Mason's learning to crawl

Our Little Tumbler

I'm not sure why there is no sound... but we were having a great time tonight with Reister - if you could hear him, he would be telling you that he's going to do a "sommersauce" :)

Brothers at Bathtime

Mason is 9 months

I decided to take some without his glasses so you all could see him in his "natural" cuteness!

I can't believe he still has his blue eyes and blond hair! I never imagined I would have a blond haired and blue eyed kid!

Mason is almost crawling - he can drag himself around on his stomach, not yet on his knees though. He can feed himself small bits of food and Gerber stars (which he likes a lot). He loves to eat, he's still nursing 4-5 times a day. He is a very happy baby and can say "ba ba ba" and some other babble. He can do some sign language (which is amazing to me because Reister didn't start signing till he was around a year). He sometimes waves bye-bye, signs "more" and has imitated some other signs when I have done them. He loves watching Reister play, loves when anyone focuses on him and plays with him. He loves music and will "dance" often when he hears it. He has a V-tech toy piano that has a small mic attached to it and he can "sing" into it. That really surprised me that he knew what to do - to make noise while putting his mouth on it!

We love Mason and he is such a joyful part of our family. We thank our Father for giving us him as a precious gift and for forming and making him such a special little boy.

Fun at School

On Friday last week I stayed a little longer when I took Reister to school. They headed up to the roof of the school for their outdoor playtime. The children were doing a mini-obstacle course. Reister didn't really follow it too well but some of the other kids were doing pretty good.

Teacher Yong (the one in the last post about school) I think she's the head teacher in his class

Teacher (?) I need to find out her name! She's not one of the main teachers in Reister's class so I'm not as familiar with her

Teacher Wu

Teacher Wen

This is Ya Ya - she is really cute and always very curious. She asks me a lot of questions, like where we live, whether Reister can speak Chinese, etc.

Going to see the Pandas!

We went to see the pandas at the panda research base last Thursday with our friend Jason and his daughter, Hannah Grace. They came in town specifically to go see them for her birthday present!

This sign was just inside - I was slightly appalled that the last verse of this quote was left off. But I guess that's the way things go here...

All these things and creatures just appeared, huh?

This was our favorite panda! He was just chillin, munching on bamboo. He kept peeling the sticks of bamboo and just going to town. We stood there watching him for quite a while. He resembles Po from Kung-Fu Panda, huh?

Family pic (can't really see Mason that well)

Here's Hannah Grace, who actually got to hold a baby panda (for a 'donation' of course)

Since you couldn't see Mason that well in the family pic, here are a couple of him with us. He has become such a HAPPY baby!

How sweet is his grin here?

Reister's teacher

Reister is going to a local preschool across from our apartment complex 3-4 mornings a week from 8:30-11:45am. He's liking it and enjoys playing with the toys and other kids. Here he is with one of his teachers - he has four - with his classroom in the background. For those of you in the US, is her attire typical for a preschool teacher in America? :)

Look alikes?

A lot of people ask if I we think Mason and Reister look alike. Here's Reister and Mason both about 8 months. What do you think?

Here's another of Reister in the walker he had also around 8 months

Brother Talk

Reister: "Mason, you know, I'm the big brother and you have to do whatever I tell you."


Mason: "Ha ha You're dreamin', bubba, I'm the baby with the cute glasses - I can get away with whatever I want."


Reister: "Hey, no, you're the 'WITTLE' brother. I'm the big brother and what I say goes."


Reister: "Oh... Mom were you sitting there the whole time? Just kidding :) "


Actually Reister doesn't try to "boss" Mason around too much. He just takes toys out of his hands, but he's getting better about giving him new ones if he does that. He does try to boss around other kids his age. Mainly he just wants them to do whatever he's doing but the other kids are still in the "I'll play beside you, not with you stage" so he gets ignored a lot. We're trying to help him understand that he can ask if they want to go with him or do what he's doing but they can also decline.
Mason loves just watching his big brother and often gets really tickled and starts laughing at him when he's running around or dancing or whatever. You can tell Mason is really going to look up to Reister and want to be just like him. That makes me really happy too, because I think Reister is a really stellar kid. He's got a sweet heart and I'm starting to see that he's not really at all exhibiting much "terrible two's" behavior. He is overall really pretty obedient and is getting more and more so and will listen to reason or explanation sometimes more than I expect him to. I really love being his and Mason's mom.

My Little Pirate

Here's Mason sporting his patch - two different days. He really hates wearing it - I'm so glad it's just for 30 minutes a day. It's hard to tell if it's really helping any but we're doing it consistently to at least try! As you can see from the pictures, he's sitting up on his own really well. He can lean forward to grab toys that have gotten out of his reach. But he can't get to the sitting position on his own yet. He still doesn't like to be on his tummy for too long but can roll from front to back and back to front (more easily). But he has gotten into a habit of sleeping on his stomach. I stopped swaddling him when I took him to Hong Kong and forgot his blanket. He is still not sleeping through the night consistently. Every several nights we'll have a good one. Last night was not one of those, though, and I think it was because his first tooth is coming in. I can see and feel it but it's not totally out yet. It's his bottom middle/left one. Mason is almost 8 1/2 months. Reister didn't get his first tooth until 9 months and it was on top (both came in right around the same time I think). Mason is getting to be a happier baby all around. He LOVES his solids - especially anything salty and seasoned. I've made him peas, pumpkin, sweet potato, carrots, spinach, apples, bananas, chicken, and also blended up meals we were having such as Hamburger Helper (thanks to the local import store), potato corn chowder soup, taco soup, and stir fried cabbage.

Good trip

I am so tired at the end of most days, I hardly feel like blogging! But I know I should because I told y'all I would give you an update when I got back. Mason and I returned home yesterday around 3pm. It was a good trip and Mason was exceptionally good during the travels. The doctor redid a lot of the tests on Mason's eyes, confirming his prescription and checking out each eye's responsiveness. Mason's right eye is considerably weaker. Dr. Yu said we should patch Mason's left eye around 30 minutes a day in order to strengthen the right eye. He wants to see Mason every two months and doesn't want to decide on surgery until he's one year old. So we came back with patches to use in addition to the glasses (all the time). Thank you so much for remembering us to Father - I really saw Him answer your requests for easy travels. But I am still recovering and Micah's gone for at least one night so I'm headed to bed! :)
Oh, but I did want to make sure I wrote some more about Mason in general - he is sitting up really well and even getting into playing with toys more independently. But he sure can fill up his diapers. I feel like I am changing his clothes due to overflowing poopy diapers multiple times every day! Any other mommies of 7-9 month olds feel the same way!?
Reister is really getting into imagining things. He pretends a lot and "gives" us things or asks for things that are just pretend. It's pretty cute. He is doing well at his preschool - I'll try to post pictures soon. Although Micah did say that his teacher say he bit another kid's finger on Tuesday. That's not so good! I don't think there was any blood involved, but still! Argh!
Okay now I'm really headed to bed!

Mommy and Mason trip

Mason and I will be taking a trip to Hong Kong tomorrow to see a pediatric ophthalmologist about his eyes. This doctor is on the American Board of Pediatric Ophthalmologists. We will only be gone two nights, just in Hong Kong one full day. Please ask Father to give me strength, to give Mason patience and calm, and most importantly to give wisdom in the area of Mason's eyes (for us and the doctor). I will post about the trip and what the doctor says when I come back.
Mason is almost sleeping through the night (at least the 11pm-6/7am slot). With our crazy last year, I never had a good opportunity to "train" him. Anyway, it'll probably all go out the window during our trip, but hopefully not. I really would like to start getting 6-7 hour chunks of sleep again.
Thanks for your petitions to Father on our behalf!

The Faces of Reister Laing

My Little Einstein

For those of you that watch Little Einsteins, doesn't he look like Leo?