7 months!

Mason just turned 7 months old a couple days ago. Since his surgery, Mason has been doing really great. His incision on his head is healing as well as the little one on his tummy. He doesn't seem to be bothered by the shunt at all. You can still see the ridge on his head where the shunt is under his skin, but we are starting to get use to it. You shouldn't be able to really see it when he gets a little older, hopefully. We had a follow-up with Mason's neurosurgeon who is pleased with how Mason is doing. Mason's head circumference has dropped a centimeter since surgery, which is good. This past week we had an appointment with a urologist who said that we no longer need to cath Mason! Since January, we have been cathing Mason every other day or so. When Mason had surgery, he wasn't emptying like he normally does so we had to cath 2-3 times a day. Now, we don't have to cath at all. I just hope it will stay this way!! We'll see if this changes as he gets older.

 

Mason is now  15.4lbs and about 25 1/4 inches long. We continue to have an occupational therapist visit twice a month. According to her Mason is right on track with development at this point. I couldn't be happier about that! He was able to roll back to tummy around 4 months and from tummy to back at like 5 months. Now Mason rolls all over the place! The other day he rolled under our coffee table and into the corner until he couldn't roll anymore.

 

Mason loves eating solids now. He is eating a wider variety of veggies such as carrots, sweet potatoes and squash and he continues to eat rice and whole wheat cereal. He is able to open his mouth and get all the food off the spoon easily now. Mason is a very active boy. I can hardly get him down for a nap most days. He will doze off when nursing and if I continue holding him he will sleep a while. But the second I lay him down somewhere to nap he wakes up. A lot of times when I am around the house doing things he wants to be right there with me. He cries and cries when I leave the room without him or leave his sight. Sometimes I wear the baby carrier around the house so he is happy and I can get some things done. He is enjoying sitting up more now. He's not quite strong enough to sit up alone, but he is getting really close. Mason definitely prefers sitting up to laying down because he likes to see what's going on around him.

 

Mason is crazy about our little dog Tivo. Everytime Tivo is around Mason is mesmerized and likes to watch him and try to pet (more like grab) him. Tivo puts up with Mason's friendliness for a bit and then usually wanders off. It is really fun to see Mason light up when Tivo is around though. Mason is such a flirt! I take him out to the store or church and he smiles at the girls and is just a doll. Ladies are always commenting on how adorable he is and what a happy baby he is. I love hearing people compliment my baby! I think he's adorable too. Mason also loves eating my necklaces. I am sure most babies are this way, but he is crazy about it! I am pretty sure he is teething because he will drool all over when he is chewing on things. I haven't noticed any swelling of his gums yet, but it's just a matter of time I'm sure.

Mason rolled into a corner until he couldn't roll anymore!