My little pumpkin!

We're having a little too much Halloween fun around here. A friend of mine gave me this idea and I couldn't resist. Chris thought it was borderline child abuse, but it was cute and Mason actually enjoyed it after he got used to the idea. He sat in his pumpkin a lot longer than he tolerates his bumbo seat!

Daddy putting me in my pumpkin. I'm not sure what to think yet...
I don't like this at all!
Then he calmed down and decided it was kinda fun
Shadow had to make sure her brother was OK
How cute am I?

Pumpkin Patch

I have always loved seeing the fall pumpkin patch pictures from all of my friends. So this year we decided it was time for the first annual Henretty family trip to the Pumpkin Patch! We went with our very good friends Misty and Ken and their adorable little boy, Kieran (11 months). It was a gorgeous fall day and I wanted to get a few cute pictures of our little redheads.

Any parent knows that the key to a good outing is to make sure that the baby doesn't get hungry. I planned accordingly to give Mason his scheduled feeding (scheduled - yea right!) right before we headed out on our pumpkin adventure. One thing we have learned about Mason is that he will NOT eat until he is good and ready. And he can go from completely uninterested to 'FEED ME NOW!!' in about 2 seconds flat. So, of course, he wanted nothing to do with his bottle before we left, but then decided in the middle of the pumpkin patch that it was time to eat NOW!

We still had a great time and got some good pictures. It's funny to see the progression of Mason's mood during the outing. Stay tuned for Halloween costume pictures later this week!

Fall Fun

I just wanted to share a few pictures from the past week. We have been very busy and I'm trying to make the best of my last 2 weeks at home with my little man. We're looking forward to some Halloween fun and can't wait to see everyone's kiddos all dressed up!

My little pumpkin! You can't tell, but his sleeper says 'Frightfully Cute'! By the way, we're not huge fans of orange in this household, so this is the only time of year it is allowed :-)

Goooo Dawgs! Sic' em! Woof woof woof! See, he looks much better in red!
Mason and I spent several days at the lake with Mimi and her very good friends Faye and Juanita. Mason was totally spoiled by all the ladies. Mimi had to put Mason in his 'day gown' (aka 'dress') since daddy wasn't around.

OK Mimi, I've had enough...
Getting cuddled by Miss Faye. She's had a lot of practice spoiling grandkids...

4 months old!

Mason had his 4 month check-up last Thursday. His pediatrician was very pleased with his weight gain and he is very slowly catching up! At 4 months, he weighed 12lbs, 4oz (10th percentile) and was 22 inches long (still less than 3 percentile). His height still isn't on the chart, but I don't know any way to make him grow faster. He is definitely filling out and you'd hardly even notice that he's a little small for his age. It's funny how many people meet him and say 'Wow, he looks like a normal baby'. Of course, he has always been 'normal', but I know what they mean ;-).

A few 4 month stats:

• Sleeping - he continues to be my wonderful sleeper!!! He's up to 8-9 hours at night and then usually sleeps a few more after an early morning bottle
• Eating - 4oz breast milk every 3-4 hours (except at night)
• Napping - still no real progress on regular naps. He naps when and where he wants to. He doesn't get fussy or sleep any less at night, so I'm not too concerned about it yet.
• Development - he's very alert all the time and starting to notice and reach for toys. He smiles and talks a lot (when he's in the mood).
• Still LOVES going out and gets bored easily at home

Mimi snuggling with her sweet boy.

We got home from errands and I left Mason sleeping in his carseat on the floor for a few minutes. I noticed that Shadow had 'shared' her favorite toy with him (her stuffed bat). Very sweet.
So cute in my Halloween outfit.

Fall is in the air (finally!)

I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful fall weather! I'm so glad it's finally cooling down. Mason and I have been strolling the neighborhood almost every day getting some fresh air and exercise. Unfortunately, Shadow has been sick and can't join us. I hope she is better soon because it breaks my heart to leave her behind.

We have a very busy fall ahead. We're so happy that Chris' parents are visiting us this weekend. And we will spend the next two weekends at Lake Oconee with my family so Chris and I can go cheer on our Dawgs. We're not fair-weather fans here (but please can we have another 'W' this season?)! Mason loves spending time with his grandparents and mommy really likes having help :-).

Sadly, I'm counting down the last few weeks of my maternity leave. I'll be going back to work on November 8th and Mason will start at Dunwoody Christian Academy on November 1st. We were trying to find a nanny to stay home with him through the winter, but I hadn't found anyone I was comfortable with. So when a very coveted spot opened up at DCA, we decided to take it. Let's hope it isn't as hard to get him into a good college! It will be difficult to leave my sweet boy, but we know he'll be in great hands.

I love playing with daddy when he gets home from work!
Beau the cat has finally decided that he better make friends with this new little creature since mommy pays so much attention to it.
He's starting to notice toys and try to reach for them. I can finally leave him alone on his activity mat and he will entertain himself for a little while.

A few stretching pictures as he wakes up from his nap. He makes the funniest noises and faces.
We started a new picassa gallery for fall pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/chenretty