Spring Chickens

My friend Anne had a beautiful baby girl, Claire, at the end of July and I passed along some of Marshall's gender neutral clothes. Anne and Claire came to visit last month and Claire was wearing one of Marshall's onsies. Check out these eerily similar photos!

Marshall - June 2007

Claire - September 2010

October

After vowing to blog more regularly, I've slacked off (again). Our October has been fairly eventful. Marshall and I started the month by spending almost a week down south at my dad's and attending his annual Oktoberfest party. Despite the rain, it was a good party. I also got to see my grandparents and Darcy while I was down south. My college roommate, Chris, came down one weekend from Portland for a visit. Nice to see her, as always. We spent another weekend in Tahoe with friends. A relaxing, fun trip. Here are some recent pics:

Ainsley, Sean, Holden and Marshall in Tahoe
Marshall and Donovan

Marshall and his Papa

Alan, Nita, Marshall, Stan, Doreen, Tom and my dad

Evening Out!

We ended up having to leave Tahoe a day earlier than planned to attend a work function for Chris in San Francisco. Mary Ann and John kindly offered to keep Marshall with them in Tahoe so we didn't have to worry about a babysitter.

Chris' boss hosted dinner at The Westerfeld House, a privately owned Victorian mansion (check out the info on Wikipedia...it's a neat/colorful place). There was a cocktail hour with passed hors d'oeuvres, a 6 course meal, and a tour of the house. A very unique evening.

Chris and I really enjoyed our weekend together. The drive home from Tahoe, lunch out at our favorite restaurant in Walnut Creek, a fun evening with his co-workers, an overnight stay in SF, brunch Sunday morning. All without Marshall! We missed him but the parenting break was welcome.

Tahoe

We recently returned from a vacation at Lake Tahoe. We stayed on the south shore with our friends, Mary Ann and John, and had a wonderful, relaxing trip. We hiked, took a steam train ride to Virginia City, did a lake cruise, and drank wine every night. Chris got in lots of mountain bike rides. I don't think we've taken that much time away since our honeymoon! A very nice treat.

Spooner Lake

Grammy Mary Ann and Marshall enjoying s'mores and wine

Marshall and his Mickey Mouse whipped cream pancake

Marshall and Poppy John on the lake

Our fun dinner out

August Adventures

A month without posting and now two posts in as many days! I am so inconsistent. Anyway, yet another month has flown by. August was fairly eventful. My dad came to visit for a weekend. Marshall got the flu and then I caught it. I don't think moms should be allowed to get sick. I really needed to call in sick to work!

We spent a weekend babysitting our friends' 11 month old twins. They are super sweet little boys but we were definitely EXHAUSTED. They crawled everywhere (in different directions, of course), were pulling up/falling, putting things in their mouths. Three naps to contend with, three bums needing diapers. A unique experience for us! In return for watching the boys, our friends took Marshall overnight so we could have a date night to celebrate Chris' b-day. Sadly, we could not remember our last date but we really enjoyed the relaxing night to ourselves.

Last weekend we went camping with some book club families. We went to Memorial Park outside of Pescadero and had a great time. It was chilly and we enjoyed the campfires and s'mores. My friend Julie is the hostess with the mostess and planned/oversaw a really fun trip. The only bummer was that Marshall got sick. The hacking cough and diarrhea (not fun while camping, let me tell you) were rather frightful but he was cheery and energetic the whole trip and never had a fever. I took him to the doctor when we got home to rule out whopping cough and ear infections and it was thankfully just a run of the mill cold.

Potty training has become even more of a problem. Marshall isn't being allowed to start his pre-school program b/c he's still in a diaper. I talked with the preschool director and they are completely inflexible. As irritated as I am with his continued reluctance, I am very mad at myself for not forcing the issue sooner. Very frustrating.

We had an interesting conversation yesterday. Marshall pooped, came to tell me and said, "mom, I telling you the truth." I thought it an odd statement, as I can't remember discussing "truth" with him. As if reading my mind he then asked, "mom, what is truth?" I fumbled through an explanation and then he said, "mom, God's word is true and the Bible is true." That had me speechless and he concluded with, "mom, I liked bible camp with Ainsley and learning songs." OBVIOUSLY.

S'mores...YUM!

Stream gazing
Marshall , Sean & Holden

New Toys

After pining for years (literally), Chris finally got a new TV. We have finally entered the age of the flat screen, HD television. I wasn't exactly in favor of the purchase but have to admit, it is very nice. Mary Ann and John kindly passed along some media furniture which works perfectly. Our living room looks entirely different!

I also got something fun. I am huge fan of the slow cooker and mine died in dramatic fashion last week (sparking, smoking, scorching the counter). I ordered a new one and love it. It has three inserts (2, 4 & 6 quart) that all fit in one base and nest to store. Three cheers for the lazy cook!

The Terrible Threes

Swimming at Grammy Mary Ann and Poppy John's

Cayucos beach
Playing cars with Gram Gram

Carolyn, Marshall and Haley in Tahoe

Marshall and Ainsley at VBS

I'm pretty sure I do not have convenient amnesia when I recall that Marshall at age 2 was nowhere near as rotten as he is now. His tantrums are more frequent, more physical, and his size makes him harder to handle. He is much more likely to try and hurt people when he is mad these days. He hits and kicks me and has taken to throwing items at people. He threw his milk cup at his grandma and a water bottle at a friend.

Since Marshall is still reluctant to potty train and I am reluctant to move him from his crib, I feel like we are making very little progress in the growing up department. I suppose this could be some sort of mental road block on my part (i.e. since he is likely going to be my one and only, I am having a hard time letting go of some baby stuff). The crib thing is easy enough to resolve but I don't know yet how to proceed with the potty training. I have gotten a ton of advice and have tried multiple strategies but have yet to find Marshall's motivator.

On the plus side of things, Marshall continues to be healthy and happy (more often than not). He eats well (for a toddler) and surprises everyone around him with his effective communication skills. He is attending vacation bible school this week with his friend Ainsley, which is a lot of fun for us both. Marshall seems to like the singing, crafts, and time with Ains and I sure appreciate the time apart!

Marshall occasionally has some word confusion, which has been so funny! He calls his park ranger car "hydrangea car," he calls oleander bushes "ravioli bushes," and he referred to a scenic drive as a "citrus drive."

July has zoomed by but it still doesn't seem like summer around here. We're having one of the colder seasons on record. Aside from a few super hot days scattered over the last couple months, it is has been unseasonably cool (in the 70's) and we've been getting the marine layer and sea breeze all the way inland most days. I'm sure hotter days will come in August and September and then we'll wish for July's chill.

Last weekend Marshall and I went down to Cayucos to see my mom and Bob while they were home briefly from Idaho. We didn't do much other than sit around and chat. A very nice visit. Chris stayed home to study for a work test and re-stain our deck. I don't think his weekend was as relaxing as ours! Weekend before last, we went to Tahoe with a couple other families. Three days in a row at the beach. Great weather. A fun and exhausting trip.