Mason (age 9 months) has a particular fondness for soft plastic or rubber toys he can easily chew on. If he doesn’t have a toy to chew on, he’ll clamp down on your arm, your neck, or any soft flesh he can find (just ask Percy, the dog). I was having a hard time finding these types of toys for him at the store. But, when I was looking for some treats for Percy the other day, I noticed there was an entire aisle of chew toys that would appeal to Mason. So, Max and I picked up quite a few soft rubber balls the other night while shopping. And, they squeak! Mason was thrilled. Percy ended up with a new squeaky, stuffed squirrel, too, so he was happy. He likes to play fetch with stuffed animals and he ends up ripping the poor things apart before he’s done. It’s pretty funny.

Anyway, I was pondering the rubber toy find with my friend, Chay, the other day and she admitted that she, too, has purchased dog toys for her little boy! I didn’t feel so weird when I heard that.

We hit the road on Sunday to enjoy Maine Maple Syrup Sunday. On the fourth Sunday of each March, the Maine maple syrup farmers open their doors to the public. You get to see how they make the syrup and buy tons of yummy stuff at their gift shops/shacks. The drive was nice. It was in the 50’s and partly cloudy. We were pretty close to our land so we drove that way. But, there was too much mud to get close to it. We’ll have to wait another month or so to get out there and start planning what we’re going to build first.

The ice on the Penobscot River is starting to break up. It’s an annual event here – everyone trying to guess what day all the ice will wash down the river, into the ocean. That’s a sure sign that Spring is on the way. It’s time to start our seedlings and I’m going to start ordering the trees we want for the fruit and nut orchard I want to plant on the land. We’re so excited!

This week’s Maxism:

Max came in our room the other day where I was working on my laptop. He asked, “Mommy, can I have a hamster?”

I replied, “No.”

He said, “Why not?”

I took his hand and said, “Max, hamsters don’t like to live in cages. I feel sorry for them. I couldn’t stand to look at a poor hamster stuck in a cage every single day because he would be very sad…”

Max’s face brightened and he said, “But I’m not going to keep him in a cage. I’m going to keep him in a box!!”

Hugs to all!

Ang

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