Birthday Party

The birthday party.  So exciting!  And my children made sure this nice display was ruined immediately after their naps. Because that's what kids do!

Parker had a great party, and did pretty good job opening his gifts.  Maia "helped" quite a bit (as expected) and Parker LOVED his toys. More Things That Go!!

Is there any better present than balloons?

See? Even daddy likes them.  Good thing, too. Due to the shortage of helium, they were tough to get!

After the party, the kids learned that if you empty a bottle of bubbles into your water table, it makes a big foamy mess. And that's good times, people!

Happy Birthday Dude!

I made it almost four years...

...Before having to deal with this. On one hand, I love how they play together and entertain each other.
On the other hand, they are really good at helping each other dig in a little deeper to that big hole o' trouble!

If coloring on the art easel was fun, certainly the wall will be better!

And cleaning, while dancing.

It won't be long before I have a worthy submission to sh*tmykidsruined.com

Parker is TWO!

Two. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone, and what an amazing little guy Parker is.

He can count to 14 from time to time - to 10 often.
He throws out surprisingly complex sentences like handing me a piece of paper and saying

"I no want dis -eey more!" (I don't want this anymore). He's got a surprisingly good grasp of emotional words and tenses. "I gwumpy wite now! I don wike dat!"  and moments later "I all better! I happy!"  He's doing really well with pronouns, he refers to himself as "I" and others as "you" or "him" or "her." He can verbalize when things belong to others: "Dat Maia's twactor?"

He correctly recognizes all sorts of trucks, and calls them out in the car (wook mama! A semi twuuuuuck!!)
He correctly recognizes a stop sign and McDonalds (yay for pre-reading skills!)

He knows the names of the colors, but not how they apply to things.  Most things are green (or, rather gween).

He likes to sleep with his Lightning McQueen matchbox type car, and at least two pacis (Still. Sigh.)  And he can tell you if he has 1, 2 or 3 pacis. He will switch one out of his mouth for another and announce he wants "a new one."  He rolls "MaKween" up and down his pillow.

He's also really funny. He loves to make noise and sounds and laugh. He makes us laugh all the time. He thinks it is VERY funny when he toots, and if he does, he will try again (squinched up face and all!) and laugh!

He is great at sitting down and playing with cars for a while. He really likes to lay down on the floor and watch them roll. He also really loves to play with Maia, and his friends Ezra and Nicholas at school.

And lest we forget: His stats!
Parker is 35" tall (66%), 29.9 lbs (68%), and continues to have a big ol' noggin full of brains.