Chris & Kathy's Blog

16 months has proven to be a very fun and eventful age for Parker.  She is saying all kinds of words and we’re really enjoying learning to communicate with our little girl.  She’s even saying some phrases like, “I see you.”  She is developing lots of routines and is becoming pretty particular about many things, too.  She can ask for most of her books by name, although she names them herself, so it can take us a while to figure out her titles.  For instance, her name for Sandra Boynton’s, “Red Hat, Blue Hat” book is “Ooops” since that’s the punch line for the story.  Her obsession with Elmo continues to escalate and she asks for his books and videos all day long.  Anything remotely related to Sesame Street is called, “Elmo”.  She has also become very proficient with our iPhones.  She can unlock them and find and select her Apps.  Her favorite is “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”, so she calls our phones “Itsy” and we can’t use them without giving her a turn.

With the rain, cold, and wind in full force in San Francisco, we are always looking for fun inside activities to enjoy.  Lately, I’ve been taking her swimming at the indoor pool and she loves splashing in the water and watching all of the children as they play.  We’ve also made it to Friday Story Time at the library and she likes to sing and dance along with the other kids.  She won’t sit still to eat for even a moment.  In fact, as soon as I get her strapped into her high chair, she takes a quick bite and then tells me that she’s “all done” with the accompanying wave of her hands.  So we mostly let her graze as she plays or feed her on our laps or in her stroller on the go.  Somehow, she’s still managing to grow and is cutting 4 more teeth!

I guess all those counting toys worked… Parker can also count to ten!

My, how time flies! We are now the proud parents of a happy, healthy 15 month old. She walks, she talks, she eats and plays. But she still does not sleep through the night. We had 2 glorious weeks right after she was 400 days old during which she suddenly slept a full 11 hours, but sadly, she got a stomach bug and, although she is over it now, she has not returned to her sleeping self just yet. Oh well.. some day.

She is a lot of fun, though. She surprises me with new words and activities daily! She loves to point to the moon and birds and dogs and call out their names. She knows her nose, mouth, ears, eyes, head, knees, toes, tummy, and belly button and loves to read books that name her body parts. And today she came home from daycare saying, “Upsy-daisy”.  I have no idea who taught her that– it sure wasn’t me!

Parker enjoyed her first real Halloween this year! Actually, she enjoyed three Halloweens in one. Her daycare class dressed up as the characters from the Sandra Boynton book, “Moo, Bah, La la la”. Parker was a bah.Next, she came to Gladstone for my work costume party. It was a 1979 theme celebrating our 30th anniversary. Parker was a retro track star.On Saturday, we went to the neighborhood Halloween party and parade.  This time, Parker was a busy bee.Did you know that pumpkins have belly buttons? Parker picked one out at the Pumpkin Patch and found it’s belly button!

I mean, I literally missed posting when Parker turned one year old. So, here goes.

Parker turned one year old at the end of August. She awoke to balloons and lots of birthday cards. We spent her birthday at Stinson Beach, just north of San Francisco. It was great fun! And then we had a real celebration with family in San Antonio the following week. All of her Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Grandparents were there. Parker didn’t eat birthday cake (her choice, not mine), but she had a great time visiting with everyone and opening her presents. Thanks to everyone for sharing her special day with us and for all of the wonderful gifts!

Parker has had a busy couple of months. She started daycare in September. She’s doing really well and making friends. She loves to play on their playground outside and pushes toys all over the place. I’m told that she chases the other children around behind her favorite blue car, running and screaming all the way. She really enjoys their buggy rides and takes good, long naps on her mat with her blankie.

Parker has become a really picky eater. She still loves chicken nuggets and her new favorite food is french toast. But mostly, she just throws her food on the floor. She can even poke stuff with her toddler fork, but it rarely goes in her mouth. I’m sure this will pass and I’m looking forward to it.

We have a real little walker now! You can see video of her walking and playing at the park on YouTube. She says, “up” all of the time to get me to hold her and she also sings a song about Dada from one of her favorite albums. The song goes, “D-A-D-D-Y, oh how I love you, oh how I love you.” She sings “D. A. D. A. D. A. D. A…” At first I couldn’t believe it, but she does it all of the time, now. So cute! But very hard to catch on camera. Maybe one day soon.

She still loves to read books and when she’s crabby, it soothes her. She prefers interactive books to story books, now, and wants to turn the pages faster than I can read them. But I don’t mind.

… and more fun than ever!

Her 5th tooth is coming in and she’s practicing walking while pushing things around the house. Everything is a walker, now! Her new favorite foods are fish sticks and chicken nuggets. And she just talks and talks and talks. It’s mostly babbling, but she clearly says, “Uh-oh” and “Ba-ba” (for bottle) and lots and lots of “Dada”s. I’m also certain that she answers, “yes” when I ask her a question.

On the downside, she clearly inherited my problem with carsickness. So we always travel with a spare outfit and plenty of wet wipes. Poor baby. Hopefully, when she moves into her forward-facing car seat (as soon as she’s 20 lbs.), she’ll be able to travel without all of the barfing. She doesn’t seem to mind too much, but it sure can’t be pleasant for her!

Our little girl turned ten months old this week!  She now has 4 big teeth and just enough fine, golden hair that we can no longer consider her “bald.” She has some new tricks, too. She learned to clap and play pat-a-cake and is even getting the hang of the “roll it” part. She can stand on her own (as long as she doesn’t realize that she’s doing it). And, my personal favorite… the girl can sleep! We finally started her on formula two weeks ago and she’s been sleeping up to nine hours straight at night! Consequently, I have had more sleep recently than I had in the past year. Good times.

Parker also went to the beach for the first time last weekend. She really enjoyed feeling (and tasting) the sand. She has some new favorite foods, too. She loves waffles, cheese, and sweet potato fries. I get a kick out of watching her eat and also playing, “Will Parker eat it?” She is growing into size 6-12 month clothes and we’ve had fun buying her new outfits.

Some of her favorite things to do include reading books, swimming in the pool, chasing the cats around the apartment, and dancing to her albums.  She’s about to take her 4th trip to Texas, so many of you will get to play with her again really soon!

Parker had her nine month check-up today. They gave her just one shot, but they also drew blood for routine iron and lead tests. I’m so glad that I don’t have that phlebotomist’s job! She is 27 1/4 inches long and weighs 14 lbs, 13 oz. And she’s perfect. Her new favorite thing is peek-a-boo and she plays it 100 different ways. This week is her last swim class, but we plan to keep up the pool visits on our own time since she enjoys it so much. We also took her to the California Academy of Sciences last week. She had such a good time that we decided to buy a family pass so we can go back for more. Chris and I thought it was pretty cool, too. She is starting to try more finger foods and is eating really well!

Parker is teething, again! It looks like she’s getting both top teeth at the same time. She has made a lot more advances, too. She can pull up to standing and cruise around holding onto the edge of the couch. She laughs a lot and is even learning to wave hello and good-bye. She talks and squeals and says lots of “Dadas,” but she’s waiting just a while longer to start saying “Mama.” She loves bath time and music and she sways and giggles when we listen to her Elmo CD together. Her favorite foods are beef, lentils, mangos, squash, Kamut puffs, and yogurt. She has been hiking, takes swim classes, visited the SF zoo, and will soon make her fourth plane trip to San Antonio. She’s still wearing 3-6 month clothes, but her pants are quickly turning into capris as she grows tall and thin. 

Ooops… this one never got posted.  Better late than never, I guess.

Parker had her first swim class last Saturday morning. She loved the water! She was fearless, in spite of the many crying children in the pool and didn’t even mind all of the water that ended up in her face as she splashed and splashed. I had a great time being in the pool with her as Chris documented from the sidelines. Here’s some YouTube video of her playing while we received instructions for our next “activity”.  I think that I could do without all of the goofy, sing-along parental games, but it was good to have the “experts” there for a successful introduction to the fun of swimming!

I know… I haven’t posted in a LONG time. I’ll have to keep this brief, but wanted to at least share a photo and a short update from our 7 month old Parker Pie.  She now has TWO teeth and is starting to crawl.  Her favorite things are story time, swinging at the playground, and eating at the table.  She sleeps really well, usually waking only one time for a quick feeding.  She is even starting swim classes this Saturday!  What a big girl.