Four years old!

It’s terrible that Parker turned four nearly three months ago and I have yet to blog about it.  Talk about falling off the wagon!  But I’m going to do it right now and eventually back date it so it will look like I was far more on the ball.  Perhaps I’ll even add pictures to it!  But for now, I’ll have to stick with words…

How do I start talking about Parker at age four?  The first thing that comes to mind is something I’ve long said about him: he is fiercely independent!  Thomas is two years older but still perfectly content for us to do everything for him.  I think he’d be happy if we fed him all his meals.  But not Parker.  He wants to do everything by himself at all times and will sometimes pitch a royal fit to do so.  He wants to pick out his clothes, dress himself, peel his own clementines, turn things off/on – whatever it is, he wants to do it!

He had a great year in school.  I’m not sure he learned a great deal, but it wasn’t because of his own aptitude.  That’s another issue for another post for another blog (ha ha), but whenever he had the opportunity to learn something new, he did and he did it very well.  He got along well with the other kids in his class and was always kind and sensitive to the needs of his friends (or so I am told). 

He can write his name and he knows all of his letters/numbers (he can trace all letters, but can only independently write the ones in his name).  It’s funny to compare your children, not in a judgmental way, but more just to see how children truly develop so differently.  Thomas was extremely verbal at Parker’s age (and Parker is too, but not as much as Thomas).  Thomas had perfect enunciation and had a strong vocabulary.  Parker has to work harder with his actual speech (though it has improved so much since his tonsils were removed last August), but his fine motor skills are far more advanced than Thomas’ were at that age.  At the end of the 3s, Thomas knew all of his letter sounds very, very well, but could only write the “T” of his name.  Parker knows all of his letter sounds (on a good day – and this is partly due to the fact that Parker had a different 3s teacher), but can write each letter of his name and has been able to do that since the beginning of the school year. 

In other areas, Parker is also different from his big brother.  He loves to eat.  Most of the time I think it’s more an issue of boredom, but he frequently says, “I’m hungry” and I feel like during the summer I am giving him a snack at least once every 30 minutes.   He would live off fruits and vegetables if I let him.  With each meal, he usually eats his fruit (or veggie) first and we often have to ask him a few times before he will eat enough of his meat to be excused.  He has gotten better, but for awhile I thought he was going to be a vegetarian.   Still though, if I put a bunch of food on a table, say chicken nuggets, pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, rice, broccoli, green beans, oranges, grapes and applesauce – he would make a b-line for the fruits and eat all of those without even considering anything else first.  I have to be careful because he will sneak and start eating grapes in the fridge and he will eat until he is nearly sick!

He loves being outside, though he loves it best if he’s outside with his big brother.  They have a great time riding their scooters and bicycles.  Parker has mastered riding without training wheels (we took those off quite awhile ago).  They still drive their same Power Wheels jeep that they have had since Thomas was 2 1/2.  We had to replace two wheels this year, but it keeps on going!

They don’t watch a ton of television, and somehow this summer I’ve managed to stick to our minimal tv rules (about an hour a day).  Their favorite shows to watch are Word Girl and Wild Kratts – two wonderful ETV programs (one teaches vocabulary and the other teaches about animals). 

Parker is obsessed with Batman.  He has a short-sleeved and long-sleeved Batman shirt and Batman pajamas and if it was up to him, that’s what he’d wear every single day of his life – all Batman.  He enjoys playing with Batman vehicles (Imaginext toys) and Batman legos.  And he and his brother still love to dress up and of course we have multiple Batman costumes in our dress-up bin!

We made him stop sucking his thumb after his 4th birthday and that has gone relatively well, but as a result, he no longer takes a nap and he doesn’t go straight to sleep at night as easily.  We also have not been able to allow him to share a room with his brother because he does have a harder time going to sleep and he wakes up pretty early.  Most days he is up by 6:30.  This is quite a change from his thumb-sucking days when he would go to sleep in about two minutes whenever it was bedtime and he would easily sleep until 7:30 or 8:00.  Oh well, at least his teeth have already straightened (in the front) significantly.  Some days I must admit I am ready to give him back his thumb!

Parker’s favorite person in the world has to be his big brother.  They fight sometimes, but most of the time they love each other dearly and play with each other quite well.  One of the many downsides to Parker’s early wake times is that he often has to wait up to two hours for Thomas to wake up (at least now during the summer).  He is not accustomed to entertaining himself and has a hard time waiting for his brother to wake up and play with him.  I love watching their relationship and I am so thankful they have each other. 

If I was asked what people say the most about Parker, I would have to say that they comment constantly on his size and his hair.  His curls get a lot of attention (especially from elderly ladies in the grocery store) and just about everyone who has a small child comments on how big he is.  Most do not believe me when I tell them he is four.  At his 4-year WCV, he measured (I think):

44.5 inches tall (literally off the charts)

46 pounds (98th percentile)

His head circumference remained in the 90-something percentile as well.  I frequently get asked if the boys are twins (not that they look all that similar, but I guess because Thomas is only a few inches taller than Parker).   Just for fun, Thomas at Parker’s age was 40.75 inches tall and 38 pounds.   Parker’s shoe size (12.5) is only a half size (or a size, can’t remember) smaller than Thomas’ and he can wear his brother’s clothes; though he generally wears a size smaller. 

My favorite thing about Parker is his loving nature.  He wants to make you happy and if he thinks for a second that he upset, scared, hurt or bothered you, it really bothers him.  He used to just completely break down.  He also loves on our dog so sweetly.  I love to see him go to her in a quiet moment and talk to her or sneak her a treat. 

I cannot believe our baby is four; these years have passed far too quickly.  For all the mornings I wished he’d sleep a little longer, I’m so thankful he is waking up in our house as part of our family.  He is a little love and I love him dearly.  I only hope these next four years don’t pass us by quite so quickly!

15-month WBV

Once again, I'm tardy in posting a monthly update for Parker. I did try to take some pictures of him in his chair yesterday and he was too tired both before and after his nap to give me much more than this:


That's his "I'm tired" pose. He sucks his thumb (of course) on his right hand, while twirling his curls in the back of his head with his left hand. I think it's cute. Trey thinks it's a sign that he really needs a haircut.

So since I don't have the pictures and I'm too tired to compose his update anyway, i thought I would drop off the stats from his 15-month WBV. At 15 months, he measures as follows:
Weight: 24 pounds, 2 ounces (40th percentile)
Height: 38 3/4 inches (70th percentile)

I think those were the right measurements. I actually left the little slip where they wrote it down for me. Oops. His head measured in the 65th percentile. The doctor felt he is doing great developmentally. While he is still not walking, he is definitely progressing in that direction and the doctor felt he was ahead of the curve with his verbal skills. Fine and gross motor skills are great too.

Hopefully, I'll be back with a more in-depth update (with pictures) soon!

On being three

When Thomas turned 3 I had every intention of stealing an idea from Taryn & Nancy and posting a list of his favorites. So I'm a few weeks late, but I still thought it would be fun.



Favorite color: Red?
Favorite food: Changes frequently. Currently probably fruit snacks (either Finding Nemo or John Deere; to him they are "fish fruit snacks" or "tractor fruit snacks." Or maybe it's french fries!
Favorite toy: anything with wheels (which he loves to remove, much to my chagrin!). Right now he loves two of Parker's new toys.
Favorite movie: He's never really watched a movie, but since he loves the Cars characters, I'll go with that one
Favorite TV show: Calliou (he's starting to love Handy Manny, too; and he also enjoys Zooboomafoo (or Zaboo, as he calls it). We try to limit his TV to an hour or so a day...pretty much just when I need to occupy him while I feed Parker to put him down for bed/nap.
Favorite school friend: Hmmm, Braxton? Maybe also Ella & Grace. But really, he talks about all of them quite a lot. It seems to change each week.
Favorite playgroup friend: Lily
Favorite person: His brother Parker! He always wants to be near him.


Favorite costume: He's not much of a dress-up kid, but he still likes to sport his dragon costume from two Halloweens ago
Favorite book: Changes weekly. Right now his faves are Horton Hears a Who (he calls it "the elephant book") and Library Lion
Favorite room in the house: Wherever everyone else is!
Favorite place to visit: Aquarium, or his grandparents' house (either set) where he can be spoiled and treated like a prince!
Favorite thing to do at school: play outside
Favorite thing to do outside: Play with water or ride his Jeep


Favorite animal: our dog, Sully
Favorite song: Jesus Loves the Little Children, ABCs
Favorite restaurants: Chick-fil-a, Moe's, Andolini's Pizza, Wild Wings

Taryn talked about the things Lily says that she doesn't want to correct (for the cuteness factor). The one word I love that Thomas says is what he calls the remote control. It is a "malote." And speaking of Lily, he still calls her "Yeelee." I'm sure there are other Thomas-isms that I love, but I am too tired to think of them at this moment. I'll have to try to dedicate a future entry to that.
We also had his three year well child visit a few weeks ago. Everything went great and the doctor thought he was right on track. She agreed with everyone else I've talked with, that it's best not to push Thomas too hard to potty train. He will be willing sooner. We just need to keep asking and keep encouraging. As for his measurements, they were:

Height: 38 inches (55th percentile)
Weight: 31 pounds (50th percentile)

I think the height measurement was a tad bit off. He didn't have his head straight (he was kind of looking down and I don't think he was standing up very straight). He's all torso though. He wears 3T and 4T tops and 2T bottoms (preferably with an adjustable waist that I can cinch to nearly the smallest option!).

So in summary, life is pretty good as a three year old. Our litle one has many favorites and not too many complaints. Life is good.

Nine months old!

Nine months seems like forever when you are pregnant, but once that baby is on the outside, the time flashes by way too quickly. Parker is now nine months old and I cannot believe it!


How can it have already been eight months since he was this little guy?


At nine months Parker is:

* A joy! He loves to be cuddled and held, but is not quite motivated enough to crawl to things he wants. He would rather fuss at us and whine until he gets his way. One of these days I know he'll start moving, but until then, I'm content to enjoy his babyhood as long as possible!
* A wonderful night sleeper. He still goes to bed around 7 every night and generally sleeps for at least 12 hours. Sometimes he wakes up a little before, but usually he will entertain himself until I go to get him around 7. Some mornings he is pulling the bumper down and peeking out toward the door, waiting for me to come in.
* Getting better about napping. He's waiting a bit longer for his morning nap most days (until 9:30 or 10:00). I try not to let him sleep too long (not more than 1.5 hours) and then he will do better with his afternoon nap (generally he will nap from 2-4). I dreaded the day Thomas gave up his morning nap, but now I find myself eagerly anticipating this milestone with Parker. I don't think it will be anytime soon though!
* Quite the baby talker. He makes lots of noises and when he gets really excited about something, he just keeps saying things like "Dah! Dah! Dah! Duh! Duh! Eowwww!" over and over again. When I read a book that has any kind of loud exclamation in it, he tries to mimic me. He says various consonant sounds like "da," "fa," "ba" and "ay," but not quite "ma" or anything close to mommy...yet!
* Totally in love with his big brother. If I just say Thomas' name, Parker gives a big smile and looks to see if he is coming.
* A smiler. He smiles and laughs frequently, and has some of the cutest facial expressions. He has a "stink face" as I call it, where he squints his eyes and gives a wide-mouth grin and it cracks me up. He usually does that to mimic me.
* A grabber. He reaches for everything. When I'm holding him and he sees something on the floor he wants, he tries to turn his body as if he thinks if I just put him down, he could run over to it. He is very strong when he wants to get somewhere.
* A roller. Though he doesn't crawl, he rolls to try to get where he wants to go and he is quite capable of turning himself 360 degrees to get where he wants to be to roll somewhere else. He also pushes himself up quite far.
* Teething. His bottom front teeth are coming in (they are about 1/4 of the way in), and his top front teeth are starting to come through now. His left front tooth has almost fully broken through the gum. So his hands are always in his mouth these days...and anything else he can find!
* Still very much a thumbsucker.
* Eating okay, but definitely prefers things that are sweet. I have to mix certain veggies with a fruit to get him to eat it. Nurses 5-6 times a day. He has absolutely no interest in table food or anything that is not pureed. I have tried numerous times to get him to eat something like a Gerber puff and he just gags until he throws it up. The doctor says to keep trying and eventually he will get it.
* Wearing 12 months clothing (moving into 12-18 M things in some brands).



He had his WBV on Tuesday and his measurements were:
Height: 28 inches (50th percentile)
Weight: 19 lbs, 7 oz (50th percentile)
Head circ: don't remember exactly, but it was the 65th percentile

I don't like to compare too much, but Thomas at this age was nearly 30 inches and 22 pounds. I laugh when people tell me they think Parker is "big." After having Thomas who was consistently in the 90th percentiles, having a child in the 50th just seems odd...though it's completely "average" and normal, I know!

The doctor said he is completely on track for everything, and not to worry about him not crawling because he still has time for that too. So I'll just enjoy him being the cute little baby that he is...and I'll share some more pictures with all of you!



Hands constantly in the mouth!


Showing off his two teeth:


His funny fake smile:




I know I say it every month, but I truly cannot believe another month has passed us by. It's frightening to me how quickly they all pass and I don't want to forget anything! I want to enjoy every cuddle, every kiss he slobbers on my face, every time he blows a raspberry while he's eating his food! Before long I think he'll be going on his first date or something and sometimes I just don't want to blink for fear of missing a moment.

Four months old!

Last week Parker turned four months! I can't believe that much time has already passed. It's crazy. And Parker? Well, he's crazy too, sometimes. But most of the time he is a delightful, well-rested baby. He smiles the biggest smiles and it just melts my heart.




At four months Parker is:

* A pretty good sleeper. He goes to bed at night around 7:15 and sleeps for about 12 hours straight. Since his brother didn't sleep through the night until he was nearly a year old, this is such a welcome change. I don't know how I did that for so long last time because I could not imagine getting up all night now (granted, teething craziness is still to come). He generally takes two big naps a day (the afternoon being the biggest...on a good day he sleeps 3 hours; in the morning maybe an hour or two, but usually we are out so he just naps when and where he can).

* A big boy! He wears mostly 6 months clothing, some 9 months. At his WBV the other day he measured 25.75 inches long and 16 lbs, 15 oz. (Thomas by comparison was 26 inches, 17 lbs, 8 oz.). He is just now graduating from size 2-3 diapers to the size 3s.

* A baby who likes to be held, but not when he wants to sleep. When he is fussy, he likes to be held and then he is fine. I can sit him in my lap, or hold him any way that works and he is content. But when he wants to sleep, he doesn't generally like to be rocked to sleep, which is good for me. We put him down and usually he goes to bed without crying. If he does fuss during naptime, usually I can just go in and rub his back (yes, he sleeps on his belly for naptime, and I even confessed this to the doctor and she was okay with it) and he goes back to sleep.

* A thumbsucker. His brother loved the paci, but Parker is not too fond of it. He much prefers his thumb or any combination of fingers he can jam into his mouth. I'm sure some orthodontist will love us.

* A fan of his mobile and his playmat. He also enjoys the bouncy seat for short periods of time and every once in a while he will tolerate the swing (not nearly quite the fan his brother was). Like I said, he mostly just likes to be on my lap or for me to wear him in any baby carrier. We just got an exersaucer and he seems to love that, but since his head control isn't fabulous, I'm keeping his time in that very short right now (while I'm cooking dinner usually and the bouncy seat won't do!). He also loves for us to read books to him and he gives big smiles when he sees himself in the mirror.

* In love with his brother, and the feeling is quite mutual. Sometimes I think Thomas loves Parker a little too much, but for the most part, they make each other smile. Parker's face will often light up when he sees him. Or if Thomas is loving him too much, he gets a little red in the face. I thought this picture was funny of both of them eating their fingers...


* A talker. He "chats" quite a lot, as far as baby cooing and such goes, that is.

* Not a bottle lover. He used to take bottles here and there without problem. Lately, not so much. It doesn't matter if he is starving, if you give him a bottle it just makes him really, really angry. We are working to remedy this quickly! His brother went through a similar bottle strike, so hopefully Parker will grow out of it too.

* Losing all his hair. I'll have to share photo evidence of this later, but wherever he lies down, there are always hairs left where his head once was. The other day I saw a picture of him shortly after birth and I couldn't believe the difference.

A few more pictures for fun:

Parker loves his hands. Loves to play with them and eat them. And this explains why he usually has a scratch or two on his face (I can't seem to keep his nails short enough)Here he is playing with them a little...


Trying to get the hand to the mouth...


Apparently he is a fan of Michelle Obama. :) Here he is, practicing his best "fist bump" (that is what she calls it, right?):


Perfecting his future "senior class picture pose" perhaps?


Not the best photo of the brothers, but a photo nonetheless. Sometimes Parker gets a little annoyed with Thomas getting all in his face and his personal space. This is his best annoyed look...


It's so hard to believe how quickly these boys grow. I'm so grateful to be their mother and there's nothing I love more than being the "Mommy." These boys are my heart.

Our little two-year old!

It's so hard to believe that Thomas is now a two-year old! It doesn't seem that long ago that I was on bedrest for 20 weeks, hoping and praying for the miracle that he came to be. He has provided immeasurable joy in my life and I truly don't know what we would do without him.



He was a bit under the weather on his actual birthday. We even had to take him to see the doctor (on a Sunday!). So he wasn't quite his perky self for his pictures, but he cooperated nonetheless.







The first time we took a monthly picture with the puppy he was 2 months old. I think he's grown a bit since then (or the puppy shrunk!):


By six months, he was really gaining on that puppy (but still waiting on some hair)...


And by a year, he was finally showing some hair, and definitely bigger than his puppy friend...


Six months after that, he decided posing for his monthly pictures was a waste of his time, but I managed to get something!


Now at 24 months, he has had two haircuts (the last one more dramatic than the first...as you can see in the first pictures) and has grown quite a bit since he was three days old:


I can't say it enough, he is truly a joy. For the most part he listens well. He has his fussy moments when he is tired or ill, but all in all, I see other parents out and about with their children (making a fuss) and I realize that he's really a pretty good child. He is a picky eater and would gladly live off pizza and potato chips if I'd let him. So far though he lacks one thing that his mother has...a sweet tooth! I guess that's a good thing!

He is talking up a storm. He's not really talking in sentences yet, but he communicates very well. One of things I love to hear him say most is "find 'em" -- which sounds more like, "Fine-mum." Often he throws out a word that I didn't even realize he knew (he pays very close attention to what is said around him, so we do have to be careful!). He can count to 10 (though sometimes he skips 3 & 4), and he recognizes almost all of the letters in the alphabet (and most single numbers). He can't sing his ABCs quite yet from start to finish, but if we sing them with him, he will chime in with a few letters here and there. He's still working on properly pronouncing his Cs and Ls (and probably some others I'm not remembering at this moment), so "cars" is more like "tars," but he's always getting better. Not too long ago he finally decided he is "Thomas" and not "Tah-pees" -- which is how he used to say his name. He even properly uses possessives most of the time (as in "Mommy's" if he sees my car, or "Thomas's if he's telling me something is his). He says some two-word phrases like "Shoes on!" And he is constantly telling me "Self!" when he wants to do something (like get in his carseat or walk up the stairs) all by himself.

He is all boy in that he loves everything with wheels. Riding in the car with him is funny because he is constantly on the lookout for the car brands that he knows. As soon as he spots a familiar symbol, he'll tell me "See-sahn" (for Nissan) and "Mommy!" since Mommy drives a Nissan. He also knows Toyotas ("Toyas" as he calls them) and Hondas. He gets a little confused with the brand of his grandpa's car because that symbol is oval shaped, as are several different car companies. In fact, everytime he sees an oval logo, period (including Graco and Playskool, for example) he says "Ampa!" Of course he usually follows that declaration up with "Shape! Oval!" since I'm always telling him that the particular logo is not quite like Grandpa's but is the same shape...an oval. And as I mentioned before, he knows the cars driven by numerous people (Nana, Grandpa, Beth, Andrew (though this is Andrew's wife's car...and he calls Andrew, Ooh-due), Nannie, Papa, Daddy, Mommy, his friend J's mom's car, and our neighbor's car (and that car, a Cadillac, is always "Percy" because that's the name of her dog) and points out every similar car on the road.

He went for his 2-year well baby visit today and the doctor said he is growing and developing perfectly. He's had a bit of a stomach bug for the past week, so his weight was down (27 pounds, 6 ounces) and in the 25-50th percentile. I was a bit concerned (since he's dropped percentiles so significantly) but the doctor assured me that by this age their metabolism starts working a little better and becomes more of a genetic factor. Since I've always had a very high metabolism, I decided I shouldn't worry so much. And the doctor assured me that Thomas looks just fine. As for his height, he's still in the 90th percentile, at 36 inches (with his shoes on, though). So that was good...and not surprising.

I think I say this often too, but Thomas is a very loving child. He loves to say "Love" and get hugs or "Kisses" for kisses. If he sees someone has a boo-boo, he will get this sad, concerned look on his face and say "ooooh" and/or "fix it!" When he hears babies crying in public, he'll say "Sad...better" (as in, "that baby is sad, make it better"). Lately he loves to put his hands on my cheeks and smoosh his face so that he is kissing my nose...and he just stays there. It's the funniest thing. It's all I can do not to hysterically laugh. He is always willing to blow kisses too.

For as much as I worry about the challenges of being a mother of two, I can't wait to see how he will react to his new brother or sister. So far he loves other people's babies and is very gentle with them. Hopefully he'll be the same when one is living in his house! I'm constantly telling him certain things are for "the baby" and he knows where "the baby's" room is and such. And when I ask him if he's going to have a brother or sister, he does tell me "sister" pretty consistently. We'll soon see if he knows something we don't know!

He sleeps well and he's a pleasant child, so I guess I can't complain too much! He makes my job mostly enjoyable and easier than it is for many others. It's still the hardest thing I've ever done...raising a child, but watching him grow and learn is the greatest reward ever. Sometimes I wish I could stop time so he'd stop growing up...but then again, I'm so excited and interested to see what he'll learn tomorrow and who he is going to become. I just hope the next two years don't pass as quickly as these two have. I think I blinked and they were gone. :)