The Bond

First of all, I just have to say how much we love these two kiddos!  Dakota is such a sweet girl.  She absolutely loves her Daddy and her brother.  Of course she loves me too, but I can tell she is drawn to these two.  Here's the thing, when I am holding Kota, and I put her down, she is fine and walks away to play.  When Daddy is holding Kota Bear, if he puts her down, she is in tears, dropping to the floor and throwing her head sadly to the ground.  It's very cute (and sad).

Mason is just the funniest thing I've ever seen.  Somehow he is able to make up wild stories, songs, actions and jokes.  He always makes me laugh.  He is also super good at puzzles and he absolutely loves them.  He's really learning to interact with other children too, and I love listening to his conversation with other kids.  One of his best buddies is Gracie, his cousin.  He often says things to her like, "Oh that's beautiful Grace!" because he has noticed how much she cares about her clothes and accessories.  And this boy is super mobile!!  I'm pretty sure he still has never sat down and watched a whole movie.  He just likes to move and bounce and run and play!

Mason can be pretty rough with Dakota, but most of the time he is trying to hug and kiss her.  For example, a hug from him can be like an anaconda squeeze to her head.  Sometimes Dakota will whine about it, but rarely will she cry about it anymore.  And usually she just wraps her arms around Mason and squeezes him right back.  I absolutely LOVE seeing the bond between these two.

When we go for walks Mace and Kota will have the best time.  They laugh at each other and play with each other - it's fabulous!  The other day I heard the giggling and when I looked back at the wagon, Mace pursed his lips towards Dakota and she would just laugh and pat his cheeks leaning in to the kiss before Mace would back off before she got close.  Then I heard Mace laughing, and when I looked back Dakota was playing with Mason's shoes and sticking her fingers in the holes of his Crocs.  Apparently that tickled Mason and he couldn't stop laughing.  That walk was the BEST part of my day yesterday.  To see such happiness in my children and just watch them enjoy each other.  I guess it's so exciting to me because Dakota is finally getting old enough to interact somewhat with Mason.  Whereas before, any interactions had to be monitored because Mason would take advantage of the fact that Dakota couldn't move around, chase him, or grab a toy back from him.

But let me tell you, this girl fights back now.  Twice so far, Dakota has bitten Mason in the belly because he was smothering her (anaconda squeeze).  Of course we try to teach Dakota not to do that, but it's a good teaching point for Mason too that if he is gentle, she won't bite.

Overall, as irritable as I can get with certain aspects of my day, it is so all worth it when I see these wonderful smiles!

I love letting Mason go out in the rain and play.  Sure he gets all wet,

but I throw the clothes in the washer, throw him in the bath, and that way we don't spend all day inside!

Mason loves carrying around his new lunch pail from Nana.

Dakota saw it and got the idea to put it on her head!  Such a goofy, sweet girl!

This is what I saw as I came out of my bedroom a couple weeks ago.

Ahhh... these are the moments I live for!  Mason was pushing Dakota around and she was absolutely loving it!!

Lovin' the Daddy time...

 Okay so here's the story behind this group of pictures:

I made a small pasta salad with rotini noodles, olives, pepperoni and cut-up cheese.  I had a few bites and then wanted to stick it in the fridge until I wanted some more.  Well I almost reached for a lid and then figured I would be back to eat it in no time!  So as I opened the fridge to put it inside, somehow the bowl ended up dropping to the floor and spilling everywhere!  Although this would certainly not always be my reaction, I just shrugged my shoulders and called for the kids to come eat their dinner!  Sure enough, they both liked everything I had put in the pasta and they were having a ball eating it off the floor!  Thank goodness for clean floors!  :o)

(And yes, Mason is naked in the first picture.  And yes again, I did make him put his underwear on before continuing to eat off the floor! :o)