Myrtle Beach!

April, Parker and I just returned home from a great vacation in Myrtle Beach with Nana and Papa! We weren't sure if we wanted to drive or fly down, but we opted for driving. It's about 13 hours from Amherstview I think, but with a cute little boy in the backseat you have to make plenty of stops for snacks and leg-stretching. And we also didn't drive overnight so that he could have a good night's sleep. Parker was awesome the entire drive down! He sat in the back, giggling at stuff, looking out the window, eating his little Cheerios, and taking naps. We brought his (and I say "his" loosely) Hi-5 CD to listen to on the drive, so I think that helped too.

The weather was awesome, and it was nice to get away from home for a little bit! We've spent the last year just hanging out and watching Parker grow, so it was fun to get away and spend some time on the beach and in the pools! We think Parker grew a bit while we were there, because he seems a bit taller. And his hair seemed a bit more red, but it could have been the sun. This will be a looong post because of the bazillion photos, and they're not in chronological order (curse you, Blogger Image Uploader) but I'll try to put a few little descriptions here and there. On to the photos!

April and Parker playing in the sand on the beach!

Parker learned quickly that sand is not a snacky snack.

The hotel had a nice lazy river, where you could float along in innertubes and relax! The only bad part was that the water was salt water and tasted like dirty gym socks. This little waterfall pouring down from the bridge was our nemesis.

The view from the front of our hotel room, looking out over Myrtle Beach!

The beach!

Parker looking at the ocean, probably trying to figure out what it is.

Parker stepping into ocean water for the first time ever!


Parker and Papa on the beach!


Parker in the hotel room (which was more like a 3-bedroom apartment). He enjoyed climbing the drawers and pulling on those metal handles.

Parker sporting his new "Band Practice" t-shirt from Scott and Gemma! Thanks guys! He's also wearing some Myrtle Beach pants! Ooooo!

Parker showing off his fine physique in the new swimsuit Nana and Papa got him! He looks ready to surf with Matthew McConaughey and Lance Armstrong.

Parker sporting a baby-mohawk after his bath.

Beach!

Us swimming in one of the bazillion pools! Parker's Starfish swimming skills have totally paid off!



A random palm tree outside our hotel. Palm trees make everything better.

Parker wearing his little Gilligan hat and riding in Nana and Papa's big car!

Parker and Nana, hanging out.

Parker and Mommy on the balcony at the back of our room, looking out over the ocean!

Us getting splashed by gym-sock-smelling salt water! Yay!

Parker and Mommy being cute together!

This story has nothing to do with the photos, but April and I noticed that Parker REALLY wants to play with other boys. It was so funny! We were lounging in the lazy river, and there was a group of kids maybe 7 years old doing flips and goofing around, and every time they would come near Parker he would smile all nice at them and try to be their friend. He totally wanted to play with them. Super cute.

Parker having lunch at a Cracker Barrel on the way down! They make good pancakes.

Parker sitting in a rocking chair outside the Cracker Barrel. He was eating a piece of straw and playing a banjo, but I didn't get a photo of that.

One of the hotels we stayed at to break up the drive on the way down.

The view from our hotel window (looking out over Vienna, Virgina).

Parker giving me a much-needed break from driving.

More Visitors!

Parker had some more visitors the other day! Anne Marie and Brielle stopped by for a quick chat and to feed Parker lots of Cheerios! April and Anne Marie grew up in Brockville together, and now everyone has kids because we're all so old. Anne Marie's sister, Janique, just had a baby before Claire did a few months ago! Everyone has the baby fever. Here are some photos.

Parker And Meat!

We went to CostCo today to pick up some more diapers (Parker is up to size 4 now) and while we there I took a few photos of him in the cart. Also of note is the Christmas shirt that Aunt Claire and Uncle Shawn got him! Stylin' and profilin'.

Here's Parker in front of the meat section! Yay meat!


And here's Parker down the milk aisle! Yay lactose!


Parker looooooves mommy.


He also loves tossing Superman out of his crib for some reason. We pick him up and put him back in, only to have Parker lob him over the side again like a hand grenade.




Parker loooooves Superman.

Cheerios Cheerios Yum Yum Yum

Super Immunity

April has been SUPER sick with a really bad cold for the last few days, but the good news is that Parker hasn't had any signs of illness at all! Yay for immunity! We've been pretty lucky so far to have avoided any major illnesses or catastrophes for almost an entire year! I'm sure that will change when we actually let him hang out with other babies and stuff. For now he pretty much lives in a bubble with us 24/7, and with the long winter we've all been hiding inside for the last few months. Hopefully when April goes back to work Parker can still keep up his healthy streak!

Elmo Makes Music!

We took Parker to the brand new K-Rock Centre today to see Elmo Makes Music! We weren't sure if he would like it or not, because there was definitely potential for nightmarish monster costumes and loud scary noises, but Parker made it through the whole 90 minute show! At first he was a bit leery of everything, and he wanted lots of hugs to stay safe from all the singing and dancing (choreographed dance routines can be very intimidating). After a bit, though, he really warmed up and even started to bust a move to the Cookie Crumba-Rumba and Jenny's Sesame Street Band. The plot revolved around a music teacher named Jenny who just moved to Sesame Street, but her instruments were lost on a truck somewhere. The Sesame Street monsters (all of whom I recognized except for "Roxie Marie", who seemed strangely depressed for much of the show) were pretty entertaining and the music was catchy. I think Parker kind of liked it, even if he was a bit confused by the whole thing. Here are some photos.

Some pre-show table-climbing.

Okay, so this is a cheesy cardboard cut-out of Sesame Street characters that's actually an ad for some sort of vacation. But everyone was taking photos there and we wanted to be cool.

Here's Parker getting the lay of the land when we first got to our seats.

Me and the Bear in front of cheesy vacation sign.

Prairie Dawn rocking it out like there's no tomorrow. That's Jenny, the music teacher, making a wacky face in the background. Oscar The Grouch didn't get a lot of face time in the show.

Parker during intermission, clapping on mommy's shoulder.

Looking pensive, wondering why Jenny didn't obtain a tracking number or some sort of contact number for the truck carrying thousands of dollars of expensive musical equipment.

Visiting Kellen

April and Parker have gone on a road trip today to visit Claire and little cousin Kellen today! But before they left, I took a few photos of Parker crawling around and sporting his new jacket from great grandma and great grandpa W! Thanks! It's a little boy jacket!

I asked April to stand Parker up and hold his hands for a shot of his new jacket, and he decided to start walking! Not on his own, but if you hold his little hands he'll take off like a small turtle. It's pretty cute because he's a bit wobbly and uneasy, but he's definitely getting more confidence in his bipedal abilitles.

He also does a thing now where he'll spin his arms around in circles in front of him, which makes it particularly difficult to feed him if he's doing it in his high chair. Feeding him a snack yesterday was like trying to refuel a moving airplane with both propellers spinning in your face. Or, since I was on an Indiana Jones kick yesterday (must be the new movie), it was kind of like this.

Also, Parker has GIANT MITTS for hands. It's like he's wearing baseball gloves or something. Check out photo 2 and 3. Maybe he'll be 6'7" and have Chris Webber hands! Hooray for being able to palm a basketball and dunk!

Fling!

Today for his afternoon nap, Parker was kind of making some little noises and stuff so April went up to check on him (assuming he had pooped). Sure enough, he had pooped. When ever he takes longer than 15 minutes or so to fall asleep, there's usually feces involved. When she went into his room, though, he had done something totally new -- he flung his two blankets and two toys over the edge of the crib onto the floor. And he was laying on his back, with his legs up against the side rails pointing up! He so crazy.

German Baby

Our baby knows German! Every time he eats, he always goes, "Nein! Nein! Nein!" Hopefully he doesn't try to steal the lost Ark from Indy.

Grrrr...

You know how when you go to a restaurant and someone has a crying baby, it's all weird and awkward and kind of annoying? Before we had a baby, I was the grumpy guy that would always be muttering, "What's up with that baby? Why don't they pack up and leave if all their baby is going to do is cry? Clearly their baby isn't ready for a restaurant."

Today we went out for lunch with two other couples (one of whom is expecting a baby in October!) and we brought Parker along. He was a superstar champion awesome baby, sitting quietly in his little high chair, eating his little smorgasbord of pasta bits, peas, cheerios, and beans, and generally being very pleasant and nice to everyone around. He was smiling and doing his victory-arm-thing, and being super cute and everyone was having a great time!

Then a couple came in with a little baby, maybe 3 months old, and they sat right next to us. Their baby wasn't really crying per se, but the noises this baby was making might as well have been cries. Or yelps. Or something. Every time the other baby made a noise, Parker would do a pouty lip and then start crying too. Now, as a parent instead of a spectator, you just want to get your crying baby out of the public eye, but I don't think it's really as bad as you think (unless pre-parent me is sitting at a table next to you). We were pretty embarrassed because of the crying, but everyone was like, "Oh, he's fine! He's so cute when he's sad and crying!" I guess people love babies even when they cry, but I wish that other couple and their loud baby would have sat further away. Grr.

Quick edit: April read this post and said it sounded like I was annoyed with Parker crying, but that's not the case at all -- he's the best baby ever. We would take him away from the other crying baby and he was totally cool and happy again. But then we'd bring him back to the table and the other baby just wouldn't stop making crying noises, and Parker would get rattled again. So the fact that the other baby was so loud and kept freaking out our baby was what annoyed me. Whew.

The Prophecy Has Come True

My last post about Not The Mama has totally come true! This morning while I was feeding Parker breakfast he would look at me and smile and say, "Mama!" and I'd go, "Nooooo, Dada!" He'd look away for a second, eat some food, then look back up and go, "Mama?" Here are some photos of him in his Dino Rampage outfit, goofing around before a nap. And Superman, who used to be so big compared to Parker, is now reduced to being eaten because he's so small and chewable.

Not the Mama!

Parker pretty much officially said mama tonight when April was doing his bath! She held a washcloth over her face and said, "Where's mommy?" and Parker yanked the cloth down and said, "Ma...ma!" Hopefully he calls me daddy instead of "Not The Mama". He's the baby! Gotta love him!

Mad Skillz, Yo

I tried to get photos of Parker showing off his new skills (raising his arms over his head like he just won first place in a marathon, clapping, and making his powering up face). I don't know if the photos quite do them justice, though. Especially the powering up face -- it works better in person. So here's a tour of Parker's faces and arm-moving abilities:

Regular Parker:


Victory! He does this randomly and it always makes me laugh.


A rare combination: victory...........WITH A POWERING UP FACE!!!!!


Clappy McClaperson:

More Photos

Some more random photos of Parker playing yesterday. He just woke up from a nap and you can see the little pillow tattoos on his cheek still. His top two teeth have finally busted their way through his gums, too. And it looks like he might have two more on the way as well. It's weird how different he looks with teeth! And I think he smiles differently now, too. Like he's self-concious about the teeth or something. The shape of his mouth is a bit different, but he's still super cute.

Oh, I Forgot To Mention...

Parker figured out how to walk today! He took a stroll around the basement and then we went for a walk to the store. And he also said his first words: "Battlestar Galactica"! Season 4 starts this Friday.































April Fools. Parker didn't do any of those things. Mwahahahaha.

PARKER COMIN' TO GETCHOO (now with Ducky)!!!!!