Where did he come from?

At the beginning of January we started a new session of swimming lessons. I wasn't overly excited about the fact that we were going to be doing them at the same facility, as I haven't been too impressed with the instructor that one particular child kept on getting. I was too late in registering with another facility, and wanted to keep the lessons going. I decided that it was better to have them in lessons to keep the confidence and hopefully progress up, than to not have them in any at all.

I had also made up my mind that if this particular child was given the same instructor, that we would be OUT of there!...I'll give you some background information.

The child I am referring to is, Marshall. Getting comfortable in the water has not been an easy thing for him. Up until he was about 4 years old, he was severely afraid of the water. He would be okay to play in the tub, but as soon as it came time to wash his hair, no matter which way I tried to do it (because trust me, we tried several ways) he would freak right out. He didn't even like getting sprayed at the water park.

The past two summers Marshall made a lot of progress in the water, he was no longer playing on the pool deck, but IN the shallow water. He even got to the point this past summer, that if he was wearing a life jacket, he was okay to swim in the deep end...BIG improvement!!

Now my 'beef' with this instructor is that I didn't particularly find he was paying as much attention to the children in his class as he should have been, he just seemed to be laid back and not overly observant. There were at least two separate occasions where I thought Marshall was going to drown...that's how much attention he 'gave' to the students.

He spent too much time sitting on the side of the pool talking with the kids, I only assume it was about water/pool safety...but when you only have a 30 min class, don't spend the bulk of it out of the water! This happened every.single.class. I was so frustrated. I kept thinking 'What on earth have I paid for!?' 'My child does not know how to swim...I'm paying you to teach him how...so DO IT, Please!"

When we arrived for our first class this session, and I saw that Marshall, yet again, had the same instructor, I was SO ready to go get Marshall and leave. Irish was there with me and I started to tell him about how this was the same instructor he had last time, and tell him all about the instructor...again. That is until, I saw my boy jump care free, chest puffed out, feet swung up behind him into the water (during a "if you like ____ jump into the water game")

I was IN SHOCK! I could not process what had just happened. The entire last session the only way Marshall would jump into the water was to hold onto the side of the pool and then jump in. I was so incredibly happy for him. Throughout the lesson he continued to blow my mind. He was so brave, doing things he wouldn't even try in the previous session. He even tried diving (from a sitting position), swinging off the rope & even went as far as to try to 'swim out' to get the rope, all of this in the deep end.

As for now we have decided to leave him where he is. I am SO incredibly proud of him, he is so proud of himself (he has every right to be!!). I really want to work hard with him before summer comes so that he can get to the point where he can swim all by himself. What a confidence booster! Keep up the good work Marshall!!

You better believe that I will be first in line to register somewhere else for next session though...especially since our current location decided to increase the price $22/child PER session...that's a 50% increase from what we paid last time....

The Run Aways

Two weeks ago I had my first experience with my children "running away". Let me tell you, it was SO funny!

It all started one day after school. I was on the laptop doing some online banking and was just about to get off as Benson needed to be fed. Marshall came up to me and asked if he could watch some basketball on the laptop (something him and Irish do on a regular basis...usually at breakfast time). I told him that I didn't have time to set it up for him, that I needed to feed Benson...AND that he hadn't earned it. Well apparently that was just the 'end of the world'. He got all pouty and whined "I hate this word" (I'm assuming the word he wasn't liking was 'No')

I replied saying "I'm sorry hunny, but you haven't earned it & I need to feed Benson" He stomps his foot, has his arms folded, and with a scowled look on his face and says "I'm so mad, I'm going to run away"
Me: Run away!? Where are you going to go?
Marshall: I don't know, I need a bag

So he goes around the house looking for a bag to 'pack' some items. He comes back into the living room and starts putting some toys into it.

I continue to ask him questions that will hopefully get him thinking and maybe realize that running away isn't the answer

Me: Marshall where are you going to sleep?
Marshall: By myself
Me: Who is going to feed you?
Marshall: I don't know, I'm just going to run away

He goes up stairs and comes back down with a stack of P.J's an puts them into his bag. Meanwhile Paisley is beside herself. In tears, crying "I don't want Marshall to leave". I'm trying to console her, and let her know that he's not actually going to leave...and then all of a sudden a switch flips and She's going with him! So now she's looking for a bag. I ask the kids if I should give away their bunkbed, toys & other clothes...you know...since their running away. Marshall told me no, because they weren't going to run away forever!

As Marshall is getting his coat on he tells me "I have some of my toys, pajamas & my boots in case it snows"
I ask him "Hunny, where are you going to go? How are you going to keep warm? Who is going to feed you? Who will tuck you in tonight? Who is going to sing to you at Bedtime" He pauses for a minute and then tells me that they are going to run away to Mary-Pats (Our Grandma friend & neighbor who lives kitty corner to us).

Since they said they were going to go somewhere in particular I decided I would let them 'go' and hopefully get this whole running away thing out of their system.

I watched them go over to her house. Marshall knocked on the door, no answer, knocked again, no answer....put his bag down and knocked on the door a couple more times. They then walked down her side walk and around the side of her house, at this point I could no longer see them. I thought to my self 'oh I hope they aren't going to just sit there and wait for her to come home'!

After a couple of minutes they come walking back around the side of the house and look like they are heading home...when who comes driving down the road!? Yep, Mary-Pat! Great timing! They see her and turn around running back to her driveway.

I start laughing to myself just thinking of what Marshall is going to tell her, how he'll say it and what her reaction will be! I give them a couple of minutes to go inside and then give Mary-Pat a call. Luckily she's laughing at the whole situation as well!

Apparently Marshall told her that they were coming to live with her!! Told her what days he goes to school, when he needs to be there and when he needs to be picked up! I tell her that I'm just in the middle of feeding Benson and I'll be over as soon as he's done!

Not too much later I see Marshall running back to our house. He bursts in the door and says "I forgot my backpack...and I need to get Paisley's coat" At this moment I am trying so hard NOT to laugh! How cute & funny is it that he came back to get his backpack!? And with that he was gone back over to Mary-Pat's!

Once Benson is finished We get our coats on and head on over to Mary-Pat's. When Marshall sees me come in the door he just groans.

"Mooooom, what are you doing here? I told you that we are running away for two sleeps and then we will come back home"

I told him "I came to talk with Mary-Pat and then we are all going home" He wasn't to pleased with the fact that I said we were all going home. I think he honestly thought they were just going to live there for two 'sleeps' and then come back home. As if Mary-Pat could just drop all her plans for the next two days and take care of them.

When we finally did go home we all had a nice chat about how we don't run away from our problems. Instead we need to talk about them, because running away wasn't going to fix anything.

Not that I can 'blame' this whole thing on a book...but I am! I blame a book on putting the idea of running away in his head. Not too long before this whole incident we read "Just So Mad" (one of the Little Critter books) throughout the whole book the critter wants to do certain things and he keeps being told 'No' by different people. So in the end he says he's going to run away. He packs some snacks and I think some toys and is about to run away when his friends show up and ask him to play. After reading that book to the kids I specifically mentioned how it was so silly that the Critter was going to run away just because he was upset...apparently Marshall didn't get the Memo!

All in all everyone involved (except the kids) had a good chuckle over it! They haven't mentioned running away again...yet!

He's all grown up

My Big M...has grown up so fast! He had his first day of Kindergarten this week!! I can NOT believe that I have a child old enough to go to school!! How did this happen!?

The night before I was prepping him a bit. Telling him how I was going to go to school with him, do some paperwork, meet his teacher and then it would be time for me to go. He kept telling me that he could go all by him self the whole time...or in his words "Mom, I can go by myself all the days"

I agreed with him, reassuring him that he was in fact a big boy and could be at school 'all by himself', but that I had to go and do some paperwork, and would leave afterwords if he was okay with it.

I love his expression in the picture above. I think it captures his excitement (he's only been asking me every day for the past 4 months if 'today' was the day he gets to go to school), but at the same time it captures his nervousness for the 'unknown'. Marshall did not attend any pre-school, so he really had no idea what he was actually going to be doing in school...he just wanted to GO!

We sort of had two 'first days' this week. Tuesday was an open house and so all the children and a parent/grandparent/babysitter etc were to go. The adult was allowed to leave after the first hour if the child was feeling comfortable.

At the beginning of our walk to school he was still pretty persistent that I could leave...but by the time the school was in sight there was a little less jump in his step, and he started saying things like "I don't know any of the kids". By the time we got to the classroom, he was pretty much glued to my side!

I kept encouraging him and telling him that he was a brave boy, and could make friends with the other kids in his class.

By the second hour he was feeling a little more confident in himself as he and another boy worked on a puzzle together.

  What's not to like about school!? You get snack time!

It will definitely take some getting use to, not having him around the house for 3 hours during the day. I think the hardest thing for me is going to be just knowing that he is in someone else care...whom I have only met three times now...for brief periods of time.

Up until now he has been with me, a family member, babysitter (who I know) or primary teacher...at ALL times! I know I can't have him 'under my wing' forever...it's just hard to let your first one go...

It makes me happy that he is still excited about school and is making new friends. Today was our second 'first day'...after the open house day they had a staggered entry. Half the class went on Wednesday and the other half went today, Thursday...with no parent/adult there. So today was his first day, without me there.

As we were walking home from school today he said in such a proud voice "Mom, I made a new friend today! His name is Adam, but it's not big Adam (he has an Uncle Adam), just little Adam. (as he used his hands to show me how 'big' and 'small' Adam was...hehe.)

 I Love This Boy

Out of the Mouth of Babes...or almost 5yr olds

It's so neat to see both the kids growing, and trying to grasp new concepts, and occasionally get a glimpse into how their little minds work.

Marshall is a funny kid! Sometimes it's just plain hard to not laugh out loud at what he says. This past weekend we were driving back to my aunts house from church. I was somewhat prepping them by letting them know that later that day they would be going back to Grandma and Grandpas house. Each of them seemed to be okay with that.

I then told them that I had a Doctor's appointment on Tuesday and we would find out then if the Doctor felt it was okay for Mommy to go back home to Lethbridge, or if I had to stay here in Calgary.

Marshall pipes up and says "Mom, when the Doctor helps take the baby out of your tummy, can I hold him?"
Me: "Of course you can" I reply, and then Paisley jumps right in
Paisley: "Me too, me too" -Marshall proceeds to show her how you need to hold the baby (ohh so cute!) 
Marshall then continues to tell me "Mom, when the Doctor helps you take the baby out of your tummy it will slowly get smaller and smaller." -Thanks Marshall!! I had no idea ;)

He pauses for a minute and then asks another question.

Marshall :"Mom, can you do me a favour?"
Me: "...umm sure?!"
Marshall: "When you get married again-
Me: (I immediately cut in) "Get married again? I'm not getting married again, I married Daddy-
Marshall: (he then cuts me off...a little frustrated as if I'm the one that doesn't know what I'm talking about) "No, no when you get married again, can you have a girl baby? Cause Paisley really wants a baby sister"
Me: "oh...umm, well we will have to see. We will have to pray to Heavenly Father and see if we should have another baby. But no, I can't promise it will be a girl
Marshall: (in a somewhat disappointed, but almost a little understanding voice) "oookaaay"

Lightbulb Moment for myself- He thinks that when you get married, that's how you get a baby in your tummy...we'll just let him think that for a little while longer!


Just yesterday I was talking to Marshall on the phone (as we do now on a daily basis) and he was telling me how one of his cousins bite him. I proceed to ask him why his cousin bit him, what he did to make his cousin want to bite him...etc I then ask him if he forgave his cousin and his reply to me was "No, I didn't say that word"

How I love that little boy...who isn't so 'little' anymore! I still can't believe he will be starting Kindergarten this year!!

Little Moments

Today was such a good day! It started out wonderfully as neither Irish or I had to work (in the morning) so there was no hustle and bustle. Just a taking it easy, being lazy, enjoying each others company kind of morning! (it also helps when the kids wake up at a descent time and play so well together in their room, which they did today!)

We all went and had breakfast together, when Marshall was finished we asked him to clear his dishes and then go up stairs to get dressed. He obediently cleared his dishes & went upstairs.

A few minutes later he comes down the stairs saying

"Momma, check this out!"

He then walks into the kitchen dressed like this...

...Yes you are seeing correctly...he came down wearing PAISLEY'S Skinnies!! What a character!! Irish and I just about busted a gut laughing!!

It's little moments like this that make me love this little guy so much!!! It's little moments like this that make me so happy to be a Mom to the wonderful children I have been blessed with! It's little moments like this that forewarn me of the future 'funnies' we will have together as a family!!

Observant little boy

Yesterday at Supper time, we were asking Marshall where all the different Countries were that we have taught him so far. After he finished naming & pointing to them all I asked him if he knew which Country WE lived in?!
His Response: "Umm.....Country Ninety Five Five"


....I guess he pays attention to which station I listen to while driving the van!

I think Irish was a little worried that I've "corrupted" our son...as he strongly DIS likes Country music....but I couldn't help but bust a gut laughing!!

Luigi

We recently acquired a large World map in our kitchen, and it hangs just above our table. Each meal time we talk about where we live, and teach the kids (mostly Marshall at this point...but Paisley will soon learn too) about the different countries on the map.

Right now it's pretty basic, "this Country is called _________" or "Can you show me where _______ is" or "Where is Uncle Mark on his Mission?" or "Where did Gloria, Marty, Alex and Melman all go?"

So far Marshall can tell you where New Zealand, Fiji, Australia, and Madagascar are. (Marshall sits on 'that' side of the table so I guess he will learn the Eastern side of the map first)


In the morning we always 'refresh' what we learned the day before, so today during breakfast I was pointing to each of the different countries that Marshall knows and asking him what they are called. I started out with New Zealand, then Australia and he got those right away! Then I pointed to Fiji and asked him what it was called, he thought about it for a second (as we just introduced Fiji the night before at supper) and then replied "Luigi?!"

I got this idea from a friend of mine (Heather Jubber) who also does this with her children and did it while she was growing up. I immediately liked this idea....because I have NEVER been good at geography (Just ask anyone!!), and I want to give my kids a better 'start' on their geography lessons!

When we first put it up, I noticed that were some islands called "Marshall Islands" so I excitedly said "Marshall, guess what these are called"
"Ummm What?"
"The MARSHALL Islands!! Did you know you have your OWN islands"
He then goes "Ya I go there, (pointing with his fingers) and then I run over here (towards Ireland...as we were showing him this is were Uncle Mike went on his Mission) and tell Uncle Mike I have to go pee!"

We all had a laugh!

The Hungry Store

This past Saturday we were out grocery shopping as a family. Due to the way the day played out we had to wait until Paisley finished her afternoon nap until we could go, which means we weren't able to leave until about 4pm.
 We went to Superstore first and then headed over to Wal-Mart. As we were getting out of the van, and walking into the store Marshall asks me
"Mom, can we go to the hungry store?"
puzzled I ask "the hungry store??"
"Yeah, the hungry store" he says again with a little bit of a "duh, don't you know what the hungry store is?!" tone in his voice.
I ask him "what is the hungry store?" He then points to the big M (for MacDonalds) on the outside of the Wal-Mart building!
I had a good little chuckle over this and told him that we were going home shortly and we would make some supper there. To which I'm pretty sure he replied "Aww darn it!"

I love you 20

Frequently throughout the day Marshall will come up to either Irish or I, put his sweet little arm around our neck, lean his head on our shoulder and say
"I love you Dad/Mom"
we will then reply "I love you too Marshall!"
to which he replies "I love you three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, nineteen, twenty"

(Sometimes he can count all the way to 20 without missing numbers, but usually he misses 17 and 18)

It's moments like this that totally make up for all the times I feel so frustrated with him and his whiny self!
I love you Bud!

Snakes Poop

Last week Marshall and I finally made cookies together. I had been promising to make Banana Bread with him...but every time we went to make it...there were no bananas to be found (there must be some monkeys living here or something!)

Once the dough was all put together, I gave him his own pan, and scooped 10 little balls of dough for him to do what ever he wanted. At first he was rolling them all out into 'snakes'. He made a bunch of different shapes and designs with his snakes.

Meanwhile I am making the rest of the dough into what I hoped to be yummy looking cookies. Halfway through Marshall holds up three of his snakes....

and says "Look Mom, Poop!"
"What?!?" I asked
"POOP" he replies with a giggle in his voice
"I thought you were making snakes" I questioned
"YA snake poops!!"

What a silly boy! Now, Marshall loves.loves.LOVES to have videos taken of him, and loves watching videos of himself. We could honestly sit down at the computer allllll day and watch videos of him...and probably the same one over and over and over!!

He was getting right into playing with his dough. I decided to take a video. This is my boy playing with his snakes poop!

 

We had a fun time making cookies, and Marshall enjoyed making his very own cookies...aka "snakes poop" all by himself!!

Ta da dalaaaaaaa

This morning as Marshall was cuddling in our bed with us...as he does every.single.morning...he was saying how he was hungry and he needed cheerios. I told him to go and put some socks, long pants and either a sweater or long sleeved shirt on.

About 3 minutes later he come back into our doorway and as he approaches sings "Ta da dalaaaaaaaa". I look at him and he is wearing socks, shorts and a short sleeved shirt.

I tell him "Marshall, go put pants and a long sleeved shirt on silly, it's cold outside"

He replies "oh that's funny" and walks away.

About another 3 minutes pass and he comes running down the hallway and as he gets closer to our doorway sings "Ta da dalaaaaaaa" Pauses and asks "How bout this guys?" while tapping his legs with his hands.

Both Irish and I start laughing, because all he did was go and put on a different pair of shorts!

Oh what a silly boy! He seriously wants to wear shorts every day!

P.S. He also sings "Ta da dalaaaaaaaaaa" all the time. Whenever he finishes something and wants to show us he brings out the ta da dalaaaaaaa

hazardous to their health

...Okay so maybe not to their health...but for their well being!!

So as you know Paisley is now up and walking everywhere! (click here to see the video) She was...(key word *was*) doing good, no falls, no trips, no bruises...until day nine of walking....day nine, and ten were not that nice to my Paisley girl. In two days this is what my little girl managed to have happen to her

My poor girl! I felt so bad for her!!

Now take Marshall, he's been walking for over 2 years...you would think he'd get the hang of it by now...it must have been one of those days. On the same day that Paisley got her first two 'beauty marks' Marshall got one of his own, it wasn't too bad. I think I just like the story that goes with it!

 

We (Marshall and I) decided that we were going to go and clean the van out (believe me it needed it). Marshall was walking to the van with garbage bag in hand. Just like a true boy he was caught up in his 'day dream', swinging the bag up and down in the air, while twirling in circles. I tell ya, it takes talent...but he twirled right smack dab into the middle of a tree! Poor boy, he was totally taken off guard! It took everything within me not to chuckle out loud!

I am happy to say that since these incidents, both of my children have been doing very well in the walking department :)

Daddy's song

Usually everyday Marshall does something to make me laugh! For a while now when we get into the van he will ask for me to put music on. Since it's just me and the kids I usually put on country music, because I like it and they can't tell me no. (other wise, I would never get a chance to listen to it!)

Every time Marshall will tell me "No Mom, that's Daddy's song".
I've tried asking "Why is it Daddy's song?"
                         "What makes it Daddy's song?"
                         "What is a Mommy song?"
All he gives me is "No that's Daddy's song"

It doesn't matter if it's a female or a male singing, or what station it is on...it's Daddy's song!

his favourite

Marshall LOVES the Pixar movie 'Cars'. He has a lot of the cars from the movie and a Mack truck. He plays with them allll day! If it's not that, he's playing with Buzz lightyear...who is usually flying with Lightning McQueen. In fact most mornings he is more concerned with finding his two Lightnings, two Sallys, Buzz, Woody and Mack so he can put them on the counter (...it's high enough that Paisley can't reach them!) than he is with eating breakfast!

Lately I've noticed more and more dialogue from the movie coming into his play (and honestly he doesn't even watch the movie all that much, I'd say he's probably seen it 3-4 times in the last 2 months). It just amazes me how much he actually remembers from it. I love to stop what I am doing and listen from the other room. I have attempted to get a video of it for a while now...but as usual, when the camera comes out...whatever it was you wanted to catch, stops.

Although today was different. We were sitting down for lunch, and he starts quoting Cars. I listened to the whole scene where Mator is trying to convince Lightning to go tractor tipping with him. Not only is it just dialogue, but he's got the sound effects down to a T! You can't hear it that well on the video, but he even does the whole part after the tractor has been tipped, and makes the noise (gluging) of their gas being all jerked around from tipping and then the whole  'letting the pressure out'. I don't know about you, but I get a kick out of it!

This video isn't as good as what I listened to the first time...but it was the best he would give me of the tractor tipping scene!

Points of Interest

06 seconds- Mator "bawking" like a chicken cause Lightning doesn't want to scare the tractors
18 seconds- Lightning reving his engine, to tip the tractors
30 seconds- the tractor noises (after being tipped)

The next 'bid' he did for me was the very opening scene of the movie where Lightning is giving himself a prep talk before the race!! I love this one, he's added sound effects for this as well!!

Points of Interest
0 - 30 seconds- Lightning's self prep talk
40 - 1:26- the song that plays right as Lightning enters the track (Keep your eye on him at 1:09, as he even does the "UH" in the song with his lip moving over to the one side...just like the car)
2 min 13 seconds- it clicks!

Hope you enjoyed them as much as I did!

We done good!

As I am sure many of you do, we at Thanksgiving go around the table and each get a turn to say some things that we are grateful for.

This year we had two Thanksgiving dinners, one at my In laws, and the other at my Aunt and Uncles.When it came to Marshall's turn at our second dinner without hesitation he said "Umm, I'm grateful for Jesus Christ, Amen"

Both Irish and I looked at each other and Smiled! "We done good!"

Marshall is such a sweet and caring little boy, and already very protective of his little sister. While we are at the gym, if anyone takes a toy from her, or knocks her down, he will march right up to them stick his face a little too close to theirs and say "You be nice to my sweetie pie"

Once during snack time in nursery she was sitting at the table with all the other kids, he gets up off his chair, goes over to her, puts his hands or her shoulders and proudly says "This is my beautiful girl"

When he gets the chance he LOVES helping her have her bottle.

Lately they have been playing sooooo well together, I love it!

Joke of the day

...or every day for that matter!


Marshall likes to 'tell jokes'.

 Everyday, usually when we are at the table eating a meal (...so yes, this happens three times a day) Marshall will say:


M: Knock Knock
Usually me: Who's there?
M: Grandma, Great Grandma and Grandpa!!
and then lets out this big laugh, followed by "oh that funny mom"

Everyday, when I am "talking with Mother Nature" Marshall will:
Knock on the door while saying "Knock, Knock"
Me: Who's there?
M: it's ASTRO BOY! (followed by laughing)


I love my little guy! I'm glad he thinks he is so hilarious! We all laugh with him...well mostly it's with him, but usually it's at him, but only cause his facial expressions and his actions are so.darn.cute.

Marshall, I love you so much. I enjoy watching you grow everyday! I hope you never stop telling us your jokes!!

His Laugh

His Laugh is so contagious! I love it!

Today Marshall was downstairs watching Sesame Street while I was doing some cleaning and getting lunch ready. I hear him giggle, and then just burst out into his cute, adorable, real, contagious laugh. I didn't even know what he was laughing about, but from upstairs I was laughing too!

I love that he can make me laugh without even knowing it!!
Love you Big M!
Love Mom :)

Boys

I don't know what was different about today than any other day, but boy oh boy was Marshall OFF the wall!! He was absolutely nuts! I don't know where he got his energy from, but I wouldn't mind a bit if he shared with me, even just a little!!

We just moved into the other side of the duplex and I still have some organizing to do, so needless to say there are still boxes everywhere. This morning I was trying to get the dishes done and figure out how I wanted my kitchen set up/re-arranging cupboards.

Paisley was down for a nap so I was trying to make the most of the time by getting stuff done. Marshall was seriously here, there and everywhere. Running around inside and out. He asked for a snack so I cut up an apple for him and told him to eat it on the steps outside!

I don't think this kid knows how to talk quietly-at all! (which is something I am currently working on with him...INSIDE voice...PLEASE!)

So I'm doing to the dishes when I hear-

"Maaaan....MAAAAAN....maaaan" I knew right away he must have seen the Mailman!! I quickly run outside and tell him to stop yelling at the mailman, that he couldn't talk to him right now because he was doing his job, which was to give everyone their mail. I tell him to calm down and NOT to yell at people.

A little while later I hear more yelling. My brother-in-law Jay comes in (he's here re-doing the bathroom) and asks
J-"Did you hear Marshall?"
K-"I heard him, but I don't know what he said"

He then goes on to reenact what Marshall said/did.

Marshall is standing outside by the front stairs holding a stick in one hand with it raised up in the air above his head. He then starts to yell while looking around to see if anyone can hear him "I FOUND A STIIIIIIIIICK" (repeating it over and over)

All morning I kept saying "oh my goodness, I don't know what is up with Marshall today, he is crazy" Finally at lunch time Jay says "I think he's just being a boy"

My conclusion - Boys are crazy!! But crazy or not I still love mine!!

This was too cute not to post!

It's quarter after 10, waaaaaay past the time Marshall should be actually sleeping in his bed. I am downstairs watching TV and I hear foot steps upstairs. I go up to check things out and see Marshall standing by the fridge. This is our following conversation:

Me: "Marshall, what are you doing?"
Marshall: "umm just looking out the window (while he points to it), umm looking at mack & lightning & this"
Me: "Marshall do you need to pee?"
Marshall: "No, I did already"
Me: "what?! where?" (slightly panicking as he went to bed in his underwear)
Marshall: "Come here Mom, I show you"

He then walks towards his bedroom, but turns into the bathroom and walks towards the toilet.

Marshall: "See mom, i pee here (pointing IN the toilet bowl), not there (pointing at the seat), there (IN the toilet bowl).
Me: Relieved "Okay, Marshall thank you SO much for peeing on the toilet! Now it's time to go back bed, okay?!"
Marshall: " Okay Mom, goodnight...(and then yells from his room) You go downstairs and watch basketball, okay!?"

So funny! I wonder if he knows there is more on TV than basketball!

I love my little boy! I love his developing personality, his increased speech/comprehension, and imagination!

i know

The last little while Marshall has acquired a few favorite sayings
1) why not (to absolutely everything!!)
2) dat (that) funny mom/dad
3) I love it (to everything!)
4) I know

He picked up the first three by himself, but the fourth one he picked up from me. I didn't realized how often I said this phrase until Marshall started saying it. When I say it, it's usually because Paisley is getting tired or hungry and she is crying. Or I am helping Marshall in some way and I can't get to her right away and so I say "I know, I know Paisley girl" or "I know hunny/sweetie pie"..etc just to let her know i hear her...but am occupied at the moment.

Marshall has now picked up the same saying, and uses it in almost the same way. If we are driving in the van and she starts crying he will say in the sweetest little sincere voice you have ever heard "I know...i know paysee. It's okay we going home/grandpas house/store" followed by "it's otay sweetie pie".
Seriously just to hear him be so concerned with his little sister brings a smile to my face! Since Paisley is beginning to be a little more mobile and play on her own a lot better, the two of them have started to play so nicely together. I could just sit and watch them play together all day. I hope they will be able to hold on to this friendship that they have as the years go by.