Boys will be boys.

Marco and I met up with some of the only boys in our lives on Friday. We went to a play place called Studio Grow right by Heather's house with the other stay-at-home moms/nannys. We sat in on a couple song classes and sang in Spanish and Hebrew. Ha! I decided to keep Marco out of the artroom after he tried to eat just about everything in there and his mouth was blue. But he really liked the soft gymnastics room with the ball pit and the crawl-in tunnel. The morning was filled with many cushy landings. Fun ensued.

The photo shoot started off innocently enough and then Jack broke out in tears. Marco backed away a little and then broke out in tears. TEARS people. Drama kings: (from left to right) Nikos, Jack W., Marco & Brayden.

More shots on Heather's blog...

Adventures in Dining

Just when I thought cooking and eating couldn't get more fun, Marco pulls up to the table.

Although we still enjoy the simplicity of baby jarred food - Amen! - Marco has graduated to lots of big boy food and loves it. Project food immersion - so far, so good... spicy pasta, baked potatoes, roasted tomatoes, roasted turnips, roasted carrots, baked chicken, Grandma Ila's meat sauce, pizza, cheese, Grandma Alice's kroeckeroni pasta, the ever popular, mac and cheese and most recently, Grandpa Graf's beef barley soup (shown here).

Each night seems to be an exercise in eating endurance with choruses of "All done? No?" Last night he had six ounces of chunky beef barley soup, baby yogurt mixed with cereal and then polished it all off with two manic handfuls of Cheerios. I unbuttoned his pants and reclined his chair.

K-I-S-S-I-N-G and the clap

Marco's new talents include clapping and kissing!

So far, the clapping is reserved for dinner time (probably learned that from Daddy) and changing time (ditto). Daycare says he's also waving "Bye bye."

The kisses are a wet, open-mouthed affair. Gotta be quick like a cat to turning your cheek. Meow! The less special option is that he's really embraced this "LAND SHARK!" Halloween business and actually trying to eat us.

Here are some shots of Marco racing neighbor Avery up our stairs. Avery won. To be fair, Marco is easily distracted and he is carrying a bigger load. Yes, I mean his Cecchin drag and Andreotti head. Avery is built for speed... lithe and bald.

Stat Rat.

Marco's 9-month appointment and he's pulling away from the pack.

Height: 2 feet, 4.5 inches - 50th percentile

Weight: 22lbs, 3oz. - 70th percentile

Head: We don't want to talk about it. 85th percentile

When the Doc came in, she said, "Well, this height can't be right, I think she must've mismeasured." So, I rebutted, "What are you calling my son 'Shorty, Big Head?'" Doc panics. "Just kidding Doc."P.S. I know what you're thinking. But if you don't let your child play on the doctor's toys covered in flu germs, salmonella and gout, how do you complete the paperwork?

My man can beat up your man.

In the absence of a clever Halloween story, I offer this...

Jeff did it again. Growing up with a sister in theatre has blessed Jeff with deep, dark memories of plays and musicals. Sometimes he doesn't even know he has them. So, we're teaching Marco the fist bump (very important skill I know) and when I "blow it up," Jeff says to me...

"You do it like that girl in Chorus Line who's too fancy."

[Pause.]

"I'm sorry, what?"

"You know, the girl who adds all the extra high kicks because she's not used to being in the chorus."

[Pause to stare at my burly man husband.]

Well, I don't want to make him feel bad so I say, "Oh. That girl."

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Recent shots...
G-pa brought Marco an SI football. Clearly built for the line.
Cousin Tommy the Shark (hockey people), cousin Clara chicken, Marco Land Shark and cousin Joey Buzzzzz.Erin brought this hat for Marco from New York! Well, the hat I think was from here, but she came from New York.