Friday, October 5, 2007

Life with our 18 month old!

Well, it's official. Parker is 1 1/2 years old! I can not believe we are half way through his 2nd year. If the next 6 months go by as fast as the past 6 have, he is going to be 2 before we know it! I can't believe it!
As many people know, and have told me, he is ALL BOY!!! I use to say that he was such a laid back baby, and so easy going. Now, the boy does not stop. He is like the little energizer bunny and just goes, goes, goes all day long. He is constantly exploring, playing, or getting into something. He can also be Mr. Serious at times too. He is a very curious and observant little boy. You know when he is being this way because he immediately puts his Mr. Serious face on. Anyone that knows Parker well, knows exactly what face I am talking about :) He has also learned SO much since he turned one. His vocabulary seems to increase every day now, and he amazes me at the things he knows and says. He understands pretty much everything we tell him to do, and some of his favorite tasks are throwing things away in the trash and putting his toys in his toy box. Each night before bed we tell him that it is time to put his toys away and go night-night. He gets SO excited to put everything away, and puts his toys in there one by one. When he is done, he is ready for his bath and to go to bed! We are very lucky because he has alway been such a good sleeper. He still takes 2 naps a day on the days he is home with us, and still sleeps 12 hours at night. We can not complain in that department for sure!
Now, I have to be honest here and give this little blog some fair balance. Yes, Parker is still our little Munchkin and he is amazing and fun MOST of the time. BUT- we do have our really hard and challenging moments with him too. For instance- THE CAR. Parker HATES riding in the car. This all started right after he turned one. Everyone told us it was a phase, and it was just because he was so active and did not want to be confined like that. Well, here we are 6 months later, and he STILL hates it. We are really starting to think that this is not a phase! We have tried EVERYTHING we know to make him happy in the car, but we are open for suggestions as well! We are also starting to deal with the full blown temper tantrums and him testing our limits. I thought this didn't start until the terrible two's???? We are doing the best we know how to control these, but it is hard at this age as well.
So, there you have it. There is a summary of Parker at 18 months. Our all boy, mr. serious, talking and learning, great sleeper, terrible car rider, temper tantrum throwing little munckin!!! You gotta love him!!! I know we do!
Here are a few pictures from the past month or so!
Parker still LOVES being outside. This is at the little playground in our neighborhood. We really enjoy taking him over there and letting him get some energy out!

Just another cute picture from the playground!!




I'm pretty sure he learned this trick from his mommy, driving and talking on the cell phone. He loved playing in this car at his friend Jake's house!



Oh, the things that they find to play with. This is an empty package of computer paper that he managed to pull from the trash and decided to wear as a hat. He found himself quite amusing! (Please excuse the massive drool on his shirt. We are having an outburst of teeth coming in right now!)





Parker decided to go on a late night drive in his PJ's in PawPaw's Miata. Don't worry...we made him wear his seatbelt :)



We took a trip up to Louisville this month to visit some friends, and Parker got to play with his friend Ethan. Ethan is 10 months older than Parker, and this is the 1st time they have really gotten to "play together." They were SO adorable. Ethan was so nice to share all of his toys with Parker, and they had a blast together!





This is the most recent picture of the playgroup kids. They are all walking now, I mean running, and it is CRAZY when we all get together! It has been so fun to watch them grow and change. We love getting together with everyone and still try and do it once a week!




He LOVES going to Anthony's softball games. He even started saying the word Baseball! His friend Kaleb lets him use his ball and bat, and we have been working on his throwing and hitting skills. After he hits the ball (with assistance from his mom of course) he loves to go chase it! I guess we are going to have to get him a bat of his own!







"