4.25.10

We're on day 3 of no Daddy at bedtime. You went down really well so I'm a little afraid of what the night will bring.

Today I realized that one day I won't be the most important person in your life. You're going to have a best friend and later (hopefully later), a girlfriend. Those days are going to crush me. But it will be good. It will mean that I've raised a boy other boys will like and a boy someday a girl will love.

It's the days I find myself counting down time until bedtime that I kick myself after I've put you down. I can't get any of these minutes back. I think that's why I write this to you.

You're understanding more and more every day. You understand what I'm saying to you. Wow. I hope you understand how much I love you.

Sleep well.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

4.24.10

It was sort of a stormy day. We ended up spending most of the day at your Grandparent's.

You waved 'bye' to the cashier at Publix this morning. YAY! You continued to wave all day. You were so proud of yourself!
Teething is going *okay*. You were pretty crabby this morning. I think we got ahead of the pain with your second dose of tylenol. I feel so awful for you. I wish it didn't hurt so much.

Today is day 2 of Daddy working at night. I have a feeling that tomorrow's bedtime is going to be rough. We just have to get through tomorrow and Monday. Then you'll get to spend all day Tuesday with him.

Please sleep well tonight.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

4.23.10

Oh teeth! You're working on getting more. I think you're doing well. You're just a little grumpy during the day. You slept all night last night. I hope you do it again tonight.

 You're getting so big. Just watching you every day, it's amazing. You smile and laugh. You clap and 'wash your hands'-it's this motion where you rub your palms together up and down like you're wiping off your hands. You shake your head 'no'. You run. It is so adorable, it's sort of a stumbly run but it's yours.

You dislike walking in grass, you get so focused and really swing your arms back and forth hard. You have a look of total concentration on your face. One day, it will all be so easy. Walking, running, being silly. I'm loving watching it be challenging.

I love watching you learn things. You're facinated when Daddy does 'Johnny pick 'em up' on the counter. You try to mimic his hand moving. It's beautiful.

It's going to be a stormy day tomorrow. We may go up and stay with Grandmama and Grandaddy.

Please stay asleep tonight.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

4.22.10

The last couple of days have been really difficult. We were scared that we might not get to buy this house. Now, we're scared (happily so) that it's really going to happen. Lots of tears and fears.

Last night my friend, Kim, stayed with us. She and her boyfriend split up. That put even MORE stress on all of us. You woke up at 11:30 pm and cried and cried. I'm not sure if it was all the stress plus the fact that youre getting MORE teeth. I'm also not sure that any of us got more than minutes of sleep at a time.

I'm really hoping you'll get your rest tonight and we'll be able to get ours. I love you so much and I'm SO TIRED.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

4.16.10

I have been super bad about writing lately. We've been busy. You run now. It's cute. Kind of like an old drunk guy. We took you outside after dinner and you fell twice. Scraped knees but you're fine.

You are getting so silly! Always making silly sounds, gurgling, and making fart sounds. You walk around doing this 'singing' kind of noise. You don't seem interested in saying real words at all. But you're constantly chattering.

And you're into everything! Your Daddy and I were trying to get us all packed for our wedding anniversary, we stayed at Opryland and you stayed with your Grandmama and Grandaddy. We took our eyes off of you for a second- you opened a bottle of your baby soap and spilled it all over a shelf on the bookcase in your room and then you were rubbing it all around the shelf with both hands! It was the biggest mess, I think we may have ruined our comforter. Oops. There was soap all over the bottom of a basket, we didn't know. You were so proud of yourself. It was really funny.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

4.09.10

Wow teething. You're trying to cut two teeth on the bottom in the front-on either side of the two you have now and a molar. On Tylenol, you're fine. No tylenol or nap... Your prebirth nickname 'monster baby' comes to mind. I called you 'monster baby' when you were in my belly because you made me so sick. It was cute then. It's not cute now.

We went to the Southern Women's Show today. You were tired when we went. You had a total meltdown and finally passed out. You went down really easily tonight. I hope you sleep straight through.

We're going to buy the house we're living in, hopefully. Your Daddy is working as hard as he can to get this place to be ours. I'm really excited and nervous.

Tomorrow I'll make sure you get a proper nap, I promise.

**added as I type this: I wanted you to see what you looked like on your 2nd Easter, so that's the picture at the bottom.**

I love you Parker!
Mommy

4.01.10

Things are looking pretty okay for us to buy this house. I'm cautiously optimistic... I want to stay here so bad. I love it here, it's where we brought you home. I'm hoping it can also be where we bring your baby brother or sister home too.

Your Daddy and I are in negotiations about when that might happen. I'm pretty determined.

We went to the park today. We didn't get to swing, to many babies there. You fell down in the sand. Oh you were covered! You went down the slide a couple of times, you didn't seem impressed.

You're wearing 18 month clothes pretty consistently now. I had to buy you new shoes today- a size 5! Bigfoot! :)

I love you Parker!
Mommy

3.31.10

You scraped up your knees for the first time today. Grandmama and Grandaddy had you outside and you got away from them. You ran toward the flower bed in the backyard and didn't see the brick edging. You're okay, just a couple of scratches. They won't be your last.

We're going to Dragon Park with Melissa and MacKenzie tomorrow. Yay! I plan on taking lots of pictures!

I love you Parker!
Mommy

3.30.10

It's been too long since I wrote last. We've been super busy. You're running almost! You're becoming sillier and silllier! Everything seems to crack you up.

I think you're cutting a molar. I hope so much that it comes in easily. Getting your front teeth in was just awful.

On Sunday, we went to the Frist Center, a museum. You really were a great little guy! On Monday you tasted your first bite of a hot dog- bad mommy! But you didn't seem too interested. You seem to prefer yummy, healthy food. Great!

I'll try to write more tomorrow!

I love you Parker!
Mommy

3.21.10

We're going to have to move your bedtime back. It's still daylight when I put you down and you're fussing yourself to sleep. I think if we push it back to when it's dark, meaning eventually 8 pm, you'll go to sleep more easily. You also seem to have bad dreams at night, you cry out in the middle of the night. I don't want you to have bad dreams.

We went to the park with Amanda, Aidan, and MacKenzie yesterday. You LOVE the swings. Not so keen on the grass. Maybe when it's not so dead and crunchy.

You're having temper tantrums. I don't quite know how to handle them. But we've got to get a handle on them. I'm not going to have you melting down whenever you don't get your way. We'll get it figured out.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

3.17.10

Happy St. Patrick's Day! You had the cutest shirt on today. It said 'ShamRocker'. I'm going to put it on you again and mohawk your hair and take pictures. It's going to be so cute! You're really going to hate all these pictures when you're older I bet. It's hard not to constantly photograph you. You do it so well! :)
I'm working four days a week now. You'll adjust. We just need to make more money. Hopefully. I'm looking forward to spending Saturday with you.

I love you Parker!
Mommy

3.15.10

We had a pretty good day today. You went and stayed with your Great-Grandparents for a while so I go grocery shopping.

 You are not liking the time change- Daylight Savings Time kind of sucks when you're a baby. You woke up pissed at midnight last night and I'm not positive you're asleep now. Please sleep. We all need our rest.

I'm a little upset with you... You seem to hate my cooking. I don't know what else to make. Your Daddy is the chef and it's pretty much agreed we'd all rather eat his food but you have to eat dinner!

I love you Parker!
Mommy

3.13.09

You're 14 months old today! So big! What all are you doing right now? Walking. Everywhere. You're starting to run. You love to be chased around. You have this deep belly laugh when you're being chased. You love tickles. You're giving more kisses when you're asked for them.

Still not talking much, 'mama' and 'dada' a lot. You're starting to get frustrated when I can't figure out what you want. I wish you'd pick up pointing.

 You love to open and close doors and drawers. You push the kitchen chairs around a lot. You still love the jumperoo.You love to have your picture taken. And the camera loves you.

You're eating more table food. And you'll be drinking milk only here soon. Your bottles are 3/4 milk now.

You're wearing me out. Your energy is boundless. Mommy needs naps. :)

It's been a LONG day today. You were grumpy all day and I've been tired. Hopefully tomorrow will be warmer and sunny.  Hopefully we can get out of the house.

I love you Parker!
Mommy