Joan Delores Kritsings

July 30, 1940 - March 12, 2012
You are missed and loved every single day!

Look at him go...

Mason is becoming quite the big boy.  Check him out as he pushes Hunter around.

Raspberries!

Ballyhoo's Biggest Fan

Easter Fun

The kids really got a big taste of Easter this year.  It was quite a full weekend with an Easter Egg Hunt and activities at Day Care, meeting the Easter Bunny at Centennial Park during an event hosted by our realtor, then Easter day with baskets at our house, an egg hunt and a delicious dinner with MiMi, Opa and Uncle Scott.  The kids were in 7th Heaven!

11 month's old already!?

Whew...what a whirlwind! Can't quite grasp that Mason will be turning 1 year old in a month...where is the time going? Things are wonderful and, at the same time, completely insane. Ryan has been extremely busy at work lately with all his research projects . I was recently promoted so have been, in essence, juggling 2 jobs as my old one is not quite transitioned off my plate yet. We still seem to have an endless list of house projects to complete both inside and out and they seem to have increases with the spring weather. We are still working towards having a vegetable garden this year - who's genius idea was that? - readying the soil, building a fence around the perimeter, starting the appropriate seeds indoors. And we seem to have house guests every weekend, too. NUTTY, but somehow at the end of the day, we are all fed, cleaned, happy, loved and tucked warm and exhausted into our beds!

So let's see, here are some of the new amazing things that Mason can do now:

-he makes animal sounds when asked to or when he sees a picture of one - specifically cows, ducks, lions, elephants and giraffes. Well, to be more specific a giraffe butt...yes, he makes a toot sound for a giraffe. It's a long story and has to do with some wall art in his room and the common use of potty humor in our household, but it keeps us quite entertained.

-he is fearless! He is now taking steps on his own, generally 4-6 before falling on his bottom. When he takes his time he does really well, but Mason is ALWAYS in a hurry, so generally he starts off in a run, then he gets off-balance and tumbles down.

- he enjoys his riding toys, so much that we have to keep a close eye on him because he tries to lift his leg to climb on top of them for a ride, but he is still too small and ends up pulling the toy down on top of him...OUCH!

-in fact, he loves to climb on everything. He can now climb up the stairs by himself, though we always go behind him to make sure he doesn't turn midway. He also loves climbing up on Hunter's toddler bed and then lunging off to the floor. It's not a big drop, but, well one would think he wouldn't keep repeating it, but he just loves it.

-he eats everything! I never thought this could even be possible, but there is another child out there who eats more than Hunter...and it is Mason!

- he drinks most of his milk via cup now, mostly one with a straw. He can also drink straight from a cup with help. He does drink from sippy cups on occasion, but has some difficulty maintaining suction around those mouthpieces. When he does get a bottle, he prefers lately to hold it himself.

-knows his basic sign language, e.g. milk, more, eat, all done. He uses them occasionally but I think he finds that grunting and squealing while reaching, pointing or lunging towards that which he wants is more effective. This is mostly our fault because, more times than not, we give it to him rather than having him make the sign first, but that is the life of a second child, I guess. We are juggling so many things at once these days, we barely have the brainpower to realize what we are doing until we've already given him what he wants. Poor Hunter, he had to work for everything! I'm making a promise right now that we will work harder on this, we can't have Mason getting everything the easy way - we will ensure we torture our children equally.

-he still sleeps through the night and goes down very easily. In fact, he is not really a nighttime cuddler like Hunter was, when Mason is ready for sleep he actually reaches for his crib, as if to say, "Okay, I'm done with you, it's time for bed, now get me in there!"

-waves bye-bye and also blows kisses - I actually got an unsolicited one from him recently!

-seems to really like books. Whenever he is in Hunter's room, he goes directly to the bookshelf and starts to pull all the books out, then flips through them. He has his favorites and he will also sit well in your lap while you read and help you turn the pages.

-still loves bath time! He is all over the place in the tub, even when competing for space in there with his big brother. He splashes, lays on his back, plays with his bath toys, "argues" with Hunter about who gets which toy. They are a riot!

Now on to planning a 1 year old's birthday party...see you then!!