Busy and learning

Watching a baby learn and develop is an eye-opening experience.  I'm continually amazed by the things Parker knows and does.  It's pretty miraculous how the world starts coming together for a previously helpless little blob of an infant.  

During these last few weeks of his first year, it seems like Parker learns something new every day!  Recently, he's learned to identify nose, eye, ear, hand, foot, clock, and hat.  He does some of the hand movements to songs like Skinamarinky Dinky Dink and Itsy Bitsy Spider, and he has started trying to snap which is absolutely adorable. 

He understands that the remote turns on the TV (we have a few songs recorded from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Yo Gabba Gabba, Sesame Street, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates that he loves to watch/listen to).  He has a funny little bounce dance that he does a lot.

Besides "mama" and "dada" which he says all the time for different things, I guess his first word was "uh oh."  He says it when he drops something and sometimes BEFORE he drops something.  Silly boy!  He's tried to say cat for months, but it usually comes out like "dat" or "dada."  

He pulls up on everything and walks all the time.  It's cool to see where he wants to go and what he wants to do now that he is mobile.  He's still hilariously wobbly, but he's getting better at catching his balance and not falling down. 

Parker is a total mama's boy and still wants me to hold him a lot.  Now, he crawls or walks over to me and holds onto my legs and cries until I pick him up.  This is the face I get when I can't pick him up right away.  Pitiful!

He's generous with his snuggles and kisses for me, Himal, his cats, stuffed animals, and touch-and-feel books with fuzzy pages.  He's also very friendly with others.  He waves to everyone and often tries to snuggle with or kiss other kiddos.

We've been staying busy lately traveling, hanging out around town, and playing with new toys.  We visited my family for the 4th,

and my parents' mini horse had a baby mule while we were there! 

It was neat to see Parker enjoy the old toys from my childhood.

Parker loves books and has us read the same ones over and over.  Here is Mr. Big reading one of Parker's favorites to him for about the 10th time in a row.

Locally, we've been hanging out at the zoo, pool, and library. 

Well, hello, Mr. Gorilla.

We attended Lily's first birthday party, and the kiddos were too cute together.

Parker got a swing set from us as his early birthday present, and he loves it! 

 I made his Pack N Play into a ball pit.  He enjoys standing in it and throwing the balls out and saying "uh oh."

Parker's first birthday is in a week and a half!  On one hand, it's hard to believe he's already a year old; on the other hand, it's crazy that we've only known him a year.  He's such a sweet, easy-going, funny little guy who is the center of our world now.  We are so blessed!

11 months

Parker is 11 months old!  I can't believe we only have 1 month to go before his 1st birthday.  That's craziness. 

In the last week, he's started crawling AND walking, so he's into everything now.  He still prefers to hold onto one of my hands while walking, and he enjoys bending down and picking up objects to carry around in his other hand (generally, the largest item he can find).  He points to things all the time, and he's super-friendly waving hi and bye to everyone we see.  Love this Little Man!

Have a happy 4th of July!  It's Parker's last first holiday.

beach!

Last week, we spent the week at the beach with my extended family and had a fabulous time.  Parker loves the water, sand, and cousins!  We celebrated Himal's first Father's Day and my birthday while on vacation.  It couldn't have been better!

Prior to our vacation, Himal and I saw Man of Steel.  We all wore our matching shirts that day.

Parker's first morning on the beach

He LOVES the water

 

He LOVES the sand

Happy 1st Father's Day!

peek-a-boo

Parker with my cousins' children.  So blessed to have so many playmates for our Little Man

Skee ball

Worn out from the excitement

No one got a rest from walking Parker around

Precious smooches for Auntie

 

Parker can take almost 10 steps at a time!!

double rainbow

Annual putt-putt night

I love my little beach bum

10 months

Parker is 10 months old!  He's turning into such a handsome little man, and he knows it.  We've caught him kissing his reflection several times.  Silly baby!

We couldn't get a picture of a toothy grin, but at least we got him to sit still.

He claps all the time and waves to everyone; such a friendly little guy!  In addition to splashing on command, he also kisses, high fives, and dances when asked.  He can balance in a standing position for a few seconds and then walk/stumble a few steps into our arms.  And he finishes with a clap when we praise him for a good job.  :-) 

Parker's dad loves Superman, and Parker knows to make Superman fly when we make a "whoosh" sound.  So smart!

This is what he does when we say, "WHOOSH!"

Unlike his mom and dad, Parker is a great eater.  We are pleased and hope he continues to be.

 Parker was busy at the pool, zoo, and a birthday party this week.

Lily was his date to the pool

Hello, Mr. Giraffe

I can't even begin to describe how much I love this sweet, adorable 10-month old!

Best pals

Happy Memorial Day

We had a great Memorial Day weekend.

 

The weather was beautiful, so Parker got to go to the pool for the first time.  He LOVED it!  He enjoyed walking around in the baby pool and floating in the big pool.

We've been busy lately.  We visited a strawberry patch where Parker devoured the delicious berries.

We've been swinging in the park

and playing in our baby pool.

We attended our neighborhood block party where Parker got a kick out of the balloons,

and we did a 5K with our friends.  Parker and Lily had a date at the festival afterwards.  Such cuties!

What a gentleman.  He wanted to share his leaf with Lily.

Last week, we had two sets of visitors.  First, Parker's aunt and uncle came and took him on many adventures while I stayed home and cleaned the house.  Parker ended up in the fountain (in his clothes!),

and he had a blast at the children's museum.  Auntie and Uncle are always fun. 

Later that week, my parents came to visit.  Within an hour or two of their arrival, they had worn him out shopping.

Now THAT'S tired!

Don't worry; Parker saved some good snuggles for my mom.  He's such a sweet, sweet baby.

Parker looks more like a toddler than a baby now.  He seems to like his new car seat.  It must be comfortable because he frequently snoozes in the car.

He's always learning new things and interacts with us more and more.  He's such a pleasant little fellow and gives the sweetest kisses.  Poor baby had a stomach issue this week, but he seems to be on the mend.  

He can now clap, wave, and splash on command.  He also understands the words Parker, dada, mama, cat, dog, eat, ball, and bubbles.   He recently started dancing -- sort of bobbing along -- particularly to the hot dog song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  He can walk behind his dinosaur riding toy without our assistance, and he can pull up in his crib (but luckily, he doesn't do that often).

We hope you had a good holiday weekend.  I'll post again next week when Parker turns 10 months old.   (WHAT?!)