Dear Mason,
Where do I even begin? I have been thinking about writing this post for what seems like forever but alas, I still cannot come up with the appropriate words. What can I possibly say about you that I haven't said before? You should know everything by now. You should know how much I love you, my lingering guilt over the first couple months of your life, how you are the love of my life, my sunshine, my rain, my heart. 
Your personality is still the same. You are a ball of fire and a breath of fresh air all at the same time. You melt not only my heart, but everyone else's around you. You are wonderful, beautiful and every other adjective that could possibly describe LOVE and BEAUTY. I read over all of the Dear Mason posts. Every single one of them. It is amazing to see the transformation in you and in myself. You changed who I am and I will never be that same. You made me a mother.
Even when you push me away and bite and scratch and pull my hair in frustration, I am still bursting with love. Even when I call you a "little shit" or yell "no no no no no NO!" for a straight hour my insides are melting with love.You are the only thing in my life that is absolutely perfect in every way. And this is what I want to tell you: Your life will not be perfect. Your relationships, dreams, marriage, house, car, bank account, family, etc etc...they will never be exactly like you imagined them. Do not let this take you under. Do not even for one second dwell on any of it. Please be happy. Be the best person you can be. Be yourself and speak your mind. Put 110% into everything you do, even if it is someone else's 10%. That's all I will ever ask of you. I just want you to be you because that is the most important thing you can be. I will always be your mother and you will always be my Mason. No matter what.
This is officially the last post here. Head on over to my new blog for a good time.
What is the moral of the story here kids? The moral is that fate is real. Happiness is real. Love is real and it cannot be stopped. Not even by pumping your body full of hormones for 10 years.
Kendall: Hold up. You're going to tell my mom about this?
Which is why I haven't written a worth-while post in a while.
I do have a lot to catch you up on, a poll to do, some "loose ends" to tie up, if you will.
But I don't feel like it tonight.
Because we swam all day. Neener-neener boo boo.
Mason, do you know that in the last week you have visited 3 new states, rode a Metro, rode down an escalator, went on your first amusement park ride, stayed in not one but THREE hotels, visited your nations capital and made countless otherwise-grumpy people smile? Well, believe it. I will admit, taking a 10 month old baby on a road trip in theory sounds like the working of a crazy person, but you were WONDERFUL. You only had one meltdown, and who wouldn't after being through what I put you through last week?
You swam your little heart out. I am going to predict that you are the next Michael Phelps. I have never seen such a little man want to swim so badly. You scream (happy screams) every time we get in the water and you kick your legs until you fall asleep - which you did on the last night of our trip, in the pool. Hilarious. You are into EVERYTHING these days. In fact, I have to make a trip to the big baby store to buy more locks for the cabinets since you think it is funny to mess with mommy's wine paraphernalia - hint: NEVER mess with mommy's wine paraphernalia.
One of the people that work at the HOF told us to set Mason on the hologram of a Superbowl ring and watch him try to grab it. It was pretty hysterical.
They sounded the air horn and the 450-some racers began running - including myself. The first mile was fine. Paul and I ran together and I was feeling really great. What I wasn't noticing was the fact that we were running downhill. A lot. There was a guy blaring Queen on a boom box and cute little kids at all of the drink stations. If you have ever tried to drink anything while running you know it is near impossible - so I took a little sip then dumped it on myself. Much better. I was told that I had ran my first mile in 9 minutes - my best EVER. Soon after that I realized it may have been a little too fast. I was cramping and had to walk for a bit, telling Paul to keep going.
I mean seriously, get up and DO SOMETHING. You have the life. You don't have to hunt, you get to play all day and you can pick if you want to be outside or inside. What is the effing problem? 
Example 2:
Example 3:
When I realized that I only had 3 minutes to make the 10 minute drive to swimming yesterday, I didn't panic like I once would. I smiled. I looked back at your reflection in your extra-large mirror (another on the must-have list) and I smiled. I was late for a swimming class. Not a client meeting. I have a son, and since I was too busy playing with him to notice the time, I was running late...to his swimming class. The anxiety I once felt is gone. Whether it is mommy's crazy pills, the expensive therapy sessions, or just plain LOVE, the bad stuff has disappeared - all because of a little, fat, happy baby named Mason.
You are a rolling machine. ROLLING. Something that once caused me a sleepless night (OMG, my son is BEHIND, there is something wrong, why is he not rolling, he has autism!!!) came and went in a blink of an eye. You roll like crazy. You are normal. There is nothing wrong with you that you didn't inherit from your parents - and that is that you do things on your own time, not when some stupid author/doctor/random lady at the grocery store tells you you should. You are a little fish. You giggle at nothing and everything. You talk to the microwave. You roll. You warm hearts. You light up rooms. You are irresistible. You are mine.
You have no idea how incredibly lucky you are. Do you know how many built-in friends you have already? You have 2 cousins that are within 7 months of your age either way, a new friend that was born yesterday, another 3 on the way, and don't forget the 4 other cousins you have that are older, wiser, and probably the ones who will at one point in your life invite you to little sibs weekend at their colleges, or buy you beer when you aren't quite 21. You also have an extended group of baby-friends that are the children of mommy's internet friends. And DOGS! DOGS! are your friends. You love DOGS!
Every month gets better and better with you. I go to bed at night thinking, "how can I possibly love him any more?" but somehow, you make me. My heart just bursts every time you smile at me.
