Pleasant Parker

Parker, our 2-year old son is all personality (as I'm sure most toddlers are). He has a priceless sense of humor, a crazy side (which manifests itself at 5 pm every day) and a gentle, cuddly side. He has been with us through more moves than most adults have had in a lifetime and he seems to adjust very well.

Yesterday I was at the computer working on something while he was watching Sesame Street. Burt and Ernie started singing a sweet, slow song about friendship and Parker came over to me and laid his head on my knee. Then he wrapped his arms around my legs to give me a hug. He looked at me with those big eyes and smiled up at me. It seemed that the song on TV made him a little sentimental (sounds like his mom). That was a moment I will never forget.

Parker's favorite word is "zapata". No, it does not mean shoe in Spanish, to Parker it means airplane. Everywhere we go there's a zapata and he won't stop saying the word until we say "airplane" and acknowledge his observation. We love it! It's lucky that he likes airplanes though because we decorated his room with an airplane theme before he was born. Now that we're unpacking his stuff and redecorating, he is loving all the opportunities to say his favorite word.

He is loving nursery during church. The nursery leaders told us a few weeks ago that he ate all his teddy grahams and asked for more until the batch was all gone. She said she couldn't believe how much he ate! Well, that would be because we don't feed Parker sugar (except for natural sugar in fruit, etc.), so teddy grahams must've been a serious sugar binge for him :). Once Parker is old enough to ask for sugar and really care about it, we'll let him have some, but we just decided that we wanted to keep him in the dark about how good it tastes for a little longer :). Itt was pretty funny to picture Parker totally focused on the food while the other kids were playing though.

Parker is all about small compartments. It gives a whole new meaning to men compartmentalizing. He is like a little pack rat and stores his treasures throughout the house. I recently found a kitchen timer under one of the vent covers and we uncover new items on a daily basis. It's especially difficult when we need to find his shoes or his sippy cup. It ends up being a whole-house hunt. We are constantly amused at what we find throughout the house while doing our daily tasks.

Last week David and I were both busy doing something and Parker went in his room to get a blanket and come downstairs. He has never fallen down the stairs and has been a very confident stairmaster. Well, he ended up tripping on his blanket while going down, fell the rest of the way and hit his forehead on the wood floor. We ran to him and comforted him as he bawled. My heart was broken and I felt guilty for days for not watching him better. The bruise on his head is nearly gone, but it still makes me sick to think about.

David and Parker are adorable to watch. Yesterday David had an extremely tough day at work and a busy evening with his calling (Scoutmaster) when he got home. He was pretty stressed out and we had just finished eating dinner. Parker was thirsty for attention (his 5 pm hyperactivity) and needed his dad. David was on his computer finishing working on stuff and then he decided to take a break and play with Parker even though it was the last thing he had time to do. He acted as a human jungle gymn for a few minutes and then sat with him. It meant so much to me (and to Parker) that he would willingly take time for what was most important. I love that man.

As Parker is getting older, he is getting to be more fun, we just wish he had a sibling to play with. We're hoping it happens soon, but we know that the Lord has his own timetable. In the meantime, we are loving our little guy and are very grateful for him.