Peek-a-Boo

Greg and I have been playing peek-a-boo with Marcus for quite some time now. Like all little kids, he loves this silly game. Yesterday Greg claimed that Marcus was playing on his own. I believed him but didn't want to look. I wanted to see it on my own. This morning I went in to get Marcus out of his bed. He grabbed his blanket and pulled it over his face. Then with much gusto he pulled it down and I yelled, "Peek-a-boo!" He erupted into giggles. Then he repeated the game about a million times because, well, that is what kids do! All these fantastic presents for Christmas and all he needs was a blanket to cover his face with.

--Annie

First Christmas

Marcus just had the joy of experiencing his first Christmas ever. For both Christmas Eve and Christmas he sported a Christmas bib along with Baby's First Christmas booties. He was dressed in stylish dress pants and button down shirts with vests. If you can believe it, he looked cuter than usual!

We spent Christmas Eve with my inlaws and Christmas Day with my family. Marcus got showered with love and presents! He really pulled in a rather nice loot and Greg and I could hardly wait to get home so we could play with his presents. The poor kid was just so tired. On Christmas Day he was able to catch a short nap before all the aunts, uncles, and cousins showed up but he spent the rest of the day running on fumes. He did remarkably well all things considered. Marcus's favorite part of the holiday was all the bows and the wrapping paper.

--Annie

Visit From Santa

Here come Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, right to Marcus's house!

Santa came to our house early! On Saturday night, up in front of our house pulled a fire truck with its red lights twirling. Over the bull horn came a loud, "Ho Ho Ho! Marcus! Santa is here to see you!"

It is something our neighborhood arranges every year. I wasn't even going to do it, thinking that Marcus wouldn't know the difference. Then I decided that snapping a few shots with a Santa delivered right into my living room was a much better option than standing in line for hours at the mall and dishing out a fortune for a very poor print of Santa and Marcus. Santa held Marcus for a few pictures and Marcus just sorta looked at him, checking him out. That was about the extent of that. When I called to have Marcus put on Santa's "nice" list, I was informed that Santa was even going to bring a gift for Marcus. I figured it would be something about the caliber of a coloring book. Wow, was I ever wrong!

After Santa left, we took Marcus into the family room to check out his gift. He sat on the floor and we put the gift on his lap. He just looked at it. Apparently the excitement was too much for Peyote, our dog, to handle. She calmly walked over to Marcus, picked up the gift from his lap, and took it a few feet away to unwrap it for him. We decided this probably wasn't a bad idea and eventually got Peyote and Marcus to work together. We took some video of the event. At least now I wont have to feel like I need to open all of Marcus's gifts this year that I wrapped myself and I don't need to feel guilty for only getting Peyote one little thing from the dollar store! Inside the wrapping was a fabulous gift for Marcus - a set of Roll-A-Round balls! This gift is made even more fabulous when you take into account that I happen to know what someone else got him this year, and he will be able to use his new Roll-A-Round balls with it!

Flying Solo

Greg had to go to work today for a "knowledge transfer" so it is just Marcus, the pooch, and me today. I decided to get up early so I could get showered before Greg needed to get in the shower and that way I would have that taken care of. It would have worked out perfectly if Marcus hadn't decided he needed to get up at the same time that I did. I heard him babbling happily over his monitor and figured as long as he was happy, he didn't need me. So I showered. It just wasn't a nice relaxing shower like I had hoped.

Since we were both dressed and fed, we actually made it out of the house this morning. It was my first solo trip out with him. I have gone places with him alone and then met up with friends. Today it was just him and me hitting the aisles of the grocery store. I didn't have much to get and apparently no one goes grocery shopping at 9am on a Monday morning. It was quite a pleasant trip. Marcus was happy. I was happy. And now we have groceries too.

--Annie

Spoke too Soon

I was a bit premature in my diagnosis that one of Marcus's little teeth were going to make an appearance. It looks more like two of his teeth are going to show up! Although there is no whiteness of a tooth yet, there are little marks on his gum and I can feel one of the teeth, just a little hard spot. And of course I have to feel for his teeth several times a day. I am glad my mom doesnt stick her fingers in my mouth several times a day to feel my teeth.

Toothless Smile

What could be cuter than one of those big toothless grins that little babies give? Really, I cant think of anything. I just love walking in the room and seeing that smile on Marcus, or playing a game and there is, flashing those gums. It is looking like those great toothless smiles are soon to be a thing of the past.

Yesterday I was writing about how Marcus had morphed into Mr. Grouchy Pants. While we were at the day care yesterday I happened to get a weird angle on Marcus's mouth and it looked like he had a little dark mark on his gum. I didn't think much of it since it was probably just yet another piece of dog hair that ended up in his mouth. Last night Greg was up with him for 2.5 hours. He said he wasn't mad or crying, just didn't want to sleep. This morning when I was playing with Marcus I caught that weird mark on Marcus's gum again. It is right where one of his lower front teeth would be and upon further inspection, it looks like a tiny little split in the gum. Greg claims the two little teeth are right there but all I see is that tiny little gum spot.

Apparently this is supposed to be one of those great milestones. People get all excited when their little kids cut their first tooth (usually the excitement comes after the sleepless nights are over). I'm really not that excited. I like Marcus just the way he is. I don't want him to grow up! I want him to stay little and toothless forever!

Mr. Grouchy Pants

Lately it seems that Marcus has been having these fits of total grouchiness. Maybe in part they are because he is comfortable with us now and able to express his distaste for things he does not like. Maybe he is finally teething. Maybe he has been overtired or extra hungry. Anyway, he has had spurts of being grouchy.

Two mornings ago he would just randomly start crying. It was the cry he makes when he has hit his head or somehow received some other small injury. Yet, it would occur when he was just sitting there randomly. We fed him and put him down for his morning nap and then he was back to his normal happy self. Then today, lots of Mr. Grouchy Pants today. I am going to attribute it all to his flu shot that he got, despite the fact that he was rather grouchy on the way to getting his flu shot. I am wondering if he just doesn't like the car because lately anytime he is in the car, if he is not sleeping, he is whining or crying. This evening we had company over. Mostly he was fine. Then he would just cry out. Normally he likes to be on his belly but today anytime he was put on his belly he would scream like he was being tortured. We thought maybe he was just tired, ready to go to bed earlier than usual. But then when Greg fed him and put him down to sleep, he was not interested in sleep at all. It didn't take too long for him to get to sleep, but it was just not how he usually is.

Greg, Marcus, and I went to check out a day care today. We all liked it. Marcus loved looking at the other kids. We visited all the rooms but spent the most time in the room that he would be in when we first need child care. It was just so cute seeing all those kids lined up at the tables waiting for their snack. There is still at least one other center that I want to visit so we will see, but this one is the most convenient for us so that gains lots of points.

Off to bed...