Hit Kenny

We are slowly hitting the terrible 2's with Mason. It has been a very hard transition for us so far. We are use to having a sweet, cuddly baby. Now we have Mr. No who does everything you tell him not to do. After we introduced Star Wars to him (which he L-O-V-E-S) he really started acting out. We thought he had picked up some bad habits from the movie (lightsaber fighting) but now we think it's monkey see monkey do at daycare.

In the mornings and afternoons the daycare combines all the kids into the big play room. Great for the teachers; not so great for us. There are 2 older boys, brothers, that Mason plays with each day and has picked up some "moves". The 2 boys technically aren't doing anything wrong. Like all brothers, they rough house and pick on each other. Our problem is Mason's age. He is too young to know when it's ok to rough house and when it is mean.

The biggest problem is hitting. He hits EVERYONE! If you tell him "No" or put him in timeout, he will hit or swat at anything that is close to him. He will also "ninja" hit you (he pops up from out of nowhere and smacks you). We tell him hitting is not nice, that it hurts, that you do not hit friends, etc etc but nothing works. We pop his booty and put him in timeout but it doesn't make a difference. He sees the 2 older boys hitting each other and he thinks that is how you play. He will repeat "Hit Kenny" over and over. Sometimes he will even replace Kenny with another classmate or our name.

Our next problem is him running and slamming into things. He picked this up from the older kids running full speed into the mat that hangs on the playroom rock climbing wall. Yeah, its fun until his head hits you in between the legs, a wall, or piece of furniture. He is just too young to know its ok to smack the matted wall and not a human!

He also kinda wrestles/fights. We hear, "Fight Kenny" as well. He even put his dukes up and started bopping himself in his chin like he was boxing! Once again, perfectly fine for an older kid who knows the difference between play and real fighting; however, Mason doesn't yet.

He spends more time in timeout from hitting that he does anything else. His next worse offense is not listening. Can't imagine where he got that from... I ask his teacher everyday how his day was and sometimes I do get good reports (when I say good I mean only a few times in timeout that day). One day I got there early and his teacher said she hoped she was gone before I got there so she didn't have to tell me how bad he was that day!

And I hear 3 is the worst... So that means its going to get worse for it gets better...

Piney Orchard Street Festival

Today we went to our neighborhood's annual street festival. It was hot and sunny so we did not stay long but we made sure we didn't leave with an empty belly. :) Mason wanted to walk but since it was so crowded we stuck to the stroller. He helped Mommy shop and Daddy pick out his next snack. We tried to put him in the bounce house but he said "All done" as soon as he went through the opening. Fortunately, the local fire department stopped by so Mason got to see his favorite truck. They even let him climb up inside and "drive". After some time we left with junk in our bellies, a few free tote bags (I love using reusable tote bags for groceries. You can get so much more groceries in those bags which helps reduce the trips from the car to the house when we get home.), a sunburn, and a bunch of treats for Auburn.

Orioles Game

Uncle Ryan was able to score 4 tickets to the O's game last week. Doug and I hadn't been since I was pregnant and it was Mason's first game. I thought it was going to get rained out but the skies cleared and we had beautiful, cool weather. Could not have asked for a better night to watch my favorite baseball team. And to top it off, we had AMAZING seats right behind 1st base. I was in heaven watching all my favorite players come in and out of the dug out. I wish we could have stayed long enough to watch them come back and win the game but Mr Kranky Pants (aka Mason) was ready to go home. I couldn't leave without a Jones t'shirt and we bought a really cool memorabilia baseball with a picture of the stadium on it. I hope we get to go again soon!

Misc pictures from May & June

Getting in trouble while waiting on Mommy's tire to get fixed

At the park looking for ducks

Mommy made breakfast!

My lunch dates!

Another trip to the airplane park

This kid loves his airplanes!

Playing at Children's Hospital in DC before his developmental appointment. We are happy to report we have a typical 2 year old! He is doing everything as to be expected. The doctors were very pleased with his progress. 

A little lunch at Chick-Fil-A after his doctors appointment

This was before he got stuck up at the top and Mommy had to crawl up into the playhouse to get him down... He made me feel my age that day!

 Acting like a frog while waiting on the doctor to look at his rash

A Day at the Zoo

Doug had Memorial Day weekend off so we decided to head back to DC and go to the zoo. Unfortunately, so did the rest of DC. They were crowded but we had a great time until the rain came and washed us back home. Poor Mason was so tired he fell asleep as we walked in the rain back to the car. He was soaked from the waist down but that didn't stop him from taking a much needed nap. When he woke up, all he wanted was elephants. He still ask to "Watch elephants" every day.

Mother's Day in DC

For Mother's Day we packed our lunch and headed down to DC to spend a day walking around our nation's capital. It was a beautiful day for a picnic by the White House! Getting there was an adventure (like always) since there was a bike race going on and half of the streets were closed. Mason loved running around and seeing all the water. The squirrels were especially happy to see us. We also stopped by the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.