CMU

Mason is definitely turning into a Big Boy now. He’s even got his very own chair in the living room.

Daddy went on a business trip for a few days, so Oma Opa and Omama came up to hang out with Andrea and Mason. They had a lot of fun playing at the park.

We took Mason down to Alma’s homecoming. I’m pretty sure he thought the parade was in his honor.

We stopped by the dance studio while we were there, and Mason just *had* to show off his musical prowess.

driving…

Carpentry…

Video games…

…and…learning how to pee. (We’ll work on ‘where’ later)

Cute pictures for the month:

Today’s episode: Mason eating! Everyone loves watching a baby smear green goo all over their face, don’t they? Stick through the end and you’ll be rewarded with a rare glimpse of Mason using “The Force” on daddy. (I swear, I did *not* teach him that! He picked it up after seeing Yoda on television!)

Mason and his girlfriend Kara had a finger-painting party.

Here’s the finished painting…

…and the finished artists.

One of our all time FAVORITE pictures:

Tim and Emily got married on the 19th. We really enjoyed seeing everyone and hanging out with Josh, Kathy and Ty.

(We could have done without the drive though)

For those who haven’t seen it: Mason has been practicing to be an acrobat someday.

At the reception…

…”playing” with Ty again.

Our new sister-in-law Emily had a bridal shower, which gave us the opportunity to see a lot of family.

I think there’s something in your ear, Uncle Tim!

Peekaboo!

Ty and Mason are old enough now to start playing with each other…

…sort of.

We also were able to spend some time with Andrea’s family.

Mason is getting ready for hockey season.

That Oma sure is funny!

Mason has taken up gardening…

…in between workouts, of course.

May 2008

It’s crazy to look back on these pictures and see how different he was only a few months ago.

Mason turned 1 on May 12th, so of course we threw a big party for him. Lots and lots of people came to see him, and he of course loved all the people and decorations

Oma, Opa, and Oma-ma (great grandma) were up for the Easter weekend, and definitely enjoyed their Mason-time.

Dad doesn’t get a smile, so much as a smirk.  I probably deserved it.

Mason is just starting to become interested in real food.  We’ve been experimenting with the baby “puffs” that dissolve easily in his mouth.  So far he likes to spit them out, more than swallow them.  In this particular case, he looked just like he had buck-teeth (The puff is shaped like an “A”, and the bottom of the “A” was sticking out).

We’ve mostly-baby-proofed the apartment, but Mason is always trying to get over the gate we installed.  We got a shot of him mid-escape (he had a little assistance–he normally can’t scale it himself ).

We caught this one after bath time one day…

I think he looks like one of those Treasure Troll Dolls that they had when we were kids in this one.  You know, the ones with brightly colored tufts of hair sticking straight up?

For some reason, Mason likes doors–especially the hinges on them.  Sometimes he likes to play in this little corner of the apartment with doors on 3 sides.  Sometimes dad has to play down there too…

And of course, Mason is always a hit with the residents of Larzelere Hall.  It will be interesting this summer when all of the students are gone and he has fewer people doting on him all time.  Here are two of Andrea’s staff members, Amy and Adam, with their favorite resident:

That’s it for now…tune in next time!  We’ve got a real video camera on order, so when I get some quality footage I’ll make sure to post it.

Mason is eating much better now.  He’s even using a sippy cup, but ONLY for water–he refuses any other liquid.  He won’t eat food that has formula mixed in (turns out that was a big part of the problem), so we’ve resorted to PediaSure for nutritional content, but at least he’s eating somewhat voluntarily.  Hopefully things will continue to get easier.  He also occasionally likes to chew (not suck!) on pacifiers, which make him look extra cute.

Now that he’s eating (and we don’t have any pre-surgery maintenance to worry about), we can actually use babysitters once in awhile instead of being home ALL the time.  Mason seems to be pretty comfortable with the idea–this is one of his girlfriends/babysitters ‘Nenna’ (Jenna).

Mason is very mobile now.  He crawls as fast as lightning, and he’s getting very brave about walking with support.  He actually took two steps last weekend, but we’re pretty sure that was a fluke.  He’s also very curious, and likes to get into everything–especially drawers.  It’s tough to keep him away!

Mason’s hair is coming in quickly now, and it’s now long enough to entertain us .  This is our favorite look for him:

The residents in our building LOVE Mason.  One evening they spontaneously built him a castle, complete with an observatory, dragon, several rooms and a hallway, functioning doors, and a mailbox.  Mason loved it, of course.  Thanks, guys!

That’s it for now!  Stay tuned for pictures of Mason in his Easter sweater-vest!

Mason was kept comfortable with an assortment of painkillers, but there were 4 adults and 2 babies in the hospital room all night. Mason and Mom spend most of the night in a recliner (which we had to specifically request–there wasn’t one in the room when we arrived). Dad actually slept in the hospital bed that was designated for Mason–which was only about 4.5 feet long. Several nurses chuckled to see me curled up on that tiny bed. Between Mason and his roommate, there was a doctor or nurse coming in every 20 minutes or so, and the machines started beeping whenever anyone seemed comfortable, so sleep was scarce.

Poor Andrea had the tough job — Mason is starting to develop separation anxiety, and won’t be separated from Momma for anything. He even clung on when he was sleeping.

Mason has been doing very well though. Much better, in fact, than after his first surgery. He actually ate a bit on Monday, and even more on Tuesday, so by 4 o’clock in the afternoon his surgeon said we could leave. Of course, it took another 2 1/2 hours to get discharged, but we were VERY excited to be going home. Mason has pretty much been his old self, actually, but he looks like he’s had collagen injections in his lips .

For those who are curious, the surgeon did some revisionary work on his lip while he was sedated, which is why his scar is scabby-looking.

Mason actually made quite a few friends while we were in the hospital. Aside from his roommate Gregory (whose surgery went well, by the way), we met a sweet little girl named Carmyn, a very nice golden retriever named Jessie, and a pair of clowns named Glitter and Flip-flop. We were curious how the clowns would be recieved, but Mason was fascinated by the two of them.

Since we’ve been home, our biggest worry is keeping Mason hydrated. So far, he is just as fussy an eater as he ever was before surgery, and getting him to take the sippy cup has been a challenge. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, we’ve been reduced to spoon-feeding Mason most of his liquids. It’s a slow process, but not as bad as we expected; regardless, it gets the fluid in him, which is all that matters right now.

Perhaps we’d have better luck if we put the formula in a green glass bottle: Mason can’t seem to keep his hands off of the Heineken. Every time Grandpa or I have one, it’s all he can pay attention to.

For those who are interested in the particulars of the procedure, Mason’s doctor basically had to open up the entire roof of his mouth to access the different layers of muscle, as well as to manipulate the tissue to the correct position. We were lucky enough to snap this picture of Mason’s mouth, which clearly shows three lines of stitches: one down each side of his mouth, as well as one down the middle of the cleft. Less clear are the stitches that pull the two sides of his upper gum together in the front. And of course, the new tubes in Mason’s ears added to the procedure, as well. It’s pretty amazing that they did all of that work in about 3 hours or so.

We’re still not sure when we’ll be heading home to Mt. Pleasant. Mason has been doing very well, but if things take a turn, we need to be near to the hospital. We can’t wait to see everyone, though! We appreciate all of the support we’ve been getting from everyone.

In lighter news, Mason was doing his naked yoga last week (what, you don’t do naked yoga?), and we had a little photo shoot. Here are some of the highlights:

I think this pose is called ‘Downward Dog,’ or something. This is Mason’s preffered mode of transportation. He gets himself up like this (although usually he’s got clothes on ), and then plops his butt down in whatever direction he’s trying to move. Rinse and repeat, and you’ve got forward (albeit slow) progress.

This one isn’t technically a yoga position, but we figured his girlfriends might enjoy the pose. Mason is quite the ladies’ man, it seems.

Thanks again for all the support. I’ve got a few videos to post whenever I’ve got a better internet connection. Until then, thanks for your prayers, and we’ll see you soon!

Mason has come out of his second surgery with flying colors. Andrea and I got up early this morning and brought him down to Children’s Hospital, where he was admitted at 6am. We spent some time in the waiting room, and then took Mason to the surgical area to prep him. Prepping involves getting him in his gown, taking all his vitals, and talking to the surgeon and anesthesiologists about what’s going to happen.

Mason is such a social guy, he was all smiles as each new doctor came into the room to see him. He must have thought we were throwing him a party. I’ve got some really adorable pictures of him in his little yellow gown, but they’re on my phone right now, and I don’t have the right cable here. They’ll go up later.

Andrea took him into the OR to help keep him calm as he went under, and then we commenced our long wait.

To our surprise, his plastic surgeon came out around 11:00 and said he was all done. We were expecting to be waiting until well after noon, but she said the procedure went extremely well. Dr. Rozzelle closed Mason’s palate, so his oral and nasal cavities are finally two separate things. She also did some touch up work on his lip to reduce the scarring, and the ENT replaced the tubes in Mason’s ears, as the original ones (from October 1) were showing the initial signs of working their way out.

We waited another 20 minutes or so, and then were sent up to Mason’s room, where he was to be brought as soon as he woke up.After a few more minutes, we got to see him–and boy did he look great! His face was (and still is) pretty swollen, but compared to immediately after his first surgery, he looks 100% better (to quote his Opa).

Since then, he’s been sleeping fitfully, but we were amazed when he actually drank a few ounces of formula this evening. We weren’t expecting him to be able to really drink until tomorrow.

Mason has a roommate this week, as the hospital is apparently quite full. Gregory is a very cute little boy who is having surgery tomorrow. He and Mason haven’t talked much yet, but I’m sure they’d be good friends under different circumstances.

Mason got lots of grandparent time over the weekend. We came down Saturday morning (to avoid the slippery roads of Friday’s snowstorm), and it’s been non-stop playtime since then. He brought a gift home for his Opa (consisting mostly of junk food), which he was very eager to deliver. He even signed the bag (which I’m sure will be quite the collectible someday. Oma is saving it, just in case).

Given Mason’s history of not-eating, the pre-surgery dietary restrictions were not much of a problem. He was only allowed clear liquids after 12:30 this morning, and nothing at all after 4:30. Mason didn’t complain, but I know he would have preferred something heavier to drink–maybe a Guiness

That’s it for now…stay posted for updates. Thanks for all the prayers and support!