17 Months Old!

Parker Love,

You are 17 Months Old! Mommy missed out on writing your 16-month old post so I’m playing catch up a bit. J

What have you been up to this month? Well, what haven’t you been up to? You are a super busy boy who is always on the go.

Some stats: You are now in size 5 diapers and your shoes are also size 5. You are in your 18 month old or 18-24 month old clothes. Your estimated weight is 26 pounds which is just about the 50^th percentile for weight. Long gone are the days of 1^st percentile!

Your favorite thing right now are numbers and letters. You know all your numbers 0-9 and know most of your letters too. This started with recognizing and knowing numbers 3 and 8. And from there, you quickly learned the rest of the numbers. You discover numbers and letters everywhere, especially outside.

You also enjoy puzzles and you’re really good at them! You have animal puzzles and car puzzles and your new favorite is the shapes puzzles. You know circle, square, triangle and oval!

You are talking more than ever. Some words are more distinguishable than others but for the most part, you are able to communicate with us.

Your love for hats continues! You’ve become very skilled at putting them on by yourself—sometimes 3 or 4 at a time!

You enjoy sitting in the rocker (which you can climb up on all by yourself!) and turning on the fan. 

You have finally given Mommy a name: "Me-Me." Daddy's had his name "Dee" for a long while now, so Mommy's happy to have her own name too. J Speaking of Daddy, you two are quite the pair of silliness. It is so fun to see you play and be silly together. 

We've limited your use of the paci. Now you only use it for naps and that's it. Not during the day and not during bedtime. You've actually done really well with this transition and we're hoping when it's time to take away the paci completely, you'll have an okay time of it. 

Little man, you are the love and joy of our lives (though we could do with a little less tantrums, little mister!). We love you oh so much and are thankful each day that God has given you to us. 

We love you Bubba!

Mommy and Daddy

15 Months Old!

You actually turned 15 months old on August 26^th.

Last month, both Daddy and Mommy went back to work (Mommy is once again teaching Kindergarten ) so the last month has been quite busy. Which is the main reason this post is a week late!

This past month, you’ve spent your weekdays with Grandpa, Grandma, Andrew and Grammy (and sometimes Papa)! You don’t seem to mind the change, and we are thankful you transitioned so well to Mommy and Daddy’s “back to school” schedule.

First off, a few 15-month stats: 

You are in 12-18 month clothes. You can still fit into 12-month shorts, but the 12-month tops are too snug. You are in size 4 shoe. You are also in size 4 diapers. Don't know your weight, as we haven't needed an appointment since your 12-month.

Sadly, because Mommy and Daddy haven’t been home as often, we weren’t able to capture as many pictures. But here’s a few that we do have from this month:

These pictures were taken by Mommy, the day before she had to go back to work. Her last day as a "stay-at-home mommy," something she misses quite a bit.

You love reading, and continue to explore books independently, though you also like it when we read to you.

Your two favorite toys in Mommy and Daddy's room are Legos and balls!

Grandma and Grandpa bought you your very own wagon! Here you are, checking it out for the first time.

You're definitely a fan! You call it a "car" and you seem to be VERY excited to have a 'car' of your own!

Drinking milk out of your big-boy cup. 

Hats! You love wearing multiple hats... and having everyone else wear them too. :)

Some of your "morning babble." You wake up happy and ready to play (after you've had your milk, of course!)

Sportin' the hoodie. 

You've found your love for dancing! Here you are with some of your Parker Dance Moves! 

Snuggly Hat!

this is the first time you've "used" your Elmo chair all by yourself. Though you, apparently, prefer to use it more as a pillow than a chair.

Toes! 

playing with Lillian at church. 

Baby Play Date. :)

Lillian's quite proud of herself! She can get up and down in the rocking chair all by herself! 

Eating O's! (cheerios)

A dapper young lad! We keep this hat in the car. You like to play with it, putting it on your head over and over. 

Another shot of the multiple hat wearing. 

This is generally what a room looks like by the time you're done with it. You are definitely a busy and curious boy! 

This month has been a lot of fun. You are such a happy boy, and in a good mood almost all of the time. You are a curious explorer, who will spend hours in the same room getting your hands on everything within your reach. 

You walk everywhere, all the time. You are more stable on your feet, and have improved your speed. You can almost move at a full-run. Almost. 

Your new tricks: You give high fives now! And your new favorite, is kisses! If we say "Kiss kiss, Mommy" then you'll give Mommy a wet, slobbery kiss on the cheek! Sometimes you even make a kissy sound "mu-wah." It's so super sweet! :)

You are talking more and more, saying new words all the time. Although a lot of your words for things are different than our words. Example: for "light" you say "eh eh eh!"

Also, your general "baby babble" has increased. You say a lot of "b" babble words. "bu bah boo"... it's as if you really are speaking sentences, but in another language.

We are just so enjoying you, each and every day. We don't get to see you as often as we did through the summer, so each moment with you is precious. We love you so much, little bubba, and you bring us so much joy and laughter. We continue to thank God for giving us the gift of you!

Love, Mommy and Daddy

14 Months

You actually turned 14 months old on the 26th. This blog is a few days late, because your daddy and I are on vacation in Avila Beach, Ca. 

So let's start with the saddest part of the month, when you got the stomach flu. Other than small cold, this is the first time you’ve really been sick. You were sick for about three days, but the first day is the worst. By the second day, you were holding your food down. We made sure you drank a lot of Pedialyte so you wouldn’t dehydrate. You were extra sleepy and cuddly, and by day four you seemed back to normal again.

But on to other news:

Milk comes in a sippy cup now. You were a bit resistant at first (you loved your bottle, after all!) but now you’re transitioned to using your “big boy” sippy cup.

You’ve been busy this month.  You are always walking now. If you’re moving, then you’re on your feet.  It’s truly rare to see you crawl anymore.

You learn new words every day! You love to demonstrate that knowledge. Something you like doing is showing off the body parts that you are able to identify. This includes: toes, nose, ears, mouth (sometimes) and... head. :)

Something new for you this month: bubbles! You LOVE bubbles! You love watching us blow bubbles, you love catching (or eating!) the bubbles. You even love just holding the bubble bottle. I’m just sorry I haven’t captured any pictures of it yet.

Another thing that’s new is that you’ve been napping in other houses. It used to be that you wouldn’t sleep anywhere but your own crib (and maybe your car seat). But twice this month you slept in a pack n play in someone else’s house. The first time was on the Fourth of July. We went to some friends’ house for dinner. At 7:00, we put you down in your pack n play in a back bedroom. We expected you to scream and cry for a long time, but you hardly fussed! You slept peacefully until it was time to leave. We were SO proud of you.

Then, when we went to visit Daddy’s Auntie in Freemont (who fed you your first “whole” banana, which made you VERY happy!), you slept in the car on the way there…

…And you took a good, long nap in your pack n play! Again, we were so proud of you, and we’re just happy that you’re able to sleep out of the house! This benefits you as well as Mommy and Daddy!

Just some more cuteness:

Another new thing is you’ve learned how to brush your hair. You learned it after watching Mommy brush your hair. It’s super cute when you do it, and you seem to really like it:

And... some more cuteness:

You continue to have a fascination with hats (“Ckkk”). You like wearing them for short periods of time, but you especially like making Mommy, Daddy or Grandpa wear hats. You’ll take the hat off out head, then prompt us to put it back it back on. You’ll do this over and over for several minutes.

 You’ve taking a liking to shoes (“Gah-k”)this month. You like holding shoes, whether it’s your shoes or Mommy or Daddy’s shoes. You really like doing this during a diaper change. J

Parker, you continue to be such a JOY to us. Though you do have a contemplative and serious side, you also have a really silly side too. You’re a very happy little guy who likes to smile and giggle. You continue learning new words and new things every day and it's super excing to watch you grow! Mommy and Daddy both really love this stage that you're in. 

We love you so so much, little Bubba! We can't wait to see what God teaches you next month!

Love, Mommy and Daddy

Some silly pictures: