A weekend with family

     On Friday, Mark, Marcus, and I drove to Virginia to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday with his friends.  Olivia made him a camo & shotgun shell cake and let me tell ya, it might sound redneck, but she did a GREAT job on it.  Not only was it visually appealing, but it was really yummy, too.  Of course we had to let Marcus have some (without icing) and he ate half of my piece!  We enjoyed the party, but it was especially great for Marcus to get to meet his Uncle Josh for the first time.  He has been away for the past 7 months, protecting our country by serving with the Marine Corps in Afghanistan.  He had a month off before having to report back to base Saturday. 
     On Saturday morning, we got up and headed to Mt. Airy to eat lunch with my mom, John, Olivia, and TJ.  On the way there, we stopped at Grandmother's home to see the renovations that Dad and Sonya have made to it, as well as get any remaining pictures that hadn't yet been taken by other family members.  On one hand, it was sad that I opened the door and didn't see her sitting by the table, smiling, waiting for me to walk in.  On the other hand, it was such a sweet time of reminiscing seeing old pictures and "memorabilia" that she kept in the house.  I'm thankful for the time we had when she was here on Earth, but remain hopeful that we will see her again, when we meet Jesus at The Father's feet.
     After leaving Grandmother's, we met the rest of the family at my cousin's winery in downtown Mt. Airy.  It was Olivia's 26th birthday, so we gave her gifts (cake making stuff, of course) and had a wonderful lunch.  Then we hung out a few hours at Mom and John's house so they could play with Marcus and Mark and I could rest! When we finally got home, later that evening, we were all exhausted, but happy we got to see so many family members in a whirlwind 24-hour period.  The best part is that we'll get to see Olivia again this week since she's in town for a conference related to school. 
     Oh!  And I forgot!  Our church's Vacation Bible School started last night and goes on through this Thursday, so pictures will be coming of that as well. 

Marcus is starting to pull and stand up on his own!

Grandad, Marcus, and Uncle Josh

Marcus loved Molly and would almost say, "woof" every time he saw her.  It sounded close enough.

Marcus and Uncle TJ at the party

Aunt Liv and her amazing camo cake

Marcus and Uncle Josh before he headed back to base

Marcus and Grandma

She bought him a cute new pair of shoes and he wasn't too sure about them.

Crawling on the floor with Papa John

Any time people help him, he LOVES trying to walk.

Father's Day & 9 month stats

     Yesterday, we had one heck of a Father's Day.  After Sunday School the three of us drove to Charlotte to watch the Syracuse Chiefs play the Charlotte Knights in AAA Baseball.  We knew a guy Mark played with during a summer, when we both were still in college, and he was currently a starter for Syracuse.  His name is Tug Hulett and he had a great day, going 4 for 5.  It was especially great because a random guy offered us two free tickets which were exactly in the area we were going to buy seats (behind the Visitor's dugout).  It was quite hot, but the clouds brought occasional shade and there was a sweet breeze at times.  Mark and I took turns taking Marcus up to the concourse to keep him shaded as much as possible, and yes he had a hat AND SPF 55 sunscreen.  He's not tanned in the least little bit today, where as Mark and I are a little bit crispy (a little).  Marcus did GREAT overall, making it through the whole game and even being pleasant when we were able to speak with Tug afterwards.
     When we left the game, we got to visit with another friend that we knew back in college.  Steve Hull and his wife Lara live just a few exits past the stadium, so we met them at Moe's for supper.  Why Moe's?  Well, since Charlotte scored more than 6 runs, Moe's offered, "buy one, get one free" entrees (always looking for a deal, ya know!).  They brought their two vibrant children and I enjoyed watching them interact with Marcus, and let's be honest, I liked playing with them myself, too.  They each had sweet little personalities and were fun to be around.  We probably stayed longer than we should've, but it was a really fun day, both at the ballpark, and with the Hulls. 
     Finally, Marcus had his 9 month check-up today and in the words of Dr. Love, "everything looks perfect."  I was SURE he had an ear infection due to recent fussiness and an exuberant amount of snot, however Dr. Love said his upper gums were slightly swollen and he chalked it up to teething. Both ears checked out clean and he put on quite the wiggly, smiley show for him during the examination.  I gotta say, Dr. Love is GOOD with Marcus.  He was a WILD MAN before he came in, but calmed down, overall, when Dr. Love was in the room. 
     Marcus measured 31 inches tall (98th percentile), 21 pounds, 7.5 ounces (75th percentile), and his head was 18.6 inches around (90-95th percentile -yes, he has my big ol' waterhead).  Dr. Love said that if you look at his height to weight ratio, his BMI is between the 10th and 15th percentiles, making him a long, lean baby.  Who woulda thought we'd have a long, lean baby after all the fatty comments I heard in the beginning?  Other moms have told me that he'd trim up once he started crawling, so that could be part of it, too.  He's definitely crawling at lightning speed nowadays, so he's GOT to be burning calories and building little muscles inside that sweet little frame of his.
     Ok, that's all for now.  The Braves are at home against the Blue Jays and we're a divided house for the next 3 days.  Don't tell my husband I said this, but GO BRAVES! :)

This was the first time Marcus has pulled himself all the way up and STOOD on his own.

Marcus is advertising our church's VBS starting next Sunday, June 26th.

Here's a small view of some of the "floats" from our VBS parade.  It was a blast.

Marcus sat in his stroller most of the parade, and was a really good baby.

Standard monthly shot. :)  9 months old.

Standing in his crib.

Tug up to bat.

Marcus & Mama

He LOVED Homer, the Dinosaur.  He Oooooed and Coooooed when he walked by.

Mark & Marcus speaking with Tug, after the game.

Since it was Father's Day, any father and his children could play catch in the outfield.

Peyton, Landon, and Marcus...socializing. :)

Happy Father's Day to the greatest daddy of 'em all! :)

9 months old already?

     Yes, it's true.  9 glorious months have passed by already and time marches on.  Marcus keeps growing, learning, exploring, and changing and we just adore him.  This week, he got a visit from Granddad and Aunt Liv, and even though it was short, he enjoyed his time with them.  During their visit, he showed them how he crawls all over the place, babbles all types of different sounds, and how he can spit his food out (thanks to Aunt Liv's encouragement - thanks Olivia).  When we hold his hands, he's starting to put one foot in front of the other and walk, but he's still a waaaaaaaaaays off from that (thankfully!).
     After they left, I was sweeping the kitchen floor.  I had to put our bench down, sideways, to block Marcus from crawling into the dirt.  Before I knew it, he had pulled up onto his knees, then as I was watching he STOOD UP!  He got excited and scared at the same time as he realized he was on his own.  He dropped down, onto his butt, then rolled onto his belly, before I picked him up and cheered.  He's now associating me saying, "yeaaaa" with clapping, so that's what we did.  Clapped and rejoiced in his new accomplishment.
     In other news, I'm not sure if he's teething again (top teeth) or possibly has an ear infection.  He's not tugging at his ears, nor does he have a fever (although it's slightly higher than normal, but not at fever-status).  He just has an enormous amount of snot in his nose, and slobber everywhere else (mouth, chin, chest, belly, EVERYWHERE!).  He's been pretty fussy this week, so I look forward to his 9 month visit on Monday to see what Dr. Love says about his recent behavior.  Maybe he's just having sympathy pains for Daddy since he has strep throat.  It's definitely no fun since Mark's fever spiked at 103.6!  He's on an antibiotic and taking fever reducing medicine 3 times a day, however his throat is really giving him a lot of pain.  We'd appreciate your prayers for his prompt healing as he refuses to stop working, but just trudges through it.  He's definitely a man who takes his charge to, "provide for his family," seriously.
     Finally, I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not, but we think Marcus has said, "Mama" a few times.  It was last Sunday night when we were at church when I think he first said it.  Mark was holding him and I was speaking to a group of ladies.  He was trying to get to me and get my attention and very clearly said, "MAMA!"  Everyone said, "Did he just say Mama???"  He's said it a few more times since then, but I'm not sure if he's associating it with me or not.  Either way, it's sweet music for my heart.  Now if we can just get him on the, "Dada" train...

Since we won't allow him to get the DVDs off the shelf, he now pulls his books down.

"What?"

Grandad's first view of Marcus crawling

Ballers

I let Olivia take a turn at feeding him since she encouraged him to spit it out.

She fed him, and yes, he spit it out on her, too! :)

They were both just smitten with our sweet Marcus Paul

Here's the cake Olivia made for Marcus, "just because"

Side view (didn't she do well!?)

Yes, we let Marcus taste his cake and of course he loved it (so did we!)

 PS - 9 month "birthday" shots will be posted later.  We have a big day today, so we'll take and post them when we can.  Maybe Monday after his 9 month well-visit with Dr. Love.

It's time to get my game on

     This week, our sweet baby is all out crawling and moving everywhere.  We've started putting up barriers and having to use the words, "no" and "stop" more than I thought we'd use for an almost 9 month old.  For whatever reason, his favorite place to "play" is around Mark's work bucket and our DVDs.  We turn the coffee table on it's side to block him, but he still makes every effort to get into any of it.  He also loves trying to pull the laptop cords or any type of hanging string (like from the blinds). 
     Yesterday, he wore himself out at the school where I used to work. It was the last day of school, the classrooms were cleared out, and just a few students were left.  I said goodbye to the ones who left earlier, and then took my sweet Betty Lou out to my car to help me get his walker.  As I packed up a few items that I had left for the current teacher in the classroom, he was flying around in his walker.  The children were chasing him and he was having a GRAND ol' time.  He would run over their feet, they'd hollar, and he'd smile or laugh.  He got a little cranky when they got too wound up, but it just took a cracker to heal all fussiness.  I got out a quiet activity for the children to work on while just one girl stayed with Marcus.  Katherine was a great little mommy, guiding him around the children on the floor, telling me when he needed another cracker, etc.  When I was finally finished, he took a bottle and was wore slap out.  He took a good little nap in my arms while I caught up with co-workers as they ate lunch and marveled at his cuteness as he slept. 
     He's quite the social little creature, enjoying different people of all ages.  He's just started a little separation anxiety, but I try not to make it worse by sticking around when I drop him off at church or the gym nursery.  I check back within 30 seconds and he's already good again.  Obviously he's a mama's boy, but BOY does he love his daddy, too.  Last night, Mark gave him a bath and he splashed and laughed until he gave out.  He would splash with his feet, Mark would hollar and make a big deal out of it, and Marcus would just laugh and laugh (and I'm talking about those deep belly laughs).  I wasn't here to see it, but saw a video on Mark's phone when I got home.  It was absolutely precious.
     Speaking of videos, here's a video of Marcus crawling across the room.

We used an empty plastic bottle to motivate him to keep crawling.
It's one of his favorite things to play with and make noise. 

Lowered the Crib

     Yesterday, before we went to the evening service at our church, Marcus was playing in his crib with some toys.  While we both were standing there watching, he held onto the side railing and pulled himself up until he was standing.  He stood for maybe 3 seconds, before slowly falling over like a cut tree, but luckily since I was so close, I could re-direct him so he didn't hit his head.  We've been told this for a while now, but just haven't made the time to do it, but we finally lowered his crib mattress tonight.
     When Mark got home from work, we ate supper then got right on it.  Marcus jumped in his jumper for what seemed like forever, while Mark and I (but mostly Mark) worked on the bed.  My job was dusting the parts of the railing in the back that had dust caked-on since they hadn't been touched since Marcus' birth, and as usual, Mark knew what he was doing and how to do it well!  It makes me a little sad that we had to lower Marcus' crib bed because it means Marcus is getting so big! 
     One final note...tonight, Mark and Marcus were in the living room and I was in the nursery, cleaning up and I heard Mark say, "tell Mommy what you're doing."  Before I knew it, he had CRAWLED into his nursery from the living room!!!  He had the proudest look on his face and would fall every once in a while because he would be laughing so hard when I was telling him how proud I was. 
     Time continues to tick on, and even though we think it's going too fast, we are LOVING where God has us right now. 

As I was cooking supper tonight, guess who joined me in the kitchen.

Pay no attention to the post-nap hair.  We still think he's a cutie!

Daddy is our hero!

Tightening the final screws once it was lowered.

Here's the final product!  I'm happy he's safer, but sad because I can't lean down and kiss him while he's sleeping now. 

Preparation for the Toddler Years

     I'm reading this book called, "Preparation for the Toddler Years" and it's by the author of the BabyWise series.  So far, it makes so much sense.  In the first book, "Preparation for Parenting" it gave tips on how to train your baby to sleep through the night, specific instructions on healthy eating habits, and great ideas on what to do with your newborn during what they call, "waketime."  Well, now that we're past the first 6 months, Marcus, like all babies, is developing a personality of his own and testing the waters of freedom a bit.  He's learning how to eat new foods on his own, how to get from Point A to Point B without rolling (he's actually trying to crawl to get there now, and not just giving up), and he loves getting into trouble.  Our TV sits on a small stand that holds the cable box, DVD player, and other random DVDs.  Marcus loves to pull out all the DVDs and make a mess with them.  Last night, he was playing on the floor in the living room while I was cleaning up the kitchen.  He started that way and I said, "Marcus - NO," in a stern voice, but not yelling.  He looked up at me with the most pathetic little face, tears welled up in his eyes as he began to breath hard, then he erupted in the highest pitched, screaming cry I've ever heard.  He just laid there on his stomach, head down, and cried his little heart out.  It was funny and pitiful all at the same time!  I went over and picked him up, gave him a kiss, and told him he was okay, and sure enough, he was.  No more tears, he calmed right down, and was his normal precious self again.
     So why do I say all this?  Because we are now in the midst of training Marcus to make wise choices and know his limits.  "Leah, the kid is 8 months old...gimme a break!"  Yeah yeah, I hear you griping already.  But the most impressionable and developmental times in a child's life are the first 3 years (and that includes being an 8 month old).  No, we don't expect him to be perfect and no, he doesn't understand how to "obey" yet, but we are setting up, "moral fences" now for him in an effort to point in him the right direction.  As he grows, we want to teach him that there are consequences for disobedience, just like when we disobey God.  These consequences are small now, compared to what they'll be for bigger offenses when he gets older.  One of our favorite quotes in this house is from James MacDonald.  He said,

"When God says don't, He means don't hurt yourself."  

     Our Heavenly Father puts up boundaries for our own good.  He's not a God of "do's and don'ts" but one of mercy and grace.  So as we try to train Marcus in the way he should go, we're not only trying to help him avoid hurting himself, but more importantly, we're trying to point him to Jesus.

I put this one of Mark in here so you could remember how handsome he is.  The place where we workout also has a 9-hold golf course, so on Monday, we dropped Marcus off at the nursery & I watched my amazing husband show off his talents.

Playing with strawberries!  He didn't eat them, but had fun playing with them.

Feeding himself WASA crackers (that I got FREE during triple coupons at Harris Teeter!)

Squealing with delight!

"What are YOU lookin' at?"

PS - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AUNT RAN!!!  WE LOVE YOU!

Does this count as crawling?