Life has been kinda busy and I'm finding myself blogging less and less. And while I'm not blogging, my little man is growing so fast.
I wasn't have much luck with Mason sleeping in his own bed so I decided to give him a new bed thinking that may have been the problem. He kept saying he wanted a 'bigger' bed (even though he sleeps in a Toddler bed at his Dad's). So while he was on vacation with his Daddy, I got busy and started designing a new room for him. Once I realized that there wouldn't be enough room, I decided to give up my larger room and switch. My (old) room was perfect for a bedroom/playroom! A few days later it was complete. A loft bed with a play area underneath and all of his toys around it.
Sleeping - Well we haven't exactly tried out the new bed as finding a twin mattress that wasn't $500 and didn't suck was difficult. I ordered a high end foamy (lol) but it was delayed by weeks so I've only had it two days now and Mason doesn't seem interested in sleeping in the bunk. He keeps talking about sleeping in the lower bed (his Toddler bed placed in the area below) but when it comes to bed time, he ends up in my bed. I'm going to keep working on this and maybe spend a night with him in the bunk to show him he cannot fall out and it's not scary. I don't think he'll sleep below. Sigh. At least he sleeps through the night and deeply. Still has his regular naps...
Learning - After an extremely stressful period where we didn't have a new daycare for Mason to go to when he turned 3, his Dad found a great Montessori that was full time! Usually unheard of and the great thing was the hours and the price. I heard that a commercial daycare bumped their rates up to $1600 per month. Absolutely INSANE and should be against the law in my opinion. We have paid over $20,000 dollars in two years. Seems crazy when it's all added up but split between two parents is not that hard. I couldn't imagine covering that cost entirely alone. It wouldn't be possible to live.
Talking - Oh do we ever have a chatty boy. Mason's vocabulary has increased and I notice that he's used a lot of words that we read to him in books (Cherry Blossoms, elevator, astronaut). It's funny to hear him use such big words. He's still reversing his w's and r's but I'm sure he'll grow out of it. He seems to be developing his language skills at a good pace and has lots of interest in reading books and learning new things. Since going to Montessori, he talks a lot about numbers and is sure to tell me when they skip a lesson.
Health - Generally Mason is a very healthy kid and unlike his Mama, rarely has a cold. He had a stint of the flu a few months back that landed us at Emergency for a non stop vomit session but it stopped by the time we got there and then went home. Then most recently came one of his biggest accidents, it occurred when we were on our way to the Island. We were just getting on an escalator and I unfortunately was not holding his hand, it all happened so fast and I'm not sure how but he ended up falling down 4-5 stairs. I flew down after him scooped him up and ran back up to the top (we were only half way up when he tumbled). I went into fix it mode, meanwhile keeping extremely calm. My purse was around my shoulders and I had a brand new pack of kleenex which was pulled out when I realized that he was bleeding from the forehead. People ran to our aid but there wasn't much for them to do. I asked for a Medic and when she came she said he had a bump? I removed the kleenex to state, no...he had an open wound. It wasn't deep, it was wide as it was the only part of him that connected with the stairs on the way down and the grate made an imprint into his little head. No other part of him was injured (thank God) but this cut was horrible looking and needed attention. I was told then I couldn't board the ferry (which had just arrived) and my car was in the line up to head over. Once Mason was cleaned up and had a band aid attached to him to keep the wound closed, we were told to head to Lions Gate Hospital in North Van for stitches. The EMT at BC Ferries was quite nice and did a good job keeping Mason distracted (gave him stickers) but I was very surprised she did not wear gloves and I made a comment to her about it. I had never been to Lions Gate hospital before and was super impressed. We were in and out within 2 hours which is unheard of. The staff were awesome with Mason and the rooms were equipped for kids. TV, books and lots of attention. Our Doctor told Mason he was a pirate and Mason could have a look into the treasure chest when he was done for a prize. This was the first time Mason would have stitches and I thought since I didn't have a weak stomach that I wouldn't be affected but it was horrible. I cried quietly while my kid sat on the bed with this giant owie on his head and I couldn't help but blame myself and continued to play the scene over and over in my head to figure out why I didn't grab his hand and how he fell. He wasn't goofing around, he was just standing next to me. Awful. They stitched Mason up, which was an awful experience to watch. He was swaddled, which he hated and they sewed his little head up. I had to turn around a few times. Once we were done he was happy to go home and was fine after that. It's now a few weeks later and his head is healing nicely, he had no bruising and no brain injury which I am grateful for, it could have been a lot worse. I will say that is the last time he goes anywhere without holding my hand and we will avoid escalators if we can.
Top pic - two days after the tumble, Bottom pic - today. 10 days later. The bruising and scrapes on his nose are gone. He has a small mark on the right which should heal completely and the big owie is still pretty red. The 4 stitches dissolved and there is one left that will eventually fall out. I pray that his almost new skin heals great and there won't be much of a mark.
Potty Training - Mason did well with potty training but it's not quite over yet. He is 99% trained with peeing. He wears big boy underwear throughout the day and even takes the initiative to go the potty alone. The only downside is during naps/night, we still need to depend on the pull ups or he wets the bed. I was proactive with his new mattress and bought an Oops sheet to keep it dry. When I buy a new mattress I will definitely buy one for my bed when I go through potty training for my future kidlets. The other part of training is #2 which Mason has an aversion to. He won't go poo unless he has a pull up and sometimes not even then. It's extremely frustrating and causes constipation if he waits too long. I know it's a common thing for kids so we are just waiting until he's through this phase which I hope is sooner than later.
Playtime - Mason is still into the same toys - fire trucks, garbage trucks, monster trucks and goes through phases of movies...Pirates of the Caribbean (Pirates of the be-an), Spiderman and re-enacts scenes with their character names, fighting moves and all of that boy stuff. I don't mind it except for the shooting which he's got a habit of doing. He knows we don't like it and the smart kid tells me he's not shooting guns but webs from his Spider arms. Ahhhh. Well don't shoot spider webs at people, please. I won't allow Mason to have toy guns in the house and hopefully he'll grow out of that phase.
Manners - I'm proud to say that Mason has kept up his manners and says please and thank you sometimes without prompting. He's been giving me random kisses and thanking for me for things 10 mins after the fact which I think is so sweet.
Growing - Often mistaken for a kid who is older is mostly due to his height. He's 3 ft 2 which is more than half his adult size! It's an amazing thing considering he is only 3. His weight is still healthy but on the low side, he's been at 30lbs for quite some time but he is eating well and looks good.