- He cracks me up in that he loves his extremes: he wants his lights bright, bright, bright all night long for sleeping, and he wants to wash his hands in the coldest of cold water. (No thank you to either of those for me!!)
- He had to get a flu shot this week (Jackson and I both got ours last week - in fact, I had the sitter come watch Mas when I took Jax, because I was worried Baby J needed lots of shots and would scream, cry, and turn into a cherry tomato, and I didn't want to scare Mason from getting his shot). We pulled out Buzzy, which my mom got for us a while ago (who didn't seem to be very effective on 3- and 6-month old Jackson) to accompany us. Mason is always wanting to play with him, but I never let him, saying "he's only for Doctor's appointments". Well, we put the vibration on his leg for 1 minute, and then I let him hold Buzzy and turn him off/on. Three seconds later the nurse was looking at an empty shot syringe, trying to make sure that she actually got the fluid in Mason's leg because he never felt it or even flinched! Hurray for Buzzy!! (Though, we dropped him and apparently broke him right after that, so I need to call the company and see if we can get a replacement!)
- This boy says some sweet sweet things. He's very good about saying thank you for things, acknowledging when people let him do things, make dinner, etc.
- I just don't get around to writing nearly enough of it down, but the gold star of the week goes to him saying, "I love spending time with you, Lola" which he said to her completely unprompted!
Jackson:
- He is certainly up on his knees rocking, trying to pull up on things (though he falls to his belly as soon as he lifts an arm, then does a really awkward back bend motion trying to pull up from his belly), and almost pushing back to sitting up from his hands and knees.
- His new favorite thing(s) to do while nursing are snapping my bra strap repeatedly and/or bangs on my chest with his hand. Awesome. ;)
- He seems to be waving at people in a hi and bye fashion. But mostly still is just very excited with flapping arms any time someone will pay attention to him (strangers most definitely included).
- He is also making kissing sounds and tick/tock sounds with mouth
Found something a little higher than Brother's special toys and Momma's laptop.
VERY excited about his pilot wings that he got at check in at the airport.
He had to make sure EVERYONE saw them and knew he was a pilot!
Looks like he's on the move just in time to show off his skills to our families!
Seems like flight troubles are pretty standard these days. Our first flight ended up being too delayed for us to make our connection, so we were re-booked about an hour later (making our already late arrival to NC a midnight arrival, and still a VERY TIGHT connection in between). But here we are on the very last row of the airplane - Family selfie, just happy to be getting to go on vacation TOGETHER!!
Left: I forgot my flash was on
Right: what I was trying to capture - Mason engrossed in his movies while the rest of us were having trouble keeping our eyelids open.
He did an excellent job of keeping his headphones on, and watching movie after movie. Only problem now is that Jackson kept wanting to pull the headphones off ;).
We thought FOR SURE he would fall asleep with all that movie watching... especially since our flight was hours after his usual nap time. But OH NO NO NO - he waited until the plane actually landed to conk out. Ha! Good thing we were in the last row and he had a bit of time to catch some zzzz's before it was our turn to exit.
Lola was a trooper, meeting us at midnight (she gets up for work before 4 am!)
Friday we visited with my friend Kristin. I forgot to take a picture of our boys together, but I did get this pretty awesome bideo! I was a bit worried for Parker, but he kept hopping up and grabbing Mason's hands to do it again! ha ha
There isn't much that can make a Target shopping trip more enjoyable than it already is... Oh, except this sweet Peetoot!!
He LOVES the fancy exersaucer with electronic toys at Lola's house!!
(same one we had for Mason, but left in TX, so we bought one with cheap-o toys on it second time around)
"Mirror Mirror"
Saw this going down and had to take a picture!
Difficulties adjusting to a 3-hour different time zone... and getting in so late the first night that we all went to bed around 2 am. This was night #2; finally out at 11:30 pm. (not bad really ~ 8:30 "our time"). He was having such a hard time staying in his room / falling asleep that we decided to let him have a toy to play with quietly. That worked really well, and he fixed his car for over two hours before finally calling it a night.
Saturday Aunt Paige arrived!
and lots more fun play time with Lola's cool toys
We were able to upgrade our rental car to a mini van on this trip. It makes travel and loading/unloading so much easier!!
Lola is an awesome, thoughtful spoiler! She saw Olaf at Build a Bear before we arrived and knew it would be a huge success! We didn't tell Mason we were taking him there, and before actually going to the store, we walked by it once and he shouted, I see Olaf in there! Here he is picking his unstuffed buddy, and selecting the qualities he wanted for Olaf's heart. He picked kind, brave, happy, fun, cool, adventurous, and strong.
I loved watching him drag and drop them in. Seriously... two year olds and technology!
Of course we went all out and got a sound chip - and picked the "happy snowman" song (aka: In Summer).
We got him all stuffed up, thanks to Mason's help!
And he TOTALLY ROCKED the heart ceremony (yes, this is what they call it).
Then Olaf good a good bath
And Mason put him on his shoulders all by himself and started carrying him around! <3 <3 <3
Creating his birth certificate. It took forever to settle on a name for him.
He finally decided on Olaf, but Elsa and Truelof (perhaps his version of True Love??) were also in the running.
Then a fun dinner at Chop em Up!
Sweet Lola + Mason selfie!
Lola's birthday is next weekend, so of course we had to embarrass her with the restaurant's birthday song... and enjoy some free sorbet!
Aunt Paige and Mr. Mike were with us for all the fun too!
Sweetness. Just sweetness.
These are the kind of pictures that I will keep in my mind forever, but I'm so glad I can quickly swipe out my cell phone and capture a physical picture of as well!
I may have staged a few more "Mirror Mirror" pictures...
and bribed Mason that he could stay up later and play some more if he would sit still and even smile for a picture!
Looks like Olaf makes a pretty good "sleep thing"!
This little guy has been a pretty good sleeping thing... he got up a few times the first night, but is sleeping through the night or only getting up once a night on this trip (pretty good for vacation and a pack n play!). And as you can see here, he's all smiles in the morning!
Swwwwiiiiiiiinging with Lola and Jen :)
Daddy makes a pretty good sleep thing too :)
My partner in crime... off to buy supplies for Lola's birthday celebration!
We picked up her favorite Chocolate Chess Pie from the Angus Barn
And Mason put all of the candles in
He loves singing happy birthday, and was happy to assist with blowing out her candles without even asking :)
(I love the picture of them looking at each other... and really also the picture above these of him smiling... so happy and proud!!)
These candles were pretty fun - they glowed the same color as the candle.
So we had to find something "safe" to stick them in and watch them burn some more!
Uncle Chad came over to spend time with us Sunday evening as well!
Heart. Melting. Bros.
Saying a little prayer that they will make each other smile and take good care of each other for years and years and years!
Lola, Jen, and Jim just sat back and watched while I corralled the monkeys to try and get the weekly picture. It's quite an ordeal, with MANY outtakes each week. Though to correct myself, Jim worked his magic behind me to get the magnificent "SOOOO big!" picture we have on the right!
I am officially caught up and tomorrow we leave NC <sniff, sniff> (this trip was WAAAY to short!!) and move on to TX... so lots more adventures ahead!
