For weeks Mason has begged me to sleep with him. So Friday morning we planned that night to be slumber party. Actually, it was more of a bribe. The poor kid has to drink a laxative every morning. And to get him to drink it on Friday I promised I would sleep with him.
So around 8 pm we got into bed together. We read a million books. We talked. We took a trip downstairs to pee (for some reason Mason wouldn't let me pee in his bathroom).
Then we got back in bed. And two REALLY cute things happened.
1) I was asking about all the new teachers he sees on a regular basis. There are four 4's classes and they combine together at the end of the day so he has 8 new teachers that he deals with. After I asked about all of them he asked me, "And how is Martin doing?" It was adorable.
2) I was laying facing away from him trying to fall asleep. He says to me, "Turn around so I can see your beautiful face!" Where does he come up with this stuff? I melted.
I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't fall back asleep because I had no idea what time it was. I went downstairs and found out it was 1 am. I stayed down there watching tv until 4. I guess that's what happens when you go to bed at 8 pm. Then at 4 I snuck back into bed with Mason and slept until he woke me up at 8.
All in all, it was a fun night and I promised Mason that we would do it again "sometime".
Monday, August 17, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
Mason is 3!
Dear Mason, Dude, Goldilocks, Shnookums,
You are three years old today. Three! Where did the time go? It feels like just yesterday when we spent that tender moment together in the hospital – our first moment alone – early in the morning before anyone arrived for the day. You probably don’t remember, but it is etched in my mind. You were doing a weird Elvis impersonation thing with your mouth, which I thought was totally cool because I do that too. A few hours later I realized that it just meant you were hungry!
You have done so much this year. You learned to incorporate your sister into your life, you started playing drums, you learned to swim, you started recognizing letters and numbers, you potty trained, and I could go on and on and on.
You know EVERYTHING. You usually tell me intricate parts of your day when I pick you up at school. Or sometimes we have days, like yesterday, where I ask you questions and you say “I don’t want to talk about it right now.” This also can make you a bit of a tattle tale. There are no secrets with you! Like when you wanted to hold your blankey at breakfast and I said no, you told me that Daddy let you at First Watch. And when I wouldn’t let you brush your own teeth, you told me that Grammy does.
You ask questions that I didn’t expect to hear for years. One day I was driving you to school (which Daddy usually does) and you asked me “Why does Joshua (a boy in your class) have two mommies and I only have one mommy and one daddy?” I responded, “Well, God decided that Daddy and I should love each other and have you and Layla, and God also decided that Joshua’s mommies should love each other and have Joshua.” To which you responded, “Who is God?” Really Mason? All this before my morning coffee? When you want to know about sex – go ask Daddy!
You still love music most of all and we spend a lot of time playing band in our house. We have drums that you got for hanukah, a piano that Layla got for her birthday, a real guitar, and many more instruments. We could probably have a full orchestra. You like to use the hearth in the kitchen as your stage and carry your microphone in there. One day you were moving all your instruments into the garage and when I asked what you were doing you said, “I’m taking my show on the road!”
This year we went to visit Aunt Rachel alone – just you and me. We had a great time in Atlanta going to the children’s museum and (your favorite) Stone Mountain. But then the flight home was a disaster because it snowed. We waited in the airport for four hours and we were on the plane for another 10 hours. You were SO good. You behaved better than most of the adults on the plane. I wanted to lose my shit a few times, but you kept me together!
In your room is a collage that Grammy made you of pictures of me at Disney World when I was a kid. One day you were looking at the collage and asked me, “When did I take this picture with Tigger?” I looked at the picture and I had to do a double take. It looks EXACTLY like you. We could be twins, right down to our stupid cowlick on our forehead.
One of our favorite times of the day together is right before bed. We put the pillows up on your bed and we read two or three or five books together. You change favorites often and go through phases. Sometimes you are totally into Diary of a Fly, and then you won’t want to read it for weeks. We just recently went through a On Top of Spaghetti phase. Some of your favorite books are the Child Craft series that Grammy has been bringing you one at a time. We love to read the poems and stories and sing the songs. Although some of it is outdated. You love to point out the old fashioned washing machine in the song book! One of the poems that we read often is one that Grammy read to me all the time when I was young because it was her favorite poem as a kid. It goes:
“The World is so full of a number of things, I’m sure we should all be as happy as Kings.”
I hope that you never get sick of me reading to you and that you read this poem to your kids when you are a Daddy. I have so many dreams for you, Mason, but most of all I want you to be happy as a King.
Love forever and always,
Mommy
You are three years old today. Three! Where did the time go? It feels like just yesterday when we spent that tender moment together in the hospital – our first moment alone – early in the morning before anyone arrived for the day. You probably don’t remember, but it is etched in my mind. You were doing a weird Elvis impersonation thing with your mouth, which I thought was totally cool because I do that too. A few hours later I realized that it just meant you were hungry!
You have done so much this year. You learned to incorporate your sister into your life, you started playing drums, you learned to swim, you started recognizing letters and numbers, you potty trained, and I could go on and on and on.
You know EVERYTHING. You usually tell me intricate parts of your day when I pick you up at school. Or sometimes we have days, like yesterday, where I ask you questions and you say “I don’t want to talk about it right now.” This also can make you a bit of a tattle tale. There are no secrets with you! Like when you wanted to hold your blankey at breakfast and I said no, you told me that Daddy let you at First Watch. And when I wouldn’t let you brush your own teeth, you told me that Grammy does.
You ask questions that I didn’t expect to hear for years. One day I was driving you to school (which Daddy usually does) and you asked me “Why does Joshua (a boy in your class) have two mommies and I only have one mommy and one daddy?” I responded, “Well, God decided that Daddy and I should love each other and have you and Layla, and God also decided that Joshua’s mommies should love each other and have Joshua.” To which you responded, “Who is God?” Really Mason? All this before my morning coffee? When you want to know about sex – go ask Daddy!
You still love music most of all and we spend a lot of time playing band in our house. We have drums that you got for hanukah, a piano that Layla got for her birthday, a real guitar, and many more instruments. We could probably have a full orchestra. You like to use the hearth in the kitchen as your stage and carry your microphone in there. One day you were moving all your instruments into the garage and when I asked what you were doing you said, “I’m taking my show on the road!”
This year we went to visit Aunt Rachel alone – just you and me. We had a great time in Atlanta going to the children’s museum and (your favorite) Stone Mountain. But then the flight home was a disaster because it snowed. We waited in the airport for four hours and we were on the plane for another 10 hours. You were SO good. You behaved better than most of the adults on the plane. I wanted to lose my shit a few times, but you kept me together!
In your room is a collage that Grammy made you of pictures of me at Disney World when I was a kid. One day you were looking at the collage and asked me, “When did I take this picture with Tigger?” I looked at the picture and I had to do a double take. It looks EXACTLY like you. We could be twins, right down to our stupid cowlick on our forehead.
One of our favorite times of the day together is right before bed. We put the pillows up on your bed and we read two or three or five books together. You change favorites often and go through phases. Sometimes you are totally into Diary of a Fly, and then you won’t want to read it for weeks. We just recently went through a On Top of Spaghetti phase. Some of your favorite books are the Child Craft series that Grammy has been bringing you one at a time. We love to read the poems and stories and sing the songs. Although some of it is outdated. You love to point out the old fashioned washing machine in the song book! One of the poems that we read often is one that Grammy read to me all the time when I was young because it was her favorite poem as a kid. It goes:
“The World is so full of a number of things, I’m sure we should all be as happy as Kings.”
I hope that you never get sick of me reading to you and that you read this poem to your kids when you are a Daddy. I have so many dreams for you, Mason, but most of all I want you to be happy as a King.
Love forever and always,
Mommy
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
First Day
Randoms
Layla's First Pigtails
Layla's First Birthday
July 4th at Charlotte's House
Mason and Jonathan Rocking Out
Mason's Favorite OutfitThursday, July 30, 2009
Welcome to Toddlerhood!
Look at that face to the right ----->Could you ever imagine that this sweet, almost angelic looking face could be the same face that had her first temper tantrum this week?
The past few weeks I have realized that my baby! is growing! up! and she isn't! a baby! anymore! Sniff. Sniff.
It started with her birthday. I now have to say she is one when someone asks. She's officially not an infant.
Then she began walking everywhere. Crawling is SO last year. I mean, come on mom, the big kids all walk, you and Daddy walk, Mason walks.
And then we had the first official temper tantrum. We've had a few instances where Layla wants something and whines about it. (Usually it is food related.) But this time was supreme. She found a snack trap with soggy, sandy goldfish left over from the beach the day before. It was in the bottom of the beach bag that was on the kitchen floor. When she found it she took off running to eat them in private - so she wouldn't have to share with her brother. I took away the snack trap and put it on the counter by the sink to be washed. She stood up and tried with all her might to get it from the counter. So I put it in the sink and told her NO. She had just had dinner! And then it happened.
She sat on the floor and started screaming and laid her head down face first on the tile and beat her fists on the floor. And continued screaming all the way upstairs and through her entire bath.
Just for the record, I didn't give in and give her the goldfish. But when Tayler got home and I told him the story his response was "I'll be honest - I would have let her have the goldfish."
Friday, July 24, 2009
Something I'll Never Forget (Rachel Too Probably)
I was recently having the discussion of when are your kids old enough to be left alone at home. In the paper there has been a story in the headlines of a couple who came from Michigan to Disney World and left their 2 year old and 4 year old in the hotel room while they went to the pool for several hours. Crazy, right? But did you know that the law says you can't leave children home alone until they are 14? I think that's crazy in the other extreme.
When I was in third/fourth grade I would get home a few minutes before my mom in the afternoon. I would let myself into the house, pour a bowl of cereal and then she would be home. No big deal. I was a responsible kid. But apparently, that is illegal!
I babysat for other peoples kids WAY before I turned 14. By the time I was 14 I was pretty much over babysitting.
Of course, then there was the time I poured the coke over Rachel's head. Yes, you read that right. I want to say I was about 12, so she was 8. My parents were out, don't know where. Jackie was over. We were set up with snacks in the living room to watch the television premiere of Home Alone. Something happened (no idea what) and we started fighting. It got ugly and I poured a 2 liter of Diet Coke over her head, drowning the couch and the tv and the carpet in the process. She locked me in my room and I had to crawl through a window to get out. Jackie went home and got her mom to come over and moderate.
I think that after that it was a LONG time before we were left alone again. Kind of ironic that we were watching Home Alone, right?
When I was in third/fourth grade I would get home a few minutes before my mom in the afternoon. I would let myself into the house, pour a bowl of cereal and then she would be home. No big deal. I was a responsible kid. But apparently, that is illegal!
I babysat for other peoples kids WAY before I turned 14. By the time I was 14 I was pretty much over babysitting.
Of course, then there was the time I poured the coke over Rachel's head. Yes, you read that right. I want to say I was about 12, so she was 8. My parents were out, don't know where. Jackie was over. We were set up with snacks in the living room to watch the television premiere of Home Alone. Something happened (no idea what) and we started fighting. It got ugly and I poured a 2 liter of Diet Coke over her head, drowning the couch and the tv and the carpet in the process. She locked me in my room and I had to crawl through a window to get out. Jackie went home and got her mom to come over and moderate.
I think that after that it was a LONG time before we were left alone again. Kind of ironic that we were watching Home Alone, right?
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Arriving at Disney
What does the sight of the Walt Disney World sign mean to you?
As a kid we went to Disney a lot. But then, a lot was maybe twice a year. We lived a 4 hour drive away. Passing under this sign would evoke cheers of "we're here!" in me and my sister. Tayler has a similar memory - except his family would drive through the night from New York to reach the gates.
When I moved to Orlando I realized that my kids would probably never have that same feeling when they saw the Disney sign. It would be so common for them that it wouldn't make them feel the magic that is Disney. The purple signs on property wouldn't seem so special.
But now, since I have been working at Disney for nearly two years and go there at least three times a week, I barely even notice the sign as I pass through. I am totally desensitized.
Until yesterday, when I was pulling off I-4 there was a bit of a traffic delay. Three cars were pulled over on the side of the road and all the occupants were milling around in the grass. I assumed there had been an accident, until I looked closer. They were posing and taking pictures in front of the Disney sign. They were feeling the magic that I once felt when we arrived at Disney.
I think next time we go to Disney with the kids, we may just pull over and take some pictures. I want my kids to have that special feeling about Disney that I always had as a kid!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Layla - One Year
Dear Layla, Layla Bean, The Bean, Beeshul,
Before you were born I knew what to expect from a newborn. At least physically. We had gone through it just two years before with Mason. But I had no idea what it would be like to have YOU.
First of all, you are beautiful. From the first day everyone knew it. Grammy overheard two people looking at you in the nursery and commenting that you must be a c-section baby because you were so beautiful. Everyone comments on your eyelashes. They go on forever. You will never need mascara Bean! (Not that I wear it anyway.)
You are daring - you did every physical activity early. Rolling, crawling, taking your first steps. While Mason was the most cautious of babies - you take risks every chance you have. You love to jump into the pool, explore electrical outlets, and just tonight jumped off my lap to the floor. I think this might be a normal characteristic of a second child because you have to try to keep up with your big brother.
From the time you were about two weeks old you went with me every afternoon to pick your brother up from school. The kids in his class would gather round to see you, but Mason was very protective at first and didn't let any of the other kids get near you. Now that he knows you can hold your own, when I wheel you into his classroom at the end of the day he lets the others come over to say hello to you. No matter what the kids in his class are doing, certain ones will come to visit with you every day. You are like a star in that classroom.
You only want to play with your brother's toys. Your favorite right now is the Handy Manny truck with the tools. But pretty much, anything that is his, you are happy with. And vice versa - he loves to carry around your purses and pink dolls.
You are a blankie person - just like me and Mason. It is amazing to watch both of your through the rearview mirror with your blankies to your faces.
Smiles don't come too easily from you - except when tickling. It takes a lot to earn your smiles, but that just makes them so much more special.
You are a choker - another trait your brother and you both got from me. It wasn't until you were about 10 months old that you could eat even Cheerios without choking. I'm sorry - but you can really blame Papa for this.
Lookswise - you are your father. We pull out baby pictures of him from time to time to see what he looked at when he was your age. It is unbelievable how much you two look alike, minus the hair color - yours is a little more brown. By the way, where did that brown hair come from? For the first month I was waiting for it to turn blonde like Mason's did.
I think the best part about being your mommy is seeing the way your eyes light up when your brother walks in the room. Your adoration for him is more than I could ever have hoped for. Of course, I also love when I come to pick you up at the end of the day and you run over to me and ask to be picked up by holding your hands up to me.
Language - I think you are starting to use some words, although they might only be recognizable to me. You say Mama, Dada, Hello (eh-do), Mason (i-ma), Chyna (yna), and I'm pretty sure that this morning you said "What's this?" when I was changing your diaper. But language is not so important - you can always get your point across with a point and some talking in your own language. We all know just what you want most of the time.
You spent more time in the infant seat, bouncy seat, swing and play mat than Mason had to because we had to tend to both of you at the same time. This has made you patient (most of the time - there was that time in the car with Grammy when you wouldn't stop screaming). I sometimes feel like we are letting you down because we always do what Mason wants to do - he's vocal about his needs and wants. It can feel like you are just along for the ride. I hope this is just normal for second kids and that we aren't letting you down somehow.
Layla - the last year has brought so much happiness to me and Daddy - we can't imagine a world without you in it.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
PTBC
PTBC = Potty Training Boot Camp. That is what we are calling it. Mason was dropped off to stay with Grandma and Pops on Sunday evening. When he woke up Monday morning it was no more diaper, only underwear (or naked tushies) in this house.
We get hourly reports and we get visitation tonight. He has been doing GREAT. Only one accident so far in two days. Lots of M&Ms and stickers and ring pops.
Now we just have to translate it to working when clothed......
We get hourly reports and we get visitation tonight. He has been doing GREAT. Only one accident so far in two days. Lots of M&Ms and stickers and ring pops.
Now we just have to translate it to working when clothed......
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Going to Grammy's
One Friday evening Grammy and Papa were over playing before bedtime. Grammy made the suggestion to Mason, "Maybe you should just come spend the night at my house." Without skipping a beat Mason started running up the stairs screaming, "I've gotta get my suitcase!" I love that he loves being with his grandparents so much. Most kids his age favor their parents but he absolutely loves spending time with both sets of his grandparents. Just recently we were going to bed one night and he said, "I love Grandma. I need to call her and tell her." So we got the phone so he could call her. It was so sweet.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
