooklyn Children's Museum last week, and they had a grand time. We're thinking of buying a membership, as I assume we'll be back often during the winter. Here are some highlights of the visit.

First Haircut

Last Saturday was a rough day for Mason. First, we had to go to the Quest Diagnostics center to get blood drawn for his lead testing (something they do at 15-months). It wasn't just a finger prick, either, as I was expecting. They actually stuck a needle in him and took three vials of blood! Luckily, the entire thing didn't last more than just a couple of minutes, and overall he handled it pretty well (thanks to the emergency pacifier!) But then, of course, Mom had to torture him some more by making him get a haircut. We went just down the street in Brooklyn Heights to a little kids "spa" and paid a whopping $10 to get him his first haircut. The cut itself turned out very cute, but the experience wasn't so nice. Despite trying all the usual distractions, like a Sesame Street video and a number of toys (and non-toys), there were lots of tears.

Back to Blogging

I feel so guilty for having neglected Mason's blog for over two months! So much has happened since mid-August. Where do I even begin??? Well, the most important things are that Mason is walking and talking up a storm. There really is nothing cuter than seeing your own kid literally toddle around on their two little stilt-like legs, with Frankenstein arms outstretched in the directing they are heading. It's been an adorable past few weeks watching Mason perfect the whole walking thing. New words added to his vocabulary in these two months are as follows: no-no, go, apple, bath (pronounced "baa"), baby, agua, zapato (pronounced "pato"), and lots and lots of babble. He also signs the words for eat, more, and all done (and he says "all done" too, though he's been doing that for a while now). Perhaps one of the most amazing things we've noticed is that he now understands us! We'll say, "Mason, go get you're shoes so we can go bye-bye." And he'll go and get his shoes, sit down and try to put them on, and say "bye-bye"! Each night after dinner I'll ask him if he wants to take a bath, and he says "BAA!" and heads straight to the bathroom and sidles up to the bath tub waiting for me to turn on the water. And not only does he understand when we talk to him in English, but he understands in Spanish too. If I tell him in Spanish to go get his shoes, he knows exactly what I'm saying and he does it. Truly amazing!

Anyway, here are some random photos from the past couple of months. Back in August, we had a visit to Nebraska and Iowa to see family and friends, then in September we went to St. Louis for Adrian's niece's wedding. The rest are assorted photos taken at home and in the neighborhood.

Tuesday is Library Day

Dalila has been very resourceful at finding fun, free activities for Mason and Angel to do. On Tuesdays, they attend a storybook hour at the public library near our apartment. Here they are together - active participants!

First P.S. 1 Visit

First ever visit to P.S. 1's Saturday Warm Up for Mason and first of 2010 for Mom & Dad. We think Mason dug it. For anyone who's unfamiliar with P.S. 1, it's a school that was converted to a museum that features all sorts of modern art. Lots of sculpture, photography and video. They have an event called Warm Up every Saturday through July and August, where the courtyard fills with people drinking beer around the outdoor installations and listening to the bands and DJs featured each week.

Baby Toga Party

More birthday fun for the babies. Since most of Mason's little buddies are also July babies, we all decided to have a collective birthday party in the park. The theme, if not obvious, was a toga party. It was one of the most adorable things you've ever seen.

Mason's First Birthday

Wow! What a difference a year makes. Mason's nanny made a little birthday party for him today with a couple of other babes, including his good buddy Angel, and his new little buddy, Declan. She got them hats and balloons to play with, which they loved and which produced a massive overload of cuteness. We're headed to Atlanta this weekend for a birthday blowout with cousins Erkki and Akseli, Aunt Christel and Uncle Pekka, and Grandma Mayline.

Hanging out with Uncle Trent

Uncle Trent came over to play, AND he brought donuts from Peter Pan Bakery. Yum!!!

Updates

A lot has happened in the last month. Here are a few recent highlights:




Five teeth!







Our friend Averil Clara Roth was born!









We had a visit from our friend Doug (from Buffalo).










It's spring, and I'm crawling all over the place.