Boys and Food

October 31, 2009....

Wow it has been a long time since we posted anything.

Won't try to catch you up in one post, but I will share some information about the boys and food.

Scene 1: Thursday in the van, Characters - Mason and Jamey
Jamey - Mason, as we drive home we need to stop at Wal-Mart and get some food for Ladybug then take her to GG's so she can go with GG and GDaddy to Illinois for Thanksgiving.
Mason - Daddy, we can't take her. We need her when we drop the food.
Jamey - What Mason?
Mason - We need Ladybug when we drop the food.
Jamey (thinking) - What food are we dropping off somewhere? Out Loud - What Mason?
Mason - We need her when we drop the food!
Jamey (finally getting it) - Ohhhhh, we need Ladybug at home when we drop the food off our plates?
Mason - YES!

Apparently we don't do a good job cleaning house regularly if we don't have Ladybug's assistance.

Scene 2: Sunday in the house, Characters - Jen and Miller
Jen's eating at the table and Miller has been playing in the pantry. Miller is making trips back and forth to the pantry and then into the kitchen at which time Jen hears clanking glass. So about the fourth time she stands up to see Miller coming into the kitchen holding a jar of baby food, stopping at the trash can and holding it open. With a big grin on his face, he confidently drops the jar in hand into trash where it bounces off three others.

Jen hollers upstairs to Jamey to come witness and he arrives in time to see the fifth one dropped into the trash. For weeks Miller has been showing a preference for "big kid" food, but not quite this clearly.

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

Big heart in a small body

Lately, Mason has been showing beautiful signs of empathy.

We've recently started watching Disney's series, "Little Einsteins." One of the episodes that we watched featured the 4 main characters helping a "music pet" named Melody to find her ticket to the pet train. The pet train takes homeless pets to their new families. Well, of course, one of the characters gets very attached to Melody, but, because he loves her so much, he puts her on the pet train to find her new family. Shortly after the 4 characters return home, the pet train arrives at his home and-- lo and behold-- Melody is destined for him!

After watching this episode a few nights ago, it was time for Mason's bath. He was bathing in the master bathroom and I was in our bedroom changing clothes and listening to him play. Suddenly, he burst into tears and I went running into the bathroom to find the source of the tears. He explained that Leo was very sad and missed Melody but she had to leave on the train. Fortunately, I could then remind him of the rest of the story, and that soothed him....until he talked himself back around to the part when Leo had to leave Melody. We've been able to watch that episode since then with less tears... but he always has to mention that Leo really misses Melody.

A few days later, we were watching the 1984 live-action version of Don Freeman's classic, "Corduroy." (Ok... suddenly this post sounds like all we do is watch TV!) We've read the book several times, and he's familiar with the story. However, it's been a while-- we usually read "Corduroy goes to the Doctor"... but that's not the point. We got to the point in the story where Corduroy has popped the button off the mattress and goes flying off the bed, knocking over a lamp. The commotion causes the night watchman to come and he takes Corduroy back to the toy section of the store... without his button. At which point, I hear sniffling and I look over to see a trembling bottom lip and big tears--"But Mommy, Corduroy wanted THAT button!" The next time we watched Corduroy... tears again for the same reason.

It's just one more wonderful aspect of the boy that Mason is becoming. He rough and tumble on the outside, slow to cry because of physical pain... but don't hurt his heart, please, it's pretty tender!

And I didn't even know I was pregnant!

Or... I wouldn't have if I ever read this blog as a source of Campbell family information! So, we didn't blog ANYthing about a pregnancy, birth, or the first few weeks of life as a family of 4.

Here's the info...
I was huge, but all pregnant women think they are huge. And then Nicholas Miller was born... 22.5 inches, and 11 pounds 10 ounces-- and I had proof that he and I were both huge!

And life as a family of 4 is awesome.

I HOPE I'll be better about posting. It's a goal... I'll try!

Travelling Mason

Jen's been on the road now into her third straight week. Mason accompanied her last week to Orlando and this week to Arkansas. Thanks to GG and MarMar for going along on the trips. I'm really glad you are getting great time with the boy this summer.

He's gotten to fly on an airplane - always a big hit! Seen lots of fireworks - including through his bedroom window July 4 & 5. And even leaving Epcot the one last time, riding the Monorail (a week after the WDW accident at the Ticket and Transportation Center), he was satisfied to "ride the big train one more time."

It has been a good summer for Mason. We are settling into the new house. He's gotten to play with Sarah Catherine and John Franklin and spend the time mentioned above with the grandmothers.

Now we just have to get everyone home and settled before little brother or sister comes in September.

We'll try to remember to post the interesting Mason stories here and pictures both here and on Shutterfly.

all the colors of the rainbow

Mason learned colors in the fall, but in true Mason fashion, they're not necessarily the words we use for them. Instead, they correspond with the Sesame Street Characters:

Red= Elmo
Yellow=Big Bird
Green=Oscar
Blue= aaaaaaaagh CRASH! (That's the sound of Super Grover crashing.) Lately, though, this has just been Blue. I guess that's way easier than aaaaaaaaaaaagh CRASH!
Pink= Abby

Orange= Orange-y
Purple=Purple
Brown=Brown

When your shoelaces are untied...

you have to "tight" them. (If you ask Mason, anyway.)

Our baby is growing up

Mason has lots of Mason-isms... and they're transitioning to big boy words.

this week, 2 transitions happened.

Mason was sitting on my lap reading a couple of books with me. In one book, a cat was a "meow"... by the next book, it was a "cat." (That's an easier word anyway, but he held onto "meow".)

Last night at dinner, the television changed, too. Up to that point, it had been the "O.V." Don't know why... I guess, it was just letters to him. Last night, it changed to "T.V."

Sigh!