Saturday, November 20, 2010

A very full moon

On the way to a birthday party with Parker tonight, he noticed the full moon and said, "Look Mommy! It's a full moon!" I acknowledged it and he said, "It must have a lot of stuff...a lot of stuff in his belly."

I said, "Why? Because it's a 'full' moon?"

"Yes Mommy, it has a lot of stuff in there."

And I should admit that Parker still can't say two consonants together at the beginning of a word and anything that starts with "th" comes out as starting with a "d." For example, that last sentence actually sounded like, "Yes Mommy, it has a lot of 'tuff in dair." :-)

I love the way toddlers talk, and I love the way they think. Too cute.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Here we go again?

I took a picture today that I thought was worth sharing, and I figure it might be wise to make sure I document the diagnosis. Hopefully there won't be more, but I am not overly optimistic.

Parker (and Thomas) has had a cold most of the week. He has been coughing some (mostly at night for 20-30 minute intervals once or twice a night). He seemed generally okay though. This morning he woke up normally and seemed to be relatively fine until he refused most of breakfast and then got progressively clingier (is that a word?) and more and more pathetic as the morning went on. He only wanted me to hold him and he just kept whining "Mommy. Mommy." in this terribly sad and pathetic whimper. Trey had planned a morning out with the boys (I had a productive morning planned!) to include a trip to the fire museum and Parker didn't want to give that up.

Soon he had a fever and I knew he couldn't go. He was in terrible shape. He didn't even want me to put him down for a second if I wasn't holding him. Trey left with Thomas and I stayed so I could take Parker to the weekend peds care when they opened at 11. We left a little after 10:30 and he was asleep before we even got out of our neighborhood.

We got to the hospital (where the after-hours place is) and got checked in. It wasn't long after we started waiting that I looked down to this:


He was snoring and completely out. I can't tell you the last time he fell asleep in my lap (or sat completely still with me when we were waiting anywhere). There was no doubt that something was wrong. And in the end, the diagnosis was a left ear infection and fluid in both ears.

Last year he ended up with five ear infections (starting in late October/early November). By the time the fourth and fifth came around it was already spring and starting to get warmer and the doctors said that even though they usually refer to the ENT after four in that time period (for ear tubes), since it was starting to get warmer and out of "ear infection season," they said we could wait. So we did and he hasn't had one since (despite about 4-5 trips to the ped for a false alarm).

This time will be different. If he gets one more in the next two months...we are heading to the ENT. There is just no need in little man being so sick and pathetic!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Heaven

Tonight Thomas was stalling bedtime by telling me his room was "too spooky" (or as Parker would say, "too pooky"). I told him that there was nothing to fear. He said, "What if a spider comes and eats me?" I told him that he was too big for a spider to eat. Then I told him that he was safe because his Daddy & I protect him, and God watches over all of us and keeps us safe. I explained that if he gets scared, he can pray to God to keep him safe and not let him worry. Then our conversation went something like this:

T: How can God see me and hear me and know that I am talking to him?
M: God is always with us and watches over us and he always hears us when we talk to him.
T: Can God fly?
M: I guess so. He can be in Heaven and he can be on earth with us, so perhaps he can fly.
T: Yes, I think he can because Ms. Wynette couldn't fly (this was our neighbor who died in January) and he had to come get her and take her to Heaven.
M: Exactly.
T: When can I go to Heaven?
M: When you have lived a long life and it's time for you to go and be happy in Heaven.
T: Are there toys in Heaven?
M: Well, there is only happiness in Heaven, so I guess there are toys.
T: What if there are only grown-up toys?

It's so funny sometimes to listen to a little mind at work. :)

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Two and a half years old!

I've been terrible about updates on Parker for the last six months. I could blame it on a million things, but it doesn't really matter and I hate that it is the case. I will not, however, let his 2 1/2 year old update pass me by!


Two and a half years?!? Where did the time go? I'm not even sure where to begin!

Parker is such an independent spirit. He loves hard and he plays hard and he loves to get in trouble! He thinks he is quite hilarious, especially when doing something he shouldn't do!

I think one of the first things he said was "by myself" and "do it self" and he still likes to do things without any assistance. He doesn't like that we force him to hold our hands in the parking lot and he is almost always telling us not to help him because he wants to do it all by himself.

His vocabulary and speech are very good. He talks quite a lot. His greatest problem with his speech is something that makes him sound completely adorable. He usually cannot pronounce two consonants together at the beginning of a word. So, for example, he'll say things like this, "I am going to sit here and look at this book, that is what I am going to do, I 'tink.'" He frequently uses the phrase, "I think" (or "I tink") at the end of a sentence. It cracks me up. And as I mentioned in the Halloween post, to him, things on Halloween were a bit "pooky" and "cary."

It's so interesting to see how differently your children can develop. Parker loves to sing songs, at home and in group settings (Thomas really did not (and still does not...he's too shy!)). Parker has been speaking very well for quite a long time. Thomas didn't develop the speech that Parker has for a bit longer, but he knew all of his numbers and letters before he was even two. Parker still hasn't quite mastered this. Parker's fine motor skills are very good. Thomas' were not quite as advanced, and I realize that even more when I watch Parker manipulate something so carefully and perfectly with his little fingers. I feel that both of them were and are completely within the range of where they should be, but it's so fascinating to see how differently they can both develop on this spectrum!

Parker is a mess. He is absolute trouble. I love him and he makes me laugh...but he is a handful! It's good that he is so cute! :-)




WHen I ask him to smile, he gives me this overly forced "cheese" face. It's a bit "pooky." ;-)








He is definitely still a thumb sucker...and as strong willed as he is, he probably will be until he's 16 (or however old he is when he decides he is too old for it!).


Now I'm remembering why I stopped taking these photos. He makes it all just a bit too hard! He's a stinker!


He is a mess, but I love him so. I love his joy. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I hear him sing a little tune. He sometimes talks in his sleep. He wakes up entirely too early, but usually he's happy and just keeps calling for me until I come get him. Sometimes we bring him into our bed (if the sun has yet to rise) and he is such a little cuddlebug. Thomas has never been much for this, but Parker likes to curl up and get as close to you as he can get.

As for eating, there's always room for improvement. He is not a big fan of meats or mealtime in general. He'd be perfectly happy to drink milk and eat fruit all day long. But he usually will eat a little bit of everything. Of course, what he likes today, he might hate tomorrow...but such is life with children!

He still naps for about 1.5 to two hours a day, sometimes more. It's funny, with Thomas we couldn't let him take a toy to bed or in his crib for naptime because he would play and play forever. Parker can take a toy, play with it for a few minutes and then go to sleep. As for sleeping in his crib, he would love to sleep in a bed, but in our current house, we're going to try to keep him in the crib for a bit longer (he is upstairs and the rest of us are downstairs). It seems to work for the most part (unless a storm comes...he hates, hates hates thunder). During a recent thunderstorm, we let him sleep in Thomas' room. We tried to put him in his pack n'play but ended up letting him try things out in Thomas' bed. It didn't work all that great (and he ended up being in there the next night), but we do hope they might be able to share a room together at some point.

He is a big, big boy. He is almost as tall (if not taller) than some of Thomas' friends, and he weighs just a few pounds less than Thomas. Everytime I take him somewhere that kids 2 and under get in free, I keep waiting for someone to question me, but it hasn't happened yet! He is one of the youngest children in his class at school, but he is far from being the smallest!

Speaking of school, he goes two mornings a week and seems to love it. He sometimes still cries at drop off, but his teacher says he calms down almost immediately after I leave and has a grand time while he is there. He almost always gets in the car singing a song and tells me he had "so much fun" at school.

Parker loves books and toys of all types (all toys with wheels), though he frequently is the one to bypass the toys and try to get into something else! Most of all, he loves to love. He tells me several times a day, "I love you SO MUCH, Mommy" and it just melts my heart. He will say that and then reach up and give me the sweetest little hug and kiss. He is such a sweetheart.



I feel so blessed to have two such sweet and loving boys. I don't know what I'd do without them, and I only wish time would slow down so I could enjoy these moments just a little bit more!

Trick-or-treating with friends

We recently moved to a new neighborhood and there don't seem to be as many young families as where we used to live. We weren't really sure how Halloween would be around here, so we accepted our good friends' (Taryn & James and the girls) invitation to come celebrate with them. Their neighborhood has a bit of a block party with hot dogs and mac n' cheese for the little ones at the community playground and then trick-or-treating galore. The boys were happy to share Halloween with their good friends!

Here were our boys before heading to the community party (we forgot the hat that goes with Thomas' costume, but luckily found a stand-in in my car):






This picture cracks me up. After we took pics of our boys and Taryn & James took pictures of their girls, our boys went to go visit with their "girlfriends."


Thomas & Lily...




Sarah Ellen was trying to remove Parker's nametag and he kept telling her not to...


Cutest little Air Force pilot...ever!


After the party at the playground, we started to take off for trick-or-treating. Thomas begged to ride with Lily in the wagon...


Until they were offered a better ride...


We rode around the neighborhood to a handful of houses on that ride before we hit to the streets the old fashioned way. Before long, all the kids were old pros!


I wish I had more pictures of them on the move, but they were moving too fast for my camera to keep up! Parker was a bit shy for the first two houses, but soon he was taking off in a near sprint when we got close to the houses. They had so much fun.

At one house, they had decorated the hallway under the front porch (on an elevated house) as a haunted hallway (dark lights, strobe lights, spiderwebs and hanging witches, etc). Parker & Thomas both made it through without tears, but later Parker said, "I didn't like the 'pooky' house. It was too 'pooky' and 'cary.'" He has a bit of a hard time pronouncing to consonants together at the start of a word. But I'm glad, but a "pooky house" sure does make me giggle.

Taryn has some more pictures on her blog. Many thanks to them for letting us join in the fun! When we came back home, I'm not sure if anyone had come by our house and taken some candy from the bowl we left by the door. It's probably good that we didn't stay!