Last day and some random stories

Today is Mason's last day of daycare.  I am not so sad about that as I am about him going to school on Monday.  We will still have Laurence in our lives for the next three years with Alex.  She is so special to us.  I feel as if she helped raise Mason into the wonderfully loving boy that he is today.  I could never repay her for that gift.

School on Monday.  Yikes.  In my head, I know he will do just fine.  He is one of the most adjusted kids I have ever known.  He does not have a shy bone in his body.  He is beyond excited for this day to come.  In my heart, I am scared that someone will be mean to him.  In my heart, I want to shelter him from that possibility for as long as possible.  In my head, I know that this is the time for him to deal with differences and new experiences and he will learn and grow from this.

I am glad I still have Alex to raise into a big boy.  I am glad that I will get to see his first steps and be over-the-moon excited when he pees on the potty for the first time.  I still get to hear all the first words, then two word sentences, then full on conversations.  I bet it will be really hard when he is going to school.  That means no more babies for me.

Mason is just so big.  He walked up to me yesterday and very calmly said, "I would like to entertain myself with some Angry Birds."  I have a suspicion that the previous conversation he had with his dad resulted in dad saying, "Go entertain yourself!"  That is a common one for us.  Another one about Angry Birds...I asked Mason what he wanted to get Laurence as a thank you gift for his last day at day care.  He immediately replied "A PAD!" (ipad)  I thought that was a mighty nice gift, but I asked why he thought she would like a pad.  He said, "Because there is a girl angry birds and she would really like that." (there is a Valentine's version and all the birds have bows in their hair? Birds have hair?)  If anyone is wanting to get Mason an easter gift, he REALLY wants these: http://www.amazon.com/Angry-Birds-Inch-Mini-Plush/dp/B004FI6JDA
I think this is actually a good idea, because then he will play real live angry birds with his blocks and knock them down with the stuffed birds.  Still kinda morbid though...

He was sick last week with the respiratory issue.  This week he spent all his time studying the human anatomy book on the page dealing with asthma.  (when I say all his time, I mean the time when I forbid him from playing angry birds...)

I bought him a Where's Waldo book, thinking he might like looking at the pages.  He found Waldo in about 5 minutes on 4-5 different pages.  He is actually better at it than I am.

Ahh, Alex just woke up (HE SLEPT IN!!!), so gotta go.

I will miss you Grams

Grams, to me, meant consistency.  She never seemed to change or grow older in my eyes.  Her house was always exactly the same, all the way down to the pictures in the picture frames, the decorations on the couch, the placement of the candy bowl on the bar.  Always the same.  I only remember one car she ever owned (I am sure there were more, but I don't remember them).  I do remember the last time she drove us somewhere, and when we got there she said she shouldn't drive anymore.  She always looked perfectly pulled together.  She always had the same hairstyle, clothing styles, and jewelry.  I distinctly remember watching her pull on her panty hose everyday, even on a normal, non-dressy day.  She always had her nails done, and pretty teeth.  Right now I am remembering how soft her arms were.  They were grandma arms.  Soft, smooth, very touchable...  

She always gave the same presents (QVC and US savings bonds - sweet!  All the grandbabies are going to seriously be in love with their great-grandma when they all get to cash those in before college!).  We always had licorice and cinnamon rolls at her house.  We always fought over which one of us would be able to sleep with Grams and which one had to sleep on the pull out sofa.  She always read in bed.  Always.  I bet she went through one book per day.  

She called me Jelly Belly.  I thought I was special because of that.

She lived very simply and independently.  I was so jealous of my cousins who had her in their lives everyday.  She was a very involved Grams and went to all their sporting events.  I remember longing to live with them in a small town where I could be a star athlete just like my cousins.  It just is not the same in a big city.  

She never got to meet her youngest great-grandchild, but she had many people that loved her very much.  Here she is with her two youngest (besides Alex now) great-grandbabies.  This was the last time we were up to visit.

And the follow-up shot, which I think is funny (kinda hard to hold two squirming toddlers on an 84 year old lap).

Here she is a couple years before with Suzy's kids.  

And at my wedding...

Do you see what I mean about always looking the same?  

She was very loved by her three children, and they were with her until the very end.  I hope that I can be that good of a mom so I can have all the love she had in her life at the end.

DISNEYLAND!

I had been dreaming about taking my kids to Disneyland even before I had kids.  I was beyond excited for this trip, and impatiently waited until he turned 4 so that he has a chance of remembering it and that it wouldn't be such a chore for me.

Grandma was so overwhelming generous with both her time and money, and that made this trip so nice.  She bought us annual passes and she took a day off work to watch Alex so that Mason could have the best experience possible.  Thank you so much Grandma!!!

We had driven in on Thursday night so that we could go to Disneyland on Friday morning.  Not a sign of sickness from little Mason all week, but Friday morning he woke up at 3 am barking like a seal.  Maybe if we were going to Sea World, that would have been appropriate, but not good timing for Disneyland.  He was breathing very hard and felt a little hot, but he did fall back to sleep for a little.  When he woke up, we debated, but he (and I) had been so looking forward to the trip, we thought we should still go.  The Tylenol worked really well, and he actually was feeling really good when we left.

Luckily the park opened at 8 am, so that is much better for this family of early-risers.  Disneyland is literally 15 minutes from Grandma's house.  Convenient, but I was actually a little sad that he won't know the anticipation of driving so far and then finally seeing the sign that says Disney Way, and looking and looking until you see the top of the Matterhorn, and the way your heart starts beating fast and you just can't wait one more minute.  Am I alone on these feelings, or is this universal?

We parked in the Toy Story parking lot, and the ride in the Toy Story shuttle bus was his first ride.  He thought that was really cool.  The park was pretty empty at the beginning, but he didn't get awed by the entrance or the scenery or anything.  I guess you have to be a little older for that.  We walked a little way in, and he got to see the castle.  Probably not the same reaction the little girls have, but he thought it was cool.

The carousel was next.  And from that vantage point we could pick out all the other rides we wanted.  We went on Pinocchio and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.  Dumbo was a hit.  Then came the tea cups.  I think it is a Dad thing, to make that tea cup spin faster than any other tea cup on the ride.  We have a great video of it, but I will just put that on the smug mug site.  He loved it and wanted to go faster and faster.

From there we went to Small World, and that was just so-so to him.  Next we headed to Toon Town.  That place is just so well done.  It really does feel like you just entered a cartoon.  I love it.  We went on the Roger Rabbit ride and saw a few characters.  He didn't really care for them though.  Him and the characters are different every time.  Some times he loves it, sometimes he gets shy.  It's weird.

Then came the roller coaster!

He held his hands up like a pro

Toon Town

He caught on to the raising your hands to make it more fun thing immediately.  The first thing he said when the ride stopped was that he wanted to go 5 times!  We ran around and went on it one more time, but that was all.  There is just so much more to do.  

We tried for the Matterhorn, but there was some technical difficulty - ugh!  From there we walked over to Tomorrow Land and rode the Autopia ride.  He started to get a little worn out by now, so I thought it would be a good time for the Disneyland Railroad.  Perfect for a little rest and a snack and gets us over to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.  I was sure he was going to love that and I didn't want to miss it.  

Bummer again, the Pirates ride had some sort of problem too and it was temporarily shut down.  We made a mad dash for Thunder Mountain - my favorite!  Popcorn got him through the longest line of the day (still only 15 minutes!), and he LOVED the ride.  We thought we should eat something and hopefully that will give him a bit more energy, but that was all he could take.  His fever came back and he started getting freezing cold.  But, on our way out of the park, Pirates just opened back up, and I had to show it to him.  We just carried him the rest of the way and he was looking forward to "Yo ho yo ho, a pirate's life for me.  The only problem was he kept on asking where Jake was.  Jake is from a new cartoon, called Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  He was kinda out of it by then, so we headed back to the car.  

Sick and tired...

Poor little guy.  I was really bummed that his first trip had to turn out like this.  He really did have a great time for the first 2-3 hours, but when he crashed, he crashed hard.  We all took naps back home, but he couldn't get comfortable.  It was so sad.

Once night-time came, he was up and down with fever spikes and then the breathing problems started.  I got really scared about 10 o'clock and wanted to take him to the emergency room.  He just sounded terrible and I knew he needed a breathing treatment right away.  He has never had respiratory problems before, but I learned all about them with Alex a couple months ago.  Steve and I both thought it was better just to pack up the car and get him home where we had the breathing treatments.  I know we really bummed out Wendy and Kathleen, not to mention grandma and grandpa.  I was so unbelievably scared though, I felt totally out of control being far away from home.  

Mason started whimpering in the car that he didn't want to leave California, but I knew it was what we needed to do.  I told him we could come back in a couple of weeks and try again.  The beauty of annual passes!  I still haven't ever been to California Adventure, so we have a lot more fun to do.

Today he is still sick, but he is feeling better now.  He has lost his voice but the fever seems to be gone.  A couple more days of breathing treatments, and we should be good as new.  Right in time for school to start.  Now I just have to keep a close eye on Alex, who has already started the cough.  I sure hope he doesn't get it as bad as Mason did.

I have all the pictures up at the smug mug site.  And I will try to load the movies now.

Party

The party was really fun.  It was as low-key as you can possibly have for a 4 year old birthday party.  So still lots of screaming and shrieking and running and jumping and general craziness, and all that was just from Mason and Addison.  All the other cousins are older and much calmer.  Ahhh, something to look forward to.

I had a little art activity planned (trying to keep the chaos to a minimum).

The crew.

Addison

The big kids, Abby and AJ

Haylee

But Mason was more interested in the toy gun he got.

Then we ate cake!  Mason had this cake last year, and now I think he will want it forever.  Last year I made three practice cakes because it was my very first cake I had ever made, other than a normal sheet cake with store-bought frosting on it.  I got really into it.  I measured every piece and scaled everything off the toy Thomas we have.  It was a lot of work, and really never turned out as well as I would have wanted it, so after an amazon search, I found a kit that made it all so much easier.  Steve still had to frost the whole thing.  I just don't have the patience or the steady hand.  Steve makes it look pretty easy.  I will still take credit for the easy to spread frosting I made.  

The finished product!

I think I got the colors just perfect and I used pound cake for the whole thing this year, which made all the difference.  Even if Mason doesn't want this cake for his fifth birthday, I bet Alex will want it for his second birthday.

Happy Birthday Mason!

After cake, Liam made it over, and he brought the best gift - Lady Bug release!

The crew with their flowers

Sweet

Funny story...We were at the park a couple of months ago, and there were a couple other girls with us.  A ladybug ventured over to our group and first landed on Mason and then quickly flew over to the girls arm.  He asked me why, and not thinking much about it, I said it was because her arm is softer.  For MONTHS Mason was obsessed about putting lotion on his arms so that the lady bug will land on him next time.

So happy!

It worked really well to have the ladybugs crawl on the flower and then release.

And that was the end of this little party.  I think I will call it a success!

Mason got a Criss Cross Criss Cross (he always says it twice) Crash Hot Wheels set from Grandpa, and it was a hit!  Mason and Alex love it, but most of all Dad loves it.  He got out all his Hot Wheels (which I had no idea that he had) and was reminiscing about every car.  He had re-painted a bunch of them, and that is just like Steve.  The oldest one is from 1975.  Pretty cool.  They were much better back then.  

We got him an easel and lots of people got him more paint supplies.  He is set for a while.

Crappy picture, but that little table-top stand that Laurence got him is even better than the easel.  I had no idea, but he likes to sit and paint.  Today he brought the chair over to the big easel to paint on.  

One more parting note...Alex is 10 months old today!  I am too tired to write a whole post on him tonight, but his new thing is scrunching up his nose.  He has us all trained to do it back to him, then group laugh!  It is hard to get a picture of it, but this is kinda what it looks like. (sorry flash)

Happy Birthday Mason

Dear Mason,

You turned the big 0-4 today!  You are the joy of my life.  I am so happy to see you growing up, and becoming such a polite and joyous young boy.  You make me laugh every day without fail.  I dropped you off at daycare this morning so I could make your cake and clean the house.  Laurence and Mamie were thrilled to see you so happy this morning.  You told Mamie that you were une, deux, trois, quatre, (I overheard you, but you never speak the french words to me).  You are simply a brilliant boy.  That means you are going to cost mommy and daddy lots of money for private school.  I know that you will make it all back up to us though.  Oh The Places You'll Go...I guess that is what is making me a little sad today.

So what does this fourth year bring:

• I am "mom" much more often now.  It used to be exclusively "momma."  
• The request is now for Cartoon Network instead of Noggin.  The answer is still usually no.  
• 4T clothes/size 10 shoes and an opinion on what you wear.  Pockets are a must.
• Hot Wheels instead of Thomas
• School instead of daycare
• iPad instead of LeapPad
• "Bad guys" instead of "monsters"
• Story books instead of baby books
• Painting instead of crayons

You are a big brother to another amazing boy.  You always ask if Alex can play in your room or play with your cars.  You are his favorite person in the whole world right now.  You probably will continue to be his favorite person for a long, long time.  But what is even better, is that he is also your favorite person.  You get sad when he has to go to bed.  You try to teach him to not scream and rock and drive mom nuts.  I am so glad that we gave you a brother.  I often day-dream about all the awesome things you two will experience together.

When I look at your feet, I realize you are not a baby anymore.  You have kid feet.  You are starting to sweat when you run.  When I tell you not to run, you say, "I'm not running, I'm exercising".  If I tell you to stop exercising, you start jumping.  I don't know if our house will survive another boy like you.  You repeat almost any word I tell you, and you remember from that moment forward.  Your vocabulary really does amaze me right now.  I don't have to explain things in baby-ish ways anymore.  You just understand.

You want to know what state everyone lives in.  You can navigate your way to a few places when we drive.  For instance, when I make a right on Lake Mead, we are invariably going to Chuck E Cheese's.  Of which, we have been two times in your whole life.  But, you don't get upset when we arrive at a different place.  You are just pointing it out.  When we get on the freeway going left, you point to the right and say "that path is the path to Great Grandma's."  Those concepts just blow me away.  I think I might start a little topic on the blog called Car Talk.  You honestly make me laugh out loud every single morning when we drive to daycare.  We have a little game where you look for the moon, and you say, "What's the moon doing up in the morning...that's silly!"  Then we laugh and laugh at the silly moon.  I can't wait for Alex to join in on these conversations.

There are still times that you have melt-downs, and you remind me that you are still little.  You are beginning to resist your naps, and those evenings usually have a few more tears than usual.  You love to be tucked in to bed at night.  Some nights you want a tent and a flashlight, other nights you just want to stay up and play trains or read a book.  You still love your blanket like no other.  Usually there is a baby bear in the other hand, but the bear is beginning to be forgotten a little more every day.  The blanket, however, will be with us for a very long time, I'm sure.  That is the one thing you refuse to share with your baby.  I don't blame you though, he is pretty slimy and gross right now.

Today we had a little celebration at daycare and you showed me all the things that you do everyday while I am at work.  It is these times that I miss being with you all day, every day.  Although, if I was always there, you wouldn't have had all the stuff to show me, right?

We came home and opened presents and you were thrilled to get your Criss Cross Criss Cross (yes always twice) Crash set.  You have been asking for this for almost a year and you finally got one.  We also got you an easel and Laurence got you a very nice art set.  Tomorrow a couple friends are coming over to celebrate and then next week is Disneyland.  While today did bring me some sadness to see you growing older, I al thrilled that you are now old enough to go on these fun trips and not be so much work.  I hope you really enjoy Disneyland.  It is my favorite place, and I am looking forward to going back over and over with you.  

Well, this last year has been wonderful, and I know next year will be even more jam-packed with stories and learning and trips and overall good times.  I love you more than you can ever imagine.

Love,
Momma

The balloon

Mason got a regular balloon at a Valentine's Day party that we went to on the 13th of February.  He has literally slept with this balloon ever night since then.  This is one awesome balloon!  He has asked every day if he could take his balloon to daycare, and every day I tell him no.  Balloons are just too distracting and not able to be shared very well, so I know that it will cause problems at daycare.  This morning, I walk downstairs and Mason is standing at the bottom of the stairs with something to tell me.  He said, "the balloon bounced right into my bag" (with an expression on his face like, I had nothing to do with it, hands held out in disbelief, shoulders shrugged and looking away).  Strange how after the balloon bounced right into his bag, the bag also got zipped up.  I am pretty amazed that it even fit in there.

I had to let him take the balloon.  He tried so hard.

Of course it broke at daycare.  The first thing he asked was: "Can I get another balloon at the Valentine's Day party next year?"  Yes, my sweet boy, I believe next year you will be able to get another balloon.  If you are really good, possibly even sooner.

Silly boy

For some odd reason Mason asked if he could play in the shower yesterday.  I couldn't think of a reason why not, so I let him.  He stayed in there for an hour!  He just played with dry soap and pretended to squeegee (thanks spell-check) the walls.  Weirdo.  I thought it was just a one time occurrence, but tonight he asked again.

I had to get a picture. (and share it)

And showing off his new SHORT hair cut.  Sorry Grandma. He then put this piece of soap in his pocket so that he could eat dinner....

...and the fish.  I honestly have no idea where this fish came from, but he found it this weekend in one of his toy bins and it has been in his hand or pocket since.  It is rubbery and gross feeling, but for some reason he likes it.

We are starting the "stuff everything in your pocket" phase.  Grandma has shared lots of stories of things that she would find in Steve's pockets.  This city boy may not be able to hide the really gross things like snakes and bugs that his dad did, but he will make up for it with soap and fish.