Parker's Blog: Gabriel Edition

So while Kristyne and Jeff were busy having a baby, here's what we did with Gabriel!

We got to our house at around 7:30 I think, and we decided to play in the basement a bit before breakfast.  Here's Gabriel dominating a dinosaur puzzle.

Here he is crawling through the tunnel (sorry it's a bit grainy).

Looking suspicious of the Toopy & Binoo puzzle.

Taking Mater for a ride (which he loved).

Playing with the flashlight (which he also loved).

Playing some scales on the piano.

Time for breakfast!  We had a yummy plate of raspberries, watermelon, grapes, and scrambled eggies.

Making some faces.  Blaaaaah!

Post-breakfast construction with a gigantic dozer.

While Parker went upstairs to get dressed for Kindermusik, we went back down to play with the train table.

Gabriel was pleased that we have two Thomases.

Taking a break to sketch something.

Some hugs in the kitchen before music.

Playing with the gears on our fridge while April tries to get some drinks ready for the road trip.

Reluctant models.

Striking a pose with his bag of animal crackers.

Alison broke out the flute!

Ducky had to have a turn playing the flute.

We took a break from Kindermusik to rock out on the drum set downstairs.  Here's Gabriel playing Tom Sawyer, by Rush.  He should be ready to start a family band in no time!

Hanging out in the street.  We're rebels like that.

Gabriel and Parker goofing around in the back seat after we got home from downtown.  Parker showed Gabriel how awesome it is to take your shoes off while driving.  Sorry Kristyne!

More hugs.

While April was making lunch, we went out in the backyard for some quick swings.  Weeeeee!

Mmmmm....  grilled cheese sammiches......

After lunch Gabriel took a nap, and then when he woke up he wanted to go back outside to play with Parker's car for a bit.  So here he is having a quick drink and bite to eat on the stairs.

Getting his drive on.

We went to a park after that but I didn't bring the camera because I just wanted to play on the slides too.  But after the park we went home for a dinner of macaroni and cheese, carrots, and chicken.  Mmmmmm....

Gabriel checking out Parker's Backyardigans book.  Parker and I showed Gabriel how to wear foam things on your arms, which instantly transforms you into a robot.

Showing off his robot arms.

Parker and Gabriel in the bath!  It was a sweaty day at the park so it was nice to get clean.

After the bath, Jeff called and I took Gabriel back home for the night to stay with his Nanny, so I think he was happy to see her.  Hopefully we didn't traumatize him too much!  :D

Playing And Stuff

Kristyne and Jeff had a baby the other day!  So while they were at the hospital, we had a fun play day with Gabriel.  Here are some photos of Parker goofing around!

We made a tunnel out of Crazy Forts!  Blankets make excellent tunnel walls/ceilings.  And it's fun to break out the flash lights, too.

Parker waiting for Gabriel to make it through the tunnel.

Parker's turn.

Having breakfast and laughing at something funny.

Mmmm......  scrambled eggs.....

Reluctantly posing for a photo before hopping in the car to go to Kindermusik.

Playing on the swings!  It was really windy and Parker kept asking if the tree was going to fall down.  He was very concerned.  

I have a million-and-one other photos of Gabriel but don't want to splash them all over Parker's blog unless Kristyne and Jeff say it's okay!  But they're pretty fun photos.  :D

Droppin' Knowledge Bombs

We were watching Super Why the other day (an awesome show), and Super Why was asking us, the loyal audience, which word he should substitute in his sentence:  tiny, tall, or quiet.  He was looking for tall, but without prompting Parker said, "Tall!  T-A-L-L spells tall!"  I don't know if it was just luck or if he's a super genius toddler, but I'm leading towards super genius toddler.  I've never spelled the word tall for him before, ever, so I was pretty surprised and gave him copious high-fives.

The Airport

We didn't have anything to do the other day, so I decided to take Parker to the airport to see if there were any cool planes taking off or landing.  He was pretty psyched.

Except here.  He doesn't look very psyched here.

The airport!  Hooray!

Parker thought it was exciting running around the building and seeing parked planes.

Some kind of crazy military jet.  Anyone know what this is?

Chasing after some pilots.

There's a plane!

There's a tractor!

Scaling the fence!

Unfortunately there were only about two airplanes that landed while we were there.  The employees inside said to come back around 2 pm or so because it would be a lot busier, but that's Parker's nap time and sleep is probably more important than airplanes.  It's kind of a fun time-waster, though.  We also went to the train station a few days ago and just watched a bunch of trains come and go, and that was pretty awesome (and we randomly saw one of our neighbours there, which was nice).

Arts And Crafts -- Bird Feeder?

We have a big tree in our back yard that seems to attract a lot of birds, so we thought we'd go to the store and pick up a little bird feeder so they could have something to eat during their pit stop.  April thought Parker might like to paint it, so we did!  Parker chose the colours and did the initial painting, and then we filled in the details (like painting right to the edges).  Here are some photos:

Hard at work!

Parker is actually talking to either my mom or April's mom on speaker phone.  He's a bit animated when he talks sometimes.

Oooooo, yellow.....

Ahhhhhhhhh!  I'm three!

I'm mellow.

Pointing out the bird feeder just in case the birds weren't sure where it was.

They found it!  Here's a bird eating some food today!

Flying away after getting a full tummy of awesome bird seed.

Be Nice To Animals

From Yo Gabba Gabba!

Parker Recommends..........

Elevators!  He's pretty obsessed with them, and he loves to push the buttons.  Here he is in the elevator at Nana and Papa's hotel the day before his birthday.  Also note that he's sporting a fancy new Nana sweater!  Oooooo....