/>Mason eating breakfast

My youngest, my baby turns 3 years old on May 10th. his birth date was July 12th, 2005. he was born 9 weeks too soon weighing in at 2 pounds, 4 ounces. i can barely remember what it was like that day he was born. i was so drugged up with morphine, and the pain was so great that all i cared for was hearing his little cry. once i heard that, i passed out.

three years later no one brings up the fact that mason was a preemie. he is so little as he is, he won’t be a tall person. i stand only 5 feet tall and ian, his dad is only about 5′8 or 5′9 at best. still, mason’s personality is big. he is outspoken, a troublemaker, an instigator, sensitive but bullying…and he is constantly growing into his own persona.

yesterday i picked him up from the sitter’s after work. he was as usual, munching on a cookie; he himself calls himself a cookie monster. he was happily munching away, little crumbs escaping from his perfectly small lips, smiling and saying, ‘cookie’. i put his shoes on, then his jacket and he hugged me intently. he was as always, genuinely happy to see me.

this is always a good thing after working a long nearly 10 hour day. mason brightens the rest of my day. so we are driving home and it takes about 20 minutes with all the traffic. a new song by mariah carey comes on titled “touch my body”. catchy little tune. mason hears the chorus a few times and i smile as i see him in the rear view mirror swaying back and forth, slowly closing his eyes and trying to sing, “touch my body…”

kids definitely know how to entertain.

it was a perfect evening with him. he didn’t complain about dinner, he didn’t whine. he didn’t throw any tantrums. after dinner he danced to sir mix a lot’s “square dance rap” (a favorite of my older children) and i got a few good laughs from that. i also got plenty of affection, kisses, squeezes on my legs, high fives. you name it, he said yes to everything.

9:00 p.m. rolled around and i told him i was tired. he said he wanted his ‘baba’ so we went downstairs and i gave him some milk to drink. he told me he wanted to bring it to bed and i simply stated, “mason, you’re not a baby anymore. we’re not going to bring it to bed. so go ahead and drink as much as you can and i’m going to put you to bed”. he just responded with an “okay mama”.

and there was the perfect evening. i tucked him in as he asked for two specific ‘babies’ (stuffed animals) to be placed beside him on his pillow. he kissed me goodnight. he didn’t get out of his bed once. before i closed his door, he said ” good night mama, i love you”.

my baby is turning 3 soon but he will always be my baby.

my mason.