More vacation pictures

I'm woefully behind on posting pictures from our vacation. I took a ton of pictures and even when I only picked my favorites, it was still an obnoxious amount! I haven't known where to start...and I still don't, so I'm not sure there will be much rhyme or reason to all of this.



So we had our first vacation and it was great. We went with one other family, our friends Taryn & James and their sweet girls, and I think I can safely say that everyone had a good time (despite some illness and a couple trips to the doctor!). I know our family had a ball.

We stayed in a great house (at Pawley's Island) that fronted the ocean and the creek:


Thomas was glad to share the experience with one of his oldest and dearest friends...
















Parker and his buddy tended to spend more time on their own...



(This is what happens when Daddies don't put on a swim diaper before putting a baby in a baby pool).





(This is Sarah Ellen)


...or they preferred to stay close to Mommies and Daddies...














Perhaps his tendency to stick with his parents was directly related to how difficult it is to get around the beach (without getting sand in your mouth and everything else!) when you can't walk!




The big kids enjoyed going out in the ocean...


And thankfully the waves were not too large on most days and the kids could practice their swimming out in the water:




Back on dry land, there was much castle building...


And other sandy fun...


James was a good sport. Thomas told him a few times to "Just relax." :)

There was LOTS of running all over the beach:


There were two casualties and they involved jellyfish and a crab. Thomas was stung twice by jellyfish (and yet he kept going back in the water!). The worst one was this one while we were in the creek:


And the other injury was after we found a crab on the beach (right at the surf), James picked it up so we could all look at it:


As we were all looking at it, we forgot to pay close attention to Parker (who was just below me as I snapped this picture). Right after I took the above picture, Parker reached up to grab the crab's claw and the though I quickly grabbed Parker's hand, it was too late. The crab pinched and managed to nick a tiny spot on the outside of his finger. The pain and the commotion scared him quite a bit, but he recovered quickly, and got a lesson about crabs:


Then he was fine...

Parker got many chances to practice his walking skills:


There were a couple of stormy days, but none were complete washouts. The beach was still a fun place to be even when storms threatened across the horizon:




We also were able to take the kayaks out in the creek. Thomas and I enjoyed it!


With James and Lily...


Whew! That's enough pictures for now. Looking at them is making me want to go back...now! On vacation, it was not even a bad thing that I still kept my same bad habits of waking up too early. It's not so bad to wake up early when it means you can sit outside and wake up to this...


Seriously, can we just go live there? :)

Happy birthday Daddy!

The boys and I would like to wish a very happy birthday today to their Daddy!!! Hope your day has been as good as it can be for being at work. :) We miss you and wish we could be spending the day with you. Parker is teething and not feeling overly participatory, but I was able to convince Thomas to sing you a message:



Thomas also drew you a beautiful picture of an orange tiger (a "very bad tiger" he said) in a green jungle with another red tiger thrown in for fun:


Parker says, "I don't draw, but I smile really cute for you on your birthday, Daddy."


The boys say, "Happy birthday Daddy! We love you very much!"

Walking is hard work!

Parker is walking a little steadier these days, but still has a bit to go before he is a full-time walker. He gets quite determined as he walks and he is so proud of himself when he goes a far distance on his own. Unfortunately my camera died toward the end of this, but it's cute nonetheless. Parker wasn't feeling especially chatty, but he walked well.



Before we know it, he'll be running!

15 months old!

I don't even want to say how late I am with this monthly update! Blame it on vacation, but I'm now almost three weeks late! Yikes. So better late than never, Parker is now 15 months old!


I'm going to do my best at writing this as he was three weeks ago, and not so much now...but it is changing so much so fast.

At 15 months Parker is/was:

• Talking so much! I started a list of words at the first of the month, thinking I'd get about 20 words that he says. It actually turned out to be more like 30. The doctor was impressed with his vocabulary. He says "Hi!" whenever he sees a stranger (and keeps saying it until they acknowledge him!). Other words he says include: banana, up, down, snack, cup, Momma, Daddy, blueberry, fish, car, tractor, truck, balloon, bowl, boat, toothbrush, duck, dog, hat and many other words. Granted, many of them you might not recognize, but I know most of them and he definitely has his own word for each of these things. He also knows the sounds made by animals like a cat, dog, lion, snake, bird and cow.
  
• Not quite walking or taking real steps, but cruising like a champ! (Of course now he is walking more, but on Aug. 2 he was not!).
• A good eater, but not when it comes to vegetables. He really loves dairy products like yogurt and cheese, but he is not very fond of milk. He won't eat any veggies except for sweet potato fries (and mashed potatoes). Everything else (carrots, peas, beans, broccoli) he will put in his mouth and then say "Uck!" and spit it out.
• Independent at some things. He gets mad sometimes if I'm feeding him with a spoon and I won't let him do it for himself. Unfortunately he needs a bit more practice, but I'm trying to not stress so much about the mess he makes and just let him keep trying so he can learn.
• So much bigger, it seems. He really seems to be filling out more and more and getting taller.
• NOT A GIRL. We still constantly hear what a "beautiful girl" he is. I'm sure if I dressed him in a t-shirt and shorts and cut his hair short we'd stop hearing this, but I'm not going to do that.
• A mommy's boy. He loves seeing his Daddy, especially when he's been away, and he frequently calls out "DADDY!" if he sees a man across the way or something, but if he is tired or cranky, he wants his Mommy. He will happily curl up with me and suck his thumb and twirl his hair and be completely content.
• A big fan of his brother. In the picture above, he was smiling because Thomas walked in the room. Otherwise, he was not in the mood to smile for me that day. I still can't figure out what he calls Thomas, or if he has a word for him, but I think he often refers to him as "Bah-ba."
• Still a great sleeper/napper. Most of the time when I put him down he gladly goes into his crib and says "night-night" to me right before he lays down on his belly and quietly goes to sleep. Seeing how I still have to go in and tend to Thomas in the middle of the night far more often than I would like, I'm so happy Parker is much more self-reliant when it comes to getting to and staying asleep!

The pictures for this month were not great. He was tired on the two times I tried to get some pics, but I got a few that were okay. He is just not one to pose for the camera. Though he will pick up the camera and hold it up to his face (like he is taking a picture) and say "Cheese!"

This is his "cheese" face:


And this is his "I'm tired" pose. He sucks his right thumb while twirling his curls with his left hand:


He will always smile when he sees his brother:


And here are those curls, for which I believe he is constantly mistaken for a little girl:


A little happy face:


Looking a little like he could use a hairbrush:


A bit of a change from Parker a year ago...at 3 months old:


And a very typical Parker look:


The boy loves his thumb.

He is just growing up too fast! It's so sad to me sometimes when I think how is is our last little baby. I'm trying to enjoy the end of his crawling days because I know they won't last much longer. He is such a sweet boy and such a joy in our lives. I cannot believe it has already been 15 months. Hopefully I can be more timely with his next update!