Happy Easter 2009!

Mason's second Easter was much different than last year's. Mason had lots of practice collecting eggs prior to Easter morning. There was an egg hunt at daycare and he had absolutely no idea what the other kids were doing running around the yard gathering coloured eggs to put into a wicker basket. When he was given an egg he dropped it and became upset when it broke open. Little did he know that there were treats inside of the egg! Apparently he didn't want anything to do with the eggs after that point and he simply watched all of his friends.

We had my family for Easter on Good Friday and Scott's family on Easter Sunday. On Friday we had a little egg hunt outside for the three little ones. Mason was a little more knowlegeable at this point and he wasted no time picking up his borrowed basket (thanks Noah) and heading out the door to look for eggs. He did quite well and ended up with about a dozen eggs in his bucket when all was said and done.

Some of the eggs were even in snow!

Mason and I took in some of the Easter festivities that were offered by the town. The Easter Bunny was pretty scary and after a quick high five Mason headed to the petting zoo where he checked out the miniature donkeys, sheep, goats and llamas.

Easter morning was so much fun! When Mason came walking out of his room we told him that the Easter Bunny had visited and left him some eggs and surprises. He was so excited when he saw his Easter basket and all of the neat things inside of it. The Wiggles' CD was a huge hit!

The Easter Bunny left eggs all over the house and inside each of them was a Dora or Diego sticker - wooo hooo!!! Mason loves stickers! He did really well collecting all of his eggs (I guess he should have considering the two practice runs that he had previously.) Each time that he saw an egg he would say "Easter Bunny egg!" - it was pretty cute.

Mason didn't get to eat any chocolate (although he got lots from his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins) however he did get to taste a Peep. He thought that they were the best things in the entire world and kept asking for "more chicks". A few bites was more than enough sugar for this little ball of energy!

We hope that all of you had a Hoppy Easter!

The Past Month in Review

Once again I look back to my last post and am amazed that it has been over a month. It doesn't seem that long ago to me. The weather has been all over the place and as recent as last Monday we had a snow day. I think that spring has finally sprung and Mason in particular couldn't be happier. He is soooo done with snowsuits, mittens and winter boots. Last week when his daycare provider pulled out his snowsuit to go outside and play he had his very first meltdown for her. It had been a good week since he had last had to wear his snowsuit and he was not very pleased about winter's return. This picture of Mason with his horse Cinnamon was taken about a month ago in the backyard. We still have some snow but there is now more grass than snow.
Mason is just getting into finger painting. He doesn't like to have things on his hands such as yogurt or cream cheese so it has taken some work to get him to feel comfortable with the feeling of paint on his fingers. He was quite focussed once he got the hang of it.

Sidewalk chalk is great! We have drawn a line about three quarters of the way down our driveway and have written "STOP" in an attempt to start teaching him road safety. He can spell "stop" when you ask him and he will run down to the line saying "S-T-O-P. Stop!" Right now it is working quite nicely and I am crossing my fingers that he continues to do this well.

We had an Open House for my mom's 65th birthday a few weeks back and then everyone went out for dinner to a local restaurant. Mason had a blast running around the hall with his cousins and thoroughly enjoyed his dinner out as there was lots to look at and lots of french fries to eat.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

There is never a dull moment in our lives anymore - everything is exciting with Mason around! Last week Mason took one of his little shovels and started to hit a ball around the floor with it while saying "Hockey!" which made me realize that I truly do have a little boy around the house now! Right after that we bought Mason 2 mini sticks so that he could at least have the proper equipment to learn the game and so that we could also play with him. Mason loves to wear Scott's watch every chance that he gets. I found my Mickey Mouse watch that was mine when I was a little girl - it still works and Mason loves the fact that it has Mickey Mouse on it. He thinks that it is pretty special to wear a watch like mommy and daddy.

A favourite place for Mason to sit is our old beat up leather couch. It is just the perfect height for him to take a run at and get onto it. He loves when he gets to sit there and have a snack.

Mmmmmmm bananas!

Mason's friends have an indoor slide and climber which he spent forever on when we were there recently for a playdate. I can't wait for all of the snow to disappear from the playground so that he can run around and explore. Last year he wasn't walking so it will be so different seeing him go at his own pace and where he wants rather than where we steer him to go.

Next week I am on March Break - hooray!!! Mason and I have lots of exciting things planned: playing, reading, eating and sleeping. It's going to be great :)

Now I Know My ABC's

Wow - it's March already! I have been meaning to post some new pics on here for awhile now but for one reason or another I just haven't had a chance to do so. Scott is out tonight so I am taking advantage of the computer time so be prepared - I will be making a few posts.

Mason now knows all of his capital letters (he has for about 3 weeks now), can count to 12 (and with help to 20) and he can recognize the numbers 1 through 9. He loves to colour (although his attention span is only for a few minutes), watch Treehouse programs (I was so set on his not watching TV but that didn't last), play outside, give hugs and kisses and so many other things that I just couldn't possibly list them all. Marching wherever he goes is also so much fun - he likes to say "march, march" while strutting around with high knees. He has finally learned how to throw a ball so I am so glad that the weather is starting to get warmer so that he can perfect his technique outside rather than inside where he loves to throw one ball after the other across the living room.

These two video clips are of Mason identifying some of his letters while in the tub. (I seem to have so many video clips and pictures of him in the tub - it must be because that is the only time that he will stay relatively still in one place.) In the second video you will see him identify "W" as both "W" and "M" - it is so funny to see him do this and also quite amazing that he recognizes that you can turn the letter upside down to create another. The first time he did this was with an "M" written on a piece of paper, he turned his entire upper body upside down and then said "W"-it was pretty funny!

Hope you enjoy :)

Mason's Second Superbowl (Kind Of)

Last year Mason drank his bottle with Daddy on the couch during Superbowl.

This year, Mason saw the beginning of the Superbowl and was clapping to both Faith Hill and Jennifer Hudson during their songs. Immediately after the kickoff he headed for the tub and then to bed. I think that he still has a few years before he will be joining Daddy on the couch to watch the game.

Sing, Sing A Song...Or Two

Mason loves music. He loves listening to it, dancing to it and singing his own songs. He is singing his ABCs in one of the two video clips posted below and in the other he sings part of Row Row Your Boat and Head and Shoulders. Mason will do the actions to many songs however they are a little difficult to do when bathing.

His favourite song (if you can call it that) at the moment is the Alphabet Song. We can hear him singing his ABCs in his crib before he goes to sleep and as soon as he wakes up, he sings them when he is playing, eating and when he is in the tub. He's actually getting quite good at it. He can also recognize about three quarters of the alphabet in upper case letters. Scott and I continue to be amazed (and proud) at the rate at which Mason is learning every day. Toddlers' minds truly are like sponges, Mason soaks up new information daily. While I am beaming here about his singing I will also mention that he knows all of his colours without prompting and can count to 10 the majority of the time on his own but does still get hung up on 6 and 8 occassionally.

His vocabulary has really exploded too over the past two and a half months. He has over 100 words now and we can't wait to hear him begin to speak in sentences. We love how he greets us as "Mama and Dadda" whenever we walk into a room and how he comes running with excitement to see us when we walk through the door at the end of the day.

Our baby has definitely grown up and we are loving the little boy that Mason is becoming.

I hope that you enjoy these clips!

Snow Anyone?

We have received so much snow this winter. Scott has been busy with the snowblower almost every day. We all bundled up for some fresh air and outdoor winter fun: toboganning. We have a huge hill in our backyard that is perfect for toboganning and we thought that it was time to introduce this activity to Mason. Doesn't he look thrilled about the idea?All set and ready to go! The snow was pretty deep and required my pushing to get Mason and Daddy started. I decided to watch rather than jump on the back.

Mason got a face full of snow for most of the way down and was NOT impressed! So far he doesn't think that toboganning is too much fun.

To give you an idea of how much snow we have, Scott is standing in this picture and still hasn't touched the ground below.

After a little more time outside we headed back into the house to warm up and play. Mason was much happier once all of his outerwear was removed and he had more freedom to move about.
We'll get the tobogan out again - I'm sure that there will be more snow in the near future! We are waiting to re-build Frosty as he disappeared during our one warm day over the Christmas holidays.