Out of the mouths of babes...

We walked into the book store.
"What a darling boy! How are you sweetheart?" asked the clerk.
"I NEED TO PEE" he shouted back.

this never gets old:

big BIG boy

I've been getting behind on pictures, so here'e a few of our charming little man. Clockwise from left: Mason on his yellow car wearing his R hat. He mostly pushes the car around like a lawn mower. Next: Washing baby with special soap. Even the special soap makes his rash worse. Next: Playing in his jeep, talking on the phone. Neither the jeep or the phone work but he loves them.

"Why don't you just move out to your own place next?"

When I was pregnant with Mason I heard that one of parents' favorite topics of conversation was potty talk. I vowed I would never be like that.

Whoops. I sort of see now that bathroom...accomplishments...are a big part of development for kids. I still think there is a time and place (and time limit) to which parental bragging should occur. Well, here's mine!

My sister asked me two days ago if Mason was potty trained. I responded no, that while he spends most of his life in underwear, I'll consider him potty trained when he can do the whole process on his own. That means without coercion, reminders, and physically helping him do each step.

I guess he heard me say that because that very day he started visiting the bathroom on his own. For the past few days his continued to do super awesome. So, sorry Mason. I hope writing this doesn't embarrass you in the future. We're just so proud of you.

It usually starts with him stopping what ever he's doing, shouting "One minute!" and running to the bathroom. When he's done he'll come find us with his clothes in hand, yell "I did it!" while throwing his hands high in the air, and will even share what exactly he did. (I have BIG pee! or Mama, I poot!). We help him back into his pants and wash up.

I can't believe he's so coordinated and doing so well. I know he'll still have accidents from time to time, but it's been really nice not buying diapers for the past few months. And it's especially nice to have him do much more on his own. My big pregnant stomach has had a hard time bending over to help him.

Oh, and as for the title! After Mason went by himself the first time I asked Jason if he'd helped him. When he said no, I told him that Mason just did it all by himself. J responded by yelling down the hall "Good job buddy. Why don't you just move out to your own place next?"

Why

Mason has learned the word "Why". 

He says it after almost everything we say.

He says it with a wry little smile.

I think he's on to us. 

I think he knows we don't know the answer.

alphabetter start paying attention

Mason knows his ABCs. We say them a lot, admittedly as a staling tactic. (You want to go outside while I'm in the middle of dishes? Ok, let's say the ABCs and then I'll be ready to head out). He knows when his scribbles look like M's or O's. But suddenly, he KNOWS the ABCs. By sight! I don't know how he made that leap from cute song we sing while we wash our hands to recognizing the letters.

It started one day when Jason was putting on a hat. Mason asked for one too so Jason handed him his old baseball hat from 1987 or something. It has a big R for Richfield on it. Mason said "Oh, R hat for me! Thank you". The next day Jason was wearing a shirt that had South Carolina written across the front. Mason went up to him and started naming the letters "R! L! A! Another A! S!". Next, we were at Kristi's house and Mason was playing with a glockenspiel that had note letters on them. As he disassembled each bar he announced the letter engraved on the end. On and on until I realized there are only a handful of letters he doesn't know by site.

This might not be all that unusual, except we haven't been working on letters much lately. For pete sake he still can't remember all his colors (he knows them all, purple and white and everything, except can't remember red and still calls orange "yellow"). We've been working on colors, numbers, Jesus stories, opposites... pretty much the basics except letters. I guess I'm just blown away that he just started doing it on his own.

I'll probably be one of those moms that calls her kids everyday to ask what they learned in college and what they ate for breakfast and who they sat by and if they other kids were nice to them. I don't mean to be all nosy but I want to know EVERYTHING about my little boy. When I'm away from him, like when he goes to nursery at church, I love to peek in the window and watch him exist without me. And when I pick him up I'm dying to hear every detail I missed while we were separated. What can I say? I'm fascinated by him. It's hard to realize he's growing up...becoming independent... I suppose it has something to do with being responsible for every aspect of his life for so long. Now he's making his own choices, learning so fast, and becoming his own little person.

For some reason a Disney quote pops into my head "It's not right for a woman to read. Soon she starts getting ideas and thinking...". Truly though, parenting is like having front row seats to The Evolution of Man. It starts out with this little creature that is completely dependent on you for survival. They have no skills. Then slowly over time these squishy little beings become smarter, more observant, and able to communicate. They become mobile. Their motor skills evolve into skilled and purposeful movements. They go from monkey babies into intelligent little humans with distinct personalities who can solve problems, understand humor, show sympathy, and display their emotions.

Not a day goes by that I'm not blown away by something.  "Baby I'm amazed by you".

Lion's Mouth hike

Mason is a lucky boy who has great cousins that are super nice to him. Look at those smiles.

Cha cha

When we sneeze or cough, Mason responds with a polite "Cha Cha". I don't know if it's his way of saying Bless You or if he's mimicking the sound or what. But it's cute and he has me and Jason saying "Cha Cha" to each other when we sneeze.

Today in the store I had a total system failure. I was sneezing, coughing, choking, and crying all at once. I was trying to make my way to the back of the store to the drinking fountain but could hardly see! Mason asked if I was ok and then proceeded to "bless" every sound I made. What a site we must have been with me staggering down the aisle, coughing and sneezing with Mason exclaiming "Cha Cha" every 5 seconds.

Dear Aunt Kristi:

I like visiting your house for many reasons. Here is just one of them. Thanks for being so nice. Love, Mason

One Fish, Two Fish

Jason couldn't be happier with his little buddy along for a fishing trip.
Mason caught his first fish at the ripe old age of two. He beat his mom by about 23 years.

back to normal?

Mason slept through the night last night. And the night before. This is HUGE. It's been months since he's done that. Although it hasn't bad lately, one of us usually gets up at least once with him. He goes right back to sleep once he gets a little lovin'.

Funny though. I'm so used to him waking me up that now I can't sleep through the night. Oh well.

AL photos: 27 months old

Dear Nya:

I was so excited to visit you that I ate my hand! Just kidding but thanks for letting me play in your super cool tree house. I keep telling everyone about how you went in the water and got baptized like Jesus. Hope to see you again soon!
Love, Mason

Hyro and Mace

(Labor Day 2010)

We All Scream For Ice Cream

We had ice cream after dinner yesterday.
Today, Mason woke up early, as in too early to be up for the day.
He wanted ice cream.
He wanted it really badly.
When we said no, it's sleeping time, he threw an awesome fit.
Eventually we were all back asleep, ice cream-less, piled in our bed.

(I'll be honest, ice cream for breakfast sounded pretty good.)