The cow jumped over the head the size of the moon.

After a week long (and counting) cold and a boycott of food (including his birthday cupcake), here are the stats from Marco's 1-year appointment:
Weight: 23 lbs. 14 oz., 62nd percentile
(Today he ate more than he ate all last week, so my back and I are calling that a little light.)

Height: 29 inches, 25th percentile
Does the Eggert/Grochol basketball team need a point guard?

Head: Moon sized, 82nd percentile

Aftershock

Marco's birthday came and went leaving us with lots of new toys, new clothes, a wicked cold and a new tooth. If you're still counting, that's seven. If you're counting hours he made it to daycare this week, that's two.

Thanks to everyone for the special birthday wishes, gifts and thoughts. The largest plastic toy award, or "booby prize" goes to a giant basketball hoop. We've already started working on Marco and Brooke's alley oop. A close second was the giant, loud Caterpillar tractor straight outta Wilton. And an honorable mention to the batting toy that Marco bangs on the top of - very bam bam. You barely have to bump the thing before it's yelling "GOING... GOING... GONE! IT'S OUTTA HERE!!"

And great news - Marco is totally going to take care of me in my old age! He got his first stock! His officially a Disney shareholder. Buy Mickey!

We got many basketball gifts and I'm hoping that means you're expecting Marco to get taller at his next appointment? I'll keep you updated.

Here are some shots. Willa was nice enough to make Marco a special cupcake at her birthday party. And her parents were nice enough to let him eat it shirtless (I didn't bring a back up shirt. Trashy baby.) He methodically ate the cupcake from Willa, but by the time his party rolled around, he was full. (I think he was starting to come down with something.)

A little help from my friends

MLK Jr Day found us stay-at-home-mommying (+Jack)! Habitot + Jupiter salad, cider and outdoor patio + record east bay temps (73+) = one nice day off.
Bonus shot... Marco refuses anything but adult food now and insists on feeding himself. He's even making progress with his fork! Oh, and ribs.

Room with a view.

We headed out to Stockton to move Gr-Grandma to a smaller apartment. She wanted to downsize to a one bedroom and a corner unit opened up. It's fab! The new view is beautiful and it's a corner unit, which means more windows and more light.

As as added bonus, Marco go to meet Uncle Louie for the first time. I dressed him in jeans and a Hawaii t-shirt as an homage and guess what? Uncle Louie was wearing the same color Hawaii t-shirt and jeans. Seriously, kindred spirits.

We toasted our hard work with Mexican food and Mexican water [to read: margaritas and Corona].

A must watch

Cousin Tommy does birthday.

Happy 1st Birthday Marco!

You're a joy.
You're a blessing.
You're a kick!
Happy Birthday little love.

I will survive.

In the "awkward stranger comment story" competition, let's see how this stacks up. We met some parents from our daycare. Here was the 'did I say that out loud?' conversation with the father...

Him: "Wow, Marco has a big head. I mean, big. When he first started at daycare, I told my wife, 'wait until you see the size of this kid's head - it's like the moon.'"

Me: "Oh yeah, he has a big head. That's 85th percentile!" (ha, ha, huh?)

Him: "Really? Only 85th? You mean there are kids that have bigger heads than that?"(Seems proportionate with his belly to me!)

And another pina colada for my mother.

Aloha!

Continuing to live our hard lives in this struggling economy, we crashed the Kienzle family vacation and headed off to Kauai with the Romioses for a week-long vacation. Marco took his first flight and we rented our first mini-van. Uh, awesome. We filled our days with fun, sun, poolside naps, swimming and pina coladas.

Box score:
2 boys
7 pina coladas
8 days on the island
9 baby Hawaiian shirts
60 dollars spent on getting our luggage there and back (damn United)
Loads of whale sitings
Innummerable chickens and roosters (First I called them ducks thinking Marco would too, but he just looked at me like I was crazy)
180 horrible photos (none of the six of us or of Heather and I together)

Here are a few:
"This Visa should cover my Mother's pina colada habit. Keep it open."

Now that Marco walks everywhere, it's almost impossible to get a photo of him sitting still. This was one of 23 photos of him walking towards me when I tried to get a shot.

Ring around the rosey.

Special thanks to cousin Tommy, cousin Joey and Luke "LJ" for the hand-me-down summer attire! Oh, and the $1.50 sale at Old Navy helped too!

Holiday Wrap-up

I've been a little remiss in Christmas posting, here are some shots. We felt the joy! Family, friends, food and fortune!

The boys sat at the table heads for Christmas Eve. Marco enjoyed his first veal involtini.

Marco was very spoiled. Shocking, I know.

We even got to do lots of visiting with Nonna. Marco loved to smile at Grandma and grab her feet! A lady at her place offered us one million dollars for Marco. We're checking her financials.Marco got several phones for Christmas. Now EVERYTHING is a phone and must be put against his head "Haaaaa-aaa..." (Hello.)

That's a wrap. I need a nap. For more exciting holiday tales, check out Heather and Linda's accounts. And check this out if you want to see lots of lots of sausage. You've been warned. I'm barely talking to Heather since she posted that 9-month preggo pic of me.