Mason Shoma

Yep, I’m still interested in the cardboard box that the Christmas tree came in. It holds so many secrets and is a lot of fun to play with!

It is the first thing in the morning, but I am already choosing my bedtime book. It never hurts to be prepared.

There more fruits I try, the more I’m liking them. The apple I had the first time was a bit tart for me and may have given me a bad impression of fruits. But lately, I’ve been liking them a lot. I tried strawberry today, and it was really good! Mommy mashed it up and mixed it with some formula. It was a very sweet dessert!

Christmas came early this year in the form of the box our Christmas tree was kept in. I’m already at that baby stage where I find boxes fascinating. Mommy and Daddy were still finalizing some Christmas tree decorations so the box was still nearby. I found it and had a lot of fun exploring it. Many things were headed into my mouth before Daddy took them away from me. Party pooper. Still, the box itself was a lot of fun. I think I know what I want for Christmas now.

I’ve been going to community run play events for a while now. They are once a twice a month and very close to our home. There are several childcare workers there and a lot of parents come with their kids of ages ranging from a few months like me to over two years old. It is pretty much my only interaction with other babies. I’ve cried there because I was overwhelmed by all the toddlers who were very active, sociable, and loud. But I’ve also laughed a lot too.

Today Daddy got to go with Mommy and me because of a change in his work schedule. That was good timing because today we had an athletic event. A childcare worker who specializes in exercise and movement ran the event. For the toddlers, there was a lot of running around with parents. For me and a few other babies, the parents had to carry us around for each activity. It ended up being a very good workout for Daddy.

The activities were quite advanced for me. There were different ways of moving around the room, like walking with your butt. I can’t even crawl, let alone walk, so that was a hard activity. Daddy had to do it and I was just along for the ride.

We also danced around the room, looked for different colors, and learned about proper greetings and behavior. It was a good taste of what nursery school might be like. It was a wake up call for me to see all the different skills I will eventually have to pick up.

My favorite part of the event was when we got to play with paper and tape. That teacher really knows his stuff because all of the kids loved the activity. We each had a large sheet of paper and started off with folding and pulling. Then came my favorite part: the ripping! Boy, did I enjoy that! Mommy made me laugh when she ripped the paper over and over again. We are definitely going to play with paper and make a mess at home. It was so much fun!

Then we grabbed the scraps of paper and then taped them up into balls. Mommy and Daddy thought I would be excited about the balls but I was much more entertained by the sound the tape made when being pulled. It was so funny!

Since we made a mess, we wrapped up by cleaning up our mess. The older kids were a lot faster, but I did manage to pick up a few stray scraps of paper.

It was such a fun event! Mommy and Daddy got a good workout, I had a lot of fun, and we have a bunch of fun ideas for activities to do at home. The best thing is that I didn’t cry at all today and actually enjoyed seeing all the other babies and toddlers. These are great moments for all the kids. With the pandemic, a lot of these events were cancelled completely and only recently have been slowly reopening. Normally, these events would be more frequent, but we are all grateful just to have any community activities. I’m already looking forward to the next one!

I tried lettuce today. It wasn’t raw and leafy like the way Mommy and Daddy eat it. It was boiled, chopped, and mushy, just the way I like my food. That’s actually the only way I can eat any food right now since I have no teeth. It was pretty good. I tend to like my green vegetables.

In the morning, I’m usually very content to just sit with Mommy and Daddy as they eat breakfast, drink coffee, and watch the news. It’s nice to have a relaxing morning, especially when there is a lot planned for the day.

I’m just playing with Mommy and as you can see I’m all smiles!

Mommy and Daddy like to treat themselves to something called “Starbucks” every once in a while. I don’t know what they are drinking, but it sure looks tasty. Especially because of those cups. Very festive. I wonder how I can get one of those.

We put our Christmas tree up! When I say “we”, I mean Mommy and Daddy took turns keeping me away from the tree and all the ornaments while they decorated the tree. I’m sure I’ll have my chance when I’m older. Right now I’m just planning my strategy to get those twinkling lights and shiny ornaments.

We took some Christmas photos and they turned out really nice! It took a lot of shots because I was easily distracted by the tree. I was also distracted by the pictures on the TV. Daddy set up his phone on a tripod and had the pictures show up on the TV when he took them so that we could check them without moving from our positions. But I picked up on this and eventually started turning toward the TV after every shot to see how I looked. That made getting me to look at the camera again a lot harder. But we got the shots! If you’re curious, the pictures that didn’t make the cut are below.

Oh, by the way, remember I told you I was coming up with a strategy to get to the ornaments. Mission accomplished!

Even though I’m loving all my solid foods, I still love being nursed. And I still dream about nursing from time to time.

Just checking to see if we have enough diapers. And…yep, that’s enough.

Recently, I’ve been pooping a lot when I’m in my high chair. I don’t know if it is because I’m sitting up so gravity helps, or if it is because I’m eating and have to make room for more food. Whatever the reason, I’ve been pretty regular on my high chair. Mommy and Daddy know I’m pooping because I tense up and grunt a lot.

Today I was chatting with Grandma and Grandpa over FaceTime and showing them what a good eater I was when I stopped eating and started grunting. Then I surprised everyone when I started to push really hard. I was grunting so loud that Grandma and Grandpa did think it was me who was doing it. It is not the kind of sound you expect to come from a 6-month-old baby. I was pushing so hard that my nose started turning really red! I was like Rudolph!

I think when I’m older I’ll have to learn how not to do this at the dining table in front of other people. But for the time being, it seems like the right place and time. The funny thing is that for all that strain, effort, grunting, and nose reddening, it ended up being a very tiny poo, about the size of an almond.

Update: Half an hour later I had a very good bowel movement. I guess all the effort paid off.

I still try to get at Daddy’s bedroom slippers whenever I can. Usually I try to grab them when they are just lying on the floor. But I also try to get them when Daddy is still wearing them.

I had some radish leaves today. I can’t say that it is my favorite food. It was a bit on the bitter side. But I still ate all of it.

I am a very observant baby, and that can make things difficult for Mommy and Daddy. I discovered that our padded floor mat is actually interlocking floor mat. You saw how I found the edge of it and managed to chew on it. I also noticed that the top layer is peeling, so I helped it along by pulling at it whenever I can get a grip on it. With my sticky little fingers I can grip it even if only a couple of millimeters are exposed. I overheard Mommy and Daddy talking about ordering a new mat that is not tiled, so I better enjoy as much of this one while I still can.

My sleep training is going well. It has been a week and I have been able to put myself to sleep every night so far. I still start off crying every night, but I manage to calm myself down and put myself to sleep. I’m always asleep within the hour. My best record so far is about 15 minutes. I don’t drift off to sleep peacefully and quietly. I cry, roll around, explore the borders of my crib, and just keep moving until I fall asleep. I found that I fall asleep much easier on my tummy. When Mommy and Daddy check in on me, they either find me awake on my tummy or asleep on my tummy. I also rotate around a lot too. All that activity naturally leads to some sweating and that leads to my funky hair.

Overall, I’m sleeping a lot longer than I did before when I was rocked to sleep. It’s probably because I now know how to put me back to sleep. So all the little things that woke me up before are just minor interruptions to my sleep and I put my head back down and go back to sleep.

I even fall asleep faster after my midnight feeding. I usually don’t cry at all when I’m put down after my bottle. I just lie there and drift off to sleep. It’s very different than when I’m initially put to bed.

Mommy and Daddy are very proud of the progress I have made in my sleep training. They are actually surprised with how well it is going. They are checking in on me a lot, even after I’ve completely gone to sleep. It is just so quiet, that they want to make sure I’m okay.

I’ve gotten so use to being in my crib, that I often wake up in the morning and just wait in my crib until Mommy picks me up. Sometimes I’ll cry out if I’m especially hungry or need a diaper change, but otherwise, I’ll just wait patiently.

There are a lot of things that make me laugh. Fun games do it all the time. Peekaboo and tickling tickle my funny bone. Fun activities and huge smiles do it too. Like I said, there are a lot of things that make me laugh. One of the sure fire things is funny noises paired with funny faces. Mommy was making popping noises with her mouth and it was cracking me up. It’s just so funny!