Spying

I love watching Marshall on the video monitor while he is in his crib (we refer to this as Marshall TV). He chats to himself, sings, and runs around. I am lucky that he is so happy and mellow (usually) at nap/bed time and when he wakes up. Right now, he is in there saying, "peek-a-boo toes" while trying to pull his socks off.

An Actual Conversation

Marshall: whooo, whooo, whooo!
Me: Do you hear a siren?
Him: fireeeee truck!
Me: yes, it is a fire truck.
Him: RED!
Me: yes, fire trucks are red.
Him: fire, hot.
Me: yes, fires are hot.
Him: pasta, hot.
Me: yes, pasta is hot.
Him: oatmeal, hot.

And so on...

Marshall Logic

Some recent little boy stories:

1. When we're out and about, Marshall will often ask, "daddy home?" as we approach our house. My response is typically, "Daddy is at work now." On our daily walks, we pass a house with two big dogs who come out to bark enthusiastically at us. One day, the dogs did not come out. I said, "I guess the doggies aren't home today. " Marshall replied knowingly, "doggies work."
2. During bath time one night, Chris was eating a snack of cheese and crackers and sharing the cheese with Marshall. Chris wasn't home yet at bath time the next night but while in the tub, Marshall heard Chris come through the back door. I asked, "what are you going to say to daddy when he comes in?" I expected the normal response of, "hi daddy, daddy, daddy" ("daddy" is almost always said in triplicate these days). Instead, Marshall yelled, "more cheese please!"
3. I try hard to use "please," "thank you," "no thank you," and, "you're welcome" as much as I can throughout the day in the hopes that someday the polite phrases will sink in and Marshall will use them. We had a breakthrough this week when I offered him milk and he said, "no thank you ." Yesterday we were out running errands and Marshall thought we were going to a friend's house. When he saw we were at Target, he started to cry and said, "no thank you mama!"

Farewell Fall

I cannot believe it is December already! Where has this year gone? It seems like just yesterday that we were ringing in the new year and proclaiming, "things will be great in 2008." Overall, it has been a very good year. We had a fun autumn, capped off by a great Thanksgiving with my dad, sister, and the Brown family. Here are some recent pictures...

Marshall bypasses the toddler equipment at the park and heads straight for the big kid structures. The tunnel slide is a favorite.

Raking leaves has been a big hit. Marshall calls this his "pile o' leaves."
Marshall helping Haley and Taylor give a presentation on the history of Thanksgiving.

Playing the piano with "Ah Ta-Ta" (aunt Stephanie).

"Houston, we have a problem." Marshall and astronaut Donovan save the world at the Habitot space station.

Mr. Personality

Marshall's talking has really taken off. He is putting more and more words together these days. Yesterday, while discussing his grandma's recent visit, he said, "Bamma car vroom, vroom." After bath the other night, I said, "You're naked," and he yelled back, "I naked." For some reason, many of his words start with the letter P. The computer is, "peepeeter" and the phrase "clean up," is, "peam up." Marshall loves to sing, some favorite lines being, "twinkle, twinkle, little star," "rain, rain go away," and, "Nah, nah, nah, nah. Nah, nah, nah, nah. Hey, hey, hey, goodbye." He is also counting up a storm. He can do 1-10 correctly most of the time and is hit or miss between 10 and 20 (for some reason, the numbers 12 and 18 are popular to call out). Marshall has always been a lightweight and his pediatrician recently recommended we feed him more ice cream (pronounced "eye-tee"). This has obviously been a big hit (5 bowls today so far). He wakes up yelling, "moooooore eye-tee pease."

The geese in Alameda were not happy to see us but Marshall and his grandma had fun.

Sleepy boys!
Yes, that whole spoonful of vanilla went in his mouth.

The big boy leaving "school" with his drawing and lunch bag.

Daily cat torture. Poor Amica.

Halloween

We had a fun Halloween with our little dragon. We walked around downtown with some friends and then our group all enjoyed a chili feast together. Marshall did not collect any candy but enjoyed running around in his costume (thanks, Darcy & Evan) with his cute pumpkin bowl (thanks, Bamma).

Marshall Update

Marshall is quite the talker these days. He is much more intelligible and very funny. When we drive around a corner, he'll chirp from the backseat, "whoa, mama." Some pronunciations are great: hello is "hey-yo," balloon is "baboon," and grandma is "bamma." He loves singing, "E I E I O" and randomly calling out, "wee, wee home" (referencing "this little piggy..."). His new favorite food is zucchini bread (which he calls "chini bed"). Thank goodness he's getting a vegetable in some way! We're working on learning colors and so far, everything is yellow ("yay-yo").

A surprisingly tolerant Riley.

Stopping to smell Bamma's roses in Cayucos.
Enjoying a visit with Blazej relatives (Alan, Grandpa, Stan, Nita, Tom, Doreen).
Hang on!

Capitola Camping

Long ago, my book club planned a family camping trip for September. Only three families ended up going, but we had a great time! Marshall thought the tent was novel. We enjoyed campfire time, beach time, a visit to a park, and a bike ride.

Chris and Marshall in the tent.

At Capitola beach.
With Donovan ("Donny") at the park.
Donovan, Chris, and Marshall trekking between campsites.

Sorrowful Family News

Sadly, Chris' sister, Candy, passed away on October 1. She was 62 years old. Her health had been failing for some time, but she had remained optimistic that she would get better. Unfortunately, at the end of September, she took a rapid turn for the worse. Chris and his siblings were able to be with her at the hospital, spending Candy's last couple days all together. Candy was remembered at a memorial party at Patty’s house on October 4. The outpouring of support for Chris, Patty, and Chet was uplifting. Thank you to all of you who reached out to Chris. Your kind words were so thoughtful.

"Cary Pider"

Years ago, a friend's young daughter coined the phrase "cary pider" during a scary spider encounter. I was reminded of this the other night when Marshall was in the tub and I saw a spider on top of the bathroom door. I got a tissue to dispatch the spider but I missed and the live spider fell on me, then the floor, and continued to scamper around. I am not a spider fan, so I let out a loud yelp and did a frightened little dance before successfully getting the spider. Marshall thought this whole display was HILARIOUS. Not only could he not stop laughing (the big, fun, toddler belly laugh), he spent the remainder of his bath imitating my yelp. I guess this is a good thing...I think my spider phobia is silly and I don't really want him to be "cared" of "piders."

Ciao, Utah!

This last weekend my friend, Claire, and I met for a girl's weekend in Park City, Utah. Claire lives near Chicago so Park City was our attempt at middle ground. We stayed at The Canyon's Resort, which was great! It was off-season so not crowded and the weather was perfect. We went on a hike, got massages and facials, and ate WAY too much yummy food. Claire has a two year old son so we had fun comparing toddler notes. Claire and I met in Rome 13 years ago and we've gotten to see each other approximately every 4 years since. We email weekly to keep in touch but it was so nice to visit in person! We hope to make this an annual event so we don't have to wait multiple years to see each other again.

Grandparents

Last week, Marshall and I spent a few days down south visiting my parents and grandparents. It was a quick, but fun, trip. We ate lots of good food and enjoyed an afternoon at the beach.

Trip to Orange

This last weekend we made the journey south for our niece's, Chelsea, wedding. Marshall and I drove down Friday morning with Kathryn and MABs and Chris drove down Friday night after work. Marshall was a trooper in the car...hardly any fussing on the 7 hour trip. He loved staying in a hotel. He was fascinated by the glass elevator and the indoor pool. The wedding on Saturday was great. Chelsea was a beautiful bride and we had a lot of fun at the reception. On Sunday, we drove to the canyon to see the Browns. MABs has quite the set up with her travel trailer and above ground pool. We played in the pool, BBQ'd, and camped in a tent (another first for Marshall). We drove home on Monday and again, Marshall was amazing in the car. Oddly, he hardly slept and spent most of the trip chatting. He loved to yell "freeway" (sounds like "fee-wee") and "tunnel" (sounds like "tunuh"). He also liked all the big trucks on I-5. "VROOM, VROOM."

Kathryn and MABs delivering us to our hotel

Marshall is so helpful!
Kevin, Chelsea, Chris, Marshall, Emily & Patty
Marshall and his cousin Franky
Swimming with Tom, Haley and Taylor

Tahoe

Chris and I had a SUPER trip to Tahoe. We were gone 5 nights...the most time away from Marshall ever! Marshall and Steph had a great time at home, which helped ease the guilt of being gone. Our trip was not a romantic get-away but instead, a fun filled adventure with our friends. We visited multiple beaches, swam in the lake (chilly!), hiked, ate too much, enjoyed lots of wine, and laughed a lot! We rented rafts and floated down the Truckee river one day. One night, we had a shrimp-off with chefs dueling for the tastiest shrimp honor. Another night, the four of us kid-free folks (Dave, Kathryn, Chris and I) went out to a fancy dinner. Chris went on a crazy, long, hard mountain bike ride one day. He also golfed a couple of times. I read a lot, stared at the lake a lot, and basically turned my brain off. One day, the smoke from the Yosemite fire totally engulfed the Tahoe area. It was very hazy and smelly and we all had itchy eyes and scratchy throats. Overall, the weather was perfect and we could not have asked for a nicer vacation!

Tom, Britt, Dave, Chris, Mark, Danielle, and Kathryn

Marshall and the pear

Marshall discovered our pear tree. While we were in Tahoe, Steph took this cute shot.

Marshall's Friends

Lauren teaching Marshall Ring-Around-the-Rosie

Lauren and Marshall on a lunch date.
They insisted on holding the same hand. A challenge!
Heather & Ainsley
Marshall enjoyed his kiss from Ainsley!

Fun Filled Family Trip

Looking back through my trip pictures, I'm a bit disappointed in myself...I hardly took any photos! We were fortunate to see lots of extended family and I did a poor job of capturing all the relatives. Even though my mom and Bob were unfortunately not in attendance this 4th of July, my mom's relatives stopped by her house to say hello to us all. We had quite the party on the 4th! My Uncle Mike and Aunt Nathy (from Tennessee); my grandparents; my mom's two cousins, Marcy and Andy; their parents, Allene (grandma's sister) and Larry. Everyone enjoyed meeting Marshall and he loved playing with all the new people. My uncle taught Marshall to say, "yee-haw" and "hey dude." Pretty funny!

Me, Chris, Aunt Nathy, Steph, Uncle Mike (and Olive & Chip)

Marshall and Uncle Mike playing with blocks.
The Cane Game. My mom's cousin, Andy, invented this using her dad's cane. Marshall would hold on and get lifted up off the ground. He loved it.
Steph and Marshall at the beach.
My dad doesn't have AC but he does have a very powerful fan!

4th of July

We spent the 4th of July in Cayucos and enjoyed the small town parade and fantastic fireworks display. Marshall had a great time. He actually sat through about 1/3 of the parade and enthusiastically yelled, "vroom, vroom" at the fire engines and motorcycles. It was such a busy day, he went to bed early and missed the fireworks. The rest of us watched the fireworks from the comfort of my mom's living room. Her proximity to the pier sure was handy!

"Ah Luh Ya"

Marshall is a great parrot, repeating just about everything we say (or trying to). Usually, this is great fun (except for when he repeated "crap" and "ass." Oops, Mommy). Yesterday, it was the BEST. He was on the changing table and I said, "Marshall, I love you." He said, "Ah luh ya." We repeated it back and forth for about 5 minutes. I know he doesn't know what it means yet but it was AWESOME to hear it none the less.

Roo Roo Smackdown

Stephanie knit an awesome stuffed animal for Marshall, an adorable kangaroo that we've named Roo-Roo. Marshall LOVES Roo-Roo and his new favorite game is to wrestle with Roo-Roo in his crib.