My Baby Turns 4!

When we met him it was love at first sight.  He was perfect and our family was so full of love.

July 1, 2012- 1 day old

It really only got better from there.  He grew up so quickly, a year passes by in a minute it seems.

June 2013- About to be 1 year old

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He changed so quickly, and went from crawling to walking to running to never stopping.

October 2013- Around 1.5 years old

It didn't take long for Marcus to stop looking like a baby and instead look like a little boy.  Still full of love and energy.  We have always known how lucky we are.

June 2014- Almost 2 years old

 

October 2014- Around 2.5 years old

As he has gotten older he has also gotten so much smarter and full of life.  Things start to clink together and the world makes sense to him.

May 2015- Almost 3

My favorite thing about these pictures is that in all of them I can see his love, his joy and his pureness.  Marcus is a joy and we are blessed to be his family.

September 2015- Almost 3.5 years old

I still can't believe we are getting close to 4 years old, and even scarier is that school is just around the corner.  I don't want him to stay a little boy forever but I just want this all to slow down.

April 2016- Closing in on 4

Marcus you are my love.  You have brought endless joy to my life (and a few headaches) and I am so happy to be your Mommy.  I hope you know forever and ever that Mommy will always love you!  Happy Birthday my love!

Oh the places you've been (and your just turning four)

Where has Marcus Been

I am going to do a few special Marcus posts as we near his 4th birthday. 

I made this map for Marcus when he was about 9 months old and I have been tracking all of the places he has went since this point.  He is a very well traveled little guy.  However I am pretty certain his cousin Liam is going to beat him on countries and continents.  I wanted to list these while I still remember where we went and when.  Turning 4 we are finishing the count at 19 states and 2 countries.

States

1. Arizona,AZ- visited Sierra Vista with Grandma Cheryl and Mommy in June 2014 to see family friends.
2. California,CA-  3 trips before 4 years old.
• Went to a conference in June 2013 at Half Moon Bay with Grandma Cheryl
• Went to a conference in December 2013 at San Diego
• Went on a family vacation that included San Francisco and Northern California in May 2016
3. Connecticut,CT- Drove through with Mommy and Grandma Cheryl in Spring 2013.
4. Florida,FL- Two trips to see Grandpa Don and Grandma Jackie in Jan 2014 and Jan 2015
5. Illinois,IL- First vacation when you were 4 months old.  Visited Chicago with Mommy, Daddy, and cousins (Micci, Xandra and Tori).
6. Iowa,IA- too many trips to count.  Mommy went to college here AND Aunt Jess, Uncle Noah, and Liam live in Iowa City!
7. Kansas,KS- This is a technical count, we drove through it on the way to Ben's Graduation in May 2015.
8. Massachusetts,MA- Flew out of here in Spring 2013.
9. Michigan,MI- Do lay overs count-  this was a place you spent time in the airport.
10. Minnesota,MN-  HOME!  Need I say more.
11. Missouri,MO-  Went to cousin Ben's High School Graduation in May 2015.
12. New Jersey,NJ-  Flew into Newark for the August 2015 NYC trip.
13. New York,NY- I think 3 trips to NY, with one to NYC
• Two work trips with Grandma Cheryl and Mommy to Upstate New York.
• August 2015 trip with Mommy, Daddy and Micci to see the see the city.
14. Oregon,OR- Part of the May 2016 family vacation to the west coast.
15. Rhode Island,RI- Went to the beach with Grandma Cheryl in the spring of 2013.
16. South Dakota,SD- Another technical count, we cross over the boarder, just to say you have been here.
17. Vermont,VT-  Two trips to Burlington Vermont with Mommy and Grandma Cheryl in spring 2013.
18. Washington,WA- This is the final technical count.  We cross over the river in May 2016 and spent about 15 minutes in the state.
19. Wisconsin,WI-  This one is close to home and we have been there a lot.

Countries

1. United States of America- Home Sweet Home
2. Canada - In September 2014 we crossed boarder and visited a train (for about 45 minutes)

Let's see what is to come before his next birthday-  I think the pace has to slow down as we don't have many close states left (except for North Dakota, and Marcus was literally across the river once).

On other lists we are working:

Minnesota State Parks

Still just missing one- Hayes Lake State Park

National Parks and Monuments (not the other designations)

1. Crater Lake National Park
2. Redwood Forest National Park
3. Pipestone National Monument
4. Oregon Caves National Monument

National Marcus Day Annual Questions

I started this tradition last year and am excited to continue it this year.  Same rules, same questions:

Birthday questions : answered by Marcus at age 4
 I decided to to do this a little different.  I did interview Marcus but before I did this I actually added my comments in Blue- Marcus is in red.  My plan is to do this every year going forward!  You will notice that he did not answer all of the questions.





1. What is your favorite color?

•  Green 
• green

2. What is your favorite toy?

•  Puppy, Trains,  
• Sandy's ball inside our house

3. What is your favorite fruit?

• Watermelon, Apples, Strawberries
• I like watermelon

4. What is your favorite TV show?

• The Ship Show
•  Penguin Post and the old ship and new ship

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  

• Sesame Tofu
•  Banana and Sesame Tofu

 6. What is your favorite outfit?

•  John Deere shirts
•  The Mine Shirt (same answer as last year)

 7. What is your favorite game?

• Red light, Green Light
•  king ball (I have no clue what this is)

 8. What is your favorite snack?

• Raisins, string cheese
•   crackers

 9. What is your favorite animal?

•  Sandy Dog
• Penguin

10. What is your favorite song?

• Rock a bye baby (veggie tales)
• The Red forest song (written and produced by Marcus- This was also included in the first redwood forest blog if you want to listen)

 11. What is your favorite book?

• Big Book of Big Tractors
• The Big Tractor Book and the Penguin Book

12. Who is your best friend?

•  Sophie or Mason
•  Skyler and Mason and Nolan

13. What is your favorite cereal?

• Lucky Charms
• Marshmellow Cereal (lucky charms)

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside?

• Play in the sandbox
• Play in the sandbox

15. What is your favorite drink?  

• Milkshake
• Water or Milk and Orange Juice

16. What is your favorite holiday?

• Christmas
•  Christmas Holiday

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?

• Puppy, Dolphin, and Penguin and blankie
• Sandy and toys

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?

• Toad-in-the Holes with Extra Holes- Pop Tarts
•  marshmellow cereal

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?

• Sesame Tofu
• Tofu

20. What do you want to be when you grow up?

•  Nothing, Nothing at all-  I think he wants to be independently wealthy
• Nothing

21. What does your Mommy do best?

• Cuddles
• Call really fast

22. What does your Daddy do best?

• Runs
• He puts his socks on best

23. Who loves Marcus?

• Everyone (well all of his family and friends)
• Mommy and Daddy

24.  What does Marcus love most to talk about?

• Marcus never stops talking, he loves construction sites and cranes, talks about everything that he sees.
• The RedForest 

Here is the link to last years list if you want to see what he has changed:

Marcus' 3 year old questions

Basecamp PreK and some cousin time

Earlier this spring we attended the Rock the Cradle event at the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts.  It was a lot of fun.  One of the flyers that we got was for the Boy Scouts for a Basecamp PreK camp this summer for boys and girls 2-4 years old.  I thought, hey this could be fun, and signed up Marcus and his cousin Beckett.  I also convinced my parents it would fun for them to take the boys (hehe).

Day one of camp was yesterday- pictures are courtesy of Grandpa Harvey and it looks like they had a good time.

 

 

 

I think that most people know but when I was a kid I was a very active Girl Scout and I think it did so many wonderful things for my life and I am hopeful that Marcus will get similar experiences.

After they finished camp- Marcus got a surprise.  My sister was in town with two of her kids (Carson is spending the summer in Germany with his Grandma and was on the way to the airport) and so Marcus got some more cousin time.  Here are are some pics of the kiddos.

Look at the little angels (I mean trouble makers)

That's my bacon.

It's been a long and fun day.

The Lake- a good place to be one a hot day!

Wow

Summer has hit and it is steamy outside.

Last Friday I walked out the door and almost melted- so we went to the lake.  We are spoiled because Luke's parents live on a lake so we are lucky enough to have the opportunity to get away and enjoy the cool water when the city gets too hot!  Here are a few of our favorite things about the lake:

Summer Lake Food

Grandpa's and Grandma's Gardens

And of course the Lake!

Marcus's current favorite activity is picking all of the rocks out of the lake.  He could go for hours doing this.  We also spent some quality time floating but didn't get picture of it.

Did I forget to mention Marcus's favorite part of the Lake?

It's easy

Grandpa Don and Grandma Jackie