Pretending

Mason is fully in the pretending stage now.  He is always "getting things packed up" to go on trips.  When I ask him where he is going, it is usually "breakfast" or "lunch" instead of an actual place.  We go out to eat very rarely and when we do it is a big deal.  I think he remembers every single restaurant we have ever been in (but again, that is not very many).

Right now he is playing airplane/boat/car.  He is sitting on a towel which is the airplane, but everything is "packed up" in the boat (Alex's rubber ducky bathtub) and he is driving the car.  When I walked by he screamed for me to get out of the street, and then when I tried to talk to him, he said he couldn't hear me because he was in the car.

With the cousins last night they mostly played zombies.  There was lots of bombs going off and shooting bad guys.  I guess this is pretty common for boys.  At least boys that are Steve's off-spring.  I think I need to invest in some noise-canceling head phones, because this kind of play really annoys me.  I am going to need them by the time Alex joins in the chaos.

He often acts out the Thomas the Train episodes with his trains.  I don't know if that is pretending, but it gets pretty elaborate.  By the way, I checked on the number of Thomas engines there were, and there are officially 84 engines!  EIGHTY-FOUR!!!  That is ridiculous.  That doesn't count all the extra trucks and stuff that goes with the engines.  He probably has about twenty, I should count those next.

Another of Mason's constant expressions is always needing to know where he is going when he wakes up. He asks, "Where am I going when I wake up?" I answer with whatever it is, and then he points up in the air with one finger and asks, "this morning?" (checking to make sure that we are indeed going to that place tomorrow).  I say yes, and he gets happy.  Always the same.  And always happy even if the answer is nothing except to clean the house.

He also asks about "when you were this big" all the time.  Whatever he is doing anything, he asks if I did that "when I was this big" or "when I was a little girl." I don't really know why he does this, maybe it makes him feel normal if it was something that I did too.  It is just simple stuff, like coloring: "Momma, you like to color when you was this big?"  I say yes, and he just goes on with coloring with no response.  It is almost like his validation that he can continue doing whatever it is he was doing.  

He is also very aware of the things that he has, when he got them, and who gave it to him.  Absolutely everything he owns goes this way: [Thomas book] "Sherry got me this book for me for Christmas from the store." (lots of things are just from "the store") Or it is in question form: Mason: "Who got me this book?" Me: "Abby and Owen" Mason: "Why did they get it for me?" Me: "Because it was your birthday." Mason: "Where did they get it?" Me: "the store." Mason: "Why?" Me: "Because they thought you would like it." Mason: (smiling, because I played along again...) "Oh."  Always the same.  And he already knows all the answers, he just wants to hear them again.  I don't know if other kids are like that, but he sure is.

On the Alex front, he is still not completely cleared up from his chest congestion.  I don't really know what else to do, but I will probably take him back to the doctor soon.  He is still acting perfectly fine and happy.  He is starting to get up on his knees for crawling and just rocking back and forth.  If I remember correctly, that means crawling is a couple of weeks away.

Happy Thanksgiving

I am thankful for my wonderful two healthy boys.  While we all have the sniffles and such, we have never had any major illnesses and I am so grateful for that.  I really don't know how I got so lucky (I think I have said that a lot on this blog) to have such great children.  They really are exceptional.  Do you know the best thing about having a three and a half year old and a six month old?  The three and a half year old does not get annoyed with all the repetitive games that baby likes to do.  Like throw his spoon off the high chair over and over again.  It just makes Mason laugh and laugh and he very obediently retrieves the object over and over again.

I am thankful that I have family to spend thanksgiving with (and it's only one family).  I am determined to play games this afternoon with my sisters (whether they like it or not!!!).  The cousins play so well together and it should be a great day filled with lots of food and fun.

I am thankful that I am married to such a hard working man.  He has such a strong work ethic and is the most self-motivated person I know.  It is really impressive and I am super proud of him right now.  Even though he is working today...poo.

I am thankful for my job.  I know many engineers that are not working right now, and I realize how lucky I am to have a great career.  I really like my job and the people I work with.  I love that I work on projects and get things started and finished (I don't know if that makes sense, but it does to me, and it's my blog).  It gives me a great level of satisfaction and sense of accomplishment.

I am thankful for my daycare.  I almost can't put into words how much Laurence means to me.  She really loves my kids and takes such great care of them when we are working.  They learn so much there, and I am am actually getting teary-eyed thinking that Mason will leave there when he is four.  So sad.  But at least we have many more years with Alex. I also have to say how thankful I am that I can still drop my kids off there on Fridays when I am not working.  I couple hours of me time is just what I need every week.

And now for some more simple things.  I am thankful for:
my bathtub
my ipad!
not having to cook today
my hearing, so I can hear the best sound in the world (my boys laughing)
my van with two sliding doors
hot chai tea
pumpkin pie

So off to try to bake my first pumpkin pie (I don't count that as cooking).  I hope it turns out well!

Baby Hookah

Alex is loving his breathing treatments.  I am starting to wonder what drug is in this nebulizer...

Really, he just sits there so calmly and will even pull the mask back to his face if you take it away.  Steve has done this plenty of times at 80 mph in the back of the ambulance and he said that he has never seen any baby as calm as Alex.

And this picture is for Grandma and Grandpa in Hawaii.  I think he looks just like Grandpa Forrest in his sweats!

And this is to prove Mason is never far away when you pull out the camera:

Doctor

Alex has been slightly sick for the last three weeks, and i just assumed that he was not sick enough to go to the doctor, but we finally went today for his six month check up, and now I feel terrible that we didn't go sooner. He order him a nebulizer and everything. He said it is really important because the oxygen is limited to his brain when he is congested like that. He went from 75 percentile in weight to 45 percentile, and he said it might be because he isn't getting enough oxygen. The mom guilt is hitting me big time!

Anyway, he is 18 pounds and 28 inches for those of you that like stats.

He still doesn't seem that sick to me, but hopefully the breathing treatments will help him and he will start improving soon. We love our doctor (Dr. Reyes at Southwest Medical Associates).  He spends so much time in the room and plays with the baby before touching him.  He explains everything and gives us lots of time to discuss things.  Steve loves this because he asks him all sorts of drug questions and stuff.

As far as his daily updates: He has flipped out of his green rainforest chair and the bumbo chair already.

bad picture, but this is a bumbo chair. And remind me to do another post of Steve and Wendy's statue in the background.

 I hope this doesn't mean he is going to be accident prone or overly active. I did not actually see either of these acrobatic maneuvers, and we are super lucky he didn't actually fall off the table that the bumbo was sitting on. It is time to get a highchair with a five point harness to strap this kid into! He always sits with his long arms straight out to his sides and he rolls his wrists. The more excited he is, the faster his wrists go. He is eating sweet potatoes this week. I can't wait to get my bountiful basket to get more veggies to purée for him.

As for Mason: We decided to put mason into pre-pre-kindergarden when he is four.  There are so many things that he is waiting for when he is four.  I have told him he can play tee-ball and tennis when he is four.  He can go to disneyland when he is four.  Now he has school to look forward to.  He is starting to manipulate us with him saying, "I love you."  First off, it works.  Whenever he doesn't want to eat any more dinner, play with the ipad, wanting to get out of a wrestling move, he just declares, "But I love you..."  It is sweet, but I am on to him, and see his patterns.  Usually when the words are preceded by the word but, I pretty much know he is just saying it to get something he wants.  Man I love that kid!

A Day Out With Thomas

So the Thomas obsession began about two years ago with a Halloween costume.  I had a cute bear costume or something that went over his head and he absolutely refused to have anything on his head.  So I went out the day before Halloween and came back with a Thomas costume only because it was the only thing I could find that didn't involve a hood.  That was the start of the love for all things Thomas.

I love Thomas too, and definitely encouraged it.  They are simple toys (except that is getting a little out of hand, as there are about 40 or so different engines to buy and he wants all of them.  I think we stopped at 15 engines - a little crazy).  The cartoons are basic and slow and have good messages.  The whole thing is  age appropriate and I think it is a pretty good thing to be obsessed with.

I think this about sums it up. Thomas trains, track, flashlight, book, bed, pillow....

We saw Thomas Live on stage when he was just shy of two and I had never seen a more excited kid in my life.  He was literally shaking with excitement and totally crashed right before intermission.  If this ever comes back to Las Vegas, we will go back and see the whole thing.

Every birthday has been Thomas themed.  Ever pair of pajamas - Thomas.  Every holiday - Thomas paraphernalia.  I think you get the idea.

My favorite picture!

2nd Birthday

Easter basket

His first train set

This was kinda fun going through my pictures.
I can't stop myself:

Legoland!

Are these not the cutest pajamas?  Yes he is playing swords with a sucker in his mouth.  It's Christmas - anything goes!

I obsessed over this cake for a month. It turned out ok, and Mason was the happiest three year old ever!

Ok, that's enough.

So for the past two years we have been trying to go to A Day Out With Thomas.  This is an actual train ride with Thomas passenger cars.  The website and pictures looked so great, but there just wasn't anything that worked with our schedule until now.  This weekend we traveled to Perris, Ca to spend A Day Out With Thomas.

It was packed.  Busier than I could have ever imagined in my wildest dreams.  Our ride was at 1:00 pm, and they said arrive one hour early, but I thought that was a little extreme since I would only have to entertain a overly-excited three and a half year old and a hungry six month old for an hour before we got to ride on Thomas.  We pulled into the parking lot with open mouths at 12:15.  We got parked at 12:30 - that should tell you how busy it was.  We rushed through the parking lot and ticketing (thank goodness I had my tickets mailed to me) and just made it for boarding the train.  This part was all anti-climatic, because you couldn't actually see Thomas while you were on the passenger cars.  Mason humored me, Alex cried from all the noise, and Steve just kept giving me "the look." You know the look.

We didn't stay for all the extra stuff they had - storytime, tattoos, Imagination Station, etc.  We had a baby that needed to eat and be changed, and we all pretty much hate crowds.  The walk back to the car was the best part:

Honestly his fondness for Thomas is waning just a little, and I think he humored me more than anything. He knew I wanted him to be excited and with all the build up I had given this event, I think he was just pretending to be excited.  This kid is a little too smart for us.  Oh well.  If we could have made this trip about 6 months ago, I think it would have been much better.  Mom was busy having a baby then though...

He did it!

November 9, 2010 was the best day of Steve's life. I know it is supposed to be witnessing the birth of his sons or something, but no, for Steve, it was yesterday. This was the day he finally made it. He is actually going to get paid to do what he loves to do. I am not going to elaborate for all the world wide web to see, but if you know him well enough to know what i am talking about, give him a call and congratulate him.

Truly amazing. I can't sleep because i am just so excited for him. He has worked literally all of his adult life in some capacity to bring him to this day, and it finally did work out. All of those cliches, about doing what you love and you will never work another day in your life; i believe they finally came true for him. I always knew they would. I am so proud right now.

I told him we have to celebrate somehow; this is unbelievable. He said, yeah, let's get a pizza! Gotta love him.

Look who is 6 months old!

I can't believe it, but it has been an entire six months since Alex was born.  He is adorable.  He is normally so quiet and observant, but lately he has found his voice.  I think it has something to do with his teething; lots of moaning and groaning is now coming from that sweet boy.  I think he is going to be a patient boy.  He can always wait just a couple more minutes for anything.  I don't think I have ever seen him have a melt down because of not eating or something.  He can hang out in the front carrier for hours without a peep coming from him.

At six months, he is rolling pretty proficiently, but sometimes still gets one arm stuck underneath him.  He reaches and grabs and becoming much more coordinated at getting what he wants where he wants it - in his mouth.  He is not yet sitting up, unfortunately.  I can't wait for this.  I guess in a few more weeks or so he should be getting there.

He is a good eater.  We have had rice, oatmeal, green beans, and peas so far.  I am excited to try some of the baby food I made him.  I am still trying to find some good freezer storage system that holds 2-4 ounces of food.  Thanks to our Bountiful Baskets I don't think I will be buying much baby food.  He still takes about 4-5 bottles per day too.

He laughs and laughs at Mason.  Right now the best thing Mason can do is make a farting noise.  That cracks Alex up every time.  It is starting already...

He sleeps really well.  He goes about 10 hours every night (except last night we had an unusual 3 am feeding - again, I think it is his teeth, and that he needs more solid food).  He naps pretty good too, but he needs to be in his crib to sleep.

What else is there to say about the sweet pea?  We love having him in our family.

Random Mason Story (RMS)

I meant to update on all the October events we did, but I think that is the downfall of a lot of blogs - always being behind....So, today, here is another installation of RMS.

Mason and I took a walk to Einstein's (Yellow Starbucks) by ourselves.  It was nice to talk to him one-on-one.  Once we got in the very busy Einstein's and ordered my usual Spinach and Bacon Panini, large ice tea, and a Cinnamon Twist (for Mason) - at least we walked there, right! - Mason declared, "I have a light in my brain!" This slightly panicked me, as my "brain" went directly to the worst - he must be having a seizure or something.  I knelt down and asked him, "what do you mean you have a light in your brain?" he said, "it's e-c-city." Me: "It's like a city?" Mason: "Noooooo, it's E-lick-city" Me: "huh" (repeat about 3 more times - remember it's super busy and we are right in the middle of everything), finally, I got it "Oh, electricity!"  Mason: "Yeah, I have an idea!"  Apparently, a light bulb went off in Mason's head.  You know, I never found out what the idea was, I was just laughing and shaking my head, thinking about how his brain works.

His new word is "brain."  Steve always says, "Use your brain" and Mason has picked up on it and always states proudly, "I am using my brain" when he follows our instructions.  Or, "I'm not using my brain?" (yes that is a question when it comes from a three year old) when he gets in trouble.  This kinda sounds mean when I write it out, but we are just trying to get him to think before doing things, i.e., not be a three and a half year old.  Maybe we are kinda mean...

The other brain phrase comes every time I get him dressed or undressed.  See Mason's head is about two sizes too BIG, and every time I pull a shirt off or struggle to squeeze it over that noggin, I say "Why is your head so big?  He always replies, "Because I have such a big brain!"  

Halloween post

It's been awhile, and I still don't have much time (exactly 12 minutes before picking up the kiddos), but I thought I would throw out a quick Halloween post.  Luckily it is election day and I work at a great company that allows two hours off for voting.  So I cancelled out Steve's vote in 30 minutes, which gave me time to rush home and look on the internet for a bit before I have to get the kids.  Bring on the judgements!

Halloween was Sunday which meant a whole lotta time to do Halloweenish stuff.  Just a little too much time in my book.  By Sunday at 5 pm I was all Halloweened out and finally realized why my mom hated Halloween.  Mason redeemed it for me with his cuteness!  Once he was all outfitted up and knocked on that first door I had the biggest smile on my face.  His voice can totally change my mood in an instant.  There is just something about it, and I need to get more on video.

He was soooo polite and thanked everyone and said Happy Halloween so happily that I was beaming with pride.  At one point I was right behind him and after he got his candy, he turned with an outstretched Vanna White hand and said, "Look at my cute brother!"  It was priceless.  This kid has got to go into sales.   (kinda like his dad in that sense).

I don't have lots of time for the photo uploads, so check them all out at www.jlbphotos.smugmug.com.  But here is the best one:

Oops, don't know how to turn it right now, but can someone please tell me why all Halloween costumes are made for midgits.  Or maybe my kids are just too tall!

A full October post will come shortly!