As usual in our family, Mason got a multi-day celebration. Since we were all home on Saturday evening, we went to Bullwinkle's Family Fun Center to play for a few minutes and then to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner. We actually didn't pay anything at Bullwinkle's. The boys had passes for the indoor playground from the library's summer reading program and then Mason had a great time just running around and pushing buttons in the arcade. Haha!
Mason chose homemade macaroni and cheese for his birthday dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house on Sunday. We made his cake on Sunday too so Darwin and Debbie could help us eat it. Mason requested a dinosaur cake this year and was thrilled with how it turned out. He understood and remembered what a birthday is a lot better this year, so it was really fun to watch his excitement for the celebration this year.
Grandma and Grandpa got him a Paw Patrol book that he loves!
Mason's favorite breakfast these days is a blueberry bagel with cream cheese so that's what he got on his actual birthday. He eats that for breakfast most days though. He enjoys running around the house in his underwear too. ;)
We spent a few minutes playing with the dinosaur toys I bought for his cake before heading to clogging class and Mason's favorite toy store to play. Mason would have preferred a park, but it was a cool, rainy day so Mudpuddles was the second best option.
He finally got to open presents when Spencer and Daddy were both home in the late afternoon. Mason was excited about getting his very own Legos from me, but even more excited about the Batmobile from Alan. Kiki had fun with the discarded wrapping and Spencer was a good brother and helped Mason put his Lego set together.
We had leftover cake and sang to him again after soccer practice and dinner that night.
Here's a snapshot of Mason at 4:
Favorites: Ninjago (the tv show and the Legos), Super Heroes (especially Batman), playing outside, anything Spencer is doing, watching tv shows (he can earn 30 minutes of screen time each day), playing with Daddy, preschool, reading stories, any kind of bread except for tortillas.
Not-So-Favorites: playing by himself, getting shut out of Spencer's room, drawing or coloring, all vegetables except for sweet bell peppers, most dinner foods.
Just like with Spencer, three was a challenging year for Mason. He had so many new opinions, but not great impulse control, communication, or coping skills. We have already seen a decrease in the number of power struggles we were having since he turned four though, so hooray for that!
Mason grew A LOT this year. He is in the 98% for weight (48 lbs) and the 95% (43 inches) for height. I really struggle to lift him now, but it is still a necessity to get him into a cart at most stores. He refuses to hold my hand and just runs around and grabs things if he's not in a cart. :) Besides a couple of warts on his fingers, Mason is completely healthy. On another physical note, we're pretty certain that he is left-handed. He writes with his right hand occasionally, but mostly uses his left. Yay lefties!
Mason is finally beginning to give up his naps. He has "quiet time" in his room for 45 minutes - 1 hour every afternoon. Sometimes he still falls asleep, but he mostly plays with his toys and looks at books. This is actually working better than I expected it to. Mason is very social and ALWAYS wants someone to play with him and listen to him. I wasn't sure that he'd be able to survive an hour of alone time in his room, but he does great with it most days.
Over the summer, Mason had some separation anxiety and really struggled at Church (hooray for 2-hour church coming soon!!). I was worried that he would struggle with preschool too, but he has done amazing and LOVES it. I won't have my turn to teach until April so I don't know a lot about the other kids, but Mason has so much fun with his new friends. He loves eating lunch at preschool and comes home exhausted every time. The socialization is good for him, plus I think he is willing to do a lot of different things for other moms than he is for me. I'm so glad we were invited to join this group!
Mason is a happy ray of sunshine and jolt of energy in our family and we love him to pieces!!
Favorites: Ninjago (the tv show and the Legos), Super Heroes (especially Batman), playing outside, anything Spencer is doing, watching tv shows (he can earn 30 minutes of screen time each day), playing with Daddy, preschool, reading stories, any kind of bread except for tortillas.
Not-So-Favorites: playing by himself, getting shut out of Spencer's room, drawing or coloring, all vegetables except for sweet bell peppers, most dinner foods.
Just like with Spencer, three was a challenging year for Mason. He had so many new opinions, but not great impulse control, communication, or coping skills. We have already seen a decrease in the number of power struggles we were having since he turned four though, so hooray for that!
Mason grew A LOT this year. He is in the 98% for weight (48 lbs) and the 95% (43 inches) for height. I really struggle to lift him now, but it is still a necessity to get him into a cart at most stores. He refuses to hold my hand and just runs around and grabs things if he's not in a cart. :) Besides a couple of warts on his fingers, Mason is completely healthy. On another physical note, we're pretty certain that he is left-handed. He writes with his right hand occasionally, but mostly uses his left. Yay lefties!
Mason is finally beginning to give up his naps. He has "quiet time" in his room for 45 minutes - 1 hour every afternoon. Sometimes he still falls asleep, but he mostly plays with his toys and looks at books. This is actually working better than I expected it to. Mason is very social and ALWAYS wants someone to play with him and listen to him. I wasn't sure that he'd be able to survive an hour of alone time in his room, but he does great with it most days.
Over the summer, Mason had some separation anxiety and really struggled at Church (hooray for 2-hour church coming soon!!). I was worried that he would struggle with preschool too, but he has done amazing and LOVES it. I won't have my turn to teach until April so I don't know a lot about the other kids, but Mason has so much fun with his new friends. He loves eating lunch at preschool and comes home exhausted every time. The socialization is good for him, plus I think he is willing to do a lot of different things for other moms than he is for me. I'm so glad we were invited to join this group!
Mason is a happy ray of sunshine and jolt of energy in our family and we love him to pieces!!
