Visiting Dresden

Parker and I made a brief visit to Dresden this week while I went to a basketball game in Detroit, so here are some photos of him hanging around Nana and Papa's house.

Trying to put my boots on, which he does quite often. When he finally gets both feet into them, he just sort of stands there and wiggles around a bit, then says, "Help!" so I can pull him out. Then he tries to stand in them again.

Sporting his new sweater from Great Grandma and also pushing a toy vacuum around! He has a crazy obsession with vacuums, so this toy was a huge hit. We tell him our vacuum is called Mr. Hoover, and for some reason in Parker-speak that translates into "Odo". So if he knows the vacuum is in a certain closet, he'll wait outside the door going, "Odo! Odo!" and then he's psyched when we actually get it out. We might just have the cleanest carpets in Amherstview.

Eating breakfast in his Prison Break pajamas! He is pleased that the fork will aid in transporting food from his plate to his mouth.

Mmmm..... grapes.... Fork be damned!

Drinking milk like it's the elixir of life.

Straws are fun!

Parker does a weird thing where he grabs his throat a lot. We thought he had tonsillitis or something, so we had him checked out at the doctor a few months ago. They said he had an ear infection and prescribed some Amoxicillin, and I assumed if there was anything wrong with his throat, the antibiotics would fix that as well. It's a few months later and he's still grabbing his throat randomly. We went back and had the doctor swab his throat for a test but it came back negative. Any ideas, anyone? Maybe it's just a weird habit?

"Daaaaaddyyyyyyyyy!"

Official Weigh In

Also, Parker is now 35 inches tall and 29 pounds!  We thought he was heavier than that (he definitely FEELS heavier) but that's what the scale said so we'll go with it.

Reading Some Books And Looking Outside

It's WAY too cold to play outside! So we have to look longingly out the window instead.

This photo reminds me of that scene at the end of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind when the skinny leader alien comes out and does the music note hand signs. Except Parker isn't an alien. And doesn't do music note hand signs.

This book has little flip-out parts that he really likes.

Parker Has The Soul!

Parker has the soul! Here he is enjoying Patti LaBelle's version of the ABCs, gospel-style. He really gets into it at the end!

Random Photos

Parker has been acting a bit strange lately, but we think it's because his brain is developing. He's been a bit huggy and clingy and his sleep wasn't the best last week, but his language skills have really taken off for some reason. We were at the doctor's office the other day and were waiting in a tiny room FOREVER, and Parker grabbed my hand and said, "Walk, Daddy!" and pulled me to the door. Then he said, "Door, Daddy! Hooooome, Daddy!" It was really surprising and super cute, but unfortunately we had to stay a bit longer. One of his other new words is Playtrium! Ha! Only it sounds like "Pay-trummmmm!" On to the photos:

Sorry, but this photo just makes me laugh.

Playing with a belt before bath time. He now knows how to say pants and belt! Yay!

I'm not sure why he was so giddy but he had a full running start from the doorway towards me while yelling, "YEEEAAAAHHHH!!!!"

Sporting a new haircut but it's already growing back!

We got this Spongebob thing at Swiss Chalet the other day and it's the best thing ever. It's a cube with different photos on it, and it folds and keeps folding into a million different photos and patterns without ever stopping. Parker played with it for about 15 minutes before he finally popped one of the boxes open so now it's a bit deformed but it's still pretty cool.

Getting ready to go get the mail in his little snowpants! For some reason he always thought my sunglasses were funny, but now he's starting to put them on his own face (after months of resisting) instead of mine. And for some reason he also puts them on his neck and holds them there thinking that's how they're supposed to go. When ever he does it he stands there holding them, as if to say, "What? What is it? Is something wrong with my sunglasses? Is there a smudge on the lens?" not realizing that he's wearing them completely incorrectly.

Making sure his zipper is done up tight while wearing his sunglasses on his neck. It's cold out!

Rocking Out

Here's a video of Parker rocking out so hard to "Vaseline" by Stone Temple Pilots. He has always really liked music and busts a move when ever he hears something he likes. Even when he was smaller, he invented a dance for louder music where he sort of walks around and stomps his feet while taking big steps (which he does in this video). And to softer songs, he'll shake his bum and wave his arms and bob his head around a lot. He's a big fan of The Rentals "Last Little Life" EP and always breaks out a huge smile when I play it for him!

A Few Brockville Christmas Photos

Here are a few photos from Christmas in Brockville:

Parker eagerly awaiting his presents.

Yay!

Once we showed him how to rip the paper open he kind of got the hang of it.

A book! Yesssss!

Hooray!

Pointing at Kellen and saying, "Baby!" to let us know there was a baby in the room.

Inspecting the baby a bit closer.

Cousin Kellen!

Climbing stairs for the first time ever?

Lost Cloverfield Footage?

Here's Parker running through the leftover Christmas debris, Cloverfield style. If you listen closely you can hear him going, "Happy! Happy! Happy!" as he navigates through the wreckage that used to be our living room/dining room.

YUCK!!!!

For some reason Parker thought it was hilarious when April was saying, "Yuck!!" at dinner tonight. I think it's because when she would say it, she would lunge forward and her pony tail would flail around a bit. Besides Parker being goofy, check out his two-fisted sausage styles! April made him a special sausagey treat for lunch today and he got to eat the last two for dinner! Mmmmmmm....

Jingle Bell Rock

Here's a video of Parker at breakfast this morning when I showed him the awesome Christmas card that Nana and Papa sent to him! Thanks!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! This is our tree before we ransacked the presents. :D

Lots of Christmas photos coming soon!

Winter Is Awesome

Here are some photos of Parker playing in the snow for the first time ever! He was wearing one of Mommy's touques, which was a bit big, but he didn't seem to mind.

Thanks for the mittens, Grew family!

This photo cracks me up. I took three frames of this sequence, and in the first two Parker is just kind of staring at Mommy while she makes a snow angel. In the third, he looked back at me, smiled, and pointed! Haha! He's all like, "You so craaaazy, Mommy!"

Snow hugs for Mommy!

The view from our front door. The scariest part is that our snow banks are now three times the size they are in this photo.

Secret Closet Forts

Sometimes if you need something to do, it's pretty easy to spend time making forts in the closet. Here's Parker getting ready to close the doors on himself in my bedroom closet.

The weird glow is from the flashlight that we play with. When he wants me in the closet he'll pat on the floor next to him and say, "Da...ddy..." And when I ask, "Do you want Daddy to come in with you?" he goes, "Yeah!"

Here were are, in the closet with our flash light to make laser beams.

And here he is after I closed myself in the closet and then he found me!

And here's Parker and Mommy before bath time goofing around on the bed. Parker loves Mommy so much!

Testing Video

I won a camera in a photo contest the other day so we finally have something to record video! Here's a test video of Parker after he woke up from his nap (note the sweaty hair). He's just kind of jumping around and being goofy, but when I get a larger memory card I'll record some nicer videos of him actually doing stuff or saying stuff!

The Almighty Playtrium

April was telling us about The Playtrium the other day, because she takes her class there. Since it's snowy and cold out, Parker and I decided to check it out. Our conclusion: it's the greatest thing ever. They have a toddler area (3 years and under) full of little slides and toys and they also have a super gigantic jungle gym thing for everyone else full of rope ladders, secret passageways, ball pits, tunnels, slides, gigantic rubber balls, and crazy swinging poles. It's awesome. They also have video games and a place where you can order some food if you're sticking around for a while! Anyways, we had a blast, and we ended up going on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning. Here are some photos of Parker getting his Playtrium on:

You know the opening scene to 2001: A Space Oddyssey? That's what should go through your mind as you approach the Atrium Mall from the outside in all of its magnificence.

Once inside, the first thing you notice is the gigantic structure thing, begging you to climb around in it. It's awesome. You might also notice the bank machine.

There are some arcade games, and the food counter is off in the distance, around the corner in this photo. There are plenty of places to sit or put your snacks while you play. And all three times we have been there (so far) it's been nice and clean and well-maintained.

A climbing wall for the older crazies.

If you can figure out how to get up there you're a better man than I.

These swinging poles are awesome. Parker was hilarious trying to run through them.

Here he goes!

"Whoa!"

The toddler section has this crazy thing, which might actually be a Death Machine, but we're not sure. You grab the steering wheel and pull yourself around, spinning both seats in the process. I'll take a better photo next time of Parker swinging around like crazy. It builds up some serious momentum!

These photos are slightly out of order, but Parker went straight to the little house (the same one at the Early Years Centre) so he could close the door and check for mail! He also brought an abacus, in case he had to do any emergency math.

So overall, the Playtrium is really cool. We're hoping to go back about a million more times or so.