We had a break through

M&M's really are magic pills I guess... I always pretended that when I was little but they apparently do work magic.

Sunday morning I asked Lennox if he wanted to peepee in the potty. He sat down and sure enough, he went peepee. It was a big deal because it was his first successful attempt at using it on command! We made a really big deal about dumping the potty chair into the big potty, flushing the peepee bye bye, and then he got a small handful of M&Ms. I thought that was probably it for the day but the next thing I know, he took off his diaper and peepee'd in the potty again. Jay was attending this session and gave up too quickly. The next thing he knew Lennox had taken his own potty to the big potty and was flushing it bye bye... he missed the big potty and we had a little peepee to clean up but it was no big deal. Anyway, he promptly asked for M&M's and we proudly obliged! A while later he needed to peepee again and I thought, surely, this is just a ploy for more candy. I walked away and the next thing I know, he had poopoo'd on the potty!!! WOW?! This trend continued throughout the day. I am so proud! I know, it seems silly but this is a big accomplishment! Yesterday wasn't as big of a success but he had alot of distractions. We took his potty and M&M's to Pop today so hopefully he will be back in potty mode. How great will that be if I have just one baby in diapers? I know, I shouldn't jump the gun but I am excited he is interested.

conversations with a little man

While changing Lennox's diaper yesterday:

Lennox: That's my peepee!
Me: Yep, that's your peepee.
Lennox: Mommy has a peepee.
Me: No, mommies don't have peepees. Only boys have peepees.
Lennox: (making the saddest face ever) oh no, Poor Mommy! (giving me a big hug)

If you have a boy, you know the fascination starts early!

This whole "can" and "can't" situation is getting out of control. Last night we went to eat mexican food because I was too tired to cook. Normally, Lennox is a big fan of avocado but he insisted that he "can't like the guacholey!" Luckily his reaction to the cheese dip? "I can like it!" Yay. I'm glad he can do/like something even if he can just like the cheese dip. Another lucky for us? He "can't get out of the seat belt 'cause the buckle got me!" Yep, that's what the buckle is for son. He also apparently can't like the football game even though he demanded to attend... mommy had a hard time liking the football game herself. 100 degrees. 2000 people trying to fit into 500 seats. Big ole belly with big ole lady in front of me. Someone who forgot their deoderant. Yeah, mommy can't like that situation either.

So this month Lennox's vocabulary and conversational skills are booming. He can tell us basically anything he wants and it is usually in sentence form. Ok, maybe not a correct sentence but still a toddler sentence. He tells me what he does during the day when I get home. However, he somehow couldn't come up with the explanation for why he bit Jenson though. All I got from that was something about needing to go outside and play. Yesterday he was banging on the door to the bathroom while I was in the shower. He really dislikes being locked out. He kept banging saying "Mommy in shower? Mommy I wuv you!" Awww... Last night in Hudson's he and Jay were looking for me and when he saw me on the aisle, he said "There's my mommy. I pound her!" Apparently the p's are difficult to pronounce because we have porks and spoons, pish in the bathtub, and he pinds alot of things. He is starting to get interested in hide and go seek. He still doesn't really get it because I was taking his shirt off yesterday and it got stuck on his head so he announced "wook, I hiding!" ha. Not so much. We are still laying in the bed with him to get him to sleep. I just can't resist him saying "way by me!" I love that.... He'll only be little for a little while so if I want to way by him, I'm going to way by him.

In other news, after being with my sister last week it has hit me that I am totally unprepared to bring home a new baby. Yes, with less than 9 weeks to go, I have done nothing. Well, except buy alot of cute clothes from birth to 2T! I don't have anything done in her room, no bedding picked out, no necessary items like bottles or diapers, no name.... the list goes on. I realize some of those things can be picked up at Walmart on any given day but, with Lennox, everything was perfectly in place by about this time. Oh well, second babies... poor guys. I feel sorry for the ones that come after that too. What kind of shaft do they get?! I need to get busy.

You CAN do it

Someone, somewhere told Lennox that "he can't do it." I swear, if only I knew where he learned this because it is starting to worry me. Everything he tries that doesn't work out right away turns into him throwing something across the room and throwing himself down saying "I can't do it!" Then he cries and goes to get the thrown object, tries again, and, God forbid it doesn't work again, it goes flying across the room. I don't really know how to address this behavior. Last night he was trying to pick up his toy back hoe with a long handled toy grabber thingy. Well, the grabber is a plastic toy and the back hoe weighs a few pounds. Every time he would get the tongs on the back hoe and pull up, it would fall back to the ground... understandably. Time after time he took the grabber toy and threw it in my bedroom and came back and threw himself on the floor saying "I can't do it!" It is really sad but I don't want him to be a quitter. I encouraged him to keep trying and finally it did work. He did his little happy dance saying "I did it! I did it!" (sort of like Dora) Anyway, I was feeling good that I encouraged him and taught him a good lesson about practice leading to success. Well, I thought that worked but then he found a plastic bat. Well, he wanted to sit on top of the bat like Pat from Hop on Pop. You know, Pat Pat, they call me Pat... Pat sat, Pat sat on bat. Ok, so the bat is the same height as Lennox. He thought if he praticed he would eventually be able to sit on the bat... afterall, that's what I just told him. Ok, so that was obviously never going to happen. The next thing I know, the bat flew across the room, Lennox threw himself on the floor crying, "I can't do it!!!" oh geez.... Does anyone have a copy of the strong willed child book?! ha. no really.

Amelia Laurin Mason

That's Right! I have a new niece and she has my name :) How special does that make me feel? Pretty special.

Amelia Laurin Mason

August 12, 2010

7 lbs, 9 oz

19 3/4 inches

I love when newborn babies cry. It is so sad but so cute!

I love this little dude. He was such an excited big brother!

How fair is it that my sister looks like this after giving birth? Well, I will post a picture of myself post delivery and we'll see how unfair it is...

This is a shot of Everett seeing his baby sister for the first time...

Ev & Avery were both very excited. Avery's excitement lasted a little longer than Everett's. He was ready to go fishing with his sneaky worms about 10 minutes after he arrived.

Mason, Family of Five!

I can't wait to have one of these at my house!

I was able to stay in Texas from Friday to Tuesday. It was a pretty rough weekend but everyone is doing great now. I am so excited that Amelia and my baby girl will be so close in age. My sister definitely thought she was having a boy. What a great surprise! I cannot wait to see baby Amelia again but I was happy to see my own little man when I got home. When I picked him up, Lennox gave me a dirty look as if to say, "where the heck have you been?" I think he had a fun weekend though.

Short Stuff

So, it looks like Lennox is a short, square boy. He was 28.8lbs at his 2 year check up which is 50th percentile and he was 33.5 inches, 25th percentile. What's up with that? He used to be in the 95th! Anyway, shout out to Granny and Pop... looks like he's going to be low to the ground like you guys! I was in denial about this measurement but I went home and remeasured... sure enough, 33.5 inches. Everett was like 37 inches at 2 years old.

My 2 year old

• Lennox is pretty much conversational but he still mixes in a little gibberish here and there
• He says, when attempting unsuccessfully to pee pee on demand, "nope. it not working." He is actually very upset by things not working. He usually wants me or Jay to "pix it" or he throws it across the room. ha ha. I know you people out there that are laughing at me getting a taste of my own medicine. It is so hard to discipline a child when you know EXACTLY where they are coming from with their behavior... and they seriously can't help it!
• He is still very OBSESSED with heavy equipment and hauling dirt or digging more dirt or pushing dirt or scooping dirt. Just yesterday he threw his new front end loader across the room because it wouldn't dump dirt into his dump truck exactly how he thought it should... and he needed a nap.
• He is really good at recognizing and saying the names of shapes.
• He is still not so good at identifying colors. He can match colors though... even if they don't have the correct name.
• He is stubborn, stubborn, stubborn
• He is also so sweet when he wants to be. I was crying the other day and he followed me through the house giving me hugs and telling me "Poor Mommy. It's alright mommy... you ok? all better." how could that not make it all better?!
• He is weighing in at 28.5 lbs approximately.
• He has not been a good eater lately. He likes to chew food up then spit it out or just refuse to put any of it in his mouth. That doesn't stop me from making a plate as if he were a good eater. Jay thinks that just wastes more food but I think it just shows him that he's getting the same things on his plate, regardless of what he is willing to eat. I am not going to cook up a corn dog for his dinner while we eat a healthy balanced meal. It's just not going to happen.
• He loves his milk these days. He goes through phases with the milk but right now he loves it. I am not switching from whole milk until he starts eating better though.
• Lennox usually takes showers with me just to make life a little easier. Bending over the tub is getting to be difficult. When I turn off the shower he says "All queen mommy? I all queen." Then he waits by the door and points to the floor and warns me, "berry slippery mommy. YOu will slip down." He says those thing every single time.
• I am a little concerned because I bought him sippy cups at Marshall's the other day and they were Super Why. I had no clue who that cartoon was but he sure did know. He also knows Barney, Mickey Mouse, Sesame Street, Dora, Diego, Tom & Jerry, Backyardigans, Clifford, and some others I have never heard of. So, my concern comes in because I only let him watch Dora, MM, and Sesame Street... so who is letting him watch all of this other stuff? possibly the summer baby sitter? hmmmm.
• He loves to swim and has no problem jumping right into the water, regardless of whether he is wearing floaties or if someone is there to catch him.
• I moved all of his baby toys out of his room and into the baby's room so he could have a place for his big boy toys. As much as he loves his trucks, I have noticed that he has only been playing in the baby's room with baby toys? Go figure.
• He is getting more and more accurate at counting objects which makes me happy.
• He still can't hold up 2 fingers to show that he is two so he holds up five fingers and grabs 2 with the other hand.
• Thank you is pretty much always "tank tu, welcome"
• When he does something wrong, like spit food out on the floor, he immediately looks away and starts changing the subject so I will not be mad. It doesn't work (most of the time).
• He has been without a pappy for about a week. It wasn't a big deal, we just didn't give it to him and he didn't ask.
• He must be getting taller because his jon jon's are starting to pull in the crotch.
• Shirt size - 2T, shorts/pants - 24 M or 2T, shoes - 6 or 7 unless I have a cute 8. He's like me, he's flexible with size if there is some kind of bargain involved!
• His other favorite things to do are play with the water hose, read books, shoot the basketball or throw the football, and play with grandparents. When we get off of the exit and turn right toward our house, he usually cries and says "no, dat way!!" pointing to the left so we can go see Papa.
• He is finally getting interested in his Leap Frog letter magnets. That will be exciting if he starts to recognize the letters. He did ok for a while but regressed. Ah well, that's a toddler.
• He starts school after Labor Day. I am nervous to find out if he is actually not well behaved. You know, sometimes it is just hard to see your own child objectively. Of course you are blinded by how much you love them but I do try to be somewhat realistic. I am both looking forward to and apprehensive about what the teachers have to say about him.
• As always, I can't believe how fast time flies. A TWO YEAR OLD?! I don't know what to say except that he is loved beyond measure. He is the best thing that has ever happened to either of us. That's all I have to say about that.