Mason is 4 months old!

Happy 4 months to Mason!

What he likes:

• Rolling from his back to his tummy: The funny thing is that he gets mad cuz he's stuck on his tummy.
• Sucking his thumb: yup, he found his thumbs. He likes to suck his thumbs when he gets stuck on his tummy or when he gets tired. Dada's not happy about that. Mama's okay with it and is hoping that he'll just stop sucking his thumb on his own. She's heard that lots of babies suck their thumbs and stop on their own at a certain age.
• Spitting up: he spits up a lot...seems like it's after every feeding
• Being held. mama calls him a snuggle bug
• Sleeping through the night: hooray! he goes to bed around 8-ish and sleep until about 7. sometimes mama hears him around 4 or 5 am. if he's not crying, she ignores him and he falls back asleep.
  
• The sound of my voice: he breaks into a big smile and excitedly kicks his legs into the air when I come home from daycare
• Bumbo: it helps build his core strength and sit like a big kid
• Reaching for things: he likes to reach for the toys hanging from his playmat or that mommy put in front of him when he's doing tummy time
  
• Looking around at everything: he's curious about the world around him.
• Mommy baby yoga class: he stays awake for the entire class, likes to look at all the other babies and smiles when the mommies sing. He even likes doing super babies and flying on mama's legs.

 What he doesn't like:

• rolling from his tummy to his back. The weird thing is that he's done it before. 
• tummy time. he's able to tolerate tummy time for longer stretches of time, but still doesn't like it as much as being on his back

It's real!

Everyone's always amazed at Mason's crazy hair. Well, I can tell you that it's real.  How do I know?  Well, this morning when dada was putting the laundry in the dryer and mama was out bike riding with auntie Michelle, I yanked on Mason's hair. I pulled really hard. So hard, that Mason screamed.

Dada came running into the living room. Caught red handed! I got in big trouble. Dada yelled at me, sent me to timeout and then pulled my hair so I'd know what it felt like. I cried because it hurt and I didn't like it.  Lesson to my friends: don't pull other people's hair. It's not nice.

Humongous

Mirriam Webster defines humongous as:

Pronunciation: \hyü-ˈməŋ-gəs, yü-, -ˈmäŋ-\

Function: adj

Origins: perhaps alteration of huge + monstrous

First known use: circa 1967

1. Extremely large, huge
2. The word I used to describe the military cargo plane dada and I saw on the drive home.  Dada asked me if the plane was big, and I replied, "It's humongous."

Science is fun!

We had a science fair at CFC today.  Mama, Mason and PoPo even came to visit during the science fair. We had different tables set up in our play yard. Each table was supposed to help us experience different aspects of nature or science. I made a nature collage at one table. At a different table, I dropped colored water onto a coffee filter where I watched the color be absorbed by the coffee filter and blend together. I mixed oil with colored water in a bottle, where I witnessed that water and oil separate. At the last table, I colored a paper towel with marker, then soaked it in water watching the ink leach into the water.  Science is fun because you get to play with stuff like water, markers and leaves.

Farm Animals

My buddy Edison clued me, Matthew and Kyden into an opportunity to meet the farm animals at Deer Hollow Farm this weekend. The bummer is that he and Matthew couldn't join us because they had other plans. Hopefully they can check it out later.

The farm is pretty close to our house. It's inside Rancho San Antonio park. Apparently, mama, dada and auntie Christi used to go running in this park back when they were active and in good shape. That must've been a long time ago.

When we got to the park, the parking lot was full. Dada ended up dropping me and mama off while he and Mason waited for a parking spot. Luckily dada found a spot inside the park. Uncle Mike and Uncle Warren (Issac's dada) had to park their cars outside the park...somewhere in Los Altos.

I was excited to see the barn, the horse, the cows, and other animals.  Mama told me that we had to walk to the farm from the parking lot. I kept asking mama where the barn was, but we just kept walking.  Turns out the farm is a mile walk from the parking lot, and dada did not pack my stroller. So, I had to walk the entire way! A mile is really far for a little kid like me. Mama had to carry me about half way there in the sweltering heat, which made the mile feel really long. Hey, I was only thinking about mama and her efforts to get back into shape.

Eventually we made it to the farm and waited for dada, Mason, Kyden and his friend, Issac. We saw a cow (who moo'd at me), chickens, ducks and a goose (who performed a water dance in the pond), a rooster (who cock-a-doodle-doo'd with me), rabbits, pigs, sheep, baby sheep, goats and baby goats.  We got to go inside the pens to meet the animals. My favorite was the ducks, chickens and roosters.  I kept wanting to go back to that pen.

I had such a great time at the farm with Kyden and Issac that I passed out as soon as I got into the car. We'll probably go back and visit the farm again when Mason is older. By then I might actually be old enough to be interested in learning about the animals so I can ask the volunteers some questions.

Potty time!

When I got home from daycare today, mama told me something special was delivered for me. It was a potty! I know what potties are for because I've been reading Potty Time for Monsters (thanks grandma and grandpa) and Potty with mama and dada.

We also have little potties at daycare. Now that I'm in my new classroom, my teachers ask me if I want to sit on the potty every time I have a diaper change. Sometimes I say yes and sometimes I say no. When I do sit on the potty, I usually go pee-pee. One day, I actually told Ms. Brittney that I had to go pee-pee. So, she put me on the potty and I peed - a lot!  Everyone was really excited, especially me, and proud of me.  After that, mama thought it was time to get a little potty for home.

I got to pick the color of the potty and where to put it. Luckily, I decided to put it in the bathroom and not in the living room. I like to sit on the potty and I even know that I'm supposed to sit on it without a diaper. While I'm not in full-on potty training mode, I usually sit on the potty in the morning, after I wake up, and in the evening, before my bath. After I pee-pee, I pour my pee in the toilet, wipe my potty, throw the toilet paper into the toilet, close the lid and flush.

Rollin' along

Mason rolled over for the first time! Mama put him down on his back in the living room and went to the kitchen for a bit.  When she came back, Mason was on his tummy.  Just to make sure that mama wasn't going crazy from sleep deprivation, she put him on his back and stayed in the room.  She pretended to ignore him by reading Hunger Games on her iPad. Out of the corner of her eye, she say him roll onto his side and get stuck for a while.  Then he finally managed to roll onto his tummy, except his arm was stuck underneath him and mama had to help him free it.  Guess mama and dada can't leave Mason unattended on a couch, bed or changing table anymore!

My head got stuck

Yesterday afternoon, mama, dada, Mason and I went shopping. We drove down to Buy Buy Baby in S. San Jose to test drive a double stroller. But I got hungry on the way there. So, I started to do what I do a lot now - whine.  I find that be an effective means of communicating what I want.  Dada or mama disagree. 

Since they didn't pack me any snacks, we stopped at Whole Foods. Mama tried to sell me on Pinkberry, but I said no. I wanted something more substantial.  For those of you who don't know, Whole Foods has a kids club where you get to pick a snack.  The choices are usually banana, clementine orange/tangerine or an apple.  Sometimes they other stuff like fruit strips or cookies. 

Like mama, I get cranky when I'm hungry.  I was really hungry and cranky by the time we got there. After grabbing a banana, we sat down at a table to eat my snack. I was feeling better and tried to climb down out of the chair, but somehow my head got stuck. I was bent over, feet on the floor, with my head twisted into the opening of the chair back.  I tried to pull my head out, but the chair was choking me! Mama was sitting right next to me, but I don't think she realized that my head was stuck. I got scared that my head would be permanently stuck and started crying - loudly. 

Once mama realized that my head was stuck in a choke hold, she called dada over. Dada took a look and told mama to pick my body up so that my shoulders were aligned with my head.  As soon as she did that, my head was free!  Whew!  But I was still freaked out by the entire incident that I sat in mama's lap to finish eating my snack.

Turns out dada got his head stuck in a chair when he was kid too. What can I say. Like father, like son.  Maybe us Tai boys just have really big heads.

Roller skating

Grandma and grandpa heard that I was feeling sad, so they drove down to visit me!  No one told me they were coming. So I took an extra long nap this afternoon. I was so happy to see them when I woke up.  I have the best grandparents ever!

Since it was such a nice day today, we went roller skating.  Well, dada and I went skating.  Mama, grandma and grandpa walked with us. I got skates for my birthday from Auntie Kathy, uncle Tom, auntie Bridget and uncle Bruce. But because the weather's been so yucky, I've only used them a couple times in the house. So today is my first time skating outside. I broke out the knee pads, elbow pads and my helmet.

Skating is fun!  Hopefully, the weather will stay good so I can skate some more.  Check out the video mama took.

Hoppy Easter!

We went to grandma and grandpa's house to celebrate Easter today.  Got to hang out my cousin Ethan, my second cousins Kimora and Kyle and lots of aunties and uncles. The major event of the afternoon was an Easter egg hunt!  

This year Ethan got to join me and Kimora. Mason and Kyle are still too young. So, they just watched us. After dada, uncle Jeff and uncle Brandon hid our eggs in the backyard, we roamed the yard looking for eggs. Kimora is a pro!  I think she got the most eggs out of all of us. Good thing grandma and auntie Bridget labeled the eggs with a "K," "E," or "L."  Not that we paid attention to those letters. We just picked them up and put 'em in our buckets.

After the egg hunt, the 'rents tried to get a picture of us kids. I stood still and looked at the camera, but Ethan and Kimora were more interested in the eggs they found. And Liberty or Tachi would wander into the picture. So, this is the best group shot that dada managed to get. 

For dinner we didn't have boring ham.  We had chicken kabobs, seafood kabobs and steak kabobs. Yum!  Grandpa is an excellent chef.  Dada must've gotten his cooking skills from grandpa. Hmm...I wonder if it's genetic, like our good looks.

I had such a good time that I didn't want to leave. Instead of falling asleep in the car, like I usually do, I cried the whole way home. I missed grandma, grandpa, uncle Jeff, auntie Jeanette, Ethan, uncle Mike, Liberty and Bubba.  I wanted them ALL to come home with us so we could continue the fun. What can I say? The transition to my new classroom at daycare has made me more sensitive.

I got game

My girlfriend, Adrienne, came to visit me (and meet Mason) this evening.  We went to dinner (with our parents) and then hung out at my place. I showed her my play kitchen. Then we had a kiddie rave in my room. I broke out my glow bracelets, Sorcerer Mickey Mouse spinning light toy, and Twilight Turtle to woo her into my bed. It worked! 

At the tender age of two, I got a girl in my room -- and in my bed!  It still counts if we were chaperoned by our parents the entire time. Yeah, I got game - just like Auntie Christi. Dada was really proud. Mama just rolled her eyes at dada. 

Thanks for coming to visit, Adrienne. Can't wait til we hang out again.

Guess what Mason sat in?

Now that I'm feeling better, mama and dada made me go back to daycare. I protested, of course. But no dice. I had to go. I cried the whole way there (again). I cried a lot when I was at daycare too. My teachers were all really great and tried to console me. Carrying me, giving me hugs, and letting me sit in their laps. I'm still not too sure about all this change.

While I was dealing with this difficult change, what were mama, dada and Mason doing? They were visiting the Stanley Cup at dada's work. Mason got to sit in the cup too. Everyone there thought it was the cutest thing ever.  Mason, however, didn't seem very impressed by the Stanley Cup.

It's really messed up that they only brought Mason. Just cuz I'm too big to sit in the cup, doesn't mean I can't go. So, how come I didn't get to go? Dada says I didn't get to go because I was taking my nap. Plus mama and dada thought it would be more disruptive if they picked me up to go see the Stanley Cup and then took me back to daycare - especially because I'm having such a tough time with this transition to a new classroom.

Hmpf! I never get to have any fun.

My ears are sick

I woke up today feeling okay.  Sure, I had a runny nose and a cough, but I've had those things before.  No big deal.  Mama, dada, Mason and I went about our day as usual.

Mama and I went for a run in the morning. Really she pushed me in the stroller while I kept telling her to go faster. She says I'm a good trainer. :)  Breakfast. Playing in my play area.  Then Auntie Tinny (mama's cousin) and Anders came over to visit and meet Mason.  We went to lunch where I barely ate anything even though it was my favorite, mac and cheese. Who wants to eat when you know you're going to the park afterwards?

When we got home, I took a really short afternoon nap. I just couldn't get comfortable. Just before my snack, which I barely touched, mama said I felt really warm.  She got a second opinion from dada.  And after a couple of attempts to get me to eat my snack, dada took my temperature. 105!  Whoa.  Mama gave me some medicine and called the doctor. Luckily they were open today and had openings.

I protested saying that I didn't want to go to the doctor. Mama tricked me by telling me we were going on a car ride in the grey car. But when we got close to the building, I started protesting again.  I'm not that dumb. I have to admit the doctor office wasn't all that bad. There was a fish tank, a neat model train and not one, but two flat screen TVs playing Disney movies (Finding Nemo and Little Mermaid).

The nice nurse took my temperature, which was lower already, and asked mama some questions. Then the doctor came in.  He wasn't my normal doctor, but he seemed nice enough.  He let me hold an ototscope. It's the tool doctors use to examine your ear. The diagnosis?  I have an ear infection in both ears.  Boo!  I have to take antibiotics for 10 days and no day care until I'm fever free for 24 hours.

And this isn't an April Fool's joke either!