Monkey see, Monkey do

Of all the times for me to slack off on my updates, this was a bad one. Mason is at a very fun time in his development and it seems he changes so much each day. Tonight, while Scott and I were watching him in amazement of how adorable he is, I felt a sense of urgency to document everything about him so I don't forget how fun this time in our lives is. So hold tight because here I go.
As many of you know, I love monkeys!! They have the funniest little facial expressions and their curious ways make them so adorable. It has brought me great joy to watch Mason become my own little Curious George. I have told Scott I could write a story about Mason's daily adventures, (I would call it "The adventures of Mason and Ducky" - Ducky is Mason's stuffed duck) but Scott is skeptical of its potential. Anyway, now that Mason has completely given up crawling and is a walking maniac, it's as if a whole new world has opened up to him. Mason walks all around the house, yard, or store pointing and saying, "Wassat, wassat?". He not only wants to know the names of things he wants to experience first hand what they are used for. It has been amazing to me how quickly he picks up on how to do things! Kid's learning curves are unbelievable! I could go on for a year talking about all the things Mason has learned how to do this past month, but I will spare you all and just list some of my favorites.

• Mason has been learning his animal noises. It all started while Scott was in Arizona and Mason started doing a sheep noise, only this wasn't just any sheep noise, it was an angry sheep. I taught him that was what a sheep says and now when you ask him, "what does a sheep say?" he will tell you. He has learned another animal noise about every week since. He now does in addition to the sheep, a pig: wrinkles his nose and snifs really hard (see walking video for example), a cow: mmmmmm, and we're working on a lion: ra ra ra ra in his growly voice. Unfortunately he is often times bashful about doing it for a lot of people, but at home and with my parents he loves showing off his skills. Here is a video of him when he first started the sheep noise.

• Whenever Scott and I call each other on the phone, whoever has Mason will hold the phone up to his ear and ask him to "Say Hello". Up until now he always just stared at the phone and would be silent, but now the phone has become one of his favorite toys. He picks it up (even when no one is on the phone) and holds it over his shoulder and says "wowo" in a soft, nice, high voice. He will then walk around 'talking' in his high phone voice with the phone held to his ear. When a phone isn't available a remote or the baby monitor works just as well. I can't help but smile every time he does it.

• Scott really wanted to get Mason a little basketball hoop for his birthday. I told him he would probably like it more for Christmas or next year's birthday, but Scott insisted. So we got him the basketball hoop. The day after his birthday Scott kept trying to help Mason hold the ball and put it in the basket, but Mason didn't seem interested. Scott was a little disappointed that I was right. Later we were at my mom's house where she has the same hoop in her toy room. Mason was busy playing with some other toys when he saw a ball. He grabbed the cloth ball in one hand and started walking toward the hoop with the ball in an outstretched hand. He walked right up to the hoop and dunked the ball. It turns out he just wasn't interested in having help. Since then he has started saying, "Baw" for ball and loves to play b-ball with his Dad.
• My dad wears reading glasses and it really interests Mason when he is wearing them. So the other day he put them on Mason, which he thought was really neat. Later that day while playing with Mr. Potato Head he found the little glasses and knew exactly what to do with them. He nearly poked out his eyes trying to put the little, hard, plastic glasses on, but he tried nonetheless. Now that it's sunglasses season he thinks he's entitled to wear everyone's sunglasses. When he puts them on he always flashes a big grin like he knows he looks cool.

Okay, I could go on and on, but it's getting late. I have loved every day of Mason's life, but I must say 1 has definitely been my favorite age so far. I often feel like there is no way tomorrow could be better than today, but I am always surprised at how it really does get better and better. I love this little boy!!