Safe and Sound

Tonight I was rocking Parker and was reminded of what a huge responsibility raising a child is. I was singing to him, and he would lay his head on my chest. Then, he'd pop up his head, smile at me, and talk. He did this repeatedly. I love it when he buries his head in my chest..I love that he feels completely safe and secure in my arms. I love that he let me just hold him tonight. It reminded me of when I was little and my mom used to rock me in this beautiful brown recliner we used to have :). I remember smelling of her and feeling completely safe...like nothing in the world mattered because I was safe with her. I still smell her...and she still smells the same as she did way back then. It's hard for me to believe that I have that mother smell, too...and Parker feels completely safe in my arms...like nothing else matters. After he was first born, I remember Meredith saying, "You're the most important person in the world to him." Back then it made perfect sense..I was nursing him, so of course I was his food supply! As he becomes more independent, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that Phillip and I really are the most important people in the world to him. Thank you, Lord, for trusting us with that responsibility.

11 months old!

Dear Parker,

You are 11 months old! I can't believe I'm already starting to plan a 1st birthday party! We're having so much fun with you! Some of your favorite things to do are: climb up on things (not necessarily things you're supposed to climb on), shut your eyes when we try to give you something you don't want (it's like you think if you can't see it, it doesn't exist), grab our noses when we ask where they are, dance, play chase (you crawl really fast and we chase you-you'll turn around to make sure we're following you). There are so many more little things that you do that make us laugh. We love you so much! I just want to keep you this age for a little while longer; I'm not ready to have a 1 year old yet! The other day I was kissing you and you were crawling up me saying, "Ma! Ma!" I told you that you could crawl up me yelling that until you were a grown teenager, and it would still melt my heart!

Love you sweet baby boy,

Mommy

This is what we do when Daddy sleeps in!

So much fun!

Parker is doing so many fun things now! I guess I could have saved these for his 11 month post coming up next week, but I wanted to go ahead and get them written down before I forget.

• When I say "Bye-bye" to him, he looks at the door leading out to the garage. Kind of interesting that he can make that connection between "Bye" and the door.
• I introduced him to light switches as suggested by my friend, Amy. It was amazing how quickly he figured them out. He'd push on the switch and then turn really quickly to look at the light fixture. Now seriously, how smart is that? He knew to look at the light fixture to see what would happen!
• I can also say, "Where's Mama's nose?" and he can grab my nose. Sometimes he pinches it, sometimes he hits it, but hey, at least he's learning where it is. When I say, "Where's Parker's nose?" he gets really still while I touch it, and he kind of opens his mouth.
• He fell asleep on my the other day (see picture below). It was the first time he's done this in a while. I savored every moment of it. For a while, his head was facing me, and I just sat there and kissed those sweet lips..loved it!!!
• My favorite thing is when I'm sitting in the floor with him, and he begins to crawl up me. I love this! He'll say, "Ma! Ma!". I love that he's learning to come to me when he needs me!
• He's also starting to stand with one hand with alot more confidence. He'll place one hand on the item and kind of stand there, like, "Hey, no big deal. I do this all the time." Of course, then he falls.
• One other thing I wanted to write down is his song we sing while strapping him in his car seat. Phillip made it up, and it goes, "Gotta put on our straps, put on our straps, put on our straps..and go to _______ (insert wherever you're going)." Then you repeat it, but on the 2nd verse, you pause between the words "Gotta put on our straps, put on our straps, put on our straps (pause) and (pause) go (pause) to (pause) ______.

Where is that tiny baby who used to fit on my chest????

Seriously, the toilet paper never gets old. And he unrolled the last roll here..

1st injury

Parker experienced his first real injury yesterday. He managed to flip over his bed. So if you work for DHS, please don't come get us. It wasn't on the highest level, but it also wasn't on the lowest. The bed was positioned about midway down, and it was still at about chest level, so didn't think he could get over it. Well, he managed to pull himself up on it and flip over. Phillip was home when it happened, and he nearly had a heart attack. He's fine, just a small place on his tongue where he bit it pretty hard. He cried and bled, but overall he recovered quickly. I know this is just the first of many injuries! And to be clear, the bed has now been moved way down!

Now it's like he's really in jail since the mattress is so low!

Mom, I'm fine!

Our Happy Easter

Happy Easter! We had a wonderful day celebrating the resurrection of our risen Savior! We really had a great first Easter with Parker, and we tried to focus more this year on what the holiday actually means. We were sure to explain to him why we celebrate Easter, and even though we know he doesn't understand it yet, we want to make sure he doesn't get consumed with Easter eggs and bunnies-we want him to be consumed with Christ!

This was after a long morning at church and a long wait for lunch! He'd had enough!

He's so proud of his Easter basket-stuffed with dyed eggs and two balls to play with! His Gigi made his Easter suit-it coordinated with his 4 cousins back home. We sure did miss seeing our family this year, but we tried to focus on making our own traditions here! His Marmee provided his accessories!

This is what happens.....

...when you do this!

His Easter basket has his name on it so he can use it for many years!

Dying Easter eggs...

First trip to the zoo!

Aunt Anna and Uncle Brenden came down to visit this last week. We had so much fun! They took Parker to the zoo for the very first time.

The day started off kind of iffy......

But I quickly settled down and enjoyed the animals!

Who's having more fun, me or Aunt Anna?

Uncle Brenden taught me all about alligators! He used to have 2 as pets!

Couldn't resist this sweet picture!

Maybe I'll grow up to be a real-life cowboy! My two granddads would be so proud!

And to top the day off, Marmee and Poppa came to visit!

Thanks for making the day so fun, Aunt Anna and Uncle Brenden!

10 months old!

Dear Parker,

At 10 months you are still the happiest baby! You are pulling up on EVERYTHING! You're also starting to hold on with only one hand, and you've tried to let go completely a couple of times. You still love to play in Tulip's bowls, and you've gotten to be a really fast crawler, so we have to watch you at all times! You are saying "mama" and "dada" and "bye-bye". You'll crawl up to me and pull up on my legs and say, "mama". I know the pediatrician told us your speech was "accidental" at this age, but I don't buy that!

You weigh 20 lbs (26%), and you're 29 inches (56%). He said your BMI is perfect. He also said you were absolutely perfect and healthy! Thank you, Lord!

You're really in to the whole open-mouth kissing. I think you're really starting to like it because you'll do it without any prompting from us. You also are getting really good at walking when we hold your hands. You also still shake your head to "no, no, no, no" and you can give high fives.

I feel like you've changed so much lately, but I cannot think of how to express it in words. Everything is a new adventure with you. It's so much fun to just watch you play and interact with other people. You have no stranger fear. You'll seriously go to anyone. I don't know if I should be worried about that or happy that you're not too clingy. However, there are times when I walk away (usually when we're at home) and you still cry.

You really are an easy baby....easy to take places, easy to be around. The Lord knew we needed that!

We love you, P-Man!

-Mommy and Daddy