in with the new

Florida Fun Times

Yesterday Mason (and we) spent time with his great grandma Gladys, his great uncle Allan and great aunt Ellen, and his cute cousins, Jeff and Ian.

Today he sat on a turtle and pet a snake! Let the pictures tell the story...

Where's My Stuff?

Mason did so well with the move yesterday! I took him to the zoo in the morning, and when we got back to the house, it was empty. Here he is in his room, asking me "Ah?" (or, Where's my stuff?).

One Last Zoo Trip

We took one last trip to the Lowry Park (Tampa) Zoo today with our girlfriends. Will and I thought it would be a good idea to get Mason out of the house while the movers were doing their thing. It was so sad when Mason and I said goodbye and left our friends. I am really going to miss them. I am so fortunate to have made such good friends. Bye Adriana and Leah. Bye Kylie and Olivia! Thanks for being such good friends and thank you for the beautiful scrapbook and all the phone calls and fun.

Here is my picture-heavy farewell to our girls...

18 AND 19 Months Old!

I put off the 18-month report for so long that I figured I'd just do an extra big post for the 19-month post.

To celebrate Mason's 18-month birthday, we had a small puppy cake. I plan on having a cake for him for every half birthday. Who doesn't love cake?!? We had it while we were in Asheville searching for our new home. We got Mason a house for his half birthday!!! Yahoo!

Have I mentioned before that every month Mason is more and more fun? He is, you know! He is a fricking comedian. He makes himself laugh, he makes us laugh, he makes Basher laugh... OK that last part was an exaggeration.

We were on the deck the other day. He was taking bottles out of the recycling bin and tossing them on the deck. Every time a bottle landed, he cracked up! Also, he loves to see that he effects things. Last night he was on his changing table, and pushing me away. I  exaggeratedly (is that a word?) fell backward with each push, and he was beside himself with laughter. He reacts the same way when he slams the door on Will and Will "falls" from the door slam.

His vocabulary has exploded in the past two months. There are a lot of words I don't understand, and "a-ba" still means a lot of things. But he has new syllables, "bee" and "mee", and uses them for a bunch of things:

• "Bee-bee" = baby
• "Mee-mee" = medicine
• "Mee" = Milk
• "Bee" = Boy

When we were in Asheville, Mason learned the word "tea". His grandma drinks a lot of it. Now whenever we take a mug out, he points and says, "tea, tea, tea, tea" in his cute highpitched voice.

He is walking like a champ now, there is no stopping him.

The bedtime sleep, it's been good and it's been bad. There used to be nights where I could put him down, and he'd roll over, hug his lovey and go to sleep. Not anymore. Now the good nights are nights when I can sing and rock him to sleep and put him down sleeping. If I put him down awake, he screams, gets worked up, and can't get himself to sleep. So we take him out of his crib, and he does a triumphant walk (not a nyah-nyah, more like an elated walk) into the living room. Then he sits on his puppy chair and reads books while we eat. Then we try again with the bedtime 45 minutes to an hour later, and sometimes it takes, and sometimes it still doesn't. It will pass. He used to know how to go to sleep, and he will again.

We've had a busy two months: a couple of visits with Aunt Jackie, visits to Grandma Susie and Grandpa David, a visit to a senior center to wish the seniors Happy Valentine's Day and hand out Valentines, a trip to see the Yankees at spring training, fun times at the St. Lucie County Fair (pic on left with the "guhs"), the big trip to Asheville with Grandma Helen and Grandpa Ken  to find our house, a few trips to the Tampa Zoo, tons of trips to the playground, a Superbowl, and a haircut.

The playground is a much more fun place these days! Mason climbs up the stairs to the slide ("i-ya") and goes down by himself. We usually follow him up, since he has a better chance of getting hurt up top than at  the bottom of the slide.

Mason is gentler with Basher now. He gives her hugs and pats instead of pulling her ears and slapping her. (All of which she takes because she hearts Mason so much.)

I can't wait to see how much more the language explodes and the physicality explodes over the coming months!

LAST!

Last full day in our Florida house. And conveniently, last rolls of toilet paper in each bathroom. Last roll of paper towel. Last drop of dish soap. Last bit of shampoo. Last bit of toothpaste. Strange the way that worked out!

Habitat for Humanity picked up my grandma's dining room set and bedroom furniture this morning. It's bittersweet to let go of those things that belonged to her, but I don't need a piece of furniture to remember her. I have memories and pictures and special cards she wrote to me.

THREE DAYS!

...was the morning...

Oh, totally wrong Three Days. Three Days left until we are out of here! We have a pretty complex weekend of travel ahead of us. Will and Basher will part ways with Mason and me when the movers leave on Thursday. Will's going to drive to his parents with Basher. I'm going to get a rental car and drive to my parents with Mason. I'll spend the weekend. We'll get to see my grandma and possibly my aunt and uncle. On Friday, Will is going to leave Basher at his parents' and go to Charlotte, where his friend Tim lives. I'll fly to Charlotte on Sunday night, and then we'll head to a hotel in Asheville. We have Monday to roam around, walk through the house and measure things, buy appliances, walk around downtown. Then Tuesday is the closing!!!! YAYAY. Then our furniture will get there Wednesday!

Haircut #3

Mason got his haircut yesterday. This haircut wasn't any better than the last two. I mean, it looks GREAT. But it wasn't easier on him or us. What a trauma.

Here he is before, with his long hippie hair. Not a very good photo, but I wanted to show the length:

Here he is during, so sad. Add flailing, kicking, screaming, boogers coming out, plus hair all over Mason and in my mouth to this photo:

After his bath:

And one more from the side later in the day so you can see the clean-cut, preppie back of his head:

SIX DAYS!

That's how many days until the movers come and fetch our junk!

We will save Mason's room until the very last. But we have packed things that are familiar to him, and he's noticed. We packed all wall hangings, and there are two that were significant to him. The first was the pirate map over his bed. He keeps saying, "ooooo, ooooo", like a boat, telling us that the boats were there. The second are two pictures from Barbados that were above his highchair. Every meal time, he says, "A-ya-ya", letting us know that Barbados used to be there. We tell him Barbados is away or Barbados is sleeping. Funny that he misses those things.

Tag! I'm it! Seven Random Facts

Lesley tagged me! Thanks for forcing me to post!!!! I really need to be a better weblogger!

The rules are:

1. Link to the person who tagged you
2. Post the rules here
3. Share 7 random or weird facts about yourself
4. Tag 7 random people at the end of the post, linking to them
5. Leave a comment on their blog so that they know they’ve been tagged

Here are my seven facts:
ONE: I worked as a ride operator at Six Flags for two summers during college. I can still recite the speil from the "Irrawaddy Riptide" (it was a flume ride)... "Welcome to the Irrawaddy Riptide! Please remain seated with your hands, arms and legs inside the boat at all times. Please secure all loose articles such as hats, handbags, eyeglasses, and cameras. If you lose them on the ride, we will not be held responsible. Please note that rocking the boat and splashing is not permitted nor will it be tolerated on the ride. Thank you and have a great day at Six Flags, your number one place for fun family entertainment in the northeast."

TWO: I have a tramp stamp. I go it on my honeymoon in Hawaii. It's hibiscus flowers and a pretty blue butterfly. Mason loves it and likes to pull it out in public to show the world that his mom is slutty.

THREE: I love love love Italy. I want to live there. I want to travel only there. I want to go back there as soon as we can. Besides Italy, my other two favorite places in the world are New York City and New Orleans. As a bonus, THREE A is that I've been to Halloween parades in both of those cities. THREE B: A prostitute complimented my ripped fishnets during one of our many NY Halloweens. THREE C: I love dressing up for Halloween!

FOUR: I'd rather do math puzzles than read a book. Will's given me shit about that. "Shouldn't you be reading a book?"Kakuro (or Cross Sums) is my number one obsession. Sudoku is ok, but I like the more challenging "Sumdoku", which is a combination of both puzzles, and I've only found that magazine one time. Boo.

FIVE: I've been in VIP sections (and may or may not have done illicit things) in clubs in NYC, the Hamptons, Las Vegas and Miami. Fun times, I tell you.

SIX: I met Rob Van Dam at Jim Hanley's Comic Shop. I said, "Hi, Rob Van Dam!" He was huge-mongous! I also met Chris Benoit at a car show in Atlanta. I have nothing witty to add to that. As a bonus, SIX A is that I collect comics, and SIX B is that Wolverine is my all time favorite superhero, and my comic crush. He's as short as me. SIX C is that I am a comics movie whore, and will see almost any comics-based film except the Spiderman sequels. Did you know they're filming a Wolverine movie?

SEVEN: I love Dave Grohl. I have made Mason love him, too, since "The Pretender" is his favorite song. It's perfect for when I plot Will's death so that Dave Grohl and I can be together and he will easily slip into the "Daddy" role. (Just Kidding Will and Dave Grohl's security people!)

Thanks, Will for helping me with this!

OK, Shelly, Nicole, Irah, Stacie, Jane, Jessica, and Casey, hop to!

Books - Things to Remember

These are the bedtime books in the order I read them:

When I read "Touch and Feel Baby Pets", Mason likes the baby gorilla best, because I pound my chest and make gorilla noises. At first I told him it was a monkey, but I think he's sophisticated enough to discern a monkey from a gorilla.

When I read "10 Little Ladybugs", Mason USED TO look at me with anticipation to hear the fish noise. He's over that now. Now he loves it when I cry and moan for the "one little ladybug sitting all alone". "Ooooooooohhhhhhhhh woe is me! I'm ALL ALONE! Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo!" He thinks it's hysterical.

When I read "Touch And Feel Puppy", Mason kisses most of the puppies. The "can I play with the rubbery ball too" page has 2 puppies. He makes sure to slobbery kiss both of them. There's a lot of Mason DNA in that book. I recently started asking him to touch his nose and mine when we get to "feel our soft leathery noses".

When I read "Goodnight Moon", Mason gives me his ear for the old lady whispering "hush". He giggles when I nibble his ear after the hush. He points to the stars at "goodnight stars". He loves the house for some reason. And he loves the balloon for obvious reasons.

When I read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See", Mason likes the page with the children. He points to two girls in the front row and says "gow", "gow" (girl, girl). And then he points at the blonde boy and says "Ba" or "Aba" (Mason). Yesterday I couldn't open the page to all the animals the children see, but I kept reciting it, and he thought it was so funny that I couldn't get it open.