Be My Echo

In honour of Parker's latest obsession, here's a video featuring Ernie and Elmo:

Considering he doesn't ever really watch Elmo on TV, he's completely obsessed with him.  He has what April and I call "Elmo spazzes" where he wants Elmo so badly that he just keeps going, "Elmo!  Elmo!  Elmo!  Elmo!"  He doesn't even necessarily need to touch or hold Elmo, he just wants him in the general vacinity.  It's kind of funny, but sort of weird at the same time.  The other day when I put Parker down for a nap, he saw his Elmo book (he has a Hokey Pokey book with Elmo and the Sesame Street folks) and he wouldn't sleep until I gave him the book.  He curled up and gave it a hug and drifted off into dream land.  Probably dreaming of Ernie and Elmo!

Graduation Day!

On Friday Parker officially graduated from his Early Years Centre toddler playgroup! Hooray! Here are some photos of him partaking in some playgrouping.

Hanging out, trying to be cool.

Some self-portraits while we sat around for circle time. People give you funny looks when you take photos of yourselves.

Parker looks ecstatic!

Watching Lisa, the instructor, hand out diplomas!

This was probably Parker's favourite toy at the Early Years Centre. It was a little house with a door, mailbox, and garden. He has a mild obsession with the mail, so he loved putting it in the mailbox and closing the door, then getting it and putting it back in. He also really liked it when he would go in the house and shut the front door behind him, and then I'd knock on the door and ask if Parker was home.

Testing out the workmanship of the front door. Yup, good sturdy plastic.

Sometimes instead of mail, I'd put a dinosaur in the mailbox. Then when he'd go to get it, I'd burst open the door by pushing the dinosaur from behind and go, "ROAAARR!!!" He thought it was the awesomest thing ever.

MY HOUSE! YOU STAY OUTSIDE NOW!

They also had one of those balls that you drop shapes into and he really likes it. My mom still has ours from when we were little and Parker plays with it when we visit Dresden!

Diploma for Parker! Hooray!

(it's actually just a blank piece of paper for show, which is a really good idea because he promptly crushed it and tried to eat it)

YEEEAAAHH!!!!

Here's Parker Hulking out after he successfully stacked the blocks in his new toy from Heather!  This photo cracks me up!

New Winter Coat!

Check out Parker stylin' and profilin' in his new winter coat! There's a pretty cute pair of snow pants that go with it but I didn't put them on for the photo. He seems to really like it, though!

In this photo he's trying to peer around the camera to see me.

And in this photo he's just kind of giggling. And his Nana Hat from last winter still fits! Yay!

Bologna In Yo' Face!!!!!

If there's one thing gigantic mittens are good for it's stuffing bologna in your mouth.

Crazy Crib Antics

It's been a while since I took any photos of Parker spazzing out in his crib, so I thought I'd add to the collection. I think the last time I took a few crib photos was back in March if you'd like to compare. These photos were right after he woke up from his afternoon nap.
"Hi daddy!"

Check out those gargantuan paws. A lady commented on his massive hands at the Early Years Centre today. He can crush walnuts in them.

This photo makes it look like he's in prison.

And this photo cracks me up. I have no idea what he was doing. He was just kind of rolling around and sometimes laying flat on his back, sometimes flipping to his tummy, just generally hamming it up. Next to him is his pal, Teddy. And near his feet is his other pal, Elephant.

And just for size comparisons, here are two older photos from previous blog posts showing Parker next to Superman, and then the third shot was the other day. Superman is shrinking pretty quickly!

Parker Also Really Likes

While on the subject of music, Parker has also been really into this song lately:

"Viva La Vida" by Coldplay.  I usually have music on if we're playing on the main floor or eating breakfast/lunch/snacks and he always seems to really groove to this song.  Today he did his patented Parker-smiles-and-turns-around-in-a-circle-a-few-times dance while sort of bopping from side to side a bit.  He's got the rhythm.  He also really seems to like "Pork & Beans" by Weezer (embedding is disabled so I just have to link to it if you want to check out the awesomeness that is the "Pork & Beans" video).  He has great taste!  Best toddler ever!

Parker Recommends.......

The CD "Snacktime" by the Barenaked Ladies!  The songs are really catchy and fun, and the lyrics are pretty funny for both kids and adults.  Parker really seems to like it (especially Pollywog In A Bog and the Popcorn song) and it's a nice break from his other CDs that are geared more towards little kids.  Here's a video for the first track on the disc, "7, 8, 9":

Almost Winter! Boo-urns.

Since there won't be many days left where we can play in the park without winter gear, here are some photos of us enjoying one of the last few fall days at Parker's favourite park (Fairfield).  It's kind of funny going back and looking at older photos of him on the swings because he was so little!  Now he's huge, and he leans his head back and laughs and kicks and sometimes even lets go of the chains to go hands-free!  He has n0 f33r.

Slides are awesome!

Here's Parker hanging upside-down on Mommy's lap while she tickles his tummy.

To get into the park he had to walk under a log fence post, which he thought was pretty funny.

Bring on the winter!  Well.......maybe not.

Hooray For Visitors!

Heather, one of our friends from University, was in town the other day and stopped by for a visit because she hasn't met Parker yet! And she brought gifts! He loves those stacking things (he plays with them at the Early Years Centre sometimes)! And he also has a cool new shirt to wear! Thanks Heather! There will be a photo of Parker in his new guitar hero shirt soon!

New Favourite Snacky Snack

Parker's newest favourite snack time foods are apples! He likes to go to the fridge and pull one out of the drawer (if he gets a chance). We have one of those apple slicer things that cuts them into little pieces, so Parker and I will often share an apple during the afternoon while we hang out and stack blocks, read books, or watch Yo Gabba Gabba. Here are some photos of Parker eating some apple slices, not unlike the way a small squirrel eats nuts:

There was some construction going on outside and Parker seemed really into the machines.

The best is when he brings the skins to me in a little pile in his hand. He goes, "Da-ddy!" and hands them off to me with a smile. Super cute.

Potty Time

Now that Parker is getting older we figured we'd try and get him used to that whole toilet thing. We weren't sure if we were going to get a stand-alone potty or one of those seat adapter things, and we went with the toilet seat adapter. It just seemed to make more sense to us to have him get used to a real toilet instead of a mini-one. Plus then we don't have to clean his poop. Yeah, I said it.

I've heard stories of kids being scared of the toilet or sitting on it or whatever, but Parker didn't mind at all. He didn't actually GO, but he didn't seem to mind sitting down and hanging out. He likes to point at the toilet and say, "Pee pee!", then flush it and say, "Bye pee pee!" so he kind-of-sort-of knows what's going on, which I guess is a good start! Is it wrong to post photos of your son on the toilet on the internet? Probably, but I'm going to do it anyways. Apologies in advance to any of Parker's future girlfriends.

Super Ninja Skills

Speaking of nunchuck skills, Parker showed off his advanced ninja training yesterday before his nap. I was downstairs and heard a gigantic thump so I flew up the stairs (actually I don't even think I touched the floor -- I was like a stone skipping across water) and found Parker sitting on the floor, outside of his crib, looking stunned. His blankets and stuffed animals were on the floor next to him in a big pile. I think he threw his stuff out of the crib and then did a flip over the railing trying to get to them. That's my theory anyways. He was totally fine, but definitely surprised. He does this thing where he scrambles to a sitting position if you wake him up, as if to show you that he's awake and not sleeping, and that's what I pictured him doing after he hit the floor. I picked him up and checked him out for any bumps or painful spots, but he was fine. Luckily babies are made out of rubber. I gave him some Tylenol (just in case he was sore), changed his diaper, put him back in his crib, and he went to sleep within a minute. Now that he's fallen out of his crib once I doubt he'll try it again! I'm just kind of surprised it didn't happen sooner! He's pretty fearless about climbing on things.

Seep Seep Seep!

One of Parker's words is sweep (which sounds a lot like seep).  He has a mild obsession with our broom and he always wants into the closet so he can get to it.  Here are some photos of him trying to sweep our floors!  As he sweeps he likes to narrate as he goes from room to room:  "Seep seep seep!  Seep seep!"  The best is how he does this freaky ninja bo-staff manoeuvre, putting the broom handle behind his back and spinning around.  Soon the young grasshopper will graduate to nunchucks.

Seep seep seep!  Seep seep seep!