T-R-O-U-B-L-E

It's bad enough that Thomas misbehaves more than I would like. But what is worse is that he has also learned how to tell Parker to do or say things he is not supposed to do/say, too. Here's a perfect example of the state of things around here....

I had the boys' individual DVD players in the car today because I had taken Parker (and also Thomas) to the doctor to get his ears checked (they were fine). That's how we survive the doctor's office with two children (and by "survive" I mean "take home the least amount of germs"): double stroller and DVDs.

We had a really busy morning and the appointment wasn't until 11:45, so by the time we got out, it was well past lunchtime. I decided we had all earned a lunch out so we went out for pizza. When we went to get back in the car, Thomas had already sweet talked me into letting him finish watching his Cars movie on the way home. This meant I had to let Parker watch his zoo video. So I got Parker in his carseat and set up his DVD. He had pulled the tape off of the "open" button but I told him he better not open the player or I would take it away. Then I walked around the car to buckle Thomas into his seat.

As soon as I opened his door, I saw him leaned across the seat, pointing out to Parker which button to push to open it. I asked him what he was doing and what he was showing Parker and he blatantly lied and said, "I was just showing him this seat" and he pointed to the space between the two carseats. I told him he better not lie or his punishment would be worse and he said that yes, he was telling Parker how to open it. Needless to say, Thomas did not watch his movie on the way home. And since Parker started opening the player, he lost his too.

But the thing was (the sweet part of it all), Thomas was so upset and Parker kept saying, "Sorry Thomas! Sorry Thomas!" And Thomas said, "It's not your fault Parker, it was all my fault."

Well, at least he gets it. But my goodness, it's this kind of behavior that is about to drive me nutty! Boys will be boys!

"Parker looks just like..."

When Parker was born, I was so surprised by how much he did not look like Thomas! It wasn't long before Trey said he thought Parker looked a lot like him. I agreed.



Smiles like that always reminded me of this picture (below) of Trey as a baby.


I definitely could see the resemblance.


Then Parker's hair all fell out and came back in quite curly. This caused Trey's family to proclaim the resemblance to Parker's grandfather (Trey's dad), who had very curly hair as a baby.


Definitely can see the resemblance there...


But strangely enough, I also heard that he looked a lot like my family as well.


In particular, my dad. Here was my dad as a baby (below).


Sometimes I look at those and I think the resemblance is uncanny. And I'm not sure what it says...does my husband look like my Dad? I digress. :) Definitely similar features...


And as for the hair, my brothers and I all took after our Dad with our curls. This is me and my older brother.


But I think of my brothers and I, Parker looks most like my younger brother, Andrew (at least as a baby). Here is Parker...


And here is Andrew...


Is it just me, or can you see the resemblance?


Parker's hair definitely reminds me of Andrew's as a child (not the best picture of a picture, but hopefully you can see).


So who knows!??! I think sometimes (at least I do this), the more I compare pictures, the more EVERYONE looks alike! I've been collecting these pictures for a long, long time and intending to make this post. I thought it would be fun to share!

Two years of Parker

Last year, when Parker turned one I shared this collage:

Now that he's two, it's time for a new one for all the pictures from this past year. The changes might be a bit more gradual than his first year, but it is still crazy to look back and see how much of a baby he was a year ago, and now I guess he's, sniff, sniff, a toddler!

Here's one of the pictures with the bear, but I felt the closer pictures looked better now that it increasingly more difficult to get a decent far away shot of him without him jumping out of the chair!

Really makes me wonder what we will see in these pictures in another year! He is growing far too fast!

The sweetest thing

I'm trying to get over the fact that I did something really dumb today. I borrowed my mother's new digital SLR camera to give it a test at Thomas' class picnic today. It was the end-of-the-year event for ALL of the 3s classes (and many siblings like Parker tagged along). I took pictures as the children played on the playground. Pictures of Parker, pictures of Thomas, pictures of Thomas and his best buddies. I snapped away as the kids had a sack race and other games out on the field. I kept capturing the moment when the class had lunch and then the teachers handed out their "diplomas" during circle time. And I was still happily clicking away when the boys checked out Spray Play (the big fountains of play). I must have taken about 100 pictures. Or so I thought.

A few times I noticed when I turned it on, the camera said something like "no card" for just a moment, but it seemed to be taking pictures just fine. But I never took time to review what I had. Then as I was sitting at Spray Play, reveling in the beautiful moment I had just captured on film, I realized my goof. I left the memory card in my computer the night before. The "no card" notice was accurate. And "no card" meant "no pictures." I felt like a dolt. And worse, I missed some wonderful pictures.

So in an effort to drown my sorrows, I keep thinking back on my happiest moment of the day. I even made Thomas recreate the moment a little bit. :)

Spray Play is basically a large sprinkler and water fountain for kids to run around and enjoy. It has a padded floor, and about ten jets of water (that come on and off on a timer) around a semi-circle with a large constantly spraying fountain in the middle. The jets on the outside are about eight feet or so apart and they come on for about 20 seconds, starting small and going pretty high before turning off for about a minute.

Here's one just as it starts to spray out:


And when it gets to its highest/strongest point:


Thomas loves to pick one streaming jet and sit on it and wait for the water to spout out. Parker, however, is not so keen on sprinklers or spraying fountains.

Parker finally worked up the courage and walked over to the puddles around the edge (while the streaming jets were off).  He was having a lot of fun.  Then the water came on, hit him in the face and he freaked out.  I was three jets away (I'd have to walk through all of them to get to him).  He moved away from the jet, crying and wailing, and moved in between two of them (Thomas was sitting on the one the next over).  I didn't think Thomas noticed him, so I was about to go rescue him when Thomas looked back and saw him.  He jumped up and rushed over to Parker, and hugged him in such a way that was saying, "I will protect you."  I think he even had one of his hands cupped behind Parker's head.  It was something like this:



(of course in the re-enactment, Parker is smiling.  It wasn't that way at Spray Play!  There, he just buried his head in Thomas' chest.)

Then as soon as the water turned off, he lovingly took Parker by the arm and led him back over to me.  It was the absolute sweetest thing in the world.  My heart melted and tears came to my eyes.  I was so proud of Thomas for looking out for his little brother...particularly without even being asked!  Parker went back a few minutes later and the scene repeated itself again.  Then Parker decided he wasn't going back.  :)

Even though there are times that being a parent of two boys makes me tired to my very core, it is moments like that that make me so happy that we have our two boys, two years apart.  These boys may fight sometimes, but they also love each other with a love that is so sweet and unique to brothers.


I pray that they always love each other...and have each other's back.


And I hope Thomas can forgive his dunce of a mother for missing proper documentation of his special day!

Two years old

We have officially entered the terrible twos again. These two years have flown right by, and now we have one big two-year old on our hands!



(That was the only non-closeup I could get!)

He has changed so much since one year ago...but before I get there, it's hard to think how much he has even changed in six months since he was 18 months old:


And then to go back six months before that...at one year old:


And six months before that at 6 months old...


And three months prior to that at 3 months:


And that dark-haired newborn who slept all day long can no longer be described in either of those ways...


Seriously! Who was that kid, anyway? :)

At two years old, Parker is a fireball...a little bundle of energy who loves to laugh and get into trouble (in a fun, mischevious way).


He is chatty and I think he "talks" very well for a child his age. His sentences aren't all that "proper," but he manages to string 3-4 words together to clearlly convey his messages. He says things like, "Downstairs. Do it, self" and that means he wants to walk downstairs without holding my hand. If I say something he doesn't want me to say (like to discipline him) he will say, "No say that!" or "No do that!" And he understands things that surprise me all the time. Earlier this evening I was kneeling down in front of him and he started pushing on me saying "Over!" (meaning he wanted to push me over). I told him "no" that I was on the hard floor and "Mommy might get hurt." He looked at me and said, "Hospital." I thought it was funny and it surprised me that he even knew that!



I love him dearly, but the boy is a mess. He is T-R-O-U-B-L-E!


All of these laughing pictures are because I was begging him to sit still for just one second, but he kept trying to get away from me and I had to hold him down a bit (which made him laugh). Monthly photo shoots are very tiring because I spend the whole time chasing him down and plopping him back in the chair to get one picture before he jumps out again! He thinks he is quite hilarious. I disagree.

Then he finally gets tired and sits there and sucks his thumb for awhile. Yes, he still sucks his thumb quite religiously and he twirls his curls at the same time. His hair is certainly his security blanket, and though he has had three (or four) haircuts at this point, we don't cut off too much for fear he wouldn't sleep for weeks!

Speaking of sleep, he is not quite the super sleeper he once was, but he doesn't give us too much trouble. He goes to bed usually around 7:30-7:45 and he usually is up by 7ish (if not before). He naps for about two hours a day. He would nap longer, but I usually wake him up around 4 and that helps him go to bed more easily at night.

We haven't had his official 2-year WBV yet since we are in the midst of a health insurance change, but I did take him for a checkup the week before his birthday and he weighed 33 pounds, 4 ounces. I measured his height the other day and I think he's 36 1/2 inches tall. Both measurements put him well into the 90th percentiles for height and weight. (Just for fun, Thomas was 28 pounds and 36 inches (with shoes on) at age two.) The boy is SOLID. You'd think he's not a picky eater...but you'd be wrong! He really doesn't eat much meat at all and he really just picks at mealtimes. He does, however, drink lots of milk (probably time to switch from whole milk!) and he'd be happy as a peach if we let him eat fruit all day long. He loves strawberries, grapes, applesauce, blueberries and most fruit...though he seems to be cooling off on his love of bananas.

He can sing his ABCs pretty well, but we still can't seem to get him to learn to recognize all of his letters. I don't think we work with him as much as we did with Thomas, but then again, it just doesn't seem to come as naturally to him either. Then again, at his age, Thomas couldn't say his ABCs and Parker has known them for awhile. He can count to about 13 (though he frequently skips "6" for some reason).

Before I go any further, I should clarify that even though Parker loves to make mischief, he is also very loving and sweet. And when he realizes he has truly made you angry he gets so upset. He still frequently loves to be held and at times he is so sweet...he will lay his head on my chest while he sucks his thumb. It's sweet. Or he will let me hold him (ask me to hold him, rather) while he sucks his thumb and twirls MY hair! He loves to do that.



He loves to read books, though he prefers the ones that are shorter and sweeter (not like his brother's longer, more complicated books!). He has memorized many of his favorite books and will sometimes finish my sentences when I read.

He also loves his brother and wants to be around him and near him (and drive him crazy!). It's really fun watching their relationship grow and develop. Sure, sometimes they fight and bicker, but they also often really get along quite well. What really makes me smile is when Thomas sometimes translates things for me. Sometimes I can't understand what Parker is saying and Thomas remarkably gets it quite clearly and is able to help me out. He and his brother really do understand each other quite well.



He's heavy as lead and he loves to make trouble, but he is a sweet little fella and we love him so. Our family would be incomplete without him. I hope these next few years will slow down a little bit. I want to enjoy these final years of the preschool time! I'm so proud of him for all that he is at this point in his life and I look forward to watching him grow in the years to come! I just wish he'd slow down a little bit! :)

My mommy...

I had a great Mother's Day this year. Here's a picture of Thomas on that day:

I'm totally stealing this idea from my friend Nancy because Thomas didn't do anything like this in his class. I thought her son's answers were cute, so I thought I'd see what Thomas would say. Here was the survey and his answers:

Mommy's favorite color: pink
Mommy's favorite restaurant: Chick-Fil-A
Mommy's favorite thing to eat: Salad
My favorite thing that Mommy cooks: Spaghetti & pizza
My Mommy's best friend: I don't know
Mommy's Job: To stay here (home)
Mommy is married to: I don't know.
Mommy's favorite thing to do: Stay home and love me
Mommy's favorite TV show: commercials
What does Mommy look like: a grown up
Why do you love Mommy: because she loves me
My favorite thing to do with Mommy: play with her

I can't say he answered them all "correctly" but I love the way he thinks. :)

Pickin' strawberries

Today we took a little field trip with some of Thomas' school friends and their parents (and siblings) and visited a local farm to pick strawberries.  It's something I've wanted to do for years, but have never managed to actually do.  We got really dirty, but the boys had a ball...and I enjoyed it too!  And even better, the strawberries are delicious!





The boys really enjoyed it and I took a ton of pictures.  Since I'm so behind on blogging and need to just get this one up, I'm not sure I'll do too much narrating!






Thomas and one of his best buds, Thomas!




And his other best bud from school, Henson. Though it was impossible to get all of them looking at the camera at once.  


Thomas & Thomas.  The other Thomas rode with us because his Mom had a ton of things to do, so I managed to wrangle three kids around the strawberry patch.  Whew!  :)  They all made it easy.  But I did feel a little crazy the times I had to say, "Thomas & Thomas, come over here!" 


Some of the beautiful berries amidst all of the ever-plenty Wadmalaw Island dirt!






Parker had to take a few thumb-sucking breaks...




I've decided that this little boy, Luke (younger brother of a little girl who is in Thomas' class), is Parker's "hair twin."


Isn't he a cutie?


I tried to discourage Parker from eating the dirty berries in the field, but he was dying to eat one.  So I let him indulge in a cleaner one we found:




This is Parker saying, "Good!"


And then he decided it was fun to yell into the bucket:


The camera focused on the wrong person, but cute anyway...




Meanwhile, Thomas was running around with his buddies.


We attempted to get a decent picture of most of the children together (Henson and his brother had already headed over to the picnic area at this point):

Yeah, that went well.  :)

Luke's Daddy's picture of the same moment...


Then it was time to head over for our picnic lunch:


Afterwards the kids realized they could feed turtles in the pond:


See one of the turtles...






I'm pretty sure farmers don't wear sandals, Crocs or flip-flops for a reason!








But look at those beautiful strawberries!




Okay, that was ridiculous how many pictures I posted (and it took me an hour!).  The reason I have yet to blog about the boys' birthday party is because I have too many pictures from which to choose.  And I've yet to blog about Parker turning two because it requires too much brain power.  But I promise, they are coming.  I've backdated a few new entries today and will point them out shortly once I finish doing all the ones I want to do!