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!!

Hunter's funny sayings...

Hunter has been talking up a storm. He is really doing an excellent job putting more and more words together, pronouncing words clearly, and communicating that he is starting to have complex thoughts...and, boy, what an imagination.

Here are a few things he's said lately that have cracked us up:

- While driving, we passed a farm that reaked of cow manure. Hunter was just dozing off to sleep, but upon smelling it, his eyes popped open and he said "Mama, I smell poop, did you poop?" I explained that we were passing a farm and they spread cow poop on the ground to help make vegetables grow. He gave me this look that said 'yea right mom, likely story, just admit you crapped your pants.'

- We were running a bit late to get to his swim class, which he LOVES, so I was rushing him out the door. Of course, pokey Hunter ignores my car and wanders towards the yard. I ask him to hurry and get into his car seat and he says clear as a bell "I'm coming...re-lax!"

- Hunter was playing around doing something that could get him hurt and Ryan told him to be careful and to stop what he was doing. He replies "Don't worry about me. You worry about Mason."

- For quite some time he has been requesting Uncle Scott's music whenever we are in the car or near an iPod. More recently, he has started singing along to Uncle Scott's music and some other songs too. He generally mumbles until he knows the line and then he sings it a few beats behind the true lyrics. Occasionally, he stops and says "You like my singing?"

-Hunter also has an amazing memory. Several weeks ago, Ryan found out that he got a new research grant and then I was promoted at work. At dinner, we toasted each other saying "Congratulations" and Hunter chimed in. About a month later, out of the blue, Hunter raised his cup and said "Congratulations". Now he says it frequently at dinner, as well as "how was your day?" which we often ask him over our meal.

-Hunter also started singing "We will, we will, ROCK you!" one day without provocation. Ryan asked where he heard it and Hunter said Mom-mom played it for him in the car. Then he said "It's my favorite song in my whole life". We found out later that Mom-mom did indeed play the song for him in her car about 2-3 months prior.

What an amazing little man - we can't wait to hear what comes out of his mouth next!

Vroom Vroom

After bath dance party...

Mason's infectious laugh...

it sounds pretty ornery, too, doesn't it?!