Happy Halloween!

We had a blast!  Parker dressed as Marshall from Paw Patrol.

Fun at the zoo

My adorable little dalmatian

Parker enjoyed pumpkin carving

Marshall and the firemen

Trick or treat!

Annual loot pic

And then Parker burned off his sugar by running around in just a diaper

Pumpkin patch and visitors

It was a beautiful day for the pumpkin patch.  Parker loved it! 

He carried pumpkins around and then dropped them hard on the ground

Too heavy

 

The bees were "eating lunch" on the sunflowers

 

This is the prized pumpkin he chose to take home

Lots of fun stuff to do at the farm

Dried corn and some kitchen items... who needs toys?!

Hay ride

Parker is doing better in the nursery at church and the gym.  It is always a struggle getting there, but he's generally happy now when we pick him up.  He sings the alphabet all the time and is getting really good at it.  He likes to count and make numbers with his fingers.  He asks me to sing and then requests "more tiny" (softer) or "more loud."  He continues to enjoy gymnastics and is a good listener at gymnastics class.  He understands the days of the week and what activities we do on each day.  He's jealous when I pet Murray or when Murray sits on my lap.  He still loves his Little People and their zoo and farm.  He also enjoys trains and other vehicles.  There's nothing more exciting than spotting a bus, train, taxi, ambulance, fire truck, police car, or mail truck when we are driving.    

We had several outings to the fair this year, and Parker was tall enough to ride some of the bigger rides.  He tried the swings and, much to my excitement, the little caterpillar roller coaster.  He enjoyed the petting zoo, cows, pig race, and wolf show.  My mom and dad came for a quick visit, and then my sister and brother-in-law came.

Rolling this Superman monster truck off the couch and counting its flips is a favorite activity

Goofballs!

The petting zoo was a highlight of the fair

Parker always loves a carousel

Riding with Titi

HUGE ice cream cone

Quick update

Here are some of Parker's cute 2-year pictures.

At his 2-year check-up, he was 26 lbs, 4 oz (27th percentile) and 37.25 in (>95th percentile).  My lean, tall boy!

He is such a sweet, smart, and funny boy.  We do get a few moments of the terrible twos, and it's challenging to know how to handle those moments.  However, overall, he is a calm and well-behaved baby.

Because Parker loves open-play gymnastics, we enrolled in a mommy-and-me gymnastics class.  It's fun, he's actually learning a few basic gymnastics skills, and he's learning how to behave in a group setting and doing well with that.

We've started going to church again.  The first three weeks were tough on Parker, but last week went well once we left him in the nursery.  I also joined a gym, and Parker is having a hard time in the nursery there.  It is very sad every morning when he pleads with me, sometimes with tears, "No church!  No gym!"  My poor, sweet baby.

Looking pitiful after a rough church outing

Parker loves letters.  He can sing the alphabet, often figures out the first letters of words, and can read the words "zoo," "go," and "cat."  He sometimes recognizes "Parker," too.

He recently grasped that we go to bed when it's dark, and we wake up and play when the sunshine comes out.  He often says, "Mommy, watch this!  Mommy, watch this!" when he's doing something exciting. We played hide-and-seek at gymnastics, and now Parker loves to play it at home.  He's funny because he either watches us hide while he's counting or he squeals and comes running from his hiding spot when we try to find him. Silly boy!

While we own two children's potties, we haven't started potty training yet.  I'm kind of dreading it and don't think Parker is ready.  Exhibit A: "happy birthday hat."

  

2 is fun!

Parker turned 2 today!!  He had a very happy 2nd birthday full of presents, good times with friends at his pool party, and a fun family evening.  We love this sweetie!

He woke up to a wagon full of presents

Yay, presents!

Wagon ride around the block

Fun with Lily at his zoo-themed pool party

The long-anticipated "monkey cake!"

Happy birthday, sweet boy!

Not as messy as last year

Still my snuggly baby

Birthday dinner out

Capped it off at Chuck-E-Cheese

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!