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!

Week in review

Today was a stay-home day, as many Mondays often are around here. Today was laundry day extraordinaire since we went to our storage facility (AKA my mom & dad's house) on Sunday to pick up all of Parker's fall and winter clothes. It was fun to go through the bins and remember all the clothes that Thomas once wore. And I realized there is very little he needs for the season...poor child and his hand-me-downs. I don't think he'll care though. And at least his brother is only two years older, so it's not like he'll be sporting butterfly collars or anything equally not-so-retro. Thomas enjoyed this because it gave him a new toy:



Yes, I realize that's not the safest thing in the world for him to do and I probably shouldn't let him, but he put himself in there and was having a ball (and returned later to do it all again). In the end, I'm just glad he's feeling well again!

Last week in the middle of two planned doctor's visits, we had to throw in an unplanned visit to the pediatrician as well. He started running a fever on Wednesday night that kept him out of school on Thursday. That afternoon he was scheduled to see the dermatologist (re: his eczema that lately has not been clearing up), and she noticed his lymphnodes were swollen in his neck and thought he might have strep. So after that visit I hauled both boys to the pediatrician's office (both visits occurred during their usual naptime, by the way) and found out it was not strep, just another virus. The next day (Friday) he went to the allergist, but we were unable to do the tests because he was still running a fever. He goes back this week. Hopefully we'll finally be able to figure out what the deal is with him and dairy. Who knows (when he was about a year old, he saw the allergists and everything came back negative even though he does not tolerate certain foods at all (i.e. dairy products cause eczema)).

Speaking of doctor's visits, on Tuesday of last week I took Parker for a couple of vaccinations. He did great and didn't even cry. And just to update, his weight as of last week was 18 lbs, 2 oz (with a wet diaper that probably added a few ounces). He is a big boy! I don't have any new pictures of him except for this one that I snapped the other day while he was taking a nap. The color is not good because it was dark in his room and I didn't want to use the flash, but I thought he just looked too sweet. And yes, I know "back to sleep" and nothing should be in the crib.... He does sleep on his back at night. :)


On Saturday we decided to be tourists and we went for a walk downtown. We strolled (literally, with Parker in the stroller) down to the Battery until we got too hot in the sunshine and Thomas got too tired to walk.



And when he did tire of walking, he's lucky his Mommy was feeling generous. :)


He thought that was great. It was a beautiful day and it made me so thankful that we live in a city as gorgeous as Charleston.

Later that day we all enjoyed some time out in the yard. Thomas gave his best imitation of Sully (or as he calls her, "Sussy"):


This week we are more than thankful that Trey is here all week for a change. Thomas has been so happy to have his Daddy around. And Parker seems to think it's pretty great too. I'll try to better this week of taking some pictures of Parker!

29 months old!

Thomas is now (as of Saturday) 29 months old! It's hard to believe he is nearly 2 1/2!


He talks all the time and says the funniest things. He is always asking, "What's this, Mommy?" because he always wants to know more about everything he sees and does. It's amazing to see how much these little children really are sponges soaking up the world around them. He learns so many new things each day and he enjoys nearly every moment of it. I think it's a result of school, but these days he is singing and dancing a lot more too. I need to get a video of his dancing; it is the funniest thing.

He can sing his ABCs all the way through and a few songs like "Twinkle, Twinkle" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider." Here he is this morning saying his ABCs:


He loves all the things that boys usually love - trucks, cars, planes, balls, etc. One weekend recently his dad was teaching him how to catch the football and he did a great job with it. I just have to be careful about him throwing that big ball in the house!


We are just now working more and more on having Thomas clean up his own toys. It's a work in progress. Tonight he cried for 10 minutes before bed because I told him he couldn't have a tractor in his bed, and I wouldn't read to him until he picked up all of the books he took out of his bookcase and threw on the floor (ALL of them!). He has a bad habit of pulling out EVERYTHING and dumping every basket of toys he can find. He's happiest when surrounded by toys...



However, for as much as he loves his toys, he loves his baby brother most of all. When I pick him up from school, he gives me a quick hug and then rushes over to Parker and gives him a hug and a kiss. He loves Parker (a little too much sometimes!). This is what he does just about every time I put Parker on the floor:




It brings such joy to my heart to see these boys together. I know they are going to be such great friends.


It is often very hard managing a 2-year old and a 4-month old as a full-time mom, but knowing they will always have each other and they can grow up as best buddies makes it worth it.


It's hard to believe how quickly they grow. Before I know it, I'll probably be talking about Parker at 29 months! Speaking of growth, Thomas seems to have grown an inch recently. His shirts are getting a little shorter (especially with his pjs!), but he's still a slender thing. Most of his shorts are 18 months sizes! I just ordered him a few 2T pants and I'm hoping they will fit him in the waist. Guess I need to discover the joys of the adjustable waist pants! :)

As for school, he seems to be doing well with that as well. Last Thursday he came home sporting a sparkly star sticker on his hand. His teacher said he got it for being a "good listener." I find this a bit funny seeing how this is the biggest problem we face at home (well, the opposite). He still sometimes gives a quick cry when I drop him off, but I think he almost thinks he has to do it for some reason. Silly boy. When I pick him up he always excitedly tells me that he had fun at school.

One last positive change/growth has been his eating habits. He is finally getting better about trying new things and eating his vegetables. I no longer have to make him a separate meal from what I (or Trey and I) eat. He still doesn't like potatoes unless they are french fries, but he will eat rice and couscous. He will eat at least a few bites of vegetables. Our lives would all be easier if he could eat dairy, but it's still not working for him. On top of that, a recent trip to the GI gave us a slew of negative test results, but unfortunately there was one unexpected positive. On a RAST testing (blood testing for allergies), his only positive was to peanuts. He tested negative to this over a year ago on a skin prick test at the allergist, but now this supposedly less sensitive test yielded a positive. The allergist already had us waiting on peanuts until he was three because of his other intolerances, and now we are planning another trip back to the allergist to test again. I do wish he was free to eat what all the other kids eat, and I hope it happens one day!

All in all though, he is growing up to be such a delightful child. If we could just improve the listening, life would be lovely. He makes me smile so much with his infectious smiles and adorable perspective of the world. Each month I don't think I could feel more proud and blessed to be his mother, and yet each month, I feel it just a little bit more. I laughed the other day at the GI appointment with the nurse asked in taking his history if my pregnancy with him was normal. It's hard to believe now and remember all the drama of having my water break at 16 weeks and being told there was less than a five percent chance that he would survive. I cannot imagine not having him in my life and I thank God for giving me the miracle that he was and is.

Smiles and love

Another early end to naptime means more time playing with the color accent feature. How can my heart not melt when I see this smile?

Parker smiles like this all day long and it just melts my heart away. How can I be mad at him for wanting to be held so much when he gives me this big grin? I just can't. Even when he's not smiling, I still think he is cute. :)





And then his big brother gets up from his nap and must hug Parker right away...


Parker tries to show Thomas who is boss...


Never a dull moment around here. And always lots of smiles to go around. Life is good.

Two boys, one bear bottom

The other day Parker was wearing a particular onesie that I remembered Thomas wore when I took some pics I liked. So I tried to recreate. Though now that I am looking at the actual photos of Thomas, I'll have to work harder to get a shot like this because I love, love, love this one. This was Thomas a little more than two years ago...


And here was the best one of Parker in this attempt...


And Parker now:


And Thomas then...


In full color, here's Parker:


I love this one, seems like they are conspiring...or maybe just being friends (notice how Parker is holding his hands together):


Will have to try harder to get a better shot soon, but since the boys' daddy wanted to see some new pics, I needed to get something up now! Hope he enjoys. :)

The things he says

Thomas makes me laugh so much these days with the funny little things he says. I need to make sure I write them down.

The other day he was eating a popscicle after lunch (he had been a particularly good boy that day). After eating enough of the popscicle to slightly expose the stick, he looked down at it and said, "Hey there sticker! How are you doing? Are you stuck in there?" I had to giggle. He has quite a sense of humor.