I love you

Mason,


Daddy told me that the part of the brain that involves risk isn't fully developed until a man is 20. I wouldn't have believed it except for the trip we made the day before supports his theory...
Gammy (SHE HAS A NAME!) and I met at Costco and were checking out some bagels. DIRECTLY in front of you who was standing in the large part of the cart (yeah, I know). We both watch as you completely somersault over the side and land face up, head first unto the cement. THAT CAN NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. You only cried for about 5 minutes. Once I started singing Bieber, you laid your head on my shoulder. Gams and I had no idea what to do and the darn dr. wouldn't get back to us. You dosed off. Back in the day that was a huge no no. We freaked out and called the dr. again. They said to head straight to the ER. So I brought my wet 25 lb. noodle to the hospital. The minute we walked in, you perk up and say, "ion (there was a picture of a lion on the wall)." I knew you were fine at that point but wanted to be 100% sure. Gams and A.K. met us at Kennestone. Turns out it was JUST a mild concussion. NO BUMP, no nothing. Freakin' A son. Way to scare the bejesus out of me!


In other extremely happy news, you say I LOVE YOU now. Full on. You started what sounded like it a few days ago then the 2 nights ago at the Currys, you walked into the kitchen and said, "Daddy I love you." I left you with Gammy this morning (yup, back to work) and you waved bye and said love you. 


Here is a sneak peak of you in one of your Halloween costumes. You weren't too sure about it...

We also got to hang out with AJ and Wyatt (remember them?).

You still are loving making videos of yourself on the computer and on Daddy's iphone.

You also love to take picutres. You grab the camera and say, "cheese." Not to bad for a wee one.

Open house for your school is next Thursday. I am so excited. Mrs. Lisa even signed Haven up to be in the same class as you!


Check out say what? as I am revamping it a little since there is NO WAY to keep up with every new word or phrase. You are obsessed with, "hant" right now. You want to hold everyone's hand and take them everywhere.


You and A.K. are too silly.

Before I started filming this video, you were singing the song right on cue.

Love you, 

Mommy

Leadership Potential

Mason,


You have been blessed with consecutive Daddy day afternoons. Daddy was home to two full days and I know you enjoyed every minute. I know (trust me) you love me but sometimes I really think you need some Daddy time. Since it is consignment season, you two were on your own yesterday and a little today (I got you a magna doodle and a basketball hoop and Barney slippers (and other stuff you don't care about)). The stage Dad came out a little when he took you on a shoot yesterday.

At the very end, you needed to smile and you went into a passive aggressive temper tantrum. I get home and the house is a little messy but I can tell you two have had such a fun time singing and dancing and playing with balls and trucks!


In other news, you are singing CONSTANTLY!
"baby baby oohh"
"down down down" 
"tnnnniiiigh"
and a bunch more. You become more obsessed with JB as time goes on. If he isn't playing in the car, you will hear about it! Has to be the right volume too.


We had Summer and her mommy over a few days ago and you really showed off your sharing skills (she however not so much, made you cry twice). I was extremely proud of you!


Funny story. Ok...two.
I went upstairs, you followed me. I went downstairs. You wanted me with you. 
"Mommy ustirs" 
"No Mae Mae, Mommy stay down"
"peas"
"ok"
You have started saying please when you want something. "Paci peas"


When we went to art class at NMC, the coordinator had two pools laid out so you kids could splash in the water with the fish toys. All of you were fully clothed so the idea was to just have you splash.....Within 20 seconds, you were in the pool. Out of 15 kids obeying, you were standing in it. I ignored it just long enough to finish putting water in it then got you out....only to see you walk in the smaller pool. Great. A minute later, 15 kids are in and out of both pools; everyone fully drenched. One mom said, "Mason has real leadership potential." Nice way to put it...


Love you,
Mommy

Lots of Love

Mason,

Here are some pictures of some things you love

after church, playing in the bushes

Paxton

wearing Mommy and Daddy's shoes

cheesing for Ms. Stacey

after playing in the sprinkler, you went potty, read a book, and ate cookies (all at the same time)

reading

being silly

(Kamryn's birthday)

playing with new friends

salsa?

art projects

beating up Mommy

speaks for itself

cake (as long as it's not chocolate)

getting into mischief

being cute (ok, so I love that)

you also love teasing you alligator with cookies, singing Usher and Bieber, making videos of yourself on the computer, shaking your booty, your family and staying up late (they usually go hand in hand),

and best of all, 

Mommy.

I love you Buddy,

Momma

20 Months

our future preacher

Dear Mason,


Happy 20 month birthday. Only one day short of Mommy's big 2-5. I cannot believe we only have 4 months left until you turn 2. Like everyone says, seems like yesterday I was dreaming of having my blonde, blue eyes baby boy. Now, he's not even a baby.
At 20 months, you can say most of the letters in the alphabet and if we sing Who Let the Letters Out?, you can say most of the letter sounds. You have a song list on itunes and you love dancing! We have to move all the toys out of the way because you get so into it!

Check this out for a somewhat comprehensive list of your vocabulary (it's really hard to keep track).  You are one silly little boy who loves to sing (you make up songs, typically about yours truly), dance, gang up with Sicily, play instruments, dig in dirt, hit mommy and laugh, and best of all, give fabulous hugs. 
People are really seeing your personality in those new pictures we took last month. You had a casting last week and two this week (at the Kids II one, you kissed Ms. Stacey when she fixed your hair). Speaking of last week, we survived without Daddy for a whole week while he was in the Dominican Republic. We throughly enjoyed each other (and grandma's dinners!). Your great uncle past while he was gone but the silver lining came when we were able to meet Great Aunts Dodie and Bonnie, your Great Uncles Andy and Eddie, and a bunch of cousins and even second cousins. When Daddy came home, he let you play with his cool gadgets!


You love animals, throwing everything, testing patience (you say, "uuummm" before you do something you know you aren't supposed to), climbing (in church a couple weeks ago, I came to pick you up and you were standing on a chair banging on the door with a stick. when I said, "mason," she said, "thank you." lol), coloring, doing the laundry, watching TV (PBS or baseball) and movies (Elmo or Baby Einstein), and making us laugh.
For the 4th of July, we attended the 89th annual Turner family reunion in Cumming. We were so blessed that Daddy was able to have the day off (that was the reason we didn't go last year). A relative brought pictures of your great great great great great grandpa Berry Turner; that's 7 generations back! Again, you met many family members and got to visit the home Granny grew up in.

baby Mason in utero!

After a nap...

We went to the Marietta Square in hopes of corn dogs and fireworks. Not so much. It poured and we went out to eat then went home.
We spent part of your 1/4 birthday at the Dr. After being outside for only 10 minutes, just like your Mommy, you got eaten alive by mosquitos and one bite looked nasty! An antibiotic prescription cream later and all should be well soon. You weighed 24 pounds and 12 ounces fully clothed with shoes. No wonder my arms get sore!


Love you,
Mom

Out of Hand

Mason,


I am so glad I found time to write. My lack of writing has gotten out of hand.


How potty training came and went...
We began our potty training expedition. It stopped as fast as it started. 
I have been saying for the past few weeks that while I am not ready, you seem to be ready to take the plunge. A few days ago, you told me three times that you needed to potty and you did (twice in diaper, once in potty) then told me you had to poopy and and ran to the potty and pushed (I love your little push noise) it all out. Yesterday, we bought another pack of training pants, another seat for the potty, and a travel potty seat in preparation. We began the 3-day model bare-bottomed at 6:30 am. Yeah, rough already. I read over and over that the first day is messy. Didn't start off too bad. You would start to go then finish on the potty. Then it got to the point that you went every 10 minutes. I refuse yeah refuse to put you on the potty every 10 minutes. You peed on the floor, carpet, and even the bathroom counter (brushing teeth). Again, I know messy and thankfully no poop! Straw that broke the camel's back. I sat you on the potty. I KNEW you had to go. You aren't patient at all so sitting for more than 3 minutes is your worst nightmare. So already fed up Mommy at 9:00 let you off only to see you pee on the floor 1 minute later. I chased you with Grandma on the phone so she could hear you laughing,  picked you up and you fought with me like never before not to sit on that darn potty. I gave in and you finished peeing on the floor and I put on your diaper.
We said we were still going to put you on the potty as much as we can though. Fat chance. You won't go anywhere near it now. You even squat and tell us. Stinker...


New obsessions...
dipping. We call you our Little Dipper. Daddy is the big dipper. Ketchup is your dip of choice (you dipped a strawberry in it the other day. it was followed by, "ew") but you love Chick-fil-a sauce too.


Bye. Obviously for months you have been able to wave and say bye but you have become obsessed with doing it when we are leaving anywhere. I love it. Sometimes you do it when I haven't even said anything about leaving. It's like you knew. 


Booty Rides. Ok so weird name. Not sure why we call it that but all it is is a piggy back ride. I guess you say that because we have to stick out our booty. At any rate, you ask for Dad and I for them all the time.


In other news...
sunburn. The day after Grandma and I took you to Lake Acworth, I noticed you had a little sunburn on your shoulder. Needless to say, when we went yesterday, you looked like a marshmallow.


Last week we had the Spinners over for BBQ and you loved helping Daddy and Pop. When I say help though, you didn't help barbecue, you helped make everyone laugh. Since our backyard is still a forest (come July 7th it won't!!), Dad and I don't let you leave the porch and you really don't have much desire to play in it anyway.......lets just say that night, you carried around a small tree, sat in charcoal and had more bug bites than I thin I have ever had (which is impressive since I am a mosquito magnet). 


Father's Day was Sunday and we had such a GREAT day. Breakfast with the Spinners, church with the Spinners AND Turners for Daddy's send-off service (he is headed to the Dominican Republic on a mission trip), lunch with the Turners, short nap, then dinner with the Spinners at our house. Gotta love a family day! If only we all went to the same church...


While your receptive and expressive vocabulary is growing, so is your nonsense vocabulary. Seriously....sometimes you say full sentences and look at us and all you get is an, "oh really?!" because we are SO confused. 


A.K., Grandma, and I took you last week to have some pictures made. After the disaster at Kiddie Kandids and month ago, I really had no faith we would get anything good. I was wrong. You hammed it up.

You now have little boy hair (not peach fuzz) on your legs and arms. A constant reminder you aren't a baby anymore.


In addition to Super Why! and Curious George, you love to watch Barney and dance to the songs (I did too!). When the "I love you" conclusion song rolls, you run to the TV and hug yourself :)


You still love to tickle and be tickled. I love to tickle so we are a perfect match!


Love you Porky Pig,
Mommy

Mason,


Grandma and I took you to Lake Acworth today. Not sure of the sand at first but after realizing how fun and messy it was you LOVED it. We played in the water and had SO much fun that I think we will be coming next week (and the next week...).

Love to "culey"

Potty training begins tomorrow, Sunday, or Monday. Depends on if we can gather select materials (another potty seat, disposable liners, etc). After you told me three times today you had to go potty, and you actually went (in your diaper....can't run that fast), it is just right timing and you are ready.
Yesterday I was doing yard work. You decided I needed help.

We go to the pool at least 3x a week.

Really just enjoying your sillyness!


Love, 
Mommy