four years

You're so handsome! And completely hilarious.

Please don't ever learn how to say 'your' or 'yogurt' (okay, maybe eventually you should figure it out...) I love it when I hear you say 'I like yours shirt' or when you ask for more yougurt. : ) Other than that you're pretty much grown up. Your personality is starting to shine, you know what's funny, you know how to be a good friend and you are definitely starting to appreciate what it means to have a brother!

You refuse to smile - only silly faces. I recently took a family picture and had to bribe you to take a nice picture by telling you we'd do a silly picture when we were done. I can't remember who started you on silly faces but I do remember the day you knew what it meant to make a silly face and you haven't stopped since.

You don't really have any favorites. Anytime I ask you your favorite color you change your answer or answer with "all of them". You still like tattoos, music & dancing, and picking your own clothes. You like superheroes and movies although you don't have any real favorites there either. You always just have fun with whatever is going on. It makes it hard to buy you gifts, but it makes life pretty easygoing for you, so it's pretty cool.

You are silly and brave and kind and ready to rock age four. I think you're really going to like it.

xoxo,
mom

three years

And just like that, you're three...

You are one adorable goofball! You are really into superheroes, espeically Spider Man. You love to sing, sit in my lap (or 'sit in yours wap' as you say) and you love to see your name spelled out. You've even recently started showing an interet in writing the letter 'M'. You switched your favorite color from blue to red; you still love to play any game that involves a ball. You love to laugh and make other people laugh. You love Andrew (and he loves you back).

Rigth now I am one of your very favorite people. You also really like 'pompa' (you'll take either one - you love them both). You're starting to like dad more and more, and I'm sure one day he'll be your favorite. Just in case that happens, I'm going to soak up all the time that you pick me!

Sorry your name is so common. I picked it (in high school, actually) because I love it. I've only known one person with the name, until recently. It was also my childhood pastor's last name and I thought that was an added bonus, making the name have some special meaning to it. Then a famous person had to name their son Mason and it skyrocketed to the 2nd most common name in 2011. Sad. Okay... just wanted to make sure you knew I picked your name way before it was trendy! And even though I still love it, I am bummed it's so popular!

Thanks for being awesome. Love you to the moon and back! Love, mom.

two years

I remember taking you out for your first birthday breakfast as if it was just last week! It's hard to believe how quickly another year has gone by - time is flyin'!

You have really grown up over the last few weeks. You and Andrew both do that around your birthdays so I guess I should've been ready for it. You're interacting more with your friends at school, you sleep in your bed as if it's something you've always done, you can jump, and you've got a few new words. Basically, you're turning into a two year old.

You still love your brother and he loves you right back. Now that you can play a little more, you guys are spending more time together and seem to have the most fun outside. Speaking of playing, you still seem to love balls the best - especially small ones that you can hold in your hand and carry with you. You also still love to swing, you've picked up a little climbing and you like slides now. You love to color, and just recently (since your birthday party) you've seemed to really like a couple cars you got from the movie Cars. It has nothing to do with the movie though because you still don't seem to care about TV at all.

I can tell all your teachers like you, both at school and at church. They always smile when they see you and always have a cute little story for me when I pick you up. Your teacher at school said they've decided you're going to be the captain of the football team and voted valedictorian. I'm not sure how they decided on that, but I thought it was pretty cute of them. A couple of the teachers have also started calling you Mace. It seems weird that someone else has decided it's okay to give you a nickname, but I kind of like it. Andrew said he just 'loves Mason too much' so he plans to still call you Mason. : )

It makes me happy that you're a happy kid (although if you're tired or hungry and you don't get your way, you do tend to cry. for a really long time). You love to laugh, your nice, and you're independent! You love doing things for yourself - it's great, but I sure do wish you'd let me help you sometimes. After all, you're only two, you know!

Thanks for making me smile everyday. I love you! Your mom.

month twelve

I love that you turned one today. You're happy, healthy and the cutest little guy I know! And although it's hard for me to think that my baby is growing up, at the same time it continues to be more and more fun as you get older and can play and try to do things on your own.

You have added so much to our family in the year you've been with us and I must say it is very much as I imagined it would be. And, you've confirmed that our family is complete - there is nothing else we are looking for or hope to find by adding another family member. We're perfect!

I was so excited when I found out you were a boy - I instantly thought of how cool it was going to be to raise brothers. You have a built-in best friend and I'm already seeing the start of that relationship. You love Andrew and he definitely takes care of you and is looking forward to the days you can really play with him.

I love how happy you are. People comment all the time about how much you smile. However, there is another side to you... The side that doesn't like to be away from me. If you can see me, you want me to be close by. If I'm not around you do fine without me. I love that you love me, but I sure wish you'd also love other people - namely your dad and grandparents at least! I'm sure it's just a phase. And when you're over it, I'm sure I'll miss it. That's just how it works.

You had a big hypothyroidism checkup a couple weeks ago and I think I'm finally hearing and processing what the doctors have been telling me since you were born. And that is that you're healthy! The medicine you take is a complete replacement for your thyroid so really your body doesn't even know you don't have one. I think it helps that your first year went so smoothly - you hit milestones, you weren't sick, you didn't have any rashes and your growth rate was right on track. In fact, I think I had less to worry about with you than I did with Andrew (thankfully!).

I hope you grow up knowing the importance of family and loving God. I hope you understand that confidence and humor will get you farther than you might think. I hope to raise you knowing you're loved and that we're always here for you, but also giving you the freedom to do things for yourself. Most of all I hope you're happy in life, whatever you chose to do. I will do what I can to help you get there!

I love you with all my heart! Love, your mom.

month eleven

How can someone so cute be so feisty?! You have learned that crying loudly makes people respond faster. You also know what you want and it's not that easy to get you to change your mind. If I try to give you something to replace something you shouldn't have (which you have a crazy knack for finding things you shouldn't have...) you take what I gave you and you throw it. At this age, you shouldn't be throwing things when you're mad!! It makes me wonder what the toddler years will be like - and I must admit, I'm a little nervous! :)

I guess you know that you can get away with things because you have such a charming little smile. And so far you seem to be right. In fact, most people have no idea that you pack such a powerful punch when you're upset. Maybe it's because you really don't get upset too often. Thankfully.

One thing we need to work on is getting you to sleep through the night. You're not going to like it. And I don't like having my boys feel sad, so this will be tough on me too. However, if I want you to be able to ever know how to sleep at night, I think we need to work on it. So, here we go...

I'm having fun watching you and Andrew play together these days. You love it when he plays with you, and since you're starting to play more (you like to play with balls, you like to be chased, you like to play with instruments) you're getting a lot more attention from him. I hope you guys always remember to take care of each other like you do now.

Thanks for being my sweetie pie. And thanks for having your own cute personality. I love it!

month ten

You're saying mama! You win. Anything you want - you got it! :)

This was a fun month. You're starting to feel less like a fragile baby, which is (for the most part) nice. It means Andrew can play with you a little more. This is hit or miss since you, I'm pretty sure intentionally, like to play with specifically the item he is playing with, and he likes to push you over. But you have fun together too.

It also means we can do more stuff. You went to your first Mariner game - you did a little people watching then slept. You went on your first bike ride - you seemed to enjoy it but you were also tired, so you got a little upset when we had to stop and fell asleep on the way home.

You also got sick for the first time. It was a bummer for you, and it was a bummer for me. You might think from this update that you're a great sleeper, but really, you're a great sleeper during the day and then you suck at it at night! Being sick has made it so you wake up even more often, and since you're sick (and adorable) I can't help but cuddle with you (aka, not sleep well - ever). Oh well. It's something I secretly love. All I can think about is how you'll soon be 12 or 8 or 5 ... I don't know... and you won't want me snuggling you. So, I'll take it now, and love every minute, minus the puke.

(Your cute little feet)

Love ya. Your mama.

month nine

I have to admit that I don't know where the last couple months went. It's like all of a sudden you're 9 months old and I am not keeping up. I still need to buy you a toothbrush! Luckily, it doesn't seem like you care if I keep up or not - you fully intend to keep growing up. You can pull yourself up to stand, you're starting to eat real food (I think you prefer it), and you are learning to explore the house now that you have perfected your crawl. AND! For the first time in your life, both numbers came back in the normal range for your hypothyroidism check!

One thing I am happy to report is that we finally made it to the dedication service at church! This is something I've wanted to do since Andrew was a baby, but we just finally found a church we love and wanted to become members of. The dedication was a nice service. It is a time for us to commit to going to church regularly and praying for you every day. At the same time, our church 'family' commits to setting a good example and supporting us in the journey. It's pretty cool!

You still prefer to be with me. You like other people, but if you see me, you choose me (thank you!). You also prefer to be with me, rather than alone. I've done a bad job of getting you use to sleeping in your room. Basically, we both sleep better if we're snuggled in our bed, so that's what happens most of the time. That has to end soon. Seriously - you're NINE months old!

I've overheard a couple people talking about how cute you are recently. Both times they didn't know I was there to hear. It makes me smile because I know how cute you are and it's fun to hear others agree. :) I love you to the moon and back. Love your mom.