The Best Part of Baking - Licking the Bowl

Parker is quite fond of helping me cook in the kitchen.  He will taste whatever is in the mixing bowl regardless of what stage of adding the ingredients that we are in.  But licking the finished product - that is the best part!  Tyler agrees!

The Danger of Taking A Shower ....

...and leaving a 3 year-old to his own devices.

New Seats

Now that Tyler is 1, Parker got a new car seat and Tyler moved up to Parker's seat. Parker was VERY excited about his new seat!

My Boys

The Land of the Big Trees

In July, we took at road trip to California to visit Sequoia National Park. It was great to get away for a couple days, escape the Las Vegas heat, and get to spend some time as a family. Parker loved exploring the woods and picking up sticks, riding the "vator" in the hotel, and swimming in the hotel "pond". I think Tyler's favorite part of the trip was the constant snacks in the car to keep kids happy, including a couple dum-dums. Parker didn't mind that part either :)

Naptime

Naps in our house aren't too fun these days....not enough rooms with doors to keep the noise down for whoever is asleep and MANY interrupted naps. Boo!
Tyler was asleep. Parker just screamed at the top of his lungs (apparently just to hear his own voice), then leaned over and whispered to me - shhhhh....Tyler's sleeping.

This is what dreams are made of...Parker's dreams, anyway...

These are the views from our window today.

To top it off, the trashman came today too. What could be better than big trucks and the garbage man coming to our neighborhood??

The things they say...

Kids do say the funniest things. When I find myself laughing at something Parker says, I often think that I should be documenting it because he will get a good laugh out of it later in life, but I forget most of the time. Here's my commitment to doing a better job.

This morning as Parker pleaded for one movie, a different movie, one tv show, etc, I said, "You're driving me nuts!" To which he responded, "You're driving me nuts, crackers!" Apparently you can substitute whatever salty snack you're craving at the time.

Side by Side

Parker

Tyler

Here are pictures of both Parker and Tyler at about 2 months in the same outfit. I think it is interesting to compare the two...

Just another day in the life...

This is what happens when I pour my own cheerios...

More please!

Might as well drive cars through the mess.

A typical breakfast mess

Elmo's World

Parker dressed up as Elmo for Halloween. He got to go trick or treating at the ward Trunk or Treat as well as at the District on Halloween night. Getting him into the costume was a struggle with major aligator tears, but eventually he warmed up to the idea.

He held out his bucket to collect candy and requested a "snack in the bucket".

Suckers are definitely his favorite

Tyler slept through most of the trick or treating fun...I'm sure he'll enjoy it a lot more in a year or two. (Excuse his blurry hands - they wave wildly when he gets excited)

Parker is 2!!

On Saturday Parker turned 2! Where did all the time go? We had a little family get together to celebrate. It was all things Cars - Parker's favorite.

We had pizza for dinner. The hand from the Mr. Potato Head

that Wendie gave Parker is helping Parker to eat his dinner.

(Apparently we needed to tell the person at the grocery store who decorates the cakes that 2nd is written with an 'nd' after the 2 and not a "th". Parker wasn't have a 2th birthday) :)

The cake was a big hit and Parker was excited to eat cake, until...he realized Lighting McQueen and Mater cars were sitting on the cake. Who cares about cake at that point?

And who knew that of all the gifts, his favorite still seems to be the toys from the top of the cake?

Parker wasn't quite sure how to open the presents, but when he realized that the things inside him were for him, he quickly set the present aside to grab the next package. He was extremely quick to set all the clothes from Nanny aside in hopes for something more fun. Classic!

Parker has gotten so big! It seems like he has matured so much in the past couple of months. He if so full of personality. Here are a few things (ok, more than a few things, but I wanted to remember him at this age) about Parker at two...

-He is working on his numbers and is getting pretty good. The other day when he was playing I heard him count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12!

-We are also working on the alphabet. He seems to really be beginning to understand that there are letters everywhere in our world and to recognize what they are. He knows 'D', 'R', and 'O' very well. We went to Red Robin tonight to celebrate Chad's birthday and Parker pointed out the letters he knew on his menu as well as on the "Red Robin" sign outside of the restaurant.

-As I mentioned before, he loves all things Cars. He would watch that movie everyday if we let him. He comes to me multiple times a day, sometime it seems like 100 and says "watch moo-ie, I want to watch moo-ie". He loves his "Queen" and "Mater" toys.

-He also loves trucks, cars, buses, trains, airplanes, motorcycles, bikes, and anything else with wheels. He plays with his car toys most of the day everyday, driving them around, lining them up, and back and forth. It's amazing how long they can keep his attention! He makes sure he brings cars in the bath with him and to his bed every night. We must also take a couple in the car and with us when we run errands.

-He is working on his colors too...for a while whenever I asked him what color this or that is, he always responded "green". Now he seems to correctly identify green, yellow, and red.

-Parker loves to color. He asks to color whenever there is a dull moment. He always wants us to draw a truck or a car for him. Too bad his mom is such a poor artist!

-Parker loves applesauce. He goes and gets it out of the pantry and asks for apples daily...many times daily.

-He has picked up the phrase "Oh man!" from us and so now he crashes his cars together and says "Oh man! Cars crash!"

-He has flip flops that I bought him over the summer. At first he hated having something between his toes and asked for me to take them off. Now he asked for "flip flops" everyday when we get dressed.

-Parker has quite a temper and throws tantrums if he doesn't get what he wants when he wants it. We're working on it, but for now, I guess he's your average 2 year old.

-Maybe we're getting closer to potty traning time. He tells us "Diaper stinks. Change pants." when it is time.

-Parker also loves books! He isn't too discerning about the books that he picks and he could have us read each of them twenty or more times a day. He does have a favorite - it is all about trucks. Imagine that!

-Parker loves bathtime...he now lays on his belly for some of the bath and dips his head under the water as if he is swimming. He always asks for bubbles.

I'm sure I'll think of a million more things when I lay down to go to sleep, but that's it for now. We love Parker. He keeps us on our toes, but he also keeps us laughing. He's lots of fun! It is amazing to watch him learn and grow everyday and just absorb everything around him. It's hard to imagine how much he'll change by the time he turns 3.