Touchy-feely

I met up with my girl, Adrienne, at Gilroy Gardens on Sunday.  She's never been before, and I thought it would be fun to show her around.

We had a blast riding all the rides and walking around the park.  Our favorites were the spinning tubs and the hot air balloon. We were cracking up the entire time.  We had so much fun that neither one of us wanted to go home when the day was over. 

Girls sure are touchy-feely.  We held hands and hugged throughout the day.  But by the afternoon, I was kinda over it.  When Adrienne tried to grab my hand, I pulled it away.  Mama said I wasn't being nice and made me give her my hand.  I agreed as long as we could go drive the cars, and I could hold mama's hand too.

Sorry about not wanting to hold your hand, Adrienne.  I hope you know that I really like hanging out with you.  But sometimes us guys need a little space.  I hope we get to see each other soon!

Mason is 7 Months Old!

Happy 7 Months Mason!

Here's what he likes:

• Trying to crawl:  I wouldn't call it crawling.  It's some weird attempt at standing/crawling.  He doesn't really do the army crawl either.  Whatever it is, he's getting more mobile by the day.
• Sitting up and looking around:  He's gotten a lot better at sitting up. He rarely tips over these days.
• Staying awake: Especially at daycare.  He just doesn't want to miss the action!
• Solids:  He's getting a lot better at eating mush.  He eats a lot better at daycare than at home.  Mama needs to find out what Ms. Sandra's secret is. So far he's had carrots, butternut squash, zucchini (from our garden of course) and sweet potato.  Up next: peas!
• Spitting: He started to spit when he had food in his mouth. He thinks it's entertaining.  Mama does not. I told him, "Mason, no spitting." But he didn't listen to me.  Maybe selective hearing is genetic.
• Sucking his thumbs: He can go to town on his thumbs, especially when he's tired, hungry or not interested in food.  Mama and dada are really hoping he grows out of this on his own.  Unlike pacifiers, they can't just throw his thumbs away.
• Smiling: He's very social and breaks into smiles when you play with him.
• Being licked by Tachi.  If mama or dada didn't intervene, they'd have really long make-out sessions.  Gross.

Here's what he doesn't like

• Being still: He's really squirmy, which makes changing his diapers a challenge.
• Teething: He's got 2 and a 1/4 teeth now...all on the bottom.

To celebrate his 7 month birthday, we went to Gilroy Gardens with Adrienne (more on this later) and Uncle Eddie came over for dinner.  Okay, it wasn't really to celebrate his7 month birthday...just coincidence.

Hooky

Dictionary.com defines hooky as:

noun \ˈhu̇-kē\

plural hook-ies also hookeys 

1. Truant - used chiefly in the phrase play hooky
2. What dada and I did today while mama was stuck at work

That's right, dada's turning me into a delinquent already.  After dropping Mason off at daycare, we met up with the Yamamoto clan at Gilroy Gardens. It really was the entire Yamamoto clan too, not just Grey, Auntie Char and Uncle Edric.  Grey's cousins - Noah, Eli and Kai, his auntie and uncle and his grandpa and grandma were there. 

We had a blast riding the rides.  I got to ride the Paddle Boats this time.  They were only okay.  Dada complained that he had to do all the paddling because my legs are too short. You're always yammering about how you don't exercise anymore because of me and Mason.  Well, now you're exercising because of me.  See, I'm doing you a favor.

I had Dippin' Dots for the first time too.  Mr. Yamamoto, Greyson's ojiisan, gave me some.  I thought they were strange and made a weird face.  Mama was disappointed that no one captured the moment.  Oh well, guess she'll just have to give me some Dippin' Dots in the future.

Bring It, Chica!

That's what Mason is saying to Sienna in this pic:

Happy Birthday Sienna

Sienna turned one today!  She had an Elmo-themed party in the park.  Elmo favors, Elmo balloons and Elmo cake pops (homemade by Auntie Christi).  Elmo even showed up at the party!  I danced with Elmo a little bit, but I just wasn't that into Elmo at the party.  Mama thinks it's because it was hot, and I was tired. 

Mason really liked all the Elmo balloons - even when they tried to attack him.  He also got to hang out with Sofia because Auntie Joanne, Uncle Dave and Sierra were at the party.  They had baby mush lunch together and sat facing each other for a little bit. 

When it was time for cake and singing, I told mama that I wanted to blow out the candles.  But mama reminded me that it was Sienna's birthday so she got to blow out the candle.  Bummer.  At least I got to eat cake!  Yum!

Mason's 6 Month Check-Up

Mason had his 6 month check-up today.  He had to wait a couple of weeks because our doctor was on vacation.  He liked the crinkle sound of the paper on the exam table so much he tore pieces off and tried to eat it!

Mason's doing great.  He's hit all his developmental milestones.  Here're his stats:

• Weight: 16 lbs, 15 oz...almost 17 lbs! (31st percentile)
• Height: 27.75 in (79th percentile)
• Head circumference: 44 cm (60th percentile)

The doctor's not concerned about his weight.  He's just long and lean, like dada and grandpa.  And when she saw how squirmy he is, she said that it'd be pretty hard to keep the calories on him when he's so active.  When mama told her that Mason doesn't seem to be very interested in his solids, she said that Mason's probably just going to be a pokey eater.  Guess he's not food motivated like me, mama and Tachi.  More food for me!

My first roller coaster ride

Today was Cisco Appreciation Day at Happy Hollow.  After my and Mason's afternoon nap, we headed out to Happy Hollow.  The lines for the rides were really long so we checked out the play area.  Mama and Mason just hung out and people watched while dada and I played on the play structures.

When I was "all done" with the play area, we got in line for Granny Bugs.  While I was riding Granny Bugs, dada saw Beatrix and Mathilda in line for the Kiddie Swings.  Beatrix was in the same room as me when I was an infant and toddler.  Mathilda is Beatrix's little sister, and she's on the toddler side of Mason's room.

Dada and I hopped in line for the Kiddie Swing. When we visited a couple weeks ago, I wasn't tall enough.  Boy what a difference a few week makes!  This time I was finally tall enough to ride some of the bigger rides. Mama heard that Beatrix rode the roller coaster so we headed over to give it a shot.

Man, was the line long for this ride!  After waiting for about 30 minutes, dada and I finally got on the ride  I liked going up.  The down part was "scary."  Mama and dada can't figure out if I liked it or not.  What do you think?  Did I like it or not?

My vegetables

On memorial day weekend, mama planted her vegetable garden.  She planted cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, Japanese cucumbers, eggplant, zucchini, red bell peppers, rosemary and thai basil. Mama was disappointed that I didn't get to help her plant things because I was napping. Maybe next spring I can help her.

Anyway...mama showed me the plants and told me that we were growing our own veggies.  We waited and watched the plants to see if they would grow.  They were kinda boring for a while.  And then one day the plants exploded!  Mama and dada showed me the little flowers and told me that they would turn into veggies. Say what?!  I was skeptical, but sure enough the flowers turned into veggies.

We harvested a humongous zucchini Tuesday evening!  And now when I come home from school, I want to "check on my vegetables." Hmmm...I wonder if the heirloom tomatoes will grow as big as my head.

P.S. That's not dirt on my nose...it's the owie I got on Monday.  And no, I didn't slam my toes in a door. Mama painted my toenails because I wanted to be like her. =)

Owies

Mama can be pretty clumsy at times.  She trips over things and drops things/food (luckily she hasn't dropped me or Mason) all the time.  Lately I've had a clumsy streak.

On Saturday, I fell down at Emma Prusch Farm.  I was so excited to play at the playground that I lost my balance and bit it. Both of my knees are scraped up.  And today at daycare, I bit it really bad in the play yard.  I was pushing a toy around and the next thing you know I face planted near one of the play structures.  No one knows exactly what happened, but my nose was bloody and cut up.  I'm okay, but now I have owies on my knees and nose!  =(

Mama and dada say I'll probably have many more owies as I grow up. I really hope that I haven't inherited mama's clumsiness. 

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Grandma got to spend her birthday with her 3 grandsons today!  I wonder if it felt like when dada, uncle Jeff and uncle Mike were little.  Since grandma, grandpa and Ethan came to visit, dada and I made a chalk sign in the driveway to wish her a happy birthday.

Everyone, except mama, came to my swim lessons to watch me swim.  Mama was out with auntie Christie for the day.  They had some kind of girls only event.  I dunno why she'd want to hang out with a bunch of girls at a spa in Calistoga.  She really missed out on a fun day with us boys and grandma.


After swimming we all had lunch and froyo (frozen yogurt) followed by an afternoon siesta.  Ethan and I finger painted while we waited for Mason to wake up. I don't think Ethan knows that you're supposed to paint on the paper.  He tried to paint grandpa's face!



When Mason woke up, we headed out to Emma Prusch Farm. We saw chickens, ducks, turkeys, pigs and cows.  We even "rode" on tractors!  The bummer part of the farm, is that I fell down and skinned my knees.  Mama and dada said this won't be the last owie that I'll get. 

After playing in the park, we headed home to play with the water table in the backyard.  Ethan had a blast playing with the water table.  See here's a video:



Of course, it's not a birthday without candles and cake!  After putting Mason to bed, the rest of us had special dessert.

Happy Birthday grandma!  I really enjoyed spending the day with you, grandpa, Ethan and Bubba!

Happy 4th of July!

To celebrate the 4th of July, we spent the day at Greyson's grandma and grandpa's house. We've heard that Mrs. Yamamoto is a fantastic cook, so we were all very excited.  Well, everyone but Mason because he just started solids.  The best part was the huge jumpy house that they rented.  They didn't rent it just for me and Grey.  Grey's cousins were visiting from Texas.  He has 3 boy cousins!  His auntie Jacqueline (uncle Edric's sister) was trying to talk mama into having another baby so we could have a girl in the family.  Uh...not gonna happen.

We went home in the afternoon so Mason and I could take a nap.  Mason cooperated and took a good nap.  I, on the other hand, decided I was "all done" 5 minutes after dada put me down.  Dada told me I had to take a nap. Otherwise we wouldn't be going out again. Did it work?  Yeah, right.  I just hung out in my room, talking to myself and singing.

Even though I didn't nap, we ended up going back to the Yamamoto's to see Auntie Judy and fireworks.  Looks like I won that round. =P  These fireworks were really different than the ones I saw at Disneyland.  Uncle Edric was setting them off in the backyard.  Here's a video of me holding a sparkler:



Mama and dada said it was just like when they were kids...except it was legal back then. Can you believe that mama and dada are turning me into a criminal at such a young age?!  Mason fell asleep before we started setting off fireworks and stayed asleep with all the commotion. Guess he'll just have to wait to see fireworks for the first time.

Bleh

Mason had solid food for the first time today.  How come they call it solid food, when it's thick liquid?  It's not even mush.  Anyway...

I don't think he liked it very much.  Look at the expression on his face:

I can't really blame him though.  That rice cereal stuff is disgusting, but he doesn't know any better. Or maybe he does.  He was chomping away on the carrot grandma gave him at lunch today.  Looks like the squirt is pretty darn smart.