Living Out Loud

When I found out I was having a baby boy I thought, "how different can girls and boys really be?" And now I know. Today, or yesterday I guess, the Moo turned 3. He's pretty excited about it. Probably because he had his birthday party at Monkey Joe's. Here are the things you need to know about Mason on his THIRD birthday!!

1. He's a lover. A sweeter child I've never known. "Can I hug you Mommy?" "Let me give you a kiss." "Mommy, I love you. I love Daddy too." He takes random breaks from doing his thing just to hug me and tell me that he loves me. And it's not just us - teachers, friends, anyone can be included.

2. He's polite. Without prompting the child regularly says thank you, yes please, and no thanks. Mom gave him a gift not long ago. He opened it, looked at it, played with it, then walked over and said "thanks for the toy, Nan." If Don calls his name, much of the time he says "sir" and not "what"

3. He's an engineer. Yes, I know not to assign your children's strengths and weaknesses early on. I don't say this in front of him, but he is a tinkerer. A little mister fix-it. He likes to figure things out. He knows the names of tools and uses them correctly. 

4. He loves bikes. What can I say. He gets it honest.  He was riding his tricycle before he was 2. He rides his bike to the potty.

5. He's reckless. Like any good little boy, I guess. He jumps off of things. He climbs onto things. He hits the ground, bounces up, and keeps on running.

6. His favorite things to watch on TV? Tom and Jerry (have mercy he would watch this 24/7), Ranger Powers (aka Power Rangers), Engine Turtles (aka Ninja Turtles), Mickey Mouse.

7. He loves to cook. Or... he loves to help. He drags his stool around every time I make toast or do anything in the kitchen. "Can I help?"

8. He loves to eat Peeps. He's not a huge lover of sweets, but Peeps are an exception. I mean, what's not to love. They're made of sugar and marshmelons (aka marshmallows). He'd live off of them if he could.  Those and popcicles. 

9. He hasn't mastered pronouns. It's adorable. I'm all about good grammar, but I admit, I let him misuse she, he, her, him, and we.  His substitution of "we" for "our" is my favorite: "You going to we house?" The other day we had this conversation about Ma'am and Sir. Me: Ma'am is what you say for girls and Sir for boys. Ok? Mason: ok! Me: What is Nan? Mason: Sir. Me: No, she's a girl, so Ma'am. What is Daddy? Mason: Ma'am 

10. Happy Happy Happy. All the time. Ok, not all the time. Sometimes he's terribly sad. But 95% of the time he's giggling and laughing like a mad man. He flirts like crazy. What can I say? He's incredibly charming.

11. He still drinks out of his "ba ba" - which is really a sippy. He loves his "white blankie" - which is really blue.

12. He knows how to push his sister's buttons. He loves her dearly, and they play together quite a bit, but when he wants to, he can really make her melt down. It's not that hard to do, really. She's very sensitive.

13. Busy. Busy. Busy. Ok, so a lot of kids are this way, but my first one was not. He will touch every single thing in the room given the chance. One day I found him taking his toenail polish off with my polish remover. He'd spilled half of the bottle on the floor. Leave it down on the counter one day and he has GOT to try it out. I'm learning. Slowly.

14. Speaking of 13, he loves to have his toenails painted. At the moment, they're blue.

15. He cares about his clothes and shoes. "Mommy, those shoes not match my shirt." 

16. He loves the playground, Monkey Joe's, Nan and Pop, Grandpa and Grandpa (aka Grandma and Grandpa), and anything with an engine. He does not love getting his hair washed, going to church, going to school.

He is, as his shirt says, amazing. He's also exhausting. Maybe it's 40. I should have had a baby boy when I was 30. Love you Moo-Man! We are so proud of what a big boy you are!