Truly, A Historic Day

Yes, today was history in the making: we witnessed the historic inauguration, it snowed in the south and enough to actually enjoy, and Lisa did not slip and bust her butt on the ice! Okay, okay so its not the first time in history its snowed in the south but its been long overdue, in my opinion. Mason and I thoroughly enjoyed running around in the white powder and making snowballs and snow angels. In fact, Mason, MY little snow angel, became a little obsessed with making these heavenly imprints of himself in the snow. He strategically planned his route around the yard, finding any untouched snow and would then plop down and wave his arms and legs back and forth. He would stand up and say, "LOOK AT MY SNOW ANGEL, MOMMY! ITS SOOO FANTASTIC!" Here are the pics from our fun, FANTASTIC day!

Bigfoot

All I wanted to do was sleep after I dropped Mason off at school. I took a 4 hour nap and boy did I ever need it!

Ive been pushing my body pretty hard over the last week, asking it to do things it hasnt done in years. Its paying off though. Ive lost 10 pounds in 2 weeks. I cant wait to see the outline of my muscles again.

After my snooze, I picked up Mason and we went for another hike. This time we hiked the entire trail. Its not a difficult trail and is only about a mile long at the most. We've yet to explore the other trails in the preserve.

I wore my new shoes and wow did my feet hurt. Definitely not supposed to happen. Definitely NOT good.

After our hike, we went to REI so I could exchange my shoes for the other pair I had my eye on. The salesman measured my foot and suprise! My foot is actually bigger than I thought--a size 10. Nice. I thought a size 9 made me feel amazonish! Riiight.

Since Mason is quickly becomming my hiking partner, I got him a pair of hiking boots too. He slipped and fell a couple times on the trail today so the boots should take care of that little problem!

The breaking of my heart...

Mason, my 3 year old little boy, and I walked through the doors of Barnes and Noble this afternoon for A. me to purchase a book and B. "to find the trains."

We walked along the side of the store that was away from the kiddie section with the train table. I hurried to find my book because as soon as Mason spotted the cartoon drawings on the wall of the kids area, my book search would be forcefully postponed!

I found my book, praised Mase for being a good boy (and only taking off to hide from me TWICE!) then we walked to the train table. He sat down and quietly started playing next to another boy who looked about 5 years old.

All of a sudden Mason stood up and says to me, "Play with trains, mommy?" in his own hard-to-understand way. I answered him, "yes, you're playing with trains, sweetheart!"

The other boy stopped and looked at Mason with this disgusted look on his face. I could see his wheels turning and I knew he was wondering, "what's wrong with that kid?"

I couldnt help it but I glared back at him DARING him with my eyes to say anything mean to my baby. But I know the kid doesnt know any better. I mean, Mason looks like a 5 year old but speaks like a 2 year old. It must be very confusing to the average kid.

I wanted to grab Mason and take him away from there, away from anyones' misunderstandings, nasty looks or harsh words. But I knew I couldnt do that. Mason was interacting, he was being social. This is something we have prayed for for so long now!

While we were there, Mason talked more but most of his sentences were directed at me (probably for reassurance purposes). At least he is standing next to, bumping arms with and talking (if only a little bit) to another child--a stranger. Nine months ago, this wouldnt even be a possibility!

What I was standing there watching in the bookstore was progress. But it was painful for me to watch.

This isnt the first time that an older child (around 5 or 6 years old) has thought Mason was the same age as he. I recall one time, a few months back, a boy was trying to talk to Mason. Mason responded in a very cheerful, i-want-play voice but only one recognizable word came out with a bit of jargon babble. The kid looked at me and said, "Ha. What's with him? He talks like a baby!"

I told him Mason was only 2 years old (just shy of his 3rd birthday) and he was still learning to talk. Of course the kid didnt want to have anything to do with Mason after that because Mason qualified as a baby, not a big boy. Mason couldnt comprehend why the kid was all of a sudden ignoring him and not wanting to run around the playground with him.

I have also watched older boys try to pick on Mason because they think he is older but "slow". (Believe me I stepped in and put a stop to it. No one is going to mess with my child and get away with it.) Mason is NOT slow. He is speech delayed and somewhat socially delayed but he is improving greatly in both areas!

When I see things like I saw today, I just want to grab those kids and tell them how lucky they are that THEY are not the ones who have difficulties speaking. It just as easily couldve been them and who knows, maybe they were in Mason's situation years earlier.

I cant fault those boys. They are kids and kids can be very hurtful because of the plain honesty that they project. I used to be a child too and I remember very well what it was like.

But now I am a mom. And Im hurting for my precious little boy. Im sad for him when he gets rejected by would-be friends. I want to prevent any pain from ever coming close to my baby. But I know I cant.

I cant always be there to protect him. Its all part of growing up. I guess if Mason actually LOOKED his age, this wouldnt be so difficult at this time. But this is our situation and we just have to continue to do the best we can to help Mason continue to improve.

He knows his mommy and daddy love him with all their hearts. We are his safe place and always will be.

So Beautiful.

Today I decided to take my little boy hiking for the first time. I knew of some bluffs in a neighboring town so we headed over there. We parked and I lifted my excited child out of his car seat. "Wess go, mama! You ready? Wess go!" I was so happy to hear the excitement in his voice.

New adventures are always fun and this was going to be a new adventure for both of us.

We jumped on the trail and began our hike. The first thing he said as he looked up and saw the canopy of trees embracing him was, "So beautiful, mama. So beautiful." "Yes, baby," I agreed, "this is so beautiful."

I wasnt only talking about the scenary but also about the innocence and wonder that was on his face and in his voice.

Mason found so many different kinds of leaves. It was like he couldnt believe there were so many different varieties. I told him what I could about each one--the names, the colors, the shapes, pointed out the tree it probably fell from.

We stopped to take pictures of him sitting on broken logs and standing on large stones. He petted the soft moss growing under an old maple tree. He ran and jumped down the trail like he was home.

Had I not lacked gracefulness, I wouldve ran and jumped with him because thats exactly what it felt like to me too. Like home.

The feeling I had of introducing nature to my child was amazing. Why did I wait so long to do this for him? Not only that. Why have I kept myself away from what was my great passion? I lost that part of me somewhere along the way.

But today, I found it once more.

And it was beautiful, so beautiful.

Let the mission begin!

Last night a friend told me that Nickelodeon has FINALLY released the new toys for the shows Wow Wow Wubbzy and Yo Gabba Gabba. Mason loves these two shows and in fact they are his absolute favorites at the moment.

Now anyone who knows me KNOWS that I love toys! I always have and because I've yet to grow up, I still do!

In fact, having Mason was all part of the plan. He's my alibi for my toy buying habit! Actually, my anthem is most definitely the Toys R Us song!

So, I do some research on the new Nickelodeon toys and find very little info on the store websites. On ebay, however, sellers have already gotten their hands on these toys and they are selling them like hotcakes.

Oh those naive, unsuspecting buyers. Unbeknownst to them, they can find these toys at Target (according to my insider tip) for much, much cheaper and NO SHIPPING.

I decided I would head to the stores the next day to look for the new toys. My rationalization for this tiny shopping venture?

Potty training. Poop-in-the-potty rewards! I just know God planned all this out: "Gabba and Wubbzy toys shall be released during Mason Cole's potty training experience!" An answer to my prayers!

I dropped Mase off at school and headed to Target. I see 3 giant, dancing Wubbzies sitting on the shelf, wearing his groovy rainbow afro wig.

"YES!" I think as I approach my son's best tv buddy! "NO!" I say aloud when I see the price is 40 big ones!!!!!!! Sorry Mason, you wont be getting this big guy! I look around and see nothing but empty shelves with price tags staring at me letting me know THE TOYS YOU WANT WERE HERE...but now they are gone.

On with the trek.

I go to Toys R Us and approach a sales manager. "Does this store carry WOW WOW WUBBZY and YO GABBA GABBA items?" The lady looked at me like I was nuts and speaking a foreign language! I felt pretty stupid when I heard the words come out of my mouth because had I not been a mommy, I wouldnt have ever heard of these CRAZY sounding shows either!

No Wubbzies or Gabbas at what was once (before the Walmart era), "The World's Biggest Toy Store." This isnt looking good, boys and girls.

I decide to stop at the next Target store along the way. Sold out--except for the giganto funkadelic wubbzies.

Man, Im going to have to make friends with the night stockers at Target so I can get the hookup when their shipments come in! (Joking, joking. But if it comes down to it, I will! Amy and I have discussed this several times during our Disney Cars obsession--which is still on and poppin, by the way!).

I get to the next Target and reluctantly walk to the toy aisle, totally ready to be let down. I see the rainbow afros sitting on the shelf. I look past those and BLAM! THERE THEY ARE! MY--uh, I mean, MASON'S toys!!! I found all three packs of Wubbzy characters! 9 characters, 9 poops on the potty! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I throw them in my cart and look at the next display and BLAMMO! There's YO GABBA GABBA!!! Jackpot! There wasnt much to choose from but I got 2 plush characters (very cheap in cost--yay!) and threw those into my cart too!

I left Target with a feeling of Mission Accomplished. But in actuality, the pooping on the potty mission has just begun! These kooky little friends are just going to make it happen more quickly--I HOPE!

ALL DAY!!!

Just wanted to share my excitement about Mason using the potty ALL DAY at school today AND YESTERDAY!!! Not one accident! YAY!!!!!!! Im so proud of him! It will be so nice when he is completely trained and we can stop spending so much money on pull-ups!

I spoke to one of Mason's teachers today and she spoke so highly of him (I totally blushed with pride! LOL) She said he is such a sweet boy and he has the best manners (she complimented me on that--thanks, miss! <--see I have good manners too! LOL) I love Mason's good manners too. It is so cute hearing him say, "Excuse me, mommy?" when he wants to interrupt me. Or, "Can I have a paper..... pweese?" and "Banks, mama!" Too funny! Anyway, the teacher said that Mason talks ALL THE TIME at school! I am SOOOOOOO happy to know that because in past he was very quiet in class but his normal talkative self at home! His past teachers thought he only whispered and rarely spoke. So this is a VERY nice change! He is doing so well and I am so happy!!!

I'M MELTING!! I'M MELTING!!!

Yes, just like the Wicked Witch of the West, IM MELTING! But with much less water, of course! It is so stinkin hot right now! Our poor air conditioner cannot keep up with the heat. The temp inside our house has been 79 degrees all day even though we have the thermostat set at 70 degrees. Bura called the AC repair man and he thinks our unit is too small for the square footage of our house. Just what we want to hear! I have been walking around the house with my 2 weapons against this nasty heat: a wet towel on my neck and a spray bottle in my hand. I'm ready to go jump into the Mason's kiddie pool in the backyard!

Mason is walking around in hot, fleece, footed pajamas! YUCK! I dont know how he can stand it but he loves those pjs! He is going through the "I want to dress myself" phase which is cute-as-can-be! I love it when in the mornings I say, "Let's get dressed!" And he walks over to the closet, looks up at his clothes, puts his finger on his chin and says, "Wet's see!" HAHAHA There has only been a couple occasions when we've had to go out with him all mismatched and looking like he had a blind wardrobe assistant!

One more day of this heatwave and then we'll be in the 80's (I NEVER thought Id be so happy to say something like that!). Hopefully our AC will continue to work (unlike last year) and our 3 bedroom fans dont conk out on us! Otherwise Ill be standing with my head in the freezer all night!