in with the new

"I Can Open Da Wock!"

Look out everyone! Mason can unlock on the back door now. He was SO proud when he realized he could do it. That is great for us lazy parents who don't like to get up to let Basher out. Mason loves that task. Now he loves it ever so much more. But that is not so great for us parents who want to keep the child INside. He can almost open the backyard gates, as well. Get your Amber alert ready.

Foto Friday Week 52

I Heart My Trike Edition! Mas has gotten so good at pedaling his trike. Steering, not so much yet. Thank goodness for the handle! It helps with steering and helping him up hills. Here he is this week and last year on it.

School Update

School was rough for Mason for the two weeks after we returned from being away for a week. Last week and the week before, he cried so hard when we dropped him off. Courtney's emails have waned. This one is from 10/27, the first Tuesday he was back after his absence. It could have been from any of the four days, he was so sad.

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Mason was upset for longer than I thought he would be.  He cried and whimpered for about 5 minutes.  He stopped when I sang songs to him.  He was cuddly for a little while after that, which I have to admit I enjoyed--but I could tell he was feeling a little bit vulnerable.  After that he was fine.  Happy Mason just as usual.  I'm really sorry for your loss.  I'm sure that is part of what was going on with Mason.  He probably knows something is going on. 
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On one of the sad days, a boy named Judah tried to comfort him with hugs. Judah acts as if he is Mason's big brother (he has a big brother, so maybe he wants a little one of his own). It's very sweet to hear that a child is trying to make Mason feel better.

This week was better. Mason still cried in the car. "I don't want to go to the Odyssey School". But each morning before that rigmarole began, he assured us, "I'm not gonna cry when you drop me off". He stayed close to me and was clingy both mornings, but distractions worked and he held to his not crying when we left. Hooray, Mason! I hope we don't have another sad regression after he is off for Thanksgiving break.

Health Adventure Class Trip!

I attended my first class trip with the Odyssey School! We went to the Health Adventure (a kids' museum). They had a class where they learned about the body, and then they were free to explore the HA for a little while. It was fun to get to talk to other parents and see Mason and the other kids interact. Trinity Lane (from Halloween) was so sweet to Mason. A couple of the boys were kind of rough with each other, but Mas stayed away from that action. And there's a very quiet girl named Yarrow who won't talk to most people, but talks to Mason. I drove Yarrow, Mason and his teacher Courtney. It was nice to get to talk to her one-on-one.

There's a Grossology exhibit there now. It proved to be a little too much for Mason. Some of the displays are scary (below) and there were some (scary) noisy things. Also, there was a section of smells, and a couple of the smells were armpit and poop. Ew... that's Grossology, I guess. We stayed in the toddler room with a few other classmates where it was quieter. They played on a little slide, with books and toys until it was time for lunch.

We all ate lunch in a big hallway. Pre-lunch hand-washing was an event! So many kids in the bathroom!

Sporty Sunday

We spent this afternoon with Tyler, Tara, Tessa and baby Kate. We played basketball and hockey at Carrier Park, and then we had lunch in West Asheville at Universal Joint. Except for the time when I shot a basket and it landed on Tessa's head, and when I almost spilled an entire cup of water on her, it was a really fun time. I miss our friends. We are spending Thanksgiving with them, and I. can't. wait.

"Sad-urday"

It was another full-schedule Saturday here. We went to the market in the morning (der). We had our last tball game. We celebrated Peyton's birthday. We (ok, Mason) cried for 40 minutes that he wanted the garage door open. Yep. FORTY. You try to repeat a phrase for 15 minutes even, without crying. Just one phrase, I dare you. I love talking and I can't do it. I am too easily distracted. Distracted, as I am from the original point of this post!

Tball was fun! They played a four inning game instead of their standard two! four innings was on the verge of too long, as Mason was daydreaming a bit at the end. He got four great hits, and fielded at least two balls. This first picture is Mason and his coach Frank Parker.

We got home from tball, changed, ate lunch, and headed over to celebrate Peyton's fourth birthday! Mason was most interested in singing Happy Birthday and eating cake. He hearts "birhay" cake so much!

We stayed at Peyton's house until it was almost dark (that happens early these days) and dinner time. Mason conceded that it was too cool and getting dark and came home willingly with me. Then the fun started. OK, the opposite of fun. We were in the garage putting his trike away and he told me he wanted to go around the block again. I told him it was too cold and dark and it was dinner time. We would go around the block tomorrow. He cried that he wanted to go around the block as I carried him up the stairs. Then I asked him if he wanted to press the button to close the garage door. He cried, "I want the garage door open". Will closed the garage. As I typed above, "I want the garage door open" was repeated amidst cries and screams for forty minutes. The last ten minutes were calmer and quieter, every so often he would tell us that he wanted the garage door open. Even at bed time, as he was falling asleep, he got one more, "I want the garage door open!" in there, plus a small cry because we forgot to bring home his red balloon from the party. Poor tired guy. It aint easy being three.

Foto Friday Week 51

Sleepy Baby Edition! Mason fell asleep on the way home from Max Patch last Sunday. He slept in the car. He slept through the transfer from car to house. He slept on the couch for HOURS. Altogether, it was a four hour nap. While he slept, it was fun snuggly TV time for all of us in the living room.

In the car.

On the couch.

Max Patch Hike - FAIL!

We drove to Max Patch Bald today. It's about an hour drive west from our house. It's a short (half a mile?) hike up to a grassy plateau, where you can see the Great Smoky Mountains and the Tennessee plains. We drove on the highway for a little while. Then we drove through beautiful countryside for a little while. Then we drove on an 8 to 10 mile one-lane-around-a-mountain road through the clouds and/or fog. It got soupier as we climbed. And scarier. We pressed on, convinced we would be above the clouds at some point. That never happened. When we finally got to the parking area, we had no idea which direction to look for Max Patch Bald. I took a couple of pictures, Mason refused to get out of the car (who could blame him?!?). Will suggested we eat our picnic lunch in the car before we headed back down into the murk.

Pictures from the scenic highway and beautiful countryside.

Pictures from the murk.

Our friends went to Max Patch the weekend before us. Here are a couple of excellent pictures from Tara and Tyler.

Trick or Treat!

Our UPS man and his new school friend, Tiger, went trick or treating tonight! Mason loved it, he said, "Trick or treat!!!" at every door. Then he inspected each piece of candy before he put any in his Elmo bucket. M&Ms excited him the most, orange packaging ("my favorite color!!!") excited him second most. I liked the orange packaging, too, because it meant Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for me - Mas won't eat peanut butter! He wouldn't go up to two houses because they were playing spooky noises. We understood.

A girl from Mason's school, Trinity Lane (the aforementioned Tiger), came to trick or treat with us. Her neighborhood is not conducive to trick or treating. So she and her parents came over, had dinner (I made sausage and peppers... yum), played a while and trick or treated. It was nice to have company, and to get to know some other school parents. Mas and TL got along great. It was fun to see them play together. When she put on her costume, Mason was a little unsure. She told him she wasn't "a mean tiger", and he accepted that. Then they "roared" all over the neighborhood together. So cute!

Foto Friday Week 50

The Halloween Decor Edition! Every time we pulled out something new for the lawn, Mas would ask, "is that not gonna make noise?" Nothing did. He was happy.

Mason took this one of me decorated with devil horns (he called them mouse ears).