Donuts...and happy birthday daddy.

Why is daddy laughing? Well, the birthday donut tradition is a big hit in our house. Parker loves the birthday donut cake and had to take a bite of each and every donut. He would then offer daddy a bite, but when he was close to taking his bite Parker would shake his head no and pull the donut away. He was so torn. He wanted to share his donut, but just couldn't bring himself to share. Frankly, I don't blame him. (And yes, he has total bed head!)

Happy birthday daddy. We love you. You are the best!

I help...

Everything I read about 15 month olds is that they like to do what you are doing. Well, Parker likes to fold clothes, help me vaccum and swiffer. This morning, he walked all over the house with the swiffer chasing Pismo, running into walls, and screeching in pure joy. It was fun to watch him figure out how to keep the swiffer on the floor while pushing forward (walking backward was much easer).

Keep this up kid and you can clean the house for mommy and daddy!

Christmas Day

Christmas morning we spend with my parents and Aunt Ally. Chris had to work, but came home for an hour to watch Parker open gifts. He is so much fun and everyone showered him with trucks, trains, Elmo dolls, books, and other fun treasures. Christmas IS so magical with a little one!

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve with the Cavners' with a pan of lasagna and lots of gifts for Parker. Parker did take a moment from opening gifts to give his GranDiva two charms for her bracelet. And the boxes the charms came in were two of his favorite toys.

Whip it

We like a little sugar in our house and it was only a matter of time before Parker caught on to the yummy goodness of cookies, ice cream, cake, and whip cream (not one of my favorites unless on pumpkin pie).

This morning, Chris introduced Parker to whip cream from the can. This is just one of the million differences between mommy and daddy. I would have never sprayed whip cream directly in P's mouth. Daddy thought it would be fun and it was. Parker loved it!

All Aboard!

Thanks to Papa Bob, we boarded the Polar Express on December 8th. Parker wore his jams just like the movie and we embarked on a cookie eating, hot chocolate drinking trip to the North Pole. Santa greeted all of the children by giving them the first Christmas bell. Parker had so much fun on the adventure...enjoying the unlimited number of oatmeal raisin cookies was by far his favorite part.

Ready for bed.

Sound asleep

So I ran home between meetings on Thursday and found Chris and Parker fast asleep in bed. He was having a bit of a rough day. Loves from his daddy made it all better.

Cookie Jar

Parker loves the Mother's frosted animal cookies. They are his absolute favorite. After dinner a few nights a week we will give him two cookies. We give him two because he has two hands and likes a cookie in each hand.

Well, tonight I gave him two cookies. He ate them quickly, I cleaned him up and let him go to play. I walked out of the room to put laundry away and realized that it was unusually quite, which typically means Parker is up to no good. I came back in the kitchen to find Parker on the floor with his face stuffed with cookies. Yup, I forgot to put the cookie tub back in the cupboard and Parke is tall enough to pull things off of the counter.

His facial expressions were priceless. They ranged from big "I'm so happy and proud of myself" smiles to "You better not take this away from me, I found it fair and square" scowls. It was such a fun mommy moment.

I let him eat a few (he did outsmart me) before putting them away.

The Happiest Weekend on Earth

We love being a family and were so lucky to go to Disneyland this week. We packed the car and headed out on a much needed family vacation. Chris and I were far more excited about the trip than our sweet little 13 month old, he was just excited to have both mommy and daddy around for four whole days. Even though he doesn't know the Disney stories or characters yet, he abosolutely loved the very large stuffed animals (i.e. Mickey, Pluto, Goofey, Minnie). He would wave to them and say "hi didi" (doggy) to Pluto, walk right up to him, grab his nose and then lean in and give the doggy a big kiss and snuggle. It was the sweetest moment!

And then there was It's a Small World, Dumbo, Pirates of the Carribean and many other rides we went on as a family. We put Parker on our lap and giggled as Parker pointed and said "Oh WOW" to all of the colors, sounds and pure Disney magic.

Now to the bad part of the trip. Our little guy got the croup the second night there. We had to take him to the Emergency Department because he was having trouble breathing. We were in and out in 2 hours and back in the park the next day. Parker really did not let us down. He was a trooper and gave Chris and I the gift of memories, laughter and pure joy.

Messy face

Parker loves spending time with Grandma Suzie, especially when she gives him a popsicle at the end of lunch. You have to love that face...even covered in chocolate.

More of Disneyland

Such a fun trip!

Fred Mertz

If you look back at past blog posts you will find references to Fred Mertz. Mr. Parker's pants tend to be up to his chest which reminds me of the cranky, old landlord/friend from I Love Lucy.

Well, this morning after his shower I put Parker in a onesie and socks and went back to getting myself ready for the day. I turned and looked at him as he walked down the hall and realized that Fred Mertz was still alive. This picture is proof that baby boys and old men do have things in common. Now all he needs is brown sandles and plaid shorts to complete the outfit.

Love the bugs!

We've Moved!

After nine years living an urban lifestyle on P Street, the Cavner family has moved to a house with a yard. We are living on our favorite Land Park street -- Weller Way. For the past nine years, we have spent many summer days and holidays on Weller Way with our friends Mike and Konrad. We have gotten to know the neighbors and found ourselves talking about how fun it would be to live on the street. Well, a house came up for sale that fit all of our needs (one story, two car garage, remodeled, did I say one story?) and we bought it!

We loved our urban lifestyle and might end up there again one day, but for now we will live in Mayberry with kids riding their bikes to school, families out for walks, and neighbors doing yardwork. What great memories we will make!

Trick or Treat

Parker's second Halloween. We celebrated on Weller Way again this year...but, this year we actually lived on the street! Parker was Charlie Brown which consisted of a t-shirt and a Snoopy. The other kids on the street had such cute, amazing costumes. Olivia was a ladybug and Parker was fascinated with her head band, Caleb was a CHP officer and others were princesses and characters from the movie UP. The best was Uncle Matty dressed as Linus (but as you can see, Parker was not really thrilled with his costume).

The lesson from this Halloween - Mommy has to step up her game in the costume category. Next year...a toddler Elvis will be hitting the streets getting the candy.

Pumpkin Patch (Round Two)

Parker loooves his buddy Caleb. Every time Caleb enters the room Parker busts into laughter. Today, we went with Mike, Konrad and Caleb to the pumpkin patch in West Sacramento. The weather finally felt like fall and the pumpkins were ready for picking. The boys climed hay bails, went through the corn maze, watched the pig races and ran around. It was a fun day with great friends (and soon to be neighbors)!

Pumpkin Patch

Parker goes to the pumpkin patch. Last year he was 4 weeks old when he visited a pumpkin patch. Amazing how much happens in the first year! This year, Parker tried to climb on the pumpkins, he enjoyed walking through the pumpkin patch and loved the tractor!

No mama, I want to go that way!

Hole in one!

Parker and I have discovered a fun past time on the weekends while daddy is working...having lunch at the Club with Mama and Papa. Oh, and Parker loves the putting green with grandpa. He puts the ball in the hole, takes the ball out of the hole and then he may throw it (thanks Papa for showing him how to throw).

Manos arriba...

When Chris was in the academy he learned a few key phrases he would need while on patrol. Put your hands up, or manos arriba, was just one of these phrases. Little did we know when we had a kid that he would constantly walk with his manos arriba. Our little Parker walks with his hands up, all the time. We know it is for balance, but it is pretty darn cute and funny!

And I have to talk about the way he walks. My father and I have a very heavy step. Chris and my mother tease us about the way we walk. Unfortunately, Parker is showing signs that he too is going to have a heavy step.

Sleeping

I love that Chris takes pictures of Parker sleeping. He works 12 to 14 hour days and often doesn't get time with Parker on the days he works. Every morning, he takes a picture of his baby on his phone. It is a very sweet tradition and it is fun to see the crazy positions Parker gets into while asleep.

Relaxing

Every morning Parker hangs with me while I shower and get ready for work. This morning, I found him relaxing to a little Old MacDonald (or as Parker calls it EI EI without the O) in the bean bag chair. When I came out to see what he was up to he kindly engageged me in a friendly game of Peek-A-Boo. The best part, he never smiled or removed the paci from his mouth. He was relaxing and I was just getting in his way. Darn mommy for pulling him away from a good old show of nursery rhymes!

Look what happens when you run to find the phone.

Daddy and Parker's Day of Fun!

Parker is so incredibly lucky because he gets to spen most of the week with his daddy. Chris loves his time with his baby boy. Today, they hit the Home Depot. Parker dug riding around in the race car cart.

After Home Depot they split a Jamba Juice. As you can see from the pictures, he really liked his first Jamba and was a bit upset when it was all gone.

We have entered a new phase; a phase of frustration. Parker knows what he wants and gets very upset when he cannot get it!