Christmas

We had an enjoyable trip down south to see my family for Christmas. Marshall didn't want to open presents but he sure enjoyed playing with all his new toys.

Trying on Grandpa's shoes
Park fun

Cayucos beach with Grandma

Cayucos sunset

My sister and me with our grandparents

With my dad and sister on Christmas morning

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).