Start each day like it's your birthday!

We celebrated Parker's actual birthday at home with a few presents, breakfast for dinner and a chocolate birthday cake. He did really well with the candle (unlike on his first birthday!!) We had been practicing singing Happy Birthday and blowing out the candle. He was already blowing as Jeremy brought the cake to the table! But his breath wasn't strong enough and we had to help him out. He loved his chocolate cake and asked for it frequently throughout the week!

We had his family birthday party at the Treehouse in Lake Zurich. We need a place big enough to host the family (30 people for close family & friends!) and that didn't break the bank. I would highly recommend hosting a party here and we may do it again in the coming years. The kids played, enjoyed pizza and a quiet corner to socialize. It will be nice next year when he can play on his own and I can enjoy the family a little bit more. But I also enjoyed not having to do much prep before or clean up after the party!

 

 

Parker was up at 5am so was tired and hungry as we left for his party. He saw the cupcakes at home and had a major meltdown when he couldn't have one. When he saw them at the party, he had no patience for the singing and the candle - he just wanted to eat his cupcake! Very thankful to my friend Christine with Benjamin's Treat Box for these peanut free cupcakes - they were a big hit!

Parker spent a good amount of time in the baby section, probably because he could handle everything on his own. According to the sign, he has just three more weeks to be in this area, so he had to make the most of it!

 

Here's to another year with this fantastic little guy!!

Don't Mess with Texas

We had our first family vacation (via airplane) this winter break. We left on December 30th and traveled to Texas to visit Jeremy's sister and family. They had not met Parker yet and we were all very excited to go. 

Parker did very well on the plane. We gave him some benedryl to help with the pressure, which proceeded to knock him out for the first half of the flight. The second half was busy with cars, coloring, and watching out the window.

One of the biggest hits at Gina's house was playing with Geo Tracks. I don't understand why they stopped making these toys - even the big kids had fun building a track and playing with the trains. Parker also enjoyed watching the bunny hop around the office. He continues to talk about how the "bunny poop floor" and how Gina had to put the poop in the "garbage". He also continues to talk about the "horse poop" and "get it shovel" for the "garbage"... he is such a boy when all he wants to talk about is poop! We did get to play outside (once) as Gina has a huge park within walking distance from her home.

 

We visited the Ft. Worth Zoo on New Year's Eve. It was such a cold day that the zoo was not crowded at all, but most of the outside animals were not on exhibit.  We spent a good amount of time watching the monkeys as there were baby monkeys that were out playing. We watched the mommies chasing the babies and pulling them down when they got to high. Parker continues to talk about the "baby monkeys" and "mommy" told them to "get down".

 

The Ft. Worth Zoo is rated one of the best in the country. Although we enjoyed it, we didn't see how it was so much better than the Milwaukee Zoo. I really enjoyed this underground viewing of the crocs, turtles and fish. It was actually on the side of us as we were eating lunch at Burger King (inside the zoo?!?) and the animals looked fake! 

 

Another one of Parker's memories (and favorite stories to share) was swimming with the boys at the hotel. They were playing with a bouncy ball, and it went "clunk" on Parker's "head" and he thought that was hilarious! He also enjoyed fetching the ball when it got out of the pool. On New Years Eve, we spent the night in Ft. Worth and visited the Stockyards (while the kids stayed at the hotel). It was a great time, with quite the variety of bars and patrons!

 

The ride home was delayed and we were all tired and ready to get home (to the snow storm and below zero temperatures). Parker had a poopy diaper on the plane and so I learned the airplane bathrooms do have changing tables! As we were landing, Parker told me his "belly hurts" and then a few minutes later "belly hurts more". I thought he was hungry as it was past dinner time and he refused to eat anything. As we were waiting to get off the plane, I realized he had an explosive poopy diaper and needed a new shirt. He walked through the airport shirtless until we could get to his luggage and put on some jammies. One more nasty diaper when we got home, but was fine after that. 

 

I know Parker was happy to be home. He was very unsettled, especially going from Gina's house to the hotel and back to her house again. He wanted Jeremy or I to be with him at all times and even started crying when I went to the bathroom without him. He fought sleep times and had to hold on to me while falling asleep. He had a few cranky meltdowns, which we normally don't experience at home. But it was still great to be on vacation for a few days, even better to see our Texas family, and we are so excited to host them this summer!

December Antics

"Where it is?" - This is one of my favorite Parker-isms! He is really expanding his language & putting 2-3-sometimes 4 words together and is talking (and understandable) all day long. I feel like I've been able to have a conversation with him! He is also playing very independently as he plays with cars or little people for 15-20 minutes, all on his own.  I've even been able to take a shower while he was awake, playing on his own! What a relief that has been - I can see more and more independence in my future!

Parker has always been such a great shopper. He loves being out & about and is always so well behaved (but I always stick to regular nap & meal schedules, which I know really helps with that!). People are always telling me how cute he is & are giving him things like stickers & snacks. He loves to check out with me - he enjoys swiping the card (just like he loves to swipe at the arcades!) and sign for my debit card. While shopping, he'll ask to get down & check things out, but doesn't try to take everything home. At the Disney store he would look at something, walk around, then put it down when something else caught his eye. Until he found the Micky straw cup, which he immediately put in the bottom of the stroller! I knew we couldn't leave without it, but a $5 purchase from the Disney store was something I could handle! I also saw a child size snow shovel at another store. I picked it up & showed it to him, which he responded with "Taper home" (in other words Parker wants it for home!). Other times, some random things have gone immediately into the shopping cart, including a set of monster truck ornaments & a superman tshirt! But all things that I don't mind buying for him. 

Since trains are the latest interest, we had quite a few activities this month involving trains. We visited the Chicago Botanic Gardens Thanksgiving weekend. It was my first time there and we walked the grounds as it was fairly decent outside. We had such a great time and I could definitely see myself returning a few times in the nicer weather - so we upgraded and became members for the year. Parker enjoyed the train exhibit and knowing they had an outdoor train exhibit was what really motivated us to purchase the membership.

Another holiday train activity was watching the Canadian Pacific Holiday train come in to the Gurnee station. It was all lit up and they stopped, a stage opened up and played holiday music for a good half an hour. It was cold but fun to snuggle with this little guy. He was really getting into the spirit and enjoyed singing with the crowd - specifically Grandma got ran over by a reindeer. I could hear his little voice saying "deer" and "santa" and (believe)"eee".

We then took the train down to Chicago for the holiday festivities. Parker was a little unsure of the train at first, but quickly settled in and enjoyed himself. We were happy to see how easy going he was during the entire day (including just a 40 minute nap) despite the crowds and activities - I think he will do well when we travel by plane to Texas.

 

We visited with Santa in Chicago but Parker was pretty worn out from the busy day. So I took him to see Santa again at Bass Pro. He didn't say a word to him but agreed to a hug & sat on his lap. We had coached him on how to ask Santa for trucks & cars but he wasn't able to say anything. Now when I ask what does Santa bring, we get a few different answers, ranging from candy canes (because Santa gave them out when we visited), chairs (because once I said we need new chairs & maybe Santa will bring them!), to cars, trucks & trains.

 

Christmas had a whole new meaning to it, now that I am playing Santa & hoping to create a magical day for my child. We slept until 8:30am (who is this kid?!?) but he must have been exhausted from entertaining everyone at Nana's the night before. Parker was definitely excited to see presents, including a big Tonka truck under the tree. He opened maybe 2-3, and then ran off to play. He wanted every single gift to be opened and out of the box so he could play with them all. Needless to say, we were still opening presents at dinner time! But it was nice to stay home & enjoy the gifts & take all the time he needed. Parker did pretty well ripping wrapping paper on his own. As he ripped paper, he would ask "choo-choo? Trucks?" (Good thing he received both!!). He finally napped at 4pm. I tried to wake him up around 6, but he was cranky & literally kicked me out of his room so he could go back to sleep!

Finally, we checked out the train show at the fairgrounds, where Parker & I rode these antique train cars. He also came home with a few new train toys so hopefully we have satisfied his train fetish for now!