by Rachel | Family Life
I spend my days chasing after a crawling, standing, wannabe-walking baby boy who is becoming less and less of a baby every week. The bigger he gets, the more I try to savor his infancy while it lasts.
Things like wearing him in the Ergo when we go out, holding him in my arms just a little longer while he naps before putting him in the crib, even enjoying (rather than complaining about) our 3 am nursing sessions — because all of that will be over too soon. Sniff, tear, hiccup.
Some of Parker’s favorite big boy things to do these days: pulling ALL the books off his bookshelf, crawling at the speed of light, sitting in the front part of the cart at Target, and trying out new finger foods (he still refuses to be spoon-fed).
He is such a happy, curious, and expressive baby. His personality has really emerged this past month, and it has been so much fun to discover what makes him laugh and smile the most. Everyone who meets Parker and spends time with him comments on what a good boy he is, and they are right. There’s a reason I call him my angel doll :)
by Rachel | Family Life
Zach and I have never been big on Valentine’s Day, so I wasn’t expecting any sappy gifts this year. But he totally surprised me with something WAY better than chocolate or flowers: adorable Valentine’s photos of Parker. I found them waiting for me on his dresser, which completely made my day.
SHOCKINGLY, we got another snowstorm that day, which meant we were housebound (the theme of Winter ’14). Later on in the afternoon, I saw a few students whose parents were willing to brave the terrible weather, and then we celebrated Valentine’s Day with my mother-in-law, who had brought some gifts over.
We went over to my parents’ house for a Valentine’s dinner, and then were back home and in bed by 9 pm. Just another wild night for us crazy kids ;) It’s hard to believe that there are just a couple holidays left before Parker turns 1, which means we are almost out of “firsts”.
by Rachel | Family Life
Parker turned 8 months old this week, making this his “golden month” birthday. Guess how we celebrated!? By going out on our first dinner date since August! Parker got to spend a couple hours with Grandma Libby, so he was a happy camper too :)
That was definitely the highlight of our week, because otherwise it hasn’t been very exciting. I’ve been fighting a bad cold for almost two weeks now, so between that and the terrible weather, February got off to a rough start.
Taking sick day selfies is a good way to pass the time when we’re stuck inside! Words can’t even begin to describe how ready I am for spring: for health, warmer weather, sunshine, the chance to go outside. I’ve had it with this winter.
Luckily Parker is in good spirits despite his stuffy nose and cabin fever. He doesn’t seem to mind the daily rotation between his crib, my arms, high chair, various baby apparatuses, and the floor for playtime. As long as I’m giving him my undivided attention 90% of the time, that is.
Parker’s latest discovery is the video monitor next to his crib. It has lights on it so that we can see him in the dark, and he enjoys getting nice and close when he wakes up. I looked at the monitor on my phone the other night and just about had a heart attack…I wasn’t expecting to see this:
This baby cracks me up! He is so inquisitive about everything and is already quite the little explorer. He is pulling up on everything and has no fear, which of course completely freaks me out. I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg.
by Rachel | Family Life
Parker is officially crawling. The first time it happened was Wednesday afternoon; my mom and I were watching him play on the rug when suddenly he took off. I tried to capture it on video then, but was too slow and then I had to go to work. I took this video the next morning, and he’s been on the move ever since.
So far crawling hasn’t been a huge adjustment for me, since I’m used to Parker moving all over the place by scooting or rolling. But he’s getting faster, and doesn’t seem to want to stay on his playmat where all of his toys are anymore.
The days of getting some work done while he plays independently for a half hour at a time are coming to an end, which is a little bit of a bummer. The good news is that since Parker is sleeping much better, I can stay up late to work and not be quite as tired in the morning. I’ll take what I can get!
by Rachel | Family Life
We kicked off the week with a quick day trip to St. Louis, where we celebrated cousin Ellie’s 1st birthday. Parker took his second ever dip in the pool — the theme of the party was “Polar Plunge” though the temperature inside was nice and warm — and then he had fun playing with the rest of his cousins.
Monday and Tuesday brought more arctic weather, so that meant more hibernating in the house for us. We finally got out on Wednesday to visit with the other moms and babies at the St. John’s group. Parker got quite friendly with Paisley, one of the other babies who has been coming almost as long as we have. They were so cute, smiling and talking to each other. I love watching him interact with other babies!
Zach has been bringing Parker to my Church Mice music class, so he’s been getting some social interaction there, too. He really gets into the music and even plays some of the instruments like the bigger kids. At this time next year, he’ll be running around and dancing with them :)
This week I introduced oatmeal, which I wasn’t planning on doing in the beginning. But since Parker wasn’t liking any of the other solids I tried, I figured the oatmeal was worth a shot. Lo and behold, he has done pretty well with it! He still turns away from every spoonful I offer, but eventually will take a bite. He ended up eating a few tablespoons, which is more than he’s eaten of any other food. Progress!
As I type this blog post, we are in the middle of yet another winter storm…so I guess we’ll be doing more hibernating over the next few days. At least Parker has some friends here to keep him company.
