Happy Birthday, Mason!

Four years old? How can it be? While its tough to remember life without her, it is so hard to believe she is four years old already. No longer a baby, no longer even a "little girl" in a sense, but she is "a kid" as she says - and definitely all girl!

Before our eyes, Mason has grown into a smart little girl with beautiful blonde curls (which make for many tangles). She is a natural caretaker and an awesome big sister. Miss Mila, her teacher, calls her their "Mother Theresa" - she is always the one tending to anyone who gets hurt or is crying at school. Very compassionate and considerate (although not always so when it comes to "her" toys that her baby sister wants to play with), but she is the girl in class who insists on continuing to play with Cameron, the trouble maker of the class, because "he plays Ariel with me, Mom!".

Her favorite days at school are library day and gymbus day. Overall though, her favorite days of the week are Saturday and Sunday - weekends have somehow become known as "family day" in our home. Not sure where or when the term came from, but every night Mason asks "Mom, what is tomorrow?" and "If tomorrow is Wednesday, Spanish Day, how many more days until its going to be family day?"

She loves books and reads to herself in bed every night. She knows the UCLA fight song "Sons of Westwood" front to back and is terribly torn at times between the Bruins and the Gauchos - unable to completely understand that she can love both, unless they play eachother...She struggles with the knowledge that it is Joe Bruin, and there is NO Joe Gaucho, despite her Daddy's endless attempts to convince her otherwise.

Her favorite color is pink, pink, pink! She is enjoying riding her bike, writing her name and is very proud of her art. She takes good care of her dog, Gunner, plays with him daily, and has finally bonded with her two cats, especially Charlie, who now looks for Mason at bedtime to rub and lick her feet (Mason's feet, that is). Again, she is an awesome big sister and just beams with pride when McKenzie comes to school to pick her up - especially when McK decides to show off a new trick or two - like crawling or walking - Mason clears a path and creates a stage, announcing to all of her friends "Hey guys, watch my sister, she can walk to me now!" and she squats down, reaches her arms out and sparkles with pride as McKenzie walks into her arms for a hug. Its pretty damn cute.

So, in short, I guess its safe to say that we like her, and she's a keeper. :) Happy Birthday, big girl, we love you!