Rosebowl Flea Market and other Julie adventures

At the beginning of April, I went to visit my NYC BFF Julie in Santa Monica. She had conned me into doing to Hollywood Half Marathon with her, but then didn't train so I ended up running it by myself. She waited for me to encourage me the last mile which I was grateful for because I was trying not to cry at that point. Whenever I train for a half, the furthest I go is about 10 miles and getting past that is always super hard for me. In all the half's I've done, miles 10-13 are killer emotionally.

The rest of that day we did absolutely nothing. Then the next morning we got up ridiculously early again and went to the Rosebowl Flea Market which is the most awesome flea market ever! We had a lot of fun wandering around. Julie needed some furniture stuff and she scored big time. I got a couple of telephone pole insulators and some wooden little people--old school style. You definitely have to have something in mind that you're looking for when you go because it's huge and overwhelming.

Easter Morning

I was so excited for Easter morning for Marjorie. We had a whole table worth of stuff for her to open from us and the Easter bunny and Poppa. She had a lot of fun opening up her gifts, looking for Easter eggs and eating candy and treats before breakfast.

Jan was visiting us for the week and got to spend Easter with us. It was fun to have family in town!

BFF's

Marjorie has made a bff here in San Diego. His mama had a baby a few months ago so he was came to play with us a lot which was fun for her. He's taught her the finer points of jumping on the bed and building towers. One day I caught them snuggling up together, it was too cute not to capture.

Fresno Thanksgiving

I haven't been home for Thanksgiving since I graduated college. It was nice to be home and get to experience a little bit of fall since San Diego has persisted in being warm (it's finally cooling down now). We had a fun and relaxing long weekend.

And kind of think my little family is the cutest.

I'm so grateful for Dan and Marjorie. My life is nothing like I thought it would be and everything that I hoped it would be.

Halloween 2014

This year I came up with the brilliant idea of Little Red Riding Hood for our family's costumes.

This is just a gratuitous shot of M I took sometime on Halloween. It's her new model shot.

So I made a red hood for M and gave her a basket, I made a wolf mask for me and wore a fury vest, and Dan wore a bathrobe, shower cap and glasses to try to be grandma. Most people thought he was a hospital patient...

I can't get over these pics of M giggling with her dada

      

Kisses!

Reading Little Red Riding Hood. This version was much more politically correct... nobody got eaten.

Happy Halloween!

She had a lot of fun walking around the neighborhood and was very upset whenever we tried to help her with her basket. We were some of the first people going out so it felt a little awkward being the only ones for most of our trick or treating. But we had a party we were going to so we couldn't stay out late. I think we all had lots of fun.

Marjorie at 18 Months

At 18 months, Marjorie is non-stop. She is a go, go, go type girl. But! She knows when she's ready for "nigh nigh" and will tell you and head into her bedroom. Here's a snapshot of M at 18 months:

-Talking non-stop. Lot's of jabbering and lots of words--mama, dada, ditz (Fitz), bear, apple, happy, nana (banana/Nana), Papa, water, milky, doggy, puppy, kitty, kitty cat, butterfly (firefly), gah (garbage truck), bird, owl, wow, bye, hi, no, tank yoou (thank you), mine, "Y" (the letter), "M" (the letter), "B" (for the letter A, not sure how that happened), nigh nigh, monkey, baa baa (sheep sound), booooowwwww (cow), e-i-e-i-o, uh oh, oh no, shoes, pool... and probably some more that I'm forgetting. She'll try and mimic just about anything you prompt her to say.
-Understands what seems like everything I tell her. Knows lots of body parts, and can follow commands (when she's in the mood).
-Still loves reading books and will literally walk up to me, open my hand and place a book inside it for me to read to her.
-Starting to get into dress up play and imaginative play. Loves playing with her animal figurines.
-Is constantly moving. Wandering around the apartment, climbing up on things, loves going to the park and is getting better at climbing on all the equipment, but still hates the swing.
-Loves loves loves a horribly annoying Baby Genius show we found on Netflix. It is an awful sing-a-long song show but she asks for it every single time I let her watch something. I'm trying to promote Sesame Street and Daniel Tiger presently. 
-Still super friendly. Sometimes pretends to be shy when someone turns their attention on her, but mostly walks right up to people and chats them up.
-Loves nursery. She goes right in without a fuss and seems to have a blast. (Mom and Dad also love nursery, yay for being able to actually pay attention in church!).
-Picky about food, but I know it could be worse. She's good with all fruit, most carbs (except rice? why?), and most dairy. We eat a lot of eggs for breakfast and PB&J for lunch so she gets some protein because home girl does not like meat and definitely doesn't like veggies. I keep giving them to her but it's always a "nah" with a hand out and firm head shake no. She does however love dried seaweed and will pound an entire container. 
-At her 18 month appointment she was 20lbs and a few oz (can't remember) and in the 5th percentile still.
-She's generally a very happy girl which I am grateful for. And most people seem to think she's adorable and happy too. Just don't keep her out too long past "nigh nigh" time or you'll see the super grump side of Marjorie.

We love her so much and I love seeing her little personality blossom more and more!

Glamme's Birthday

Marjorie and I flew up to spend a week and a half in Fresno for Glamme's birthday. I got to take these sweet pics while mom read to Marjorie in all her dress up glory. It had been a very long time (maybe 10 years?) since I'd been home for mom's birthday so it was nice to spend the day with her. We sure love her!