A Little Bit of Marcus

Now that a majority of our days are spent with Marcus in full-time Kindergarten (7:45AM-2:45PM), my camera roll may appear a bit Julia-heavy. I mean, it only makes sense. More often than not, our week day adventures are an all-girls party. I've asked Marcus a few times if he'd like to play hooky and join us, but he loves school, and always opts for that.

All that said, I felt it was time to do a little update on Marcus, he's been long overdue for one. He has little quirks and phrases and sayings and antics I don't ever want to forget.

Perhaps the most saddening thing (for me), is just the other day I called Marcus by the nickname I've given him since before he was born: Monkey. He turned to me very defensively and said, "Don't call me Monkey. I don't like it." That stung, more than just a little. It's the pet name I've used for over five years. Refraining from calling him that is going to be so hard in so many ways.

School is Marcus' favorite place to be. I'm very curious to see if this continues as he gets older. He loves doing his math homework, but isn't too fond of his language arts (this is the exact opposite of me). He also speaks of computer lab with great enthusiasm.

A descriptor, give by his teacher during parent-teacher conferences, is "old man." At first I didn't quite understand. But, the more I thought about it, the more it makes sense. Marcus is very particular (much like his dad). He can be very serious. And, he is very literal. Not too long ago Scott was pointing out a restroom to Marcus and said, "Look at that bathroom over there!" Marcus' reply, "That's not a bathroom. There's no bath tub in it. Call that a restroom." Scott and I just looked at each other like, what is even happening?! He wasn't wrong.

Tolerance and kindness are two very accurate nouns used to describe Marcus. He puts up with so much more from his little sister than I ever would.

Marcus is also has a very tender soul. He cares deeply for others, and he is easily hurt when others are not kind or fair; he is very much a rule follower. He wears his heart on his sleeve. Just this week we got rid of our highchair. The night it was collected he was so distraught, to the point of being inconsolable, at bedtime. He told me he was sad the chair was gone. I asked him to elaborate, and he explained he really wanted to donate the chair. My heart broke. I had to explain (multiple times) that the chair no longer properly worked, and we couldn't possibly give it to another family in an unsafe condition. Only after telling him the chair had served both he and his sister, and many memories were made with it, he calmed down.

It sounds silly, but Marcus is also to the point where he can bathe almost completely on his own. After a half a decade of doing the bathing, hair washing, drying, and lotion-ing, and pajama-putting-on, this kind of seems like a big step. While he's grown in many ways, he's still a less than stellar eater, and we're constantly reminding him to eat his lunches and dinners. I have no idea how he survives on such little food.

Baseball seems to be the sport Marcus gravitates towards. At least for now. I'd like to think I'm not biased in my opinion that he's quite good at fielding and batting. Though, there is still work to be had with his running technique. He's also a pretty good little swimmer, and I can't wait to see his skills improve this summer.

Being outside is at the top of Marcus' list of favorites. From tide pools to hiking trails, once he's there he doesn't want to leave. Riding bikes and skidding tires are afternoon favorites. Along with improving his skateboard and Razor scooter, Razoer 360, and Ezy-Roller skills. Hands on activities, like science experiments as well as arts and crafts projects are also high up on the list of favorites. And, lately, board games have become a bigger interest.

There isn't a better little boy or big brother I know.
I cannot believe just how lucky we are to have such a sweet soul.