October 20, 2005
Dear Mason II,
Just amazing that another month has come and gone. My little boy is now three months old. Three month statistics: Weight: 17 lbs. 8oz. Length: Not sure because we don’t go back to the doctor until next month and you are simply too squirmy to measure. Diaper Size: 3 Clothes: 6 - 9 months.
Oddly enough, we just cleared out the drawers this evening to make room for the 6 – 9 month clothes. You are truly growing faster than you can wear your cute clothes. Now that you are in bigger sizes we have far fewer outfits. We were very blessed that your buddy Max (James and Karrie’s little boy) was kind enough to send you many of his smaller outfits. It is also getting cooler here so it is time to break out the long sleeved onesies and pants.
Hmmmm, how do you spend your days? Let’s outline a typical day.
• Wake up around 7am You are so sweet first thing in the morning. We are still swaddling you so when we unwrap you first thing in the morning you stretch your little arms and smile and giggle at us. I dare say this is my favorite time of day.
• 8am Bottle with dad while mom pumps. Due to some issues you had with the bottle this past month, we feel it best to give you one bottle everyday. That way you don’t forget what it is for.
• After that feeding, then it is time for diaper changing and getting dressed.
• 9am On Tuesday and Thursday it is off to day care with Candice since I have to go to work. On Wednesdays we take off to the New Moms group to meet your friends: Carter, Rachel, Anna and Carly. Your mom enjoys the conversation with other new moms and then we all go out to lunch afterwards.
• Monday and Fridays are always filled with errands and such. Tomorrow we are going to LLL and then to the outlets with Michelle and Amber to find some warm clothes for you for winter.
• 3pm – 5pm This is when mom either comes home from work or we are getting home from New Moms group. More snacking with mom and then we anxiously await dad coming home from work. Sometimes mom cooks dinner or she simply checks out the crock pot.
• On Wednesday evenings we go to Bible Study at church. You are quite the hit. Everyone just loves you! We eat dinner and then meet in small groups. You typically sleep during our dinner and then eat while we are in session.
• Bath time is usually every other night. You have a little bit of dry skin so sometimes is it less frequent. Dad usually does bath time and gets you in your pajamas.
• Then it is back to mom. Bedtime comes around 8pm or so. I take you into bed and you nurse peacefully to sleep. Between sides, your dad takes you for a burp and a swaddle.
• Sleep. You have become a great little sleeper in the past few weeks. You sleep until about 4 or 5am and then you have an early morning snack. After your snack we usually just keep you in bed with us for some snuggling and then we all sleep in until about 7am. We really should get up earlier, but we just love snuggling with you.
• Then our day starts all over again.
In other news you have become quite vocal. Just a few days ago you gave us your first little laugh. It was so sweet! I just love to watch you smile. I hope you still smile so much when you are a teenager.
You are still enjoying your bouncey seat and have a new interest in your swing. You love to watch the lights and listen to the music. Recently, you have also started to swat at the toys on your little play mat. Your dad gave you a little plush Tigger rattle the other day and you seem to have a good time with him. Unfortunately, on our last two walks you have not been nearly as happy as you were previously. You do fine for the first half, but then become a little cranky. Yesterday on our walk I brought the Mei Tai baby carrier and that is how we made it home. You are getting so heavy that just carrying you for too long hurts my back. Thank goodness for the baby carrier.
Speaking of baby carriers, all three of us seem to be addicted. Your dad and I love carrying you in either the Mei Tai or the Moby wrap. People stop us on the street all the time to ask how we are carrying you. I even did a demonstration of the carriers at the new moms group yesterday morning.
A couple of weeks ago I started back to work on Tuesday and Thursday. I am also still working from home on my online classes. I have really struggled with the decision to go back to work. The first few days were so hard. I never thought I would be the kind of person that wanted to stay at home with a baby, but that is because I hadn’t met you yet. Leaving you at day care is very hard. You have a total blast and really seem to love Candice and the other children. Unfortunately, your poor old mom still cries on the way to work each morning. The first few days were really rough because you decided that you didn’t want to drink from a bottle anymore. In fact, the second day you were there, you didn’t eat anything…. All day! I felt like the worst mother in the world. That night your dad and I went to Babies R Us and bought a bunch of different kinds of bottles and nipples until we found one you like. Now, we give you a bottle every morning (as I said earlier) and you seem to be happy as a clam.
I thought it would be fun to mention some of the little nicknames that we have for you. They are: Mini-Mason, Mini-Boo, Little Boo, Beetum Deux, Mini-Beetum, M2, Munchee Foo Foo, Spud, Spudlette, Spike (the hair), Sir Poops a Lot, Tark the Shark. I feel I really must explain the Tark the Shark nickname. When your dad and I were in high school and the UNLV basketball team was winning, the head coach of the team was Jerry Tarkanian. During games he would bite a white towel during intense moments of the game. Because you are such a spitter we have these little white burp clothes all over the house and you love to grab onto them. When you grab them and put them up to your mouth, we call you Tark the Shark. Hee hee! We think this is hilarious. (Feel free to roll your eyes here.)
Just this past week I had to work in the evening and your dad put you to bed for the first time on his own. He did a great job! You have recently found your thumb and suck on that every once in awhile, but apparently the other evening you took a pacifier for your dad. The sucking is probably what you needed to help yourself get to sleep.
I keep meaning to try to get you into Sears or somewhere to get a nice professional picture taken, but my goodness the days pass so quickly. We do have lots of fun around the house taking pictures of you. I love to take little 30 second videos of you with the digital camera. Today as I was leaving work, I subjected one of my students to watching your little videos. The funny thing is that you don’t really do anything yet. You just smile and kick your feet. After a few minutes I realized that these little video clips may only be endearing to me, but she was very gracious and agreed that you are an adorable baby. She joked with me that I carry around pictures of you and your dad so that people realize where you got that head full of dark hair from. 
Well, I’m sure I will think of more to say tomorrow, but for now I just have to say how much we absolutely love you. We are so happy to have you in our lives. You are a blessing to us and we hope that we are the best parents we can be.
Don’t worry tomorrow I will take some pictures of you with your little envelope to mark your three month birthday.
I love you,
Mama
