in with the new

Last Little Gym Class

The summer semester is over at the Little Gym. Mason has come such a long way since his first month there in April. He isn't afraid to get bells or put away balls, even of there is a throng of kids in his way. He volunteers himself and is so comfortable with the teachers, especially Miss Sue who he loves. She loves him, too, especially when she gets an "Elmo" kiss goodbye from him. Here they are together:

And here we are during the last class:

And here are two videos. This is Mason doing a "straddle roll". And this is him on a donut-shaped mat, rolling toward a mat to do a forward roll. Awesome stuff.

Another Late Night, More Silliness

Last night I didn't even bother putting Mason in his crib. I didn't even finish the books and songs of the bedtime routine. He kept shouting for daddy, trying to close the books, and flinging his pacifier on the floor. The flinging was so I would let him down to get it, so he could then run from me and play with toys! Sneak! So I brought him downstairs, we all went to pick up dinner, and then he played while Will and I ate. He started stumbling around at about 8:45. He was in bed by 9pm.

Here he is being funny. He put both pas in his mouth by himself. I just asked him to keep them there for the shot.

And here is bonus silliness, also unprompted, captured on Will's phone's camera.

Two-Year Molars?

I think teething has re-begun. Oy. I can feel a tooth under the right lower gum(s?). There are sad wake-ups in the middle of the night, light fevers and terrible bedtimes that are very similar to teethings of months passed. Teething is the worst thing ever. For everyone.

Tiny Potty Progress

Mason peed in the potty tonight before his bath! He's done it randomly a couple of times in the past month. Tonight was the first time he understood what was going on. He kept on going when he realized what was happening! The first couple of times, he halted the flow as soon as I cried out that he was doing it. Tonight, my celebrating didn't phase him.

Last night and the night before I had him stand in the tub before I filled it with water. Both nights he made. The first night when he saw the flow come out, he tried to catch it (yes, with his hands!), but it stopped too soon. Last night he saw it come out and then made more come out. That's what he did tonight on the potty when I started telling him what a great job he'd done.

I know we are a long way from potty trained, but it's our first step in that direction.

More Bugs!

Are these cicadas or giant beetles? I think beetles. But this is the year for cicadas, so I am not 100% sure... Whatever they are, they were on a tree on the other side of our fence. Thank goodness they weren't in the yard, or Mason would have been all over that action. He loves bugs. He waves and sayd hi to bumblebees (we tell him not to touch...).

Late Night Mason

Mason the excellent go-to-bed boy has become not so excellent. I don't know if it's a jinx because I told someone he went to sleep easily (you should never say such things!) or if it's his two-year molars (I felt one way under the gums last night), or if he's learning so much he can hardly stand it, or if he's just a stinker. Probably a combination af all four. Or at least the first three.

The past few weeks, bedtime has been hit or miss. On bad nights he will cry and SCREEEEEEAAAAAAM! At first, we let it go on and on. We would "rescue" him after an hour. He was too riled up to get to sleep. Now we don't let it go on longer than 15 minutes. We know by the sound of the cries if they'll peter out or if he isn't ready for sleep. When he comes downstairs, he is the most well-behaved child ever! He plays with his toys, reads his books, and sits with us. It's thanks for the rescue, maybe? After he is with us for an hour or more, he goes to sleep quickly.

(I won't mention his naps because I don't want to jinx them!)

Last night was a bad sleep night. It was even a bad back to bed night after the playing! We got him out of his crib after 15 minutes. We went on the porch to watch the sun set and play. We came in the house when it was dark and he played a little more. When he went back to bed, the screaming resumed. Poor guy! I went up and laid down on the floor next to his crib and we held hands. He squeezed me so tight. He kept pulling my hand farther into the crib. After 20 minutes I was able to free my hand and sneak out - I rolled and crawled! - when he rolled over in his crib.

Some pictures of fun, not tired Mason on the porch and the sunset...
 
 
 

More New Friends!

Mason and I went to visit my internet mommy friend today. Lisa and I are on a mommy forum together, and by coincidence, she lives 7 minutes away! So we went for a visit. Her daughter Kali is a month or two older than Mason. She was sleeping during our visit. I was sad we didn't meet, but felt lucky to get to peep in on her sleeping. We will meet and play next week when we go to the park. Her other daughter Emma is a chunky, sweet 3-month-old. We hung in the living room with Lisa and Emma and talked and played with cameras. Mason was cranky (he woke up at 6 this morning!), but in the end, very sweet, kissing and hugging Lisa goodbye.

 

Tub Pals

Mason has names for almost all of his tub friends. Some I've named, and some he's named (the dogs and the pirate) and Leo already had a name.

Their names:
Leo ("Aweee"), Matt the Pirate ("Ma!"), Grover Fish ("Bobo"), Pippy, Al the Pirate Duck ("Owwww"), Pippy, Mama, Lala, Joe Joe the Fireman Duck

Bele Chere!

We went to Bele Chere on Friday. (It's the biggest free music festival in the Southeast.) Will carried Mason in the Bjorn, which he hadn't been in in many moons. He doesn't exceed the weight limits yet! He was fine with it until toward the end, when he got very mommy-needy. (Mason, not Will.)

It was a fun time. My uncle Stu and cousin Jessica met us there. They came with my aunt Sylvia, who was singing at the Grove Park Inn for the owner's birthday! I was so happy to see them here in Asheville! And then they came over to our house on Saturday. Bonus!

Back to Bele Chere! We saw a couple of different kinds of music acts, a steel drum band and a woman who was very bluesey. Mason loved them both. He was rocking his little head and swinging his arms about. He's such a little dancer!

 
 

23 Months Old!!!

Mason is going to be two in a month! Serious yikes! I see so much more little boy and so much less baby these days. He can be sweet, moody, funny, sad, or just plain laughing his ass off. He is so much fun. There are so many new developments!

At the very beginning of the month, Mason learned to gallop at the Little Gym. At first he would only do it when we asked. Now he does it as a way to get from here to there! When we do floor exercises at the Little Gym, if it's something he doesn't want to do (walk or run), he may gallop (he also may roll around on the floor in protest)!

Also at the Little Gym, he sometimes volunteers himself when Miss Sue asks for someone to help her show the class how to do things. He's come such a long way in that class. He's great at walking on the balance beam, he loves to hang from the bar. He used to hate getting stamps at the end of class (it's like being dirty). He got over it, and now asks for one on his feet, tummy and hands. He can't wait to go home to show me or Will, whichever parent isn't with him at that class.

He said "gow" instead of "dow" for girl this month. The enunciation is slow but progressive. He started saying (and wearing) hoods this month. He used to hate to have them on his head. Now he identifies the hood with "hooooooo!" and wants it on! (He calls hoses "hoooooo", as well.) He is also still making up words and using them for many things. "Muh muh" is for pumpkin, marker, printer, and I'm sure 3 other things I can't remember! He can identify about 20 letters in the alphabet and say most of their sounds. Yay Leapfrog refrigerator toy!

I can't wait for him to start stringing words together. I'm always asking moms with sentence-speaking toddlers when they started speaking phrases. I'm really excited for that development. I want him to be able to tell us more stuff!

He has begun to ask us to join him wherever he's sitting, or play what ever he's playing. He may want us to come over and sit under his slide with him. He will ask "Mama?" or "Lala?" or even "Pippy?" in a sweet quiet voice. Then he will point to the ground next to him. How can we not oblige?!?

He kind of has playmates. I'll call them "playmates", since they're girls aged 8 and 11. Our neighbors' daughters are so great with Mason. He likes to run around the yard with them, kick (or throw) a ball with them. They always crouch down to his level to talk to him. It's very sweet.

Will and Mason have a sweet thing they do. They touch heads, then ears, then chins, then cheeks, then noses. Not always in that order. It's kisses for their other head parts.

He has a couple of toy microphones, and has always sung, "ahhhhhh!" into them. Never words. Last week, Will asked him to sing "hi" and he did. It was fun to hear a word amplified.

He knows a lot of songs. I think his favorite is the bye-bye song from the Little Gym. He doesn't sing many words to songs, here's how he identifies specific songs:

 

"cha cha cha" is Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes (the sound of the cymbals

"bum bum bum" is The Pretender by the Foo Fighters (the sound of the drum)

"woe woe woe" is Row Row Row Your Boat

"bah bah bah" is the Little Gym bye bye song

"ohhhhhhh!" is a song on the Sesame Street CD by James Taylor

"mana mana" is just that on the Sesame Street CD

"cah!" is Oscar for I Love Trash

"bo bo" is Grover for his Near/Far song

"la la la" is Sing, Sing a Song

And I think we've officially moved on from the "no no" song (Don't Lie by the Black Eyed Peas)! He asks for it once in a while, but not eight times a day! Whew!

Mason is still working on holding his fingers up for 2 through 5. He'll get it! He can hold his thumb up (like Fonzie). Totally unrelated to the Fonz, he says, "Hey!" in a really deep voice. He says it over and over. He got it from us shouting, "Hey" to Basher when she would run off with the neighbor's dog. He makes a funny "Surprise" face that (to me) is more scary than cute.

Maybe the coolest thing we saw this month is that Mason remembers things long-term. We went to mellow mushroom for pizza this week. We hadn't been there in about 6 weeks. He remembered there is a flying pig on the ceiling, and wouldn't stop making pig noises until he saw the pig! We've only been there four or five times, but the pig was important to him and stuck in his head!