One Year Old!

I cannot believe my sweet baby is ONE YEAR OLD today!  We had his "Rock & Roll" birthday party on Sunday at my parents' house, and we had a great time.

We had balloons...

We had cake...

We had friends and family...

And we had a sweet little birthday boy...

Who is a little bit shy...

And doesn't like birthday cake...

So his mama had to put some on his face for him...

He was reeeeaal thrilled about that, as you can see.

I love my little birthday boy, and I'm so proud of all he's done in his first year!

Keep an eye out!  There's more to come on Mason's BIG first year!

Well that's new!

Mason has had quite a bit of exposure to other kids.  Bigger kids.  He has several cousins that he plays with on a regular basis and they are all sweet to him.  I think he feels very comfortable with these kids, and may even "boss" some of them around.

On Saturday, we went to a birthday party, and at this party, I experienced a brand new emotion that I can't even put a name on. (And if you attended or hosted said birthday party, this is between us!)

There were some older kids there too.  The ones I have in mind were maybe 3 and 4.  I was so proud of my sweet little boy.  I expected him to be clingy and shy because there were so many people there.  But he crawled right out of my lap and made his way to the toys.  The toy he wanted to play with the most was a V-tech truck that made lots of noise and had lots of buttons.  I watched with pride and a little sadness as he cruised his way on over to that toy...and had it jerked out of his hands.  This is where that new emotion comes in.  He wasn't trying to take the toy, he was just trying to touch the buttons and he had it repeatedly jerked away from him.  At one point the other boys even grabbed his hands and moved them away from the truck. 

Okay, I know kids.  I know at some point my child will probably do something similar.  I know these little boys just saw him as another kid trying to take their toy, but I felt the most insane sense of over-protectiveness I've ever felt in my life.  I waited for the mother to say something.  She didn't.  I wanted to say something.  I had to bite my tongue to keep my anger from spewing out at these unsuspecting preschoolers.  "Hey!" I wanted to say.  "He's a baby!"  "He's not trying to take your toy!"  "Push his hand out of the way again and see what happens!"  Those were the things (among others) that I wanted to say, but I kept my mouth shut.

After thinking about this for two days, I'm not angry at the kids...they were just being kids.  I'm not angry at the mother...her kids were just being kids.  I'm just shocked at the feeling of sadness that I felt when I thought my baby was being pushed around.  I have never in my life felt that kind of feeling, at least not that strong.  I wish I could put a better name on it than sadness or over-protectiveness, but that's all I can come up with.

And okay, I know now after rereading this that I may have slightly overreacted, but this is my baby, my pride and joy, and my heart breaks to think of anyone mistreating him, ever.

And now, I will simmer down.  =)

Spring Break!

Ahh, how I adore Spring Break, especially when the weather is as beautiful as it has been this week!  Today, Mason and I enjoyed the Spring-iness of Spring Break. 

After we ran some errands, we watched Electric Company. 

Oh my goodness, that woman lets her kid stand way too close to the TV.

Oh, and the closed captioning?  That's for families who have loud children.

After our show, we decided to go for a walk over to UMHB.  Here we are, ready to go!

Mason really enjoyed the fountain, can't you tell?!?

I had forgotten how beautiful the campus is!  It was so quiet and peaceful!

After our walk, Mason decided it was time for some T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

Ahh, how I love that little trouble-maker!  Now, how about one more week of Spring Break?

Brag!!!

I just have to brag on my little (almost) one year old!  Last night he slept from 8:30 PM to almost 9:00 AM!  He must have woken up briefly at some point because his blanket was on the floor (his new thing is throwing everything out of the crib onto the floor) but I never heard him and he obviously put himself back to sleep!  That is by far the longest he's ever gone at night!  He almost always eats between 3 and 4, so this was HUGE for us!

Then, this morning (after sleeping for 12 hours!) he got up and ate a great breakfast of oatmeal, toast, yogurt, and milk, and he's been in a great mood!

My baby's turning into a big boy!!

Friends

Today I got to see my friends, for the first time in quite a while!  Chrystal, Kathie, and Alisa came over, and I got to see Alisa's sweet daughters too!

We talked and ate, and talked and ate for hours and enjoyed getting caught up with each other.  Mason loved playing with Kate and Olivia!

Alisa is a kindred spirit.  She's the one who got me through my pregnancy during my work hours.  I can't even count how many times she watched my kids while I went to the bathroom.  She listened to me share my joy over Mason's kicks and pokes, she listened to me complain about my hip pain and having an elbow in my bladder, and she cried with me during the days after that dreadful ultrasound.  She is truly one of my best friends and favorite people!

Kathie, Chrystal and I haven't had a picture together since probably high school!  (I'll try to find one and post it!)  Here's our most recent!

Mason also received his first birthday present today from Ms. Alisa!  It's a puzzle!

He's allllmost got it solved!  =)

“Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget.”

Extended Rear-Facing (PSA!)

Now that Mason is approaching his first birthday, I've been asked a lot if and when we will be turning his carseat around.  The answer is "Not Yet!"  I've done some research and reading on this topic, and the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) now recommends that children stay rear facing as long as possible - at least until 2 years and 40 pounds.  The law currently states that babies must stay rear facing until 1 year and 20 pounds. 

I'm definitely no expert, and you know I don't typically try to make my blog "educational", but here's some information I've found helpful.  This message board has some excellent info and links on the importance of rear facing.  One portion in particular says:

"The AAP recommends leaving the car seat in the rear facing position until the maximum weight limit for RF’ing is reached: “It is best for children to ride rear-facing as long as possible to the highest weight and height allowed by the manufacturer of their convertible seat.”

Here's a link directly from the AAP about the importance of keeping children rear facing as long as possible.

He's gotten a little fussy in the car lately, so I very briefly entertained the idea of turning him around, but his safety is most important, and I believe this is definitely the safest choice!  I've been asked about his comfort and where he'll put those long legs of his.  I'm not too worried about this yet, but we'll cross that bridge when/if he seems uncomfortable!  Until then, it's rear-facing for us! 

Brat?

Disclaimer:  Before even putting this "on paper" I must say that it makes me feel bad.  However, this blog has become therapeutic for me, and right now, I need some therapy.

If I said my kid was a brat, would it change the way you think of me as a parent?

I hope you know by now that I think the world of my kid.  He is the light of my life and I would do anything for him. 

But some days, my son is a brat. 

Let's take today, for instance.

He woke up at 8:30 (which is really 7:30. Stupid time change) this morning screaming his head off.  And I mean it was one of those screams where I couldn't even go to the bathroom first.  I went in to love on him some, but he would have none of it.  Mason is too cool for me. (Wow, I feel like I'm in high school again.)  He immediately wiggles his way down and proceeds to play with all the things in the room that he is NOT supposed to play with.  Bottles of Tylenol and Vicks, the clock, the ceramic heart hanging on his dresser.  At what point did he get tall enough to reach these things?!?  I must have missed something. 

So, I decided to do the good mom thing and distract him.  We took his clothes and clean diaper into the living room where we wrestled for 15 minutes trying to get his diaper changed and his clothes on.  May I just mention that he doesn't do this for ANYone else.  Literally, just me.

Next, it was time for breakfast.  He has a thing for breakfast (I wonder where he gets that from?) so I stirred up his oatmeal, toasted his waffle (that sounds mean!  "I'm gonna toast your waffle kid!"), and got out the yogurt and milk.  Now, keep in mind that this is the exact same meal that he had for dinner last night and devoured (except he had toast instead of a waffle, but the principle is the same.)  So he ate like a champ, right?

WRONG.  I can't even tell you how many times he knocked the spoon out of my hand or spit his food out in disgust.  I really don't get it...he was all over that stuff last night.

I finally decided we were going to Wal-mart because I forgot a few things yesterday.  He was an angel at the store of course, because he only shows these true colors for me and his Daddy.  Everyone else will think I'm making this up.

When we got home, we had some playtime before his nap.  Mason has a thousand toys covering my living room floor, but he has no interest in those.  All he wants...is the Wii (or you could insert other things he's not supposed to have: remote controls, cell phones, power cords, Molly the dog).  We keep it on the entertainment center, which USED to be out of his reach. (Seriously, when did this kid get so tall?)  Now, he can crawl over all of the barriers we put in that corner and reach it.  So I said very sweetly "Mason, that's not for you."  (I swear it was sweet, Terry heard it!)  He looks right at me, and reaches for it again.  "Mason." I said in a slightly more stern voice.  "That is not for you."  I picked him up and moved him to his toys to try to distract him, but this kid has a one track mind.  He goes straight back to the Wii.  "MASON!" (still sweet...ish.)  "No.  That is still not for you!"  And of course he grabs it anyway.

So I decided he needed a few minutes of crib time.  I put him in his crib with a toy and walked out of the room.  Yeah, that was the noise you heard this morning.  He screamed at the top of his lungs.  I swear if you were walking past my house, you would have probably called the cops because it sounded like someone was hurting him.  He did this until I gave myself  a minute to cool off and went back in the room. 

At this point, I decided it was naptime.  I fed him and changed him, and thank Heaven, he's out like a lightbulb as we speak.

So, yeah.  We're not having the best day.

I am grateful for the time we have together.  I don't expect every moment to be perfect.  I know that sometimes, kids are just brats.  But as we approach toddler-hood, these moments seem to occur far more often...if it's like this now, how will the "terrible twos" be?  I may need to be put away if it gets much worse than this!

I've griped on for like 12 paragraphs.  So what am I thankful for today?

Well at this moment, I'm thankful that my strong-willed little darling is sound asleep.

I'm thankful that the weather is absolutely gorgeous today.

I'm thankful that tomorrow, I will get to see some of my favorite girls and spend some quality time with them.

I'm thankful that I will be sleeping on clean sheets tonight, because I'm washing them right now.

And, I'm thankful that this is the worst thing I have to complain about.  Sure my kid may be a brat, but he's healthy (mostly) and happy (ish) and we have a lot to be thankful for!