Parker 27 & 28 Weeks

Sorry for another 2 week blog post but time is really flying by now - only 5 more weeks until we move!  Or 14 more work days, but who's counting.  In the last two weeks we have made major strides with readying the house to sell.  Uncle Paul was in town and he and Jeff repainted Brady's play room, Jeff repainted the front door, and contractors came to repair the carpet and paint both interior and exterior trim.  We held a yard sale to get rid of a bunch of stuff we had in storage and made over $500.  With everything clean and clear the house really looks amazing.  Century 21 did a great job with the listing, it even has a YouTube site.  In only 4 days we've had 10 showings.  If it hadn't been a rainy cold weekend maybe we would have had more.  It's weird to have strangers walking through our house, but know it'll make a great home for the next family.

Knowing that we only have a short time left in Texas we're trying to cram in seeing all the good stuff one last time.  Mom's boss had a dinner party in downtown Fort Worth with all her co-workers, what a really nice gesture to host us and our spouses  Then we met up with Michelle and Randy to celebrate Michelle's birthday - Mom left the karaoke to Michelle.  We also saw our friends Kris and Randy as they'll be out of town for the next 4 weeks for vacation and work.  After 10 years in Texas, it'll be hard to say goodbye to all our friends.

The boys are doing great - they get lots of play time with Grandma Reggie and Jeff.  Grandma does great feeding, changing, and playing with Parker.  Brady and Jeff have a lot of fun together playing with cars, trains, animals, or bouncing balls.  Parker is really starting to move now.  He doesn't like siting still long preferring to flip onto his belly and crawl after an object that interests him.  This also makes it quite challenging to change his diaper or get him dressed (but Mom is getting good at dressing a baby on his belly).  After getting over his ear infection he hit quite a growth spurt, eating 1/2 to 1 jar of baby food a day, up again 1-2x/night for milk, and fitting better in his 6 month clothes.  Brady is such a big boy, he does a great job helping his Mom and Dad, feeding his dog, and is learning to put away his toys.  He has so much energy, especially before bed when he loves to watch videos and dance (Footloose being a favorite).  Having these two wonderful little boys in our lives just makes us glow from the inside out.

Next weekend is Thanksgiving then we take a house hunting trip north.  We're getting excited to find our family's new home and get settled in, hopefully before the holidays!

Mommy and Michelle 

Mommy and Kris

Giving Parker a nightcap 

Grandma and her boys

Playing ball with Jeff

A morning person...and a non morning person

Family selfie attempt!

Parker's first selfie

Caravan to Grandmas, even Indy got a ride

"Stuck in the mud" game at Grandmas 

Brother bonding time

Our little Pats fans

Parker - 6 mo checkup

Parker had his 6 month checkup yesterday - he weighed in at 13 lb 4 oz (1%), 24.75 in long (5%), and 43 cm head circumference (25%).  He's a little peanut just like big brother was at this age!  And his ear infection also seems to have cleared (this made Mom very happy).  The Dr was a little concerned with his weight being so low, but he is proportional and was just getting over being sick.  His Mom's tall stature probably doesn't help either.  Developmentally the Dr was happy with Parker - he's reaching for and raking at objects, he pulls them in and switches them hand to hand, he will stand (temporarily) under his own weight, and he's started crawling.  Occasionally he will point with his index finger at an object, hook it, and pull it in (toward the mouth of course) which the Dr said is more a 9 month skill, so good for him!  While he does laugh out loud he's not a big talker, preferring to watch and smile rather than blow bubbles or make consonants.  At this visit he got 4 more shots - 3 vaccinations and 1 flu shot.  We go back in a month for a weight check and his second flu shot.

Parker 25 & 26 Weeks - Moving On

We're moving back north!!!  Daddy accepted a job with Lockheed in Mass which will move our family back to the northeast just in time for the best snow of ski season.  This is a very exciting (and busy) time for our family as we make preparations to sell the house, move to a new area, find new daycare and pediatricians, etc.  Mom is hoping to stay on with LM in a telecommute role until she can find something in the NH/MA area.

And speaking of moving on, Parker started crawling this week!  He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks himself until he either slides backwards or face plants.  Most of the time on his knees he has his feet crossed which prohibits him from using his knees to crawl.  But he sure is close, occasionally he pulls a knee forward and face plants, but he'll get it coordinated soon. 

Parker 26 weeks crawling (sorta)

Then there's cartwheel twirling Brady!  Who knew a 2.5 yr old could do cartwheels?  One of his favorite songs is Footloose (he calls the video the one "where the guy goes upside down") and he loves to watch Kevin Bacon do his solo dance routine.  Brady watches with such interest then tries to mimic his moves.  And sure enough, he does a cartwheel!  

Over these two weeks the boys have had lots of firsts.  Parker had his first Halloween which he enjoyed watching big brother trick or treat.  This year Brady was old enough to understand it better and enjoyed hanging out with Luke (a friend's son) and going house to house.  Brady was very excited to see all the kids, and enjoyed getting lollipops.  And Parker has moved on from rice cereal to now eating baby food.  He's getting used to the consistency and temperature, and keeping that tongue from pushing it out.  He ate a whole jar of peas, and has eaten some sweet potato.  Unfortunately he spiked a fever (102.5 deg) warranting a call from daycare and a trip to the docs where we found he had an ear infection so he is on his first antibiotic (baby amoxicillin).  We are hoping this is not the first of the same rounds of ear infections Brady went through that resulted in tubes.

The weather has been fantastic and when Mom and Dad get a breather we take the boys to the park to burn off some energy.  The boys are also getting spoiled by Grandma Reggie and Jeff having lots of play time, games, and puzzles.  Mom and Dad are enjoying the benefits of having family close too (free babysitting) and Jeff is an excellent chef.

Only 8 weeks until Daddy starts his new job in Mass, exciting!

Mike & Sully - Halloween 2014

Hanging out with my BFF at the park

Our little thumb suckers

Play time with Daddy...and yummy feet!

Mom and Dad at the retirement of one of Mom's Navy guys

Parker 24 Weeks

October is a month of birthdays.  This month we wished happy birthday to Grandpa Bob, and half birthday to Uncle Erik and Brady.  This month also saw the arrival of Nicole and Ben's second son, baby Levi, born October 23rd.  Now we both have 2 sets of little boys.  Too bad we don't live closer so they could play and grow up together, oh the mischief they would get into!

Parker had a great week - he is now crawling from one end of his crib to the other to get to his stuffed animals.  He does this by lying on his back and pushing with his feet.  He's pretty creative.  We know it's only a matter of time until he gets motivated to try it on his stomach, then he'll be off!  Still lots of drooling and chewing on objects, but no teeth yet.  His hand eye coordination continues to improve, he now rakes at objects until he gets a grip then pulls it in (usually to the mouth first).  He's a pretty consistent sleeper - he starts rubbing his eyes, yawning, and getting agitated at 730pm each night.  Then we feed him, bathe him, put on his PJs, read him 1-2 books, and he's ready for sleep.  He really enjoys his mobile so we put it on both at bedtime and for naps.  This kids is so happy, always smiling, very little does he ever get fussy.  We are so lucky to have him in our life!

Brady has a smile that can light up a room.  He loves having fun, playing games, exploring, and being outside.  And what an imagination - this weekend Parker's exersaucer was "on fire" and he used his fishing hook (from the tub) to rescue all Parkers toys, then brought in the fire truck to put out the flames, all the while telling us to be careful it's hot.  He also likes singing, always coming up with a tune in the car.  Today on the way to Grandma's house it was "Wheels on the Bus" and when he'd run out of ideas for sounds he'd ask us from the back seat.  With all the fun to be had, he's not a big fan of napping anymore.  He likes to go-go-go until he crashes.  After Mom put him down for a nap, he got up, opened the door and came to her down the hall, then she had no luck.  Without a nap he's still too young to make it all day and he fell asleep sitting on the couch watching Halloween cartoons.  Silly boy!

This week was Fall Festival at the daycare.  The teachers did a great job decorating the classrooms and dressing up for the big night.  Brady and Parker had fun too getting to sport their Monsters costumes early, getting some candy, and running around with their buds at the daycare.  Grandma Reggie and Jeff came too, think Jeff enjoyed the candy as much as the kids!

Ben, Nicole, and Baby Levi - congrats on the new addition!

Fall Festival at daycare with our little Monsters (Mike Wazowski and Sully)

Listening to the Pats (who won) and enjoying Grandma's pool

  

Parker 23 Weeks - Grandma Comes to Town

This was a big week for the boys with Grandma Reggie and Jeff moving to town for the next 3 months.  They found a house to rent fully furnished only 7 minutes away.  It's a nice house - big, spacious, plenty of bedrooms, a saltwater pool, and backs up against a little park with a pond and a playground.  It's perfect for little boys to explore.  While Mom and Dad were looking forward to the free babysitting and help around the house, unfortunately we had to use it right away to go to a funeral for a guy who used to work for Mom.  Antonio Nardella, one of our Alenia team members, passed away from liver cancer leaving behind his wife and 2 yr old son.  Brady went to his first funeral and cheered the little boy up letting him play with his bulldozer and dump truck.  Antonio was a strong person and family man, his smile and welcoming personality will truly be missed.

Halloween is almost here so we took the boys and Grandma to the Dallas Arboretum to see the pumpkin village.  This year we went on a weekend just ahead of Halloween so it was super busy.  Parker had a lot of fun checking out all the action and colors, while Brady enjoyed running around the village, throwing hay, and rolling/throwing pumpkins (he's all boy).  It's hard to get Brady to hold still, let alone smile, but we did our best and managed to snap a few family photos.  As always, the Arboretum did a great job, all the displays were beautiful and very well done.

As for the boys, with all the excitement and action neither slept great this week.  Both have been waking 1-2x/night and neither are taking naps of any real length.  Hoping next week to get them back into the routine so they get some rest and avoid colds from day care.  No teeth yet for Parker but everything still goes direct to the mouth.  His hair is getting longer but still looks like peach fuzz.  Brady continues to wow us with his personality.  In the morning when we ask him if he slept good he'll nod yes, and when we ask him how he feels he says "happy" - love the sweet innocence!  Both boys still love looking at each other, smiling, and making noises.  Brady has adopted some sort of baby talk which he speaks to Parker, guess they'll have their own language?

Hanging out at Grandma's house

Love this little pumpkin!

Playing with Takeru

 

The pumpkin village at the Dallas Arboretum

Parker 22 Weeks - TX State Fair

Riding the weather roller coaster into fall, we took advantage of an off Friday and visited the Texas state fair and hopefully our last week of 90+ deg.  The boys enjoyed all the activity and the animals at the fair.  Brady had fun feeding the camel, the four horned goats, the strange Texas longhorn, and all the other baby barnyard animals.  And what would be a fair without rides?  Brady (and Daddy) had a lot of fun on the kiddie rides.  That was about all the action Brady could take before zonking out in his stroller.  Mommy and Parker tried to dodge the sun checking out some of the prize winning animals and the automobiles.  And of course all of us had to sample the fried food including fried thanksgiving dinner, millionaire pie (super yum), PB&J, and mini corny dogs.  By the time we made it to the booth with funnel cake ale and fried TX bluebonnet we were all fried out.

What a difference a day makes, with a cold front coming through putting the highs in 50s warranting breaking out the long sleeves.  We took advantage of the cooler weather to pick up a couple pumpkins with the boys.  As usual Parker had a lot of fun watching big brother, and big brother had a lot of fun climbing the pumpkins.  Instead of carving them, this year we tried something a little more kid friendly - stickers.  Although it required some pre-assembly, we did let Brady poke the holes in the pumpkin for the pipe cleaners and let him stick on the stickers.  Good thing the dinosaur didn't need to use his legs (which ended up on the stem). 

Developmentally both boys are doing great.  Parker is chewing on everything so we know teeth will be here soon.  One night he was a little fussy because of his teeth, Mommy put her hand on his head to help him hold still and he melted like butter - who knew!  Of course this made sense given he sleeps best in his little nook.  His vision is getting better as he likes to look at lights, shadows, and window blinds (Brady liked that too).  He's starting to inch himself along or roll to an object so he's getting the hang of how to get from here to there.  We also started him on rice cereal this week, and he did outstanding sucking it right down.  Will definitely have to make it part of his daycare routine.  His personality really shines through as he's happy, mellow, and now responds to his name.  He had some eye junk this week so did make it in for a 5 month doctor appointment weighing in at 12 lb 8.5 oz (that's 13 oz less than big brother at this age!), but nothing serious just a little congestion and yay no meds.

Brady continues to amaze us with how much he can say or understand.  Instead of bottom or butt he says booty, which is cute, until you're in a grocery store and he sees a lady with a large booty - "Mommy I want to touch the booty!"  Sigh.  The why phase seems to have passed for now, but he does say "No, I do it" - little Mr Independent.  He has always really liked music, signing songs to himself or dancing to music.  He also likes music videos on YouTube including "Happy", "Shake It Off", "Life is a Highway", "We Are Family", and "Johnny Be Good" to name a few.  He always carries a blankie with him, and now he carries matchbox cars too.  Our little big guy.

Fun at the Texas State Fair

 

The boys picking out pumpkins 

Brady's Dinosaur Pumpkin

First solids! (rice cereal)

Watching big brother

Enjoying some time in the bouncer