18 Month update

Mason keeps me too busy to blog most of the time. This past week has been so much fun, I feel like we've really turned a corner. Mason has a funny personality. Whenever he sees a hat with ear flaps he insists I put it on his head. He talks so much lately, although it is a special Mason dialect that not even we can interpret. He is learning what his little body can do and his coordination is greatly improved. He has figured out that he can get on the couch downstairs by opening the drawer to the table next to it, climb in the drawer, hoist himself on top of the table and then leap onto the couch and onto unsuspecting Daddy. He'll wear himself out doing this over and over again.He can be very particular. During a tantrum a few weeks back I tried distracting him with his favorite fridge items: orange juice or applesauce. Neither would pacify and his howling intensified. He continued to act like he wanted them so I walked back to the counter. He carefully got the lid to each container and put them on. The crying stopped. Similarly, a shirt collar too stiff or a sock on crooked really agitates him. This is supposed to be the part where I say how baffled I am at his behavior, but I was The Devil Child and I clearly remember being set off by a pony tail too tight and still get cranky if I can feel any tags on my clothes.

Jason has been working a lot lately so their "manly bonding" time is limited. I like to see Mason go up to our wedding picture in the living room and point to Jason and ask "Dad?". He still enjoys mini motorcycle rides on the driveway and Mason also is very good at helping his dad work in the back yard. We go watch Jason play city-league basketball once a week. It's Mason's important job to hold the basketball until we get there. Last night he chirped "Ball. Ball. Ball. Ball. Ball" the entire way. After the game he and his buddy Kyson ran out onto the floor. They met under the basketball hoop and gave each other a big hug. The hug went on and on. Then they started tipping, lost their balance and fell to the floor.

We bought a little table for Mason's room so he would have a place to sit and play, color, get out the playdough, or stack toys. Yesterday, I was getting ready and it got really quiet. Alarmed, I poked my head into his room. I caught him sitting at the table reading and nodding as he looked at each page. That's my boy!Mason loves kids smaller than him, especially little girls. In nursery a few weeks back a little girl kicked him in the face when he was trying to climb up the stairs to the slide. He cried and found something else to do. As we were leaving nursery he spotted her and instead of being scared or mean, he ran after her with arms wide open. He followed her down the hall and finally scored a hug when she stopped at the drinking fountain. He's very "soft" and careful around babies. Mason is pleased to discover they too have eyes and needs reminding not to poke them. It is good for my heart that he has become so affectionate. He'll stop mid-play to give me a hug. He'll hug your legs when you least expect it. He'll always offer up a kiss after a prayer, diaper change, or usually on request. Sometimes he'll randomly walk up to me and stroke my hair, peer into my face and then say "AAAHHHHH" as he cuddles up to me. He still has moments of screaming and frustration, but they are so easy to deal with because of his predominate good nature.