Through the year

I have been very nostalgic about Parker turning 1. So, in that spirit here are some photos through the year.

Parker, at the hospital - still in the NICU - just a little over 12 hours old.
Parker at Christmas - 3 months
Parker - 6 months old!
P at 9 months
My big girl on her birthday. It's kind of amazing what a couple of barrettes and a little more hair will do to age a girl!
I love my big girl, but I miss my baby too! Will someone please say that it slows down a little (or at least doesn't get any faster?)

The Birthday Girl

Parker had quite the birthday weekend! Friday morning was spent at home with Mommy. We went to the park and got to play on all the big kid equipment (without the big kids there to run her over!) Then, Mom came home from work early and we opened presents and went to the zoo. Then, we went out to dinner. All in all, a pretty good day.

Saturday was the big party! The house looked awesome (no pics of that because I think my kid is cuter!) and there were lots of people there celebrating Parker's first year. The biggest new of the party is that Parker took her first 2 steps! She was such a good girl and did it in front of both her moms AND both her grandmas! Tonight she was taking 4 or 5 steps in between Alicia and I! We are pretty excited! Oh yeah, back to the party...

Here is Parker's party cake. (I think the kid ended up with like 3 birthday cakes....spoiled much?)

Parker tries out her new recorder from Aunt Stacy
Parker really likes the wagon from Grandma and Grandpa LaMagdeleine
Here is Parker looking adorable with her umbrella (and matching raincoat- not shown) from Grandma and Grandpa Sharp
And, here is Parker just being cute (the next day) and modeling her new Nike's from Aunt Stacy.
The "baby" got lots of presents including (but not limited to - please don't get mad if I leave out your gift!) puzzles, a wagon, lots of clothes, crayons and a coloring book, several fun toys, some jumbo lego-type blocks and of course her new Nikes (which are too cute for words AND she can walk in them!) My dad refinished a cradle that he had made for me when I was little and gave that to her. It's adorable and Parker and I both love it.

I think P had a great time, but was so tired that she slept in for 2 extra hours this morning. We then, had our families over for brunch and had her 1 year portraits taken at Butler. It was a very exciting, busy weekend. Now, I have to psych myself up to go back to regular life. It might be nice for things to be calm for awhile! :)

1 Year Appointment...

We took Parker for her 1 year check-up today. We moved it up a week because she has started doing this weird thing with her eyes. She will be playing and then randomly roll her eyes up and back and "check out" for just a second. Then she will go right back to playing. Needless to say, this freaks me out a LOT, so we just switched the appointment. Here is basically what we learned at the world's longest doctor's visit.

1) Parker has an ear infection. What? Where did that come from? She hasn't been acting like she has an ear infection. I thought she caught my cold. I'm a good parent.

2) The bizarre eye-rolling thing COULD be a very uncommon reaction to the Benadryl that we have been giving her for her cold. I'm still holding out that she has a cold too because she is coughing. We are going to stop the Benadryl and see if it goes away.

3) My child is still a beast although her weight has slowed down. She weighed in at 23lb 2.5 oz - 75th percentile. Her height - 31.5 inches (and measured well this time - Parker was NOT squirming) - totally off the charts.

So, that's that. We're going to drug the baby up REALLY well tonight and hope that she is feeling much better by Friday for big, birthday FUN! :)

Parker's Tricks

My favorite thing about Parker's age right now is that she does "tricks." She won't do these in public, generally but we have tons of fun with her at home! Here are her top five.

5)Us: "Parker, what does a cow say?"

Parker: "Mmmmmmm"

4)Us: "Parker, how big are you?"

Parker: "Throws hands in air and grins" (Us: "Soooo Big!")

3)Us: "Parker, are you cute?"

Parker: Shakes head no and grins like a crazy girl.

2)Us: "Parker, how old are you going to be?"

Parker: Holds up one finger (and occasionally says "Wuh")

(Please sing)

1)Us: "Na Na Na Na"

Parker: "Na Na Na Na"

Us: "Na Na Na Na"

Parker: "Na Na Na Na"

Us: "Hey Hey Hey"

Parker: "Huh, Huh, Huh"

Us: "Go-ood Bye"

Parker: "Buh-Bah" (sometimes waving)