Is there nothing he can't reach?!?

Mars is determined to get into anything and everything lately! His balance is improving and he can stand on his own pretty well. This allows him to use both hands simultaneously to cause trouble.

Still Here

I don't know why things feel so busy right now. I guess there is a bit of an adjustment period with going back to school. It was so nice being home over break and not having to travel (or do anything, really).

Mars is keeping us quite busy. He crawls so fast now and is into EVERYTHING. He's cruising, too, but still pretty slowly - and he can stand there for a few seconds without holding on to anything before he falls down. He's getting better at falling, but he still gets hurt like 100 times a day. Luckily, he usually recovers fairly quickly.

He still loves his bath, but even more, he loves his shower. He gets to go in the shower with Jeff most week days, and Mars has a BLAST in there!

He's babbling like crazy, now, and even throwing in some actual words. Ma Ma and Da Da are his constant refrain, but doggie, kitty, moo, poo poo, Jada, and ball can also be heard from time to time. He also waves "Bye Bye" now, but not until the person leaving is entirely out of sight:)

Like Father, Like Son

Merry Christmas!

We finally made it out of West Seattle (after a full week!) on
Christmas Day. The rain and warmer temperatures had melted most of the ice and snow, so we had a pretty easy drive. We spent two nights in Steilacoom, and had a very nice time with Jeff's family. Marley says, "Merry Christmas, Everyone!"

Mars and Cousin Cindy had lots of fun playing together.



And Marley is becoming quite the little monkey!


Note: I added a video of Mars after his doctor's appointment to the previous post.

Big Boy!

Marley had his One-Year doctor's appointment today. He got four shots plus a blood draw (finger poke), and he was a very good boy! His doctor is extremely pleased with his growth and development. He weighs 21.5 lbs (27th percentile), is 30 inches tall (50th percentile!!), and has a 44 cm head circumference (2nd percentile - I guess you can't win 'em all). He's, also, hitting all the important milestones for his actual age: pulls to standing, claps hands, drinks from a cup, finger feeds self, says "mama" and "dada", and responds to his name. Yay!

In other news, we're still snowed in:( We are supposed to get another 1-3" tonight. Mars and I went for a walk to Nancy's today and the roads are SLIPPERY! I'm starting to resent all those people who have chains or snow tires. Or All-wheel-drive. Or snow shovels. Or shovels of any kind. Check out the West Seattle Blog for updates on our weather conditions.

More Snow!

It has finally stopped snowing. Hopefully it will start to melt soon, cause I'm not looking forward to shoveling snow or digging out our car. We'd like to go down to Steilacoom for Christmas. But we shall see what the weather has in store for us. For now, we busy ourselves by trekking around West Seattle on foot! Off to visit our friends!


Ah! Here we are safe and warm at Liz and Chris's house. They took us in and fed us hot cocoa, chili, and corn bread. Mmm... Mars prefers looking at the snow through the window to actually being out in it.


Anyone care to join us for a barbecue? Didn't think so.

Snowy Adventures

We've had some exciting weather in Seattle this week. Last Saturday we got snow that turned to ice and made for some slippery conditions. That didn't stop us from walking over to Nancy's for dinner. Marley bypassed all the stuffed animals and went right for the tree.

Later, he had a very fun time playing with her dog, Juneau (or is it Juno?)


It was a little scary driving to school on Monday, but Tuesday and Wednesday were fine. On Thursday morning, though, it began to snow - a lot. It looked like we were going to have school, but at the last minute they canceled. The snow continued and Friday got canceled, too. I'm glad I didn't have to drive in the snow, but I was a little disappointed not to have the last day before break. We had a fun day planned including making 3D paper snowflakes, photo ornaments, and a lunch time pizza party courtesy of the PTA. My class won our school's Box Tops contest by collecting over 700 Box Tops for our school. Now we'll have to find a day when we get back to do the party (it's doubtful the kids will forget about it, but one can always hope).

So, now I'm officially on break and we continue to get more snow. We've been out walking around West Seattle (luckily there's lots to do around here) but we haven't been in the car since Wednesday.

Marley's not sure what to think about the snow. He likes looking at it through the window, but he's not so fond of actually being outside in it:)