Adventures

We recently visited Auntie M and Uncle

Parker loved playing with their dogs!

They took us to a battleship

We had a blast hanging out with them!

We met up with Big and G

And explored a new zoo

We all went to the beach!

Parker was in heaven

He got really, really sandy

Then, we visited our friends Piper and PJ

And met Star Wars characters.  Parker was NOT a fan

Then, mama, dada, and Parker went to the beach

Parker had some rough sick days

But he powered through and visited some sea turtles

Back at home, we enjoyed having dada off between jobs. 

We went to the fair

My little thrill-seeker loved the bee ride

And he and Lily liked watching the horses

Fun baby

Parker is such a funny, happy, sweet little boy.  I feel like the luckiest person because I get to spend every day with him. 

He loves playing peek-a-boo.  When we say, "Where's Parker?" he gets this cute little grin on his face and covers his eyes.  Then, he thinks it's hilarious when he moves his hands and we say, "There he is!!"

Where's Parker?

There he is!!

Parker LOVES books.  He has quite a few favorites that we read over and over and over again.

He tries to climb things and likes getting on and off of chairs.  He rearranges things in the house by moving things in and out of drawers and moving small furniture around.  He enjoys pushing shopping carts and strollers as well.

He knows he is handsome and funny and enjoys watching videos of himself on our phones. 

When he is around little girls, he tries to hold their hands and pull them around and kiss their arms.  So sweet!  But sometimes the girls want their space!

He's still a big fan of water.  We had to move the cats' food and water bowls to the porch because he couldn't help but play in them.  He likes to peek out of the cat door to see his cats on the porch.

He also enjoys nature: leaves, bark, mulch, flowers, grass, dirt, and pine straw can amuse him for hours.

The botanical garden has tons of interesting plants to explore

A leaf and a drain = loads of fun!

Parker tries to say the word "banana."  He also tries to make animal sounds.  When I say "duck" or "bird," he makes a clicking sound.  When I ask him what a cow says, he makes his mouth into an O shape like he's trying to moo.  When I mention a monkey or gorilla,  he makes an "ooh ooh" sound.  It's so sweet and so much fun to see him learning new things all the time.

He's still an animal lover, and we spend lots of time leisurely walking around the zoo.  He takes his time and picks up leaves and pine straw along the way.

This swan (duck? goose?) always comes to say hi to him

He is such a love-bug.  He gives sweet kisses and hugs on request and sometimes just comes over for a reassuring squeeze.   He knows the sign for "more" and uses it all the time to mean "I want that."  He also uses the sign for "done" which is helpful during meals and at bath time.

He's getting better with the church nursery.  He cries once he sees the church, but the staff said he calmed down within 5 minutes last Sunday.  He's woken up some during the night lately.  His first bottom molar poked through this week, so I think his teeth have been bothering him.  Poor baby.  Luckily, the pain hasn't slowed him too much during the day.

His injury is healing well but still noticeable.  Here it is 3 weeks post-injury.

Himal is about to be between jobs, and we are so excited to have dada home with us for two whole weeks!!  Himal has never had that much time with Parker, and we are very much looking forward to it.

Parker vs. the library

The library won this round.

Calming down after the gluing session

Parker tripped in the children's section of the library and banged his face on a mean wooden toy.  He was screaming, and I didn't know whether he just needed a Band-Aid or if it required stitches.  The wound looked pretty big, so I decided to take him to urgent care.  Luckily, he didn't need stitches, but the nurse practitioner had to glue my baby's wound shut!  Poor thing. 

The actual gluing process was worse than the fall: they wrapped him tightly in a sheet so that he could only move his head and held him down on the bed.  He was screaming bloody murder the whole time.  My poor, precious baby.  Thankfully, dada was able to join us, and Parker got a hospital teddy bear at the end of the visit.  He was a total champ the rest of the day.  Tough guy!

Teary-eyed as we were being discharged

Parker also has some cuts near his eye, a little bit of a black eye, and swelling on the whole side of his face.  The wound looks pretty nasty.  I'm worried that it's going to leave a scar on my sweet, perfect baby's face.  :-(

OUCH!!

In other news, we took Parker back to the church nursery, and this time, we were actually called out of the service because he wouldn't stop crying.  As soon as we showed up, he was fine.  His experience with the urgent care staff today probably only reinforced his fear of strangers.  Oops!

Not everything has been bad lately.  Parker turned 13 months yesterday!

I'm constantly amazed at how he recognizes new words daily.  It's going to be crazy when he starts talking! 

Teething and firsts

Parker's molars are trying to push through.  He doesn't seem to be in too much pain, but teething has resulted in soft stools for a few weeks and some diarrhea that sent us to the doctor last weekend.  Poor baby ran a fever and was pitiful on Thurs.  This was all he wanted to do:

He's had a few "firsts" recently.
1) Parker's first bath in the real tub - so roomy!

2) His first time putting his feet in the river.  He wished he could get all the way in, but we weren't dressed appropriately.

3) His first time at church.  Dressed and ready and handsome (but wouldn't stay still for a pic):

Here we go!

And this is what we saw when we left him in the nursery.  The staff said he cried for a while, then would play some and alternate with little crying spells.  Poor baby missed his mama and dada!  And we missed him, too.

This week, I finally learned the signs for "more" and "done."  Parker still thinks it's appropriate to dramatically wipe all of the food off of his tray when he's done and then try to roll up his placement and/or yank off his bib.  He actually signed "more" back to me today.  He knows it means something, but I don't think he totally gets it yet.

Lately, while playing, he comes over for a quick hug, goes back to playing, and then comes over again for another hug repeatedly.  It melts my heart.

He still loves his cats.  Jules and Murray sometimes play with him while Gilligan is the only one who will let him snuggle.  Parker likes to grab Gil's tail and walk around like he's holding a leash.  What a patient kitty!

In addition to his cats, he loves all animals and squeals with delight when he sees dogs and other creatures.

He also LOVES running water.  He's so cute when he leans in to let it spray his face, and sometimes he opens his mouth to drink.  Funny boy!

My 1-year old

Parker's 1-year photos came back, and they are precious!  What a little ham!  It's hard to choose a favorite.

His new thing is snuggling with stuffed animals.  Adorable!

His walking keeps on improving

 

He had his 1-year check-up and shots yesterday.  Poor baby screamed bloody murder during the shots.  His stats are 22 lbs, 7 oz (44th percentile) and 31.5 in (91st percentile).  I find it very hard to believe that he only grew a quarter of an inch in the last 3 months.  He seems sooo long.  I demand a re-measure!

Two things we've really been enjoying are
1) car shopping carts.  GENIUS!

2) his push trike.  He thinks he's big stuff "steering" it around the park.

He got his first hair cut on Sat.  I can't say that he loved it.  He was ok at first in the car chair, but then I had to hold him and he kept wriggling about.  This "after" pic cracks us up.  He was mad because I took away his balloon.

Although I miss the long curls, he really is cute with his big boy hair cut.

Parker has had a couple of play dates and attended a Toy Story themed birthday party recently.  At the party, they had each guest dress like Woody and take a picture.  What a cute idea!

Since he first started eating, we've been trying to teach Parker the sign for "eat."  I'd love to teach him more signs because they supposedly help cut down on the frustration toddlers feel when they can't communicate, but I haven't made the effort to learn other signs.  Anyway, today Parker signed "eat" for the first time!  It was really cool for him to be able to tell me what he wanted.  It made me want to learn and teach him several more signs ASAP, so I'm putting that on the agenda for this week.

Since he's turned 1, I think Parker has become even more snuggly.  I'm not complaining!