The Zoo, Ms. Moo, & All that's New!

Can you believe it? I'm getting the "five month post" out on the actual day that Maelee turned five months old! Well, almost, but at least I began it on the actual day... Still not at the every-other-week mark, but I'm working on it. This is a start, at least!

While not quite as jam-packed as the previous month, there was still lots of fun to be had and new discoveries to be made during month 5.

Some of the fun that was had:

A day trip to see the Statue of Liberty with friends Lauren and Chamie, along with Chamie's sweet boys:

Not the best lighting, but you get the picture!

Maelee's first trip to the Central Park Zoo:

(slideshow of more pics from the zoo below)

A Visit from Nana-Lin & Pop-Pop! (Stay tuned for pics from that visit in the next post)


Hanging out with friends- both the human kind and the doll kind!

Blushing as sweet James grabs her knee- ha!

Blushing as sweet Teegan grabs her side!

(slideshow of more pics with Teegan below!)

And of course, with good friends "Molly the Dolly" (above)
and "Girlie Girl" (below)

A day trip to CT on Labor Day:

Enjoying some fresh air, beautiful views, and good friends

Entertaining herself in her bumbo, jump-up, and mat!

Another classic "crazy hair" day
(above AND below!)

Some discoveries that were made:

Rolling over! Just days after hitting the "four month mark," Maelee surprised herself by flipping off her tummy (she's never liked "tummy time...") onto her back!

Cute video of it taken back on 9/1:

http://vimeo.com/15242434
password: Maelee6

Thankfully, she's building some arm strength by tugging on Ms. Moo the Cow!:



She's added some "Mmm's" and "B's" to her sweet vocabulary. And the faces she makes to get these sounds out are hysterical!!!


She's learning to balance while sitting and can go a few seconds before falling forward or backward- again, too funny :)


And she's starting to hug back, which whether she intends or realizes it or not, seriously is the sweetest thing ever.


She finally got some pointers from Parker the cat on how to nap properly:


And realized she actually enjoys hamming it up for the camera!








But she also discovered that mommy will still snap shots even when she doesn't feel like hamming it up...

Everyone else enjoyed celebrating sweet Lauren's birthday at the Shake Shack,
but Maelee just wanted a nap.

It's been another great month with our sweet Maelee girl. Sometimes the only way I can describe how I love her is just to say "Mommy loves you beyond beyond!" Whatever that means... but whatever is beyond the beyond I guess pretty much sums up how I feel!:)

What? No "five month photo shoot???" Relax! Would a crazy picture-happy mommy and crazy picture-taking daddy forget a month? Don't worry. We are just saving it for a particular dress :) And that post will be arriving soon!

In the meantime, enjoy one last slideshow of our little sweetie:

All About Steve (well, sort of...)

This post is not at all about the (horribly reviewed) movie of the same title, and is actually only somewhat about my husband. I mean, come on, will there really be a post that doesn't include our little sweetie as a main focus any time soon??? Regardless, I wanted to make sure to include his recent good news at some point!

So what is this good news you may ask?

Well, he got a new job!!!

After 9 years in school, and another 4 years in a position where he was basically a "glorified grad student" (Steve's words), my husband has recently accepted a job offer. And not just any job offer, but a job that's in this city that we so dearly love, and a job that he's really excited about!!! Starting October 1st, Steve will be an Assistant Editor at the prestigious journal, Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, and I am oh so proud of him.

What? No more cancer research? Actually, in this position he feels he has even more influence over science (again, Steve's words) and quite frankly, the politics and frustrations of being in active research were just no longer making the "academia" route very appealing to him. And with his interest in writing, a position with a science journal seemed like a good fit! Thankfully, the journal agreed. Steve will now be on the other side of research- instead of trying to get his work published, he'll be one of the people who decides which other researchers get to be published! He won't be an editor in the grammatical sense, but will be choosing what content will or won't make the cut and he's really looking forward to this new opportunity. Big changes are ahead and we are excited to see what God has in store for our family here in NYC.

Soo, YAY for Steve!!!

Celebrating at a nearby wine bar

And to further honor this great man I call my husband, here are some recent pics of our sweet little Maelee either taken by her daddy or with her daddy! Gotta tie it all in together somehow, right?

Checking out her adorable, little feet with those cute rattle-socks

At lunch with the whole fam during a quick visit from Nana & Pop-Pop

Hanging out with friends at their rented CT home on Labor Day

Staying shaded on her first trip to the Central Park Zoo

Posing for daddy after the long, exciting day

To see even more of Steve's great pics, click here!

And of course, dozens more pictures of our little sweetie will soon follow in another post about the happenings of her fifth month. Stay tuned!

A Tale of Two Maelees

And now the four month mark has been reached!

More pics of her "4 Month Photo Shoot" here:

Has reaching the 4 month mark been magical?

Well, let's just say that "magical" is not quite the word I'd use to describe this past month. What about predictable? Wait, did I really say our sweet Maelee was starting to get a bit more predictable only a few weeks ago??? Let's just say that predictable would be about the last word I'd use to describe this past month!

Don't get me wrong, there were some awesome moments during month 4. So let's start there.

It began with a wonderful visit from her great Too-dad, "Great Nart," Nana-Lin, and Pop-Pop...

Slideshow of that visit here:

Followed by her first trip on an Amtrak train...



to see Nana and Pop-Pop for a week in Alexandria, VA!

She fell in love with the "jump-up" there.

And LOVED being in the arms of Nana-Lin

and Pop-Pop

Gracie sure loved having Maelee around, too!
(But is still anxious for the time she can actually play with her...:)

And she got to wear a crazy (albeit stinkin' cute) outfit that Nana-Lin couldn't resist picking out for her...

to meet her future BFF, Alli!

(Becky's dear friend, Cindy's, new little girl)

A riot of a slideshow of that afternoon here:

She also enjoyed the cool breeze from the Potomac River during her visit...

More pics in a slideshow of our "bathing beauty" here:

A great trip was had by all that week.

And a slideshow of pics from the Alexandria visit here:

Then Maelee enjoyed being back in NYC at a nearby park...



AND met her Grandma and Grandpa Mason this month, too!!!

Enjoyed another cool breeze from the East River down at the South Street Seaport...



Then back to the park with the Mason family...

Followed by a past-bedtime dinner decked out in her "little black dress" before having to say goodbye to Grandma & Grandpa and Aunt Kim.

Of course, another slideshow of this visit here:

Also in month four, Maelee hung out with future boyfriend, Wesley...


And definitely still managed several smiles for the camera...

And a final slideshow of 4 Month pics here:

(What- too many pictures???)

She's using those hands more and more to grab, shake, and rattle her toys, those eyebrows are getting even crazier and more expressive, and her "talking" is hysterical, complete with razzberries and all.

So what about this "Tale of Two Maelees" in month four? Truth be told, I have no idea! But I seriously felt like my child had morphed into a different person the last two weeks of her 4th month.

Maybe it's the *very* beginnings of teething (as in nothing can be seen or felt yet but maybe there's "movement")??? Maybe it's Maelee's way of demanding a more structured routine that's not so different every day now that she's pretty much waking up at the same time each morning? Maybe there was a serious growth spurt in there? Who knows! Maybe she just enjoys this new skill she's developed!

All I know is that my dear sweet child certainly found her voice this last month and truly discovered how to scream. No, not just cry. She was doing just fine with that before. I mean S C R E A M. Yup, my precious girl has some serious vocals. Those couple of weeks were quite harrowing for mommy, to say the least. I admit, I know I can hardly complain as she would eventually settle down, and the screaming was by no means constant, but there was a point where I wondered if I'd ever get my chill, go-with-the-flow, Miss Smiles back!

Well, as I always take longer than intended on these posts and we're now officially into Month 5 by this point, I can see that there was light at the end of that tunnel. We've gotten a bit more structured with our day, the smiles have returned (with even some crazy giggling thrown in!), and the screams have subsided. Still not as smiley, still not completely past the screams, but it's just been a reminder of how in love we are with this little girl even when "the going gets tough."

Lots to tell already on other Mason family fronts as we entered Month 5, but I'm hoping to get more frequent in posting (not just once-per-month), so I'll hold off on everything else until the next time...