Trains, trains, and........still trains

Mason's typical day: wake up, play "choo-choo", eat breakfast while watching Thomas the train, play choo-choo, go outside, play choo-choo, watch Thomas, nap, play choo-choo, watch Thomas, play choo-choo, go outside, play cars, play choo-choo, maybe watch Thomas again, then bed. He is officially obsessed now. His favorite book is "The Caboose That Got Loose." We read it twice a day and he must have it memorized because he read an entire line himself: "The engines were steamers with puffing smokestacks" (though pronounciation was not precise). So, when he vomited on that very book this morning, panic set in. Erika tried washing it, which only got the entire book wet. That damage on top of the already degrading binding means we'll be asking for a new one for Christmas. Don't know why he got sick, he's fine now. We went to the library and got more books by the same author, but they don't have the caboose book. The positive of his train obsession is that the train set we bought him last May was not a waste of money. He also loves the Disney movie Cars and has a few diecast replicas of the characters that he loves. He's very much into the transportation theme. We've already gotten him a few Thomas trains for Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a fun Turkey Day, relaxing in the house and cooking as few things as possible to reduce leftovers. Though Mason usually likes chicken/turkey, he would only eat bread, tomatoes, and marshmallows. Untypical of the desert is that it rained all day, leaving us inside on Mama's day off:( Not that it totally mattered since someone had vandalized the playground and completely ruined the slide.



Now that Thanksgiving is over, everyone will be thinking about Christmas, especially toymakers. Mason was looking very intently at the Toys'R'Us ad. Thank goodness he doesn't understand what it is or that Christmas is coming.



He's such thoughtful boy. We bought new tennis balls for Dizzy and Mason wanted to give one to her. He said to her, "You have it."



He was being so cute one day, wanted to wear Kevin's hat.


He loves rough-housing and made up a car-crash game in which he would slam into Kevin's car and they would fall to the ground.


Mama stepped in to give Kevin a break, tile floor is not pleasant to fall on.


Yea! OSU beat Michigan, go Buckeyes!

Nana in Town

Nana came to town and we of course have been non-stop busy and having fun. We went to Chiricahua National Monument where we did an easy, amazing hike. It was cold there, we were at about 7,000 feet elevation. But Mason did great. He only got upset when we showed him the lizards and we wouldn't let him out of the backpack to play with them. He was quiet on the hike and got tired of us wiping his running nose (because it was so cold), but when we finished he said "That was a nice hike." Then we came down the mountain and had a picnic in a slightly warmer valley.

For more pictures go to http://www.slide.com/r/e6Pv9Ygm5D9-m-zV5xzh03ijwooKHKl7?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original

Mason loves his Nana, but really misses Paw-paw who couldn't come on this trip. Nana is so great about taking Mason to fun places and doing fun activities. She made bathtub fingerpaints and Mason loves making a mess with those!

We did like the instructions said and played with the paints in the tub, and that was such a mess! Mason did little painting and they just dissolved in the bath water. He needed a separate shower after that.

The next day Nana gave him the paints in the shower with no water and he put his creativity to work! He still got a shower afterwards, but the adults felt better about him not sitting in dirty water.

In Loving Memory

Last night our cat Vedder passed on. We knew he was sick, and he had a vet appt Monday, but he quickly declined over the weekend. We knew at that point there was nothing the doctors could do, so we let him pass. He didn't seem to suffer. He was a wonderful cat in his youth, but became more solitary after Mason was born. We'll remember his quirks, like how he woke us up for treats, loved being outside, and demanded ice in his water.

First Trick-or-Treat

10-31-08: Mason's first halloween spent trick-or-treating was slightly disappointing, though he was the cutest cowboy on the block. He was terrified of all the scary costumes and refused to go to most peoples' doors. We made it around half the block and came back to our house, and he refused to go on anymore, didn't even want to stay outside to pass out candy. On top of that, Erika got home so late from work she didn't even have time to change out of her scrubs. She put on her scrub cap and pretended to be in costume as a surgeon (though the neighbors knew it was a farce). Kevin was great at passing out the candy, Erika would have eaten it all herself!




The trick-or-treating pair.



Speed treating!



He of course loved the candy.



The following day we went to Madera Canyon to camp. Unfortunately we got there too late (stayed in town Friday to trick-or-treat), so the campground was full. We had a picnic, did an easy hike and Mason played in the stream.



Mason's new thing is to squeeze his eyes closed and say "cheese!" when you take his picture. It was funny at first but now we're having difficulty getting good pictures!


Today we finally got around to carving our pumpkin. Mason was a little like Erika at that age and less than interested, perhaps slightly disgusted. And Erika hasn't changed, still finds pumpkins to be one of the grossest things on the planet. Fortunately her gag reflex has matured and she tolerated the ordeal. Though Mason didn't care about the carving, Erika and Kevin had a blast making jokes about each other and Erika's bizarre aversion to pumpkins.






This shot may look familiar to some people.


Erika had no problem putting her creative skills to work so she could carve it.