I don’t know if the trip to Gymboree started it but Marshall has been climbing on things all week. He wasn’t doing this last week. I was making dinner and I noticed all of a sudden that it was very quiet – too quiet. I turned around and found him trying to pull things off the kitchen console. Nice Try Little Guy!
One of the babies in our Moms’ Group turned one year old yesterday and we went to his birthday party today at Gymboree. Suzanne, Chris and their baby Jake hosted a great party full of fun and cake. From the minute I set Marshall down on the floor he was beaming from ear to ear. He played hard the full two hours and he even had his first taste of chocolate cake!
Here’s a photo of Marshall getting his bottle. He’s doing really well learning how to drink from a cup with our assistance. Note the dirty knees and feet. Karla took him and a gang of kids to Seattle Center’s fountain – an afternoon filled with fun. He came home looking like he was hard at work all day. We really scrubbed him down that night before he went to bed!
We had a collective first birthday party for the babies in our Moms’ Group at Karkeek Park. This began as the New Moms’ Support Group at Swedish Medical Center. We still meet once a month, but more as a play group now.
It was a beautiful day, full of sun, activity, and food. At one point we placed all ten babies in one Pack-N-Play and sang Happy Birthday to them. Some of the babies already celebrated their first birthday – Marshall is the youngest in this group. Here is a photo of the remaining babes before they were lifted out.
Bella loves Marshall and vice versa. He squeals with laughter when she comes into the room and tries to chase her (she’s lightning fast, thank goodness). I took these photos when Marshall had some cheese in his hand and Bella was hovering nearby, waiting for scraps and crumbs. The last photo is priceless!
Marshall has been pulling up on anything and everything he can get his hands on. He practices standing by leaning up against the door, the cabinets – basically anything he can grab. Here are a few shots of the little guy in motion.
Last weekend we took a day trip to Janica and Will’s family cabin on Goss Lake, Whidbey Island. From Seattle we headed north and stopped in Mount Vernon to check out the farmer’s market. After, we travelled west toward Deception Pass, a narrow channel where the water currents are strong (9-10 mph). The narrow bridge connects the main land with Whidbey Island. Marc is shown here at Deception Pass with the bridge in the background.
We drove through many charming towns and after a total of 2 hours we arrived. The cabin was on a slope overlooking the lake, nestled amoungst tall trees. It was very peaceful and pretty, the perfect setting for several families and their screaming babies! We spend the afternoon relaxing and chatting.
The next thing I knew it was already 4:30 PM – time to head back home to let the dogs out! We drove south to catch the ferry from south Whidbey back to Mukilteo. The trip back was only 1.5 hours. Overall it was a nice, peaceful, and fun day.
Our next stop was at Mike and Judy’s home in Massachusetts. Marshall loved hanging out in the living area. There was a great coffee table for him to pull up on, a beautiful rug to break any slip or fall, and lots of attention from grandpa. Here are some photos of Marshall with grandpa.
Judy took us on a day trip to Gloucester, a pretty seaside town. We had fun watching her use the GPS/digital interactive map to get us to the Gloucester House, home of all things seafood, New England style. We filled up on clam chowder, lobster rolls, seafood casserole, and fish cakes. De-lish! The clam chowder was the best I’ve ever had. Marshall ate some fish cakes, chowder, and lemon. Yes, lemon. 
Marc thought it would be funny to give him a lemon and surprisingly Marshall didn’t flinch as he was sucking and chewing on it. Babies are strange.
Our next day trip was to Garden In the Woods, headquarters and botanic garden of the New England Wildflower Society. It’s a beautiful garden showcasing native plants and stone sculpture. Lunch that day was at Longfellow’s Wayside Inn, a Colonial and literary landmark in Sudbury. Parts of the inn date back to the late 1600s/early 1700s. All of the furniture used in the large dining rooms were matched to the period. The dining chairs, and surprisingly the high chairs, resembled Windsor-type chairs. The food served there was based on original recipes dating to the history of the inn (1700s?). Our lunch was so good that Judy and I came home with the cookbook. Here is a photo of Marshall sampling the clam chowder at the Wayside Inn.
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