Parker Week 25 – It’s Been Six Months!!
June 30, 2009
It’s hard for me to believe that Parker is 6 months old today. I can still remember him kicking around in my belly, still remember the excitement I felt the night before he was born, that morning that Zach and I got up before the sun and drove to the hospital. I remember how nervous I felt, how the epidural gave me the shakes, and then holding my breath while the doctors gave Parker his first APGAR score. I can remember holding him for the first time, and snuggling with that little baby burrito for hours and hours. I remember a million more moments after that, but those moments don’t seem so long ago.
Parker is growing so fast. He is already asserting his personality, and he is quite capable of telling us the things that he likes and the things that he doesn’t. At six months, Parker likes the following: Bouncing or jumping, waking up in the morning (always with smiles), cloth or soft toys to chew on, being tickled, bananas, apples, pears, peaches, carrots, squash and sweet potatoes, biter biscuits, his brother, his father, his mother, Mac screensavers, his hands and feet, rolling over, and standing or sitting in the grass.
Parker does not like the following: Being ignored, being alone, green beans, peas, loud noises, falling asleep, teething and getting buckled into his car seat.
Every new milestone is bittersweet for me. I’m so excited to see what Parker will do next, and I can’t wait to meet the little boy he is turning into. On the other hand, every day he grows farther and farther away from that curled up little burrito that I fell in love with six months ago. I know that I’m not going to have any more children, so that was my last chance to enjoy all those infant moments. As happy as I am to know that there will be a day that my whole family will sleep through the night, and that someday we will be done changing diapers, a part of me will always miss those moments with the baby versions of my children.
So, happy six-month birthday little man – you make me happy every day and continually surprise me with your antics. And even though you are growing faster than I am ready for, know that you will always be my baby.
If Parker could talk (and form complete logical sentences, sit on his own, and type on a keyboard), I’m pretty sure he might say the following to his parents:
If you’ve read my blog much lately, you’ll already know that we have been working hard to get Xander potty trained this summer. He moves up to the next room at day care at the end of the summer, and the goal is to be fully potty trained before he can move. As with every other milestone in Xander’s life, once he decided he was ready, he was completely ready and had no interest in going backwards (the same with walking, moving out of his high chair, sleeping in a big-boy bed, etc.) We didn’t expect potty training to be any different, and it wasn’t. While Xander was still learning the process, we used pull-ups at nap time and bed time. It wasn’t long before Xander decided he didn’t like the bulky feeling of the pull-ups, and refused to wear them at night. I was of course a little nervous at first, but resigned myself to washing extra bedding during the learning process. It turns out, I didn’t need to – Xander stayed dry that whole night, and every night since then. He’s stopped using pull-ups at day care as well! We are finally back to having only one kid in diapers. There are a few mornings when Xander has woken up exceptionally early needing to pee, and a few nights when he tries to prolong bedtime by asking to use the bathroom again (and again and again), but I think we’re about ready to call this potty-training project a success!
See the guy in the photo? He changes diapers – at least as many as I do. He gives babies baths. He feeds that sleeping kid a bottle every night when the baby wakes up. He sleeps next to that baby and soothes him back to sleep countless times every night. He reads bedtime stories – and uses voices! He packs diaper bags. He installs car seats. He pushes strollers. He tests crib mattresses. He puts cribs and beds together. He paints nurseries and toddler rooms. He makes dinner! He feeds kids dinner. He gives his kids food off of his own fork! He plays games. He helps to put puzzles together. He colors. He plays with play dough. He finds lost “guys”. He pushes bikes. He plays “basketball”. He pushes kids on swings. He carries babies. He kisses boo-boos. He wrestles. He holds you when you’re sick. He has nearly infinite amounts of patience. He has several episodes of Little Einsteins memorized. He has a whole page of iPhone apps dedicated to entertaining his son. He has been peed on, pooped on, vomited on, spit-up on, drooled on, sneezed on and cried on. He is immeasurably proud of his sons. I cannot imagine a better father for my sons. Whether they realize it or not, they hit the jackpot! Happy Father’s Day (a little belated) Sweetheart. I love you.
Finally, after getting sooo close so many times, Parker finally rolled over (back to front) on Father’s Day! He hasn’t put on a repeat performance yet, but we know it’s just a matter of time. He’d really prefer to be walking I think, but he’s content to do baby squats at least 500 a day until he can stand on his own. I haven’t convinced him that his balance needs to improve for the whole walking thing to really work…
