first.christmas

Presents

Snow

parker.hohoho

His eyes - how they twinkled, his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

compare.contrast

baby.elf

We visited the North Pole at Airlie Gardens in Wrightsville Beach over Thanksgiving. Parker had a jolly good time!

mosley.shoes

baby.mine

parker.crawl

Watch out world. Mommy and Daddy are NOT ready!

in.disguise

Sweeter than candy corn, cuter than a friendly ghost, and able to steal your heart faster than you can say "trick or treat"!

self.portraits

parker.funday

A Day at the Museum
Parker is becoming a regular at the Durham Life and Science Museum for children. We went with Aunt Katie, Harrison, and Lauren last weekend and had the best time yet!

vroom.vroom

happy.baby

parker.cruisin'

sweet.dreams

lost.episode

Look at Me Sitting!

With Parker starting daycare, then us starting back to school, Parker getting sick, then us getting sick...we forgot about this little gem from when he was just starting to sit up by himself!

parker.eyepatched

Daddy wanted an eye patch for many a year. He finally got one for his birthday. He didn't think his son should have to wait so long. Look out ninjas!

three.looks

Parker has been enjoying daycare. It only took one week for him to catch his first cold, but other than the trauma of getting his nose suctioned out and not wanting to eat much, he's fared pretty well. He's grabbing at everything, rolling over on his stomach in his sleep, and starting to scoot some. Loves yogurt, hates green beans. We're constantly amazed at how he manages to get sweeter and cuter every day!

parker.sitter

We were already scolded by one grandmother for not telling her Parker was sitting. So to everyone else, Parker is sitting. He has been for a couple of weeks. Here's the proof:
In other news, Parker's first day at Day Care is Monday. Wish us all well.

parker.j-to-zzz

First Jump


15 Minutes Later...

grr.argghh

big.week

Parker turned 6 months old yesterday. In addition to getting another round of shots and a clean bill of health, he has experienced two milestones this week (to varying degrees of success)...

Rice cereal, take one

We'd been warned it wouldn't go smoothly the first time, but nothing really prepares you for this. He didn't actually ingest any cereal, as it all went on his face and shirt. We worked on our spoon technique and unearthed the bibs for the second go round.

Rice cereal, take two

Eating solids, check. Well...kinda eating, kinda solid. Now for swimming!

We recently found a waterproof camera we bought a few summers ago for a vacation on the Shenandoah River that had a bunch of exposures left. So we decided to use it up at our neighborhood pool to document Parker's first swim now that he's old enough to wear sunscreen.











We had fun kickin' it old school with the disposable camera. But we also took our little Flip video camera to record the moment a la 21st century.

First Swim

That went well! 7:30 am is actually a really great time to go to the pool, but don't tell too many people because we want to keep it all to ourselves ;)

parker.roots

In case you weren't already convinced Parker favors Daddy, here's more proof. (Grandpa...that's Mark on the left, me on the right)

beach.baby

parker.composer

Parker's Theme

Parker loves the piano. When nothing else will entertain him, it will. We usually play for him, or help him hit the keys with his feet or booty. But he's all about his hands right now, so he started banging out some notes on his own the other day and came up with this little ditty. It probably won't go to the top of the charts, but we think he's got talent!

parker.faces

mosley.hands

parker.hehehe

Daddy Being Silly Makes Parker Laugh

Mommy can't do funny voices like Daddy, so she's had to make a list of words that are funny in and of themselves, such as "sassafrass", "bippity boppity boop", and "cutie patootie".

love.nanny

Today is the last day of school, so it is Parker's last day with his nanny, Arlene. We're gonna miss her!

parker.aloha

Grandma and Grandpa just brought this shirt back from Hawaii. We've got just one more week of school, then we are ready to R-E-L-A-X!

parker.butter

'Cause He's On a Roll!

Parker has rolled over three times now, but never when Mommy's around. After much ado, here's the proof.

parker.maestro

mr.adorable

Parker turned 4 months old yesterday. He had shots Friday, so he's been kinda fussy this weekend. But he's also had a lot of fun too: holding onto toys with his hands, learning all his body parts, reading Dr. Seuss, doing the hand jive, dancing on the piano, singing Jingle Bells with Daddy, finally noticing Dobby exists, helping Mommy avoid grading papers, and his best trick of all - sleeping through the night! It's been about a month now, but I still feel obliged to say "knock on wood." Well, someone is implying that I should stop blogging and feed the screaming baby...so, that's all for now :)

mini.me

I was cute when I was a kid. Any 2-year old is probably cute with glasses. Well, Parker is cute with or without specs. I watch his eyes all the time, looking for some sign of poor vision. None yet. Nancy dressed Parker in this polo shirt and khaki pants so he could look even more like his daddy than he already does. The glasses just seemed to complete the look.

Parker, its sweet that you look like me now, but just wait for that awkward alien phase that is in your future!

parker.muppet

love.grandpa

parker.thumb

Parker loves his pacifier. He has ever since he was in the NICU. Just this week, he found a substitute, his thumb. He stills misses his mouth most of the time, but this time he it was just right!

parker.sweetsmile

This isn't Parker's first smile, but it is the first one I've caught on camera!

parker.buildamet

Parker doesn't have to like what I like, but Tito (the bear) and Mookie (the rabbit) make a compelling case for rooting for the Mets.

boys.sleepyheads

parker.censored

parker.performer

Parker plays the piano

The first time my Mom saw Parker in the hospital she said, in reference to his long fingers, "Maybe YOU'LL play my piano!" In case you missed it, this was her sassing me in front of my newborn son. See Mom, Parker doesn't want to practice either...

parker.beautiful

Photo by Ashley Bell. Other photos taken at this shoot are temporarily available to view online - click here.