Parker is 5 years old! He had his five year check up recently. He weighed in at 35 pounds (11%tile) and was 42.5 inches tall (42%tile). Paul actually took him since I was out of town at girl's weekend. I have to admit that I was glad that I was not there to talk him into his shots:
In August, Parker had to get his first cavity filled. The dentist gave him some medicine that was supposed to make him a little forgetful, so he would be awake, but not really know what was going on. Being that I had to beg Parker to even let them clean his teeth, I thought we needed something extra for a filling. It was really funny and sad. He did great with the dentist and then I went to take him home and I remembered that the medicine also threw off his balance. He looked like he was drunk and I had to literally hold him up by one shoulder so he didn't fall down and hurt himself. Keep in mind, I am also carrying Lincoln and managing Autumn. The very short term memory loss didn't help either. He kept asking me the same questions and getting mad at me for holding on to him so tight. I would explain it all only to have him ask all over again. Or I would pull him up off the ground and he would ask again where we were going and why I was holding his arm so tight. I thought that I would only be holding him steady, but I was pretty much holding him up. It was crazy! And then of course, I had a great plan. Parker needed a shot before he could start preschool and he knew about it and had been begging to tears to not have to get it. So we went straight to the doctor's office from the dentist to get his shot while he was in this forgetful state. I finally realized it was easier to let Lincoln walk and carry Parker. It was still a mess though. People in that waiting room must have thought I was crazy. I put Parker in a chair to watch the movie that was playing, while I went to check in at the counter. He tried to get off the chair and fell down. So I thought I would just sit him on the ground, but he tried to get up and walk and fell flat on his face. All the while I am telling him he has to sit still so he doesn't get hurt, but he was literally like Dori from "Finding Nemo" and would forget anything you told him as soon as you finished telling him. Thanks to some nice people who kept Lincoln from falling off a stool in front of the big fish tank and Autumn who stayed by my side, I survived and made it into the exam room. Parker found out he was getting a shot, was horrified for half a second and then forgot. He got the shot, yelled in pain for a second and again forgot about it. He didn't remember it at all! Later that day, when he went to the bathroom (and the medicine had worn off), he was horrified to find the band-aid on his leg. When I told him about his shot, he proceeded to hobble around like he had broken his leg for the rest of the day. It was definitely worth the craziness to get the shot when he was not aware of what was going on! The only mistake I made was not going ahead and getting all of his 5 year old shots while I was there. Hence, he had to go back a month later and get more shots; fully aware! (By the way, Autumn also got a shot at her check up and didn't flinch.) Generally, him being so nervous about things has made it easier as a parent in a lot of ways. I never have to worry about him falling out of the tree in our backyard, because he would never want to climb it! But when there is something that he is scared of that he HAS to do, it breaks your heart.
Parker is a social boy and loves to make new friends. This year he is in preschool at Headstart. He loves it! He happened to be put in the same class with his good friend, Jack, who we used to be in the same ward with and who he went to preschool with last year at Baby Bulldogs. They are the same age (September birthdays) and get along really so well. They didn't see each other all summer and were inseperable again from the very first day. Having a friend in class doesn't stop him from making new ones. We had parent teacher conferences recently and his teachers said he is "pretty popular." They said all the kids want to sit by him and I saw it for myself when I dropped him off a little late one day and breakfast had already started. As soon as we walked him I heard voices, "Parker sit by me!" Since then I have had parents stop and tell me how their daughter (it is usually girls) talks about Parker. Today, the teacher overheard and again said, "Parker is a pretty popular kid. All of the girls like him and all the boys do too." It baffles me, because as a kid, I was definitely more along the lines of Autumn's shyness. It is fun to see his personality develop as he begins to have regular social interaction. Some of the things we are working on with Parker at school and at home are using an inside voice and showing empathy. His teachers say he just gets so excited that he starts talking loud and that gets all of the kids talking loud, so we are really working on that. Whereas Autumn is super sensitive, Parker seems to be the opposite. He is not mean, he just doesn't think about other people's feelings as much. We are working on helping him be aware of not only when he makes others sad, but also helping people who are sad for any other reason. A couple of times we have role played this and others I dramatically pointed out when someone gets hurt. It is so funny to watch him come over and see if they are okay. It seems so forced, but he is doing it on his own more often and it is rewarding to see.
Parker is still a very creative and imaginitive boy. He loves to play pretend and therefore is really easy to play with. We just make up a game where all we need is ourselves and he is totally into it. One day, we were playing Queen, princess and knight. Autumn and I were in the bedroom, which was the castle. Parker was the knight defending the castle. He did have a cardboard shield and sword, but other than that was just standing by himself outside the door of the room. I heard him fighting the bad guys for at least ten minutes straight. I was trying to involve more, by saying the queen and the princess were coming out of the castle and needed to be protected. He told us we couldn't come out because he was still fighting the bad guys. He was completely content to pretend all on his own for a while.
Because of his great imagination, it is all too easy to want to buy him toys. He can play with little action figures for hours; pretending they are doing all kinds of crazy things. Some of his favorite things to play with right now are his stretchy snake and frog, his super hero squinkies, Cars 2 cars, all of his stuffed animals (and he has a lot...it is hard not to get them for him because he will actually play with them) and his toy handcuffs (like his Dad's). He is also really into writing, painting at school, drawing at home, and coloring (doing so good at staying in the lines). Of course, he also loves to play games on the computer; he chooses from lds.org, pbskids.com, nickjr.com, disneyjunior.com and starfall.com.
Parker is a smart boy. He loves learning new things. He is always curious and wants explanations for how things work and about things he has never seen before. If you use a word he doesn't know, he asks what it means and remembers it the next time you use it. He is pretty good at sounding out and writing words. He can write the alphabet and is getting pretty good at all of the numbers too. Right now he loves to learn about dinosaurs and has made his own "Dino Dan" field guide. It is fun to have him tell us about dinosaurs and whether they are herbivores, carnivores or omnivores. Our home teacher even brought him a book about dinosaurs. It is kind of encyclopedia-like, but he picks it to read out of for bed time sometimes. He has taught all of us some of the new songs he has learned at school. He loves to sing, but I am afraid he may need some lessons. :)
Parker recently got an inhaler for his asthma. His coughing and wheezing were getting pretty bad. He is supposed to take it twice a day, but we try to keep it for when he really needs it. Partly, because the refill is expensive, I don't want to give medicine unless he NEEDS it, and it could potentially stunt his growth up to an inch and a half!
Parker memorized his part for the Primary Program, "Jesus taught in Jerusalem and then came to the Americas to preach the gospel." He said it perfectly in the microphone and was so proud of himself.
Parker got to decorate a poster about himself for school on his birthday. He also got to bring one thing for show and tell. He brought Fuzzy, of course. Here is his poster:
Recently, Parker was spotlighted in Primary:
· Favorite colors are red and blue
· Favorite Food is Corn on the Cob
· His Favorite church song is “If I Had Been a Little Child.”
· Has a little sister and a little brother
· He is allergic to peanuts
· Has a favorite stuffed bear named, Fuzzy.
· He loves to play with Hot wheels and his Super Hero Squinkies.
· Loves to watch “Dino Dan,” Scooby Doo, and Wild Kratts.
· Loves to learn new things and remembers everything you tell him.
· Loves to play pretend. After we watch a movie or show or read a fun new book, he always wants to act it out. Or at least be someone from the movie, show or book. When he was 2 years old and watched Monsters Inc, Dad became Sully, Mom was Mike Wazowski, his little sister was Boo and he was Randall. For a while, he would only call his Mom Mike and people would look at us funny in the grocery store. Once we were at the beach and He got too close to the water. His Mom called him to come away from the water. She knew he could hear her and she asked lots of times and he didn’t move. He finally turned around and said, “I am not Parker, I am Randall!” When she called him Randall, he came right away.
· We love Parker! He is a fun, smart and special boy.
He likes to take the camera and snap some photos:
