Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Parker is 10 months!

Parker turned 10 months on April 23!  He had a big month for his gross motor skills, and is really starting to get around and explore.  This month, Parker ... 

- became an army crawling machine -- he is super fast, gets around everywhere, and loves to explore new places that he couldn't get to before (like the laundry room, the pantry, and the bathroom); 

- started learning how to pull himself up onto furniture -- he is really proud of himself when he can stand up and he loves the view; 

- learned how to get to a sitting position from laying on the floor; 

- gets into a bridge position (hands and toes on the floor, bum in the air) -- I think he is trying to stand up.  


Here are some other fun things about our little man.  At 10 months, Parker, ... 

- has 4 teeth; 

- takes 2 naps per day that are still inconsistent, and drive me a little crazy at times ;)

- loves to eat -- if we keep giving him food, he will typically keep eating; rather than waiting for him to be done eating we usually just have to stop feeding him; 

- he has liked almost all table food I have given him (even taco meat), with the exception of pasta, but he especially likes string cheese, strawberries, and chicken nuggets;  

- is a little obsessed with opening and closing doors, as is Jackson, which has ended up with fingers closed in the door more than once; 

- claps his hands, and gets a big smile on his face when you clap back; 

- is starting to wave, usually at himself in the mirror, but sometimes at other people too :)

- loves cars, trucks, trains, balls and anything with wheels/that rolls that he can push around the floor; 

- likes to make silly noises, his favorite of which right now is blowing raspberries; 

- enjoys when we sing songs to him;

- LOVES baths and is now taking a bath in the big boy tub with Jackson -- the two of them have a blast splashing in the water, and he loves that he now gets toys; Parker gets so excited when we tell him that it is "tub tub" time; 

- never keeps his socks on!!  He loves to pull them off and chew on them, so I've pretty much stopped putting them on his feet so I don't have to keep track of them ;)

- is quite the little flirt, and actually enjoys sitting and playing with new people (for at least a few minutes); 

- really enjoys watching the big boys run around, and can't wait until he can run around with them; 

- is such a happy boy!  He smiles all the time!

Here are some fun pictures of Parker from last month!
Parker still loves shoes, and crawling under things :)
Parker loves my computer, and one day I let him go to town typing in Microsoft Word.
He proceeded to save and print his document, without my knowledge.
We found it on the printer later that night and had a good laugh :)
Loves checking himself out in the mirror
Even though he eats a lot, he is still pretty skinny and tends to lose his pants
when he is crawling, unless they fit REALLY well :)
LOVE that smile!
And these two goofballs :)
Zooming around the basement
Saturday morning cuddles :)

Blowing raspberries 

Jackson helping Parker learn how to clap


My monthly photo shoots haven't been going very well ever since Parker became mobile.  This month, however, he seemed to love the camera and I got some super cute pictures!  







Happy 10 months, Parker!  We love you!!

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Parker is 9 months!

Parker turned 9 months on Monday, March 23!  He just keeps getting more and more fun and learns more all the time.  At 9 months, Parker ...

- has 3 teeth (two bottom and one top middle) and is cutting his other top middle tooth;

- typically sleeps between 10-11 hours at night, and takes two naps anywhere from 30 minutes to 2.5 hours (he's still kind of inconsistent);

- is great at getting around!  He uses a combination of rolling and army crawling, and he can pretty much get anywhere that he wants to.  He also gets up on his hands and knees into a crawling position and rocks back and forth, and several times has even taken a "crawl" step or two.  He'll be crawling before we know it!

- he has recently discovered he can venture out onto the tile floor, and it makes cool noises when you bang toys on it;

- is getting really good at giving high-fives;

- is a little obsessed with chewing on our toes -- he actually makes his way over to our feet, grabs them, and starts chewing on our toes, and then gets really upset if we take them away.  He also loves chewing on shoes;

- has tried and really enjoys eating cheese (shredded and string cheese), rice, apples, goldfish, and animal crackers.  Daddy even snuck him a piece of cookie the other day and he was very excited!

- has become a very messy and distracted eater; he likes to be entertained while he's eating and Jackson does a great job of that :)

- is a very persistent little boy -- when he wants something, he keeps going until he gets to it;

- likes to get into -- and try to eat -- all things that he shouldn't play with; for example, the garbage bag, my computer, any power cords within reach;

Here are some fun pictures of Parker at 9 months!
Parker is really starting to like blocks ... but he mostly just bangs them together
Parker was having a hard time with naps for a couple of weeks,
and got to cuddle with mommy one afternoon 
Now that he's more mobile, he gets stuck under things more often :)
Not quite sure about the hat ...
Discovering the tile!
Parker also refuses to keep bibs on, even the ones that button
This is the, "It wasn't me, mom!" face!
Jackson and Parker now take baths together, and LOVE it!
They are becoming really good buddies :)
The "gangsta" pose
I love when they cuddle :)

"What are you lookin' at?"
Happy 9 months Parker!!  We love you!!


I can't put him on the floor anymore for pictures, because he just escapes.



Monday, March 2, 2015

Parker is 8 months!

Our little Parker turned 8 months last Monday, on the 23rd!  He is getting so big and so fun!  At 8 months, Parker ...

- still just has his 2 front bottom teeth, but is cutting his top two teeth;

- sits up on his own really well;

- is really good at getting around by rolling and scooting on the floor;

- loves to growl!  Parker and Jackson growl back and forth to each other all the time, and then both start laughing.  It is pretty hilarious!  He also likes to growl as a way to say hello;

- is a really good eater!  He loves all of the fruit baby food, oatmeal cereal, sweet potatoes, and has gotten a lot of better at eating other vegetables and chicken meals.  He also loves Cheerios, puffs.  This week, he tried banana yogurt, shredded cheese, and a graham cracker and loved them all!

- is getting better at defending himself against Jackson ;)  Sometimes Jackson loves Parker a little too much and rolls on top of him, so Parker has started rolling back on top of Jackson;

- loves talking to daddy on the phone!  When Shawn calls on his way home from work, Parker gets a big smile on his face and starts growling and laughing into the phone;

- likes to pat me on the back/shoulder when I am holding him;

- loves to chew on our toes ... he rolls/scoots over to our feet, grabs our toes, and starts chomping.  It's pretty funny :)

- has a wonderful laugh that always makes us smile!

Parker loves the swings at the park!
Parker also loves to eat!
We recently trained Parker to sleep in his crib (he was napping in his swing)
without being swaddled.  Turns out he is a tummy sleeper, just like Jackson! 
Parker trying cheese for the first time, and LOVING IT!

This is Parker's new trick.  He does it all the time, and we get a kick out of it :)

Happy 8 months, Parker!!  We love you!
This is his growling face :)


Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Haircuts!

Last night the boys (Shawn included) all got haircuts.  It was Parker's FIRST haircut, Jackson's first haircut by mommy, and Shawn's first haircut by me in years!  I decided that since I now have 2 boys, and boys need their hair cut often, I should probably learn how to do it.  Also, Shawn was ready to even out Parker's hair, since he looked like a baby Einstein in the back and had a sweet comb-over in the front :)

Shawn cut Parker's hair while I held him.  At first, he was just kind of curious and trying to see the clippers.  Then he realized that he really didn't like this whole hair cutting thing, and cried the rest of the time :(  But, the end result looked great!
Before
After - He was not a happy baby :(
Jackson hated haircuts with a passion up until about a year ago.  Then, all of a sudden it was no big deal.  When we told him we were going to cut his hair last night, he was actually really excited!  He did about a well as you could expect for a 3 year old.  At first, he was pretty good, but then he had a hard time sitting still.  I cut the sides and top of his hair, but was having a hard time blending since he moves his head so much and I'm not very good at it yet.  So Shawn and I traded, and I held Parker, who was still upset from his haircut, and Shawn finished off blending and Jackson's neckline and ears.  It was a good team effort!
Before
After - poor Jackson was SUPER hairy when we finished!
Check out his shoulders!
After we got the boys bathed and asleep, I cut Shawn's hair.  I didn't take any before and after pictures though.  But I think I did an okay job!  Here's to saving $40 a month on haircuts!!

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Happy 3rd Birthday to Jackson!!

My sweet Jackson turned three years old last Saturday!  He has turned into such a fun, silly, imaginative little boy.  He amazes us more and more each day with the things that he does and says.

We did a lot of fun things to celebrate Jackson's birthday last week!  On Wednesday we took advantage of the free day at the zoo with Rachel, Tommy, and Oliver.  The boys had a blast!
The boys didn't want to look at the camera :)

Parker passed out before we left.
Friday we had his 3 year checkup.  Jackson was great at the doctor, and is finally on the other end of the weight spectrum!  It must be all of the goldfish and Pirate's Booty he eats :)  We finished the morning off by going to have lunch at Daddy's office.  Here are his stats from his checkup:

Height: 38.5 inches (74th percentile)
Weight: 32.8 lbs (54th percentile)

Saturday was Jackson's birthday!  When he got up in the morning, we let him open his presents from us.  Jackson got a Woody doll from Toy Story, and the Toy Story 2 movie!  The first question he asked us after he opened Woody was, "Where's Buzz Lightyear?"  Maybe next year, bud :)  Jackson was excited to play with Woody; he carried him around all morning, and even fed him breakfast.




At 10 am, Jackson asked to have popcorn.  Since it was his birthday, we popped a bag and had a snack!  Later, right before lunch, we took Jackson to pick out a birthday balloon.  He picked a Toy Story one!  He still has it in his bedroom a week later :)  After getting his balloon, we went to Burger King for his birthday lunch where he got his favorite meal: chicken nuggets, french fries, and chocolate milk.  He even got a birthday crown to wear.


After lunch, we came home for nap time.  Trisha's daughter, Isabel, had her baptism later that evening, so we all got dressed in our church clothes, headed out, and got to spend the rest of the evening with family.  But before we left, Jackson opened his present from Grandma and Grandpa Brown and got to play with it a little.  It is still one of his favorite things to play with!


Because of the baptism, we had a combination Super Bowl/Jackson's birthday party on Sunday evening.  Shawn's parents, the Kaouks, the Stuarts, and Vilja came to celebrate.  We had homemade pizza and other snacks, and then sang and ate dessert!  Because Jackson doesn't like cake, I made him a giant cookie with M&Ms.  He was so excited to blow out the candle!  Every time I asked what he wanted for his birthday the week before, he told me he wanted to blow the candles.  He even did it all by himself!  He also loved his presents from everyone!  We played with all of them the next morning.

Here are some fun things about Jackson at 3 years old!

- Jackson's favorite snack is Pirate's Booty.  He is still an incredibly picky eater, and has even dropped some things from his repertoire.  One of our goals for this year is to get him to try more foods!

- Jackson is a very chatty little boy.  It's fun to watch him now as he plays with his toys and has conversations with them!

- Jackson can count to 15, knows his colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, black, white, and pink), and recognizes most of his letters.

- His favorite word right now is, "Probaly!"  Sometimes he says it in silly contexts and it makes Shawn and I laugh, so now he says it just to make us laugh.  He's also very polite and says, "please," "thank you," "you're welcome," and "bless you" on his own.

- Jackson loves animals!  He especially loves going to the zoo and has been to the aquarium a couple of times.  He has a blast every time he goes.

- He loves to sing.  He knows a lot of songs by heart, and even makes up his own songs sometimes.  He also loves to read and has most of his books memorized.

- Some of his favorite things to play with are his trains, blocks, and balls.  He often brings some of them to bed with him.

- Jackson sleeps with a lot of stuffed animals.  His regulars are Scout, little Mickey, Blue Bear, his "light puppy" (dream light), chocolate puppy, and blue puppy.  He often brings another toy or book to bed with him too.  I think we may be running out of room for him on his bed!

- Jackson is a great big brother!  He loves to make Parker laugh, and has become a very good helper, when he wants to be. ;)

- Jackson has finally gotten into watching movies.  Some of his favorites are Cars; Monsters, Inc; Toy Story (1 and 2); and Finding Nemo.

Jackson is a sweet, happy little boy and we love having him in our family!!
 
My three favorite boys!  I love that Jackson is holding Parker's hand :)
Feeding the ducks is one of Jackson's favorite things to do!
Hmm ... juice and milk at the same time?
We love building towers together!
Cuddling with Parker :)
Sometimes he likes to pretend to fall asleep in the toy bucket.
One of these days I wonder he if actually will ;)
Swinging at the park!
Posing with his "friends"
I love this kid's smile!!
Happy Birthday Buddy!! We love you!!