Dear Mason: 2.5 years

Mason Porter, 

How on earth has it been 2.5 years since you have been in our life?! Time seems to have flown by, but at the same time I cannot remember a day when you weren't. It is so crazy for us to look back at 6 months ago. You were about to become a big brother and we just thought you were grown. You have grown up so incredibly much since then! 

You are still a little man! You are weighing in at 29 pounds 6 ounces (53 percentile) and are measuring 33.5 inches tall (2 percentile). You're a shorty but we have been teaching you that big things come in small packages my boy. 

You are starting to become a little bit of a pickier eater. This is our fault as in the earlier months of your brother's life we just did what was easy & it wasn't always much of a variety. In general though you just aren't a big eater. You have never been a big breakfast eater at all. And you absolutely don't want to be fed first thing in the morning. Give you a few hours and you'll think about it. For breakfast your favorites are french toast ("precnch toast"), pancakes, breakfast biscuits ("cookie breakfasts") or a fruit bar. You have never been a big snacker either so really we don't ever snack. If you decide you want a snack you may eat a banana or a cheese stick or occasionally energy bites if Mama has the made up. Lunch and dinner are usually an either/or for you. If you eat all of your lunch you generally don't want dinner only eating a few bites & vice versa. This used to stress me out because I was so worried you were going to get hungry but I've just learned to go with it. You always let us know when you're hungry and are always provided with food. Your favorites are pizza, spaghetti, grilled cheese or a peanut butter sandwich. Mac & Cheese & Chicken nuggets are hit or miss. You really don't like meat much at all. The only meat you like is in spaghetti or a Rib-Eye cooked medium. you are your father's son. You really love all fruit, yogurt, peanut butter toast, cottage cheese & peas. You really don't love veggies which is a little bit of our fault because we don't cook too many too often.  

You have all of your teeth!! Well almost! We are still getting the very last point of that last top 2 year molar in but 3/4 of it is in so we are calling it a victory!! You have hated every stage of teething so I am very glad this stage is over for you! 

Your sleeping has been oh let's see I don't want to say frustrating or comical but maybe a mix of both? You are the best napper! Hands down!! You would take 2-4hour naps if I would let you every day. But goodness you have become a NIGHT OWL! Mase, you can stay up later than Mommy & Daddy! You always go into your room at 8:30 for bedtime but some nights you will just chat & play in your bed until 10 or 10:30. Honestly some nights you've even been up still at midnight. You aren't crying or throwing a fit you're just winding down I guess. We tried getting on to you, forcing you to try to sleep, etc. We even tried cutting out nap, but you just aren't ready for that at all you get too grouchy.  But in the end you aren't doing anything wrong or causing problems so as long as you stay in your bed we let you do your thing. 

You have had some big life changing transitions in the last 6 months but as you handle all transitions you really have surprised us with how much you have embraced them. 

First, Mama quit her teaching job to become a stay at home Mom. This is something you and I talked about more than even Daddy knew, When I knew that this was becoming a reality of our life you and I had a secret countdown we would talk about every day. Only ___ more days until you get to spend every single day with Mommy at home. You have absolutely loved and embraced this change & so am I! We do still use Miss Stacy several times a month for hard days, appointment days or Liam/Mommy or Mason/Mommy days & you still love her just as much as always! You & I had a date day last weekend and on our way you said "Is Miss Stacy coming too?" I'm glad you see her like family. 

You moved into a twin bed!! Bless your little heart, you are a wild sleeper and just couldn't seem to stay in a toddler bed. Aunt Amy was upgrade to bigger beds for her girls so we just snagged the twin bed for you and are so glad we did! You've loved it! 

The biggest transition in your life has been the addition of your little brother Liam. Daddy & I were so nervous about how you would handle this because you have always been our entire world and focus. We didn't want you to feel abandoned or replaced. Mason, I cannot even begin to explain to you how much you have embraced and blown us away in this new roll. It brings tears to my eyes. From the very second you laid eyes on Liam you have been in love with him and he has been yours. At the hospital you didn't want anyone touching or taking "your baby" away from you. If you were in that room he was in your arms and if you had to go home you bawled screaming for your baby as you were taken out of our room. You want to be around him every moment of your day. When you wake up he is the first thing you ask for and you are always wanting to hold or hug your baby. You hate when he cries not because it bothers you but because it hurts your heart that he is upset. You are not shy to tell me that "HE DOESN'T LIKE THAT!!!" Or "Mama! Liam wants a nap!" "Liam needs a bottle!!" You know exactly the things that calm him down & go through the list like we would. You are such a good helper with him too. You will bring him a paci if he is crying and want to feed him, hold him & give him lovins ("wubbins"). Liam adores you in the exact same way too, Mason. I wish you could see the way he looks at you and looks up to you. He is your biggest fan and loves you more than you will ever know! I pray every day that you two will continue to just grow closer and closer. Daddy & I cannot tell you just how proud we are of you as a Big Brother! 

 

 

 

You have been learning so much lately! I try to have a little bit of education in our every day. You know all of your shapes & a little over half of your capital letters. We have also been working on bible memory verses each week that go with some of the behaviors we have been working on. You are starting to understand what they mean & how they apply to your everyday life. You have also started to tell me the emotions that you are feeling. When you don't like something you will tell me you feel angry, sad, disappointed or if you like it you will tell me it "makes your heart happy" or ask if my heart feels happy.

You still live for the outdoors, now that the weather is cooling off we just leave the windows open & the back doors open and you spend your entire day going in and out. As deer season is upon us, you are really enjoying going with Daddy to feed the deer corn, check cameras, get on the tractor, etc. 

 

Swimming was definitely your cup of tea this summer! Last summer you were so frustrated because you wanted to do it by yourself. This summer we put a puddle jumper on you & you really just took off! You even braved the diving board! 

You still love every single one of the Cars movies. You have almost the complete cast of cars and love them. This has been a constant with you since you were little bitty & it's safe to say they are still your favorite. You are also very in love with all things construction. You can name more construction vehicles then I can and tell me their parts and how they work. I've had to phone a friend in Daddy sometimes to figure out which construction vehicle is which. You also love monster trucks and John Deere everything. Hats, shirts, tractors, dump trucks. Daddy has even introduced you to the song "John Deere Green" poor Alexa plays that approximately a million times a day and you sing it all day yourself. 

More than that you are in love with how trucks and cars work. If you had it your way, you would be outside in that shop working on cars with Daddy from sunup to sundown. You want to check the oil, tighten bolts, take wheels off. You could probably list more parts to a truck than some men could. You are in love with Daddy's little blue truck and actually refer to it as your truck now. You 2 love to ride in it and going off roading. 

 

You have a very inquisitive mind. You want to figure out how to engineer or make things work. If we give you something you will sit there and try to master it. You have a John Deere tractor that you can take apart & you have mastered how to use the screwdriver to unscrew the bolts or you can make anything into a tow cable and want to tow everything around the house. You've even tried to tow Liam around the house. 

 

Your talking still absolutely blows us away! We can have full on conversations with you now. It's like you're not a toddler but a grown child! You're starting to pick up on tone & sarcasm so we are having to be very careful with things that come out of our mouths as you are quick to repeat. As much as I hate to admit it, your first curse word came from quoting Mama. I just knew it was going to be from Daddy but nope, it was me! You and Liam were both so grouchy one day & had both cried all morning. One was happy and the next would start crying back and forth all morning. I was in the kitchen making a sanity cup of coffee when I muttered under my breath "I'm about to lose my "sh*t today"  not knowing you were within ear shot I heard "Don't lose my hit mama ok?" Thankfully you left of the s but oh my goodness. I felt like Mom of the Year in that moment & have been much more cautious to bite my tongue. 

You are still 1,000% Daddy's boy. If you are awake before he leaves for work it tears your heart into  a million pieces when he walks out the door & every time you hear the door into the garage open you run yelling for Daddy. You want to be exactly like him in every single way. You even will insist that you look just like him (sorry love!) & you live to do all things just the way he does it. It thrills you both to death if you have an outfit that matches or if I need you to do something I just have to say "can you do ____like Daddy?" He is the light of your life and I can't think of a better man for you to have as an example of what to be when you grow up. You are very blessed with him as your Daddy, Mason. He is the best Daddy to you! 

As much of a Daddy's boy you are, since Liam has come you have started to crave so Mama time. You have started becoming a little more snuggly or asking for Mama or me to hold or kiss you. You seriously have no clue how much it makes Mama's heart explode in those moments. 

 

 

My son, you live life BIG & live every single day to it's fullest. You have more energy in your little body than I ever dreamed of having. You are so happy every day & love to be silly and make everyone laugh. You have a laugh that is contagious and you live to make everyone's "heart happy." You also have a very tender heart. If someone is upset you want to do everything you can to make them happy. You are quick to say you are sorry or offer a kiss or hug to make them feel better. You do not like to know you have disappointed or made someone upset by your actions. It breaks your heart& your spirit if someone is stern or raises their voice with you. You are the perfect mix of Daddy's wit and humor and Mommy's tender heart and sensitivity. We love you so much and could not be more proud of the little man you are becoming. You fill every single day with so much happiness and love. You will never know just how much you mean to us. I love you, sweet Mase! Always, always! 

Love, 

Mommy 

Dear Liam: 5 month edition

Dear Liam, 

Happy 5 months my littlest love! Months with you are flying by and you are growing up just too fast! 

You are weighing in at 16.4 pounds (45 percentile) and measuring 25.5 inches tall (28.9 percentile). You are wearing size 2 diapers during the day you absolutely hate a wet diaper though, so we have invested in size 3 night diapers at night. You flew right through 6 month sleepers and have moved into 9 month sleepers for length. You are still in 6 month pants and onesies. 

This month continued to be pretty difficult in the ways of reflux. While the increased medicine seemed to help you still just were pretty uncomfortable and the next step for us was to go to a GI specialist. Several people recommended that we try out a chiropractor because it had worked wonders for their child. We were a little skeptical but we decided to give it a try. The way that Dr. Peterson explained it to us is that when you are formed as a fetus you are formed and grow in a ball & when you are born things don't always straighten out correctly. We have had 5 adjustments and it has been amazing to us what a different person you are! You don't seem to have any more discomfort, no more arching, crying, can't get comfortable episodes. You are eating more and better & you aren't having nearly as many loud and uncomfortable burps or gas episodes. We are very thankful we found such a natural solution! This smile was missing for a few weeks and it never felt better to get back! 

You are still drinking Mama's milk. Since visiting the chiropractor, I have been able to add coffee & some tomato products back into my diet. This makes Mama's heart so happy!! I have joked that when you and Mason have your own little newborn children I am going to tell you: "Now cut out the coffee & let me know how it goes." Haha! You are a very picky little eater. You don't like to take your milk from anyone except your Mama. You also seem to prefer a bottle to nursing if you have your choice. After your first bottle of the day you decide you will just take bottles for the rest of the day. It makes me a little sad but fed is best & you're still getting my milk so I'm just going with it. You also prefer it to be perfectly quiet while you're drinking. If it isn't quiet then you want me to be walking around. You are a particular little guy. This was quite difficult in the beginning to keep Mason quiet during your feedings but he has adjusted to this for the most part. I think he also secretly appreciates it because this is the time he gets into all of his curious little troubles, like getting the blue body wash and putting it all over his cars to make them "Dinoco blue", because he knows that I'm stuck and now is his chance. 

We did start some single grain oatmeal cereal with you this month at the recommendation of our pediatrician to help with your reflux. I didn't have high hopes this would go well because your brother hated it so much. But you are the exact opposite. You absolutely cannot get enough of it & we cannot get it in your mouth fast enough. If you could have it for every meal it would probably thrill you to death. Currently you are just getting 3 TBSP at dinner time with 2oz of Mama's milk. I also may have let you get away with chowing down on a banana one day. 

As for a schedule, that is pretty much just shot. You want to make your own schedule & I have found days that I try to get you to stick to a schedule the both of us are just frustrated. However, letting you follow your own patterns you have kind of created a little bit of a schedule for yourself. Starting out the month your wakeful window was about 60 minutes. It was supposed to be around 90-120 minutes so we have stretched that out a little over time. Your morning wakeful window is the shortest. You can make it a max of 60 minutes and you want back in your bed for a quick nap. The rest of the time your wakeful windows are generally around 90-100 minutes, there are rare stretches you can make it  Naps are a little laughable but we are rolling with it. Your average nap is about 40 minutes SOMETIMES you make it to 50-60 minutes. However, I know the second you go down if I want to get anything done I need to get after it NOW. In the last week you have started taking a few 2 hour naps in the morning. They are few and far between but a very delightful little surprise! 

Your little self-made schedule(ish) looks about like this: 

Your personality is still coming out more and more every month. You absolutely love to be outside & for the most part when you aren't hungry or wet you are generally really laid back. You love physical touch and quality time. You very much want to be held or at least where you can see us. We do a lot of baby wearing. At night when we are nearing bedtime you love to chase Mason around in the umbrella stroller. You know exactly what you want and you aren't afraid to do what you need to do to get it. That can sometimes get very loud. You absolutely hate a wet diaper. HATE. IT. I feel like we go through diapers quickly with you, but you are very insistent if you are wet that we change you. You are a TALKER! At first we would think that you were upset but you just love to talk and talk and talk from the minute you are awake until the next time you go to sleep.

 

As for looks, you are 100% Daddy and Poppy. We were sitting out back one evening and when I looked over at you all I saw was your Poppy. 

You are 110% Mama's boy. Any time you are upset or want something the second you come into my arms you are immediately calmed down. Like I mentioned above, you only want your Mama to feed you and you prefer that Mama puts you down as well. I am sure a lot of this is because you and I spend every day together as opposed to you needing to go to a sitter. It just comes easier for me to read your cues or know what is coming next. 

As much of a Mama's boy as you are, I think you are more of a Mason's boy. I say this every time but your relationship with Mason beyond exceeds anything I could have imagined. You love him more than anything in the world. The second you see him your face lights up and absolutely nothing can make you laugh the same way he can. It's like you two already have some kind of secret code or language. I was telling Daddy just the other day, I don't think Mason will ever truly know just how much you look up to and adore him. While you are boys, I pray daily that you two will have the same bond that I have with your Aunt Lisa & Aunt Amy. Growing up I looked up to them the same way I see you looking up to Mason & I know that is God answering my prayers. 

 

This month you mastered rolling over from your back to your tummy & you do it constantly! However, I think learning this skill made you forget how to roll from your tummy to back all of the sudden. You get flipped over and get very ANGRY that you can't get back over. But I know in just a short time you will be rolling all over the place. 

You are really wanting to meet skills quickly it seems. I think it is because you have Mason to watch and want to jump in with him. You prefer to be standing & try to move your feet like you are walking. While we aren't even close to walking your face lights up when we hold your hands and walk behind you and you can "take some steps." You have also started trying to sit by yourself this month. I wouldn't say you've mastered it at all because you are normally folded in half and will sit like that happily until you fall over to one side, but we will get there. 

We completely unswaddled you this month when sleeping. It was such an easy transition as you were never really in love with it anyway. We just didn't put it on one night because it was dirty and then we just never put it on again after that. You seem to really prefer that. Since we have unswaddled you have really become a side sleeper. Every time we put you down to sleep you roll over to your left side and fall asleep. This is the exact same thing your Daddy does when he goes to sleep at night. The one downfall to the side sleeping this month is you seem to roll onto your stomach in the middle of the night and can't get flipped back over. But like I said, we will get there in a no time at all. 

Liam Hayes, I love getting to know you more every single month. Being your Mommy is just the biggest blessing. You have a smile that melts my heart and lights up the room. You look at life with so much joy and a sparkle in your eye. I pray that this is always the case for you. You truly are such a happy addition to our little family of 4. You bring more happiness to each of us than you will ever know. We love you, sweet boy!! 

Love, 
Mommy