Mason update: 15 months

Mason is now 15 months old! He is 22lbs 3oz and 30 1/2 inches long, putting him at 41% in weight and 25% in height. His head circumference is now down to 82%. In July last year his HC was 99%, so we can see that he is finally growing into his head size. It's so good to see his percentiles closer to normal range. His pediatrician is happy, so we are very happy!

Masons crawling has really taken off! He is a professional now and loves the freedom of getting around. He is able to maneuver quite well. He loves cleaning off everything off my shelves for me and likes to explore room to room. He especially loves going outside.

We have had Physical therapy come out and work with Mason every week for a couple months now and Mason has made improvements in bearing weight for longer periods of time and has taken some steps with some assistance. He likes to stand, even if it is only for a short time. The walker Santa gave him has helped some, but Mason is somewhat more interested in the toy part of it than the walking part. However he has been able to bear weight and take some steps with it before so that is exciting. He is getting stronger everyday!

Recently Mason had his appointment for SB clinic to check up on his development and spina bifida stuff. We visited with the nurse, physical therapist, occupational therapist, orthopedist, and pediatrician. It was a long morning, but all his doctors were pleased with how well he is doing. We asked the doctors about getting him into some AFO braces to help him to stand. Mason has weakness in his lower legs and especially his ankles which makes it difficult for him to stand. He uses a lot of upper body strength to help hold himself up, which is tiring and frustrating for him. Also, his left knee tends to stay bent, possibly due to some tight muscles in his hamstring. So the Physical Therapist took a look and agreed that braces would help. So they sent us down to orthotics to visit with the doctor there and he was able to make a mold for Mason's legs so they could create some braces. We will be going back to the hospital in a couple weeks to get Mason fitted for the braces and to learn more about what to do. We are hoping with braces Mason will have his legs and ankles in the right position so that he can strengthen his muscles better and potentially get to the point that he can stand and walk. We are excited for this next step in Mason's development! 

Mason has been teething since Christmas. He randomly had a molar pop through, which at the time I didn't realize he was even teething so I was surprised to find a new tooth in there. Now it looks like the molar on the other side has come through and a couple more molars on top are starting to show through. He has been restless at night and sometimes cranky during the day. He is pickier than ever with eating which is frustrating, but typical I suppose. 

Lately Mason has been very insistent in wanting to take Tivo outside. He likes to get Tivos leash and chase him around with it trying to hook it onto his collar. And if at any time Mason knows we are going to take Tivo out and try to go without him he just bawls. He wants to go with us and hold the leash. Its pretty cute, even though it's tricky holding a baby on your hip with a dog on a leash. He even knows the word "dog" and will say "daw" in reference to Tivo. And he knows when we say we are taking the dog "potty outside". Both Mason and the dog get excited when they hear that phrase.

Speaking of speaking, Mason can say mama, dada, see?, what's that (wussat?), hi, and will sign "more" also. I can ask him where his nose is and he will point to it, same with his eyes. He understands the words snack, drink, outside, dog, and book. I can ask him to hand me something and he will, if he isn't being stubborn about it. 

Mason has also figured out the fist "bump" that he constantly wants to do. He will hold his little fist out and waits for you to bump it. He even did it to Grandma over Skype.

Finding things to keep Mason occupied requires creativity!

Helping Mom make cookies

We recently got Mason a new carseat, and he loves it! We sat him in it at the store and he said, "oooh!"

Mason playing in his old car seat

Tried out a new hairstyle and we love it!

We went to the park yesterday and swung on the swings. It was such a beautiful day!

Christmas, Malone's birthday and New Years

On the 5th of December we went to a community nativity our stake puts on every year. I was expecting a regular live nativity or something, but this was so amazing! Our stake gets together with other churches in the area to exhibit people's nativities they have. There were literally thousands of nativities of every kind and made of everything from glass to metal to wood, even legos. They were traditional to some not so traditional, nativities from all over the world. The entire gym at our stake center was filled. There was also a small live nativity. And while you are walking around looking at these thousands of nativities, in the chapel they had entertainment. Many people from all different churches including ours performed in choirs, duets, played musical instruments, you name it. Every half hour they had a performance of some kind and this went on for three days from morning to late in the evening. There were so many people involved in organizing this and it brought the whole community together. It was amazing! We loved it and can't wait to go back next year. 

Lego Nativity

The next day we attended a tree lighting ceremony in Flower Mound. It was a really cold and windy night! We had to park a couple blocks away and take a bus to the park where the happenings were.  We ended up having to walk the last block because the parade route blocked the street. We missed the parade, but we were able to see all sorts of things at the park. We got to go on a hay ride, visit Santa Claus, and pet animals at the petting zoo. The hay ride was fun, but as I said before it was cold! And when we visited Santa Claus, Mason was a little uncomfortable on Santa's lap, but he didn't cry. Because Malone swept him up and sat on Santa's lap with Mason, which was funny. After we wandered around looking at things and watching shows on the stage, we went to the petting zoo. We all enjoyed petting all the goats, donkey, chickens, pigs, sheep, calf, and even a baby deer! Finally around 8 they did the tree lighting, which was somewhat a bummer because the tree wasn't even a Christmas tree. It was just a regular tree with blue lights which was weird. Anyway, by the time we got done we were all half frozen. So we caught the bus back to our car. We all had a great time! 

 For Christmas my parents came and visited! They drove all the way through Phoenix to visit my brother and ended up here Christmas Eve. It was such a long drive and we were so thankful for their sacrifice to come be with us. We played games and ate food, and watched movies all Christmas Eve. We celebrated Christmas and opened gifts and had a really yummy dinner. We played some new games that my parents got for Christmas and hung out most of the day. Mason had a great time with his new toys. He got a bouncy dragon to ride on, a walker toy, blocks, 3 outfits, toy trucks, and a few puzzles. I got Malone some replacement parts for his little race car set he's been wanting forever, a movie, and a knife sharpener. And Malone got me a new sketchbook and some much needed bread pans and baking dishes. We also received some nice clothes and toys from Chris and Natalie. My parents got us a new waffle iron. Malone's parents gave Mason a really cute outfit.

this is how we protected our gifts and tree from Mason

Mason's Christmas jammies

Malone made a beautiful turkey and it was sooo yummy!

The next day we visited the Dallas Temple and drove around to see the Dallas skyline. Mom and I went antiquing at a nearby antique store till we were both exhausted! 

Dallas Texas Temple

 It was a really fun Christmas. The best Christmas gift though was just having my family here to celebrate with us and for Mason to get to spend quality time with his grandparents. 

Malone's birthday was a week long celebration. On the 23rd we spent the evening at our friends house in Denton. We had dinner and played minute to win it for a few hours. It was so much fun! We had cake and blew out candles. We also celebrated Malone's birthday on the 26th before my parents left. They had bought him an outfit from his favorite store, which he loved! And I bought him a Roku for his birthday. On Saturday the 27th, we went out to Malone's favorite Tex-Mex restaurant Chuy's in Denton. Then on his actual birthday, Sunday the 28th, it was pretty laid back. We went to church, had leftovers and hung out and played games. It had been a big week and it was actually nice to have a quiet evening to ourselves. 

For New Years we stayed up and watched the new X-men movie Malone got for Christmas. On New Years day we went bowling with some friends. Malone and I haven't bowled in a couple years so we were rusty! But we had a lot of fun. Afterwards we went to Red Robin for dinner. We are so lucky to have such good friends here to spend time with. 

Overall December was a little crazy as it usually is, but it was so extra special spending so much time with the people we love and that's all that really matters to me this time of year anyway. 

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving we went to San Antonio and spent it with my cousins Abby and Amy and their families and my Aunt Shelda and Uncle Cory. We had a blast and it was so nice to spend the holiday with family. It took us about 7 1/2 hours to get there thanks to holiday traffic and construction. Mason did pretty well traveling considering how long it was! He struggled the last hour or so, and ended up dozing off the last 20 minutes of the drive.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner and had a relaxing day playing games, including the traditional Bennett family game, Nertz.The little kids really got into it!

Madison, Amy, and Abby preparing Thanksgiving

Izzy, Abby, Preston, Shelda, Bryce, Garrett, and Amy digging in!

Mason had fun crawling around Abby's house

Melanie and Mason

Izzy and Malone

Mason, Melanie, and Garrett

 Friday we went out to lunch and went to see the Alamo. It was so interesting and it was such a beautiful day!

The Alamo!

 Saturday we went to Abby's daughter's baptism. Abby had asked me to play piano for the program and I was very happy to do it! The baptism went great, right after Amy accidentally took a spill in the baptismal font. I wish I had a picture of that! Izzy is so adorable and sweet and such a tender hearted girl. It was a very special day for her and we were honored to get to spend the day with her.

  Afterwards we had lunch and visited a little longer before Malone, Mason and I had to go home.
We had such a great time and can't wait to come back to visit again!

Abby, Wesley, Corey, Garrett, Jackson, Izzy, Shelda, Melanie, Preston, Madison, Bryce, Malie,
Danielle, Malone and Mason