Mase-man

Mason loves to sing and dance. His favorite songs right now are Dynamite and Firework. He likes to come and cuddle in bed with mom and dad in the mornings when he wakes up and he loves you to rub his face and back. Despite his little round belly, he is actually our pickiest eater. Quite often he will not finish his meal and therefore rarely gets dessert. He can count to twelve and knows the letter T quite well. He will pick it out of any sign and knows that it makes the "tuh" sound. When he is saying something that I can't understand he will repeat it several times and then automatically add a T sound to the beginning like if he is saying cat he will go "tuh" "tuh" cat, as if it starts with a T. He is starting to get really good at communicating which has been a disadvantage this week like when I told him we were going to Chick-fil-A while Gavin was at preschool and he went right to Gavin to tell him and Gavin understood a bit too well... Or when we went to get Jeremy a birthday present this week and later we were in the car with Jeremy and passed by the store and he kept saying "pwesent for daddy birfday dere." I had to do some quick distracting before Jeremy caught on. Unfortunately, he has started to really love watching TV and has figured out how to turn it on by himself. He loves Dora and Diego, but also Word World and Super Why. He kind of freaks out when Cameron tries to change the channel. Mason is crazy good at puzzles and not those wooden ones that are "too baby" for him now. He will sit forever putting those 35-50 piece puzzles together again and again. He's always so proud to show us when it's finished. He is definitely a Daddy's boy and is probably the saddest that Jeremy sits up on the stand at church on Sunday. Many a Sunday he has made a beeline to go see dad in the middle of Sacrament and I have had to chase after him- real classy. This little guy can be sweet as pie but has a split personality that can turn him into a grizzly bear in a matter of seconds. I can't believe that he will be three in just a couple of months. There isn't very much baby left in him, but I am hanging on to what I have. Everyone in the house is a fan of this guy, and we loves his guts!

Read Between the Lines

A couple of months ago my friend Angie asked me if I had any BOB books she could borrow for her daughter who is the same age as Gavin. I had never even heard of these books that are short paperbacks that kids can learn to read with. When Cameron was learning to read we just used the little books we already had in the house but I was intrigued by these other books. For Valentine's Day Gavin got his first set and I was blown away by how ready and interested he was in reading. Without any direction or coaxing from me, he sat down and began sounding out little words and eventually sentences like "Sam sat on Mat." How does that even happen? He was so proud of himself! Now he thinks it is a treat to be able to sit down and read me one of his books, he asks to all the time! He even wanted to take one to school to show his teachers and friends and tonight when his little friend Ashley was here they were off in a corner reading to each other- too cute! I am so excited for my newest little reader in the house and only hope that his joy of reading continues throughout his life!

Happy Love Day

Remember those old Sesame Street shows where the kids would shape themselves into letters? My boys wanted to send you all a message in the same form:

Happy Valentine's Day!

Where did you go sweet Mason?

I don't know what happened to him. What did we do to turn our darling angel into this creature? Our once mild mannered and easy going baby has grown into a strong willed, fiesty demon that throws tantrums and has been known to hit, spit and bite. Yikes! Where did this come from? He used to be the one to go with the flow and was so quick with a smile, now we hear lots of "NOT FAIR" and see him lay on the ground limbs flailing when he doesn't get what he wants. I feel like our sweetheart was kidnapped and replaced by this hot headed little tyke. I can only hope that this is just a stage as I follow through with yet another time out and pray for peace.

Derby Day

Just for you Kimberly- Here is the "Green Goblin"

Cameron started Cub Scouts when he turned 8. He is a Wolf in Pack 1368 and meets once a week to do scout "stuff." When we found out the pinewood derby was coming right up, Jeremy and Cam dove right in to create the perfect car. Cameron picked out his design, sanded and painted his car, while Jeremy cut it out, put weights on it, and prepared the wheels. Unfortunately, when Jeremy was hammering bullets into the back of the car, the front of it snapped right off! A little bit of wood glue made it presentable again, but then the wheels wouldn't stay on and we tried to glue the axles in. Needless to say, Camremy's (Cameron + Jeremy) car did not do us very proud. But we still cheered and learned quite a bit for next year and the coming 8 years (that's what you get with three boys!) that we will spend at the derby!

Cam and Austin

Getting in position

Waiting at the finish line

Cameron's rice krispy car

Cameron receiving his award for "most original" car

Thanks for the pictures Angie! I can't believe I forgot my camera!!