Open House

Tonight, Mason's daycare had an Open House to celebrate the opening of their new building and show the kids their new classrooms.  Mason is in the same building, but a different (much bigger) room.  Thankfully, he will still be with the same teacher, Ms. Stephanie, who he loves!  She has been a big part of making this transition to daycare so much easier. 

We went in to see the new room, and were happy to see that many of Mason's friends will still be in his class.  He will now be in a class of "older ones/younger twos" and they are going to start potty training!  Wouldn't it be great if they did all the hard work for us?  =)  They are also going to start sitting in "big kid" chairs, and they have tons of new toys to play with. 

As we were leaving, I saw Amanda (the owner) hugging a mom who was obviously preparing to drop her babies off for the first time tomorrow, and it made me tear up a bit...it seems like we were just there, and some days it's still hard to leave him.  (And to be honest, he's almost a 2 year old, so some days it's very easy!) 

We went and explored the new building too, where they have a big open area in the middle for playtime during cold or rainy weather.  It's good to know they'll have somewhere to run and play when they can't go outside. 

I'm so thankful for this daycare for taking such good care of my baby.  I trust them with my most precious gift, and it's so comforting to know that they love him and take such good care of him!

Like Father, Like Son

We've always known that Mason was a "mini-me" version of Terry - everyone that knows Terry comments on how Mason is a spitting image of his daddy.  Last night, Terry pulled out some baby pictures, and it was amazing to see the resemblance between the two of them as toddlers!

Here's Terry, I'm guessing around Mason's age:

 

And here's Mason, taken tonight at almost 22 months:

 

By the way, it looks like Terry had ripped off a magazine cover in his picture...sounds exactly like something his little boy would do!  Like father, like son!  =)

Another sick day...

Monday, Mason and I stayed home because we were both sick.  We decided that we had to have something to do to prevent us from going stir-crazy, so we went to our favorite place.  

We walked around for a while admiring all the cool stuff, and we decided that Mason needed some new puzzles.  (This kid loves his puzzles, as you can see in the video in my previous post!)

 

After some puzzle time and some Elmo time, Mason decided it was cowboy time...

 

It's amazing how good cowboy boots make a sick kid feel!  =)

The little man was feeling much better by Monday evening and was ready to go back to school.  I, on the other hand, am STILL sick, 5 days later!  Hopefully I'm on the downhill end of it though!  

Just because...

I don't have anything thought provoking to say, even though it's been 3 whole weeks since I posted, but I did want to share some awesome pictures of my awesome kiddo (who is sick, again. For real.) 

He will no longer let me feed him his bedtime snack of yogurt and applesauce.  He wants to do it himself, and he really enjoys the mess he makes!

This picture cracks me up.  I can't look at it without smiling.  He was saying "cheese!"

 

 Playing on his slide...

 Crying because it's time to go back inside...

And some videos that make me smile...

I Did It!

C25K Week 1 Day 1 is complete...again!  =)  (Don't worry, I won't post every single time I run, but I thought it was noteworthy that I actually started when I said I was going to!)

I didn't have to work today because I took comp time for some trainings I did over the summer.  I took Mason to daycare late and will pick him up early today, just to get him used to it again.  He cried when I left which was tough - he hasn't done that in a while.

I went straight from the daycare to the track by my school and completed day 1!  It wasn't nearly as hard this time as it was the first time, although I may have some shin splints to deal with for a few days!  After that I came home and did Weight Loss Pilates (thanks Jessica, let me know when you want that back!) and I feel really good!  Once I get back into running 3 days a week, I'd like to add Pilates a couple of times a week, but I'm just going to focus on running now, and if I get the other done, great! 

Here's to a healthier year!  =)

Resolutions

Yes, I'm joining the other 492290258 bloggers out there who are doing resolutions posts for New Years today!  =)

Normally I would say that my resolution is to lose weight, but I'm going to tweak that a bit this year, since it hasn't worked so much for me in the past.  (Although I AM down 15 pounds from this time last year, I can't attribute that to a New Year's Resolution!) 

My resolution for this year is to start running again.  As you may remember, I started running in May of last year (it feels weird to call 2010 last year).  I actually stuck to my Couch to 5K program, and completed my first 5K in July.  Running was hard.  Really hard.  But I stuck to it and I was successful and I felt amazing.  I felt better physically, those endorphins were making me much more pleasant to be around, and I managed to lose 15 pounds doing it.

Then the new school year started, and I just couldn't seem to fit it in.  Running with Mason in the jogging stroller is 10 times harder, but with Terry's new job keeping him at work until 5, and the sun setting at 5:30, and making dinner, cleaning up the kitchen, and actually spending time with Mason, I just couldn't find the time.  I've been pondering this for a while, and I think I've finally come up with something that might work (and leave me with one less excuse to use.)

Okay, here I go, putting it in writing...

I will run 3 times a week.  Period.  I will start C25K over, and I will do it 3 times a week.  When that's over, I will keep running 3 times a week.  (This is where I failed before!)  I will take my clothes and shoes to work with me on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and I will run right after school, before I pick Mason up.  If we have a staff meeting on Wednesday, I will make up for that run on Tuesday or on the weekend.  I've had some guilt about this - running before I pick my kid up, but I have to keep reminding myself how important it is to be healthy for him.  And if I need to take 30 minutes for myself 3 times a week to be healthy, it's OKAY!  I will also find a 5K to sign up for, to keep myself motivated!

Alright, I said it internet.  Monday is D-day!  Amazingly, I can't wait to start running again!

Year In Review

It's been a pretty big year for us!  I can't believe 2010 is already over, and we're getting ready to start another year.  Here's a glance back at this year!  (Allow Mama to be sappy for a few minutes please.)

January - He started pulling up on everything he could grab onto.

February - He experienced his first snow day.  This was the biggest snow that I've ever seen, so it was fun to experience it with him.  He wasn't really a fan!

March - My baby turned one!  Was that really nine months ago??  I remember that I couldn't even sing Happy Birthday to him because I was crying so hard.  Time is just going too fast.

 

In March, he also ended up with the most horrible sunburn I can imagine on a baby, but I'd rather not post pics of that awful time!

April - Mason started walking!  Two days after his birthday, he decided it was time!  He also got his first haircut, which he was WAY overdue for!

May - Mason and I (haha) started Couch to 5K.  This was an amazing program, and it made me a runner...at least temporarily.  Mason had the hardest job though...

June - Mason took his first swimming lessons - a Mommy & Me class.  He was okay as long as I didn't try to make him do anything new! 

He also went to Kindermusik for a week and learned lots of new songs and dances, and got to play with lots of new instruments!

July - Mason and I (and Jessica and Lewis) dressed up as cows to get free food at Chick-fil-A!  We had a lot of fun being silly and eating free chicken!

AND, I completed my first 5K! 

August - My baby started daycare.  This was SO hard in the beginning, and I still feel a little sad when I see the picture of him the morning he started.  He has grown so much since he started, but I feel like he's a different little boy than he was then...

Daycare orientation... 

 The morning of his first day...

September - My baby started putting himself to sleep at night.  One night, after rocking and rocking and rocking, I finally just put him in his crib wide awake.  He never made a sound and went right to sleep!  He's done this almost every night since!  Here's the link to my original post.

October - Mason transformed into Woody from Toy Story for Halloween.  He was a very handsome cowboy!

And, the kid finally started eating when we got him out of that high chair and into a booster seat!

November - Mason and I went to several local parks since the weather was so nice.  He LOVES being outside, and LOVES climbing, so we spent as much time as we could doing both of those things!

 

December - We had an awesome Christmas with our little man!  He totally *gets* opening gifts this year and was a pro by the end!

Wow, what a year!  I have to confess that I can't look through all these pictures and milestones without tearing up a little.  I knew it was going fast...everyone told me it would go fast...but I didn't know that in the time it took me to blink, my baby would not be a baby anymore.  2010 was a great year for the Timberlake family, and we look forward to what 2011 has in store for us!