It's a Big World, Mason

Mason after eating rice. He loves it but it goes everywhere!

timgourley — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 21:35:06 -0500

Mason after eating rice. He loves it but it goes everywhere!

Showing his support of Linux and open source

timgourley — Fri, 27 May 2011 18:04:51 -0500

Showing his support of Linux and open source

Mason wearing Daddy’s hat.

timgourley — Fri, 27 May 2011 18:00:27 -0500

Mason wearing Daddy’s hat.

“Mason, what do you want for dinner?”...

timgourley — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 20:02:10 -0600

“Mason, what do you want for dinner?” “Justice… With a side order of binky!”

Mason can finally wear the outfit we found with him in the...

timgourley — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 15:14:48 -0600

Mason can finally wear the outfit we found with him in the meteorite.

Flowers are interesting!

lorigourley — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 16:01:33 -0600

Flowers are interesting!

Live long and slobber!

timgourley — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 18:31:30 -0600

Live long and slobber!

Happy boy!

lorigourley — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 14:24:53 -0600

Happy boy!

Give Peas a Chance

timgourley — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 22:55:14 -0600

Mason turned five months old today, and his doctor wanted us to start him on vegetable baby food along with his formula and rice cereal regimen. I thought it would be a good idea to start with the greens since they aren’t as sweet as some of the others and he hasn’t had anything but non-sweet formula and breast milk.

We went with peas. Opening the container I was surprised at how good it smells. It’s really peas! We fed Mason little by little, and he managed to eat about 1/3 of the container before getting full. That’s fine since he’s only supposed to have half now anyway.

Did he like it? Well, you be the judge:

Nearly Five Months

timgourley — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 23:01:09 -0600

As I write this, I am both shocked and awed. Mason is in bed asleep after a bath where he splashed, laughed, and didn’t cry once. Ok, he did cry a little when getting his clothes back on but that was different and I totally diffused the situation with silly faces and sounds.

It’s hard to believe, but in just three short days my little boy will be five months old. It seems just like yesterday he was in the NICU strapped to all sorts of machines. Now, he’s growing fast and becoming quite a happy little man. He continually makes his mother and I very proud. Especially now that we actually get sleep at night, in spite of the onset of teething (yay!).

Mason has been eating formula-mixed rice cereal from a spoon and is finally getting the hang of it. He still has his tongue reflex so he pushes a lot of it back out, but that’s nothing a quick save with the spoon can’t handle. He’s getting to the point where he finally enjoys it. I caught him actually smiling during his solid food experience today, in fact. He’s not quite opening up wide to eat, but he’s getting close.

That’s a good thing, because when he hits the five month mark he gets to be introduced to vegetables. We’re going to start with the greens first, and try one veggie at a time for a few days just to make sure he can handle it. I’m sure he’ll enjoy the variety from the milk-flavored everything he gets now.

To drool or not to drool…

lorigourley — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 22:30:15 -0600

To drool or not to drool…

Oh hi!

lorigourley — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 22:24:42 -0600

Oh hi!

Oh, that’s rice cereal. Yep, I can handle that one.

lorigourley — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 07:05:58 -0600

Oh, that’s rice cereal. Yep, I can handle that one.

Rice cereal…what’s that?

lorigourley — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 06:59:22 -0600

Rice cereal…what’s that?

A quiet moment…

lorigourley — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 18:02:57 -0600

A quiet moment…

Four months

timgourley — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 17:24:59 -0600

Mason was born four months ago today. He came to us early due to complications in the pregnancy and we were worried about his development. The time for worry seems to be in the past as Mason has caught up in every way so far, very much exceeding our expectations. His height and weight are spot on, he is very vocal and expressive, he has opinions, likes, and dislikes, and he’ll be figuring out how to roll over any day now.

Right now his favorite game to play is turning himself sideways in bed to get closer to his stuffed animals. We’ll go to his room, see him between a couple of toys, and he’ll laugh like he’s just been caught doing something sneaky. Needless to say we’ve moved the toys out of his crib in one of many killjoy parental moves designed to keep him safe.

While he doesn’t understand the meaning of what he’s saying yet, he’s getting good at mimicry and babbling in baby language. His favorite words now are:

Agoo. It means anything from “I’m good” to “I’m very happy right now” depending on how he says it. Nine times out of ten it is said with a big smile on his face.
OK. This is mimicry of his parents who obviously say that word quite often. We’ll ask him, “Mason, are you OK?” to which he’ll respond, “OK!”
Ee-gah. We have a picture of a bald eagle hanging in our living room. When I sit with Mason in the chair, him on my shoulder, he has a great view of it. He’ll sit and stare at it for as long as I’ll let him, smiling and babbling at it the entire time. We tell him often that it’s an eagle, and he mimics back “Ee-gah!” when we do.
Ooooohhh. It’s like he’s wanting to say, “Ooohh, shiny!” He says this phrase when he sees something he really likes. I think he picked that up from Lori.

I’m still trying to teach him to say “daddy”, “ruby”, and “meta programming” but for now I’m happy with his current progress.

Happy Thanksgiving!

timgourley — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 15:21:19 -0600

Happy Thanksgiving!

Two Months

timgourley — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 00:17:28 -0500

On 10/12/2010, Mason turned two months old. I can’t believe how quickly the time is flying by.

Ok, I can. It’s all a big blur to me with the absence of that long, lost commodity of sleep. But I will admit caring for this wonderful boy is the best reason ever for losing sleep. He’s worth it!

He went for his two-month checkup today. He’s doing well, weighing in at 11 pounds, 13 ounces. I was quite surprised to see that number pop up, considering he was only 5 pounds when we brought him home from the NICU. His height is gaining also, coming in at 22.5 inches long. It won’t be long before he reaches the two foot mark!

He had his first big series of vaccinations. Five shots in his thighs, done expertly in rapid succession by his nurse, and he was done. He cried a little, but recovered quickly, especially after getting some yummy tylenol. When we got him home after that he seemed a bit loopy; I think the tylenol contributed to that.

Tomorrow a new adventure starts for him: daycare. I have mixed feelings about sending him off, but the woman watching him is a pro and I have every faith he’ll do well.

Ok, now about that sleep… I better get some before Mason wakes up.

Grimlock doesn’t stand a chance against Mason

timgourley — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 19:20:31 -0500

Grimlock doesn’t stand a chance against Mason

Time to go on a walk!

timgourley — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 19:34:17 -0500

Time to go on a walk!