Mason’s Second Birthday Party

We had so much fun celebrating Mason’s second birthday! We had to keep pushing his party back because we wanted to wait and celebrate with Gamma and Gampa, but finally we were able to make it happen and it was a really fun day.

We put up some simple decorations while Mason was napping, so he could wake up to his Cars party. Mom and Dad had even wrapped his presents in Cars wrapping paper. Mason discovered his presents in their suitcase the day they arrived and he was VERY intent on trying to sneak them out when he thought we weren’t looking.

I had printed off some little traffic signs to decorate with and I had a bit too much fun placing them creatively.

Of course we had some ‘licious “hot rods” and other delights.

Mason loved opening his presents. He is at this fun stage where he knows just what to do and gets so excited that it’s HIS “Happy Dappy.”
He was especially excited to use his new tools to help Daddy and Gampa put together his slide. He LOVES his little playground and can literally spend hours outside running, playing, sliding, and “shooting hoops” a.k.a. dropping every ball he owns through the basket. I don’t know many kids that love outside as much as he does. I think he would sleep outside if we would let him.

It is so amazing to me how Mason naturally gravitates to footballs and hammers, trucks and trains. Growing up in a house of all girls, I didn’t realize gender differences as much as I do now that I live in a house of all boys. I sure do love my rowdy boys so much.

Thanks so much, Gamma and Gampa, for coming to celebrate with us!

Kellen at Two Months

Kellen learned all kinds of tricks this past month! Our favorite is smiling:
We all love to earn those smiles, and even Mason will occasionally sit next to Kellen to try to coax a grin from his brother. If he is able to get Kellen to smile, Mason will exclaim, “Kellen Coot (cute)! Kellen Coot!” I love those moments.

(Mason took it upon himself to share the doughnuts with Brother. Kellen was delighted.)

Kellen is incredibly strong for such a little guy. He particularly loves to demonstrate his strength by busting out of his swaddles like the hulk. It is amazing. No matter how well we tuck those little arms in, he finds a way to sneak them out.

It’s not that he dislikes his swaddles. He loves being wrapped up all cozy. See:
Happy as can be. I wrap him up and then he snuggles into my shoulder all ready to be rocked. He really does drift off to sleep better when he’s all swaddled up.

But then when I go to get him when he wakes up, this is what I find:


(Please notice K’s spiffy collection of pacy’s. I usually stick a handful in there before bedtime, all the easier to find in the dead of night to tide him over while I make a bottle.)

He simply cannot be contained. Little Houdini.

He is just so CUTE as a little baby burrito. I also especially love his man gowns. Oh so convenient for middle of the night diaper changes. I don’t generally adore nightgowns on men, but this particular gentleman can certainly pull it off.

“Oh this ole’ thang?”

Kellen is the most patient, happy baby. He truly is. I am continually amazed at what an even-tempered little guy he is. He is a good sleeper, good eater, just overall easy-going baby. He amazes me every day with how mellow he is.

Kellen is also a BIG baby. He’s 95th percentile for length, 65th for weight which really surprised us considering how tiny Serena is (barely five feet tall!). Kellen is already wearing clothing that Mason didn’t fit into until he was four to six months old. Crazy! He’s just a big, healthy boy who keeps growing out of clothes faster than we can rotate them out of his dresser. I keep telling him to stop it, but he just keeps right on growing.

Kellen is also still amazingly bald. I would say his baldness is one of his most defining features. I love his little peach head ever so much. So very soft and kissable.

Poor baby had a terrible six week rash. We were using all kinds of sensitive products, but our doctor said it would just have to go away on its own and eventually it faded as quickly as it came. It’s completely gone now and he’s got perfectly smooth baby cheeks again.

Goodness, how I love our Kellen Kiddo.

Those Cute Brothers

I love that my boys have each other.

The other day Mason was asking over and over to feed Kellen a bottle. Spencer was home to help monitor the kiddos while I took a picture, so I agreed that he could finally feed Kellen. We got Mason all settled in on the couch with his arm propped up with a pillow and put Kellen in his lap. Oh my goodness. The look on his face as he fed Brother was so very sweet. He was just beaming as he watched Kellen eat. He kept looking up at me with a big smile and then looking back at brother in fascination. It was just for a couple of minutes because then Mason was ready to be up and running again, but it was one of those magical moments where I just felt so very lucky to be their mama.

Mason is a good big brother. He loves to check on Kellen, and asks where he is if he doesn’t see him where he expects him to be. He loves to give Kellen gentle kisses on the head. He considers it his duty to supply him with pacy’s (sometimes whether Kellen wants one or not).

Kellen is already quite interested in his big brother. He will crane his neck as far as he can to watch what Mason is doing. Sometimes Kellen will grin at Mason when the two of them are sprawled side by side on the floor. I think it’s only a matter of time before Kellen’s going to be trying his darndest to keep up with Mason!

There’s just something so special about seeing the little ones you love most in the world, love each other. 

Mason Turns Two!

I can’t believe I have a two year old! Bah! Crazy! We’re having a birthday celebration next week when family comes into town so we didn’t open presents or have cake or anything yet, but we tried to do some fun things on Mason’s actual birthday. We started the day right by making a trip to Krispy Kreme which is one of Mason’s favorite places. Spencer came home early from work so he could be there when Mason woke up. Mason heard the garage door and was chanting “Daddy! Daddy!” so we opened the door and sang Happy Birthday to our big boy. Mason can’t manage to say “birthday” yet so he ran around all day saying, “Happy Dappy!” Happy Dappy indeed.

We scooped him up and took him to Krispy Kreme in his nammies and bed head, since it was more fun that way.

Kellen was also thrilled about the trip to Kripsy Kreme. After all, what goes better with doughnuts than formula? 

Later in the day we made a trip to the park. Which, granted, we go to the park all the time, but it IS Mason’s favorite place in the world after all. 
Even though it was a simple day, it was a really really good day. It was just nice to be together doing some of the things Mason loves best.

Now for some updates on the Mason Bug. It’s going to be a long one, but I figured that grandparents and birth family will maybe like hearing some of the details. So here they are :).  First up, I wanted to write down some of the things Mason loves most at two.

Mason loves reading. We try to go to the library every week to check out a new stack of books, and Mason gets so excited to help pick out stories. He will sit still for as long as we will read to him which is amazing to me because he is such a busy body and doesn’t have an attention span that long for most other activities. One of the first things he does in the morning when he wakes up is pull a stack of books off the shelf to read to himself until I come get him. And frequently he’ll fall asleep reading to himself too.
Mason is a stuffed animal hoarder lover. This kid will take every stuffed animal he owns to bed with him. He carries as many as will fit in his arms all over the house from room to room. And Monkey still has to come with him every time we go anywhere. It is rather adorable that he loves cuddling with his soft toys so much. I think I will really mourn the day that I go check on him after he’s asleep only to discover the stuffed animals are still cleanly tucked away in their various bins and resting neatly on shelves. His current two favorites seem to be Monkey and “Reno” (Reindeer).

Mason is my good little helper. He really wants to be doing whatever I am doing. He loves to go with me everywhere, even if it’s just running errands. He likes car rides and just cruising along in the shopping cart at the grocery store. I’ve never met a kid who likes to “go” more. And when we’re at home, he loves to “help” me with vacuuming, dusting, folding laundry, or (his personal favorite) unloading the dishwasher.

He also likes to help Daddy and is never so excited as when Spencer breaks out the toolkit to assemble or repair something. He loves to hammer away alongside his dad. 

But perhaps his favorite time to be helpful is when we are baking. Mason so enjoys helping make treats. It’s kind of our Sunday tradition to make something tasty together after naps. The second Mason see’s me get the mixing bowl out, he hollers with joy and starts pushing a kitchen chair toward the counter chanting, “Help! Help!” Mason loves to carefully dump the ingredients we measure out and gets this intense look of concentration as he stirs the confectionary delight (no doubt spilling copious amounts of flour and sugar over the edge of the bowl). I have to admit, baking with a toddler is not easy. Especially because he often succumbs to the urge to stick his hands in the batter or dough. But it makes him so happy to help that of course we can’t refuse his assistance.

Mason likes wearing our shoes and tromping down the hallway. He also loves wearing hats and if he doesn’t have a hat handy, he’ll make one out of underwear or a bowl or whatever else is handy. 

He loves “watee” and is downright obsessed with milk. There are sippys of water all over the house at any given point. It kind of reminds me of that girl in Signs. That is so Mason. Several cups of water in every room at all times and yet when he asks me for a drink I can never seem to find one! So I get him a new cup. And then they breed like bunnies under the couch and somehow the next thing I know… Sippys are everywhere! He is certainly well hydrated. 
One of Mason’s favorite pastimes is looking at pictures of himself. We cozy up on the couch with a photo album quite frequently. He also loves watching videos of himself. Luckily for him, we take pictures and videos pretty often so he has lots of material to choose from.
Mason also loves his brother. I love that the first thing he does when he wakes up in the morning is run down the hallway whispering “Baby, baby, baby” all the way to Kellen’s bassinet. Then when he sees Kellen he yells, “Hi Buddy!” at the top of his lungs. Kellen usually sleeps through this cheery morning greeting, but I love so much that Mason extends it. I also love that Mason always wants to give Kellen gentle kisses on the head. 

Oh, and it is very adorable the way Mason says his brother’s name. When he’s excited, the way he says Kellen sounds like “Cull-Een.” This makes Spencer and I laugh hysterically and when Kellen is having a harder moment (like trying to party at four in the morning, for example) Spencer and I will jokingly say something like, “Come on COLEEN it’s time to sleep!” So cute. I could listen to Mason saying “Kellen” all day.

Some Most Favorites:
Movie: Cars. Though he still doesn’t usually sit still for more than the first twenty or so minutes. He still loves Elmo too, but we only have two Elmo shows.  
Book: Hmmm probably any of his Curious George books. He also loves his Goodnight Elmo book. And he loves “I Love to See the Temple.” He is very obsessed with temples and loves to point them out on church materials. He also thinks that the castle at the beginning of Disney movies is a temple and is quite excited to point it out whenever he sees it.
Food: Cereal. A close second would be bananas with peanut butter.
Dessert: Ice cream.
Color: Blue.
Outfit: “Nammies.” He would wear nammies all day if I would let him.
Toy: His Mickey car.
Song: “Potcorn popping” or “Wheels on the Bus.” He also loves country music, much to his grandpa’s utter horror.
Game: Hide and Seek
Other Favorites: Buckling buckles, pushing buttons, balloons, bubbles, football, wearing socks on his hands, closing doors, climbing onto tall things, cuddling, dancing… 

Least Favorites:
1. Having to stop playing a fun game to go potty.
2. The car wash.
3. Automatic hand dryers.
4. Being quiet in sacrament meeting.

Cute things he says:
Cone= comb
Hone= phone
Poon= spoon
Nammies= jammies
Reno= reindeer
Gassy and Rocky= Calista and Roxie (names of two of his little girl friends ha!)
Watee=water

We sure do love our little TWO year old! He is the most cheerful, affectionate, energetic little boy and we’re so grateful he’s a part of our family.