Carrots!

5 Months Old

Parker is 5 months old already!! Where did the time go?!? He is getting big so quickly. This month has been a month of firsts.

Parker went on his first trip to the library. We got books on baby food and books and dvds on baby sign language. I am excited to learn more about both!

Parker got his first Webkinz, a panda, that was part of the Easter basket that he got from Nanny. When telling my four-year-old niece that we had never played with a Webkinz before and that we'd have to figure it out, she replied, "You just log on", as if nothing could be simpler :)

Parker got his first pair of shoes - my mom got him a pair of brown leather shoes to wear to church. I'm in love with them!

Parker found his feet for the first time. The other morning I found him in his crib grabbing his feet for the first time. He should have abs of steel with all of the time he spends with his bum in the air!

Parker took his first roadtrip. We recently went to Albuquerque for the weekend for Chad's grandma's funeral. Quick trip and Parker was a champ in the car!

On a not so good note, Parker got sick for the first time. On Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, Parker woke up at 3:30 in the morning with a cough that sounded like he was barking like a dog, really struggling to breathe, and a temperature of 102.7. We quickly threw on our clothes to seek out an urgent care, but we couldn't find one that was open 24 hours. So, off to the ER we went. There Parker was examined, medicated, and had his first x-rays (chest and neck) and after about three hours we left with a diagnosis of croup. Yesterday after we got home Parker slept most of the day. The poor little guy didn't have it in him to play or crack too many smiles. He spent most of the night awake and just wanting to be held. I'm sure he was feeling miserable. Today he sounded very hoarse, but it seemed like he was feeling a little bit better. Hopefully in the next day or two he'll be back up to 100%.

Aside from the last couple of nights, Parker has been getting back to sleeping through the night - at least until about 4:00 or so. We are very pleased with that!

Parker now watches everything we eat as it goes from fork to mouth. He especially watches when we are drinking. He gets very excited when we drink out of a water bottle and wants to have some himself.

He really focuses his attention on faces and action. His eyes have been following my every movement the past couple of days and boy am I in trouble when I walk out of sight!

We are having lots of fun with baby Parker and look forward to all of the changes that this next month will bring for Parker and our family!

Easter Egg Hunt!

On Saturday we went to an Easter egg hunt with Parker and all of the cousins. There were 90,000 eggs covering the entire football field! There was a section for children just under 2 years old so we picked a few for Parker. The other kids had a blast filling their bags to the brim!

These are the eggs just from the infant section!

Parker is not quite sure about these eggs.

Pearly Whites

Just hanging out, showing off those teeth!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

On Saturday our city, Henderson, had a big parade and some other events to celebrate St. Patrick's day so we headed out with my parents and Wendie & Nate to check out the festivities. It turned out to be a beautiful day and we all got plenty of sun!

The parade was fun to see. Parker wasn't too fond of the loud parts of the parade - in particular the bag pipes, marching bands, and pack of 100 Harley Davidsons!! I think Parker needs to have some custom earplugs for future events like this! :)

(As an audiologist, I can't help it!)

All tuckered out, yet still drooling :)

Cereal Time!

I've had a hard time deciding when to start feeding Parker some rice cereal. There are so many opinions out there, but a couple days ago we decided to go for it. Parker was so funny to watch. At first, most of the cereal just ran down his chin and chest, but we're getting better. He opens his mouth searching for more just like a little bird and then smacks his lips when he has the cereal in his mouth. We're looking forward to more adventures with food in the future!

4 Months Old

Parker is already 4 and half months old!! The time continues to fly by! It was particularly hard to get good pictures of Parker this month because he can't go more than a few seconds without putting his hands in his mouth as shown above.
At the visit to the pediatrician a couple weeks ago, Parker was 14 lbs (25-50th %) and 26 inches long (75-100th %). Parkers has his two bottom teeth and they are as sharp as razors. You can see them in the collage picture. Overall, he's a pretty happy kid. He still wants to be entertained nearly all the time. When my mom watches him she pushes him around in the umbrella stroller as she goes about her daily activities. As long as he's moving around and can watch what you're doing, he's content. We go on walks all the time on my days off and he really likes that. He absolutely loves watching the hair dryer! He gets totally entranced watching me and my mom dry our hair.
Parker has been sleeping through the night since he was about 6 weeks old, but then in the past month he has stopped and wakes up more frequently. So, we're working on that and hoping for a full night of sleep soon! Parker is terrible napper! For some reason he fights every attempt to take a nap during the day. When we are able to get him to fall asleep, he often only sleeps for about 20-30 minutes. It's quite a challenge. If anyone has any suggestions to get baby to take a good nap, they'd be appreciated!
Parker has started to make a humming noise. Whenever he is totally relaxed, either nursing or falling asleep, he hums as if he is really enjoying it. It's pretty funny.
Parker wants to chew or suck on EVERYTHING, as demonstrated by his hands in his mouth. Unfortunately he still won't take the pacifier so his hands and teething toys will have to do.
Parker smiles and laughs more all the time He can really hold on to his toys now and can transfer the toy back and forth between hands. He spends a lot of time looking at faces now and shows signs of recognition with familiar faces.

'bout yer man...

I've been tagged (and I've been a little slow to respond)....

This is 'bout yer man...

What is his name? Chad or Chaddy as me and my family lovingly call him.

How long have you been married? It will be three years in May.

How long did you date? We dated about 9 months before getting engaged and then about 7 more months before we got married.

How old is he? 26.

Who eats more? Chad...he's more into the dinner portion of the meal and I'm all about dessert. Ice cream anyone?

Who said I love you first? Chad

Who is taller? Chad, but only by two inches

Who can sing better? Chad...but I'm convinced that once I get to heaven I'll be a fabulous singer...I'll just have to wait until then.

Who is smarter? We are both smart, just in different ways. I too am more book smart and Chad is more street smart.

Who does the laundry? I do all the laundry, but Chad is great at ironing.

Who pays the bills? Me...I like to know what is going on and know that the bills will get taken care of on time.

Who sleeps on the right side? Me....it's just been that way since day 1.

Who mows the lawn? The lawn crew that we pay through our home owners association dues.

Who cooks dinner? We both cook. Depends on who is home first. If it is my day off and I have more time, I will make something. If it is a day I work and go pick up Parker from my mom, Chad will often put something together pretty quickly so we can eat dinner before 9 pm. I have to say that my mom does plenty of the cooking as well. We often benefit from her leftovers.

Who is a better cook? I am probably a little more versatile, especially when it comes to baking, but Chad has been learning to make quite a breakfast!

Who drives? Usually Chad when we are together.

Who is more stubborn? Hmmm...not sure about this one.

Who kissed who first? Chad kissed me on our first date.

Who asked who out first? Chad asked me out first, but we both came to the realization that we had more than a friendship at the same time.

Who proposed? Chad

Who is more sensitive? Me - no question about that!

Who has more friends? I probably have more friends because I keep in touch with people, although Chad is very outgoing and friendly so he knows a ton of people. When we lived in Albuquerque we couldn't go anywhere without running into someone he knows. That happens fairly often here as well.

Who has more siblings? We both have two. I have two sisters and Chad has a sister and a brother.

That's it! Now I tag Wendie, Courtney, & Mariel.