Maiden Voyage(s)

We took a much-needed family walk today. It was so nice to get out of the house. For all the delightful things about winter (hot chocolate, snuggling up with a movie or book on a snowy day, shoveling until the shovel breaks, your four year old completely mocking the snowman you built), we all get a little cagey by the time it's winding down. So out came the sun and out came the family! Claire loves, loves, loves being outside and was cooing up a storm the whole time. I think it's safe to say we all commiserated.

Claire (and dad) made her first trip ever down a slide. I wasn't fast enough to catch the first one. This is the second one. I think she enjoyed herself, though. She was looking around in amazement. She kind of does this wide-eyed glance sometimes and you know if she could verbalize it, she would be saying "Holy crap! What was that?!"

Mason took his scooter out for its first real spin. This is one of the major drawbacks of having your birthday and Christmas back-to-back and in the winter. His "big" presents from mom and dad or Santa are often outdoorsy things that he has to bottle up the excitement to use until warm weather hits. He's been dying to take this bad boy around the block for some time. He only had one fall, and he brushed it off after a bit of coddling. He also insisted that his scooter could not go through puddles and carried it over them.

We also had the bonus of seeing some neighbors along the way. It's kind of entertaining how everyone's kids grow up in the winter when we are all hibernating. Everyone on our block is bigger, with more hair, etc. The little kids are desperately wanting to keep up with the big kids. I think Mason has reached the ranks of the "big kids" and that is hard for me to accept on so many levels.

Eight Great Months

Claire celebrated the beginning of her eighth month last Sunday. This little one is getting so big so fast it is almost hard to believe, even though it's happening right before our eyes. She is a proficient crawler (as of just before Christmas), can easily maneuver from laying to sitting to standing and back again, and appears to be on to the next milestone: walking. She can pull herself up to stand, but is at a bit of a loss to go from crawling to standing yet. She often crawls around with her feet flat on the ground, her legs straight, and her butt in the air. I refer to it as a "teepee crawl". On the whole, she is a loveable, happy little chatterbox who only really cries if she's tired. She is known to shriek her displeasure, though; she is no sort of a silent sufferer. She loves any kind of food she's tried so far, too.



Likes: being swung, being tickled, clapping her hands or toys together, cruising, giving random kisses, eating, her brother (and getting into his toys), snuggling under blankets, the bathtub, her monkey book, the plush ladybug pictures in her room, singing and being rocked

Dislikes: being alone, her carseat, holding still for a diaper change, being tired (she will fight bedtime with all her might until she's actually in her bed)

Dear Mason, today you are four years old...

...and after all the frustration and battles in the last year, it feels a little bit like a victory. It's been a year of firsts for you, and you have come out on top.

It was about this time last year that we tackled potty training. We learned how disciplined your focus can really be. The bad news is that your focus was on everything else, not on avoiding accidents. It has been a year of laundry and trying again for you. As you always seem to do, though, you have it figured out now. We only get occasional reminders now that "poop happens". Thanks for those, by the way. Your cheekiness is refreshing and hilarious.

You got to experience life as a brother, and you have done so well with that from the very beginning. Your sister loves you; I think you're one of her favorite people in the world. One of your most common daily activities is helping us with her, and that's all by your choice.


Speaking of it, lending a helping hand is one of your very best intentions. You are always willing to help, and only sometimes frustrated when you are unable. You love helping so much that you asked for it to be a reward on the job chart we recently did together. You and mom, making treats: a day well spent.


(Mason as a puppy dog, building a fence to keep himself in the yard)

When you aren't helping us with a project or making treats, you are exercising that busy imagination of yours. I hope this imagination will serve you well throughout your life. You are always finding ways to help your toys fit into the world you create, and I hope this innovation will serve you well when it comes to more grown-up realities. You keep telling us you can't wait to be a grown up, but I hope you take your time and exercise your imagination now so it will be there when you need it later.

You have proven to us that you love the outdoors -- in whatever manner they come. Swimming lessons were a good chunk of your summer and you took to the water like a fish. In fact, you've learned about days of the week, seasons, and months of the year through this. Ever since Christmas, you've been telling us that your swimming lessons will start tomorrow. We've patiently explained time to you until you now recite the whole thing to us. "My swimming lessons don't start tomorrow because tomorrow will still be winter." I'm excited to take you back this year and watch you learn some more. Your excitement and exuberance for activity makes your dad and me very, very happy. We enjoy activities with you because you so enjoy them. Here's to another year of swimming, camping, fishing, four-wheeling, snowmobiling, and exploring everything at warp speed.

You started school this fall, and though it took some time to accept the authortative structure, you are now doing very well. You are such a smart child that we have to figure out how to handle all that intelligence, wit, and energy. Sometimes it's exhausting, but if we remain consistent, you meet our demands with a smile and you exceed our wildest expectations. You're teacher is now one of your biggest fans, and you love her as well. Because of her, you are trying to put together letters into words. You're starting to do very basic math. You love to do mazes and puzzles, and anything else with a logical ending. I have a feeling there are lots of games in our future.

Mason, you are a sweet child who demands the best from those around you. You are constantly learning, changing, growing, and exploring. You love to have company, so you always keep us along for the ride. We celebrated your birthday last night, and surrounded you with those who love you most. We have worked hard to help you build a good foundation. Use any of those people as resources to help you. This year will not be as full of surprises and change as the last one was. It will be a year of exploring the boundaries that are already in place, and a year of continuation. I look forward to sharing this year with you and hope we can have more fun playing trains and race track and games than ever before. This is the good stuff. You're growing up so fast, buddy. I hope this year we can continue to enjoy your childhood before we are looking back on it and wondering where it all went.

Love,

Mama

Happy (late) Birthday, Alan!

(with Mason on our recent snowmobiling trip -- blog about that forthcoming)

I tease Alan about his age because it's fun. He's only 5 months older than me, but it's fun to tease him nonetheless.

We had been trying to ensure that Alan's birthday wasn't overshadowed by Mason's birthday this year, for the first time in four years. Well, so far so good on that front. The bad news? We have the unfortunate honor to attend two police officer funerals. Alan attended one on his actual birthday, and we'll most likely be attending one on Saturday -- the day of Mason's birthday party. The world is going crazy, and unfortunately it's a part of our world where they nuts-ery is occuring.



Alan also received a promotion at work (yay for our hard-workin' daddy, we're so proud of him and all the hard work he put in to earn this!), and his schedule has been a little bit up in the air. It all got "officially" ironed out yesterday, so it meant he logged lots of phone time and basically ignored his birthday.



Well, in the end, we get date night to a yummy dinner and I made one of his favorite meals to celebrate last night. We got him a modest gift and will be putting some money towards an equipment upgrade for him. Hopefully those things will remind him how much the kids and I love and appreciate him for his hard work and his strong goal-reaching example. We very obviously couldn't lead the lives we do without him and his work, harrassment, and his presence. Happy Birthday, Old Man, we love you!

Ten for '10

I'm sure I'm original and no other bloggers are a)doing this or b) titling it this way. Here are my New Year's Resolutions/Goals (organized by time frame because I am a geek).

1. Watch my freaking mouth. I've gotten better about not saying "the biggies" in front of the impressionable little copycat. I'd also like to cut the inappropriate "like" misusages from my vocabulary. I'm smarter than verbal crutches and I wish I sounded as smart as I can be. (Acting smartly will be a resolution for another year.)

2. Actually celebrate Alan's birthday for the first time in four years.

3. Organize my entire filing system for bills. Before tax time.

4. Actually see "New Moon" with my mom like we've been discussing.

5. Participate in a half-marathon. I've already started preparing and am off to at least a mediocre start.

6. Get back to not being the mom who yells. That would be good.

7. Actually decorate my family room and purchase comfortable furniture. Psh. You mean we're going to live here a while?

8. Be totally selfish and do something for myself. When pondering this, I had wild goals of purchasing a Kitchenaid or something. On reflection, it might be more simple like getting my hair cut more often than once a year.

9. Find a reason and send a thank you card to someone every week.

10. Stick with a project until the bitter end. This list counts, right?

Happy New Year!

Cheers to the New Year!

P.S. These cute little name mugs SUCK. The thing was leaking as the picture was taken, never mind as I was filling it.

Mason and I "cheersed" with our second annual Maple Hot Chocolate. He was skeptical of making it in a pan (seriously, I might be getting lazy as a homemaker if he calls Swiss Miss "real hot chocolate"), but was okay with the process once he got to help.

This year has been so nuts. Thanks for reading and catching up with us. We love you all and wish you the best the coming year has to offer. Here's our recap, good bad and otherwise:

• Alan tested for engineer but didn't get it. We're keeping our fingers crossed and wishing him luck in 2010.



• We all but skipped Alan's birthday to celebrate with Mason. I totally almost ruined his birthday cake, but manage to re-balance it in the box without shoving my hand in the middle, thank you very much.



• Alan played in the Guns 'n Hoses hockey game. The firefighters lost. We'll pretend it was to help the cops overcome their ego problems.



• We all but skipped Valentines Day because we were working. And sick. But still working.



• One of my favorite aunts died rather suddenly. We still miss her, especially because she was the glue that brought us all together for the holidays. Those are definitely not the same without her wry chuckling.



• We poured concrete. Mason was in boy heaven.



• We potty trained Mason. It's been a process, I'm not gonna lie. We're doing okay.



• Baby Claire landed firmly in the middle of our family. She's cute.



• We paid off the commuter car, bought a trailer, and squeezed in a few camping trips.



• We all but skipped mom's birthday to work and take care of the kids.



• Mom and Claire spent the summer indoors and trying to get some sleep. We're both still alive, so it must've worked out at some point.



• Mason spent the summer in a swimming pool. This worked out pretty well for him.



• It was our sixth official anniversary. We went out to dinner (date night was pretty awesome at that point!), reminisced/complained, and felt old.



• Mason started preschool. After a rough start and trouble with authority (given the personalities of his parents, we're thinking this will be a lifelong struggle), he is doing very well and can write his name almost legibly.



• Dad worked a lot. A LOT. And loved it most of the time.



• We had lots of playdates, lunch dates, dinner dates, and spent as much time as we could with friends and family that we love.



• We got lots of good news and have many things to look forward to in the coming year.

Happy New Year, Everyone!