Toddler-isms

In order to keep a record of his toddler-isms, I've been hoping to write a post about Parker's development for months.  Since I've been having too much fun relaxing with Himal most evenings and haven't taken the time to write a good post, I'm going to list some of Parker's 18-to-21-month old developmental milestones and funnies interspersed with pictures from the past month.  And here we go....

Parker actually gets excited for these monthly pictures now.

This photo shoot got silly.

Parker's verbal language continues to take off and amaze me.  He knows so much stuff that we don't even realize he knows.  He has started linking two words together, like "big ant," "two sticks," and "eat boogers."  That last one really made us laugh!  We all followed it up by saying, "gross!"  He knows all of the letters of the alphabet and has counted to 10 (although he still doesn't say "1" and sometimes skips a number).  He continues to love "2."  He often counts by pointing to each item and saying, "two, two."  In fact, he seems to favor words that rhyme with "two," such as "choo," "shoe," and "zoo."  He can identify and name the shapes of a circle, triangle, star, and heart.  He tries to sing along to some songs.  He sings the G, P, S, Z, and ME in the ABC song, "town" in "Wheels on the Bus," and "double" in the PAW Patrol theme song.

20-month picture from last month.

When Parker isn't happy with a situation, he says, "No!  Done!" over and over.  It's amusing.

Hair cut this week.  "Done! Done! Done!  Mommy!"  Poor little guy.

He always wants to feed things -- us, his cats, airplanes, trains, etc.  He holds out his left palm and kind of taps it with his right fingers to let us know.  He's discovered that he can give the cats treats and asks to do that every day.

Best pals

His ability to catch is improving.  He holds his forearms close together so that the ball sometimes lands there.

Himal's mom, Agi, came to visit for Mother's Day.

Mother's Day dinner with Agi

Parker sometimes grabs my hand to lead me somewhere to see something, and he's pretty decent about holding our hands when we need him to in parking lots, etc. (that is, when I'm not carrying him.  He is a total mama's boy who can most likely be found in my arms).

Always cozy in mommy's arms

He's obsessed with trash.  He always asks me to get trash off of him, or he finds trash that he wants to put in the garbage can. 

Pool time with Lily.  There was lots of "trash" (grass) in the pool.

He's so cute when he dances!  And he now follows along with the choreography during The Wiggles.  It's so fun to watch.  He also makes his Little People figures dance to the music from his zoo toy; so funny.

We visited a strawberry patch today, so there are several pics from there.

Parker is OBSESSED with buses.  We sing "Wheels on the Bus" over and over and over, and he does the hand motions.  He has several bus toys and loves passing buses when we are driving around.

There was a bus shop right next to the strawberry patch.  Fruit, dirt, bugs, and buses-- the patch really couldn't have been more perfect for Parker.

Parker eats a ton of fruit.  He'd probably only eat fruit if we'd let him.  Foods he often requests include fruit, apples, bananas, cheese, corn, peas, and candy.

He really wanted to hold the bucket but kept dumping out the strawberries on accident.

He likes ring around the rosie, chasing us in circles, patty cake, swinging in circles, and requesting tickles.  He also tries to hang upside down like the bats at the zoo.

Whee!

There is a picture of a taxi on his bathroom stool, so when we see a yellow car, he excitedly says, "taxi!"

Lily is his best girl.  They play together so well.

I showed him the word "zoo" in a book, so when we are spelling, he often names each letter in the word and then yells "zoo!" with a big wave of his arm like he's underlining it.

Parker loves all animals and randomly makes animal noises.  He also loves bugs, particularly ants, rolly pollies ("wah bees"), and bees.  I spent Mother's Day trying to capture ants so that I could put them on Parker's arm at his request.  Catching ants ain't easy!

Mother's Day love!

Checking out a spider

He likes dirt, sticks, and water, and we get dirty pretty much every day.  I've never been a fan of dirt, but I embrace it now.  It's inevitable.

Enjoying one of many spring festivals

Delicious strawberries

When Parker thinks he's about to do something naughty, he looks at me and says, "No?"  But then he goes ahead and starts doing it anyway.  Toddlers!!

Another fun festival with Lily

Last year was big with all of Parker's first holidays, but second holidays are at least as fun.  It's amazing to compare where he is now with how he was last year, and he's so much more aware of things.  For example, on Mother's Day this year, Himal bought a balloon for Parker to give to me.  For days after, Parker would bring me the balloon and say, "thank you" as if he were giving me the gift all over again.  So precious.

Mother's Day family pic

Parker still likes books.  He often grabs one off of the shelf and comes and plops down in my lap to read. 

Big and G came to visit!  Always a fun time!

I'm finally able to clip Parker's nails while he's awake.  I discovered in the past week that I can get all 20 done if I let him play on the iPad or phone while I do it.  He is quite the couch potato when we let him get those out. 

Daddy and his mini-me

Parker's favorite TV shows right now are Blue's Clues, PAW Patrol, and The Wiggles.  I'm so glad we live in the age of DVR because he requests specific episodes, usually ones that involve animals or buses.

Handsome and happy boy!

Parker now wants to hold my hand in the car.  Not comfortable when I'm in the front and he's in the back.

He fell asleep like this recently.

We love going to open play gymnastics.  Parker likes the beam, jumping on the trampoline, and rolling hula hoops.  He's learned how to hang on the bars, and he makes "strong" arms when he gets off.  It's too cute.

So strong!

 Water is one of Parker's favorite things.  Water fountains, pools, baths, rain, puddles... he likes it all.

Splash pad fun

Have a nice Memorial Day!  We are hoping for good pool weather.  Can't believe it's almost June!