Mason is 9 Months Old!

Mason is a busy, thriving, big 9-month-old!

  
Eating: 8 oz. of formula 4 times a day. And solids in between those feelings. He eats like a champ. He still loves pretty much everything. His favorites seem to be peanut butter bread, applesauce, and chicken (or my chicken-less chicken).

Sleeping: he transitioned to one nap right before he turned 9 months old. It has been so good for all of us. It was surprising because I though he was too young, but he thrives with his new schedule.

Growing: he has had a major growth spurt. We can tell by looking at him! But also by his clothes and measurement. He wears 9 month, 12 month, and some 18 month clothes too! He weighs 20 lbs. 15 oz. (72nd percentile) and is 30 inches tall (93rd percentile). He's back up to closer to the percentiles he was born at. They suspect this is where he will stay.

Mason joined us for a big road trip. We drove for 18 hours to get to Sedona, AZ then 7 hours to get to San Diego, CA then 9 hours to get back home. He was such a total trooper! He made the trip so much fun!

We stopped at the Hoover Dam during the road trip to stretch his little legs.

Mason is crawling all over the place. After being coaxed to crawl by cheerios, he hasn't stopped!

He cruises around on his push toys like a champ. He doesn't need any assistance, except for turning. He can stand for 20 seconds or more, and took his first step on Christmas Eve.

He can click his tongue, wave hi and bye, "sing" to songs, and say "dada".

He still chews on his crib like crazy. It looks horrible with all the paint missing haha. We went to his doctor appointment and when she checked his mouth, she was surprised and said "oh my! He was white stuff in his mouth!" And I calmly replied, "it's just paint." She said, "lead-free?" "Yep!" No worries.

Mason is such a flexible baby. He hung out with his buddy Owen while we climbed at the gym.

We love being Mason's parents. He is such a good baby!

Mason is 8 Months Old!

Our big boy is 8 months old!



Feeding: Mason is still taking 5 bottles a day and eating solids.  He eats purees and soft chunks and is getting really good at feeding himself with his hands! He will eat food even if it appears he doesn't really like it.  He is not one to spit the food out.  And he will open his mouth for more, and shutter when he eats it! Haha! We think it's pretty funny.  The only thing so far he will not eat is jello.  Great Grandma made jello especially for him, and he wouldn't open his mouth to eat it, but he loved to play with it!

Sleeping: Mason takes 2 naps still.  One in the morning for about 2 hours and one in the afternoon for about 1.5 hours.  He is still on the 2-3-4 sleep schedule. His sleeping got thrown off by getting the stomach flu, the time change, and traveling all in one month.  He was waking in the night and waking up really early (4 AM!).  He seems to be back on track now, though.  He goes to bed at 7-7:30 PM and wakes up between 6:30 and 7:30 AM.  He uses white noise and sleeps on his tummy.  He doesn't suck his thumb as often for sleep anymore.
 

Growing: We took him in when he was sick and they weighed him.  He was 18 lb. 3 oz.  This was shortly after turning 7 months old.  He is climbing that growth chart! And everyone says he looks so tall.  He is too long for any of his 6 month of 6-9 month clothes.  Even some 9 month PJ's don't fit him.  He wears mostly 6-9 month and 9 month clothes and is still using size 3 diapers.




Poor Mason got that darn stomach flu, along with the rest of us! He was puking for a couple days and then had diarrhea for a couple days.  He was so sweet and wasn't grumpy at all.  He just had trouble sleeping and eating.  This was his first time getting sick.



He also experienced snow for the first time this month.  He loved touching it and eating it (ha!).



Mason is a crib-chewer! He has eaten quite a bit of paint of the rails on his crib. Luckily we used non-toxic paint!  There are cute little teeth marks all around his crib.  I'll go check on him to make sure he is sleeping rather than chewing paint when he first goes down for a nap.  Often times, I find him with white specks all over his face and mouth.



We took Mason on his first plane ride.  We went to Washington to visit Jeff's maternal grandparents.  He did SO great on the flights there and back! He fussed for a minute or so on the initial descent on the flight there.  He was pulling on his poor little ears.  On the way back, we made sure he was swallowing something during that initial descent and he didn't have an issue at all! He was a little celebrity on the plane and in the airport.



He had his first Thanksgiving in Washington.  He got to eat in this super cute, vintage-y highchair and Great Grandma Larae made him this adorable little card!

Mason can go from lying to sitting to standing (while holding on to us or furniture) and can walk along furniture.  He loves walking behind his walker toys! He would walk all day if I would let him.  He can stand unassisted for a few seconds.



He still has 4 teeth.  His cute top gappy teeth just kill me! They are too adorable! We still don't know the color of his eyes.



Mason makes our world go round! We just love him more than any word could describe!

Fitness Progress 7

Progress on Goals:
 1. Add cardio to training slowly (milk supply) in preparation for the Spartan race.
--- No longer nursing Mason, so the milk supply is no longer an issue.  I have started cardio training at least 3 times a week.
 2. TRY the 5 AM workouts for a week.
--- Did it and love it! That's what I will continue to do on days I don't work the night before.
 3. Drink more water!
--- Doing good here!
 4. Target tranverse abdominus.
--- Probably should do this 4 times a week or so.  I am doing it 2 times a week.  Not seeing any improvement of my diastasis recti yet.
 5.Get to bed earlier. (around 9:30 PM)
--- Some days are better than others, but it mostly just depends on when Jeff gets home from work.  For the most part though, I have been getting to bed before 10 PM.

The 5 AM workout time is great! I get there at 5 and workout until 6-6:15.  I get back home around 6:30 in time to make breakfast for Jeff and myself before he leaves at 7 AM.  Mason is usually up by then too, so it's nice to be able to spend that family time together bright and early in the morning.  I also don't need to use any childcare, obviously, since Jeff is home.  Bonus!

Training for the Spartan is going well.  I am doing sprints, stairs, burpees and hilly treadmill runs.  I'm pretty embarrassed about how out-of-shape I am cardio-wise.  I am training based on heart rate... so the speed of my longer runs depends upon my heart rate.  I want to train properly! So because of that, it took me 10 minutes to run a mile on a level 4 slope. Not great. But improvements will come, I am sure.

I have been tracking my macros kind of loosely so that I can get an idea of what I want to start meal prepping for muscle growth.  And I am having a hard time hitting my calories! (surprising!!) If I eat junk, obviously I have no problem exceeding my calorie goal, but I had a day where I had only consume 1400 calories and I felt like I had been eating allll day long.  First world problem, I know.  But I do recognize that's an area I need to improve! I bought almonds and avocados to add some good calories in.  Never thought I'd see the day where this was a problem, haha!

I'm really starting to increase my weight in lifting now that I am no longer nursing.  I am sad to not be nursing, but it is nice to be put aside worries about milk supply! It was so touch-and-go! I had a goal to squat my body weight in a set of 10 reps and accomplished that this week! So hooray for gaining strength! Just like with cardio, I like to train properly to avoid injury, so I am slowly getting back to where I was lifting before I got pregnant.  I was curling 20's.  Now I'm curling 15's, but I started at 10, then 12, so it is nice to see those improvements all around.  I'll get back to what I was doing before soon!

We have a couple trips planned the next few weeks, so I will be doing workouts wherever we are staying.  [We are going to Washington, Las Vegas, and San Diego in the next 4 weeks! Traveling for a  total of 10 days.]

I haven't weighed myself in weeks, and that's fine. :)

Goals:
1. Run a hilly mile in 8 minutes with HR in a good range.
2. Make a meal prep menu.
3. Target transverse abs 4 times a week.
4. Do 20 burpees in a row.
5. Get up the canyons for a hike in the snow!

Mason is 7 Months Old!

Mason James is growing so fast! 7 months! We never knew how fun a baby could be.

Feeding: At just a few days shy of 7 months old, Mason stopped nursing. (My milk supply just wasn't cutting it and he was refusing to nurse unless I was full, which would take 12 hours! It didn't take long for my supply to drop off. I didn't experience any pain or fullness after I stopped.) He takes 6 oz. of formula every 3 hours during the day. He also gets 2-3 meals of solids. He likes carrots with applesauce, butternut squash, green beans with sweet potatoes, and oatmeal. We make our food at home; he gets some puréed and some soft chunks.

Sleeping: still mostly sleeping through the night, with the exception of needing some extra loving every now again because of teething. He takes 2 naps. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. Still doing the "2-3-4" sleep schedule. He always sleeps on his tummy with white noise playing.  He loves swaying and being sung to before bed.  We always sing "You are my Sunshine" to him.

 

Growing: Size 3 diapers. 6 month and 6-9 month clothes.

 
Mason is working on crawling, but cares a lot more about standing and working on walking. He can pull himself to standing, mostly using our fingers to hold on, but has pulled himself up onto the ottoman several times too. He moves all over but not very intentionally. He LOVES walking and standing with holding onto fingers and will get upset if you sit him down or pick him up when he is doing so.  We think it's pretty funny!

 

He loves playing and mimicking his daddy. They squeak and cough with each other. It's the cutest thing.





He went to two hot springs: Fifth Water and Maple Grove. He enjoyed them both!

 

We took him to Oktoberfest, he had fun people watching! He had his first night without either of us home with him (while we went to Garth Brooks' concert) and he did great!



It was his first Halloween and he was the cutest little zebra!

Mason loves reading books and pulling his toys out of the bin.

This boy brings us so much happiness and purpose! We love him so so much!

 

Fitness Progress 6

I am feeling great! I've been getting back in the swing of things and getting used to the new gym and scheduling daycare for Mason as well.  Parents are only allowed to schedule 2 days in advance.  And parents with children under 2 are required to schedule in advance.  So I have forgotten many times and not had an available time slot to go.  So I do yard work, go for a run, do an at-home workout instead... But those are never quite as effective as going to the gym and being totally focused.
I keep considering going back to working out at 5 AM every morning.  It would save me money (by not utilizing daycare) and it would have me up available to help Jeff get out the door every morning.  The only thing holding me back is my precious sleep! Right now, I've been going on the weekends at whatever time I can while Jeff is home, and 8:30 AM on weekdays.  It works great for Mason, because it is right after he wakes up and eats.

I registered for the Spartan Super in Las Vegas on March 19th.  This race is 8+ miles and 25+ obstacles.  I am excited for this!

All my pants fit! Woo hoo! I never thought this would happen and had come to terms with the fact that babies expand hips, and my hips may never return to their original size. But it happened and I'm okay with that!

My diastasis recti (split in the abdominal muscles) has not healed yet.  I still have about a 1.5-2 finger width split on the lower half of my abs.  I need to be better about doing specific exercises that work the transverse abdominal muscles to aid in closing this gap.

My current weight: 110 lb.

Progress on Goals:
1. Increase push-ups and pull-ups.
---maintaining! I could maybe squeeze out one more pull-up!
2. Follow JEFFTAT program every week.
---stopped doing this until I can commit 6 days a week to it, because I want to use the program the way it was intended.  Hoping to kind of start this over soon, or make my own regimen.
3. Continue meal prep and exhibit portion control with treats.
---not super structured meal prepping, but healthy eating and definitely controlling treat portions.
4. Continue 6x per week lifting.
---only lifting about 3 times a week, because I keep forgetting to schedule daycare in advance!
5. Mountain bike with Jeff.
---sadly haven't been. We did go hiking though!!

Progress Photo:
(It's just of my core, but I haven't seen much progress in other areas)

New Goals:
1. Add cardio to training slowly (milk supply) in preparation for the Spartan race.
2. TRY the 5 AM workouts for a week.
3. Drink more water!
4. Target tranverse abdominus.
5.Get to bed earlier. (around 9:30 PM)

Mason is 6 Months Old!

This cutest, happiest baby is already 6 months old! Half-of-a-year old! Times sure flies when there's a baby in the home.  We couldn't be happier.

Sleeping: He has transitioned in the last week or two to a 2-3-4 sleep cycle.  He did this naturally and on his own and I just followed his cues.  I am a little shocked because this is only 2 naps a day, but he is such an easy-going, happy boy again.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with this sleep cycle, the baby wakes up in the morning is awake for 2 hours, down for a nap, awake for 3 hours, down for a nap, awake for 4 hours, bedtime.  Before I clued in to his body language and cues, I was trying to get him to take 3 naps a day.  The first nap would be great! The next two he threw fits, especially for the 3rd nap.  It was basically impossible to get him to settle down and sleep.  I tried everything I knew to get him to sleep and it just wasn't happening.  Aside from transitioning to that new sleep schedule, he has been disturbed by teething a few times.  Other than that, our sleep-champ is still rocking the sleep category!! All night long and easy to put down.

Feeding: Mason is getting about half breastmilk and half formula.  He loves both.  He does bottles and nurses. He eats 6 oz about every 3 hours during the day and then 7-8 oz for his feeding before bed.  Mason also started solid foods! We started a little over a week after he turned 5 months old.  So far he eats: sweet potatoes, applesauce, bananas, peas, avocados, and oatmeal. His favorite is sweet potatoes.  We are making the baby food at home, which has been fun for me!  The only bummer lately is that he will refuse to breastfeed if I am not full enough. It is causing a decline in my supply, obviously.  I believe it is the teething because it is harder to get the milk out.  I have been trying to nurse after he takes 3-4 ounces from the bottle, rather than nursing first (what I normally do).  He will usually eventually nurse.

 

Growing: He is still climbing the growth chart, yay! He weighs 16 lbs. 12.5 oz. and is 27.5 inches long. (35th and 85th percentile, respectively). He is long and lean, so he can wear a few 3 month tops, but mostly 3-6 month, 6 month, and some 6-9 month clothes.  Baby clothes sizes are kind of a joke sometimes haha!  He wears size 3 diapers.

Mason loves his swim lessons.  He is so calm and happy in the water.  The class lasts 30 minutes every Saturday morning for 6 weeks.  We love dedicating that time to something that is especially for him!
 

Mason is an independent sitter and has been for weeks now.  Right after my last post about him, he picked it right up.  They learn so quickly!

He is laughing more, but still does his silly little cough too! And if something is funny, it is only funny the first and second time.  After that, just big smiles from that boy, no more giggles.

He loves blowing bubbles, standing up, tummy tickles, bath time, Ike, whiskers (especially Grandpa's), his calamari toy, being surprised, jumping in his jumperoo, and silly sounds.

Mason has a tooth making its way in! He has been teething for weeks so it's nice to see his misery has been for a good cause. ;) It just broke through the gums a couple days ago so it's not very obvious yet.  He has handled teething pretty well, with just an occasional dose of acetaminophen and lots of loving and snuggles.

We can't imagine life without our baby Mason!

Fitness Progress 5

Wooooah, did I fall off the wagon a bit with all the house stuff going on. We listed our house on July 31st and officially closed August 27th. In less than 30 days, we packed, stored, organized, and cleaned our house while hunting for and moving into a new one. Unfortunately work and school continue no matter how busy life is! So my gym time fell off quite a bit. I still went but only once or twice a week. My diet wasn't all that great either. But I tried the best I felt I could!

I still took a progress picture, and I actually see muscle growth, so that's keeping me motivated! I can't wait to see more transformation as I get back in the swing of things.

Soooo my Goal Progress:
1. My pull-ups and push-ups are the same as last month, maintaining!
2. I'm following JEFFTAT, but with how sporadic I've been, I'm going to start fresh again on week 4.
3. No meal prep has been happening, but I have been limiting my sweets and exhibiting good self-control with portions!
4. Failing at 6x a week, but I will get back there now that I've settled in and found a new gym.
5. Sadly, no mountain biking.

Depressing goal breakdown, but everyone hits bumps in the road. Just have to keep pushing forward and carry on!

New Goals:
I'm going to keep last month's goals and try again! :)