Mimi (my mom) came down to watch Marin this weekend. That means that Matthew and I got to do a lot together, just the two of us. I had planned on a recap of this weekends events in detail. Then, I decided better of it. I end up blabbing about every little thing we do on the blog and then don't have anything to talk about in person with friends and family, since they all read about it here. So, if you want to know what we did, ask----even if it is by e-mail. :)

Matthew and I are really liking the stage Marin is in right now. He's so darn cute. He makes the best faces, scrunching his little nose up and grinning at us. He loves to laugh and still lets us cuddle him quite a bit, especially when he's sleepy. He's not really into giving kisses these days though, he's too busy exploring. His favorite haunt is behind the TV stand, where he tries to pull the power cord out of the wall. He'll peek at us through the stand and just grin really big as we try to coax him out with a myriad of toys and sweet talk. The standoff usually ends with us dragging him out unwillingly or he comes out on his own if I pull a really dirty trick like getting a cold chewie out of the fridge. They apparently are irresistible. Who would have thought that plastic teething rings were that awesome? These wonderful inventions get him to sit quietly in his highchair while I clear away his food bowl and cup too. They also buy you at least 5 minutes worth of peace at the dinner table too.

Mimi should be down this Friday to hang out with Marin. That is unless it snows again. If it does, I personally will march down to the news station and strangle the "snowbird".

We're still in the process of hunting the perfect vacation spot for our August trip. Some beach, some where, that's my motto. I can't wait. I'm so sick of the cold. We'll be beating the cold long before that though, with our winter beach getaway. I am absolutely beside myself with excitement over that one. It will be neat to be able to share pictures of Marin on his first beach trip.

So, yeah, I am talking about the same stuff I talked about last post. There really isn't much new around here. Just snow, interrupted by cold rain. It sucks. Big time. But we do have each other for company and that's pretty cool. But I will say that I'm looking forward to spending time with my two best pals somewhere warmer than here!

What's up around here, you may be wondering? Well, not too much new news to report, but here's what we've been doing.....

1) Mainly trying to stay dry and/or warm. We are sooooo sick of snow and rain. I'll take rain over snow, but its all getting old.

2) Watching Marin get frustrated because he can't find things in our house to pull up on (besides us). We don't have a coffee table. For two reasons. Mostly, I think they are dangerous to kids learning to pull up and to the shins of innocent family members trying to walk around them. Second reason is they are a breeding ground for clutter of all types. We've searched like mad on the internet for some type of toy that Marin could use to pull up on. All we've found are thousand dollar indoor jungle gyms or walk-behind toys that we don't think he's quite ready for.

3) Feeling better in our baby food dilemma. We've decided not to make Marin eat anything he doesn't want to eat. If he refuses to eat something after the first bite, that's it. No more begging or trying to be stern with him or airplane/choo-choo train tricks. If the little dude doesn't want to eat it, he doesn't have to. He seems to feel much better about this situation as well. He is back to enjoying eating and beginning to trust us again at the table. We are pretty confident that he will still grow and thrive if he doesn't eat beef, spinach, or corn. We'll try those again when he can eat "big people" varieties. This week, he's trying peaches for the first time in a peach/oatmeal/banana variety and he LOVES it. Next go round will be plums, followed by strawberry banana.

4) My mom should be coming down soon to spend some time with Marin. Hallelujah! Marin loves hanging out with "Mimi" and we like having her here. We usually do really wild and crazy stuff like go to the movies and out to eat. :)

5) Planning for our beach trip. While I still can't lay out the whens and wheres for you, I will say that I've begun going through Marin's closet, torturing him by making him try on swim trunks, beach hats, and shorts. Just as a heads up, if your kid weighs 20 pounds he won't fit in 3 months size shorts from last summer. :)

6) Trying to find out if Marin really needs a nap during the day. Experienced moms and his doc say no, but he is just a complete bear if he doesn't nap. I love my computer time too, but that isn't the main reason I want him to sleep for at least a hour in the afternoon. If he doesn't sleep then, he will fall asleep around 6 or 7 and nap then. That's too early for him to go down for the night, but if he hasn't had a nap during the day you can't keep him awake past then. Then what does he do? He'll sleep till 9 or so and is up ready to party. We've gotten him into a pretty reasonable schedule of bath, bottle, and bed around 9:30 or 10 here lately. This works great, as long as he isn't cat napping in the early evening. So, we're still trying to push for those afternoon naps so he can make it till bed time. Once Marin is asleep, he'll sleep till you wake him up the next day. I'm sure he'd sleep till noon if we let him, but that ain't happenin'.

7) Trying to figure out where we want to go for our August vacation.

8) Really enjoying watching the Preds and looking forward to the winter Olympic games.

9) Looking forward to spring and liking that we see swimsuits, gardening gear, and pool toys in the stores now!

Well, I was going to make this a top 10, but I'll stop at 9. Have a great weekend everyone.

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Clause! And Santa has come really early this year and brought me the big fat gift of travel! Yes!!! We are finally going to GO SOMEWHERE! I am super pumped to report that we will be going to the beach very, very soon. So, Mister "Of the sea" will get to see the sea for the first time! I can't say exactly where we're going or when we'll be going--you know, I wouldn't want to announce our exit from Nashville to every would be criminal and weirdo on the web. :) But, I promise to give you lots of pictures and a full account upon our return. We're not leaving tomorrow, that much I can tell you, but it is exercising all my willpower not to spill the beans.

Matthew and I took our precious bundle to the doctor today for his 9 month check-up. He did quite well. Apparently though, Matthew and I are lacking in the parental department. For instance, we haven't done a number of things with Marin that we are "supposed" to be doing on his baby development check-list.

Unfortunately, it was a pop quiz and not something that we had studied for. For instance, we haven't given him small objects such as cheerios to pick up with his fingers. Maybe that is because our doctor expressly forbids giving cheerios and other small, hard objects to babies his age. Since we follow his letter to the law, I figured if I marked the check box with a yes that child services would swat team the exam room. As another example of our parental neglect, we have not been regularly taking Marin's toys away from him. "Does your baby give you a toy when you say Give That To Me", was one of the question. Uh, I don't know was my response. I've never tried taking a toy from him or asking him if I could have his toy. I don't know many 3 year olds who have grasped the concept of sharing, much less 9 month olds, so we didn't think that was a big deal.

Most people I know will be gloating at this because they will say it is because Marin isn't in daycare. Or they will diagnose his lack of social progress to the fact that he is an only child---yeah, that has to be it. He doesn't get much social stimulation at all in fact. He only goes to Preds games and hangs out with several thousand of his closest friends. He has a play date with baby Brooks at least a couple times a week. Day before yesterday, he went to Target, Wal-Mart, Kroger and Publix. He smiles and waves at strangers. He gets comments while we are out and about because of his friendly nature and good behavior. So, yeah, he just sits at home with me all day in a bubble. I am a failure as a mother, that's for certain.

After our pediatrician stated the obvious (the fact that Marin seems just fine in his social development regardless of the questionnaire and hasn't even picked up the stranger anxiety that is common at this age) I felt a bit better. After he suggested that I pick up the 12 month check list from the front desk and take it home to study it, I was downright giddy.

As I sat in the front seat on the way home, silently planning Marin's all night cram sessions, I had this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Marin will be at home one day in his basement and Animal Cops will show up and bust him for having 100 cats. He will stay home eating cheezy poofs and playing video games instead of going out with friends. I have forever doomed my child as a social reject.

I walked right out of the doctor's office without his baby cliff notes.