4-3-2-1

4 weird things my son does:

- When we are grocery shopping, sometimes I'll rest my elbows on the cart when I talk to him. Lately, he pushes my arms off the cart! He sometimes won't even let me put my hands on the cart to push. Um, Marshall, let me explain how this whole cart thing works...

- He's super into sitting down on stools, curbs, chairs, our laps. He approaches the place he wants to sit, turns around, and backs up to sit down. It's sweetest when he's backing up into our laps with a book he wants to read, and it's funniest when he misses and plops down in the wrong place.

- We have an air conditioning unit in Marshall's room from when it was too hot to live last week, and Marshall now walks into his room, points at it, and says, "Ahhhh..." It took a while to realize that he's probably imitating us, because every time Terry and I walk into his twenty-degree-cooler room, we breathe a huge sigh of relief at how good it feels!

- Speaking of imitation, the other day Marshall heard me say, "Ow!" at the dinner table (I must have bumped my knee or something as per usual). The rest of the meal he kept repeating, "Ow! Ow!" and we couldn't stop laughing. So it's pretty adorable that he can say it, but he has no idea what context to use it in, so he randomly just says it and gets this huge grin because he's proud of his new word.


3 fun facts from this week so far:

- It's raining in LA! I woke up at 3 am to a huge downpour, and it continued until around 8 or 9 this morning. We needed it, and we can still use a lot more, but I hope Northern California gets a lot too to help with the crazy fires up there.

And someone got to try out his rain jacket for the first time.

- Last night Amanda and I went to happy hour! We only went out for maybe an hour or so, but it was a really fun treat to start the week. Then we came back to have dinner with Terry, who had so generously put Marshall to bed. Terry also took care of dinner! Such a great guy. I'm so happy to have Amanda nearby again!

- I found this article summarizing the recent study comparing honey to high fructose corn syrup fascinating! Another indication that it's not only what we eat but also how much. I have to admit I'm still one to favor honey over corn syrup--and, for that matter, pure maple syrup over honey. And of course it's only one study, so we should take it with a grain of salt, but at least more studies like this one are coming out to teach us more about what we're eating! (Also, it's important that we are careful about the words we use when it comes to food, like healthy and natural. I don't think many people would argue that honey is healthy in large quantities--or maybe at all--and I would say the same for any sweeteners.)

2 fitness-related things:

- We're progressing (at a remarkably slow pace) through the 30-Day Challenge from Yoga with Adriene. I really like her style! She's super down to earth, not too over the top, and easy to follow. I'm excited to keep going, even if we're ridiculously inconsistent so far.

- If you need a really good workout, consider using a watermelon as a kettlebell. Marshall can show you.

(He actually picked it up a few times!)

1 recipe I want to try:

- Ina's pecan bars. They look insane and perfect for a holiday gathering (and I should probably make a test batch or two before then, right?). Maybe Ina will come if I invite her and promise to do justice to her food?


Any recipes I should try?

Have a wonderful Wednesday! Halfway through the week!