From Giraffes to Bears and Puppies

Since Marshall learned to grab his giraffes he's been working on holding on to more and more animals. Below are pictures of him holding/eating his Carolina bear (a gift from the Baddours) and his soft puppy (a gift from Aunt Erica). He loves them both and if I put either within reach, he will grab them and shove them up to his face and start chewing on any part he can get in his mouth.

Watch out! I think he looks like one tough baby munching on his puppy's ear in his hand-me-down hoodie! Is that a pit bull on his shirt? Mom says it is, but I'm not so sure.

Flying Giraffes

About three weeks ago Marshall started reaching out and grabbing for a few of his toys. The first time I really noticed it was with the giraffes that hang on the bar in front of him in the bouncy chair. The bouncer just got a lot more fun. These pictures are from the day after I first noticed him hitting them and looking like he meant to do it. It didn't take long to progress from hitting to grabbing.










Now he will sit in the bouncer and have fun playing with his giraffes for a pretty long time. Several times, I've put him in the bouncer on the floor in the kitchen while I made dinner and it worked out pretty well. I know Grandma likes it too 'cause it means I am helping with dinner more now!

McKenna & Marshall

Here are a couple of photos I took of these two cousins in late March. McKenna is making a lot of comparisons lately. She is recognizing things that are alike even if they aren't exactly the same. For example, she might see a giraffe in a magazine then go and get two of her toys that are also giraffes and show them to us. It is so fun to watch her learn and make connections.

Here she is doing that with Marshall. On this morning, she was showing us that he has feet and so does she and in this picture she's noticing that he has hands and fingers like hers.

Easter

Well, this is being posted a little after the fact, but I still wanted to make sure I put up some photos of Marshall's first Easter. We had a family dinner on Saturday evening at Mom and Dad's house with the Suttons and the Riveras. Only Brad and David were missing. Mom made a great meal - ham, potatoes, fruit salad and a really tasty coconut cake. Erica's crew spent the night and we all went to church on Sunday. Joaquin and Marshall did well during the service - Marshall slept through most of it while Joaquin tried to speak with all the passersby. When we got home, it was sunny and relatively warm (even though it had snowed on Good Friday) so I asked Mom to take some pictures of Marshall, me and the girls out on the deck. It was a bit too sunny for Marshall so he kept his eyes closed in most of the shots. Here are a few.

Fado is a little more interested in Marshall

than Daisy who mostly is interested in her comfort - in this case basking in the sun!

Marshall also enjoyed playing in the vicinity of his cousin. He and Joaquin haven't quite figured out how to play together yet, but their moms love to put them side by side to play - making sure Marshall is just outside of Joaquin's arm reach, of course.