On the day I took these pictures (last week, the day after he turned 17 months), he was just waking up from his nap and had dried applesauce all over his outfit (and he should have been wearing a shirt under that jon-jon, but oh well), but I knew if I didn't take the pictures then it wouldn't get done!
Each day, Parker's personality seems to be coming through more and more. He loves to laugh and play games--peek-a-boo and "chase!" are his favorites. For the most part, he is easy-going and tolerates his mother's coupon obsession (which leads to many grocery and drug store trips each week). He threw his first all-out fit at Publix today while we were in line and the cashier was meticulously studying each coupon and going back and forth to customer service with questions, but for the most part, he is a doll who can be easily soothed with food and drink.
He is very independent. He prefers to walk his own way, by himself...and then loves it when I chase him down! He likes to feed himself even if it means he wears a great deal of his food. He does love to eat and really is starting to love milk, too (Thomas still doesn't care for it much, so this is great!). He stopped nursing at the end of last month (a few weeks ago).
The best part of his independence is his ability to put himself to sleep. After going through the complete opposite with Thomas, Parker is so easy at bedtime and naptime I almost feel guilty sometimes. We just take him to his crib, tell him night-night and he leans in until we put him down and he lays there and goes to sleep. Every once in a while he will cry for a moment or two, but that is exceedlingly rare.
And the boy loves to sleep. I usually do not put him down for a morning nap so that he will take a longer nap (earlier) in the afternoon, but I could put him down after two hours of wakefulness each day and he'd gladly go to sleep. It reminds me of how he slept 22-23 hours a day as a newborn. The boy knows how to sleep. Most days he wakes around 7 am and goes down for a nap around 1 (he frequently will fall asleep in the car if we are driving around at about 11 am to 12 pm and take a short catnap...usually on the way to pick up Thomas from school). He goes to bed around 7:15-7:30.
Parker has really developed a love of books. He will bring me book after book and back up to my lap and tell me to "Deed! Deed!" (which is "read," of course). He loves his picture books (Priddy books) and any book with Elmo or cars/trucks/tractors/things-with-wheels.
His hair is still long and curly, but I still am not ready to have it cut!
I'm sure his hair will meet the scissors soon, but I'm in no rush. I find that when I dress him in something other than jon-jons, we don't get "that's a beautiful girl" comments, but I know it's getting a bit unruly. :)
Parker is a love, but he is also always in constant motion. He doesn't like to sit still for long. He wears me out and exhausts me, but he also is a lot of fun.
He is usually very sweet and loving, but when he wants something he will fuss and yell until he gets it. If we tell him "no," he will quickly pitch a fit...and if we "hurt his feelings" (like tell him "no" when he is trying to do something that is dangerous), he will cry like we just gave him away or something. He definitely does not like to have his feelings hurt (not that anyone does!).
Speaking of hurt, he's almost through with teething his first four molars. I feel like he's been getting them in forever (I think the first started popping through in July), but the last of the four is almost completely broken through the gum now (the top right one is fully through the gum but not fully down, and the top left one is halfway through the gum). He's definitely not fussing, crying out randomly during the night as much anymore and that makes everyone happy.
Generally he is very sweet and kind to his brother, too. But sometimes, if Thomas won't give him a toy he wants or something, he has popped Thomas on the head or something. In some ways it's bad, but it's also kind of funny too. When Thomas is not being nice to Parker, Parker has shown that he is capable of standing up for himself. But on the other hand, the times when Thomas is upset about something, Parker is the first to go over and try to give him a hug. It's the sweetest thing. Parker loves his big brother so much.
Verbally, he's not too different (I don't think) from where he was a month ago. I say that, but then again, he's constantly saying words that I didn't realize he knew. He loves to point out buses on the road ("Bah! Bah! Bah!") and airplanes in the sky "A! A! A!"). He has a ton of words and I can't begin to write them all down at this late hour. Many of them you might not recognize at first, but they are getting clearer. I am "Momma," Trey is "Daddy" and Thomas is either "Tahtee" or "Bahbee."
He's not much of a poser, but here were the rest of the best...
And today he was being a little goof. While I was cleaning up the kitchen around lunchtime, perhaps he was just tired, but he came in and plopped down on the floor...totally laid out on his back.
I cannot believe how close he is to being 1 1/2...which means he'll be closer to 2 than 1! I can't even think of it. I'm trying to enjoy every moment of his babyness, but I'm realizing every day (especially every time I have to pick up the heavy fella!) that he's really not much of a baby anymore. Please say it aint so!
No comments:
Post a Comment