Our 2010 Family Christmas Letter: Mother's Day program

One joy of being a M.O.P. is the annual Mother's Day program. Mason's teacher asked him some questions about me and filled out the questionnaire then they read all of them out loud in a small presentation to the parents. They sang a couple of songs and made us a little keepsake with their hand prints. All in all it was a good day. Plus, Mason didn't totally out me like my friend's four-year-old outed her by saying that she likes to dump water on him.

I Know My Mother Well

by: Mason

1. My mom looks prettiest when "it's happy mother's day".

2. My mom's favorite food is "toast".

3. My mom's eyes are "green".

4. My mom likes to "work at our house".

5. She is happy when "I'm being a good boy".

6. My mom is "29" years old.

7. If my mom could go anywhere she would go "for a walk with me".

8. Her best friend is "Kristi".

9. Her job is "to kiss".

10. I love my mom because "she's wonderful".

Well, well, well...

We had well-child checks for the kids yesterday. We combined Mason's four year appointment with Claire's nine month appointment. No one had to have shots, so everyone was pretty happy. Dr. Johnson said both kids are in tip-top shape, and we have no reason to disagree with him!

Mason
Height: 41.9 " (80th percentile)
Weight: 45 lbs. (90th percentile)

According to Dr. Johnson, his BMI lists him as overweight, but he doesn't think that is entirely fair since Mason has always been a stocky, active kid. He didn't even tell us exactly what it was, just pointed it out on the graph. His blood pressure was perfect, but I was over with Claire getting her weighed so I didn't catch those stats, either. Good mommy strikes again.

Claire
Length: 29 inches (90th percentile)
Weight: 15 lbs, 13 oz (5th percentile)
Head Circumference: 17 inches (25th percentile)

Where Claire has always been thin, and she's following the same growth curve, we aren't too worried at this point. Apparently she just puts all of her energy (and the vast, vast amounts of adult food) into growing long rather than chunky. I sure wish I was blessed with the metabolism I apparently passed on to her, but what can you do?

Today I am thankful for... (day six)

Today I am thankful to be the mom of a sweet, beautiful daughter who loves to sing while I'm trying to feed her, enjoys being rocked to sleep, and grabs my shirt so tightly during either activity that she is always attached to me (no need for a sling at our house).

I also love watching her adore her brother and dad. She has always been quick to give them a big smile, bu she's starting to not mind when they play a little rough with her. Beyond that, she loves it enough that the little giggle she gives is infectious.

I'm grateful we decided to have another baby. She completed our family in a really fantastic way and I'm so excited for the opportunity to watch her grow, to get to know her better, and to be her mama.

Today, I am thankful... (day five)

Today I am thankful to be the mom of such a healthy, energetic, silly little boy. I am also thankful that the day is going better now than it did at the beginning. He helps me live in a world where a wonderful day is simply a picnic lunch in his bedroom and his bed is the slide or the big bridge or somewhere to bounce. It's a truly magical place and I need a little of that! Now if I could just borrow a small fraction of his energy...

An Economics Lesson

Mason: Dad, can you fix my train track?

Dad: Unfortunately, due to the slow economy, the county has run out of funding. You'll have to wait until the next budget year.

Mason: What did you say?

Dad: Yeah, buddy, I can fix your train track.

Nice!

Being the sole caretaker of an infant led to a lack of photographic evidence of our recent camping trip. So while I attempt to steal pictures from my mother-in-law to post, chew on this conversation with Mason from earlier today.

First, let me set the stage. We were driving home from Mason's swimming lesson, engaged in fairly pleasant conversation, when he posed the following question.


Mason: How do you kill someone?

Dad (after he had picked his jaw up off the floor, under his breath to mom): You're so in charge of answering this one.

Mom (with a dirty look in Dad's direction): You don't. It's naughty. Like, the naughtiest thing ever.

Dad: Yeah, that would get you a really big time out.

MAN! Do you ever wonder where things your kids say come from? I for one have no idea what prompted this. We weren't having a conversation about where we would hide the bodies; we hadn't even jokingly referred to Achmed, the Dead Terrorist.

Things That Make You Go #@%*&!

This is what happens when you have a little monkey who insists on swinging from things that aren't, oh, I don't know IMBEDDED INTO A STUD. And the conversation goes something like this:

Mason (rubbing eyes): I want that circle thing back in the wall.

Mom: Well, I think the hole makes that impossible right now. We'll have to fix it. Are your eyes okay?

Mason: No!

Mom (with a sigh): Mason, didn't I ask you not to swing from it like a monkey?

Mason: Yeah.

Mom: Then why did you do it?

Mason: Because it's a swing!

So I took my friend's advice to grab the camera. Mason ran off before I could get a picture of him with his face covered in sheetrock. Did I mention he happened to be wearing his bicycle helmet when this happened? At least he believes in workplace safety. (Or he learned something from earlier today when he tried to climb an unopened ladder that landed on his head. Other than a small scrape on his forehead, he's just fine). His eyes survived this run in with sheetrock/paint/drywall. We can only hope he'll be so lucky when he "helps" us fix the wall.

Mason: Decoded

As three year olds will do, Mason keeps on saying things that make us turn our heads and shake with silent laughter. Half the time, we wouldn't really want him to know that we think he's funny because we wouldn't want him to repeat himself. (For example: He approached a total stranger at the grocery store and told him "My mom hits me." What he neglected to mention was I had accidentally bumped into him with the cart. I was about six shades of purple.) He also has a funny way of explaining himself sometimes, so I thought I would share a few of his latest gems.

• Last morning = yesterday; or sometimes a vague time period when he can't recall when something happened.
• "Let's do it today!" = I want to do it right now, even if you just told me no.
• "Is it nooning?" = Are the railroad crossings down?
• Shower-bath = allowing the bathtub to fill with water as he showers, and then turning off the water and splashing in it for hours on end.
• "Poop happens." = pretty self explanatory in a potty-training scenario. Also not a great comfort when you're the responsible party for cleaning up after said accident.
• "Right there, right there, right there -- BOOM!" = a delightful game where you repeatedly point to the spot you're about to punch and then punch it. Claire is not a big fan of this game.
• "I'm thirsty." = I'm going to drink all of your water. He prefers my hospital mug over anything else, even when I've filled the other hospital mug for him.
• "I need a snack." = I want junk food/candy.
• "I want to be a digger!" = I want chocolate milk. I'm going to scoop amazing amounts of Nesquick into my milk if you'll let me.
• Chocolate sandwich = new treat introduced by dad consisting of two graham cracker halves held together with chocolate frosting. Oh, all right, mom likes them as well.
• "That scared me out of the crap!"
• "Where are the handles?" = he has taken to pulling the stitched edging off some of his blankets into loops, and then puts his fingers through the loops. After a twisting incident that resulted in hysterics, I cut the loops on one blanket, only to find several more later that day. He reserves this mostly for his "candy blankets". We have one with Tootsie Pop logos and one with Junior Mint logos.

He also recently asked me "Mom, how do you close your mouth?" ... much to his father's delight. I wish I could actually keep track of all the funny things he says, but half the time I'm so busy trying to cover up my initial reaction that I can't write them down.

Comparing Notes

Here's a side by side comparison of Mason at age one month and Claire at age one month. I'm not sure they look that much alike. You can tell they are related, but overall they look different. She has different cheekbones, a different mouth, less hair, and a thinner face. According to my mom, Claire looks a whole lot more like me as a baby (especially in build) than Mason did. Mason has always looked so much like his dad. Time will tell, but I think I need to apologize to Claire for passing on my freakishly huge/long feet.

Personality-wise, I'm not sure where they stand as far as similarities go. I can't remember all that much about six-week-old Mason's personality, other than he ate a lot and really hated being woken up. He was born in the winter, so it took longer to catch on to this, but they are both really outdoorsy. Claire will actually turn her head toward the sun and make content little noises. The first time I remember thinking Mason loved outside was when we took him camping at five months old. He sat in his bouncy chair and stared at the trees moving all day long. I have a feeling Claire will do the same thing given the opportunity.

I'm hoping Claire takes after Mason in sleeping, though. He slept consistently through the night at eight weeks and has never really looked back. Claire has had a couple of all-nighters already, but she seems to be a stickler for that 3:30 am time slot. I have admit that I like it, too. It's my only real chance to spend some one-on-one quiet time with her so I can know all this stuff!

Cheese

So what does an active three year old do without Mom to entertain him while she's feeding the new baby? He runs wild with the camera. Here are some of the results:

Why I love will call... and more from Mason's big "Day Out" surprise

Sorry for the long post and obscene number of pictures without a slide show or something; going to Day Out With Thomas at the Heber Valley Railroad was a huge day for us!

So, I'm a mean mom and I didn't ever tell Mason where we were going. The night before, I told him that me and his dad had a very special surprise for him in the morning, but he would have to wait until Dad was home from work so he could ask where we were going. Alan also opted out of telling him, instead waiting until we arrived for that first look of surprise as he realized we were going to see Thomas in person.

Mom's first stop was the main ticket counter (more on that in a minute). Afterward, with our train ride secured and everything settled, we headed over to temporarily tattoo our kid. It was his choice to get them on his cheeks. And since each person with a wristband got a tattoo, Alan generously donated his to Mason's cause so Mason didn't have to choose between Rosie and Henry. If Mason had three cheeks, I would've donated mine too so he could have had another. Also, he loves them so much that he is pretty dedicated to the idea of not showering so that they won't go down the drain.

Legotown. I was very nice and didn't post the clear picture I have of the person who obviously built it standing guard. He took it very seriously for something that was on display for a million little kids. I'm sure if I worked that hard on something I would guard it with my life as well, but Legos have never been my thing. In fact, just ask Mason-- I even hate picking them up.

Mason loved the hay maze and took off at full speed with Alan hot on his heels. He only made two wrong turns. I think Mason could find his way through anything if there was a train on the other side.

This is how he spent the majority of our train ride. He pointed out to me later that he hung out the window and didn't fall on the tracks. We were grateful for that.

Claire handled the outing like a champ. She enjoyed a rather long nap in her comfy stroller, other than one lunch break. I must say I was glad they provided a nursing spot. I just wish it hadn't been downwind from the petting zoo, in a dirty tent in the parking lot, with fold up metal chairs to sit on. I guess nothing will beat the set up I have at home with my rocking chair (Shani, that link is for you if you ever have the chance to read this again! You said you wanted a chair like mine).

We were too cheap and hot to pay for the pictures with the front of Thomas because we let Mason pick a souvenir instead. So we opted for pictures next to the famous #1 before the train took off.


Mason and Dad walking down the tracks back toward the car.

This is what happens when you get a boy to bed late, get him up early, and give him more excitement than he can possibly handle in one morning. He slept like that all the way home from Heber.

Now, for the adult side of the recounting. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but I LOVE Will Call. I'm not organized enough to keep track of something as small as tickets, and definitely not for the time period that is often required. Well, apparently if you order your tickets for Day Out with Thomas more than three weeks in advance, will call is not an option and you must receive them in the mail. I hated that. I hated that I received them days before I had Claire (an event which in many ways reconstituted what brain I had left into mush). I hate that I put them "somewhere safe", which in my world means they will never be found again. I also hate that everything on Ticket Web says "no exchanges, no refunds, basically don't lose these or you will have just paid an obscene amount of money for nothing".

I love that Heber Valley Railroad was so nice and reprinted our tickets and let us switch to a different time for the train ride when my failure to cope well with getting two small children out of the house led to us arriving for our train ride only right on time (which would have been fine if could find the tickets). If we go again, I'm waiting to order tickets until less than three weeks before and I'm picking them up at Will Call.

Overall, as parents, we loved Day Out with Thomas for our train-lovin' boy. We commited to go (and arranged with grandma to be a backup if necessary since the day out was so close to my due date) so that Mason could have an activity a little more centered around him in this post-Claire world where he is no longer the center of attention. I think it was an outing he benefitted from in many more than just the obvious ways, and it's something special we did together as a family that he will remember for a long time.

Wordless Wednesday: The Original Squirt Gun

For more Wordless Wednesdays, check out 5 minutes for mom.

From China to your house, with love

I'm not a good holiday celebrator; I think I've mentioned this. One thing I forgot was that the Easter Bunny hides eggs when he/she brings Easter baskets. My husband was kind enough to tell Mason this was going to take place a few days before it happened. It was good because it kick started my plan to help Mason enjoy the day. We already knew the Easter Bunny was going to be bringing a bike, but it inspired me to help the boys dye eggs and be prepared with extra baskets and treats so Mason could hunt for whatever the Easter Bunny chose to leave behind.

Just a question about the egg-dying process: Am I the only one who's noticed the options around these days? Alan just got the basics, an "original egg dying kit". It had NINE color options. Nine. That's basic? I think when I was a kid (and I'm not trying to complain, it was fun) we had four or six colors for options depending on the kit. If we wanted green, we made it out of yellow and blue. If we wanted orange, we made it. To be fair, Mason did try a chemistry experiment by putting the orange and purple tablets in the same cup. Since we didn't want a black egg, we nixed that cup and went with a seven-color variation that worked well.

Alan showed Mason the white crayon that lets you draw pictures (or names in our case) prior to dying. Mason wanted a fire engine sticker on his and his dad's eggs. My egg ended up being yellow and you couldn't read the "Mom" on it.

We played while the eggs dried; Mason was excited to put the stickers all over them, so we let him go nuts as soon as they were ready. (Also, probably the closest this blog will see to a belly shot; I'm not good at posing and I'm usually the one taking the pictures.)

Two nights before, Mason informed us that the Easter Bunny would be by our house that night. Alan told him that Easter was still a couple of days away, and it was going to take a while; the Easter Bunny's mode of transportation after all is hopping, and he was still clear on the other side of the world in China.


Well, as Mason enjoyed some of the candy and small toys, he let me know the Easter Bunny had brought them all the way from China. I think we'll wait a few years to get into the cultural and ecological differences that make that a little hard.

Either way, we had a fun day with our in-house Easter Egg hunt, taking Mason on long walks so he could enjoy his new bike (thanks also to Alan's younger brothers who both went on walks of their own with him!), playing MarioKart and Tiger Woods with Alan's brothers, and seeing Alan's parents after they had a weekend out of town. We also embarked on a round of Cities and Knights of Catan that might just be the longest game ever, but it was mostly fun.

His first question: "Where's the step?" He's now in the hang of getting on and off, even if he needs a little help sometimes. And one of these days, he'll have the pedaling thing completely down, too.

The helmet lecture. Would you expect any different from parents who are a paramedic and a dispatcher? Mason has taken to his helmet so well he likes to wear it around the house. Who are we to discourage this?



Happy Easter from our house to yours!

Day Three of Three

So I've had several emails/comments from people who are watching how this program worked for us. I would recommend trying it to anyone. If you don't want to dig back through my rambling, it's Lora Jensen's 3 Day Potty Training, available as an eBook for immediate download. It's not very long, I read the book in about 20 minutes even with Mason climbing all over me. I have also referred back to it several times. I only wish I would have found this sooner and I will continue to gratefully thank the co-worker who referred me.

I also apologize for the delay in getting up the information from our house on Day 2. I worked through most of Day 3, so I'm posting them together today. I also need to thank my husband who took up the reins for day three. He hadn't read the book, but after being home with me on the first day, he was a seasoned pro. He did this as well as getting our concrete pad up to snuff with gates so the dogs could go back outside instead of being on leash.

His report from Day 3 was much the same as Day 2. The boys did get playing at one point, and Mason forgot to report his need to go potty, so there was one accident. But Mason woke up dry and stayed that way the vast majority of the day.

By the end of Day 3, we came to realize how much independence our guy usually has. It isn't that we don't play with him, but at a few points during the day, we retreat to our separate corners sort of and do our own things. With this program, you stick to your child like glue for all three days. There is no taking a break to fold laundry (and what three year old is going to help with that?! Mine will just throw it all on the floor) or anything else that could be considered a distraction. I hate to admit that it will be nice to get back to normal. I love to color with him, I love to play trains and trucks, and so on. But I also like to have a clean house, which sometimes require me to make sure Mason is playing well on his own so I can do the dishes or vaccuum. And I'll admit, I take a few minutes a few times a day to catch up with email, blogging, etc. It will be nice to get back to some semblance of normal.

The bottom line is this: I recommend this program. She says there will be no accidents, but I have accepted that they happen. It's not a totally perfect process, but I think we're much better off than we were three days ago in terms of Mason being potty trained. I feel much more confident that he will be totally ready for preschool when the time comes, because potty training was the biggest setback he was having. And I also feel confident that, when it comes to Mason at least, we won't need to buy any more diapers or Pull Ups, which will be a huge break. Until we get to start all over again.

Day Two of Three

The second day of our potty training program worked out much better than the first day. Mason stayed dry all night (YAY!), which we chose to focus on. Alan and I had been in the habit of locking Mason's bedroom door; I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but Mason started climbing out of his crib when he was just shy of 18 months old. At this time, he could also reach the lock on the front door and open the door to go outside. As a result of getting a bed so young (because he was so likely to hang himself on the crib with the way he was getting out), and being able to access the great outdoors on his own, we felt locking his door was warranted at the time.

However, obviously, with the potty training thing, we have to start leaving the door unlocked so he can get out if necessary during the night. Well, this first morning, Mason didn't believe us that the door was unlocked; he didn't come out, and after stepping out his bed he had an accident. We focused on the huge accomplishment of staying dry all night; I will admit that I've started restricting his liquid intake about two hours prior to bedtime to help with this. It means I've been more timely with dinner as well, which is not a bad thing.

Otherwise, Mason was relatively accident free. He was very good about telling me every time he had to go the bathroom and getting there before we had a problem. Also, one of the previous rewards we had (which we have used all through the three days) was a bag full of trucks. They were cheap Matchbox trucks from a large pack; I think all told, I spent about $20 on them at the recommendation of Alan's co-worker who's little boy had potty trained in no time flat for trucks. Well, the majority of day two was spent by Mason trying to convince me to cough up another truck. Good luck explaining rewards for increased performance to a three year old.

The Girls

I know that imaginary friends are normal for little kids. I had one named Stephanie was a kid. I have a friend who's son had "Peeps". None of us ever figured out who his Peeps were.

That does not mean I was expecting Mason's new imaginary friends.

"The girls" went into Mason's room with him one night to sleep in his bed. "The girls" were jumping into the bathwater with Mason the next morning. "The girls" are apparently everywhere, all the time.

Should I be worried that my three year old is already conjuring up girls to sneak into his room and go skinny dipping with?

Day One of Three

So I feel like I went from nothing to post to lots of things to post, but this is the one I've been the most excited/frustrated/overwhelmed with so I wanted to get this one up first.

I was recently telling a friend of mine at work (with very active nearly four year old twins) about difficulty potty training Mason. So much of what I had heard was that I would have to wait until he was ready. Between having a new baby enroute and having paid a fair amount to register him at a preschool, I wanted to make more headway than that. We had tried a couple of approaches, and Mason responds well to Daddy to a point, but then nothing. As I was telling her about my frustration with it, she nodded in understanding and referred me to Lora Jensen's 3 Day Potty Training Method.

The first thing that caught me about it was her saying the first step was having your child assist you in throwing away diapers, Pull Ups, and anything resembling them. She instructs you to clean out your car, the diaper bag, that one bag you carried around six months ago that still has a diaper in the bottom. She said Pull Ups and padded underwear are a crutch. It was the exact same thing I'd been thinking as we used them, because we were getting no further than using a Pull Up instead of a diaper.

I'll spare you the gory details, except to say it's copyrighted information and you have to purchase it; it's an eBook available for immediate download. You use a very positive, reinforcing approach, and you can start as early as age 22 months.

So we started Day One yesterday. After four or five accidents, I was telling Alan that I thought we might've made a mistake and I didn't feel like this was going to work. It was the first time I had left Mason's side all day. Alan's valid point was that we had no choice but to continue through the night because dinner was cooking and we had already chucked all the diapers. I headed inside, resigned to the fact that I had a few more hours of mess to clean up, and what did I see? Mason sitting there, going potty. He had been playing, recognized on his own he needed to go, and went. All this had occurred in about three minutes. We had a couple of other bumpy experiences until bedtime, but I felt like we had at least turned a corner with it.

Today is Day Two; I'll be back tomorrow to let you know how that went. As for the moment, all I can say is check it out. I'm waiting the full 72 hours to make a full recommendation or dismissal, but so far so good.

New Bedtime Song

These are the songs the boys come up with when mom is at work for bedtime. However, we're having a hard time remembering the whole thing. Anyone know another verse?

On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese
I lost my poor meatball when somebody sneezed
It rolled off the table and on to the floor
And then my poor meatball rolled right out the door...


...and we're done. I can remember the entire inappropriate version (naturally), but I know there is more to the "G" rated one. I think the poor meatball ends up covered in moss or something. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you remember so I don't start laughing during bedtime again. That's not very calming for Mason and ended up extended bedtime for quite a while the other night.

Ummm....awkward!

Mason: Mom, what's under here? (pointing to his pajamas)

Mom: Umm... under your finger? A monkey.

Mason: No, under the monkey and under the diaper.

Mom: (searching my mind desperately) Your body.

Mason: It was going up.

Mom: Yeah, sometimes they do that.

Mason: It doesn't go down very well.

Mom: Well...as long as it doesn't hurt that's okay.

I was totally hoping we could avoid this conversation for a while yet. And I was totally hoping I wouldn't be as embarrassed or unprepared as I was. And who are we kidding--- I was hoping his dad would have to have it with him!

I'll get right on that

Alan took advantage of the warmer weather to take down our Christmas lights yesterday. While he was working up on the roof, Mason and I were working in what will be the new baby's room, which has a window leading right out onto the roof. Alan asked me to hand something out to him, so off came the screen... and thanks to the fabulous wind of late, down to the driveway below it went.

So I left to grab the requested item, and when I returned, I saw Mason leaning out the partially opened window, talking to his dad. What was he saying, you might ask?

"Can I get a small fry, please?"

Umm, no. We don't eat out that often. Why would you think so?