The Toddler

Prior to having a child, I was wary of toddlers. It seemed like they always had runny noses, were throwing tantrums, and were incomprehensible. Now that I have a toddler, my initial opinion of them has not changed much. It seems like Marshall has had a snotty nose for most of the latter half of the year. He throws some fantastic tantrums (laying face down, flailing on the sidewalk was a recent gem). I am "that" mom in the grocery store. I liken changing diapers and getting him dressed to wrestling a shrieking octopus. My patience is tested daily with the whining and lack of logic/empathy. The other night during an especially rambunctious moment, Marshall kicked me in the face and split my lip. He looked at me with a defiant smirk and said, "cry mom, cry." Who knew I was raising a sadist?

Stereotypical awful toddler moments aside, Marshall is one of the sweetest, most mellow toddlers I have ever encountered. He sleeps great at night and still takes decent naps every day. He is quick to smile and laugh. He plays well on his own and plays exceptionally well with his friends. He indulges me with kisses and hugs more often than not. Marshall is a super conversationalist and we often get comments from surprised strangers at the quantity/quality of his vocabulary. He is very observant and is always saying, "mom, look where I pointing." Some of our funnier recent moments:

• As I was doing dishes, Marshall asked me to come play with him. I told him I'd join him when I finished. He replied, "mom, I going to count to three. Don't make me count again."
• "I need to cover my eyes because the blender is too loud."
• He asked for a cookie for breakfast. When I told him no he replied, "ok, I want a lunch cookie."
• At a stop light he asked, "mom, what that man doing in his car?" Keeping my eyes on the road, I replied I did not know and asked him what he thought the man was doing. He said, "that man picking his nose. " I looked over and sure enough, that is exactly what the man was doing. Marshall then said, "I pick my nose in the car too."

I echo the sentiments of a close friend who recently wrote, "I continue to be overworked and underpaid in my job as stay-at-home mom, which is the best job I've ever had."

Season's Greetings

Every time I sit down to update the blog, I am struck by how fast time is racing by. I think I probably mention it in every post too. Seriously, December? The end of 2009? We've enjoyed a nice December so far, not too crammed with holiday activities but a nice mix of relaxing and fun. We did our annual birthday outing for our friend, Kathryn, which was a riot (as usual). Going out for a fancy adult only dinner with friends and riding in a limo is a great once-a-year treat!

We got our Christmas tree and had a nice evening decorating. I think only one ornament was a toddler casualty. Marshall's first words every morning are, "want to look at colored Christmas tree lights." His current age and level of enthusiasm is making this holiday season all the more enjoyable. He loves singing carols, his favorite being Jingle Bells. We are getting a kick out of his adaptation: "dashing through the snow, in a one door hope and sleigh."

Last week we had some very abnormal Bay Area weather, very stormy and freezing. Pleasant Hill didn't get snow but neighboring towns actually had it stick and nearby Mt. Diablo and all low hills were covered. This past weekend we drove up to the top of Mt. Diablo and found a tiny patch of snow still left. Marshall was thrilled.

Modeling my scarf and apron (and randomly, a party hat)

Adults out to dinner
Marshall and Amica helping Chris study
Bundled up for snow

Halloween & Boy Stuff

Pre-Marshall, I did not really care for sweets. At office birthday parties, I passed on the cake. On my birthday, people were more likely to shower me with chips & guacamole. I'd sample desserts on social occasions but that was it. These days, I crave sweets like a maniac. Cake, ice cream, candy, Twinkies...I'm not very picky. Sometimes I eat ice cream straight from the carton, standing up at the counter. For some reason, I rationalize that is better than sitting down with a big bowl of it. I always wondered why people bemoaned Halloween and the large quantities of candy. Now I understand. It is a truly evil holiday. Marshall went trick-or-treating for the first time and was quite good at it. He happily chirped "Happy Halloween" at every house and got lots of practice with his dinosaur roar. Subsequently, we have a lot of candy laying around. And I'm eating it all.

Sticker Face (he was actually quiet for a brief moment)

Fixing the gate
Watching football

Playing football

Happy Halloween!

October Already?!

At times it seems like individual days crawl by and then I realize summer is over, cooler weather is here to stay, and Halloween is right around the corner. All is fine with the Bors. Our September was filled with BBQs and hanging out with friends. Chris and I celebrated our 8th anniversary and marveled over the fact that we still really like each other. I took a weekend trip to Portland to see my college roommate, Chris. We chatted incessantly and drank a lot of wine. Apparently Marshall and Chris had a great time doing guy stuff while I was away: eating hamburgers, fixing sprinklers, and watching football.

Chris has been very busy at work, but seems to be as happy and passionate about his job as ever. He went to Boston for a week for a work event and had a great time. In addition to the mandatory professional meetings, he went to a ballgame at Fenway, did a historical walking tour, and sampled beverages at many infamous bars.

Marshall is fantastic. He loves to sing, dance, read, and play with cars. At my dad’s recent Oktoberfest party, Marshall learned the Chicken Dance, which he’ll now do at random moments. Hmm, funny dancing…whose child is this? His favorite song these days is “Cuando” by Michael Buble and Nelly Furtado and he sings along, almost word for word. The highchair and bibs have disappeared and he has very firm opinions about a lot of things (what to eat, what to wear, etc.). When he is ready to get out of his crib he’ll yell, “Wake me up please.” Other fun comments:

• “No shoes on the couch. That what mom says.”
• As he patted his Aunt Stephanie’s chest, “Stephanie, your tummy full.”
• “Mom, this omelet phenomenal.”
• After I asked him for a kiss, “No mom. You have enough kisses.”
• “I got this shirt at REI. On sale. Like Momma.”
• “That football man knocked over the cone. He say, ‘sorry cone.’”

Riding zoo carousel with Bella Dinner with Ainsley Modeling the beanie Steph knit

Growing Up

Marshall now calls me "mom" instead of "mama." For some reason, I am particularly upset by this development. He just sounds too grown up when he speaks to me. Everything these days is in the form of a question: "Mom, what is that lady doing? Mom, when daddy come home from office? Mom, can I have brown milk at Starbucks?" He has adopted many of my commonly used words and phrases: "maybe," "actually," "I think...," "I have to organize..." or the best is when he yells loudly, "CHRIS!!" or "Riley, NO BARKING!" It is both funny (and somewhat disconcerting) to hear myself when he speaks.

Watching him play is highly entertaining. We rarely eat drive through fast food (seriously, I think he's been maybe 5 times in 2.5 years) yet the other day, I overheard him playing with cars and saying, "Porsche car go to restaurant. I'll have a small burrito, a hamburger, and a soda." I have never ordered him a soda! He croons to his "friends" (i.e. stuffed animals), making sweet little noises to them when they have owies and need hugs. Marshall still loves to read and sometimes will want the same book read 4 times in a row. I have actually hidden a couple of the books that I don't care for as much because I can't stand them anymore.

Our latest drama has been the "loud lady" at Trader Joe's. There is a boisterous woman who solicits for a children's charity and she is always outside when we go to the store. Every week she yells, "HI BABY!" to Marshall. Marshall is now frightened of her and declares almost daily, "No old Trader Joe's, mom. No loud lady. Go to new Trader Joe's." For the last couple weeks, I've either gone without Marshall or I actually have gone to a further away Trader Joe's with him. This pleased him greatly...he nodded firmly when we arrived, "no loud lady at new Trader Joe's, mom"). I feel like there is some sort of life lesson here but I don't know if I'm handling it the right way. I want to spare him the discomfort of this lady's presence but should I rearrange my life for these types of little quirks?

Our enjoyable summer carries on...

The Big 4-0

Chris had a big b-day last weekend. We had such a fun time celebrating. His friend Don came from NY, Tim and Chrissy came from Spokane, and Dave drove up from L.A. On Saturday, we went to a hot spot on the bay for lunch. We were on the patio there for 5 hours...lots of sunburns! Tom and Britt hosted a dinner party on Saturday and Mary Ann and John hosted another celebration on Sunday. We hit the town Saturday night for some dancing, which was very entertaining.

Back row: Mike, Dave, Kathryn, Sue, Britt, Sean, Chrissy & Tim

Front row: me, Don, Mark, Chris, Danielle & Tom

Vacation

At the end of July, Chris took a rare week off work and we spent the time at my mom and Bob's house in Cayucos. It was just the three of us (and the dog) and we had a super time relaxing and playing tourist. We spent a lot of time at the beach, cruising the town, drinking margaritas, eating too much, and visiting family and friends. Here are some of the highlights:

Beach boys

Riley, Marshall and Gram-Gram
Marshall's first pony ride at the fair

This was grandpa's idea!

Elephant seals in San Simeon

July Fun

This month is flying by! We had a great 4th down south visiting my family. We spent a day with my dad, a day with my grandparents, and the rest of the weekend in Cayucos seeing my mom and Bob (who were home briefly from their annual Idaho adventure). Last weekend, Marshall stayed with Mary Ann and John while Chris and I took a trip with friends. We spent a day wine tasting in Paso Robles and a day at Lake Nacimiento. Lots of fun was had by all. Here are some recent shots:

Marshall having a wild hair day

Testing chair comfort at REI
Tom, Mark, me, Chris, Danielle, Kathryn & Britt at Cass Winery

4th of July parade

Steph and me with grandma & grandpa

More Marshall Stories

I guess I have turned into one of "those" moms, always raving about their super kid. Who knows if everyone else finds my toddler stories as funny as I do but at the very least, I'm recording some of the good stuff from the early years. The latest laughs:

• Marshall pointed to a group of fish in a pond and said very sternly, "COME." The fish listened about as well as the dog.
• He has been doubling up on consonants, especially L's and G's. Garage is, "ga-grage," gorilla is, "guh-grilla," lion is, "ly-lon," and his friend Lauren is, "Laur-len."
• Marshall now improvises his favorite songs. The other day we were treated to, "twinkle, twinkle little sprinkler, how I wonder what you are. Up above the trees so high, like a diamond in the sky. I love you sprinkler."
• Randomly, he announced that he wanted to go to Home Depot. I asked him what he wanted to do at Home Depot. He replied, "push the washing machine buttons with Daddy."
• We went out to dinner at Back Forty BBQ and Marshall pushed his face against the restaurant wall. I asked him what he was doing. He said, "smelling Back Forty." I asked him what Back Forty smelled like. He replied, "a tasty snack."

Recent Toddler Talk

When he is not hitting, head butting, torturing the pets, and generally acting like a stereotypical 2 year old, Marshall is very entertaining. He has taken up nodding, which he does often, with great exaggeration. Instead of "why" he asks, "what's that?" for EVERYTHING. He is quite the talker and has me laughing most days. Examples:

• In the car the other day, "Marshall want milk, water, juice, crackers with cheese, Marshall want to play with cars, Marshall want to play in the garage, Marshall want to long drive to see grandma, Marshall want air on at Gram Gram's house, " a long pause, "Marshall want everything."
• Picking up the dog's collar, "This is Riley scarf."
• Me: "Would you like strawberries or grapes?"
  Marshall: "No strawberries, just grapes. Actually, mama, both please."
• "Grandma and Grandpa in long drive to Idaho. Both miss you."
• Reading precisely, "I love you forever, I like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be."

Busy May!

The month of May just flew by. A summary of activities: The Brown girls' first communion; a 10k race (Chris ran it, Marshall and I walked the 5k portion): a Blazej family camping trip; Chris had surgery on his hand; my college friend, Jeri, came to visit with her 15 month old daughter from Denver; my college friend, Chris, came to visit from Portland; and a fun-packed Memorial weekend with our friends. Here are some highlights:

Someone is looking rather grown up these days.

Haley and Taylor's First Communion

Marshall riding cousin Carter's ATV on the family camping trip

Playing "cornhole" with grandpa on the family camping trip

Playing with Heidi

Chris, Jeri and Heidi

Marshall helping the patient eat breakfast

Hiking

Marshall with his friend Donovan

Another hot tub gem: Chris, Tom, Taylor, Haley & Marshall

Family Visit

A couple of weeks ago, Marshall, Steph and I made a trip down south to see our cousin, Meredith, who came out from Tennessee to visit our grandparents. We really enjoyed getting to visit Merry, her husband Anthony, and their adorable 5 month old son, Blake. We spent afternoons at the beach and weathered unseasonably warm temperatures. A super trip, overall. Here are some highlights:

Great Grandpa, Blake and Anthony

Gram Gram and Marshall
Steph, Merry and Emily

Steph, Marshall, Grandma and Lucky

Marshall and his grandma's rose

Funny Little Boy

Marshall keeps me laughing every day. Here are some recent fun shots:

Yogurt mess

Sweet shades!
Daddy's flip flops

What does that sign say??

Insisting his caterpillar wear a diaper.

Easter

We had a really fun Easter weekend. On Saturday, we had breakfast with friends and then headed to the local park for the kiddie egg hunt. On Sunday, we had brunch at the Brown's and dinner at the Tamisiea's. Two more egg hunts for Marshall! We stuffed ourselves full of great food and really enjoyed the time with our friends.

Egg hunting with Grammy Mary Ann.
He quickly got the hang of the egg hunt concept.

Chris and Marshall in the park mob.