Parker 44, 45, 46 Weeks - Little Explorers

One month into our new home and we finally feel settled in, unpacked, and in our new space.  While the calendar may say spring, we still have 1.5 ft of snow on the ground.  We're definitely not in Texas anymore!

Parker has had a great couple of weeks bouncing back from his bout of RSV.  In the last 3 weeks he has broken the top two teeth bringing the count to 4 teeth.  He definitely struggles more with breaking teeth than Brady did, causing him to wake and cry in the night, but can usually settle down with a bottle which is also good for his weight.  Speaking of his weight, at his post-RSV weight check he weighed 15.0 lb which showed he was once again gaining but about 2 lbs smaller than Brady at 10 months old.  And off the bottom of the growth chart.  The pediatrician wasn't alarmed as Mommy is small and Parker has always been on the bottom of the curve.  As for sleeping Parker still wakes once in the night (sometimes more depending on teething) but settles in quickly with a bottle.  Until the last couple of days, he's still been a light eater preferring to eat small amounts at a time then go play.  This is the same whether he's at daycare or at home.  But in the last week he's completely switched from baby food to table food preferring all sorts of things he sees his family eating at breakfast or dinner.  He's down to two naps a day for 1.5-2 hr at a time, but the rest of the day he likes to explore.  This is such a fun age for Parker - anything and everything is fascinating, as long as it's new and safe to put in his mouth (examples - a roll of tape, a swinging door, plastic cups he can bang together, an empty box, etc).  The world is his to explore as he learns new tastes, sounds, and textures.  And when he's not exploring, he's chasing big brother.  Parker LOVES Brady - he watches him intently with big smiles and giggles, you can just tell he wants to be like big brother when he grows up.

Our littlest explorer

Fun with food

Playing on the farm with big brother

Brady just amazes us every day with his growing level of comprehension and self-help skills.  He is at a point where you can hold a full conversation with him and see him trying to figure stuff out.  He'll ask the same questions over and over again until he can remember it and repeat it himself.  And he's so curious, always asking why.  If we know he knows the answer, we'll tell him "you know Brady" and he'll answer his own question.  As his memory grows, he'll amaze us with songs he's learned at school.  While on the road back from skiing last weekend, he started singing from the backseat.  It was so cute!  Mommy and Daddy didn't ever know the words but Mommy caught it on "hidden camera".  With Parker now babbling, and Brady singing, it's going to get a lot noisier from the backseat.  The potty training has gone really well, Brady has mastered going to the potty and amazed his teachers.  He'll go in the bathroom, pull down his own pants and underwear, get up on his stool and do his business (Mommy and Daddy help make sure he's on the potty ok to minimize any potential issues).  After Mommy and Daddy help clean him up, he'll flush, pull up his underwear and pants, move his stool, wash his hands, and go back to playing.  It's like a light switch how quick he's picked this all up!

Backseat singing (attempted hidden camera)

One of the great things about living back up north is getting to see our family.  This past weekend we made a quick ski trip to Okemo mountain in Vermont with Uncle E and Katie, Kev and Val and their dog Marley, and Uncle Chris and Trish.  We stayed for the weekend in a cute cozy cottage and Brady got his second chance to try out the slopes.  Brady did great skiing, the first run telling Mommy to "go faster".  After watching some other parents, we tried having him ski between Mommy's legs while holding a ski pole, and that worked MUCH better helping him stand and get a real feel for skiing.  Of course he's still 2 and was done only after a few runs, and moved to the snow bank with Val to build a snowman.  It was a short trip, but a lot of fun!  Brady even gave Marley a new nickname - "Barky".

Ready to hit the slopes 

The magic carpet ride

Great ski weekend with the family!

Brady's Major Accomplishment - Potty Trained

Someone had BIG news to report this weekend - Brady is potty trained!!!  After months of practicing peeing and pooping on the potty at home, and the diligence of his teachers at the Children's Courtyard (TX) and continued efforts at NGCC (MA), Brady finally has the self awareness to go on the potty.  All we needed was one uneventful weekend to put it all together (which we haven't had much of lately).  This weekend it was freezing rain and cold, what better time to give underwear a try.  He's been doing great peeing on the potty, not too interested in pooping, but after one first accident peeing in his big boy underwear he was motivated.  He won't tell you he has to pee, but when we take him he will go (otherwise he gets busy playing and oops).  He will tell you when he has to go poopy, probably doesn't hurt knowing he gets to watch the iPad while he poops.

He carried his success from the weekend over to school, spending his first day at daycare dry in his underwear - our little man is so grown up!  What a great accomplishment for him, and another big step in growing up.

And while Brady was mastering his new skill, Parker's 3rd tooth broke this weekend (upper front left).  We're sure tooth number 4 is not far behind.  Congrats to both our boys!

It's so cute, we couldn't resist

Celebratory lollipop

Parker 42, 43 Weeks - Home Sweet Home

Our little family has had a very busy last 2 weeks.  While Mommy was on her last business trip, Parker contracted the dreaded 3 letter word - RSV.  The only good thing was the doctor indicated he had a very mild case of RSV if such thing exists.  As we experienced when Brady had RSV, it's not the virus that's the problem, it's what it brings next.  Parker started turning away food, then got the cough, then the fever getting up to 103.7 deg F.  He was restless at night waking himself up coughing, eating 1-2 oz of formula at a time, and only getting sleep lying on Daddy.  Thankfully we had the Seminara grandparents in town to babysit Parker during the day, help cook, watch Brady, and give Daddy some relief.  When Mommy got home Daddy was able to get a little overnight relief and catch up on his sleep.  By the next week the fever was gone, but the cough persisted and he still wasn't eating warranting a follow up with the doctor.  The doctor reported his ears and lungs were clear (phew, Brady had not been so lucky) but he had lost 11oz in one week.  That's a lot for a 15 lb nine month old.  We get to go back for a weight check later this week.  Once he got over the worst of the illness his happy personality returned and so did his insatiable desire to crawl, walk, and explore.  He's still marginal on eating preferring milk to solids (unusual for him).  Developmentally he's started becoming more vocal saying ma-ma-ma, da-da-da, ba-ba-ba.  Brady told me he said Momma, sweet :)
 
While poor Parker was battling RSV we moved into our new house!  In just one short hour we signed a stack of papers 4" thick about Mass regulations and terms and took on a new mortgage.  Our house is just awesome!  Similar to our TX house it's on the end of a cul-de-sac meaning no through traffic and an oversized lot to play on (1.5 acres).  The house is immaculate as the prior owner lived alone and took care of every detail.  After living here 1 week we have to say our favorite things are the finished basement (what Brady calls his play space), the sunroom with a view of the woods, the amazing kitchen sink and sprayer, and the gas stove that cooks things in less than half the time.  There were only a few little projects (fix a toilet handle or shower head) otherwise there is nothing we had to do to the house for it to be move in ready.  We are so fortunate this house came on the market, mind you in the dead of winter in the northeast, it is just perfect for our little family.

Brady is doing amazing, can't believe he'll be 3 years old next month!  He is so happy, fun, loving, and full of energy.  It's amazing what he can do.  The other night Mommy made up a story about a puppy chasing a butterfly, getting lost, and his parents sniffing him out to find him.  After the story Brady was able to repeat the whole thing on his own and did it again the next night - we are so amazed at what he can remember!  He seems to like the new house telling his teachers and friends about it at school.  And he likes his bedtime stories, Dr Seuss is a favorite and he'll stop you to ask what something is or why one of the animals is happy or sad.  He's growing too as his 3T pants no longer need to be rolled up and he's constantly going to the fridge to ask for yogurt or hummus (standing favorites).  We are trying to decide what to do for his 3rd birthday since Parker's 1st birthday is only a few days behind.  Either separate or joint we know the boys will have a good time!

It's so nice to finally have our family settled into the new home.  The boxes are slowing disappearing and the boys have already taken to their new street and backyard.  We are definitely happy to be out of the cramped apartment and that horrible fuzz producing carpet.  2015 is off to a great start, we look forward to what the rest of the year will bring!

Our new home! 

 Brady approves

 Parker approves

Our furry kids like the new house too

Keep up the enthusiasm son! 

How NH does snow clearing

Fun times at daycare