No More Frain Fracks!

Parker has an obsession with train tracks, but for the longest time he wasn't pronouncing the T-sound properly and it would always come out as, "frain fracks". The other day he randomly decided it was time to pronounce them properly. Goodbye frain fracks, hello train tracks!

Also, Parker has some weird quirks and strange habits that are probably almost entirely our fault. One of them that's kind of funny is to sing a naked song when we take his clothes off to get changed or go in the bath. It's basically this song about mangos but replace the word mango with naked. And imagine a little boy doing a funny dance while singing it.

Happy Hallowe'en!

Here are some photos from Parker's adventures trick or treating tonight! It was a short trip to just a few of the neighbours' houses, but he really liked ringing their door bells and yelling, "TRICK OR TREAT!!!" in their faces. After he put his shoes on, he sat on the step (which seems to be his new thing) to pose for some photos.

I had to ask him to stand up because he kept wanting to sit.

Checking out the stash of Play-Doh that we had on hand for other trick or treaters.

Walking to the neighbours' steps.

Walking away from the neighbours' steps.

Even though it rained all morning and some of the afternoon, it ended up being a fairly nice night! A bit windy, but good for Hallowe'en.

Parker has a mild obsession with mailboxes. So when he realized we were headed in that direction, he thought it would be a great idea to offer the mailbox a treat. He kept holding it out and saying, "Here you go, mailbox!"

And here he is, visiting his friend.

Special thanks to Dustin for hooking Parker up with a Rice Krispie square, one of his favourites! As soon as we got home he was digging in his bag to find it so he could eat it in his mouth, as he likes to say.

All in all it was a super Hallowe'en! Har har.

Crawling Through A Fort

I finally copied a million old videos from our camera to the computer, so here's a quick sample before I go to bed. It's Parker crawling through a fort in the basement while Mommy chases him!

Lemoine Point

I had a shoot at Lemoine Point this morning so April and Parker came to meet me for a hike when I was finished! It was crazy nice outside considering it's the end of October, so luckily we were able to get a good hour or so of hiking in before the weather gets worse. Here are some photos:

Parker running around in the big, open fields.

"Come on, Daddy!"

Parker has grown a lot in the last few months (he's about 3 feet tall now) but when you see him outside in the open you realize how tiny he still is! Can you find him in this photo?

We told him there were ducks so he kept saying, "Where'd the ducks go? Ducks? Find the ducks!"

"I SAID NO COMMENT!"

Overlooking Collins Bay.

The elusive ducks!

A lot of the leaves have fallen but it's still really scenic!

Parker is really into bridges right now, so when April said we were walking under a bridge of leaves and trees he thought that was the best thing ever.

There were tonnes of friendly birds, including this guy.

Taking a pit stop to pose for a bench photo.

The birds are so friendly, they'll come and eat food right out of your hands!

Parker riding on my shoulders and eating a "Meow Meow Bar". There's a cat on the wrapper so that's what he calls them.

Hooray for fall colours!

Feeding more birds! We actually ran into Scott, Gemma, and Milo who were also out for a walk and feeding the birds (along with Nate, Laura, and new baby Oliver)! It was a good day for a hike.

Here's Parker being cute while waiting for birds to land on his hand and eat.

Playtrium Playdate With Gemma & Milo!

Gemma and Milo invited us to the Playtrium today for a playdate! It was their first time going, and our millionth. For the first time ever, Parker crawled across these weird net tunnel things all by himself! The entire time he was doing it he kept saying, "I can do this! I can do this!" and when he got to the other side he exclaimed, "I did it! Hooray!" So cute. :D Here are some photos of some toddler section action!

He looks like an angry celebrity with paparazzi in his face. "I SAID NO COMMENT!!!!!"

The other day he dropped one of the little pumpkins down the stairs and broke the stem. Now he likes to point out that it's broken in a sad voice while pointing at it.

Parker and Milo riding on the spinning machine of death!

Parker looooves these things. Staples of doctors' offices and other waiting rooms, the beads-on-bendy-wires never get old. The last time we were at the Playtrium I think he probably played with it for 20 minutes straight.

Milo on the move! He's a crawling machine!

Weeeee!

Milo on the move again!

"Here comes Parker!"

Gemma and Parker goofing around before we had to leave for lunch!

Mmmm.... zippers....

We went swimming this afternoon. Even though he hates his swimming class, he had a great time at the open swim today, strangely enough. When we got home, Parker and I took this goofy self-portrait on the couch and then we watched this awesome Sesame Street video.

Pumpkins Hallow'een!

Parker seems really psyched about Hallowe'en, even though I'm mostly sure that he has no idea what it is. But when we mention pumpkins he always says, "Pumpkins....Hallowe'en!" Today was really nice out (kind of chilly, but nice) so we went to Fruition Berry Farm just outside of Kingston on highway 15 to check out their pumpkins and corn maze! The entire drive there Parker kept saying, "Picking pumpkins! Picking pumpkins!" and although we weren't quite sure what to expect (April heard about the farm from a co-worker), the pumpkins did not disappoint. And the corn maze was pretty sweet, too. Here are some photos of us in action:

Before we left, Parker sitting on the stairs while Mommy put his shoes on. He was pleased to be wearing his ketchup and french fries "What A Team!" shirt.

Doing up the coat -- zip zip zip!

Looking mildly stunned in his hat and coat.

I was inside the passenger seat and Parker was outside the car trying to peak into the window while going, "Daaaaaaaddy! Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaddy!"

Fruition Berry Farm! Well, the corn maze, anyways.

Looking for pumpkins.

Found them!

Parker really likes lifting heavy things, so he tried to lift a bunch of the pumpkins. April kept asking him to pick one out for Daddy, so he'd run from pumpkin to pumpkin saying, "Pumpkin for Daddy!"

Using the pumpkin as a small chair to rest his weary pumpkin-lifting legs. The dude working in the back ground does not seem impressed.

Mommy and Parker (but he was distracted by some airplanes or something).

zomg a rare photo of Daddy and Parker!

Exploring the awesome (but kind of muddy) corn maze.

Taking a brief hiatus to pet some corn.

Parker really seemed to like navigating. Every time we'd get to a cross-roads we'd say, "Which way do you want to go now?" and with 100% certainty he'd say, "Turn left!" or, "Turn right!" or, "That way!" We ended up fairly lost. :D

After the farm, we tried to go to downtown our favourite Chinese restaurant ever (Silver Wok) but they were closed. So we checked out Lee Garden Buffet instead since Parker wanted Chinese for lunch. Here he is taking a refreshing gulp of milk.

Pointing to something (I think the cat statue on the wall).

Eating some traditional Chinese watermelon. Funny story: the waitresses kept coming over to Parker and saying how cute and awesome he was, which was really nice. But then he yelled, "CHINESE!!!!!" in her face once and we were so embarrassed! Haha! It was pretty funny, but pretty awkward. Another lady came over and she was like, "No, I'm Canadian!" and Parker would say, "CHINESE!!!!" because he was so excited to eat the food, not comment on their ethnicity. Woops.

A fun morning was had by all! The afternoon was spent napping, and then I cut the lawn for (hopefully) the last time this year while April and Parker went for a HUGE walk to feed some apples to some horses.

Happy Thanksgiving And Random Stuff

Happy Thanksgiving! Here are some photos from our weekend (although I was pretty busy shooting a wedding on Saturday and then two other shoots on Monday). Here's Parker rocking out with Darryl at the kitchen table.

Although it looks like he's in pain, Parker is actually trying to sing along.

Here he is, happy to be eating some corn and salmon. Mmmm... traditional Thanksgiving salmon.....

Potty training update: Parker is pretty much having zero accidents and can go for about 2 hours or so before we have to put him on the potty (but we still do it about every hour and a half). He's now also starting to tell us when he needs to go, which is really helpful. Still no poop on the potty, but he seems to be really getting it now.

Talking update: Parker never stops talking. Like, ever. He talked pretty much the entire drive to Brockville, and then the entire drive home. He describes everything he sees and also random things he thinks about. He sings songs constantly and he also really seems to be getting the whole language/communication thing. This is also really helpful.

Tonight we had our first tough guy parenting move! Parker was eating spaghetti on a plate that was on his tray, and he flung the whole plate on the floor. We made him pick it up even though he didn't really want to (he wanted hugs because he knew he was in trouble) but he did it. April and I high-fived.

C Is For Cookie....

Om nom nom nom nom....

Swimming Lesson Set Backs

We started swimming lessons again two weeks ago, and for some reason Parker is 0 for 2 when it comes to having fun. He used to loooove swimming, but for each lesson he's been REALLY clingy and cry-y (which is odd because he rarely cries). I'm still not 100% sure why but I think it's because there's also an open swim at the same time as our class and the pool is a total zoo. It's really loud and chaotic (when it's normally pretty quiet) and I'm thinking that might freak him out a bit. We're going to keep it up, though, and hopefully he'll be back to having a good time next week!

Apples!

The other night after April came home from work we decided to check out Wynn's Apples in Bath (or is it Sandhurst? Or Napanee?). Here are April and Parker, getting ready to move the car out of the driveway so we can take the other car.

Parker sporting his new hat (which looks cute, but didn't last very long).

Mommy and Parker headed towards the apple orchards. Parker was looking back to see a cat that was hiding under a little building.

Parker was super psyched to pick apples. He pretty much took off running down the aisle shouting, "APPLES! APPLES! APPLES!" Every now and then he'd stop at a random tree and say, "This one!" so that was the one we would pick. Here he is helping Mommy put some apples in the bag.

And here he is running like a maniac through the trees.

And here he is eating an apple. Don't tell the owners because we didn't pay for that one.

Mmmmmm.... apples.....

More running!

They had about 10 bazillion apples left on the trees! So if you're in the area and are looking for some, you can find them at Wynn's. We bought a half bushel bag (I think) for around $10.

Holding two apples and eating a third.

Chomp chomp chomp!

And April made some apple sauce for Parker that he loooooves! Hooray for apples!

Big Hat

The other day before we went out, Parker really wanted to wear this hat that's a bit too big for him. Looks like he's ready for a safari!

Also, here's a recap of this morning when Parker woke up at 7. I was convinced I was going to get one more hour of sleep (and April will sleep in tomorrow) and April said, "I'm going to bring him in here, okay?" I replied, "Okay..." thinking it wouldn't be a big deal. 5 minutes later I felt tapping on my shoulder, and when I rolled over Parker was laying down next to me, a few inches from my face, smiling, and shouting, "Wake up, Daddy!!!!" Haha! Funny kid. :D

When It's Hot Outside...

Sometimes when it's really hot outside, you just have to stick your face in the hose water.

And sometimes you also have to take all of your clothes off.

A Conversation With Parker

Garrett: Want to go to the grocery store?

Parker: Grocery store!!!!!!!!1111eleven

G: Okay, can you get your shoes?

P: *gets shoes and sits down on the step* Get chicken?

G: Umm... maybe not today. We're going to get some bananas and carrots and I need some draino.

P: Okay! Drive!

G: Okay, let's go to the car.

And when we get to the grocery store...

P: Loney please?

G: Okay, let's go see the meat lady.

P: Hi lady! Loney please!

G: Can you say thank you?

P: Thank you!

G: Do we need anything else?

P: ........................beef! And bread!

He's getting so much better at talking! Yay! Still only a few word sentences at a time, but you can have little conversations with him, which is fun.

Prison Break Parker

Parker had a Nana and Papa weekend, and with that comes his Prison Break jammies!

Best. Corn. Ever. And Other Stuff.

Here are a bunch of random photos.

Parker really likes peeling things. Like edges of paper, and books, and stickers, and labels. Anything that will come off, really. Here he is examing (what looks like) part of a Disney book. After he rips them he likes to say, "Broken!" in a sad voice.

Arrrrr! I'm biting me spoon, matey!

And now I'm biting the best corn ever!

And now some cheese! Arrrr! (okay, the pirate theme is probably getting a bit old by now)

Sporting his new hat.

Sporting his new hat and having a hairy spaz. Arrrrr!

Before we went to leave for the park the other day, Parker insisted on bringing Bert. And then he wanted to make sure Bert had a hat on before we left.

Playing with a car on our couch.

He loves to drive them along the wall and across the top of the couch where there's a little ridge so he can go, "Bump bump!" when the cars go over it.

Nana And Papa Playing A Game...!

Nana and Papa came for a visit last week! We didn't get to see Papa very much because we shot a wedding on Saturday and then went to see The Killers in Toronto on Sunday, but they got to spend some fun time with Parker! And they even invented a new song that goes like this: "Nana and Parker playing a game...! Papa and Nana playing a game...! Parker and Papa playing a game...!" (repeat, just switching the names around). My mom had mentioned the song, but I didn't hear Parker sing it until yesterday during lunch. He randomly broke into it so I called her and Parker left a cute singing telegram voice mail message. :D Here are some photos of us at the west end market where we bought some sweet locally made soap from the Kingston Soap Company, some of the best corn we've ever eaten (pictures to come soon), and some jelly for April from Henderson Farms on Wolfe Island!

Here's the official album cover for "Nana And Papa Playing A Game". Look for it to drop in stores everywhere, Winter 2009.

"Oh a puppy!!!!"

"Touch the puppy? Hi puppy! Hi!"

Stopping to smell the flowers. Luckily it wasn't full of bees that wanted to sting his face, like every other bunch of flowers in Kingston!

Looking suspicious of locally grown produce while Nana and Papa admire their findings in the background.

Olympic Styles

I took some photos in Brockville at the Y for April's mom the other day and brought Parker along with me. He hung out with Grandpa and got to hold one of the official olympic torches! Sweet. Next to him is super running all star Mike Woods from Ottawa.

Splash 'N Boots!

Last night we went to a free concert at Willie Spratt Sports Field here in Amherstview featuring Splash 'N Boots! I went to school with them and actually played drums in a show they were singing in, so it was cool to see them doing what they love and being successful! And they put on a GREAT show! I think my favourite part was when they made animal sounds in a song about animals, but they asked kids in the crowd to name their favourites. One little girl stepped up to the mic, took a big sigh and said, "A unicorn." Nick's unicorn sound involved him making a horn on his head with his finger and going, "Naaaaay.................I'm special!" Good times. :D

Pre-show meal.

Nick rockin' the guitar.

Taes doing a wacky dance.

Taes went around the crowd with a mic to get animal suggestions and laughs.

Probably surprised by the fact that he had to figure out what kind of sound a unicorn makes.

Definitely a great live show! Hopefully they come back because Parker really seemed to like their stuff. He was sitting in our laps tapping his foot, and afterwards asked to say hi to the lady (that's what he calls all girls, it seems) and the man (what he calls all guys, it seems). And the concert also featured a special guest appearance by Gabriel, Kristyne, and Jeff! Thanks for stopping in on your way back through town! :D

Random Photos

Here's Parker in the backyard peeking out from a little window thing in his play structure. He likes to poke his head out and go, "I SEE YOU!!!!!" or, "AHHHHH!!!!" like he's surprising you.

Smiles for Mommy!

Cheeeeeeese!

Random portraity photo of Parker sitting down in the living room. He wasn't into photos at all that morning (he looks really grumpy in most of them). Check out how long his hair is! He has a hair helmet!

It's been so hot out that we thought it would be fun for Parker to run around through a little sprinkler. Here he is testing out the new underpants.

Our Big Nerd!

I also have glasses now! What's up with that?

And just because, here's Parker hiding in one of our kitchen cupboards.

This reminds me of the classic (well, classic to me because I think I'm the only person who has seen it) "supplies" scene from UHF.

Potty Training, Days 3 and 4!

Days 3 and 4 went really well! He hasn't had any accidents and he pretty much goes pee on the potty every time! Still no poo, though. And he's not actually telling us he needs to go pee -- we're still just putting him on the toilet every hour. And I made up for Tuesday by having a 100% success rate with Parker this morning! Boo yah.

Our Little Nerd

Also, I guess I should post our potty training strategy. This is something April heard from a friend and it worked for her, so it's what we're going with for now! Yesterday we told Parker he wasn't going to wear diapers any more and that he was going to wear underpants, which he was really psyched about. We told him to only go pee pee in the potty and that he had to keep his underpants dry. So every hour we (well, April) take him to the potty and sit him down until he goes pee, which is usually pretty quickly. And if he does it successfully, we give him a little mini Rolo candy. Mmmm.... bribery... So he's really into peeing on the potty (for the most part) and he's also really into eating mini Rolos. Getting him to poop is going to be more difficult, I think. Hopefully tomorrow is more of a step forward because today was a bit of a step back after yesterday!

Potty Training, Day 2

So far day 2 has not gone as well as day 1. :D He went on the potty multiple times yesterday and I think his only accident was during his nap in the afternoon, but even then it was right at the end after sleeping for 2 or 3 hours.

So today, April slept in while Parker and I ate breakfast and played a bit. For whatever reason, I couldn't get his potty timing right. I'd put him on and he wouldn't go, so we'd jump off and 20 minutes later he'd pee in his underpants. So I'd change him, and we'd sit on the potty after another 15 or 20 minutes, and he wouldn't go. So then we'd jump off again and sure enough, he had another accident. We went to go get his hair cut (but the hair cut place was closed), so we went to the park and brought his little portable potty chair. Again, he didn't have to go, so we played at the park until he finally went pee in his underpants again (while saying, "Uh oh...."). It seems like I was 15 or 20 minutes off no matter what we did.

After a few loads of laundry, he's now trying to nap and April has had him back on the potty successfully since we came home. So far she's about 7/7 and I'm about 0/5 on the potty training. Go me! :D

Update: So Parker is asleep for the night and he had multiple accidents and multiple successful pees on the potty. So it was a so-so day today (definitely not as good as yesterday!) but hopefully tomorrow is better! Still no poop on the potty, but I think we'll work up to it as he gets more comfortable peeing on the potty first.

And So It Begins....

Okay, so this video has nothing to do with potty training, but it seemed dramatic so I thought I'd post it. Plus, Lord of The Rings is awesome. :D We're starting potty training today and so far Parker hasn't had any accidents and has gone pee on the potty twice three four five times! I think it'll be tough to convince him to poop on the potty, but we'll see how it goes. He's loving his underpants so that's a good start!

Playdate With Shigeen And Babriel!

April, Parker and I went over to the Ross' house the other day for another playdate with Kristyne and Gabriel (and this time I didn't lose my car keys and have to stay in Ottawa a few days). Parker was really excited about bringing his little booster chair over so we could lunch. Here he is carrying it all the way to the door (well, in the direction of the door, at least) all by himself! He was pretty psyched.

Gabriel has a cool train table!

Normal cars fit on the track, too, which is pretty sweet.

Here's Gabriel driving around on his bus-thing!

Parker eating some delicious apple slices. Mmmm.... apples.....

Parker's not quite as dextrous as Gabriel when it comes to getting in and out of a chair.

Kristyne making Parker giggle.

Hugs! Awwwwwww...

Curious George hanging out.

Gabriel's all like, "Wha happen...?"

Sitting on the little step and eating some pretzels! Awwwww yeah.

Gabriel is so fast and agile! He rolls around and does all these crazy things that Parker can't do! It's pretty impressive. Here he is rolling around with a blanket and pretending to sleep with some funny snoring noises.

Parker putting something (bread, I think) in the microwave so he can make some toast! He looooves toast.

Parker doing some weird arm thing while Gabriel zooms by.

Thanks again for having us over! :D