Sum Sum Summertime

It has been hot hot hot this week in sunny Utah. After mowing the lawn yesterday, a joint effort between Kjell and Marcus, all three boys cooled off in the kiddie pool. Marcus loved to pour cups of water over Holden's body, which I let him do since Holden didn't seem to mind and Marcus thought it was hilarious.
Kjell spent his evenings this week on some on-line courses required before he starts the EMBA program at BYU in August. He's ready for a break that, lucky for him, will come next week. The boys, Pam, and I will fly to CT on Friday and Kjell will join us on Tuesday night. We're looking forward to watching fireworks aboard "Maramor" (mom and dad's boat), going swimming and, of course, eating my mom's delicious cooking! I'm dreading the plane ride as usual, but I'm sure Pam's help will be invaluable.
Marcus' favorite form of communicating is pointing and grunting. Yesterday, he got excited when I took the syrup out of the fridge. He immediately started making noise, pointing to the syrup then pointing to his pancakes. In an effort to get him to talk I pretended like I didn't know what he wanted, which just caused further grunts and pointing. Finally I gave in and let him have his topping. Let it be noted that Marcus can talk quite well when he wants to. For instance, he has no problem at all saying "more", "candy", "pool", "bubble" and my personal favorite "Daddy pee pee" when he hears the telltale sounds coming from the bathroom. He also likes to point to Holden's body parts and name them, although I've had to teach him to point to the baby's eye, not stick his finger in it! When he wants to watch a movie, he'll move furniture around in order to reach up to a high shelf to find the DVDs which he will then bring to me ("how did you get that?!") and signal that Shrek is his choice of the day.
I'm sure Grandma and Grandpa Love are counting the days until they'll be holdin' Holden (one of those jokes that never gets old...) and we are certainly looking forward to holding them too:)

Father's Day

My kids sure are lucky to have such a great dad. As I'm writing this, Kjell is wiping ice cream off of Marcus' various body parts (he ate broccoli and salmon for dinner tonight, so he got a nice dessert:), after which he'll brush Marcus' teeth, read him a story, and say prayers with him. Kjell does this nightly after playing with both boys after work. Much of this he does from following the example of his dad. Thanks Larry!

Fortuneately, I was blessed with a fabulous father myself who is off doing his absolute favorite thing this evening - boating with my mom. They're anchored off of Eaton's Neck in Long Island Sound.

Last week our good friends Ben and Kat stayed with us. Their daughter Maggie is 10 days younger than Marcus and they've been friends since the womb. When they weren't hitting or stealing toys from each other, they had a lot of fun!

As Marcus gets older he's developing more of his own opinions, especially about what to wear. His favorite shirt is the tie-dye one seen in the picture. If I don't hide it, he begs me to wear it everyday. He also often requests that I wear my shirt with the polka-dots (as seen in the picture). So, if you happen to see me in plaid pants with a striped shirt, you'll know I succumbed to Marcus' whims on what I wear.

Holden is growing very quickly. I'm working on getting him on a schedule, so far so good, except that sometimes he likes to be awake at night. On such occasions I put him in a bouncy chair with the light on and he entertains himself before falling asleep without crying (I have no idea how long he's awake since I am snoozing soundly in the next room). Is he a good baby or what?

Chubbier

Holden looks notably chubbier this week, meaning the seemingly constant nursing seems to be paying off! Pam made Holden a gorgeous quilt, perfect for swaddling or lying Holden on the floor (when Marcus is napping of course!). I had a very nice 27th birthday that included a picnic in the park with Pam and Merrily, dinner with Kjell at Macaroni Grill, and fun times at the new house with friends and lots of cheesecake:)

Blessing Day!

Today Holden was blessed in church by Kjell. It was a very special experience, especially to have Per (Kjell's older brother) stand in the circle with Kjell. Aunt Julie, cousins Kurt and Ansel, Great-Grandma Nordmark, and Pam were also there. Holden continues to be a very sweet and easy baby. At his 2 week appointment on Friday he had gained almost a pound since birth and the Dr. commented that he was an extremely calm baby yet alert with good reflexes. Marcus seems to think Holden is "his" baby and got upset when his cousins were "holdin'" Holden. Marcus absolutely loved having Kurt and Ansel in town. Last night at a wedding reception, Ansel and Marcus (4 months apart in age) spent a significant amount of time chasing each other. Kurt and Marcus danced together. As usual, we wish the North Carolina McCords were Utah McCords as well:)

More Professional Photos!

I just got a CD full of photos from my very talented friend Michele (www.michelereyes.com). I am posting only a few of many, but all are wonderfully done. I will treasure these photos always!

Professional Photos

My friend Michele (www.michelereyes.com) has taken some wonderful photos over the last month. Enjoy!