On the Move...

Here's our little guy on the move - showing off his army crawl...

9 Months!

Our little photo shoot this month was quite a challenge. Parker wasn't into sitting on the couch - he mostly just wanted to dive off head first. We'll see how the next few months go with these teddy bear shots...

Parker is 9 months old now and growing like a weed. At his 9 month visit to the pediatrician last week he was 20 lbs 6 oz (25-50%) and 29.5 inches long (75-90%).

As I mentioned in the last post, he is on the move all the time and trying to get into everything. It seems as if he has a radar for whatever he is not supposed to get into and that is the first thing he heads for.

He still loves eating and there really isn't anything that he won't eat. He's upgraded to eating some cheerios now. At Costco not too long ago they were handing out samples of strawberry Go-Gurt. Well, I let Parker have a sample and I'm pretty sure he thinks that is the best thing he's ever eaten. He continued squealing for more yogurt throughout the whole store. He ate all of it!

Parker can now give kisses, well, at least his version of a kiss. I tell him to give mommy kisses and he leans in for a face plant. Works for me :)

Parker has also been practicing his high-5's and is really starting to get better at it.

Can you say "handful"?

Parker really is a handful these days!! He keeps us busy and on our toes, that's for sure. He loves to pull my hair, especially if he can reach around and grab the ones on the back of my neck where it is the most tender.
A typical day consists of Parker trying to eat every cord that he can find, trying to skydive off the changing table without a parachute, cleaning all the floors with his clothes, crawling in the bathtub, attempting to chew the bathtub, performing gymnastic stunts while we change his diaper, adding fiber to his diet by eating whatever form of paper he can find, and cleaning the fireplace the best he can. The list goes on... he's a normal, active little boy!!

(Title and Picture taken from my sister, Wendie)

Music Time!

Parker loves music! He has loved music from day 1. His two favorite songs are "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Popcorn Popping", but he will really will pay attention to most any song. He is not too particular. He loves to listen to me sing. A sure way to stop Parker from fussing is to break out into "The Wheels on the Bus" when driving around.
Lately he has really started to take note of the music at church. When the piano starts, he perks up in anticipation. He loves watching the chorister lead the music. He will even imitate by waving his little arms around, so excited that she is up there. It's too funny! Maybe we will have a little musician on our hands....that is, if he can sit still long enough to learn some music :)

8 Months!

Parker is 8 months old and getting bigger all the time! It's so unbelievable to see how much he changes each day!

Parker is a baby in motion!! He reaches and grabs for absolutely everything! He has moved from rolling to where he wants to go to army crawling. He hasn't yet mastered the traditional crawl. He has sort of a swimming motion with his arms and pushes with his legs and he can get to whatever he is interested in. He particularly likes the computer cords, but will really go for anything that he isn't supposed to have. The other day he was playing in his jumper which we hang in the doorway to our downstairs bathroom (really the only doorway downstairs). Well, I turned my back for a minute and he swung over to the toilet paper and and continued to pull it off the roll and stuff it in his mouth. I successfully rescused some of it, but when I tried to get the last piece out of his mouth he promptly swallowed it. Oh well! Due to his mobility he has gotten quite a few bumps and bruises, wacking himself with toys, crawling into walls, falling on the tile, and he hit his face on the pew in front of us at church.


He really looks to me to find out how he should respond in certain situations. If new people come up to him to talk and smile he will often look to me to see if he should be smiling back at them. If someone else is laughing, he looks at me to see if I am laughing and if he should be laughing as well. When he falls over or hurts himself and I give him a big smile and tell him he's ok, he usually smiles back and we can avoid the dramatic crying. A few times he has pulled my hair so hard that I sort of yelp in pain and he gets this terribly sad face, knowing that he did something wrong.

Parker went swinging on the baby swing at the park for the first time and he totally loved it!! He thought it was just absolutely hilarious. I am sure we are going to have a little dare devil on our hands and we'll really be in trouble when he can walk.


Parker is turning into more of a thumb-sucker all the time. He used to just suck it when getting ready for sleep, but lately he has been doing it more and more often. He has worn a callus on his thumb. For better or for worse...it is what it is.

My favorite time of day with Parker is when I go into his room in the morning after I hear him making noise. We have lowered his crib and he can now pull himself up a little bit when he's on his stomach to peer over the bumper. Each morning he pulls himself up and greets me with the biggest smile in the world. It melts my heart!

Parker has a walker at my mom's house and that is one of his favorite things. Apparently he takes after me in this regard. I hear that I zoomed around our house like crazy in my walker when I was a baby. He has gotten really good and a lot stronger so he pushes it all around. Their house is mostly tiled so he chases my mom around. She hides and he races to find her, laughing every time.

Look how big my little boy looks here! I can't believe it!