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