3 Years Old!

Parker is now 3 years old! It is quite funny because he has been talking about being 3 for a while. For example, 'When I am 3, I can cross the street all by myself.' (Obviously not true!) When we would tell him that he couldn't do something because he was too little, he would say that when he was 3, he could do it. Now that he is 3, it is pretty much the reason that he can do anything. For example, because he is 3, he can have ice cream, go on the potty, etc.

As mentioned previously, we combined Parker and Autumn's birthday celebrations. We had some family over and Parker had a couple of friends (Jack and Cayden). Parker chose a Lightning McQueen cake and started licking the frosting off of it long before we started the celebration. He clearly understood that birthday = presents and enjoyed playing with all of them.

Let me tell you a little bit about our Parker boy:

• He is so fun to play with. He is very creative and imaginitive. He loves to pretend his room is his house and he loves for us to knock on the door before we enter. Some of his other favorite things to play right now are baseball, football, cars, marbles, hide and seek, races in the backyard and tents.
• He still loves to 'be' different people/characters (He likes us to call him different names; Randall, Max, Junior, BJ, etc). Of course, whatever character he is choosing to be, determines the names that all of the rest of us will be called. It is kind of crazy how fast he can switch. If I call him Junior, he will immediately call me Larry, but if I call him Max, then I am immediately Ruby.
• He has been waiting for the football season to begin and has attended his first game this season. He loved it and often goes around singing the BYU fight song.
• We are now certain that he has a peanut allergy. He accidentally ate a peanut a while ago. Enough said.
• He loves to read books. We make frequent trips to the library. He still loves 'Alphabet Rescue,' a book about letters and fire trucks. It doesn't get any better than that for this little 3 year old.
  
• He is potty trained! What a relief! The first four hours were killer, but it was all up hill after I knew that he knew when he had to go. Little undies are so cute!
• He still loves learning. He likes anything that has to do with letters. He can write a letter H and O. He can pretty much count to 30. He loves negotiating for more time before bed. We say 5 more minutes. He says, No, 10. We say 3, He says 20. Sometimes, he actually will meet you in the middle.
• He uses words like, actually and instead. And he uses them correctly.
• He is very particular and wants things done in the way that he wants them done. This seems to make him the 'boss' in playtime situations. I try to mediate as best as I can with a 3 year old.
• He likes to play with his sister, Autumn. He just doesn't like her to play with him. It is an older sibling thing.
• He is a funny boy and makes us laugh. And you should she his latest dance moves.
• Lost Bear, Fuzzy, was found! Parker was so happy and has been telling Fuzzy all about what has been going on in his life since Fuzzy has been gone. Seriously, he talks to him more than any of his other animals. While Fuzzy was gone, Parker made some new animal friends, but now he is back to all Fuzzy, all the time. He even reunited Fuzzy with Corduroy, as you will see below.
• Parker is such a smart and fun little boy. We are excited to see what he will do next. He keeps us entertained and busy.

1 Year Old!

Our little baby Autumn is officially a year old. I really can't believe how fast time flies! We had some family over to celebrate our little Autumn's Birthday. I am not going to lie; we already combined Parker and Autumn's birthday celebration. She got to eat cake and open presents, so she didn't really know the difference.

I love this surprised face!

After she opened the dolls, she immediately climbed right on/in their box. I guess she liked them?!

Snuggles

Let me tell you a little bit about our little girl:

• She took her first steps a few days ago. She hasn't done much since. She stands really well and looks like she would really like to try to walk, but it is so much easier and faster to get down and crawl. She does walk along the furniture quite a bit. (Picture below: right after her first steps. The hat was the lure.)
• She has three teeth and the fourth one is just poking through.
• She waves and blows kisses and has an awesome fish face!
• She is definitely a Mommy's girl. I love it, but feel bad for Dad sometimes.
  
• She is a snuggle bug. She nestles into your neck with her blanket when she is tired or being shy.
  
• She is a climber. I don't think it is any more than the average baby her age, but it is a huge change from what we were used to with Parker. She climbs on things, in things, over things, you get the idea. She loves when a toy is placed just right, so she can use it as a stepping stool to get on to the couch. She uses all of her might to pull herself up, then turns around, sits down and smiles really big. She is just so proud of herself.
• She is very shy around new people. She will look away or look down when someone new is trying to talk to her or watching her. (See first birthday photo above. She was being so shy with so many people around.)
  
• She says, 'Dada' and 'Uh oh.'
• She loves water. She loved going to Seven Peaks this past summer and loves bath time.
• She is a little dancer. She will turn on toys that make music, just so she can dance. She's not bad either. (Dancing to the basketball hoop music in the closet...below)
• She is a great eater. She eats most anything and loves to feed herself.
• She has a great new cheesy smile for the camera!
• It seems like she is always crawling around with a toy in her mouth. She looks like a dog with its chew toy.
• As with any younger sibling, she likes to be doing whatever Parker is doing. Parker has begun to not appreciate his toys being attacked while he is using them. He yells and sometimes pushes her. She has started to fight back by yelling, scratching and biting. Watch out! (They do pretty well overall.)
• She really is so sweet and we look forward to getting to see more of her personality in this next year!