Six Months Old

Already??  What a big kiddo.  We're STILL on the cusp of teething and sprouting hair.  I think crawling is farther away, but he is a much stronger sitter than he was a month ago.  He figured out how to sleep on his stomach and has been doing that all month.  He got his first cold and first stomach flu.  Reviews: they suck.  But having to put up with more crying and comfort needs just shows me what an awesome baby he is.  He's so self-sufficient and well behaved, we are so lucky.  He outgrew his infant car seat and upgraded to a convertible booster type.   He started disliking solids.  Maybe we aren't offering them often enough.  

My parents pointed out that he's quite the observer.  Now I notice that other babies don't look around constantly like he does.  Everywhere we go, he's turning his head left, right, left, right taking in the full panorama.  He prefers quietly watching others to doing things himself. 

Anyone asking about toy ideas for him for Christmas?  My response = none.  He has many already, and his favorite thing to play with is burp rags anyway.  This guys needs clothes.  He currently wears 9 month size, and is closing in on 12 months.  Sleepers with snaps and feet are a favorite in this house.

Blame our colds for these pics, which I didn't edit as nicely as I usually do and are taken on an unmade bed.  At least I moved the laundry to the floor.  Oh, and watch out for Ol' Whiskers McGrouch, who did not like me interrupting her nap space. 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving

I may have been up for 28 hours . . .
I may have had to work a 13 hour day, then an 8 hour night . . .
I may have lost my voice from working while recovering from a cold . . .
I may have spiked a fever this morning . . .
I may not be recovering from the cold yet . . .
I may have passed the cold to Jack . . .
I may have slept all morning while Ben's parents cooked the turkey . . .
I may have to go out tonight on another call . . .

. . . but, dammit,  I'm not going to bed without having my fill of cheese log and wheat thins.  It's Thanksgiving after all. 

PS: I may have an awesome husband at my beck and call all day, and kind in-laws who made the entire Thanksgiving dinner in my house AND did the dishes.  Thanksgiving indeed.

Dear Mary Roach, I love you.

Last night I finished Mary Roach's latest, Packing for Mars: the Curious Science of Life in the Void on my kindle.  I'm so sad it's over!  Her books at fascinating and hilarious, and I think this was her best yet.  Go read it now so we can talk about space poop. 

Jem learns to like Jack

Many of you have asked how Jack gets on with Jem Dog and Molly Cat.  Over the past couple weeks Jack has gotten very excited about touching them.  He lights up whenever he sees them.  Today we gave Jack some treats to give Jem.  Here's a video I shot after giving two treats.  For context, it's close to his bedtime so he's whiny, and Jem actually ate the first two treats straight out of his hand. Still, pretty cute and shows how much he loves the animals.


Jack gives Jem treats from Rachel Mason on Vimeo.

Honey Cornbread

Earlier this fall I had an idea.  But I was shy.  Ben was not, and he shared my idea with the dude for me.  About a month later:

The fourth flavor on the left, that's mine!

And indeed, it is delicious.  Others agree! I was happy to see about half of the bin already gone to other people who love honey and cornbread too.  Sweet Action is the best.

Cold Weather Eye Candy

Brrr! Winter is coming, I can really feel it now. Here are some ways we are celebrating our favorite time of year.

Hearty elk stew!  Ben has gotten to know our neighbors fairly well (I only know the two men we share walls with).  He made friendly with a hunter and got four bundles of freshly killed wild elk.  Look at that blood!  Chunky potatoes and a branch of sage from my garden rounded it out. 

Jack got some warm things to keep him snuggly in the snow.  This snow suit has room to grow, but he liked wearing it now. (On the right, he's trying to suck his fingers)

I can't express how happy these knit rompers from Hanna Andersson make me.  He has another one in plain red and white he hasn't worn yet.  Cozy Scandinavian-ness with blue baby eyes - bliss!

While in Bailey Jack met Natasha.  She loves being scratched so much she'll even let a baby do it.  Jack has become very interested in our pets lately.  (PS to Mom, those are the monster PJs from the Parmelies.  Kirsty is the one who introduced me to the Scandinavian store.)

Just a nice shadow on a crisp November day.

Knitting knitting knitting.  I made this hat in one day.  I wanted something big and poofy.  

Annual First-Snow waffles.  You need Lars Pearl Sugar to make these authentic Belgian Waffles.  No syrup required.

Marshmallows with 4 vanilla beans.  I feel it is my duty to give a bag of homemade marshmallows to Dad every winter.  
Also, a fragrant rosemary tree perfuming my kitchen.  I only wish I was better at keeping these alive longer.  I always over or under water them.  

Jack plays with Grandparents Waterhouse

My folks came to visit this weekend.  Nothing fancy, lots of food and shopping and fun like always :-)  We went to Flatirons Crossing mall.  I haven't been up that way in a while.  So crowded!  The holiday shopping is moving earlier and earlier I suppose.  I haven't even started my Christmas shopping.  I'm in the generating ideas stage. 

We had lunch in the food court, then picked up Ben and went to Edwards Meats.  As expected, Dad went a little crazy there.  He found an interesting addition to their Thanksgiving table in Utah.  Mom just carried Jack around the store, then went back to car to play with him while Dad finished ogling the meat. 

Next we went downtown to Tattered Cover.  No pictures of Amanda smiling, but believe me, she was.  A quick stop for cupcakes, then Jack totally lost it and started bawling.  A whole day out is a lot for him!  We went back to my place for Virigilio's take out.  Delish. 

Sunday morning was a quiet breakfast, again at my place when Jack failed to wake-up early enough.  He tried on some new duds (adorable overalls!) and his new booster seat.  Mostly fun for clanking toys against at this point.  Mom and Dad had good roads going home, Amanda and I sewed up Macbeth cloaks, and Jack caught up on his sleep.  A great weekend (but I'm glad I have today off too!)

More photos are on flickr.  Yes, they are mostly people adoring or dressing up Jack.  Such is life with a baby. 

An early Christmas elf

Thanks Mom and Dad for a fun weekend!  I have super garlic breath from all the garlic knots we ate.  Jack is loving his new Swedish clothes.  I have more pictures of the grandparents with J.D. to put up tomorrow.  Right now I'm finishing off the Lovely Confections cupcakes.  Amanda, see you tomorrow to start putting on a musical!

Gumming apples

Jack has been trying solid foods this month.  First he had rice cereal.  Since then we have given him apples, sweet potatoes, carrots, and pears (with 6 or 7 days between foods, of course).  He watches us intently when we eat.  So while I was eating an apple, I thought why not let him suck on it a little?  Let him feel like a big boy, eh?  It was pretty funny. 


Gumming an apple from Rachel Mason on Vimeo.

Fixing Maison Mason

We are so stoked about the latest improvement to our home.  I would have liked to put in new flooring first.  But with Jack's mobility around the corner, our first priority was ditching the tacky, old metal rod railing and putting in a real banister.  Ben found a local handyman for the job.  Clay and his son Luke have been working hard to make our stairs safer and more beautiful!  Later Ben and I will stain and finish it. 

Ben is so nerdy proud of the railing.  He called me up from the basement "Come look at this!  It's so great!"  What did he want me to look at?  That wooden plank they had just laid down where the carpet is peeled.  Uh, cool?  Ben has been pausing and admiring the stairs all day.  :-)

I feel so awkward when people are working in my home.  Should I help them hold nails?  Make them cookies?  Put on music for them?  Leave?  I chose to hole-up a floor away from them for most of the day.

This improvement has me itching for more!  Blinds in the front window?  Yes, please.  New carpeting/wood floors?  Oh, yes!  If only we had a couple more savings accounts to dip into.  For now, I'm happy :-)

(PS: I'm really happy.  Honestly.  Jack is darling.  My job is great.  Ben quitting his job has made him happier than I've seen in years.  Life is good.)

Sunday at Crown Hill

Oh, the horror!

 Ben's dream come true, he made a manbaby of himself:

I'm so sorry for that.