5 on Friday

As always, here are 5 special reasons I am loving my boy this week:

5. The other day when we got out of the car, Marino said, "Mommy, the moon is very full today" (it was, by the way). I have no idea where he got that from, since I've never discussed the phases of the moon with him, but it was pretty impressive!

4. Every time we mentioned Thanksgiving in the week leading up to it, he would say "Mino eat turkeys."

3. I swear the boy is a comedian. He'll get all worked up about something trivial (like he doesn't see any buses on our morning commute) and he'll be super dramatic ("OH NO!! MINO CAN'T FIND A BUS!! WHERE IS THE BUS, MOMMY? COME HERE THE BUS!!!") and then shake his head and say very calmly "it's not good." It cracks me up every time!

2. On Sunday, he bit into his balloon animal from Noah's party. Of course, it popped and shriveled up. The look on Marino's face was priceless! He just stood there in disbelief and handed to me, saying "Here, Mommy. You fix it."

1. Marino's vocabulary and speech has been improving by leaps and bounds the last few weeks. He'll say something and Evan and I will look at each other and say "did you hear that?" For example, the other night he told me "I thirsty." I asked if he wanted water, he said yes and drank all the water I gave him. As another example, the other morning he was climbing up Evan's legs and he said "I climbing the mountain". He also is using old words in new ways, like smiling at his bath toy and saying "Hi, little guy." Its really amazing to have a perfectly coherent conversation with him!

Visit to Brookside Gardens with Megan

On Sunday, we met up with my friend Megan at Brookside Gardens. They had all the displays for The Garden of Lights up and I can't wait to go this year! We've been having unusually warm weather, so it was good to get outside and let the boy run around.

This is what we saw most of the time...the boy running away.
I LOVE to see Marino's imagination in action. He started "playing" these tree stumps like bongos, so I found him a drumstick to use.

He had Megan and I follow him in this log and once we were inside, he made his dramatic face and said "Oh no! The monster is coming! Let's hide!"

He kept telling us to "go round and round" over this bridge. Then he told us a "scary ghost" was coming.

Megan was stomping next to him, so he wanted to try it out.

Mino and Megan

He thought this frog was pretty cool. "He's got a book!"
Can't wait to check out the lights (they're open after Thanksgiving).

Noah's 1st Birthday Party

Last Saturday was Noah's 1st birthday party. The party was amazing - Jen did an awesome job with it! Oh Susannah! performed and made balloon animals for the kids - they loved it! Marino and Sydney loved the music and tired themselves out jumping up and down. I think this is the longest we've gone without seeing our buddies since the summer, so it was great to see them!

Noah was happy to zip around in his walker (with some extra help from friends)

Daddy and Marino

Marino and Syd finding imaginative ways to use the instruments.
Marino being a clown

Happy boy

Evan making a new friend

Jen and the birthday boy

Silly Sydney

Making balloon animals - the kids LOVED this!

Sydney, Marino and Bella - the 3 amigos

The girls and their dogs

Marino was attempting to make his own balloon animal

The birthday boy with Dad and Mom

He wasn't so sure about his cake

So Jen tried to help him out...he was much more enthusiastic after that!
I know it was a special day for Jen. Noah's birth was not an easy one - his first days were filled with emergency hospital transfers and NICU time. Noah was born (full term) with TTN (Transient Tachypnea of the Newborn), also known as "wet lungs". While he has asthma, he is currently a healthy little guy and his health and happiness are a miracle. We were happy to celebrate this day with him!

5 on Friday

As always, here are 5 special reasons I am loving my boy this week:

5. The other night I sighed when I was sitting next to Marino. He started rubbing my back and said "What's a matter, honey? What's wrong, my honey?"

4. Marino is in the habit of saying things to get a reaction out of me. You can tell, because he'll get this faint little smirk and his eyes seem to be smiling. In the car the other night, he said "Mino go poo poo". I asked him if he had to use the potty and he said "poo poo coming." I asked if he had to go right now and he said "poo poo coming to get you, Mommy!"

3. On Monday, Grammy Deb gave him Chuck the Truck. He is in love with "my truck"! Chuck "comes" when you call him and the look on his face when he gets Chuck to come is PRICELESS! He is soooo pleased with himself!!

2. Speaking of priceless faces, Marino has this new face he makes when he is giving out "big hugs" (inanimate objects included). He closes his eyes and purses his lips. It's adorable. See below..."big hugs" for his buddy Claire.

1. I mentioned last month that one of the beautiful things about Marino's age and his daycare is that the kids all treat each other the same, regardless of physical or cognitive limitations. Everyone just is who they are, and the children's capabilities for interaction don't influence their inclusion in what's going on. On Saturday, Marino took it upon himself to pass out the birthday hats. When he got to his friend Wyatt, who has physical limitations that would prevent him from being able to put on his own hat, Marino didn't even flinch before standing on his tip toes, leaning over Wyatt's wheelchair, and putting his hat on for him. I was so proud of my boy in that moment - that he showed such care for his friend.

Ariana Turns 3

Saturday morning we said goodbye to Gus aka "Yittle Puppy". He went to his new home...with my dad and stepmom! We were all sad to see him go (except Max) but luckily we will see him again soon.

After my dad and Barb left, Marino and I went to Color Me Mine for Ariana's 3rd birthday party! I wasn't sure how Marino would be in a setting where everything is breakable but he did great and we had a wonderful time. AND Marino best friend from daycare, Delaney, was there. You should have seen the look on his face when he realized it was her! Ariana, always a sweetie, greeted us with hugs and smiles.

Here's the birthday girl, listening to a story and coloring.

Marino painting his bowl. Very serious stuff.
There's a half smile!

Delaney showing Marino how to use a noisemaker.

Ariana, expertly blowing out her candle!

Marino wanted to help her open presents.
Ariana's gorgeous mommy, Karen, with Marino and the birthday girl.

It was a great time. The whole rest of the day, Marino was saying "Mommy, I see friends!"

Favorite Things: Age 2 Edition

I meant to write this post months ago but we've been so busy! I'm sure all this will change after Christmas, but I wanted to post about Marino's favorite toys and books right now.

Favorite books:
I Love It When You Smile by Sam Mcbratney
Slinky Malinky Open The Door by Lynley Dodd
Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
Crictor by Tomi Ungerer
Hairy Maclary's Bone by Lynley Dodd
Thomas the Tank Engine books (he seems to like the books more than the show, which is downright bizarre in my opinion...what are those trains so mad about all the time?!!)

Favorite toys:
In general, he LOVES Playdoh and stickers right now.
For his birthday, Sonia got him this Storytime Sticker book and its awesome! The stickers are reusable and you can use them to add to the story in the book. We play with it all the time.

He also loves his Plan Toys drum set,as does EVERY toddler that comes to our house.

Another Plan Toys toy he loves is his Plan Toys geometric sorting set. He had a hard time with this when he first got it (on his birthday in July) but now he is an expert at it and likes identifying the shapes, colors, and counting the holes (inaccurately, not he's trying).

His Little People Racing Ramps Garage gets played with everyday. Any toy with wheels or balls the will fit get sent down the ramp.

Last Christmas he got a Thomas the Train set and he LOVES it. The trains get sent down the Little People ramp, too, of course. He likes attempting to put the track together himself.

This Pintoy Fire Truck is another favorite. Its big enough for Buzz and Woody to ride in, so they fight a lot of fires around here.

His basketball hoop is another favorite (although it will be too cold to play with soon).

Currently, his very favorite toy is a pull back Corvette Evan bought for him at CVS for $5. The simplest things are often the favorites.

5 on Friday

As always, here are 5 special reasons I am loving my boy this week:

5. On Friday, I was talking to Marino about Thanksgiving and who we were going to see. I said "Grampa Ray" and Marino said "Grampa Ray? Mino see Gramma, too? Let's go, Mommy".

4. In the same conversation above, we talked about PapPap as someone he would see on Thanksgiving, too. We were on our way to the grocery store. As we were walking in, Marino spotted a man with a moustache sitting in a parked car. He shouted "THERE HE IS! THERE'S PAP PAP!!" I guess all moustached men look like PapPap.

3. Marino loves it when you cheer. For him, for other people, for inanimate objects. The other day on the ride home, he said "Mommy, go, go, Mino" (which is what he says when he wants me to cheer). He then had me cheer for everything his little brain could think of: Gramma, cars, birdies, Grampa Ray, yittle puppy, DJ Lance Rock. It's always fun to see what's on his mind.

2. Wednesday night, I was putting Marino to bed and he said "I love you, Mommy." I said "I love you, too, Marino" and he said "I love you, Sawa" :)

1. We've had a special guest staying with us. His name is Gus and he is being adopted by my father and stepmother. He and Marino (and Max) are adorable together. They roll around all over the house together. Marino always calls him "yittle puppy" instead of his name. Monday morning he woke me up by saying "Yittle puppy is the boss."

5 on Friday

As always, here are 5 special reasons I am loving my boy this week:

5. On Saturday, Aunt Chelle was over and Evan asked her "Do you want to go o-u-t-s-i-d-e?" Marino said "HEY! What are you guys talkin about?"

4. I love listening to Marino's conversations with himself in the car. When he thinks I'm not listening, the conversation with himself usually goes something like this:
"Is that a truck? No, that's not a truck. That's a car. No, not a car, that's a bus. No bus. Its a bike. No bike, its a car. DRIVE FAST CAR!!!"

3. If you've seen the new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, you know about "the hot dog dance." The song that goes with it starts out "hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog..." Marino has been singing a lot lately, and he was singing the hot dog dance song in the car, but in Marino's version, the lyrics are "hot dog, hot dog, the naked dog."

2. Marino has learned how to do a mean somersault. He particularly likes somersaulting off the couch and into my stomach while I'm sleeping.

1. Marino is in love with taking a shower. We have to drag him out of the shower! Saturday morning, he picked up my book light and Plex and pretended Plex was "showering" under the booklight.

Halloween 2010

Last Halloween didn't turn out the way I expected, but this Halloween made up for it! Sunday, Evan, Marino and I went to Jen's house to watch the Redskins game and celebrate Halloween. we had a wonderful time and this Halloween was a blast! Jen really did a great job of making it a special day for everybody (the guys and the kids alike).

In the afternoon, the kids were pretty excited for Halloween. Can you tell?

We walked over to Nalls Produce. They had some Halloween fun there - pumpkins to climb on, tunnels to go through and face painting. They were also giving out juice and trick or treating bags. The employees there were extremely nice to the kids.

Bella, Sydney and Marino = the three amigos

Sydney - always a sweetie!

Juliana, Sydney, Bella and Justin (my child is missing - he is not usually compliant for picture taking)

Jen and Syd - twins!

All the kids dressed up - ready for trick or treating!

We brought Max to Jen's with us because we thought he might have a heart attack if we left him alone with trick or treaters walking by the house. He was AWESOME when we were trick or treating! Lots of strange kids wanted to pet him, and he was loving all the attention. He'll be wearing a costume next year (this year we just put him in his bomber jacket as Marino's wingman).

Initially, Marino was confused about what was happening with the trick or treating.

Once he caught on, he was VERY enthusiastic!

This is the "scary house". The owner of this house converted his garage until this very cool walk-through haunted house (this is just the yard). It was pretty amazing - it must have cost a couple thousand dollars to set this thing up, with black lights, strobe lights, liquid smoke, etc. Marino went through with Evan once and came to tell me about "the scary house." I had to see for myself and he came with me a second time. Forget it. He's talked about nothing but "the scary house" since Sunday!!

Marino was hustling all the candy givers! He would stand at the door and say "trick or treat" over and over to get extra candy. If he saw someone else in the house, he would stick his head in and yell "trick or treat", assuming everyone had candy. I got lots of compliments on his "enterprising" spirit.

Noah was not into his costume but he thought his dad was pretty funny!

Our family trick or treating

This was my first time trick or treating in, oh, twenty years. I had a new perspective experiencing it for the first time as a parent. There were many older people (presumably grandparents) who really went all out to decorate and give the kids hands full of candy. There were quite a few families who seemed genuinely excited to see the kids and let them "be kids" (ie: touch the decorations, grab an extra candy, etc). It was just nice to see people truly enjoying the experience, from both sides. I know, being a mom makes you sappy, what can I say?