A Perfect Evening

I know I recently stated that Mac has been an absolute pill.

Well, today he was a gem.

When Mark got home, we topped off the evening with bucking broncos and our first-ever adventure with forts.

Mac was in heaven.  I was too.  Ah, sweet domestic bliss.

Church Ball

Last night we cheered for Mark as he man-handled the opposing ward and got man-handled by his self-proclaimed "coach".  It was fun.

 And Mac had his first popcicle.

After probably 5 licks, he would not touch it. But he liked it at first.  I imagine his tongue got too cold.

Thank you, Martin Luther King Jr.

In honor of the good Doctor and 85 degree weather, we gathered some friends and firewood and made our way to the beach in our fabulous all-terrain wagon.  (Thank you Mom!  We had to take the sides off to fit it in the trunk.  I love the versatility.)

 We played in the waves. We soaked up the rays.

 And we ate lots of bratwursts.  It was a wonderful day.

Another Yard Sale Success

I went yard sale-ing this past Saturday with Lindy and Janae.  I had $10, and spent $5 on a mini Mac-size folding beach chair, $3 on a fisher price basketball hoop (Mark has been searching for one), and then the boys were ornery and we made on last stop.

Lindy hollered about a water table she saw, and wished with all her might that she had a back porch.  She explained to me all the benefits of one, and I said, "That does sound like something Mac would like ... but I only have two dollars left."  So I decided to just ask the lady what she was selling it for. 

She looked at it.  She shrugged.  "A couple bucks."

Fate.  I had to get it.

These boys played for a solid hour, and would've played longer if it hadn't been lunch time.  Thank you, Lindy!  Bring Seth over any time.

Eye-Tooth Terrors

The coming-in of this boy's fangs has been quite the experience.  I have greatly missed my smiley little guy.  Most of what I have seen lately is attitude, frowns, arm-swinging (which is slowly becoming hitting ... ACK!) and squawking. 

And a new one:  head banging.

Mark started banging their heads together and laughing, which Mac thought was hilarious.  That translated over to when he accidentally bonks his head on something; usually he'll pause, furrow his brows, and then hit it again on purpose.  It was funny, but then it spilled over to his tantrums.

I was taking a shower the other day, and he was playing nicely ... for a bit.  Then something made him mad and he started banging his head on the door.  That made him more mad, so he lay down on the tile bathroom floor and continued to hit his head.  I kept telling him to stop stop stop!  So he came over to the shower and hit his head on the sliding shower door.  Quickly I finished up, turned off the shower, and opened the door.  I knelt down and said, "Mac, you cannot hit your head like that."  He puckered his bottom lip, head-banged me, and then wrapped his little arms around my neck.

Good grief.

On the upside of all these frustrations, we have discovered that food (fruit especially) will stop any degree of tantrum.  Also the song "Generator" by Freelance Whales makes him laugh mid-squawk.  Baby Einstein's Neighborhood Animals still works wonders, and "Ooey Gooey" and "Popcorn Popping" generally distract him quite well.

But I think I will start time-outs.  I don't want to turn into one of those parents who constantly bribe their child to be nice ... wish me luck.

Craft Club Wednesdays

Bless her heart ... every Wednesday my friend Luisa hosts anyone who can come to work on whatever project you just can't seem to finish.  It is a fabulous idea; there's always four or five half-done things lying around my house.

And the best part is, Mac is just starting to run off and play with the other kids.  I can actually work on something for a bit!  Hopefully those stretches of productivity will lengthen a bit ... and the t.v. definitely helps.  For around ten minutes.  But still, it's something.

Ooo the magic of Buzz and Woody.

The Official White Coat Ceremony

Two days after Mark's first adventures in the clinic, the school held a small ceremony complete with speeches and snacks.  Everyone got to don their white coats and become official healers!

Quite exciting.

We arrived early so we could find a seat that was close, but on the edge just in case we needed to make a quick escape.  But this little guy did alright.

Walking up to the stage ...

"Mark Spencer Gunn" and then a roaring applause ... sprinkled with lots of "Hi"s from Mac.

I edited the crap out of these pictures, so excuse the crappiness ... but you can see him!

Thanks for working your rear end off, Markus.  We sure do love you.

Happy First Day Adjusting Real Clients!

Mark had his first day in clinic yesterday. He got two patients, and came home smiling. It is quite fun to see him evolve into this doctor figure.

He didn't want me to take pictures.  Perhaps because he knew I would put it on the blog. 

He knows me well.

Congrats my dear!

Adventures of a 15 Month Old

Having a 15 month old has got to be one of the most fun, most frustrating times in a parent's life.  I adore my crazy little man, even though we have days where I'm quite sure we both feel like leaving the other in a muddy puddle outside.  (To borrow a saying from my lovely three year old cousin Haley.) 

It's amazing to watch this little person figure things out and become such a little man ... especially when I look at pictures from only a year ago and remember the cuddly little lump he used to be.  Some of his latest antics include:

• He now will blow kisses ... but they come from his forehead.
• If you pucker your lips, he will give you his forehead.  I think he's got his lips a little confused.
• Can tell me what several animals say, but by far his favorite is the snake. 

•  Mac loves the car mat.  I love it too.  He crawls like a maniac all over it while humming like a car.  I think his hypothalamus is now well taken care of.
• If one person gives Mac knucks, he then must distribute the knucks evenly to everyone in the room.

•  He doesn't watch t.v. much, unless it's Baby Einstein's "Neighborhood Animals."  Then he points, claps, giggles, gasps, squeals, barks, and attempts all sorts of words and noises.  I'm not sure if he's getting smarter or not, but it lets me cook dinner, and for that I will agree that the creator of Baby Einstein is a genius.

•  Mac freezes if someone unknown grabs him.  He seems to go for the t-rex approach; if you don't make any sudden movements, they can't see you.  Especially when little girls grab him.
• He is also developing a bit of a backbone ... when someone attempts to snag something from him, instead of collapsing in a heap of tears, sometimes he will rip it away and say "No no no!"  I'm relieved to see him standing up for himself, but I certainly don't want to raise a punk. 
• Mac likes to fling boogers.  Isn't he a little young for that?
• He seems to be learning all kinds of words, but signing has definitely stopped all attempts at saying the basics. "Food", "water", and "more" I never hear.  But he does sign and say "night night" and "done".  Along with that there's probably twenty other words he mumbles through.
• He thinks ducks say, "Moo".
• He loves to throw things and jump while saying, "Two, two, two!"
• For breakfast he gets eggs, fruit, yogurt, and some kind of bread.  He will keep a piece of toast or bagel to the side and carry it around for the next two or three hours.  He doesn't eat it, won't throw it away, and generally hollers at me when I try to take it from him.
• He can do this puzzle completely on his own!  I absolutely love watching him twirl the pieces to get them in just the right spot.  This, more than anything, makes me feel like Mac is not a baby anymore.

But then I pull out his baby swings for our friends' little ones and he does things like this, and I then I decide that he is most definitely still my little baby.

Happy New Years

I have absolutely loved 2010.  Today I was trying to think of everything we did throughout this blissful little year, and then remembered I had written all the big things down on this blog.  This is officially the best, most detailed journal I have ever kept ... and it really is quite wonderful to have it all recorded!

We sent the year off with good food, good friends, and lots of games and child wrestling.  Hopefully that is an indicator of how the rest of the year will go.

For 2011, there is one resolution that keeps coming to mind.  A couple weeks ago we had the missionaries over for dinner, and one Elder mentioned "give equal time to the Lord."  It didn't have much to do with what we were talking about, but that passing comment really struck me.  I have loved that little reminder!

Happy New Year.

Bryce Canyon

We ended up staying an extra day in Panguitch after everyone else had gone; we just didn't have our fill yet.  We needed a little more nature before we returned to zooming concrete world of Los Angeles.

Bryce Canyon was everything we needed it to be, and then we finished it off with dinner in a hoppin' hometown diner.  The food was mildly crappy, but we had been spoiled by the Chris Gunn cooking all week.  I quite liked the atmosphere of the place, however.



Mac was hilarious in this too-small snowsuit.  He had quite the wedgie ... if that's even possible with a solid diaper underneath.  It sure looked like it.



"Queen Victoria" looking over her garden.



Red Canyon

After loads and loads of pajamas, flowbee hair cuts (I really want a flowbee now) and toy time, we needed to get out of the house for a bit.

Panguitch is a real good place to do that.

 

Mac can't get enough of slides.



 

We all took a lot of pictures.



 

Precious brothers.