ONE AND A HALF

Today is the day.  Mason is 18 months old.  One and a half.  And for some reason, that is striking me as a real milestone.  You would think I would have had these feelings when he turned one, but at one, I think babies are still babies.  He was walking, but still wobbly.  He was eating on his own, but not very well.  And now, in these past six months, the boy has changed before our very eyes from a baby to a genuine toddler.  Here are some of my general thoughts and reflections on who we like to affectionately call "the boy"... 

You have so much energy.  Just watching you run (not walk, full on run) from room to room or toy to toy wears me out.
You love trains, especially Thomas.  You play with trains every day at your sitter's house and then all night and weekend long with us.
You are getting more and more words every day.  For awhile I thought you would never speak, but rather only communicate in animal noises the rest of your life.  You have proven me wrong, and now you regularly say Mama, Dada, Gramma (arguably the funniest one!), Grampa, Papa, Bebe (my sister Betsy), Minnie, shoes, cheese, choo choo, uh oh, football, and basketball.  You didn't learn those sports words from us, kid. 
Speaking of animal noises, you have those down, too.  You know lion, tiger, bear, dog, cat, owl, birdie, goose, sheep, cow, horse, fish (the best), elephant, giraffe (the other best), crab, seahorse, and snake. You know what each of these animals are and can identify them in books as well as a frog, duck, and raccoon. 
When you eat, you take a bite and then throw your fork or spoon on the floor immediately.  We are working on that.  Because of this, we haven't pushed their use, but recently you fed yourself a couple of bowls of cereal as well as applesauce, and you kept your spoon in hand! 
You are very romantic.  When I ask if I can have a kiss you turn around and lean back with these romantic eyes and give the best open mouth kisses.  We are going to have to talk to you and address your technique before high school, though. 
You still don't sleep through the night.  And you know how to be naughty.  Yes, you really know how to be naughty.  For example, sometimes you hit the dog.  When you have done it time and time again and haven't listened to me, I will tell you, "Mason if you hit her again you are going to get a spanking."  So what do you do?  You hit her, incredibly softly. I am constantly finding myself having to decide if you did something wrong or if you are just tricking me.  Sometimes I just look at you and tell you that we had you to make all of our parenting mistakes on so that if we have additional children, they will be perfect. 

I received what I think is a complement from a coworker (which was later told to me by my boss).  He was commenting to her that I must just really love my son, because not a conversation goes by where I don't bring him up in one way or another.  It's true.  I am obsessed with that kid.  Even the naughty and challenging parts.  Mason, you have made us laugh, cry, and everything in between since the day you were born.  You are just incredible.  And you are getting so big.  Could you stop that, please?  Just stay little. 

TWAS A GREAT CHRISTMAS

It is now the new year, and I am overdue on my Christmas recap.  Quite honestly, I'm overdue on a lot of recaps, or just posts in general, but this one will have to do.  Christmas this year was both fun and trying at times with a toddler who is into everything.  I don't have many pictures, but you may notice in them that my tree was only decorated where little hands can't reach.  Although there were several tears shed about not being able to touch the pretty ornaments at free will, I still wouldn't change his curiosity for anything.

The little munchkin received the cutest Christmas jams you ever did see. You can barely see it in the picture, but under his elbow is a santa. Mason knows what Santa says, too, and can usually identify him. Listening to him say "ho...ho...ho" with the big pause in between each syllable is super cute (O is his favorite letter, which is may be why this was easy to teach him).
Christmas morning, we opened our presents in the dark.  Mason's big Christmas gift was his train set, which we knew would be a hit since he loves the set at his sitter's.  We set it up after he went to bed the night before, so that it would be right there for him in the morning.  Groggy Mason lasted for about a minute, and when his mind registered what was in front of him, he went right to work.

I have to share this next picture, too, because there is a funny story to go with it (at least to me).  Our laptop battery is dying, and a while before Christmas, Byron had said just to make the new battery his gift. Right.  I had already been stashing away extra money for an entire year because I knew I was going to get him an iPad.  But I didn't let on. However, the first time they tried to deliver it, I wasn't there and hadn't left the proper forms to receive it, so a note was left at our door that they had tried to deliver packages...from Apple.  And of course Byron read it.  So I still didn't let on.  And even when Mason had taken the wrapped present and essentially launched it off his high chair and Byron freaked out because it could be breakable, I still didn't let on.  Freaked out on the inside but maintained an "ain't no thang" composure on the outside. So when Christmas morning arrived, Byron totally thought he was getting a battery for a gift. When he opened this up, he said in a tone like he already knew what it was, "Oh yay, it's a - what?  Is this what it really is?"  Yes.  I totally surprised him.

And those were my highlights.  Yes, we had more family around, more presents to open, and more good times to celebrate, but those two people (and of course Minnie) are my world.  I really enjoy just being with them, and this past week and a half without work has been such a special time.
The last snapshot of our Christmas is the view of the tree that ended all of my recent nights.  I am no photographer, and I can't achieve the beautiful bokeh you will see other places, but this is still special to me.

I hope that everyone had a merry Christmas and is looking forward with hope to the new year.  I hope to share some of my own thoughts and resolutions for the new year soon!