Almost 2!

We've had a fun, busy summer so far.  Unfortunately, we lost our sweet cat Gilligan in June.  He is greatly missed.  He was Parker's best buddy, and Parker mentions him almost every day, especially when he is in the bath because Gilligan always came by to drink from his cup.  It's strange going from 5 to 3 cats in just a few short months.  :-(

I had him 14 years.  I miss this sweetie.

Best buddies

So hard to lose two sweet boys so close together

We miss our snuggle buddy

Himal and I get so much joy from our family time with Parker.   We've discovered several local parks, picked blueberries, and took Parker fishing for the first time.   Watching him in these little moments is so wonderful.

He's so cute, sweet, and funny, I sometimes want to cry.  :-)

Himal's dream come true -- fishing with his son.  Parker was interested for about 5 minutes.

1st baseball game  Again, interested for about 5 minutes.

We've had fun at the pool this summer.   Parker prefers the "tiny pool" to the "big pool" and likes making it "rain" with his squirt gun and giving us showers with his watering cans.

He also loves his backyard "sap pah" (splash pad),  but he's timid at the local splash pads this year.  I guess they are too big and intimidating.

A couple of my cousins came into town, and we took them to one of our favorite places -- the zoo.

 

We had a blast spending a week at the lake with my sister, brother-in-law, and their dogs.  Parker talks about them all the time, and he often says they are calling him on his toy phone.  It was so much fun that we're planning another trip in August!  But first, we're going to the beach with my parents, too!  Such a fun-filled summer.

Cool kid

Loves his titi

Awesome lake-side dinners

Himal had a nice Father's Day at home,

and then we spent a week at the beach with my extended family.  Good times!

Parker loved the late afternoon when the beach wasn't as hot and crowded.

Beach selfie!

Fun with G

Krispy Kreme experience with cousins

With his great-granddaddy

Big loves evenings on the beach, too

Parker likes sitting in his daddy's car and turning on the wipers and lights and honking the horn.

He's discovered Play Doh.

On my birthday, Parker enjoyed stealing kisses from Miss Lily, who recently became a big sister!

He loooooves roly polies, ants, and worms, and he makes me pick them up and let them crawl on me.  Ew!

"Touch worm."  "Slimy!!"

"yapee" = roly poly.  And notice the sucker.  He is obsessed.

We've been to the children's museum almost every week this summer.  The dinosaurs, sandbox, and painting are always highlights.

 

Ice cream is a real treat for Parker.

We marched in a neighborhood July 4th parade!  It was adorable.

Parker is starting to sing.  Mostly, he chimes in at the end of rhyming verses when we sing, but sometimes,  he sings alone and it's super cute.  He knows the alphabet and is learning how to determine the first letter of words.  He recently learned his last name, and it's precious to hear him say it.  He can count to 20 now, but he often skips from 12 to 16.  He loves books and bubbles and vehicles.  He gets so excited when he sees a bus/taxi/big truck/mail truck/ambulance, etc.  He often requests "touch bus" when they are parked.

He's such a sweet boy.  Still so cuddly and loves to be close to us.  He often says, "Happy Mommy.  Happy Daddy.  Happy _____."  I think it's his way of saying, "happy birthday," but he says it all the time.  This week, I joined a gym that has childcare.  Parker screams when I drop him off but then calms down and plays.  It's so sweet when he runs to me when I go pick him up.

Sweetheart

Next up: Parker's 2nd birthday party on Sunday!  It's a zoo animal theme at the pool.  Parker calls it his monkey party and monkey cake.  We are excited and hoping for good weather.  He's been saying that he's 2 since he was 18 months old,  so we might as well make it official!