Today's Project ~ Oh-My-Goodness Cute

We have a few showers & birthdays in our future, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to do a little sewing.  I bought the tops, but made the skirts.

Seriously, how cute are these?  I can't wait to see them on (Parker wasn't interested in being a skirt model).

Considering the huge clearance sale currently going on at Babies-R-Us, I'm sure I didn't save any money making these, but it did give me a chance to do something more creative than meal planning.

Mt Rainier

I was hesitant to post any pictures about today, since my memories of the day, at the moment, are less than fond, but we need to document the bad trips as well as the good ones, right?

We went up the Mt Rainier with my parents.  It actually wasn't as bad as my introduction would imply, but I got super car-sick both up & back, and Parker cried nearly the entire way home.

But except for that, it was a beautiful day to be outside, and we got to take a nice walk around the mountain.

Keith & Dad especially enjoyed the fancy suspension bridge.  (if you jump up & down, you can make it bounce, really, we tried)

I especially enjoyed not being in the car for a while.  (Seriously, this trip had me questioning if I really want to get pregnant again EVER).

On the plus side, Parker was so exhausted from the trip, he went to bed before 7, so we've had a nice long evening to get things done.  And we all had a good time hanging out with my folks and seeing some scenery.  So, give me a few days & I'm sure I'll start looking back on this trip a little more fondly.

Love the sunshine!

Parker & I have been LOVING the sunshine!  Summer has finally arrived!

Parker is also loving testing out his new teeth.  This kiddo never ceases to amaze me with the new things he can do.

Today's Project ~ Parker's Chalkboard

I've been wanting to do a project with custom-color chalkboard paint forever.  But we don't really have many exposed walls, and as Keith says "we don't really want to teach Parker to draw on the walls...ever" (okay, fine, maybe he has a point).  So, I've just been waiting until I figured out a good flat surface that I could use.  A few weeks ago, when we moved the train table upstairs, I realized that I'd found the perfect flat surface.

We now have a train/chalkboard table.  One side for trains, the other for chalk.

This photo is actually an "in process" photo, the final color is darker, but I/Parker accidentally knocked over the camera after I took my "finished" photos.  The camera's fine (thankfully), but I lost all the photos I took today and I can't be bothered to do it again.

Eleven Months!

Parker is eleven months!

Parker is scooting, crawling, and pulling himself up onto everything.  I can't keep anything on top of his dresser anymore, since his new favorite trick is to stand up in his crib & pull anything he can reach into his crib.  He's getting into everything (in fact, I'm now typing with one hand because he was crawling under the desk & knocked the computer over onto himself).

Parker loves eating, his current favorites are raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and oatmeal.  He's starting to learn to use the sippy cup, though he still prefers to chew on it.  Today, we tried using the snack cup, Parker eventually figured out how to slam it on the ground enough that a few snacks fell out.  I took the top off so he could grab a few snacks, he kept taking the lid from me & trying to put it back on the cup, he's a smart little guy.

He is talking up a storm, right now, his favorite sounds are "ooo" words, which is pretty cute as he purses his little lips.  He's still sleeping like a champ, sleeping 11-12 hours at night, with 2 (and sometimes three) naps during the day.

Weekend

We spent all day Saturday painting the house.  Keith worked on the outside and I worked on the inside.  We are planning to take a week in August to paint the house, so this weekend, we just worked on getting the trim done.  So, currently, the outside looks like we didn't do anything and the inside looks like it was painted by a four-year-old.  Give us some time.

Sunday afternoon, our Church had a picnic at a beach in Shoreline.

Parker got to try his very first Popsicle.

He was a fan, a very messy fan.

Then we headed over to the Needs for second lunch, or early dinner (depending on your perspective).

Not sure if you can tell from the photo, Parker was kissing Piper's hand.  What a gallant gentleman we have.

After all that partying (and Popsicles, watermelon, and strawberries), it was time for a bath on the back deck.

Milestones

Parker has started crawling.  He's been flirting with it for a while, crawling a few steps (crawls?), then plopping back down on his belly to scoot along.  But the other night he was up on all fours playing with a toy, then he pushed the toy aside and took off across the room.  He's still finding his scooting a fairly efficient way to get around, so he's not always crawling, but he's doing it.  (This is supposed to be a video, but it doesn't seem to be working:)

Over two months after the appearance of his first tooth, Parker's second tooth has finally broken through.  Judging by it's placement, I see large orthodontic bills in our future.

Parker & I went swimming Friday morning.  Although he spent the first ten minutes looking at me like I was inflicting some sort of torture on him, eventually he warmed up and enjoyed himself.  The cutest part was when he kept trying to grab a handful of the water & shove it in his mouth.  I suppose that in his mind, water can't be that different from a form of yogurt that you sit in.

...like a baby.

For some reason, Parker is resisting his afternoon nap today.  I put him down, and came back 10-15 minutes later to find him standing at the end of his crib, screaming his head off.  I think he got up & forgot how to sit back down.  I calmed him down, put him back in the crib, and told him to go back to sleep.  Twenty minutes later, he was still crying, and not just crying; the gut-wrenching, whole-body sort of sobs that leave you still gasping for breath even ten minutes after the tears finally stop.  Parker has what can only be described as a naturally happy personality, as long as someone (really, almost anyone) is holding him, he's pretty happy.  But even Mama holding him wasn't enough to calm this little guy down this afternoon.

So, I cheated a little and used the trick that only Mama can do and nursed the little guy until he calmed down.  Before I knew it, my precious little boy was asleep on my chest.

We made a very conscious effort from the very start to teach Parker how to fall asleep on his own.  We don't drive-, nurse-, or rock-to-sleep; our usual going-to-sleep routine involves putting him down, handing over the Binky & blankey, saying "I love you" and walking out the door.  Now I have no idea if this has been so effective because we worked so hard at it (which we did) or because Parker really just loves to fall asleep (which he does...yes, yes, I know, our next kid will be a colicky-fussy-tyrant, we have it coming).  All this to say, while Parker is a fantastic sleeper, it's been a very long time since either of us have had him fall asleep in our arms, and it was the sweetest thing ever.  I sat in his room for twenty minutes just rocking and kissing his little face.  I feel sometimes like I really quit my job just so I could cook & clean & do laundry, but these moments with my little guy folded in my arms really are such a reminder of the amazing gift we've been given.

Sleep well little guy, Mama loves you.

Daddy's Day Off

Keith surprised us last night with a phone call, saying "I'll be home late tonight, but I'm taking tomorrow off."  (It's true, I have the most awesome hubby ever!)

So, this morning, we went out for coffee and headed over to the zoo.

Hey, why are all the penguins lined up on on the edge of the water?

Probably because they are afraid of this guy (or his pressure washer)

Since Keith was with us, we decided to check out the Dinosaur exhibit.

The first dinosaur we saw spit at Keith & Parker. 

Parker did not appreciate it.

Actually, Parker was mildly terrified through the whole exhibit...

...but Keith LOVED it (deep down all men are just little buys inside).

I loved the little baby dinosaurs,

aren't these guys the cutest?

them too...

No trip to the zoo is complete without snacks!  By the time we got home, Parker was covered head-to-toe in strawberry goo.

What a fun day!  Daddy should stay home every Friday!  (never gonna happen, but it would be fun)

Parker's Activities

Some of Parker's favorite things to do:

Torment Darcy:

This chair has always been Darcy's spot to run away from Parker's "loving", but now that Parker can stand up, he's constantly swatting at Darcy.

"Read" Books:

Parker loves to find a book on the floor and swat the first (or last) page back & forth until he gets bored, at which time he switches to his other favorite activity - chewing books. 

Picky

Parker has recently become a more picky eater.  Or, more accurately, Parker has recently become aware that he has the ability to be a more picky eater.

Don't get me wrong, he's still a fantastic eater and I'm not at all complaining, but...  At dinnertime, when he's especially tired, Parker is known to sit and squawk whenever we're feeding him anything other than berries & cheese.  He will, however, continue to eat anything and everything you spoon into his mouth.

One of his special tricks is to pick-up the veggies and drop them on the floor so he can get past them to his berries.  Not my favorite trick.

So, this evening, in an attempt to get him to eat a few veggies, I was giving him yogurt interspersed with spoon-fulls of veggies.  Attempting to cut out the middle man (myself), I started dunking his broccoli in the yogurt & putting it on his tray.  I've seen this work on other kids with Ranch Dressing, but with Parker, yogurt worked like a charm.  So, for dinner tonight, Parker had yogurt-covered broccoli, yogurt-covered beets, and yogurt-covered carrots.

Personally, I don't know that unsweetened yogurt is really such an improvement over plain veggies, but who am I to disagree with a 10-month-old?

Baby Proofing

Parker has become quite adept at opening the cabinet doors, so Keith spent some time this afternoon baby proofing the kitchen & bathrooms.  So far, I don't think Parker has noticed, but I am finding it increasingly annoying to put anything in the trash.

I didn't get a picture of it, but the other day, Parker had pulled out the quinoia and a bag of pasta and was scooting across the kitchen floor with one in each hand.  He looked up at me with a face that clearly said, "I'm outta here Mama, and I'm taking the quinoia with me!"