Baby Rhodes

Sadly … I have once again failed at doing regular blogs! I honestly have NO idea what happens – that an entire month can go by. Sheesh! Thankfully … I’m keeping up with calendar updates and my 365 project … if I wasn’t I have no idea how I could possibly remember everything that happens!

So here’s a quick recap of March …

One of our most most favorite things to do is hang with friends. We spend a lot of time out of the house – not necessarily outside – but out of the house. When we’re inside – Marshall tends to hang on Mommy – while when we’re out he’s adventurous and exploratory. Honestly aren’t we all like that? Anywho – we try to take advantage of any opportunities to get out and hang with friends. This month we had fun going to the zoo with our bestest buddy Emory, hanging out at the Sunnyside Swap & Play with Forrest and Skye, going to the park with Ben and Elly, skating with Maddy (well being pushed in a stroller). We watched as snow fell from the sky on March 9th – totally weird and random. It didn’t stick and was over in 5 minutes.

We continued our dance class at the Childrens Museum with our fantastic instructor Renee. They moved the class to a new room – and Marshall took a class or two to warm up again – but got back in the groove by the end of the session. We are signed up to continue in April.

I learned that Marshall is a fantastic helper when it comes to cleaning up. One day I pulled the stove out from the wall to clean the sides (you know all those messy spills). Well my little helper decided that he wanted in on the action. Armed with a paper towel he tremendously enjoyed cleaning up! Now whenever I do cleaning he loves to get in on the action.

We also signed up for a second session of sign language classes through Portland Early Learning Project. Marshall has been talking so much – we’ve been slacking on our signing and wanted to get back on track. We’d like him to keep up the signing and to keep learning. He picks things up so quickly – it’s fun to be learning again.

Marshall still loves trains – this month he really got focused on making “long choo choos.” In order to make longer choo choos we taught him how to turn them around so they would stick together. He’s now a total master!

His language development has really taken off. He really enjoys saying the names of his friends – some he struggles with more than others. But he’s really getting good at getting the right name with the right person. He’s also saying the cutest things – like “huge” “o’tay” “sorry” and also one of our cats names – Milo – as he says “Riwo”. Adorable!! This month he also said “Thank you Mommy” to me for the first time after I gave him a banana at breakfast. I was floored and got a little tear in my eye. So impressed! He counted “one eye – two eyes” on his stuffed doggy. By far the coolest thing he said was “Ma-all” … his own name! Finally – not only identifying himself as “you” … yay!

Being a true boy – Marshall loves balls. His current obsession is basketball – otherwise known as “hoop”. We have a little hoop in the living room and he practices shooting the ball in all the time. He’s actually excellent at making it in! He also loves playing hoops at Woodstock Elementary – though very very much not big enough to shoot or even get close – still fun to watch! He really enjoys playing with a full size ball – so we got him one. But he still seems to want other balls at the park. Oh well. Then, this weekend he acquired a football. A fantastic family had an extra and said we could take the one they had brought to the Farmers Market home with us. A wonderful gift … and a new love for Marshall.

And that wraps up March.

Overall – watching Marshall grow up is amazing. Everyday I’m amazed at what he does – what he has learned – what he can accomplish.

So it’s been MONTHS since I’ve posted … but once again I’m going to try to update this blog weekly (at least). The best I’ve been doing lately has been writing down highlights of each day on our calendar – so I don’t totally lose track of all that’s happened.

At this point I don’t think I’m going to try to backtrack. I may go back and backpost at some point – but for now I’m just going to start fresh!

I’ve started doing at “365″ project – trying to take pictures of Marshall everyday for a year. I don’t promise anything artistic but I do hope they are at least entertaining. I’m certainly entertained watching that little dude grow up! Check it out here.

So here we are. 19 months old. Running. Jabbering. Exploring. It’s amazing. Today he’s off with Daddy while Mommy is working (I’m currently waiting for a file to download). This weekend has been a Daddy and Marshall weekend. They went to the zoo yesterday – and when they got home crashed for almost 3 hours! Must have had some good fun! Now – they are exploring the park and buying belated birthday cards. I wish I was with them – but am happy to be working a little again so I can’t complain too much.

With all of the fun and exciting activities that Portland offers kiddos, it’s hard to decide what to do. Sports? Music? Art? Swimming? Sheesh … how does one mama decide? Well – since our kiddo is kind of an “observer” at this point in his life – we have kind of decided not to spend much $$ on organized activities. We know he gains a lot from watching – but feel like until he’s really participating we’re gonna hold off.

I’ve kind of decided that we’re going to have a “focus” area. For February – it was music. We were enrolled in a dance class at the Portland Children’s Museum which kind of kicked off the idea. M was pretty apprehensive for the first 5 classes … but then one day decided it was time to participate (imagine my and the instructors excitement when he went rolling across the carpet and jumping from pillow to pillow!). That day sort of launched the music focus. We started going to see Mo Phillips play at Milagros on Thursday morning – he’s a local dad with an acoustic guitar who  plays the usual fare as well as some cool self-written stuff. We were at the Zoo store one evening for a chocolate and beer sustainable products event and M was grooving to the Salsa CD playing – so we got that. Mommy has taken on all kinds of craft projects to make maracas and drums out of boxes and plastic Easter eggs. The highlight of our Musical Adventure by far has to be Daddy exchanging his electric guitar for an acoustic. Marshall LOVES it. It’s so much fun for me to watch the two of them grooving!

I think we’ll continue with Music for March … decide if we want to try something new in April.

Welp – that’s it for now … I’ll be back soon (hopefully).

Toddler negativity = not so much fun.

A couple weeks ago when Marshall said “Oh no” instead of “Uh oh” and we thought it was super cute. It caught on with Daddy and I – and we repeated it back to him whenever he would say it. THEN it turned into no no … then no … then NO! (including furrowed brow and grumpy face). Since then – he’s been working out the intricate routine of a “tantrum” – so far it’s just sitting on the floor, “NO!” and a little fist pounding. This week he started adding pushing himself onto his tummy – but luckily that’s as far as the tantrum goes. I’m waiting for the kicking and screaming (and I’m pretty sure it’s coming). Along with this nonsense, he still gives us warning – “no no” – whenever he’s doing (or about to do) something he shouldn’t – which is very nice!!

As we anxiously try not to catch the swine flu until the vaccine is available (any day now!) – we have been relatively homebound for the last couple weeks. Part of this is because I’ve been sick with a terrible cold and don’t want to spread any germs to kiddos in the world (oh and I should mention that since I’m still breastfeeding I can’t take ANYTHING to help me feel better – UGH!). The other part is because I don’t want Marshall to get any other kids germs. Paranoid? Yes. But who cares. We do what we can to protect our kid. That’s all we can do.

In other news, last weekend we went to a pumpkin patch … which was just ok. Then on Sunday we went to the Monster March in Sellwood. Daddy was Luke Skywalker and Marshall was Yoda. The best part was when he wielded the light saber. Serious cuteness! So as Halloween night approaches I’m actually getting kind of excited to hand out candy to the kiddos this year.

We totally love our pediatrician … she’s amazing and we’re so lucky that she was the doc to come and check on us when Marshall was born. One of the biggest reasons we love our doctor – is that she tells us how great out kiddo is – how great is that? She always reassures our worries and doubts as normal, she tells us how “advanced” he is – and though he’s right in the middle for most of his growth curves – she gives us no indication that we have anything all all to worry about.

This last checkup was no different!

Here are the stats:

Height is just over 30″, weight is almost 24 lbs and his head is about 19″ around. In other words – right where he should be and tracking like he has his whole life.

Another reason we really like our doctor is that she’s starting his doctor schooling early – letting him learn how to use the stethoscope – which he enjoyed putting around his neck but not in his ears.

He received his vaccinations and a flu shot (not the H1N1 since it’s not available yet). Was overall very healthy. And showed off all his tricks – talking and sign language. She also praised our parenting – which always feels good.

Our next checkup will be in January when he’s 18 months. Wow. He’ll be a year and a half.