Lazy Day = Parker Photo Session

7 Months Old

September 27th marked 7 months old….so hard to believe!  We are back to sleeping 11-12 hours straight through the night…yay!  We have also changed Parker to just four 8 oz bottles a day and that seems to be much more filling.  Of course, he is still eating solids but most days we only get in an afternoon and an evening jar.  We have introduced him to Puffs now and he thinks those are just great!  He did get his 2 center teeth while we were in New York so at the 7 month mark, he had 4 teeth total and it is quite apparent that more are coming very soon on the top.  Parker is sitting up very well now by myself and has mastered the high chair and shopping cart.  The infant seat is no more since he weighs an impressive 23 pounds…my arms are just not that strong to tote him around.  He is wearing 12 month and 12-18 months clothes, just depending on the brand.  He is very long but I don’t have an exact length.  He is napping twice a day, about two hours a nap.  He does not like to be rocked to sleep anymore.  He absolutely prefers to just be laid in the crib beside his musical seahorse with his pacifier and blanket and he rolls over without crying and falls asleep.  What a precious child!  How did we ever get so lucky!  We have pretty much retired the swing as well and rely on the nap nanny in the mornings and the walker and froggy exersaucer for later in the day.  He still has not made any attempts at crawling but loves to stand up….Parker is so strong!  We love to be outside on these beautiful fall days and at night, his favorite thing is to play in mom and dad’s bed and cover his face with our sheet.  He is such a delight and his personality is really coming through day by day.  You can be quite the ham Parker and we love you!

 

New York Trip

September 20th, we took off on a big airplane bound for New York to spend a long weekend with Scott’s family.  Parker did amazing on the plane!  I was so worried prior to traveling but he did great.  We had a wonderful time getting to spend time with everyone and Parker sure enjoyed all the attention.  We hope to get back up there soon!

Lazy Afternoons

This beautiful weather has made for some pretty lazy afternoons after here lately.  All I want to do is spread a blanket out and play with Parker outside now that it is so pleasant.  We can just spend hours outside together and he loves it.  He watches the clouds, plays with the grass, enjoys our walks…it is wonderful! 

Oh yeah, guess what?  Parker can sit up now by himself!  He has really been perfecting it in the yard and is now sitting in high chairs at restaurants too.

The sweetest little patient

September 7th, Parker had his third surgery of his short little life.  I pray it will be his last!  It was a simple, outpatient surgery to basically repair/clean up his poor circumcision.  Bless his heart….he did great and was in such a good mood before and after.  The first time he had surgery he was 5 weeks old and this time he was closer to 6 and 1/2 months old so the gown fit much better.  He sure is a cute patient

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.

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

6 Months Old

Happy 1/2 year old Parker! 

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

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!