Splishy-Splashy

No...not taking a bath.  It rained this afternoon and somebody decided to splash around in the street.

It kind of grosses me out because the water is so dirty, but we do give him a bath right afterwards and after all--he's a boy and apparently boys get dirty.

We had to do some shoveling with the shovel our neighbor gave us.  There was a lot of sludge to get rid of.

This is the tongue of concentration.

With all of the crouching this boy does, he definitely gets plenty of exercise on his legs!

.....and then this happened.  Ryan was a little upset--I had to remind him that he's a boy and he will get dirty!

Lots of dirt and water and messiness.  I wouldn't have it any other way!

Seventeen Months!

Parker--This is so crazy!  You are 17 months old.  Basically, you are one month away from graduating high school being a year and a half old.  You are my "big boy" and soooo sweet and loving.  Every age so far has been our "favorite age."  So here's what is going on with you at our new official favorite age:

• Your eating habits are the thing about you that stresses me out the hands-down most.  It is so frustrating to me to feed you almost the same things every day--waffles, pancakes or french toast, bananas, strawberries, grapes, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, broccoli yogurt and any sweet or dessert-type item.  OH and also pretty much any cracker-ish, bread or carb-type item.  I know that it sounds like a lot and it is, but it's really mostly just a lot of CARBS.  We need more vegetables and protein!  I am continuously working on getting you to try new things.  It's hard.

• We have a routine that we follow every night that includes you taking a bath, getting your "nightclothes" on, drinking your milk, reading a story, and then rocking for just a couple of minutes.  Lately, while we rock, we do a "roll call" type thing where we say everyone's names and some words.  We go through Momma, Dadda, Reese, Opa, Omi, Grammie, Granddaddy, NayNay, Honey, Granddad, Haley, Ian, Lisa, Frank, Bryan, LuLu, Wyatt, Kaley, Thank You, I Love You, and nightnight.  It is SO sweet.  Sometimes you say everyone's name pretty good, but other times you only say a couple and then just make your own noises. 

Stacking Blocks

 He has really gotten good at stacking up blocks lately!  Three....

 ...four...

...five!  He stacked almost seven at a different (non-picture-taking) time.  I LOVE watching him do this because he is so focused and seems to be learning how to stack them kind of caddy-cornered so that they will stand longer.  I was so excited that Santa brought him these blocks for Christmas and I now I am even more excited and proud of Santa's choice because he plays with them a lot.  Good move, SANTA!  :) 

MORE Pool Time

Friday, Renee and I ran a few errands together as we almost always do nowadays.  One of the stops included Wal-Mart.  My original plan was to buy a water table, but they were out of them and had the good ol' baby pool for $10, so I bought it instead!  We got home, had lunch, and then headed out to the front yard to break in our newest purchase. 

I think this was his first time seeing the hose without a nozzle.  He was completely fascinated.

Mid-clap.  He was very proud of himself in the pool!

Very happy and refreshed--the water was pretty cold.

The hose had been turned off at this point, but he still would not leave it alone!

I just love this boy's silhouette--cannot get enough of it or him.

Pool Time

Let's face it--it is just SO darn hot outside.  Every time I walk into my house with air conditioning that's nice and cold, I'm beyond thankful.  Another thing I'm thankful for is having relatives (Omi and the J's) that have beautiful pools to visit as another way to cool down and relax.  Last night, we visited Omi's for a little bit to get some splash time in. 

He was standing and balancing on Ryan's legs.  Obviously, he enjoyed it! 

Not the best picture ever taken of my child, but it's pretty funny!

He really enjoyed it and is starting to stay in the water longer.  

"Yayyyyyy!  I loooooove the pool!"

Takin' it to the Street

One of the things we really, really wanted when we were house-hunting for our current house was a court.  We definitely would have moved into a house without one but were happy when we found our house....which is on a court!  We have started playing in the court with Parker lately, and he loves it!  We are so thankful for this extra play-area for Parker and also thankful that we have sweet, calm neighbors that we don't have to worry about.

 He was throwing a rock--not at me.

 This is Parker's bow.  There is a Wiggles song we've been singing lately that says, "Bow to your partner..."  We were singing it in the street.

 He loves to clap for himself or anyone else.  The Wiggles song also has a line that says, "Everybody clap!"  

 I love this one.  This is Parker saying, "Shh, shh, shh" (also in the song--haha)

 NO clue what he was pointing at--probably the rock.  He loves to point!

 This is what a lot of our playtime looks like:  Ryan chasing after Parker and me sitting on the sideline laughing. 

Can you believe that this was taken exactly one year ago today?  Our playtime sure has changed.....

Rehoboth--Part Two

 This is Parker and Wyatt's BFFL picture.  So cute--the little buddies.  Parker is definitely a hugger.  He likes to walk up really slowly to Wyatt (and other toddlers) and put his arm around him or give him a hug or look at him like, "what's wrong, buddy?"  So so so sweet.

 Sand!  Sandsandsand.  Lots of sand.  I'm still finding it almost a week later.

 "Running" toward each other.

 An almost-hug.  

 Me and my baby on the beach Sunday evening.  

 Parker and I on the beach super-early on July 4th.  Parker decided that it would be a great day to wake up at 5:30.  We were walking by 6:15.  

Parker of Arabia--haha--walking to go fill up his bucket!

A ghost came out to help him get down to the water--oh wait, that's Ryan!

This was a blow-up turtle that Mrs. Storrs brought.  Parker really enjoyed playing with it, and so did Wyatt.  Not together, though.  

Ready to walk to "main street" and listen to some of the July 4th concert.

Just chillin' on the sidewalk.

"Hey, Wyatt, can I borrow your cell phone?  I have a very important call to make."

 One of them is very happy, and the other is pondering this whole "sharing" concept.  Is it really that great of an idea?

He was looooooooving his buddy fruit!  Thank you, Aunt Amy, for the amazingly wonderful suggestion :) 

Just walking running down the street!  Seriously, this child does not walk.  If there is an open stretch of space laid out anywhere in front of him, he will run.  

Our fam--July 4th, 2011.  

The Rehoboth trip overall was so relaxing and fun.  It was soooooooo fun to watch our boys play together (or just near each other at the same time) and to get out of the day to day routine of life at home.  It was a little disappointing at first to come home, but things are finally back to normal and I am already looking forward to the next vacation..........whenever that may be!  

Rehoboth--Part One

Sooo last week we went to one of the most magical places on earth--Rehoboth Beach in Delaware.  It's a small mostly family-oriented beach town where the main activities are as follows: relax, go to the beach, eat, shop, sleep, repeat.  The three of us traveled there with the BFF Amy and her family, including her parents, brother, aunt, and cousins.  Oh and of course her hubs and Mr. Wy.  We had an AMAZING time and took lots of picture to prove it.  I present.....days one and two.

Here we are after Amy and I finally arrived.  We rode together, Jimmy and Wy rode together, and Ryan and Parker rode together.  Amy and I left earlier than everyone else but got there last.  We made a few stops along the way for restrooms, outlets, and food! 

 Here are the boys at the end of Day One with their matching ELMO Jammies from Mrs. Storrs.  Umm....I cannot even put into words the amount of cuteness that is present in this photo.  The bottoms are shorts, not bikini bottoms, FYI. Haha!

 Day Two--breakfast.  The most important meal of the day.  I think they were talking about their plans for the day but am not sure.  

 Babies on the beach!  There was a lot of independent but parallel play going on.  

 Parker knows the importance of staying hydrated in the heat...

 ...however, he does not always know how to keep the water from spilling out all over the place.  I'd say 10 percent of the bottle made it into his stomach. 

 Here is Amy, me, and the kids during the evening of Day Two.  We are at Funland, the local "amusement center," waiting in line to ride a mini ferris wheel type ride.  We were a little unsure of how the whole situation would play out.  

 Getting strapped in.

 Things did not start out too good.  Parker was definitely unsure of what was happening.

 After he realized he could see Wyatt and Amy in the "car" next to us, he was fine and was looking for them the whole time. 

 Parker with Ry waiting to ride a spinny-airplane ride.  Again, we were very unsure of what would happen.

 Parker was kind of unsure, too.

 Overall, I think this picture sums up Parker's feelings about the ride.  Next time, we'll stick with the ones that don't move around in pretty fast circles!

 Wyatt and Parker chillin' in the Radio Flyer.  Uncle Jim (aka Daddy to Wyatt) pulled them the whole way there and the whole way back home.  They didn't try to climb out too many times.

All of our boys on the way back to the house.

Days Three and Four coming right up.......soon. :)