Ride on Uncle Mike's boat

We went for a ride in the Harbor today. Mason thought he was a big shot driving the boat.

First legal signature

We went Sockeye fishing today on Lake Washington with Grampy and his friend Bob. Kenzie had to get a fishing license and it required her signature!

Mermaids

Kenzie and Mianna continue to be mermaid buds. Here they are swimming at the park, throwing rocks, and fishing them out (as good mermaids would do).

Bike ride

You may notice a new "helmet" theme. Mason loves to wear a helmet. First thing this morning he put it on, asked to "buckle, buckle" it and wore throughout the morning. As soon as it's on he says, "bike!!"

Words

I think Mason has made the switch from signing to talking as his preferred method of communication. Although it's still tough to understand many (most?) words, his little mouth is going all the time. When the word doesn't work and he has a known sign he'll stop and use it. Like tonight. Cindy thought that he wanted his plate taken away by saying "move." He kept saying "mo, mo"...over and over. She took his plate away. He cleared his hands and did the "more" sign (and then got about his 12th helping of meat). Even a few weeks ago he would have just done his sign, so it's interesting to watch him make the transformation into the speaking world!

Before and after

and after

Sandy mouth

Wonder how that happened...

In all fairness this picture appears to implicate Kenzie, but she was merely amazed at the weirdness of her brother.

Special prayer

At bedtime Kenzie and I always say a prayer. Last night, the preparation went like this:

Kenzie: Mom, I need to ask God for some help.
Me: Okay, what do you need help with?
Kenzie: Well, I need help in making better choices and learning not to yell. I also need to learn to flush the toilet.

Helmet gazing

Biker gang

New words

Warning: this post not for Grammy.

Mason's favorite three new words are: "bike" (said very clearly), "mo-mo" (motorcycle, always with the hand gesture of twisting the gas throttle), and "scoot-scoot" (for scooter). Hmmm...wonder why??

Slugger

It's kind-of weird to think that it's only been 2-1/2 weeks since Mason was doing his "swing batter" routine with the tee. Grammy threw him a ball yesterday and he swung and hit it. Wondering if it was a fluke, I pitched him the beach ball today. As you can see, he's got the timing down pretty well! Oh, he's also into soccer now...he kicked the soccer ball all over Grandma and Grandpa's yard today. My favorite is when he runs faster than the ball that he just kicked--he lands on top of it.

Working on the Railroad

The Seattle Center fountain

The Grandparent's Report

From Grammy...

What a great week we had with Kenzie visiting us while she attended Vacation Bible School; Three hours a day for five days at the Church. She was a star student surprising everyone with her command of the English language among other things. The first morning in front of the entire group, 70 students plus teachers and helpers, she boldly raised her hand to answer questions. The first was, "How do we know Jesus”? She clearly spoke up with “He lives in my heart”. The 2nd question was “What does he do?” or something to that effect. Her loud answer was “He helps me make good choices”. And good choices she did make all week! What a joy to have her visit. I had planned a few ideas for excursions during the afternoons, but we found the full mornings were plenty and took life pretty easy the rest of the days.

Her people skills are uncanny and she makes you do the choosing of answers to her selection. If, as an example, she responds to a suggestion with a resounding “No” and you give her a choice of taking a nap while being mad and without her beloved Chirpy or of taking a nap and being happy with Chirpy she will respond with “Which would you like me to do?” Clever, that kid!


From Grampy...

I asked a few friends over to collectively watch the All Star game the other evening. Kenzie was busying herself with her back turned to the audience when one of them remarked that her water coloring she was doing looked great. She wanted to know how we knew as her work was hidden from us by her body. That person remarked that they could see her in the mirror. Without even raising an eyebrow she replied, “There are no mirrors in this room”. Everyone just looked at each other in wonderment.

Kenzie missed her brother. She’d ask to talk on the phone and then would proceed to listen to him repeat his giggle over and over. She’d tell him to say different words and he sure is trying to talk. He’ll try all the words you ask him to say, even if they require interpretation. His favorite words are “ball” and “airplane”. Cindy can get him to say some multiple syllable words and they are funny as he tries them all.

Kenzie had to help Grammy pick sweet peas every day. We had fresh flowers everyday on the table. Roses were added to the bouquet almost daily. Mitsy, our aging cat, became a friend by demand. She started out by letting Kenzie hold her for a second or two and then would hiss. After a while Kenzie would ignore the hissing and continue to drag her around the house. Eventually Mitsy became very tolerable and just more or less shrugged to the thought but knew her results of hissing were fruitless and would continue to let Kenzie maul her. Kenzie is actually very gentle with her—Mitsy never has been fond of youth.

Kenzie parted ways by very diplomatically informing us that she would return and spend more nights with us. Her time with us was one of the best vacations we’ve had.

Sister hello

Mason's talking to Grampy, saying "bug." And then, "sister hello!"

Missing sister

Kenzie is spending this entire week with Grammy & Grampy. She's having a blast, going to Vacation Bible School every day. (Don't call it camp or she'll quickly correct you. "I'M NOT CAMPING!") We'll have to get a full report, but early indications are that she's doing great. I asked her today if she was ready to come home. She said, "no, Mom. I have three more days and then I'll come home." I said, "but I miss you!" She replied, in a rather old tone, "Mom, I miss you too, but I will be home in three days. You can come down and see me. Why don't you come down tonight? You can see me and then I'll come home in just three days."

Mason is having a bit of a harder time with her being gone. Each morning he walks into her room, throws her covers back off her bed, and looks puzzled. They talked to each other on the phone several times today. I have to say it's about the cutest thing I've ever heard. He starts saying, "hello" over and over (sounds like "heo") as soon as I get on the phone with her. When he gets the phone he laughs. Just hearing her voice makes him giggle. For as long as we'll give them, they'll exchange a conversation that goes something like this:

Kenzie: "Mason, say 'purple'"
Mason: "pu...pul"
Kenzie: "GOOD BOY! say 'yellow'"
Mason: "lel lo"
Kenzie" "GREAT! say 'airplane'"
Mason: "aw paw"

and on and on.

It's very cute until we have to take the phone away from him. Then he cries and cries.

Shiner #003

In the interest of fairness I post this picture showing the not-so-fine example I'm setting for Mr. Bruiser. He likes to point/poke and say "ow ow." (I took a foul-tipped not-so-softball to the eyebrow.)

Background reading:

Shiner #001

Shiner #002

Three girls primping

Kenzie and I pampered ourselves with a masque. She asked if we could "take a picture with Chirpie. She has on a purple mask."

By the way, Chirpie is still a girl. I thought that might have been a fad, but was told today that girls wear more purple than boys. Ergo...

Under the slide

Progress

Mason's vocabulary is really picking up. Some words are decipherable, others...not so much...but, he's at least attempting a lot more words, up to three syllables. The crowd favorite is "bug" which he pronounces as "blugablugablug." I'll try to get it on video before he outgrows it. He's really clear on "MAMA" (loudly) and "BALL." He's starting to figure out some complex letter combinations, such as "bl" in "blue." It's cute to watch him try to put the syllables together...his tongue about rolls out of his mouth.

His baseball swing has also progressed quite quickly over the last week. Look at this concentration! :)

Deception pass camping

We went camping at Deception Pass this weekend. Kenzie and Mason enjoyed playing with Cheyenne, AJ and Lane. The kids went swimming in the lake. Here Mason is demonstrating what sunscreen looks like when mixed with sand.

While Mason took the opportunity to show off his new-found batting skills, Kenzie took every opportunity to find a mermaid pal. Here she lays after convincing Cheyenne to make her a mermaid tail out of sand.

The crowd favorite was smores. We lost more marshmallows to the fire than we ate, but they were well worth the effort.

Kenzie and Lane made new friends with Sea Kelp. One was named Squirmy and the other Slimy.