Monday, September 17, 2012

Sweet Summertime

I will admit that I am sad to see summer ending.  It has been such a fun and exciting summer introducing Parker to new things and just enjoying the outdoors with him.  With the warm weather winding down, we are trying to take in every last beach weekend we can.  Over Labor Day weekend, we snuck down for a few days and this was the first time Parker actually got to swim in the ocean since this was his first time visiting the beach without a cast.  He LOVED it!  He enjoyed sitting with Ganma and letting the waves lap over his little feet and playing in the sand with Aunt Shannon.

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And what could be better than sweet naps with Daddy after those long afternoons playing on the beach…

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Thursday, September 6, 2012

6 Months Old

Happy 1/2 year old Parker! 

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It is hard for me to believe that just a short 6 months ago, this is what was staring back at me…

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Parker, you have completely changed our worlds in the best way possible.  You make each and every day something we look forward to so we can see what you will do next.  You have been such a joy to us since the moment you were born.  We are so blessed that you were chosen to be our child.  My favorite thing you have learned lately is to hug and boy, you sure give the best, sweetest hugs.  I love how you like to squeeze my face and hold my cheeks.  Your laugh is contagious and your smile with those precious dimples could melt any heart.

 

At your 6 month well visit, you weighed 20 lbs, 6 and 1/2 oz (90th percentile) and were 27 3/4 inches long (90th percentile).   You can still wear some 6-9 months but you really need 9-12 months clothes.  You are really loving your baby food.  You eat Stage 2 foods and don’t like to miss any of your 3 meals.  You still hate sweet peas but enjoy pretty much everything else.  You are still taking 6 oz bottles of Enfamil AR but now stretch it out to every 4-5 hours during the day and take an 8 oz bottle before bed.  Your bedtime is around 9pm and during the last couple of weeks, you have started waking up during the night again usually around 6am.  We are trying to get you to sleep through the night again but sometimes we have to give you a bottle to get you to go back to sleep unless we are ready to start your day that early.  You still nap twice a day and you feel your best if you sleep about two hours per nap.  You definitely sleep best in your crib with your sound machine on.  You are still struggling with reflux so we are still giving you Prevacid to help out with that.  Right after you turned 6 months old, we reduced your dosage to just a 1/2 tablet a day so we will see how you do on that lesser dosage.  We have decided you have pretty much outgrown your Chicco Keyfit30 seat so we will install your Britax convertible seat soon so you can now almost sit by yourself.  We have already been testing you in high chairs and in grocery carts and you almost have it so within a week or two, we will officially retire your infant seat because it is too heavy to carry.  You are still quite the vocal one and love chatting.  We think your first official word is “hey” and your dad thinks he has heard “dada” a few times.  You got your first two teeth within a few days of each other when you were about 5 and 1/2 months old.  You love to roll and roll and roll.  You can only roll to your right for now but you think it is great.  You also enjoy playing with your rainforest activity mat and holding the birds that dangle from it.  You barely fit in the swing and aren’t really crazy about the exersaucer.  You love the stroller and enjoy walks and looking around.  You enjoy when we read to you and you love singing songs.   As of September 1st, Dr. Hydorn said you only have to wear your brace and boots at nighttime and naptime so we are really excited about that.  Your foot looks amazing and you are definitely putting weight on it.  You have been such a trooper and we are so thankful that God has taken care of you and your little foot!  We cannot wait to see what the next 6 months will bring!

Apple Pickin’ Baby

On August 11th, we woke up bright and early one Saturday morning (thanks to Parker) and decided to drive up to Flat Rock, NC to go apple pickin’ at Sky Top Orchard.  We picked some delicious apples and enjoyed some yummy apple doughnuts.  Afterwards we had some lunch in Hendersonville before heading back home.  I think we have found a new tradition!

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One tooth, Two teeth

Back in the middle of August, Parker got his first tooth!  On August 17th, I snagged his picture during breakfast.

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Then two days later, he got his second tooth!  As you can see, they are side by side on the bottom.

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The above picture was taken August 18th and the one below was taken August 21st.  These are the only two teeth so far we can feel but they sure came back to back.  

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Friday, August 17, 2012

Parker the Cowboy

Parker has a FAVORITE toy.  It is a horse.  A galloping horse to be exact.  He loves to jump and jump and jump on this horse.  It makes sounds and has little toys attached to it and he thinks it is the best thing in the world.  The problem with this toy is that it doesn’t live at our house.  It lives at Parker’s cousin’s house.  The other problem is Fisher Price no longer makes this horse.  Reggie & Lindsey bought it for Van over 3 years ago and now you can’t find them so Parker only gets to play with it when he goes to see his cousins but when he gets to see his horse, he plays hard….so hard he will ride it until he falls asleep…

I’m on a boat

My kid loves the water.  He loves the boat.  He loves being outside.  Hallelujah! 

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Roll baby roll….

The first week of August, Parker decided to roll for the first time.  After about 15 minutes of seriously hard work, I ran and grabbed my camera and was able to capture the first official roll.  Now he is rolling all over the place and thinks he is really something.  I think the funniest part of this video is all his high pitch squealing followed by the deep grunting (not dramatic at all) BUT please note he was not to be outdone by his mother’s ridiculous reaction….what can I say, he gets it honest I guess!

Play Time!

Parker is really loving play time.  He is enjoying his Johnny Jump Up, Cousin Reece’s jumperoo horse, his rainforest activity mat and his buddy’s Porter’s Baby Einstein exersaucer that they so sweetly let us borrow.  He loves to hold onto to things and really study them.  For a little baby, he has quite the attention span. 

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Parker & His Faithful Companion

Parker loves Louie and Louie loves Parker.  If you don’t believe me, see below

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Yucky peas

The many faces of Parker

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So fresh and so clean…

 

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5 Months Old

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I cannot believe Parker is already 5 months old!  According to our scales at home, he is unofficially 19 pounds and growing every day!  He is definitely growing out of 3-6 months clothes and forcing me to buy 6-9 month sizes to finish out the summer.  He takes 4-5 bottles a day (6 oz) of Enfamil AR and eats 2-3 containers of Stage 1 baby foods.  His favorites are still squash, carrots and sweet potatoes. He also likes peaches, apples, prunes and pears but really doesn’t like bananas or green beans and HATES sweet peas.  He wakes up around 9am and goes to sleep around 9pm.  He takes 2 naps a day, each lasting about 2 hours.  He is a very happy little boy and smiles all the time.

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Oh Parker…the last five months have been absolutely wonderful watching you grow and become such a sweet, charming little boy.  I am so honored God chose us to be your parents.  You make each day so exciting for us as we watch you discover new things.  Happy 5 months son!