Yes, it's gross to think of the holidays as just about the loot. But when you're 2 years old...how can you not?
This year Santa got The Mermaid Memo, leaving no fewer than five Ariel-related toys for Marlo under Nonna and Papa's tree. In addition to Mermaid Mania, Ms. M also enjoyed lots of swing time out in the cold December air with her dad and Papa Lew.
HAPPY 2010 TO ALL!
A visit to Nonna and Papa in Woodland last weekend culminated in a trip to a pumpkin patch, the real old-fashioned kind where the pumpkins are grown there, not shipped in from miles away. We grabbed a wagon, green, as specified by Miss M, and started down the straw-covered lane between the pumpkin fields. Muddy field aside, Marlo had a grand time stepping around the pumpkin stems. plants, and the gourds themselves, ultimately selecting a small orange pumpkin for herself.
Mommy got an orange and white striped one. Daddy picked a green one he said"looks like brains."
After picking out pumpkins for everyone, Marlo attempted to lift a really big one, but decided it was "too heaby."
Our attempt at capturing a nice family photo was practically futile thanks in large part to M's refusal to look at the camera, let alone smile.
She was too interested in climbing on--and jumping off-- the hay bales with Daddy, and showing off her scary spider ring.
Family vacation to San Diego this year in late September--thanks, Papa Lew! A good time had by all, especially Marlo and especially after she got over a killer cold. All we could get her to eat the first few days were popsicles, which in retrospect was probably not the best get-well cocktail, but at least the SD weather was right for nearly nude popsicle eating (for breakfast lunch and sometimes dinner--yikes).
We stayed in Solana Beach, very close to Del Mar, visited the beach, hung out at the pool, and relaxed as much as it's possible to with a very bossy 2-year-old running the show.
Here's M standing inside a heart her aunt Meggie drew in the sand!
Sorry, Daddy, you probably won't like this shirtless pic of you, but I couldn't help myself. Marlo was having such a blast.
When we finally got her rinsed off later, we found sand everywhere...and I do mean everywhere.
Marlo's boyfriend Garrett's grandma lives right on the beach in Del Mar, and--lucky us!--Garrett and his mommy, daddy, and baby brother came down to visit Mimi the same week we were staying in Solana Beach. We met for a play date at the beach, which was more a play date for Garrett's dad Gary and Lew. Garrett and Marlo kind of each did their own thing while the moms (and Mimi) made sure they stayed in our area and didn't eat too much sand.
Our big outing was a trip to Sea World. Marlo was not nearly as impressed by the live Sea lion and otter show as she was by the big fish in one of the indoor aquariums.
One of the highlights of the trip was a dinner at Garrett's Mimi's house, at which Marlo got to see Garrett naked (not the first time, mind you) and the adults had fun and enjoyed the wonderful company, too.
Garrett and Marlo sittin' in a tree..... (they actually kissed each other goodbye that night, for once!)
The sunny summer weather has given us a lot of park time lately. When Marlo's Nonna and Papa visited on Saturday, we took her to Frog Park near our house. This is the park that spurred a friend of mine to say, "Oh, how urban," the first time she saw it. It's located under the Highway 24 overpass in Rockridge, right next to a dog park, which for Marlo is often the highlight of a trip there, since she can watch the dogs run and play through the cyclone fence.
Which, speaking of that, a woman approached us on Saturday to ask if she could take a picture of Marlo admiring the dogs through the fence (I think she was affiliated with the dog park or something). So I herded M toward the fence even though she'd already caught site of the swings and was making a break for them. Then I proceeded to try to get her to stand still be the fence and "talk" to the dogs on the other side. After a few minutes some came over and I was trying to get a little dog named Petey's's attention so M could say hi to him. In the process of that I was kind of sticking my hand through the holes in the fence and calling to Petey, at which point the photo woman says to me, "It's probably not a good idea to teach her to put her fingers through the fence." Petey was the size of a small cat, by the way, and wasn't photo lady the one who wanted me to have Marlo pose with a dog for her stupid dog park newsletter in the first place? Like I'm going to encourage my child to put her hand out to Cujo through the fence or something--sheesh! Anyway, after the dog park incident, it was on to the swings, then the play structure and sand box, which is filled with this kind of dirty sand that skeeves me out a little, but M loves it.
On the play structure, I went down the slide with her because when ahe put her hand on it she pronounced it, "Too hot!" This is a child who touches lukewarm pasta with her finger and says, "Too hot!"
...you can eat Popsicles topless.
at Nonna and Papa's house in May.
Busy, busy, busy...It's been forever since I've posted new pics of Ms. Marlo, who can now finally say her own name ("Marmel") and, much to our astonishment, will be 2 in September. Here are a few pics from last night's bubbly bath. I've been posting most pictures of the girl on my photo gallery at Me.com these days, since I've got this nifty SD card from Eye-Fi that wirelessly uploads pics as soon as I take them (ain't technology grand?).
Speaking of which, I'm on Twitter at twitter.com/layerssf, if you care to follow me.
Hi Pee Wee!
Someone's too cool to smile for photos sometimes.
Look at all that hair!
Happy Spring to all!
Rather than letting Marlo's hair grow until she looks like a miniature rock star like some celebrity moms do, I decided I needed to take her to a professional to have her hair evened out in the back and her bangs trimmed.
So before we went to lunch at Spenger's with Lew's parents on Saturday, Marlo went for a Valentine's Day first haircut at Cool Tops. As you can see, she was pretty serious about the whole thing...not quite sure what to make of it all. She liked sitting in the little car and wearing the cape, which she called a "bib."
She was very excited that Nonna, Papa, and Sophie the dog were waiting for her outside afterward.
Oy, 37??? How is it possible? Thanks to all who called, sent cards, emailed, and wished me happy birthday on Facebook! I've been underwater at work since early January, and like a dummy forgot to bring my good camera to our family celebrations with my side of the family and Lew's side, so...all my intentions to post holiday pictures have fallen by the wayside.
I did finally take the time to transfer a bunch of amazing photos that my cousin Jesse took on Dec. 23 at our holiday gathering in Soquel, CA. Jesse Holland, my aunt's older daughter (still a pup at only 26...lucky thing!) is a really talented photographer. She brought her camera and some of her portable lights etc. so we could take some family photos...most importantly, a shot of 4 generations of Ayers first-born daughters: my grandma, my mom, me, and Marlo. And, like the smart multitaskers we are, we got jesse to take family photos in a variety of combinations. i love all of the results, but my favorites are posted here: Marlo and me, our family of three, and Marlo and my
grandparents--how lucky she is to have two wonderful great-grandparents!
Oh, and Marlo the next morning in her polkadotty PJs, hanging out with Cracker the tortoise, a very gentle pet belonging to my aunt Claudia's husband Lee's daughter, Ilea.
Christmas in Woodland with the Price family might as well have been called The Marlo Show. All the adults were transfixed by her antics...and she didn't know what to do on Christmas morning....so many toys, so little time!
Since then, she's changed by leaps and bounds...learning at least 20 new words a day, starting to talk in sentence fragments, and remembering people--and Lew's parents' dog Sophie--by name. She recently started saying her own name with much prompting, though it sounds more like Marmel than Marlo...funny, actually because our friends' daughter Ella, who will be 3 this month called her Baby Marmel for a long time.
Sorry for the delayed reaction, but it's been a busy couple of weeks since Halloween, Marlo's first outing in costume. She dressed as a monkey. During the day, Kiki took her and Nadege, a pumpkin, to the Montclair Halloween celebration.
Then, that evening, we met the Phillips family on Solano Ave. in Berkeley/Albany where we picked up a Zachary's pizza and headed back to their house. Garrett, aka little g, was disguised as Elmo, and being the mellow fellow that he is, he was happy to hang out and eat goldfish crackers with his dad, Gary, while Marlo wore Lew out running up and down the sidewalk in front of the pizza place.
By the time we got back to the Phillipses' house, the grownups wanted to get happy hour started, while Marlo and Garrett entertained themselves before bedtime. Little g has the best toys, like these fun bongos! Those might have to go on M's wish list to Santa!
After the babies went to bed, the grownups hung out and had dinner. A few hours and a few glasses of wine later, we realized we should make it a sleepover, which was a good tghing because Gary and Lew stayed up until 1 a.m. sipping whiskey and remembering their glory days... at least that's my guess. I went to sleep.
The next day, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with Gary, Kris, and Garrett and went home for a day of...watching football. Marlo knows exactly how to celebrate when her dad's team scores a touchdown, thanks to her grandpa, Papa Lew. And, yes, it was about 3 in the afternoon and she was still wearing her PJs. She knows how to enjoy a Saturday!
I am a little girl who does a lot of funny stuff...or so my parents tell me.
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