Mason Shoma

Daddy had to go out today so Mommy and I joined him. It was a short outing, but it was a lot of fun. Mommy and Daddy had lunch in a restaurant, the first time in a long time. I was a good boy and didn’t cause any trouble.

When it was time for me to eat, we found a coffee shot and sat down for my lunch. Naturally, I ate everything up very quickly, even with the distractions of other people around me. I think I made some patrons uncomfortable because I kept staring at them. Can you blame me? It is not often that I see anyone other than Mommy and Daddy. It was interesting to see different people. I ate so fast that I finished my meal before Mommy and Daddy could finish their coffees. So I tried to sneak a sip of their drinks, but they were too fast.

And then we headed home. It was a nice short outing. I prefer the freedom of crawling around on my own instead of being strapped into my baby carrier, but I did enjoy seeing new people and places.

Oops. Something is not right here. Hang on, I think I can work my way out of here.

Now that I have mastered pulling myself up to standing I am targeting new things and realizing that just standing is not enough. I think I have to climb. Either that or I have to grow longer arms. Things are still just out of my reach.

Not being able to reach things can be frustrating and can mess up my concentration, making it hard to stand. I’ve got to learn to calm down and take my time. After all, I just turned 8 months old. I still have a lot of time to work on all these things.

Being able to pull myself up to standing has introduced a whole new view of the world. It also has given me so much more to chew on. Before all I could chew on were things that were on the floor or things that were given to me. Now, I can reach up onto the table and chew on thing there, or even the table itself.

If you listen carefully, you can hear me chomp onto the table with my two teeth.

Now that I know how to pull myself to standing, I can do it really quickly and easily. But in the process, I found that there is a lot to do while on my knees as well. It raises my view just enough to see a lot more of the world around me. So even without standing all the way up, a lot more things are targeted by me.

I’ve had my two bottom teeth for a few weeks now, but it has always been hard to capture in a photo because usually my tongue is in the way. Not this time. I am not happy, but at least you can see my teeth.

When Daddy rocks me for my nap, he holds me really snuggly. I get very curious about my surroundings and what to look around, but if I do that I won’t be able to sleep. He holds my head securely against him so that I can focus on sleeping. It looks a bit squished, but it is actually really comfortable and always lulls me to sleep.

I got a spot on the couch! Look at all this space and it is mine! I am so happy!

I’d better mark it with my scent so that everyone knows that this is my spot. That should do it.

It is not easy being Mommy. Even though I am doing pretty well at sleeping on my own and for longer lengths of time, Mommy still has to wake up and nurse me at least once in the middle of the night. On top of that, some mornings I feel like waking up early and that means that she doesn’t get much continuous sleep. So naturally she is often tired in the morning and needs a nap while Daddy watches me. But I worry about her so I naturally I check on her during her nap to make sure she is getting the rest she deserves.

It’s as if I’m saying, “Mommy? Hey, Mommy. Mommy? Are you sleeping? You should sleep. You must be tired. Go to sleep. Are you sleeping? I’m here to make sure you sleep. Now go to sleep. Okay? Don’t wake up. Sleep. Sleep now. Sleep. Are you sleeping? Not yet. Just sleep…”

And then for some unknown reason Daddy pulled me away and tried to get me to play away from where Mommy was napping.

I mentioned before that I don’t like to be bundled up in so much winter clothes. But if I time it right, I can get some freedom in my underclothes. When I have my pajamas take off me in the morning I make a mad dash for my toys and make it very difficult for any other clothes to be put on me. This works for a while, but eventually I am fully clothed again.

Yep, this is exactly what the title of the post says it is. It is my playtime with blocks, diapers, and table legs.

I’m not really a fan of winter. I don’t really like being cold, but I like being bundled up even less. There is a lot less freedom of movement when I’m layered in winter clothes. I don’t wear as many layers in my car seat, but I still have my hat put on me and a blanket draped over me. Now how am I supposed to move around with all this. I am not very happy about this.

I’m still doing my head shaking thing. Now it is not only when I hear music or am happy. Sometimes I do it when I’m just feeling silly. Other times I do it in response to a question. It looks like I hit my rebellious stage very early. It makes Mommy and Daddy laugh when I shake my head, but sometimes I think they are a little worried about my brain sloshing about in my head when I shake too vigorously. I don’t know why they worry. I’m fine. Now can someone please stop this room from spinning?

After seeing my friend at Sukusuku Hiroba she came over to our place for a new year playdate. She hadn’t been over for about a month so I wanted to show her all my Christmas gifts. We had a lot of fun playing together. Most babies our age don’t actually interact and just play near other babies. This is called parallel play. What we do is much more interactive. You can see from the eye contact, expressions, and attempts to touch each other that we are very interested in each other and what we are doing.

We get along very well and I’m always happy to see her. She seemed interested in my new toys, but even more interested in my doggy, who is not new at all. Actually, it is Mommy’s doggy. Daddy gave it to her years ago. My friend was playing with my doggy so much that her mommy check to see where we got it. Maybe she’ll be getting one for her birthday.

We went to Sukusuku Hiroba for the first time this new year. It was quite a cold day, so there weren’t a lot of people there. There were only 3 babies, including me. The nice thing is that my friend was there and I was happy to see her. We wished everyone a happy new year and went on to play on our own.

I was very active and everyone was impressed by how much I’ve learned to do in the last month. They commented about how quickly I can army crawl and also how comfortable I am around everyone there. I was very outgoing and made my rounds among everyone and all the toys.

I’m growing up so fast. Can you believe that I’m already 2/3 of a year old? Look at all that I can do. And so much of it I have learned in the last couple of months. Just a little more than a month ago I started crawling, and since then I have learned to sit up and pull myself up to standing. I feel less like a baby and more like a little boy these days.

Not only is my hair getting longer, but it is looking more and more like an anime character. I wonder if it will turn blond when I reach Super Saiyan level.