Aunt Wory

Unfortunately, I do not get to see my aunts (and uncles) very often. So when the opportunities arise to see one of them, I try to take advantage. My mom's youngest sister was in town this week, and we were able to see her on Wednesday. My mom was there, along with my brother, his wife and their baby. It was great to see her, and we had a fun morning at the aquarium and then out to lunch!


Since Thomas still finds saying words that start with an "L" a little tricky, he much preferred to call her Aunt Wory instead of Lori.

While at the aquarium, we partly listened to some of the dive show....


Parker just hung out in my lap...


Aside from enjoying his first trip on the escalator, Thomas also enjoyed playing on the new "boat.' We haven't been there since they finished setting this up (last time they were working on it). Thomas had a ball with it.









The aquarium has a Scary Aquarium theme for the month of October. Thomas was not a fan of the scarecrow making noises in the Camp Carolina exhibit, or the green man that peers down after a bang above the gar fish, but he did find this thing a little amusing...


We enjoyed the day with family and look forward to seeing everyone again soon!

Today's pet rock

For some kids back in the 70s (or the 60s?), the trendy toy of choice was the pet rock. Well, apparently my child decided he needed to add a new millineum twist to this pet of the past. Today, Thomas was obsessed with a bar of soap.

He found it in a plastic container and I thought he just wanted it because he couldn't get the container open. You know, once he saw what it was, he'd lose interest and leave it alone. So after he protested enough to drive me crazy, I opened it up and let him have the fragrant glycerin bar of soap. He carried that thing around for nearly two hours (he asked to take it downstairs and then outside). I was almost afraid he'd ask to take it to bed with him!


I'm not sure why the fascination, other than the fact that he's never really used a bar of soap before (except at his grandparents' house). We use a liquid body wash and liquid hand soaps, so I guess it is kind of new to him. Still, it was a bit funny and odd at the same time.

In other news, Thomas is TWO AND A HALF years old today! I should post pictures and an update but his puppy is on the lam until the middle of the week, and I cannot do his pictures without him! So until then, here's a picture from today just for fun. Most days when I wake Thomas up from his nap, Parker is already awake. So many times I will just put Parker in the crib with Thomas. It makes Thomas wake up a whole lot faster and much easier (read: happier). They both seem to enjoy it very much:

Long overdue pictures

For months I've been thinking of taking the boys to Portrait Innovations for some semi-professional pics. I keep putting it off for one reason or another. This week I almost put it off again because Thomas is in need of a haircut, and I didn't have the perfect outfits for them, but I decided I'd just do it anyway. It was now or never, I do believe! The boys did pretty well and the resulting pictures were okay. Here are my favorites (and family members, yes I have plenty of wallets, 5x7s, 3.5x5s and such to go around!):

















And then these two I not buy, but I really like them...




I plan to take them back again around Christmastime for some holiday pics. First I have to find the perfect outfits (which I think I have!). That time I will be more prepared!

A morning at The Citadel

It was Parent's Weekend at the Citadel today so we used it as an opportunity to take the boys up to Trey's alma mater and show them around a bit. We met up with Trey's classmate, James (who is the dad of Thomas' friend Lily (and Parker's friend, Sarah Ellen) and the wife of my friend and fellow playgroup mom, Taryn) and all of his family, too. It took us forever to find a spot to park, so we caught the tail end of open barracks. We decided to go to 4th Battallion as it is the last of the "old corps" (ha!) barracks (i.e. not rebuilt, but it does now have window-unit ACs for all of the rooms!). Trey introduced Thomas to the quad...


We watched a bit of the ceremony where the knobs are formally accepted into their companies, complete with push-ups at the end.


Thomas & Lily were more interested in pushing the stroller around...


The kids wanted to see the helicopter, so we made sure to make that a photo opp...


It's nearly impossible to get them both looking at the camera AND smiling, but this is the best we could do...


Thomas was, of course, most interested when he saw this old Bronco. He pretended to be a three star general and hopped right in...




Lily took her turn, too...


Then parade finally started and the kids were somewhat interested in seeing the band and cadets march out...




And yes, Parker & Sarah Ellen were there too. I don't have a picture of Sarah Ellen to prove it, but see, Parker was there and wearing his best Citadel gear to show his support for the Bulldogs...


Midway through parade, Parker decided he had had enough and he wanted to be fed and take a nap. So I took him over to Mark Clark Hall while the rest of the crew stayed for parade. Mother Nature had other plans. Not long after Parker and I got there, the rest of the group came too because the rain had chased them off the parade field.

After the rains slowed, we decided to leave campus and go for lunch. So even though our trip to The Citadel was short, it was a good time and we enjoyed spending some time with our friends, too!

Five months old!

A week ago today, Parker turned five months old! I cannot believe so much time has already passed. He is such a joy!! This smile just melts my heart...


He smiles the biggest smiles. As I was taking these pictures the other day I was actually trying to get him to tone it down a little bit so I could have pictures with different looks, but this is all I got...a huge, ear-to-ear grin!


At five months Parker "talks" a lot. I have a video of this on our other computer that I must download later and share. He seems to love to hear himself and it's quite cute. If I imitate him, he thinks that is very funny. He is generally a happy baby, but he did apparently miss the memo about needing to be a completely easy-going baby. When he gets a little tired, he is not happy anywhere other than being held. Sometimes I can buy a minute or two in the exersaucer or swing, but he generally wants to be held a lot more than I would like (it's just not safe to cook dinner and hold a baby at the same time, you know?). But all in all, he does really well. Of course, as I type he is waking up unhappy from his nap, so I'll have to type fast.

He sleeps pretty well. His naps have been a bit tricky lately. On a good day he takes two good naps a day (two hours each?) and goes down for the night a little after 7. He can go down awake at night, but tends to do better at naptime if he is put down asleep. Sometimes just getting him to sleep for his nap is a 40-minute process.

We've got about another month before we introduce him to any solid foods, but he is doing well with nursing. He still will not tolerate a bottle at all, though, and this is a situation that I hope and pray we can remedy soon. I love him dearly, but I'd like to know I could leave him for more than an hour and he wouldn't go nuts (or starve). He is not really interested in pacis, though he will let me hold one in his mouth for short periods of time if he is fussy and we are in public or something. He does love to suck his thumb, though mostly only when he is sleeping.

Developmentally he seems to be doing well. He grabs at his toys and is starting to grab at his feet. He likes to put things in his mouth and I do think I see a tooth trying to break through on his bottom gums. When I try to make him sit up, he is "tripod-ing" some and definitely working on mastering the task of sitting up on his own. As for rolling over, he can roll front to back if he really wants to (only if he's awake and in a good mood), but still has yet to roll back to front (it's funny, I just looked back at Thomas' 5-month update and he was just the opposite! He rolled back to front, but not front to back!). He rolls to his side and almost gets there, and then rolls back to his back. I'm sure he'll start rolling any day and I'll be wishing he would just be still! When on his belly and happy he is starting to pull his legs up beneath him like he wants to crawl.

He is a big boy. Two weeks ago I took him for a few shots and he tipped the scales at about 18 pounds. He is wearing mostly 9 months clothing and some sizes on either side of that, depending on the brand. He is wearing size 3 diapers, but has had a few leaks lately and I imagine it won't be long before we are moving him into size 4s (which is what Thomas was still wearing until about a month ago!).

Now that I put the computer down for a while so I could go get the little stinker (who awoke earlier than I would have expected or liked from his nap, again!), he's laying here next to me smiling at me as I type. I think that's about it for him for this month. Despite his apparent distaste for sleep during the day (at least a lot of it!), he is such a sweet baby. And I know it won't be long before I will be wishing he wanted his Mommy to hold him all the time. :)

A few more pictures...




How can I be mad at this face?


Such love!


This was right after he rolled over the other day (it wasn't the first time, but he doesn't do it all that often...mostly because he doesn't have the opportunity because his brother is all over him when he is on the floor!):


Speaking of his brother, Parker loves Thomas...and the feeling is very mutual. Thomas always wants to kiss him and hold him and give him toys. I just love seeing them together and I know it's just going to get better and better!


I am in complete denial that he is now nearing the six-month mark. I want to ask someone to slow down time so he can stay a little baby for just a bit longer!

Random photos from the past week

Yes, I'm nearly a week late now in posting Parker's 5-month update. Poor second son. :) I did, however, finally take the pictures today. But now it is late and I don't have the time or the brain power to come up with the commentary to accompany the photos. So instead, here are a few other pictures and a video just to freshen up this blog a bit.

Parker will rarely perform on camera. Off camera he "talks" a lot and has the most adorable laugh. I caught a little bit of his laugh last week, but this is not nearly what he does when he is really laughing:


Last week, the boys and I met some friends at the Childrens Museum. I forgot I had my camera until we were on our way out, but here are a few pictures that showed T having some fun. It was a great day there because it was not crowded at all.


He's watching balls spin around the funnel after he dropped them down the tube:




Parker just spent the morning hanging out strapped to my chest. :) No pictures necessary there. But when we are home, lately, he enjoys a little bit of time in the exersaucer:




I was taking some pictures of Parker last night while Thomas was eating dinner. He then asked me to take some pictures of him as well. I actually liked those better (we have moved him into a booster seat, but he was not being a model big brother, so he had to get back into his high chair):


Today Parker woke up from his nap earlier than I would have liked. But unlike his usual wakeup routine, he woke up chatting and happy instead of fussing and crying. I went in to see what he was doing. It's hard to be mad with him for not sleeping longer when he smiles at me like this:


I think he's smiling at me like that as if to say to me, "Hey Mommy! You know that sheet you JUST changed two hours ago? Yeah, you should change it again since I just thought it was necessary for me to spit up all over it again."

Here's one picture from his 5-months pictures. I hope to post that entry tomorrow!


But for now, it's bedtime. Good night!