For Great Grandma

Just a few videos to help out Skyler and Mason's Great Grandma during her stay in the hospital.

Tub for two

We didn't have to buy a whole lot of furnishings in preparation for Mason's arrival thanks to Skyler coming before him. We had a crib and a swing, a bouncer and bumbo. One thing that didn't survive Skyler's infancy was his bathseat. It actually didn't even make it through all the time that Skyler needed it as one of our erstwhile cats ripped a few holes in it (it was inflatable) making it quite useless. Skye just had his baths in the kitchen sink until he was ready to graduate to a tub seat.


We bought a small mesh infant bath sling for Mason's early months, and it worked pretty well for the time that it was needed. Mason has gotten squirmier (and bigger) and we were growing concerned that he might squidge his way right off the thing. So he too graduated to the bath seat.

It's cute seeing the two boys eye-to-eye in the tub. I'm hoping that this will only lead to more fun for both of them during bathing time.

MM: Month Five

Dear Mason-

Hello my five month old man, can you believe how big you are already? I can't, especially knowing that month sixth is looming in the near future and once that passes all I will be seeing is the one year mark. But right now, today, you are just five months. So far it's a pretty good month.

You are just the most social, sweetest little guy ever. You love to talk and hoot and smile. It really is hooting too, you purse your lips into a little shape that is only further made to resemble an owl by the sound that comes out. It's pretty cute, especially since we can "converse" with you in this manner by repeating your sounds which encourages you to continue talking (and smiling).

You are getting stronger everyday, you are very good about sitting up (with support behind you) and using your little core to move forward and back as necessary to grab toys. I know that you are motivated by your mobile big brother, your toddler idol. You can't get enough of him, he is your constant source of entertainment and you follow him like a magnet to true North. I can only imagine your pure joy on the day you figure out how to crawl after him.

You are an amazing little man, Mason, and I am enjoying the opportunity to watch you grow and differentiate yourself from my memories of your brother in these stages. You really are your own little person and we love you for it. Happy five months monkey man!

Children's Museum

Our mom's group went to the Children's Museum today (thanks group discount!) and Skyler had a wonderful time exploring their many exhibits. It was the second time that he has been there, first time for me. I was really impressed with all the little areas they have carved out for the kiddos to play with, especially knowing that we didn't even see them all in the couple of hours that we were there. I was pretty proud of Skye who dove right in and enjoyed being a little independent explorer. This is a new development for him, up until recently he was pretty reticent about new (and particularly loud and crowded) places. He would usually hover by me or try to bring me along with him. Not so today, he was just itching to be off and away from me and wanted to get his hands into it all.

He played with some of Clifford's bones, a particular favorite for this little OPB fan.

He also enjoyed sliding down the big red dog's tail with some of his buddies in the group.

He really like playing with the water and watching how all the different funnels worked.

Not surprisingly he was a big fan of the "Dig Pit", where he could excavate to his hearts content.

There were some fun light tables to play with.

And last but not least, the face painting station. I didn't even try to paint his face for him.

He did it all on his own, and though the marks looked random he made each one with purpose.

He told me he was a kitty cat. I suppose some of those might be whiskers.

Rain or Shine

Living in the Northwest, in the winter, we really can't let the rain prevent us from venturing outside. Today we took a little walk down by Salmon Creek.

Skye wore his new boots that Gamma bought him, and put them to good use in some puddles.

He also made sure to help his brother make his way along the trail and enjoy the fresh air.

All of the boys enjoyed getting out of the house and tromping through the wet leaves and mush.

Mason raccoon approved of this outing, though it was obvious he wanted a more active part in the fun.

Skye enjoyed the extra time with his Daddy, we all did.

And Mason just took it all in, who knew the world was so big?

We popped him out for the return walk so he could get a better view.

And then we all went home and enjoyed our fire and a movie. We can enjoy being housebound too.

Crafty

At about 10:30 this morning this is what our house looked like:

And I didn't even manage to get everyone in the picture here. It was toddler-rama at our house, we hosted a little craft playdate for our Mom's group and had quite the turnout. Even though we were up to our necks in munchkins things went pretty smooth. No fights or tantrums ensued and (as far as I know) nobody got hurt. These are the things I measure success by.

For the kiddos that could manage such a project, and were interested in doing so, we had a little craft for them to work on. Skye was really into it and made quite the piece of art for Daddy's office. I love how toddlers can be incredibly imaginative yet completely pragmatic at the same time. I complimented one little guy on his tree and he replied, totally deadpan, "It's not a tree, it's a hand". Touche. Skyler agreed with him, he proudly presented Andy with his 'hand' when he got home.

Treinta y uno

Dear Skyler-

Oh Skye-guy stinker-pie, where do I even start? You change so much each month yet stay the same in your sweet manner and goofy, playful spirit. I feel like you have grown a lot socially more than anything this month, which has a lot to do with our now being active in a "Mom" group. I have always had confidence in the awesome little person you are, you are just now learning how best to share that with other people. I was always a shy person as a child, and still am in the right situations, so I have never faulted you for holding back or being timid in new and unfamiliar groups. I don't want to push you, yet I want to show you that your smile and your voice are worth sharing. Through our activities of late I have seen you become more comfortable when marching into a room full of strangers, it is now rare for you to cling to me or try to bring me along as your comfort. For this I am so proud of you, you are finding your self esteem.

You are also so much fun to listen to. You are always thinking, always putting things together. The other night you were playing on your Lightning McQueen tricycle in the darkness of the front room. I flipped on the switch thinking you would want the light on, and you turned around and said "Hey, you're not supposed to do that! I need to turn on my headlights to see better!". Even when I don't realize it you have a purpose to your actions. I am sure that you are simply cultivating that wonderful inner imagination that your Father loves to see so much.

As you can tell by the quoted sentence above, and it is verbatim, you are really good at putting together coherent, full phrases. You often come up with words and descriptions that I don't ever recall teaching you. You can count to ten, and will frequently do so as we go through the day. "Mommy you have one, two, three... ten hairs on your head", "I have one, two, three... ten cars!". We are also trying to fine tune your alphabet skills, you can sing the full song but are still pretty sketchy on identifying the individual letters themselves. You are such a smart, sweet boy and we can't begin to tell you how very proud we are of your developing mind. Your Mama and Daddy love you big guy, happy thirty one months!