Our little Parker...

Parker was 21 months on June 20th and I wanted to take a moment to list a few of his latest "tricks."

-He has been walking for only one month now, but he is walking like a champ. He even runs.

-He talks all of the time now and will repeat anything you say. Of course, some with more success than others. Just recently, he started saying his own name, Pah-Kah (still working on the R's). Some of my favorite words of his are water (pronounced la-lo, although sometimes it sounds more like 'la-lur') and yellow (lellow). I also think it is funny when he calls his Dad, Paul, because he is copying me.

-Throws a ball. I don't remember when he started throwing balls, but I think it was right before he turned one year old. He has been known to throw his little football in a perfect spiral and you would be amazed at how often he can hit you right in the numbers. He can sometimes catch the ball if you get him right in the hands.

-Lately, he started doing this weird 'trick.' I took a picture instead of trying to describe it. He usually puts his hands up, so just his head and feet are on the ground. I don't know where it came from, but he thinks it is pretty cool.

-He can successfully identify and say red, yellow, blue and green, sometimes orange, purple, black and white.

-He is a really good eater. He loves most fruits, except bananas. He also loves green peppers, lettuce, peas, green beans, and especially tomatoes (as you can see in the picture).

-He has started to chime in on the ABC's. When you sing it to him, he joins in on the few letters he remembers. And he can recognize, by sight, the letters: A,B,C,F,I,O,P,V and definitely Y, since he sees it everyday on the mountain and his hat.

-He loves to give hugs and kisses.

-His favorite things to do right now are: Go to the pool (every time he sees his swimming trunks, he starts saying "pool, pool"), roll his cars and balls down our treadmill, play catch (if you sit exactly where he wants you to), run (he loves to say, "on your mark, set, GO!" and then take off) and baseball (either he likes to hit the ball with his bat, back and forth to you on the ground or hit the ball, then drop his bat and run the bases, well...to the kitchen and back, shouting Home Run as best he can!

Rolling balls down the treadmill

At the pool with Dad

Running
(On your Mark, Get Set, Go!)

Yesterday, we scored a cute little toddler bed for $10 off craigslist. We decided to have Parker try it out last night. He was so excited to see a bed that was just his size. He kept bouncing on it. Then, he would go and get a book, climb up on the bed, lie down and 'read.' We were still a little unsure of how he would react when we put him in it, turned off the light, closed the door and said goodnight, but we made the attempt. We watched him snuggle up with his blankets and hold tightly to his new teddy bear, Fuzzy as we closed the door. We were surprised, when he didn't make a peep or an attempt to escape. He slept pretty good the whole night. We did wake to him crying a couple of times and found him on the ground at the end of the bed. It was so sad! We just placed him back on his bed and he went right back to sleep. He did great, but we will see how things go in the next couple of nights. I can't believe our little 'baby' has grown up so fast!

Those are just few things I want to remember about our little Parker. They sure grow fast and you quickly forget all of the little things.

Provo Triathlon

Last weekend, Paul completed his first triathlon. He has been planning on doing some triathlons for the past couple of years and he finally took the plunge. He decided to do a sprint triathlon (700 meter swim(I think), 20k bike, 5k run) here in Provo. He officially signed up just the day before and was up and ready to go, early the next morning. Parker and I enjoyed watching and cheering him on. Paul probably couldn't hear, but Parker gave a "Go Dada" every time we saw him. (Although, that was followed by crying, because he really wanted his Dad and was upset when he realized he was just passing by.)

Paul says he is just happy to have finished. He did great and we are proud of him. Hopefully, there will be more triathlons to come! (Sorry about the horrible pictures. You can barely find Paul in most of them.)

Coming out from the swim (by the big orange buoy)

Getting on his bike (red shirt)

Starting the run

All finished! (Parker finally got his Dad)

New Mexico

We went down to Paul's home for our nephew, Jaben's, baptism. It was really special to see him make this great decision and remember our own baptisms and the blessing of the gospel in our lives and in the life of our family.

We didn't get as many pictures as we should have on our trip down to New Mexico, but here are a few that tell a little about our adventures in the Land of Enchantment. Parker quickly got reacquainted with all of his cousins and he had fun running around in so much open space.

Parker, Lauren and Kylie could often be found outside playing with bubbles.

Paul got a lot of chores done for his Dad while we were there. As you can see, one of those was mowing the lawn and Parker enjoyed that.
On the day of the baptism, the kids enjoyed playing in a blow-up water slide at Kyle and Lindsey's house.
We were also able to go to a real Pow Wow. It was really neat! But as you can see, Parker was a little scared to get too close.
For quite some time, Paul has been talking about finding some of the natural Arches in his hometown of Aztec. He was pretty excited to actually get to find one with Kevin and Lauren. Pretty Cool!
At the end of our trip, we were all pretty tired!
Of course, we also enjoyed the usual fun of game playing, shopping and just hanging out. It is so much fun just to be with family. We sure missed those who couldn't be there!

Our little athlete...

Our ward had a whiffle ball activity a couple of weeks ago. It was a lot of fun, but there weren't many people there, so I got roped into playing. It was fun, but I was really sprinting to get to those bases. I learned my lesson that night when I had to wake Paul up in the middle of the night to help me get out of bed to go to the bathroom. I really couldn't move. I have been very careful since then.

Parker brought his own bat and ball and had fun walking around. Here he is in the outfield with Dad.

I took this video of Parker yesterday, so you can get an idea of how much he is walking these days. I have to a little more chasing, but a lot less carrying, so it has been really good. He has been learning some soccer skills, now that he can walk.