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It's been a big year for Parker Mosley. He turned 3 years old this week, so it is time to reflect and reminisce. One of the best parts of this year has been that he stayed healthy for almost 11 months, and has pretty much outgrown his asthma. Of course, he has been sick twice in the past month, including on his birthday. When he got sick last time, the first sign was in the car on the way to dinner: Mark and I got through an entire conversation without being interrupted. I knew something was wrong right then. This time, he turned down the offer of chicken nuggets and ice cream for dinner on his birthday. Poor baby. He's better now, and his postponed party is going ahead tomorrow. After a week of resting on the couch watching way too much Diego, we're ready to see him back to full speed. Watch out!

Here are the top ten highlights and developments of Parker's third year, according to Mommy and Daddy.

#10 The beach

Parker and Mommy spent a week at the beach with Grandma and Grandpa while Daddy was at a teacher workshop this summer. We jumped waves, collected seashells, and poured many buckets of water in the sand.

And what's better than your grandparents living at the beach? Them living just "one minute away." At least for a few more months, then more like 10 minutes...

#9 Rudolph

By far, Parker's favorite Christmas song is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. He loves it so much that other songs make him sad. And when it was time to name his Elf on the Shelf, guess what he chose? Rudolph. We had a lot of fun with the Elf. Our favorite activities were Candy Cane Garden and Reindeer Cars (shocker).

#8 iPap

"I want to play the iPap!" A common refrain these days. And now that we have upgraded to iPhones, Parker wants to take really blurry close-up pictures of his thumb all the time. Sometimes he accidentally gets a cute self-portrait.

His favorite thing to do, though, is to look at all the pictures in our Camera Roll and play the videos over and over again. We know this one by heart.

#7 Will you play with me?

Anyone who has been to our house recently knows what I'm talking about. If you have played 20 rounds in a row of the Frog Game, Animal Upon Animal, or Silly Socks with our son...bless you. We're trying to get Basketball Game into the rotation.

#6 To Granmo's house we go...

About once every 2-3 weeks, Parker goes to Tarboro to visit Granmo. Somtimes he and Daddy ride with Chris-Cassie, and sometimes Granmo and Kendall pick him up and take him to the Sheetz for top-shelf apple juice. Once there, Parker likes to hit the yard sales. Check out these finds! (By the way, the comb and brush set was for Baby Sister, but not the purse.)

#5 Parker style

Two things define Parker's style: his "Sometimes I look like a child of the early 80s" hair and his "I dress just like Daddy" wardrobe.

From Daddy, Parker has inherited the khaki pants and gray hoodie gene. From Mommy, he inherited the preference for mismatched cute socks and pajamas. When he called his new shoes "de-lish," we blamed his teacher, Ms. Tierra.

#4 Potty time

It starts with "I got poopy, I got poopy!" at 6:00 in the morning. Then there are curious shouts of "Pap it, Daddy, pap it!", which involves using a funny karate-chop to tear off the toilet paper. There are negotiations over who should be on the Pull-Up (Mater or Lightning McQueen) and if he can do a puzzle while sitting on the toilet. Sometimes it sounds like a herd of cattle running around upstairs, which means Parker is trying not to poopy in the potty because he's afraid it will hurt. But he's making good progress, staying dry most of the day and learning how to pee pee standing up "like Daddy." Daddy and daycare get the credit, due to my over-sensitive gag reflex and trouble lifting, kneeling, or basically staying upright while pregnant. I'll never forget the day Parker came to check on me while I was in the bathroom. He told me to wait while he went to pick out a book, then perched himself on the stool at my feet and "read" me Go, Dog, Go!

#3 Big boy room

Parker's room is the site of much excitement. The first time he saw it (see video for the cuteness)...the week he slept in the corner and under the bed and in the doorway...the endless rounds of "Twinkle Twinkle" while gazing up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling...the time-outs when he either screamed "Daddy I'm ready to stop hitting you now!" in remorse, or, took off his clothes and peed on the carpet in anger. Good times.

#2 Talking up a storm

Like most toddlers, Parker talks non-stop. His language development over the past year has been mind-blowing. Sometimes it is subtle. When he started to wonder and make predictions, like "maybe the boys and girls will like this toy," when we were shopping for Toys for Tots, it took me a while to figure out why what he said was not only really sweet but also an evolution in his communication skills. But sometimes is hits you over the head, like when he bit off the top of a triangular tortilla chip and announced to the table that he had made a trapezoid. We've been keeping a running list all year, and I've grouped them into categories:

Incorrect but pretty accurate

• "Rainbrella"
• "I got hiccups in my booty"
• Which bagel do you want? "That one." (pointing to a chocolate-covered donut)

Mystery solved

• "Alligator" = elevator
• "Apple pie" = pineapple
• "Make it Fancy Nancy" = draw stripes and polka-dots on it
• (Unsolved: "Packy/Kacky ball" = Mark's fuzzy dice, why?)

Y and L

• "Yook at that!"
• Say yeh-low. "Yeh-Lellow."
• "Mommy, I sweep last night!"
• "I don't yike it!"
• "Daddy, play Eggos with me."

Semantics

• Coloring is "Not Art"
• Only the papaya in the fruit cocktail is "Fruit"

Opposites

• "I carry you" = Carry me
• Do you want milk? "No, I don't." (10 seconds later...) "I want milk!"
• "He/him" = He/She, Him/Her

ABCs and 123s

• "H-I-J-J-L-and-M-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-Dubba-Bub-X-Y-&-Z..."
• "10-11-12-13-11tween-Thursday-Friday-Saturday..."
• "P for me!" = P is for Parker

Sass

• Ask nicely. "Nicely." (Every.single.time.)
• "I'm driving." = I don't want to do what you've just asked me to, and that's what you always say in the car when I ask you to pick up my toy or play ball

Now we all say it

• "Where's the iPap?"
• "I got the snites."
• "Biscuit store" = Bojangles, "Cow store" = "Chick-uhl-fay"
• "Ma-tatoes" = tomatoes
• "Punkin"

Signs of higher level thinking?

• During my first trimester: "And on that farm he had a Mommy, E-I-E-I-O...With a (gagging-sound) here, and a (gagging-sound) there..." Really. I'm not making that up.
• "What I have to eat to get a coo-kie?"

#1 Baby Sister

Parker's understanding of his baby sister has evolved over time. At some point, he told his teachers at daycare that his baby sister had taken his room and that her name was going to be Paige (we think because we had told him a little girl by that name was moving up into his all-boy classroom soon...) Then one weekend in Tarboro at a yard sale, he picked out a pink brush and comb set for baby sister. When we asked him if he was ready to share his toys with her, he said "No. I am going to share HER toys." Once she was born and we told him she needed some milk, he very adamantly tried to give her the cup on my hospital tray to drink. The first time he held her, after about one minute he declared, "I'm done with her. Can I play the iPap?"

After we brought her home, I quizzed him: What is the difference between Baby Quinn and your Cabbage Patch baby? "That one's gonna cry," he said. From that point on, his interest in her consisted in wanting to "see her," translation: touch her face, kiss her on the nose, bite her toes, etc. He knows she is a girl, but consistently refers to her as a "he," which he actually does with everybody so she doesn't take offense. The best is when Quinn chases him around the room like a baby monster! (I'm going to coordinate with Daddy next time so we can get it on video...stay tuned.) Parker loves being a big brother. He's even willing to share the iPap with her...for now.

So this will be the last post on Parker's first blog. From now on we'll put new pictures/videos/stories on Facebook, Instagram, and The Mosley Family website.