Shoe Fetish

Parker loves to put on shoes - especially Mama's. He has mastered putting on his Crocs, but for the most part, he'd rather wear Mama's and Dada's shoes.

He likes sandals 'cause they're easy to put on.

But the high heels are his favorite and he thinks he looks very pretty in them.

Watch him walk the runway!

There's a First for Everything!

We've had quite a few firsts this week. Parker went to his first concert on Tuesday, which happened to also be Dada's first show with Noon on Sunday. Parker was thrilled and sang and danced the whole time. He only got annoyed when Mama wouldn't let him on the stage.

Later on Tuesday, Parker went pee-pee in the potty for the first time! We haven't started the full potty learning process yet, but since he has been asking to sit on the toilet for a few months, we finally bought him a little Elmo seat that goes on the toilet so he could sit comfortably. Parker loves it. We only pull it out when he asks. He sits on it and reads his guitar magazines. Tuesday night he sat there for over 10 minutes and had 4 tinkles! He has gone two more times on the potty over the last few days... Mama still isn't convinced he's ready to be fully potty trained though.

Parker has also decided this week to start doing somersaults. We're not sure where he picked it up, but we kinda caught one on video. What a silly boy!




The last thing to note is that Mama has picked up running again to de-stress after a long day with Parker (let's see if she can keep this up). The first two times she went out she couldn't get up the big hill in their neighborhood without walking, but the third time, on Tuesday, she was able to jog up the whole thing for the first time and was quite proud of herself. She was able to do it again on Thursday night so maybe she's getting stronger! Let's just hope she doesn't injure herself doing all this. *knock on wood*

Renal Ultrasound

Parker had his renal ultrasound done today. He was not a happy camper during the process, of course, but he was happy that he got a monkey sticker afterwards! He was tired after being held down for so long and took a good morning nap (but then no afternoon nap... what's a mama gotta do?). The doctor's office called a few hours later, which made Mama a little nervous because she wasn't expecting to hear anything for a couple of days. It turns out one of his kidneys does still have a potential problem because it is enlarged. He is being referred to an urologist where we'll get more information. For now, Mama and Dada are just trying not to worry and feel that probably this is something relatively common and if it had been 30 years ago before ultrasounds were around that it would have never been discovered and he'd go on through life just fine never knowing... after all, he does pee like a race horse so things seem to be working correctly! Will post an update when we have it.

Playing Piano

Parker still loves playing piano. He likes to jazz it up a bit and be very soulful. He is the next Norah Jones... or so he says.

Video 1: 4 months old
Video 2: 5 months old
Video 3: 17 months old

Year and a Half!

Parker is a year and a half today. He and Mama met his new doctor today at his 18 month wellness check up and they both liked her a lot. She was very patient with Parker and he hardly fussed at all when she checked his ears (whew!). He usually screams like he's being tortured. Parker is growing well. He is just above average for height and just below average for weight. He is still gaining weight, but not as quickly as he is growing. He grew three inches in two and a half months!

Mama mentioned to the doctor that Parker had been grabbing at his diaper and whining over the last couple of days and tossing and turning a bit at night and the doctor checked him out and found the tiniest little yeast infection on his testicles. He's been itchy down there, poor little guy! He just finished taking antibiotics for another ear infection, so the good bacteria that keep the yeast down are probably low right now.

The doctor was a little concerned that Parker isn't using as many words as he used to when he was between 11 and 12 months, but believes it is only because he doesn't have to use them since he knows a lot of sign language. She recommended that Mama and Dada try to teach him one word a week using the same method as they've been doing with the sign language, which is to not let him have what he wants until he says it and deal with any ensuing tantrums. If that doesn't work, she gave Mama a referral to a free community organization that helps with speech therapy.

The last thing to report is that the doctor wanted a run-down of his health history and Mama mentioned that he had fluid in his kidneys in utero but it had been resolving on its own. Because Mama wasn't sure if he had ever had an ultrasound after he was born to verify all the fluid was gone, Parker's doctor decided it would be best to have a renal ultrasound done just to verify that all was completely clear.

Otherwise, Parker is doing well... all he has to do now is sleep better! No more excuses after this yeast infection clears up!

Storytime

Parker and Mama have been attending storytime almost every Wednesday at the Laguna Niguel Library. Mama thinks Parker has a little crush on the storytime lady, Tracy, as he insisted on giving her a kiss goodbye one week. Here are a couple of pictures of them together (Austin and his nanny are in the background). Parker is usually very good about participating for the whole half hour, but that's mostly because Tracy mixes up the books with some finger play songs and music time, where she brings out fun noisy instruments for the kids to play. That's Parker's favorite part, of course!