Growing Up

It's already beginning - Mason is growing up and his world is extending beyond Adam and I. On two occasions we've been out in Battle Creek and have run into Mason's friends from "school." About a month ago we were eating at Chili's when another family was seated near us. Mason started pointing at them and jabbering on about "Chris", and we just assumed he was talking about Adam's friend Chris who we'd been talking about. So we told him no, that wasn't Chris and continued to eat our dinner. A little bit later the mom at the other table asked us what day care our son went to, and from talking to her found out that her son, Christian, was in Mason's class. Yes, he had just recognized one of his friends from school. The remainder of the dinner was a wash as the boys stared and giggled at each other. I'm sure Mason was thinking, silly mommy and daddy, I knew who that was.

Then this weekend I took Mason to the mall with me, which means we had to stop at the book store to play with the Thomas train set in the kid's section. Just as we were arriving an older woman and a little girl showed up to play too. After a few minutes of the kids playing quietly together, the woman asked me if Mason went to CDC, because her grand-daughter never plays with other kids at the bookstore. Sure enough, they were in the same class too. Mary and Mason ran all over the kid's section together, we probably let them play for over an hour. When Mary and her grandma left, the kids gave each other a hug.

Neither Christian nor Mary had ever come up in conversations with him about his day. Christian was younger than Mason but Mary also turned 2 1/2 in March, and goes to school two of the three days Mason is there. It made me wonder why he's never talked about her. I would guess there are between 16 and 20 kids in his class, including the part-timers like Mason. Of those kids, he usually only talks about a handful: Chlo-Chlo (Chloe), Parker, Anna and Beckett. It's as if they already have a little clique (although Beckett is now "naughty" and "not my friend"). It reminded me of times during middle and high school when you'd run into someone in your grade outside of school, and you'd actually hang out together because you were the only other person the other one knew. You'd end up having a better time than you thought, but when you get back to school you never talk to that other kid again. I hope that doesn't start already. I hope now that Mason has played with Mary at the bookstore, he'll play with her at school too.

Smarty Pants

I just love the spring. Especially now with Mason, it feels so good to get him out of the house and let him play to his heart's content. This weekend we took advantage of the beautiful weather and got the front yard taken care of - raking, pruning, etc. Mason was quite the little helper (and sometimes un-helper). We have a couple smaller rakes that he can use, and he spent a lot of time with a little garden rake. When Adam started picking up the piles of dead grass and leaves, Mason went over to help him. But a few seconds into it, he realized his little rake just wouldn't pick up as much as daddy's big rake. So he ran up to the garage, grabbed a dust pan, and used that to scoop up the leaves and dump them in the yard waste bin.

At first I thought, awe, how cute. Then I realized what had really happened - he problem-solved! His little brain actually figured out a solution to make the process more efficient for him. The more I think about it, the prouder I am. I think we've got a little smarty pants on our hands!