Well, it has finally settled in that our little boy is 2. We've had a couple of months to get used to the fact and are quickly learning the antics of a 2 year-old! We were hoping that Mason would prove the "terrible 2's" wrong since every says that it's just horrible dealing with a 2 year old. Well, we just realize that it comes with your baby growing up and that parents just have to change along with the child. We are learning that Mason now pretty much realizes when he is doing something that Momma & Dada do not want him to do. We no longer let people make us feel badly for disciplining him because we know it's just what we have to do to make him learn the difference between right and wrong. He is pretty strong-willed and is no longer so calm & easy-going all the time. He is talking up a storm so we can pretty much figure out what he is wanting. He has the best personality and is definitely going to be Mr. Outgoing when he goes to school! We love it. At the same time, Mason is still our sweet, precious baby and we still rock him to sleep sometimes and long to cuddle with him as much as we did the day we brought him home from the hospital. I don't think he'll ever stop being our baby just because he is our miracle child that we prayed for for so long and went through so much for.
Here are some tidbits about our big 2 year old:
- Mason is still highly allergic to all things dairy & beef. He was re-tested back in April and we were so hoping for the allergies to be gone. They said we can test again when he's 3. We're so used to this and have found good food he can eat. We're more open to trying Kids' Meals at restaurants now. He has never liked the alternative types of milk we've tried but lately I've tried giving him cereal in rice milk, and he LOVES it! He now comes up to me randomly and requests milk! So this makes me happy. :)
- At Mason's 2-year check-up, he weighed 30 lbs, and was 36 inches long. He is in the 75th % for weight and 80-90th % for length. We are amazed at how much weight he has put on in the last few months! At his 12 month, he was still in the 3rd %, at 15 months he was 25th %, and at 18 months he was 50th %. Ever since we moved to BG, he is packing on the pounds!
Mason & Dr. Patti
In the exam room waiting for Dr. Patti to come back... he was a little scared being at the dr.'s office at first, but playing with all the fun toys kept his mind off it!
The weigh-in... Mason did NOT like this at all!!
- Wears 2t & some 3t clothing. Some shorts run HUGE, so he can still wear 12 months in some brands! Size 7 or 7 1/2 in shoes. Just moved up to size 5 diaper in July!
- Favorite books at the moment: Best Mouse Cookie, all the Little People big board/flap books, his potty books, 100 Reasons God Loves Me, his Bible, Where's Spot?, Curious George... we go to the library weekly now and check out 5 to 10 books each time. He loves running around the library showing me different books he wants to check out. We are now participating in a Summer Reading List where if we read 20 books to him before the end of the summer, he gets lots of prizes!
- Still sleeps in his crib all night long, about 12 hours. Takes one 2 hour nap in the late afternoon. Momma definitely appreciates her sleeping baby who lets her sleep in many mornings! :)
- Loves to laugh and have fun. Mason has always been the child who is CONSTANTLY on the move! He loves trying new things. He laughs all the time, even when he's supposed to be napping in his crib! He is so go-with-the-flow and is such a good child no matter where we drag him! He loves all the little road trips we take and adjusts so quickly to new environments.
- Loves all things SPORTS! He and his Da Da could play in our backyard for hours with his golf clubs, ball & bat, basketball, soccer balls, and footballs. We definitely have a little athlete on our hands! Everyone makes comments about how good of an arm he has when he throws any type of ball. And he makes random shots into the basketball hoop from across the living room! Can't wait to put him in tee ball and soccer when he's 4! He plays so hard until his hair is soaking wet and his face is bright red!
- I think his favorite day of the week is Sunday. He absolutely loves being at church and the second we walk through the doors he takes off running towards his little class. He is usually fine when we leave him, but lately he is a little clingier. He is always in the best mood at church and runs around like he owns the place! He can't really sit through a church service anymore, no matter how hard we try. He talks out loud, and repeats random words that the preacher says. Thank you. We try to keep him quiet with books, crayons, juice, and suckers, but he always ends up in the nursery. I guess that's a typical 2 year old little boy for ya!
Playin' in the pews with his big boy friends, Jack & Colt... actually, Mason & Colt were taking a little Sunday afternoon nap here...
- A WONDERFUL eater, and has always been! Loves Graduates, applesauce, bananas, grapes, blueberries, chicken, Mesquite Turkey, spaghetti (especially at Fazoli's), cheerios or Cap'n Crunch with Rice Dream milk, peas, corn, carrots, potatoes, chips & salsa, fries, eggs, bacon, toast, Honey BBQ Fritos, Sun Chips, suckers, apple juice, white grape juice, wa wa juice (aka: water!), and his newest obsession: ice!
- Likes watching t.v. just a little too much! Nick, Jr. is always on in our house... Olivia, Yo Gabba Gabba, Little Bear, Blues Clues, Wonder Pets, Dora the Explorer... he has all the songs memorized & we love hearing him sing them!
I mean, a man's gotta be comfy when he's watching his shows, right?!!?!
- Is showing interest in peeing in the potty! We have two little potties for him; one stays in the living room & the other in his bathroom. He always grabs his diaper and says "pee pee" or "poo poo" when he is using the bathroom in his diaper, so we're taking this as a sign that he's ready to start potty-training soon. My dad has gotten him to actually pee in his little potty twice! He just strips him down, sits him in the potty while he's watching t.v., and walks away to give him some time. So he understands the whole concept. Won't start officially potty-training just yet because we don't want to push it, but at least he's getting used to the idea!
Practicin' potty time while watching Elmo potty DVD
Mason & Papa Jack examining the goods Mason left in his potty for the VERY first time! YAY!
- A big water baby! We have been swimming several times this summer... all the way to the pool he says, "Swimmin' poo!! Swimmin' poo!" and doesn't stop til he hits the water! He's getting a little braver now to where he likes to stand on the steps of the pool and jump in to us. He likes wearing the little floaties on his arms, but no other type of floating device. He also takes great pleasure in drinking the water while saying, "Yummy, yummy!" I don't know about that!!
With his friend, Jack, at the water park
- Still a big Daddy's boy! LOVES his Dada and this makes me sooo happy!! Maybe the next one will be a Momma's boy or girl! :)
- Can spell his name! It is so cute hearing him do it, but he still thinks that an "N" also sounds like an "M." So, it's M-A-S-O-M. My parents got him an art easel for his birthday and he loves standing up and finding the letters of his name! Oh, and sometimes he likes to do it bare naked... he's just a little hot-natured!
- He has been saying some complete sentences ever since he turned 2. We do Starfall.com with him almost daily and he has really learned his ABC's, letters & sounds! It's amazing the change we have seen in our child! Some of his favorite words/phrases:
Go pee pee in potty (he really doesn't do this though!)
All done, All done (while doing the sign language to it)
More cheerios!
Starfall, starfall!
More pees, please!
Fall down!
Uh-Oh!!Get out, get out (says this when he's ready to get out of his high chair or crib)
Wuv you, Momma
Dack (my dad... he's Papa Jack, but Mason has dropped the "Papa" lately)
Nana K (my mom)
Baby Wuke, Baby Wuke! (when he sees my best friend's little boy, Luke)
Bray-Bray (his little buddy at church)
Gacie (Gracie, his girlfriend)
Jack & Reese (little friends at church)
Brush teeth
Bubble bath
Football
Bus (referring to the little car that Marc's parents got him for his bday)
Go down the side (he wants to go down a slide)
Go down the side (he wants to go down a slide)
Baketball
Apple juice
Bue-berry
Milk
Ahhhhh, Man!! (says this pretty loudly at the end of all our prayers)
Paw Paw & Dedy (Marc's parents... Trying to say "Grandy," but can't say "G-r")
Cawl (thought he was talking about a cow, but it's really car!)
Vroom-vroom
Neigh
Kitty cat
Monkey
Giraffe
Puppy dog
Yummy, yummy wa-wa juice!
Hey, Baby! (says this to me every now & then when he sees me after not seeing me for a little while)
Gucker, please! (see pics below of him lovin' his sucker from Cracker Barrel... my mom was in shock about it!)
Lots more to say about this sweet boy, but I better stop now before I reach my quota of words in this post. Ha! We love you, Mason Thomas! We are so blessed to have you in our lives and we can't wait to watch you grow & grow! You're having SO much being two and we're having so much fun watching you! We're so thankful to be your Momma & DaDa!
