The nicest gifts.

Mason turned 6 months old yesterday. 6 MONTHS PEOPLE!! And he gave me the most beautiful gift. He said Mama. Jenna and Aidan both said Dada first...and Jenna called me Lisa before she called me Mama. So, this gift, from my last baby is so special to me :)

He's been making the MMMMMM sound for a couple days, but try as I might, he wouldn't repeat Mama. Last night I was upstairs getting the kids jammies, Mason was in his exersaucer and he started to fuss. Next thing I knew, he was saying MMMM MAMA! MMMM MAMA!! And he said it a few times. I called Karen and she heard it too! And then Al called to say he was on his way home, and he heard it too!!

And then, at 2:30 this morning, when Mason decided to fill his diaper, and half his jammies, when I was at my most sleepy and cranky...he said it again as soon as I fastened his clean diaper :)

I am loving this :)

Al gave me a few gifts this morning! First, he let me sleep in. He gave the kids thier breakfast, he tried his best to keep them quiet for me. And, he did the dishes from last night!! What a lovely sight this morning, to come down to nice shiney counters, and a sink filled with CLEAN dishes :) He said to me "Maybe this will help towards an easier day today." (Yesterday was rough, with much fighting amongst the hooligans, and a sore throat from hell) I love that man so very much.

Yesterday when I picked up Jenna from school, I was rewarded with a big smile and lots of praise from her teacher!! "Jenna is doing EXCELLENT with her letter sounds now" she said to me!! I had hoped to hear something like that. I saw a huge improvement over the weekend and through the week. I got out my flashcards for work, she thought they were fun!! Yay!! And she's sounding out everything now! "Telephone...Tuh...Tuh...Tuh...Telephone starts with T!!" I am so proud of my girl.

We've decided that Aidan is not quite ready for toilet training yet. He just doesn't get it. I'll try again next month. Although...Karen brought him a Buzz Lightyear Pull-up yesterday...he thought that was COOL! And was rather upset to realize that he had peed on Buzz. LOL...so maybe I'll try those. I've never been a pull-ups supporter before...but I've also never trained Aidan before :) Gotta use what works...that's the key :)

Just to add a little vent here...Why do other people assume THEY know when it's the best time to toilet train other people's kids?? My Mother AND step-mother have BOTH said within the past week "I think it's about time you get that boy trained." ugh. Shut up. he's mine. If I feel like changing diapers for the next 4 years, that's my concern. Sorry, that was really snarky. My mom has been pissing me off a lot lately, trying to teach me how to parent my children. She doesn't know. She never had three. She didn't work. My brother and I were FAR from perfect. I think it's just her approach. When I'm stressed out, I need support...not to be admonish for letting them get "out of control". Ugh. Blah.

Anyway, the good is totally outweighing the bad today :) we're having a jammie day. Which we never do...it seems weird to me to not get dressed...but why not right :)

~Lisa~