Parker @ 10 months!

Our Parker is 10 months old!

As always, I can not figure out how this happened. It was literally yesterday that we dressed him up in his special outfit and brought him home. The past 10 months have been a blast! He's brought so much joy to our lives and we can't wait to see what the future holds for our sweet P. Here's a little about Parker @ 10 months.

• Parker weighs around 24-25 pounds and is 31 inches tall. He won't be measured again until his one year appointment so these are guestimates. He wears mostly 24 month clothes, but can still wear a few 18 month outfits. And while our little guy isn't exactly little for his age, his hands are truly the biggest thing about him! If he ever grows into his hands, we are gonna have one big boy on our hands. :) Big, small, or somewhere in between, he is p-e-r-f-e-c-t!
• Parker has started babbling and saying more actual words. I think he's trying to say 'good' and also 'Parker.' We'll say his name and he'll make a sound like 'ah-ker.' Obvious it could be a complete coincidence, but he's certainly a vocal fella whether speaking real words or not. We've begun to work with him a lot of baby signs. So far we've introduced the signs for more, milk, and all done. Our biggest (really only) time we have a hard time communicated with Parker is at mealtime. By problem, I mean he yells at us when he runs out of food. We are hoping he will start saying or using the 'more' sign because little man's empty food try temper is outta control! We started about this time with G & L and the signs were so helpful in understanding what the girls wanted before they could say the words.
• That brings me to the topic of food, Parker has moved on from green beans. Hallelujah! He's new obsession is carrots! He loves, loves, loves them. He is still a wonderful eater in terms of variety and amount. I'm doubtful he will give us problems in this department. He eats 3 meals a day, 1 snack, and 2 bottles.
• In the past month, he's battled a cold and ear infection. He probably had the ear infection for 5 days or so before I took him to the doctor. He's just not typical when it comes to showing pain or discomfort. I finally decided to take him to the doctor just for peace of mind and sure enough, even though he showed almost no signs of irritation or pain, he had an ear infection. This is his 2nd infection so we'll be watching to make sure this isn't a pattern and doesn't lead to him having tubes in his ears. Overall, he's pretty tough. I've seen him fall hard and hit his face on our table without shedding any tears. Then yesterday he pulled the girls easel, shopping cart, and about 30 dominos over on himself and just laughed at the bottom of the pile. He's one tough cookie!

This is a picture of Parker holding hands with Nanny. I love it...her wrinkles, skin, and age spots...his rolls and chubby hands...there's lots of love in both their hands.

• Sleeping is still good! Parker takes shorter naps, but overall is still a good sleeper. He usually sleeps 12 hours a night (which is wonderful) and take 2 naps a day.
• I only thought he was a good crawler at 9 months. At 10 months he's stepped up his game and is seriously fast! I just love watching him go all about. I don't love all he gets in to. Haha! Parkers has a great love for the dog food and water, pantry, and (of all things) the potty. I've found him twice playing in the toilet water. We try keeping all the bathroom doors shut, but with G & L using the potty during the day and sometimes forgetting, its a challenge. His most recent frolic at the porcelain throne happened when he did a sneak attack on Gabby while she was pottying. She freaked out, got up, and gave him total access to the prize. She ran around the whole house screaming Eww! Eww! Eww! for about 5 minutes. Boys are totally different from girls. Totally different, yet still toilet water and all totally wonderful!
• Parker is pulling up, cruising around the furniture, and standing alone! He actually only stands alone in the tub of all places. What would be the fun of standing on dry land?!? Where's the challenge in that?!? I know Parker will be walking before we know it, but I am cherishing the last little bit of time we have before our baby isn't a baby anymore. Plus, all my friends keep telling me that crawling for longer amounts of time is one of the best things for brain development. Apparently it is the best activity for both sides of the brains working simultaneously. I'm thinking any day we can add brilliant to the long list of adjectives that describe our sweet P. (And I'm only half way kidding. ;) )

• Parker's favorite activities are being held and loved on, spending time with his daddy (he's seriously having a love affair with him right now), attempting to gain access to G & L's room and toys, playing with his toy balls and cars, and playing with his sisters. He's honestly happy doing just about anything!
• Highlight of month 10: Obviously celebrating P's first Christmas was a blast, but even better, he started giving kisses! We get open-mouth, wet, sloppy kisses all the time from our little man. Usually they come with a little cuddlin' into our necks too! He nuzzle in and puts his arms by his side and just gets cozy for a minute or two. There isn't anything better than that!

This is what Parker looks like when he is D.O.N.E. with Mommy taking pictures. He'd tried to bail off the edge of the chair about 30 times by this point. Thank goodness we only have 2 more months of these chair pictures!

Parker, you are so amazing and wonderful! You are the perfect gift from God and we are so thankful to Him that we were chosen to be your parents and family. I love you, every little thing about you and can't wait to watch you grow up into the wonderful man I know you'll be. Keep up the smiling, flirting, and loving on everyone you see. Bringing joy to those around you is a precious gift you've been given. Let the 1st Birthday party planning begin!

Love, Mommy.