Happy Birthday Parker Bear!

Happy 1st Birthday Parker Bear!  We had a grand time celebrating your birthday on the steam train this past weekend.  It was fun to see your reaction when the whistle would blow and your eyes light up while playing with your brother and cousins!  What fun we all had and now it's hard to believe you're well on your way to being two, yikes! 

Here are a few notables I don't want to forget:

:: on Sunday you took your "official" first steps, the most at one time was about 8!!
:: you are becoming more stable at cruising furniture and letting go of one object to reach out to another
:: when you go for things out of your reach you most often will do a decent belly flop and then rollover onto your back
:: Grant frequently calls you Parker P but I love it when he calls you brother bear
:: you LOVE bath time, your Daddy is usually decently wet by the end because you splash like crazy nearly the entire time you're in the tub
:: you are great at clapping and just today when Grant woke up from his nap and came and found you in his tent you started clapping because you were happy to see him appear!
::  we are working on you waving goodbye and hello but you're still pretty inconsistent
::  when you're finished eating you'll sign all done with some prompting!
::  you stand for endless amounts of time but know to bend your knees and eventually will let go in order to sit down
::  you are just plain noisy, noisy, noisy.  Happy sounds but still noisy!
::  you prefer finger foods but still have a love for your oatmeal cereal mixed with about anything
::  goldfish, cheese, fruits (minus bananas) and vegetables top your list
::  you are still nursing and milk in your sippy cup hasn't gone over too well but we keep trying!  Your gag reflex has lessened a bit!
::  you love, love, love to chase your big brother and love to play hide-and-seek with him
::  peek-a-boo is a favorite
::  dogs make you squeal with delight
::  we try to read books but you prefer chewing and messing with them rather than sitting and listening
::  you love to play in the sand box and still eat the sand, I can't wait for that to end
::  you blow and vibrate your lips together, it is music to my ears and soaks the front of your shirts
::  just this weekend you have fully mastered the sippy cup
::  you enjoy swinging but don't seem quite as excited by it as Grant always has
::  you want to walk or run all the time, our backs are sore by the end of our days together from leaning over and walking all over the house with you
::  just this past week your feet/legs have been stuck in the side rails of your crib at least once a night so, tonight, your crib bumper has been tied in, hopefully that will do the trick and no more waking up!
::  lastly, your incision above your eyebrow from surgery is healing nicely and is already looking great, just one month later!

We love you Parker, you are pure joy and a true gift to us from God!

Ready to get on the train in his adorable, hand-made train overalls from Grandma R

The steam engine getting ready to get hooked up to the train cars

Grant had packed his whistle from home to take on the train with us!  Each time the whistle would blow Grant would blow his whistle, so many times that we thought he may hyperventilate!

Grandpa & Grandma R with their five grandchildren!

Birthday dinner on Sunday showing off the bib I made for your special day!

You had lots of help blowing out your candle before you could burn your little fingers trying to grab it!

Here's what's left of your first cupcake, not bad buddy!

Despite the funny look on your face, you look like such a big boy to me in the picture!

The chaos of opening presents, again, a lot of little helpers surrounded you!

What did you end up playing the most with?  Yep, the ribbon off of one of your packages :)