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."