Mason made it to 2!

Mason. Mason, Mason, Mason.

Sorry if that seemed excessive - it's just refreshing to see it quietly printed and not yelled. He gets that a lot. Mostly because his mission in life is to destroy every earthly thing I care about - he was sent to humble me and remind me what's important. If you watch him (which someone always has to be) you will see the wheels turning while you're cleaning up his most recent mess; he's already looking for something else to knock over, rip, or otherwise damage. It's funny to sit and write about it - less so when you're living it. There's a lot of truth to the "mothers of sons work from son up to son down" saying. He even stresses me out when he's asleep! But between random acts of violence and terror, I catch a glimpse of a sweet, smart, kind little boy who's as handsome as he is destructive.

Everywhere we go, people comment on how adorable he is - those cheeks, big baby blues, the platinum hair, that cheeky grin. And it's all true. He can be an absolute terror and an absolute delight within seconds of one another. You never quite know who you're going to get in the morning until he wakes up - singing or screaming and then you know how your day is going to go. He's smart as a whip and knows how to use a smart phone better than most adults. It's quite scary, actually.

His birthday (like Teagan's the week before) was on a Sunday, so we decided to open a present or two before church. Sans trousers, apparently. When one has a knack for trouble as keen as this young man, one does not put one's Sunday best on until absolutely necessary.

For the first time in a long time, he didn't scream bloody murder as we entered the church's car park. A birthday miracle!

We opted for cake and ice cream at Grandma & Grandpa's with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Grandma hit another home run this year with a phenomenal birthday cake, perfectly suited for Mr. Mason who is obsessed with Baymax at the moment. And having craved attention since the day he was born, was in heaven with a whole chorus singing Happy Birthday in his direction. It was perfect for him.  

His cheeks are just so kissable, they're hard to resist. When I can catch him, smooching those gigantic cheeks has been one of my favourite parts of the last two years.

Happy Birthday Mason! May your third year not harangue me to within a millimeter of insanity so we can celebrate with more balloons, streamers and unadulterated attention next year. Love you, Faceman!

Man alive, Teagan's Five!

In typical me fashion, I envisioned something fun and creative I planned for Teagan going a certain way and it went in another direction. While the birthday countdown chain was well-intentioned and entertaining at first, apparently it started a smidge too soon. We ended up forgetting about it for a while and were removing several links at a time a few times in October. And while it felt like it would go on forever when we started, the day came all too soon and Teagan turned 5!

I snuck into her room on the eve of her birthday (my favourite part of the day lately) and just watched my four year old sleep for a few minutes. She has the sweetest face, particularly when she sleeps.

I only decorated a bit - balloons, homemade banners and old photos - but it was enough.

The first thing she wanted to do when she woke up was measure her height to see if she'd grown now that she was 5. It was darling.

The second thing she did was help me make cupcakes to celebrate one of my Beehives' birthdays. Without complaint, I might add. I was very proud of her unselfish attitude and her being able to think of someone else before herself. 

We saved her a cupcake and then made the traditional, diabetic coma-inducing birthday pancakes. So much sugar it's ridiculous. Makes for a fun day.

We opened a present before church and saved the others for afterward. She was incredibly patient about it - a trend I hope continues in her 6th year.

We gathered the family (no small feat) at Grandma & Grandpa's for ice cream and cake. Beautiful cake. (Thanks, Grandma!)

We started singing Happy Birthday and didn't make it a few words in before she began to blow out her candles. Apparently the four birthdays previous weren't practice enough. It was kind of adorable. And so is she.

And not one to pass over sugar of any kind, or have the spotlight on anyone else for too long, Mason got a headstart on Teagan's cake. Truth be told, Grandma knew it would happen and made a practice cake. Not her first rodeo - always thinking. It was actually a bit of deja vu from when Teagan sampling a friend's cake a couple of years ago on the sly when she was just a few months older than Mason. Cake sampling in the genes, I guess.

 She is incredibly strong willed, which of course is wonderful when we're getting along or she wants to do what is being asked of her. We have a fair amount of power struggles and she is teaching me patience and how to choose which battles to fight. Heaven knows I have plenty to choose from! She is amazingly creative and artistic and I'm constantly in awe of her abilities. She's always drawing, painting, writing and illustrating books and asking for us to help her write the words. She's very bright - and that's not just me saying so, my friend who has her for preschool once a week has mentioned to me how well she picks things up. She's blossoming into a beautiful little girl, happy to share, always thinking of others and ready to play. Too ready to play at times - I'm afraid I'm not as good at imagining things as I used to be. She's constantly begging for me to play with her, which involves me "pretending" to be a mum 99% of the time. So in more ways than one, she's teaching me how to be a mum. I'll have to read her latest book "When I'm a Mum..." for some insider tips and tricks. Love this amazing little 5 year old of mine!

Where Are They Now? (Little Richardses Edition)

Lately...
TEAGAN

Teagan is Teagan. She is hot and cold, up and down, sweet and sour and I love her for it. If ever she senses that I'm exasperated or frustrated with her, she runs over and says "Mum, I just want to hug you." I stormed out of her bedroom the other night because I couldn't remember a time before I'd started putting her to bed and I just couldn't be nice anymore. A soft "Mom?" from the dark of her room and I snarled "WHAT?!" as I slumped back in one last time. "I just wanted to give you a hug" and she sat up and extended her arms and gave me the best, warmest hug ever. And didn't stop until I let go. It made me melt and taught me that I need to be more patient with this tender little soul.
She's incredibly bright and inquisitive and asks so many insightful questions that I wind up having to say "I don't know" a lot more than I'd like to. She's incredibly helpful when she wants to be and is often asking for jobs and I'm trying to be better about letting her help and being okay with a job that looks like it's been done by a 4 year old. She is learning a lot in Primary and from our scripture reading and surprises me all the time with her gospel knowledge and all the things that "Jesus made me to do" like not be sleepy. She knows almost all the letters and a lot of the sounds too. We are sounding out basic words and her rhyming is getting a little more accurate.
She's an amazing little artist and I will need to dedicate a room to all of her artwork as I can't bear to throw it away. She has real talent when it comes to drawing and writing and can be very critical of herself and her artwork, telling me it doesn't look cute enough and other such ridiculousness. I need to compliment more and criticize less, as I'm sure she has learned it from me. Nothing's sounds scarier than something you regret saying coming out of your child's mouth.
 I'm trying to come to terms with the fact that we have one more year until she starts Kindergarten and I won't see her for the better part of the day. I'm trying to do my best to imagine a scenario where I'll have the chance to miss her, because she always seems to be there. In fact, I step on her a lot because she hovers so close and I need to appreciate the fact that she wants to be near me instead of being frustrated that she's underfoot all the time. She is constantly asking me to play with her and while I try, it never seems to be the way she wants to play. I'm trying to teach her that when she plays with people other than me, she will need to make some concessions when it comes to the outcome of her role playing, but it seems a hard lesson for her to learn. I've committed to being more present and less distracted while the kids are awake and if I can just convince her to give me a half hour of alone time while Mason's asleep, that may be a lot more plausible. I love having conversations with her and often marvel at how grown up she seems already. I love my Little T.

MASON

Mason has developed quite a personality and is just now becoming able to express it in a more productive way than screaming and grunting - though he usually ends up doing a lot of that too. He's a talker. At just shy of 18 months, you will find him running around saying one or more of the following:

-a bite
-pease (often pronounced beedo. Yes, it's weird. I will have to warn the Nursery leaders at church.)
-nana, treat, nack, apple, bottle, moke, i geek {ice cream}...lots of foods, really
-belly
-butt (belly button - which makes it slightly more appropriate when we ask him to show us his butt)
-ella (outside or Ella Elephant on Disney - weird options, I know)
-bubble {Bubble Guppies}
-mimi {either Minnie Mouse or Mason (me)}
-titi {Teagan}

-papa {Grandpa}
-Peppa {Peppa Pig}
-food (he wanders around, signing food and if he isn't noticed right away, starts to say it in a super whiny voice with sad eyes - people are going to wonder if we feed him)
-yide {slide}
-babba {Jabba the Hutt}, Lando, PO {C3PO}, D2
-jeejee {Jesus or GG}
-pop ({G-Pop)}
-ya yu {love you}
-tita (teeth - he asks to brush his teeth whenever you pass the bathroom)
-binky
-MOM (always yelled)
-daddy
-jacob, mike, melia, ty, jaja, emma, ben, parker, jack, (cousins), matt, bippy {Tiffy}, Ta, Shawn (aunts & uncles) we are working on my side of the family while my sister works on a cousin for my side of the family ;)
-car
-beep beep
-mah nah {Mah Nah Mah Nah - a Muppets song}
-patole {Paw Patrol}
-football
-up
-animal sounds: moo, snort, meow, arf
-pay (play on a phone or iPad - the boy is obsessed) or pray 

He really is very vocal and quite bright for his age, which can be both frustrating and adorable. We've sent him into nursery at church a few times at the request of the leaders (bless their hearts) and I'm told that he can't contain his excitement when there are bubbles around and that when the music leader asked the children what they'd like to sing (most likely expecting a Primary song) he yelled Mah Nah. Like he does every time we get into the car and every time the song is over. He knows exactly when to chime in with "mah nah mah nah" when you sing the other part. It's a little big darling. By the way, the sweetheart music leader said "I know that song!" and they proceeded to sing it. Good women there. 

Every time we sit down for a meal, without fail, Mason reminds us to pray by yelling "Pay!" and holding both hands directly under his chin in what can only be described as a pose from the Glamour Shots playbook and squeezing his beautiful blue eyes closed as hard as he can. I'll admit there are times I forget to bless the food, so I'm very lucky (and humbled) to have this righteous little man around to keep me in line.

He's still slightly cuter than he is needy, so we're doing okay. Now that we can venture outside with only a thin jacket, he's a different kid. He LOVES to be outside. I'm talking, he's in the middle of a meltdown and you open a door somewhere in the house and his problem is 75% solved. It reaches 100% in the 10 seconds it takes him to find the open door and run out of it. It's scary up in here, people. We are on lockdown during his waking hours, but with what seems like hundreds of people in and out of the door every day (Grandma has an open door policy and you never know who you're going to get) I have some heart stopping moments when I realize the door is open and Mason is smirking at me from the driveway before kicking it into 3rd gear and hurtling as fast as his wee legs will carry him toward the street. Investing in some solid locks at the new house.

He still has a little angel face that he know will help him get away with murder and even when I'm exasperated and at my wit's end, his impossibly round cheeks, deep blue eyes, perfect lips, platinum hair and gapped teeth make me smile against my will. He is huggable (if you can catch him) and lovable and the perfect little addition to our little family.

TERRIFIC TWOSOME

There are three years and one week between these two.That's a big difference when you're 4 and 1. Teagan still thinks of him as a baby and can be found dragging him around against his will more often than not. She wants to feed him, carry him and mother him nonstop and he just wants to live life on his own terms. One day he will turn around and smack her and she will remember all of those times I told her that one day he will turn around and smack her. I love that she loves him. It's just a little too hands on for his taste at the moment. Perhaps I should just have another baby. That would solve more problems than it would create, right? I do love these two and nothing makes me happier than seeing them interact peacefully and play harmoniously. Both times, it was just beautiful. One day, three years won't seem like so much and they will be able to play side by side instead of hang by neck, but they're still so much fun to watch now.

 

 

All About that Mace.

As of 14 months, Mason is on his way to becoming a man. A very opinionated, clingy, little man. When just last month he was grunting in the general direction of what he wanted, now he yells "No!" and throws it if it isn't what he wanted. Not exactly a step forward. But on a kinder note, he can say "peas" and sign please as well. It's a little bit adorable, so he tends to get what he's after. So he seems to have equated "Please" with cake pops and cookies over its actually meaning. But we will take it. He can also sign "more", "again" and say "Mama, Daddy, Emma, Papa, Peppa (as in Peppa Pig - and he snorts like a pig after he says it which has nearly killed me it's so cute), Ball (over and over - think the seagulls in Finding Nemo saying "Mine, mine mine!"), Baby, Uh oh, Oh no (always accompanied by his hands over his ears...he misses his cheeks, heaven knows how), No No (we hear a lot of those three), Jake & Jaxon (his cousins - it just sounds like a bunch of consonants strung together - JKN) and keeps surprising us almost every day with new words.

Recently I asked him where Mason was and he pointed to himself. He loves to say "ball" and "Emma" repeatedly and Emma now means "screentime" instead of my sweet little niece lately. He's obsessed with screens and phones and iPads must be strategically hidden (next to the remotes) when he's awake. Which he is a lot. Not a great napper, this one. In the last little while, he has grown attached to Peppa Pig. He began to sing the theme song in church last week. Darling, but ill timed. Last Sunday, he caught a glimpse of my phone that happens to feature a Peppa Pig app and he nearly had an aneurysm. "Peppa! Peppa! Peppa!" I dangled some chocolate chips that distracted him for a few minutes. Until his Uncle Shawn unsheathed his iPad for the closing hymn and Mason lunged across the pew at him. We may have a problem. It does give me so much needed leverage when it comes to holding him still for a diaper change. Peppa has come in handy more than a few times. So does the Butt Paste - he loves to have lotion or any sort of cream dotted on his hand for him to rub in. For the record, I pretend with the Butt Paste. But he went crazy for my Pumpkin Pecan Waffle lotion from Bath & Body Works at church on Sunday. His skin is as soft as a baby's!

As chubby as he is, he's become a terrible eater lately. If he doesn't want it, he will throw it. If he does want it, he will throw it. And wait for you to pick it up so he can give it a shot. He's fooled me more than a few times by chewing something and holding it in his mouth for long enough for me to prepare his next bite, only to spit it out in exchange for fresh stuff to chew, hold and spit out. I can't tell you the last time he actually consumed a vegetable instead of just letting it linger in his mouth for a while. Hence wailing like a banshee every time he needs to, well, you know. Let's just say his poop face is less endearing than it used to be.

He has chosen walking as his main mode of transportation and is getting rather good at it. He looks like a tiny little toothless drunkard, teetering around unsteadily. He still bear crawls at times, something I will miss greatly when he grows up. He took his first real steps on November 9th, just over a week after his 1st birthday. (The footage is unusable, as the relative on the other end of his steps had a giant hole in the crotch of their pants. It could prove valuable blackmail material, though.) That was great, he had fun, but he continued to bear crawl as it got him from A to B at an alarmingly fast rate. He would walk a bit here and there, but it seems as though just after the New Year, he decided that he was going to be a walker.

 

And he's gotten a little cocky - he dances, he squats to pick up garbage and binkies and he tries to run, without looking down. He may have learned a lesson today after his first fat lip. He got excited and ran towards Teagan, tripping over something and falling face first into her forehead. I was sitting near them both, but it happened so fast I couldn't do anything. Post impact, they both turned and looked at me and I thought as a few seconds passed that they were okay. Then they shrieked in unison and continued to sob in stereo for a few minutes on my shoulders. Good thing I have two! Teagan has a nice little goose egg on her forehead and Mason left some blood on my shirt which prompted me to look in his mouth...which proved unnecessary when I took a good look at his sweet face and saw a fat lip to match his cheeks. Poor baby. Good thing he still only has two teeth!

As a direct result of being a confident walker (and having spent a month living with a cousin 4 months older than him) Mason is EVERYWHERE. I literally cannot turn around without him getting into something he shouldn't - and knows he shouldn't. He squeals on himself more often than anyone else does, saying "No no!" as he sticks his hand in the garbage or empties the cupboard under the sink or throws food or pulls every last DVD out of its case. Really, it's all he hears from us lately, so naturally, it's what he says. I'm trying to redirect him and encourage him in other worthy pursuits so I can say "Yes! Good job!" from time to time, but he insists on living the life of a rebel.

He has associated a camera (an actual point and shoot SLR, not just a camera phone) with the need to squint and bear his two chiclet teeth in the most darling cheesy face you've ever seen. And it's every time. It's gotten to be rather hilarious. It doesn't have to be pointed at him, necessarily. If it's in the room, Face will bust out his Face and pretty soon, he's become the subject of the photoshoot. This kid. That face.

 I say almost daily that he will put me in an early grave with his constant squealing and screaming, but I still don't know what I'd do without him (besides relax for more than a minute at a time). I miss him when he naps (for an hour) and look at pictures of him (and Teagan) before I go to bed to remind myself how lucky I am. He is bright, getting brighter, handsome, getting handsomer and fun, getting funner. See? Even my grammar is struggling as a result of my nerves being shot due to a constant barrage of "Mom! Mom! Mom!" or screaming. Mostly screaming. But when a shrill, ear piercing scream comes out of a face that adorable, it's hard to stay frustrated for long. Love you, Face!

Things Teagan Says VI

"When I was a Grandma, I used to go to heaven all the time."

Out of the blue: "Grandad died. Why?"

T: "What was her name? Who was dat? Is it a girl or a boy?"
Me: "I don't know."
T: "I'm asking Daddy."
Daddy: "Her name is Sally."
T: "Who's Sally?"

Talking to Aunt Tiffy about boobs - still not sure how that one came up...
Teagan: "What are these?"
Tiffy: "What your mummy has."
Teagan: "What are they for?"
Tiffy: "To feed babies."
Teagan: "Where's your baby?"
Tiffy: "I don't have one."
Teagan...pointing: "Are they broken?"

"Those are church diapers! See? He's wearing a church shirt!"

Colouring a picture of a frog that's saying "Kiss me!" I asked if she would kiss a frog...
"Yes, when it's coloured."

T: "Guess what."
Me: "What?"
T: "I love you. Guess what."
Me: "What?"
T: I love my brother so much.

She wanted to take photos of me...
"That was PERFECT!" The photos were all blurry and incredibly ill-timed. The encouragement was nice, though.

Me: "Do you want to be a mum?"
T: "Maybe. But I don't know. I'm sleeping now that I'm four."
Wise words, little one.

Me: "We are going to chat with G-Pop's mummy tomorrow."
T: "What does she look like?
Me: "Well she looks a lot like G-Pop."
T: "But she probably has a different sound than G-Pop. And she probably doesn't have a mustache."

Less than a week after cutting out snuggling and having her beg me to stay I lingered for 5 seconds after finishing my song. In the darkness, "What are you still doing here?" Charming.

Sitting in the cart at the dollar store, resting her chin in her hands and reflecting that she used to do things Mason did when she was little like Mason.

"Sometimes I get out of here to go places."

"It's just so FASCINATING!" (she meant frustrating)

"Never get away from me anymore!" (she in fact wanted me to go away. Mixed messages.)

One day I was making a concerted effort to be really fun and spontaneous.
"Why do you keep doing fun things, mom?"
Apparently it was out of character. And unnecessary.

At Big Hero 6, during a somber (and silent) moment after a death:
"Why does fire make people die?"

Mason grunts.
T: "He's making a funny noise. I think he's dying."
The only thing dying is my olfactory sense. He was tooting - not dying.

"Daddy! There's an eagle in your shoe!"
(Buddy was wearing an old WSU basketball tournament shirt featuring a shoe with wings.)

Trying to convince her to sleep in her own bed...
Buddy: "Daddy's too big for the bed."
T: "It's okay, Dad. Everybody's feet do that sometimes."
Buddy: "Do you think I will break the bed?"
T: It will not break it. But there's a soft blanket. You will be fine, Daddy."

"Look! She has an eyebrow like Bert!"

Train up a child

I'm told that stubborn children are a blessing and I'm trying my best to look at Teagan that way. Not easy. Though lately, I've gotten a glimpse of what people mean when they say that it will pay off when she's older. We've been trying to teach her about modesty and that in order for shirts to be modest, they need to have sleeves. My dear, sweet, strongwilled little girl has taken this to the extreme and refuses to wear short sleeved T-shirts, claiming that the sleeves aren't long enough to be modest. We aren't even talking about capped sleeves. Legitimate, all away around the arm T-shirt sleeves and no amount of explaining can convince her that they are modest enough for her to wear. As frustrating as it is, it is refreshing to see that she will not be moved - on this issue, anyway.

I'm reminded of a scripture in Proverbs - Chapter 22:6 - "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

How comforting. Teagan has renounced most of her dolls that don't have modest dresses and explains that there's only one thing that makes her sad about Sheriff Callie (a Disney Jr. show that features a feline sheriff) is that she doesn't have sleeves.

We are incredibly fortunate to receive gobs and gobs of gorgeous hand me downs from my sister-in-law who has a little girl three years older than Teagan and even taller and skinnier, so her clothes are perfect. I had thought that tank tops were okay for little girls while they were young, but this little woman will not be swayed. Even when the clothes come from her favourite cousin.

It's cut her wardrobe way down and makes mornings a little frustrating, but when it comes down to it, I'm trying to be grateful that my little girl is showing the potential to be set on the right path and not deviate from it when others try to convince her to stray. Even her mother. <sigh>

Sleeping Beauty and The Beast

Snuggling seemed like a great idea when Teagan was making the transition from crib to bed (well, mattress). She had trouble staying in her bed at first, so Brandon and I would take turns laying with her at night until she fell asleep. It was supposed to be a temporary solution. Then we had a baby. Then we moved. More than a year later, we were still snuggling with her. And it wasn't sweet memories being made as we whispered tenderly to each other for a few minutes each night. It was "Shh! Go to sleep! I'm serious!" alternating with "But I'm not sleepy" and trying to creep out of the room when she showed all the signs of being unconscious, only to be asked where we were going by a mysteriously alert little girl. We got really good at rolling off the edge of the bed without making a sound (which was a lot more difficult than it sounds when you're 9 months pregnant) and knew where to step to avoid the creaky spots on the floor. I came away from our snuggling sessions frustrated with her more often than not, because she was taking longer and longer to get to sleep and I had things that she hadn't let me get to during the day that I needed to do in the shrinking amount of time left for me in the evenings. Something had to give.

So, we tried to set a deadline. With no more major life changes on the horizon, we decided together that she would be a big girl when she turned 4 - big enough to go to bed by herself. So we made a countdown chain to her birthday and reminded her every night how many more times we'd be snuggling until she fell asleep. I realize that this may sound a bit callous, but you need to know that she wasn't napping or having quiet time or spending any waking time without me with her. She needed some independence. As did I.

Things were going great - until her birthday. She was totally on board with the plan until the night of her birthday. Then all of a sudden she refused to turn 4. I reminded her that she accepted cake and presents in celebration of turning 4, so if she was still 3, she needed to return all her presents. She agreed. (Couldn't figure out a sanitary way to get the cake back, so I took the loss.) We finally talked her into accepting that time marches on and she was indeed 4 years old. C'est la vie.

But falling asleep solo did not go well. After the squillionth time she toddled down the stairs, I started to lose it. We'd deposit in her bed time after time, a little less patiently than the time before. Our standards fell slightly and we were satisfied with her just staying in her room. She'd play, she'd read, sometimes stomp around, but as long as she was in her room we didn't intervene. Sometimes it meant a lot of cleanup the following morning, but it seemed worth it to save the effort. 

In the last few weeks, she's just started to get better at going to sleep by herself (I'm jinxing myself by putting this out there in the universe) and has even stopped shuffling into our bedroom in the wee hours to get in with us. She still insists that we keep the light on and the door closed, but that just means I can take some darling photos when I go in to turn off the light and close the door. I never know quite what I'll find.

The floor could be littered with books, the floor could be littered with her. That was a fun surprise. I asked her to get into bed and just to defy me, she told me she'd sleep on the floor. And so she did. I'm convinced that if I asked her to breathe, she'd hold her breath until she passed out. Defiance any way possible. She's also painted her doll and cried about it when I couldn't answer her question "Why did I paint my doll?" That was a rough night.

I did, however, make note of some of the better moments we've had around bedtime. Instances like:

- Me telling her "I love you very much". and her replying, "I love you very much too, Mom."

- She's always asking for fresh water (a bit of a diva) and I always ask her to stay in bed while I'm getting it (experience tells us she won't) and so she says, "I will stay here in my bed. I will stay right here. I listened to you." I needed to check on something later (this is when snuggling lasted more than half an hour) and she sat up straight in bed and told me "I will stay right here, just like I did when you got my water." We celebrate listening a lot around here.

- "You are my favourite." "You're my favourite too, Mom."

- She smile, leaned over, kissed me and said "I want to hold your hand." It was kind of darling.

And it's even more darling looking back now, having her snug in bed. By herself.