Technology

I'm sure we'll look back and scoff, but aren't evening video chats with your grandparents from 400 miles away amazing?!



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Paper Trail.

Marco is four.
For the baby “book,” here’s the latest on our little 4-year old prince:

He’s a handsome little flirt, reserving his best material for women in the 10-15 age range.

He’s a good (to read: insatiable) eater, requiring a snack, a meal and a piece of fruit nightly. Then, “how about a treat?”

He gets me. When I told him to pick up because I just cleaned, he said, “Noooo. You were at work. Who cleaned our house?!”

He’s smart and sneaky, recently asking me “Does the lady who cleans our house pick up behind the couch? Like, if I left wrappers there?”

He’s getting taller everyday and quickly growing out of clothes, car seats and our bathtub.

He’s a negotiator, honing his “deals” on snacks, bedtime, bed staying and show watching.

He’s best friends are Benny and Joaquin at school, Theo, Julian, Avery and Zelia in the neighborhood and Niko and Brookie among our friends.

He’s looking forward to “graduating” to Kinder Haus, where the 4+ year olds are at school, even though he’ll be leaving his two best buddies behind. He told me, “They’ll get there eventually.” We’re less enthusiastic, since he’ll do almost another two years there, starting kindergarten in September 2013.

He’s a talker; he’s eager to use new, big words, taking a full minute to try to pronounce “interrupting” last night. As in, why he got in trouble at school.

He’s learning resistant, blurting “I don’t know” before actually even considering trying to answer. Then, sigh, look and reluctantly answer.

His hair is thick and grows straight out. We briefly tried growing it out to see if it would lay down, but it just kept getting bigger and accentuating his big brain (to read: head). So, “Dada got my hair short.”

He’s a party animal, always eager to “go on a trip,” “go to a party” or go to a friend’s house, alternating between “stay there with me,” or “take me there and then leave.” For his birthday party, we mostly fulfilled his request for "a Batman party where there’s chocolate cupcakes, vanilla cupcakes and chocolate cake sandwiches with ice cream in the middle."

Marco is a cool cat. but of course, we might be a little biased.

Movie Night

It's movie night at home and Marco loves popcorn. As Uncle Mike says, "Ask a Cecchin how much popcorn he wants and he'll say, 'How much you got?'"



I think we may regret watching Kung Fu Panda. Hi-YAH!

On Being Four.

With great power comes great responsibility.  (We're big spiderman fans these days.)  And Marco is feeling the pressure.  He has been soooo excited to be four for so long.  On his birthday he burst into school armed with dozens of cupcakes. 

Marco proudly blurted to his friends:  "I'm four!" 
Friends: "No, you're not."
Marco:  "Yes, I am.  My birthday is at January 23rd."
Friends:  "You're three, not four."
Marco:  "Yes I am four!
Friends:  "Then why aren't you in Kinder Haus?" (the older kids' classroom)
Marco nearly in tears:  "Mama, don't leave yet, come tell my friends that I'm four."

I thought the quickest way to solve the problem would be to punch them.  I mean, who are these bullies anyway?  But I'm incredibly reasonable, so...  "Yep!  He's four, it's his birthday today and he brought cupcakes."  And then whispering to Marco, "And if they say you're not four, tell them they won't get a cupcake."  He liked that.

After a few days of us pointedly reminding him that four-year olds behave a certain way and listen and learn and... and... and... he told us, "I think I just want to be three again.  I knew how to do that.  I was good at it."

 :)

His four-year doctor visit was quick and simple.  We did get to see his MRI pictures, which I would characterize as 'weird.'  His insides aren't as cute as his outsides, but he's healthy with no spinal problems. 

So, here are the stats and pics:  Hearing, perfect at all ranges.  Eyesight 20/25, which they call perfect.  I'm not sure how they give it a number when he basically just pointed to letters, but I'll go with it.  His stature was just where we thought he'd be, right in line with where he's been since about six months old.  Weight read 40.6 and then settled to just under 40, or 77th percentile.  Height was 3'5" or 67th percentile.



  

He loved seeing the doctor and went with her to get four stickers, putting his hand up to Jeff and saying, "No.  Wait here Dad.  I'm going with my doctor."  After the doctor left, Marco snickered and said, "She looked at my butt."

Ah, boys.

Happy Birthday Marco.

All our love for a special boy on his 4th birthday.

(His school party.)

Party like its the East Coast.

Blessed with friends, lasagna and a clock, we brought new years in with style, at 9:30ish. We negotiated most of the kids into bed after that and celebrated midnight with adults and little fanfare.

BUT, my favorite day of the year might be new years day. Football (I heard), leftovers, visiting and an occasional whirlwind of kids blowing through the room like a hurricane. Yes, they were still in pajamas near night fall when we ordered Chinese food, don't judge.

A happy, happy new year.

Here's some pics:







The first seating...

















Firecrackers and dessert at "midnight!"














(psst... Big Jack makes a wicked cake pop. I know!!)

And this is how the kids saw in the real new year...

Mada Luda.

Marco saw a picture and said, "I know who that is!  That's Mada Luda Keen!"

(Psst.  That's Martin Luther King.  It took me awhile, too.)  Tell me if you need a translation on the history he learned at school:

We love school.  And Mondays off.

Mother's Helper

Marco set the table tonight! And my mother got an unexplainable headache.