Celebrity Look-Alike

At Damon's yesterday, Mason was mistaken for a celebrity. Twice.

Russell Crowe. Two waitresses swore that he looked exactly like Russell Crowe. Now, I don't watch that many movies and I wasn't even sure who Russell Crowe was, so I had to come home and do some Googling. I was picturing a cute young actor with a baby face though, not a rugged-looking older man. Regardless, here's what I came up with:



Strange. I don't think I see it.

Monday, April 6th: Another Day at The Beach

Today, the beach went over much better with Mason than it did yesterday.

As much as he liked the sun and the sand, his favorite part was when some hippies came to play tubas and trombones for money. We danced to their hippy-brass-band all over the beach.

Crazy hippies.

Later on Sunday, April 5th: Fast (Expensive) Food

Downtown San Diego has a place called the Gaslamp District, which is basically a few blocks over overpriced boutiques and restaurants. I bought two bracelets totalling a ridiculous amount of money and then we ate here:

Anthony's - a seafood place over looking the bay. It was complete with a gorgeous view and twenty dollar meals, but Mason was just not having it. He belted out high-pitched screams and trashed the place while George and I scarfed down our food. It was the most stressful eighty-five dollar meal I've ever eaten, for sure.

The view really was gorgeous though.

On the way home, I made George pull over so I could get a picture of the prettiest sunset I've ever seen.

Real Boys Wear Pink

So Mason bought Mads the coolest onesie ever for her birthday. So cool, in fact, that when it arrived the other day, he decided he had to order himself one, too. To see what size he needed, Mase figured he'd just try on Madelynn's. I won't show the front (since that's the best part), but...

He looks ridiculously cute in pink. And it fit him. Mads is going to swim in that thing.

For the record, Mason's ordering blue.

Eleven

Anybody There?

In the past week Mason's been on a learning-spree. He's learned to clap, point, and say "Bubba" (I call him that a lot). He's also standing without holding onto anything for about ten seconds or until he realizes he's doing it, whatever comes first.

All those things are great, and believe me I'm proud, but none of them are as cool as what he does when I give him his telephone and say "hello?"

He's so smart.

No More Pictures, Pleaszzzz...

This afternoon Mason and I fed the fish, then went to the park. At the park, we played with Austin (five) and his sister Hannah (seven). Neither Mason nor I had ever met these two before, but they took turns taking Mase down the slide in their laps as he giggled and stared at them in complete awe. He loves kids. I sat in the grass watching and trying to picture Mason at five years old. He turned eleven months old today. I have a feeling five is closer than I think.

After the park, we took the long way home as I tried to find a location to take a few eleven month pictures. I took my time, taking everything in and stopping to point out flowers and birds and dogs to Mase.

When we were almost home I found the perfect place:

I was going to put him on those logs next to the daffodils and take a couple quick pictures before we headed home for nap time. Mason, however, had other thoughts.

The Park (Again)

The past two days have been beautiful, and the forecast is nothing but sunshine for the next week, at least. My heat's turned off, my windows are open, and I'm confident that we're done with coats and extra blankets and cold weather. Yesterday I walked out of work into seventy degree weather, so the three of us went to the park.




So what if I already have seven hundred pictures of Mason on the swings? It gets cuter every time.

I See You

George spends an absurd amount of time in the bathroom. Well, I consider it absurd, anyway, for a guy getting ready for work in the morning. Twenty minutes?! What the heck are you doing in there?


Mason agrees that it's pretty crazy. I taught him a new trick, though, and while he used to do it only with my prompting, all I have to say now is "where's Daddy?" and he drops whatever he's doing and springs into action:

He peeks in, sticks his fingers under the crack, and giggles hysterically while George freaks out in the bathroom. It's hilarious.

Today though, George was at work all day. Somewhere around four o'clock, while running out of things to say in conversation with Mase, I randomly said "Mason, where's daddy?" and the kid starts giggling like crazy. He takes off to the bathroom, crawling at high-speed, and then is very clearly surprised when the bathroom door is open. Ha. That's just funny.

Oh Scrap.

I started Mason's scrapbook when he was just a few months old, and I was determined to have a beautiful, completed book full of my favorite pictures to take along to his first birthday party to show all his proud aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

Yesterday, I started his third month:

And when I say third month, that's actually slightly deceiving since I skipped his entire second month because I need to get some more pictures printed. I only have five weeks 'til his party and 10.75 more months to scrap. If I hurry, there's still hope, right?

Hard to Find Good Help

About a month ago, I was at the mailboxes with Mason when my downstairs neighbor pulled in. Now, this guy is pretty old (seventy?) but he seems nice and we've talked on several occasions. He parked his car, got out, and proceeded to eyeball Mase from three feet away. When I looked over at him, our conversation went like this:

Me: Hi, how are you?
Old guy: Oh, I'm fine, dear. How old is your little girl? [Mason was wearing blue, not to mention the fact that we'd talked about Mason and his age at least three times before. Anyway, he looks nothing like a girl. But whatever.]
Me: He's a boy. He's ten months old.
OG: Oh, how sweet. I bet she keeps you real busy.
Me: He sure does.
OG: Do you live here?
Me: Yep, right upstairs.. Well, see you later.
OG: Okay, bye now. [He turns to go back into his apartment, then peeks his head back out the door.]
OG: You know, I'd love to watch her for you sometime.
Me: Uhh.. thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

Never mind the fact that he called Mason a girl three times in thirty seconds, he didn't even remember we existed. I saw him again today, when Mase and I were taking out the trash, and he politely asked me if I had tried to break into his apartment.

Needless to say, I don't think he'll be babysitting any time soon.

Baby + Hair Gel + Too Much Time on Your Hands =

Take it Outside

Yesterday Mase and I took a walk over to feed the fish. Actually, I fed the fish, Mason ate the bread he was supposed to throw them. When we got home I started dinner, but it was still so nice outside that I couldn't deprive my baby of all that Vitamin D just because I couldn't leave the house with the oven on. Problem solved: I moved the livingroom out to the balcony.







We had fun. Mason's toys, however, were not so lucky.

I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot of time out there.

The Best Park Ever

Today, Aimee and I took Mason and Madelynn out to search for a park we heard about that was made just for babies. A baby haven where babies play all day long and answer to no one. The best park ever.

We found it.

It was a really great park.. Mason loved it. And I think I finally decided on his birthday party location. There's a huge pavilion, a horseshoe pit, a basketball court, and tons of swings and slides and things to climb on. Now I have a location (the best park ever), a date (May 30th), and an almost-one-year-old (see below).

I'm going to spend the next month and a half simultaneously crying over my baby growing up and crossing my fingers that it doesn't rain on the 30th.