Besides the fact that he is wearing 18 month clothing, Parker has stayed my little baby much longer than Isaac ever did. By 8 months, Isaac was
crawling (up the stairs), pulling himself up and then taking steps, saying mama and dada along with other sounds, eating
finger foods, and had eight teeth! Parker, on the other hand, only army crawls (but he is amazingly fast and efficient), loves to click his tongue, suck on his bottom lip, and blow bubbles, has yet to master a consonant, gags like crazy anytime something that isn't perfectly liquid-smooth goes into his mouth, and only has two teeth!
Ok, let's stop and get the obvious mistake of this post out of the way... Yes, I am breaking the number one rule of parenting: Don't compare your kids! BUT It's no different than talking to friends about where their kids were at a specific stage OR reading books about what your child should be doing by a given time! Isaac is my personal reference point so I'm naturally going to use him. Now that I've confessed, let's move on! :)
Parker may not be as "up to speed" as Isaac was at 8 months, but that's the part I am absolutely loving. There are times that I feel like I need to rush him and then other times I try so hard to cradle him in my arms hoping he'll stay little forever! I already have one kid that talks back big boy, I don't need two! Even though Parker is more reserved than Isaac, I can see how that isn't always going to be a good thing. I can already picture him as the sneaky kid that feeds the dog his veggies from under the dinner table or finishes all the cookies from the jar without anyone knowing. Isaac flat out tells us that he is NOT going to eat his veggies and that he IS going to take a cookie... So different!
Parker is the sweetest little boy. Yes, he has a scream the size of Texas and he isn't afraid to use it. Yes, it is getting very hard to hold him down for diaper changes. Yes, somedays he will not nap... BUT his hugs, his smile, the way he reaches for me, the welcome I get when I walk in the room... It's as if cupid used all his arrows and sent them right to my heart! I never knew I could be this in love again! First Shaun, then Isaac, and now Parker... The boys in my life are breath taking!
My little man Parker James, You have stolen every inch of my heart and I can't believe we'll be celebrating your college graduation 1st birthday in just four short months!
Trying to get over that darn back leg!
He'll play with the star puffs but don't expect him to put them in his mouth! I don't get it!? He'll put my shoes in his mouth!
Instead, Parker would much rather laugh, eat, pull, and climb all over big brother!
