Happy Birthday, now pay up!
Mason is turning 3 in less than a month! Normally Mom's of almost 3 years olds will write a blog about oh how big junior is getting and wow can’t believe how fast the time went. I’ve been there done that lol. I agree with both statements but this blog is about party planning!
Mason had his baby shower at 1 month old. We invited close family and friends and had a nice little get together. Mason was spoiled with gifts and love.
On his first birthday we had a similar party but instead of gifts and love, it was love and donations to the Food Bank. We felt he had so much already. The party was a blast!
Mason’s second birthday was a smaller affair and since his best friends were at school, we had the party AT school! I decorated their eating area with monkey decorations, Mason’s Dad and I made monkey cupcakes & banana cookies and had a great little soiree! Again, no gifts were requested but Mason still got spoiled by a few friends!
So now we are at birthday #3 and I’ve been doing some thinking and would like to throw a traditional party with food, cake and games and of course his best friends.
Well I figure the best place to start is Facebook, so I put a shout out to my local friends asking for venues and ideas.
Then off to the Internets to scope out places and pricing.
The categories you have to choose from:
Disclaimer: The prices shown below are as of Feb 24, 2012 and are subject to change. Due to editing, not all details have been included on each venue so it is recommended that you check the link and see the most current information personally. None of the vendors below have compensated me for these listings and there is no recommendation implied by listing them. Booking with these companies is at your own risk for satisfaction.
$425 for NON members. $340 Members. Admission + decorated party room + cake + drinks. No outside food.
$299 for NON members, $263 Members. Room + admission + food + loot bags + cake + activity. Max 30 people.
Community Center/YMCA (bouncy castles, gymnastics or swimming)
Ranges depending on what community you live in. For bouncy castle it was $130 - $260 including room + decorations + bouncy + coordinator for games. No food but allowed.
- Kerrisdale Play Place. Winter parties (Jan 7 – Mar 31)
Choose from craft and games $135.50 for up to 12 kids or Mini play place - $158.00 for up to 12 kids *more kids cost more
Or have public party (shared with public) for $105-$85 depending on private room for cake etc. Or rent the whole place for $285 non prime time or $315 prime time.
$80 + $16.50+HST per person (including adults). Room and admission only. You can bring your own food
Activity Centres
- Go Banana’s http://www.gobananasnorthvan.com/birthday.html
$79 for weekday or $115 for weekend. + HST.
Food is $2.50 per kid (hot dog and juice) or hot dog + chips + juice $3.25 per kid.
- Max 8 adults for the birthday rate, more if it’s a private party.
Interactive website that asks for location + amount of guests before it provides a price. I put 8 kids and 9 adults. 100 free tokens. + Balloons, 8 tokens for birthday kid, hat, 16 tokens per kid, free pop, 2 slices pizza perkid, tableware, evite. $23.99 + HST per kid.
- Vancouver Police Museum (for 4-12 yrs old).
Invitations + 90-120 private program + 60 minutes party time + admission. $20 gc to birthday kid. Bring own food. $12 non members, $10 members. Per child.
$9.25/child and $11.25 per adult. Min 10 children. · One free adult per 5 children (ages 3-8); One free adult per 10 children (ages 9-15).
- Options include train tour ($3.00/person); education program ($2.00/child); reserved outdoor Picnic Area (A=$25, B=$50, C=$75 deposit) or reserved indoor area (Animalasium Learning Centre) is available for $100 for 2-3 hours.
$325 Wild Zoo Party
- admission to the Zoo for 10 children and 2 adults (extra's will pay the "birthday party rates")
- choice of outdoor picnic area (AREA A) or a 2 hour indoor rental in our "Animalasium Learning Centre"
- activities for 10 children
- lunch for 12 people
- miniature train ride for 12 people
Zoo host for the birthday party to help you keep everyone happy along the way
A few other things I learned:
Clowns aren’t cheap – $125/hr (usually a 2 hr minimum)
- Bouncy castle’s aren’t cheap – $100/hr
- How bout renting a pony? 2 hrs @ $265
- Hosting creep crawlers? www.mikescritters.com. $145+tax for 9 animals showing for an hour
- Baking party - $355-$440 for 1.5 – 3hrs
I did mention that this party is for a THREE year old right? I don’t live in West Vancouver!
Maybe I chose the wrong profession? Hosting children’s parties brings in dough!!!
Stay tuned for the next blog to see what venue we actually chose and how Mason had the best bday ever!
Lunch Bags
When Mason started daycare, almost 2 years ago we didn’t really know what the other parents had purchased for their kids for lunches so we went with an environmentally friendly option. A Monkey cloth bag from Kradles in Courtenay BC ( with Nuby tossable reusable plastic BPA free containers. (You can find them at Walmart)
Mason has never gotten a ‘small’ lunch, his Dad and I always figured it was better to give him a ton of options and let him choose what he wanted to eat.
After a year that little lunch bag got pretty worn and it was time to upgrade to something bigger and more durable so I went back to the same store (Kradles) and bought this:
Well after another year and a few milk spillages, it was time again to upgrade. The daycare Mason is currently at requests that upon drop off the parents transfer the food items into a basket in the fridge and the bag gets hung up. When Mason was recently (and temporarily) at a different large daycare there was no fridge for the kids so his food would stay in the backpack all day (which introduced me to the wonderful world of ice packs). I didn’t like this option much. I have horrible memories of drinking warm milk by lunch time when I was in Elementary school. YUCK. And of course my favorite memory of forgetting my lunch at home in Grade 1 and my Dad brought it to the school and my milk was ice cold. Mmmmmm. Even though I don’t drink milk anymore (I’m off dairy) I still love that memory.
The other parents at daycare have random lunch bags from something an adult would take to work to the simple ‘lunch bags’ we used in the 90’s and a few actual lunch kits made of the heavy plastic.
I think I had a Strawberry Shortcake lunch box complete with thermos. My brother had a Garfield themed one.
Another lunch transport option for Mike and I were the ever popular brown paper bags (hence the term brown baggin' it) but of course the Weir's took it one step cooler. My Dad worked at the local Pulp & Paper mill and often he came home with McDonalds bags they made there that had defects on them so instead of throwing them out (remember - no recycling back then), he gave them to my Mom to send our lunches in. Well this was a 'cool factor' but also looked like we ate nothing but Mc'Donalds every day. And much to the disappointment of us kids who thought we were getting a hamburger only to find a cheese & lettuce sandwich. (I will point out that my Mom did make us amazing and healthy lunches (still does) and they were the envy of my classmates.
I'm not sure what lunchkits cost back in 1984…but in 2012 I got a rude awakening when I priced out options for Mason.
I ‘liked’ the Weelicious page on Facebook that has awesome lunch ideas for kids. Each day they post a different picture with ideas and after seeing the same ‘container’ that it was in, I went exploring on the Internets to see if I could buy one.
Oh and I found what I was looking for. Introducing Planetbox…
A cool stainless steel compartmentalized tray that fits into a sturdy case, easy for transport. Oooh, oooh I want one! I want one right now….oh, you can only buy them from the US? Oh…and they are HOW MUCH? $60.00 for a LUNCH KIT for a 3 year old…what’s that? Shipping is $25.00. ARE YOU INSANE??
Oh what’s that now? Pottery Barn carries them, right. Let me go to the bank so I can take a loan out so Mason can have a ‘cool’ lunch kit.
I even went as far as to join Planetbox’s FB page so I could bitch that a) they didn’t have Canadian distributors for such a neat product and b) the pricing was insane. They weren’t much help. I even entered a Canadian contest to win one of the damn things (I wasn’t selected as a winner).
And after Mason some Christmas money I almost caved and ordered one but no, what a waste of money. Yes it would probably last forever and is ‘worth’ the money (some consumers that owned them either praised them or said they weren’t worth the $$$). So being as frugal as I am…I went off in search of a slightly less cool replacement. Preferably Canadian made.
After extensive searching, I stumbled onto www.easylunchboxes.com and thought that their lunch bag + stacking containers combo would be a good alternative. I threw down $34.75 including shipping (came from California). It took 16 days total to arrive in Vancouver and I didn’t receive a tracking # so it was a long wait. Now that I’ve got it here, this is what it looks like:
I love the color!
Fits perfectly inside with room for ice pack and thermos
The sections looked small at first but once I started putting in Mason’s lunch items, they fit great.
The company stated that the lids aren’t a super tight fit (so little hands can remove them) and so they aren’t suitable for liquids.
Here is a vid on how they were created:
Now I just need to pick up an ice pack and get some labels so the pieces don’t get sent home with another kid and we are set!
Also dishwasher safe (a great plus IF I had a dishwasher) Bed Drama - Day 2
I had no idea what time it was. A minute ago it was 8:30pm, I started our bed time routine much earlier tonight as I’m exhausted from the shenanigans from last night (read previous blog).
My dream child did not sleep in his bed, in his new 'bed'room. At 10pm I gave up and he cheerfully ran after me on my way into my bedroom. He climbed up on the bed and snuggled up behind me as I was on the edge of ‘my side’ and exclaims, “I share the pillow with you!”. Great.
So needless to say I got a horrible sleep and woke up at 3am thinking it was morning and then once I was in a deep sleep, my alarm clock gently reminded me it was 6am and it was time to wake up. For a moment I thought of calling in sick and getting more sleep but I just have to much work to do and I have to take Mason to daycare eventually anyhow.
So back to tonight…it’s actually 9:45pm. I’m doubly exhausted and mad at myself for letting time drag on.
Once Mason had gone through the entire night time routine, again I explained why he was in his room and that he had to sleep in HIS bed. Instead of negotiating, he went into full meltdown complete with drippy tears and runny nose. He flailed on the floor and proclaimed his bed was ‘yucky’.
All I *want* to do is sleep, I’ve been dreaming of it all day. I can’t wait to sleep, in my own bed, alone…all night.
Mason wasn’t going to make this easy. So I took a deep breath, gave Mason some cuddles and put on my Mommy thinking cap. How do other parents handle this?
The transition…ahh yes. Some kids can’t handle cold turkey and you have to wean them. From what I’ve read, you are supposed to sit outside their bedroom door and wait for them to fall asleep. Then each night move further and further away from the door until you reach your room and apparently by the time it takes to get to the parental room…the kids have adjusted.
Well Mason is still a bit young to understand the whole ‘Mommy is just going to hang outside your door’ deal so I opted for a different set up. I dragged my very heavy futon mattress into his room and made a bed for me beside his bed to make one giant bed. I figure he can sleep in his bed and I can sleep beside him…on the floor. And once I know he’s passed out…I will go back into my bed.
My bedtime isn't until 10:30 an I really wanted to read for a bit but the only way I can do that is by sitting in the bathroom and reading! Not exactly what I had in mind.
So tonight, to ensure Mason goes to sleep as soon as possible, I will sleep on gigantabed and pray that he is off to dreamyland asap or tomorrow is going to be another rough day!
New 'bed'room
I recently wrote a post and accidentally published it on my other blog (the one that isn't about Mason). So to catch you up, please read this first.
So now that I have Mason back with me, I showed him his new room (playroom to bedroom) and I showed him Mommy’s room which is devoid of any child related items (such as bed, stuffies and blankets) – with the exception of pictures around the room.
He seemed okay with the change and I was looking forward to the evening to see how he’d adjust to his new sleeping arrangement.
8:00pm – Start night time routine (pee on the potty, brush teeth, 2 stories and 1 song).
Somehow this took an hour.
9:00pm – I tuck him in; tell him I’m in the next room, nightlight on, door open just a crack.
9:05pm – I get the brilliant idea of playing lullaby’s on YouTube (Favorites are NIN & Lady Gaga)
9:10pm - He is convinced he's going to 'fall' out of bed (a whole 6 inches). I only have one bed rail, so I put it on the side it used to be on. He now is convinced he's going to fall out of the other side. I push the whole bed against the wall. Problem solved. "I don't want my bed on the wall!". Tough!
9:15pm - I go into his room to tell him to stop banging around which I’m pretty sure is his feet as he runs them along the wall.
9:30pm – It is quiet(er) and so I go into peek and he’s sitting on the edge of the bed. Over the next 5 minutes he proceeds to tell me:
- I not sleepy
- There are monsters in the room
- I can’t see
- The moon isn’t out
- I don’t want my blankets
- I want my friends on the bed
- I have an owie on my leg
- I need a band-aid…and cream
At this point I start howling and need to blog this before I forget.
He then barrels into the living room (where I am sitting) and says:
“I have boogers in my nose”
And gleefully replies OKAY! when I tell him he can go into the bathroom and wipe his nose.
Yes, I know he’s stalling.
I hear the toilet lid flop down as he throws the tp into the toilet.
He runs back into his room.
I think he’s now settling down.
He proceeds to come back out with his ceramic nightlight cover in his hand. The room is now lit with a bare lightbult.
"I made it bright!". I take the cover from him, replace it and tell him not to touch it.
<<SIGH>>
“I don’t want to lay down”
I leave in silence.
Bang…bang…bang.
9:52pm - he's starting to settle down. I creep towards the door and peek in. He doesn't see me. He has turned himself around so now his head is at the foot of the bed. He's starting intently at the night light. His eyes flutter. He is completely silent.
I wonder if I should shut off the music. I kinda like it, it’s keeping me sane. I have a mountain of dishes to do before bed. I should have gotten some more work done.
45 mins to my own bedtime and I’m going to assume he’ll still be awake. He’s trying to wear me down…keeping himself awake until I go to bed and then he’ll look at me with that beautiful little face and say something heart melting like “Mommy I cuddle you now?”
And who really, could say no to that?
Playing Santa
Almost midnight and while I'm not in the most reflective mood; I thought I should write about Mason's first real Christmas with me.
Last year was a hard Christmas for me as it was the first major holiday that the three of us didn't spend together. Mason was scheduled to spend the time with his Dad in Alberta from the 20th to the 26th. It was a tough because of not having my little boy with me, as well losing my paternal Grandmother Audrey and being laid off from my job all the week before Christmas. Brutal.
So now that is all behind me and I now have a fab new job and a ton of paid time off before the new year, it was my turn to spend Xmas with Masey and I was thrilled to bring him 'home' for the holidays. Home is in Campbell River where my Parents, maternal Grandparents and Aunt/Uncle live [all within a few blocks, believe it or not] as well as a ton of friends.
I booked the ferries way in advance as I didn't want to deal with sailing waits in the chilly weather which surprisingly was quite rainy and not snowy (which makes for better road conditions..kinda). I had Friday the 23rd off work so I spent the day completing last minute errands and getting my house spotless so when we return it's not so stressful.
I picked Mason up from his Dad's mid morning with a full car and a happy Mommy. Mason's Daddy treated us to a packed lunch and after Mason said his goodbye's, off we went.
During the car ride, Mason seemed in a good mood yet not quite himself. Made two of us. I have been a bit emotional too partially because of hormones and the other because the last Christmas was so hard and the year before he was so little that it wasn't a true Christmas experience. I thought many times of what holiday traditions I wanted to introduce Mason to and what I had experienced as a child that really made an impression on me.
Going back down memory lane:
- The race down the stairs with my Brother Mike to grab our stockings, dump the contents, check out what we go, stuff the contents back in and then run upstairs to my parents bedroom to ask if it was 'okay' if we opened our stockings
- Being allowed to open one present Christmas Eve and then another before my parents officially got up and ready to come down to open presents
- The excitement of gathering the presents that had each of our names on it and putting them in a large pile to see who had more
- Eating icy squares from our stocking to get the sugary tummy ache before breakfast
- Getting my first cell phone for Christmas
- Getting my first Ipod
- Family visits at Mama & Papa's and Grandma & Grandpa's
- Gourmet breakfast made by my Mom (made every year but mostly remember it now that I'm older)
- As a teen running to Mike's room to wake him up and him replying 'screw off, I'm tired' Merry Christmas to you TOO!
Funny story tonight - so we went to Mama & Papa's to say hello and Mama had the house decorated with lights and knick-nacks and I notice this Santa HEAD hanging from a string in front of a window.
This is the conversation:
- J - "Mama, I don't like that Santa head in the window"
- M - "Why?"
- J - "Cause it's creeeepy. Like, where is the rest of its body???"
- M - "Well I'm not taking it down"
- J - "It's ugly, like a shrunken head". Then in a ghoulish voice I say "I'm sannnntaaaaaaaaa"
- M - "I can take it down"
- J - "No, it's your house but it's creepy"
LOL
So back to Mason. What kind of things did I want to teach him, expose him to and create beautiful memories with?
The first thing I did was create a Magic Santa video which is extremely impressive and Mason absolutely loved it! He really thought Santa was talking to him as he kept replying and didn't catch on even though he watched it 4x!
Then I spent some time thinking about what I wanted to get him for Christmas. When his Dad and I discussed birthday presents and gifts in general, we both agreed that we wanted Mason to understand the giving, rather than the receiving and even went as far as to decline gifts on his first birthday and instead request donations to the food bank, which we proudly took to the Vancouver Food Bank the following day. On Mason's second birthday, we also avoided hoards of gifts by having his party at daycare where we shared cupcakes. And now that his 3rd birthday is coming up in February, we need to figure out what the plan is for that one and what format we will do it in.
Don't think that Mason doesn't ever get toys and books etc, he has plenty. Both sets of Grandparents spoil him rotten and I often pick up toys at Value Village and Craigslist when I find items I think he will enjoy/learn from. I also am a big advocate of using the Burnaby Library to bring home enough books for the week. Free is good!
For Christmas this year, I really didn't feel good about putting the emphasis on the gifts and Santa dropping presents off. So, what did I get him?? My gifts to Mason will be revealed on the next blog on Mason's experience of Christmas Morning.
But more on the whole idea. When we are in the car, I explained that it was Christmas time and we were heading to GrammyPapa's to spend time with our family. He does recognize the name Santa but I wondered if he really knew what it entailed. I asked him, he didn't answer.
So as I'm explaining...."Santa brings toys to all the good boys and girls of the world. He has a sleigh..that um flies through the air like an airplane and he has reindeers and he lands on the roofs of the houses and goes down the chimney and puts the presents under the tree. We also are going to leave out snacks for Santa and his reindeers so he'll take a minute to eat too".
"Oh why Mom, why?".
"Why what? why does he do that?"....Cause he's really generous? Cause he wants to reward good behavior. GOOD question.
The whole Santa thing made a lot of sense when families lived off so little and Christmas was a time for family and receiving that much sought after toy. Now...in almost 2012, it should be less about the gifts and more about the giving.
So that thought sat with me all day.
We arrived safely in Campbell River and spent some time hanging out, then off to the Grandparents and back home. Next tradition, the Santa snacks. I brought Mason into the kitchen, grabbed a plate, two cookies, glass of milk and 2 baby carrots. We put them on the fireplace hearth. I was glad that Mason is too young to realize we have a gas fireplace and wanted to know how Santa got into the living room without catching on fire or breaking in. (whew!)
Soon it was bath time, a quick call to Daddy, then we tried to calm him down but bedtime stretched out. After almost an hour, he was snuggled up to me, his head tucked under my chin and the scent of freshly shampoo'd hair tickled my nose. It was time to head downstairs and take the presents out of hiding (I told my Mom I didn't want any visible to keep up with the Santa theme). Then I brought them into the living room to place them under around the 'tree'. Sadly my parents have gone from a real tree 70-90's, then upgraded to the fake artificial plastic thing 2000 - 2010 and now they traded that in for the miniature optical tree that most elderly people have. I was a bit disappointed, I really do miss the scent of pine in the living room early morning when the house is still nippy.
A cookie was returned to the tin, the other in my tummy. Carrots back in the fridge save for the ends which I left on the plate with some crumbs for effect and dumped the milk back into the carton (Santa is lactose intolerant).
So now it's 1/2 hr past 12 and FB is all aglow with Merry Christmas's and I'm about to finish this blog. I really hope that Mason has a wonderful Christmas and cherishes the time spent with family. In time, my biggest wish is that the focus is not on the toys and what he receives and more of the spirit. I won't have him next year as he'll be with his Dad but I'd like to sponsor a family through Salvation Army and if money permits, purchase an item for this cause. And as Mason gets older, really involve him in the process so he can see how others are not as fortunate and just how lucky he is to be surrounded by loving parents and family and all that he does have.
Wishing all my blog readers a Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!
~Jodelene
The Polar Express
On Friday night I had told Mason that we were taking him somewhere special on the weekend. His Grandmother Ginny had bought us tickets to see The Polar Express in Squamish.
Mason is a big fan of Chuggington & Thomas the Train and we thought taking him on a real train would be a great experience!
We decided on the 2pm show (there are a few other departures) and left Vancouver at 11:30am as we had a bit of a drive! A quick stop at White Spot for lunch and we arrived at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park just 30 mins before our departure (they said to be there 45 mins in advance).
Some of the families were dressed up in jammies (just like the movie) but we opted for winter clothes as it sure was chilly out!
A quick wait in a line up and we were given a lanyard with our ticket to enter the train.
A conductor allowed us into a middle car and we went near the end to find our seats which were seats of four grouped together.
The train seemed older but it was in very good shape. Mason squirmed from seat to seat while we waited for the train to prepare for its ride.
The Conductor came down the aisle asking 'Tickets Please" just like in the movie!
The “Polar Express” Soundtrack could be heard from the speakers and soon after 2 we started to move. The tracks lead through a residential/commercial area of Squamish and only one side of the train really had anything appealing (a snow covered field or lake). I was a bit disappointed to discover we didn’t actually go anywhere. The train went back and forth many times in the one hour so we never had the ‘scenic’ view on our side of the window as the train didn’t turn around anywhere.
Yummy chocolate chip cookies were handed out followed by delicious hot chocolate for everyone. A song book was offered and Christmas caroling began and most everyone joined in (which was really nice). At this point we figured Mason would fall asleep as he was nestled in my lap! No such luck. After quite a few songs, we were back at the ‘station’.
We hopped out to the front of the train where pictures were taking place:
And then inside the building for the rest of the festivities. There was part of a HUGE train, the biggest I've ever seen, I couldn't even get it all on the picture!
There was a gift shop containing souvenirs of the Polar Express ride, craft tables for children to design paper plates, a food cart with snack, take your own pics with Santa and Mrs. Claus (the line up was long and slow moving so we bailed). And the big attraction, a mini indoor train ride which Mason and Ginny went on:
After about 2 hours, it was time to say good bye to the trains and head home! Just before we left, the door man asked if we had received our Christmas Bell (we hadn't) and went over the to gift shop and grabbed one for us (Retail Value $2.00!).
A great day of family fun!
Graduation day
Back in February 2010 my maternity leave was coming to an end and we had the arduous task of finding Mason a full time daycare.
Rhema was the only daycare we viewed and upon meeting Miss Ivy, we instantly knew that Mason would be in very good hands. It was a small day-home of up to 8 kids (12 - 36 months) and two care givers.
From a little guy who could barely walk and talk to the ‘big boy’ of almost 3, time sure has flown.
Today marked Mason's last day at Rhema as he was moving into a ‘Big Boy’ school at another facility. I tried my best to explain that he was going somewhere new permanently without making him too upset. It was a sad day as Mason said goodbye to his teachers & friends he had seen almost every day for the past 2 years. Hopefully some of the children will also attend Mason’s new school as it is a few blocks away.
This picture was taken during Mason’s first week of school:
And in his last week:
My, how they grow!
When I arrived at the school today, all the kids were present. They ran around happily while we presented Miss Ivy's with flowers and a gift as a thank you for all that she's done for Mason. The level of care and love she's given Mason will never be forgotten. Not to mention the knowledge and teaching she's passed along. We know our Son is smarter because of her!
The kids presented Mason with a ‘going away card!’
We too had a card and presents for Miss Ivy:
And then they sang a few songs for Mason
Took a group photo:
and then took turns giving him high five’s, hugs and kisses and finally it was time to go.
Rhema Childcare was a huge part of the first few years of Mason's life and I hope he treasures the memories he had while he was there.
Forever Love
As I was getting Mason ready for bed, I peered over at the multi picture frame I made for him a while ago. It contains pictures of him from newborn to about one and a half years. I studied the picture his Dad took of him, minutes after his birth.
I say to him, “Masey, how did you get so big?.”
3 years old almost…seems like just yesterday I was pushing him into the world and saw his little face for the first time.
He says back to me, “I was tiny baby big boy now”.
"Yes, yes you are a big boy now."
Lately I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. Moreso now that Mason has grown from a toddler to a little man. The time really does fly. I took him to see Yo Gabba Gabba at the Queen E theatre. I was hesitant because he is so busy and I thought that he may not want to sit for 2 hours to see the show. I was wrong.
Not only was he perfectly behaved but he seemed to enjoy the performance. I was so glad I took him. Then another leap of faith, I took him out for dinner. I prayed that he’d sit still and eat his dinner. And he did. Not only did he eat his dinner, but we had a conversation! Even with the fragments of language and mention of happy monsters and firetrucks, I was happy to have a dinner partner (and especially one so handsome!).
Thinking about our day together has really made me realize what an amazing little boy I have and how blessed I was to become a Mom.
In conversation a few months ago, someone said to me, “...When Mason chose you as his parents”. This really resonated with me. I do believe it, 100%. Somewhere in creation of life, he chose his two perfect parents. Two parents that would balance each other out and bring complete and unreserved love for this little boy. There are no two other people that will ever love Mason as much as his Dad and I do.
♥ I love you Mason, with all my heart ♥
Yo Gabba Gabba
I have been wanting to take Mason to a live concert of one of his favorite shows but it seemed I either missed the date or I'd be $150 poorer. I love my child but I'm not willing to spend $80 per ticket for costumed people to run around and sing! He's not yet 3 and I was also not sure he'd be willing to sit in a seat for over an hour.
When I got the Groupon in my inbox for Yo Gabba Gabba at a reduced price, I didn't hesitate to buy the tickets!
51% off! So that worked out to $24.00 each (Regular $49.25 per ticket). So myself along with 190 other smart parents scooped up two tickets for the 5pm show (there was also a 2pm show).
After spending Remembrance Day celebrations with Mason's Dad's family in the morning to early afternoon, Mason and I headed back to my place to catch a nap. Unfortunately he didn't go down straight away and left us little time to sleep. This was a big deal because the last thing I wanted was a cranky tired child at a public place with 1000's of other little Yo Gabba's running around!
The show started at 5pm so we had to leave at 4pm earliest to drive downtown and get parking and walk to Queen E.
So I wake up, have a shower and let Mason sleep as long as possible. I get him up and hydrated and proceed to dress him in cute clothes (he resists) then I run around grabbing our outing bag containing the usual [Diapers, wipes, toys, water, snacks, and camera]
I grabbed a container out of my cupboard that held cheerios. Assuming it was air tight cause those cheerios have been in there a while....POOF. A green mushroom cloud appears as soon as I take off the lid. Yuck. Moldy cheerios. I then head to the computer to print off my tickets (I don't trust my recently toilet dunked phone which amazingly came back to life a day later). Groupon.com is bogged down and I can't print. Lovely. So I write the ticket #'s down on a piece of paper. I pray that they accept this or I'd be having a tantrum at the ticket booth!
Finally get us out to the car and it's 4:15pm. I wonder why, as a Mother of an almost 3 year old, I can't be organized enough to get us out the door early??
The drive downtown was quick and I had difficulty finding a parking lot, I didn't want to pay for street parking as I had no idea how long the show would last. Finally I decided to park across the street from the theatre. I head to the meter only to discover it's not working (well at least not for me) so I buy parking by phone. 2hrs for $8.50.
Carry Mason across the street to see all the other parents shuffling toddlers and pushing baby strollers in the same direction. We walk past a man with a cat on his shoulder (Precious is the cats name) and spy a costumed gingerbread man advertising a Christmas fair.
We have no line-up (great!) and the lady accepts my chicken scrawl and ID and gives us two tickets.
Finally we get inside. I haven't been to the Queen E in over hmmm 5 years? I saw Phantom there with a friend. I know they've been doing a lot of reno's...it looks quite nice.
We are told to head up to the Mezzanine and locate the stairs around the corner. I stop to take in the chaos that is this place:
We find our seats and settle in. We are up higher in a little section on the right above the main entrance. Mason ha a clear view of the stage but putting my heavy jacket over my daybag gives him a boost to see more.
And about 5:15 the show starts! DJ Lance introduces all his friends and they start to dance and sing!
The first thing I noticed was that it was loud, like concert loud and I was surprised of the high level considering that the audience was under 5 (aside from the parents). There was a 3 month old baby sitting directly in front of me that didn't seem phased by the noise (I was totally expecting over stimulation from the lights and sounds but she remained calm). I noticed her Dad? had toilet paper in his ears to block the noise.
The show lasted 2 hrs with a 10-15 min intermission. I was glad for the toy Mason brought and for YouTube on my phone which kept him occupied and in his seat.
Instead of attaching the 15+ 10 second videos I took, I glued them all together to offer you a 3 minute montage of the footage I took of the show.
!
I never really paid attention to Yo Gabba Gabba on tv so I wasn't sure what it was all about. The tunes were catchy and there was a lot of rhyming. At different stages of the show there was explosions of glitter and other projectiles from the ceiling! The show was almost entertaining to the adults as well. I thought 'this is the oddest concert I've ever been to lol'.
My high points of the show:
- 00:52 Rap Guy
- 1:06 - We be buggin'
- 1':19 - The turntables come out!
- 1:41 - Don't stop Till You Get Enough
- 2:10 - It Takes Two (Rob Base & DJ E-Z rock)
- 2:39 - Falling 'leaves'
- 2:51 - Falling 'snow'
As we were heading into the elevator, Mason's water bottle 'cork' dislodged and soon I was leaking water onto the floor. All the contents of my bag were soaked. Lovely.
Then we headed out to Boston Pizza as Mason requested pizza for dinner and I had my discount card for a free meal (cheap date!). As soon as we got seated I realized that the card was in my other purse, in the car. Had a nice meal and then Mason spontaneously started crying loud. This is very unusual for him as he's not a crier. He was full blown bawling. So I went over to comfort him and asked him frantically what was wrong? Did you hurt yourself???? As I pulled him into a hug, I determined the issue. He peed and his pull up leaked. This was the 3rd time this happened with his pull ups which are usually great. His diaper wasn't overflowing so I'm wondering why the sprung leak. His bottom of his jeans were wet. So off to the washroom we went to clean up as best we could. Then I had to run out to the car to get the card, left Mason with the waitresses. He ran around, fell...crying ensued (I'm sure the restaurant patrons are loving us by now). When I returned inside Mason was holding a gummy worm. The waitress offered him a treat and said he had to wait pending my approval. I had to explain he couldn't have it as it contained gelatin. Mason didn't seem mad when I ate his worm, he had a cookie instead. I took myself, wet purse, wet bum child back to the car and headed home.
What a full day!
Bats & Octopi
It's 10pm and Mason isn't asleep yet.
Which is surprising since he was telling me 3 hours ago that he was tired and wanted to sleep. At that time we were in the middle of visiting with his Grandparents (my Inlaws) and we were not at home.
So now that we were at home, we started the bedtime routine at 8:45. Drink of milk, off to the bathroom to brush teeth. Prior to that I had asked him if he had to pee. It's a dumb question because his answer is always, "No. Later". But tonight he surprised me. As we were in the bathroom and I was prepping his toothbrush, unbeknownst to me he had already pulled his jammie bottoms down, his pull ups and had plopped his little bum onto the potty. I didn't have much time to register what he was doing and was too late. Since he was sitting on the seat improperly (and did not have his winky aligned with the splash cup), the pee was running over the cushy seat and down onto the floor.
I didn't care. He peed by himself! High five!
After cleaning that up, teeth brushed, hands washed, story read and cuddles...it was time for HIM to sleep. Me, on the other hand was wanting some downtime to read the new book I picked up at the library, "Following Ezra". I left him in his night light lit room so I could have a rest on the couch but was quickly pulled from my reading as I could hear him thumping around in the room.
He was in bed, but clearly not sleeping.
So under the covers I went, fitting my 5'6" body onto the little boy bed mattress. He was quite chatty and I sang him a few songs. He said, "Mama, I love you soo much" and took both his hands and cupped my face. It was enough to make my heart melt. He was really kissy. I stopped talking so he would get the hint and stop too. But it didn't happen.
"Mommy, there are bats in the closet"
"No Mason, bats live in caves"
"Oh, clothes are in the closet?."
"Yes, and bats live in caves. And hang upside down and eat apples".
I don't know where I got the apples from...maybe I was thinking of fruit bats.
He happily babbled to himself for a while and then said,
"Mommy, there is an octopus up there". He points to the ceiling. I asked what his Octopus name was but I don't think it had one.
He talked to this octopus for a while and then repeated to me about bats living in caves. His memory is amazing for such a young age.
I once again, stopped talking. He thought then was a good time to balance his 'Happy' Monster Harold on my head. It fell off a few times. Honestly, I'm tired. I probably would have fallen asleep then and there because I was warm and he was cuddled up against me. But I had make up on, hadn't brushed my teeth or put my night time drops in my eyes. And because his mattress is not even close to being as comfy as mine is.
I laid beside him, with my eyes closed. Listening to him babble, talk about bats, give me random kisses and talk to his stuffies in a quiet voice. I know that these days are short and I am told that he won't want his 'Mommy' around as much. So even though it's approaching 10pm, I let him have his night time fun and hope soon, he will fall into a slumber. I thought a good close to this post would be to go into his room to find a sleeping Mason but no, I go up to his door to hear a whispering babbling Mason (It's 10:20pm). Oh well, at least we will have a good sleep in!
