YUCK!!!!

For some reason Parker thought it was hilarious when April was saying, "Yuck!!" at dinner tonight. I think it's because when she would say it, she would lunge forward and her pony tail would flail around a bit. Besides Parker being goofy, check out his two-fisted sausage styles! April made him a special sausagey treat for lunch today and he got to eat the last two for dinner! Mmmmmmm....

Jingle Bell Rock

Here's a video of Parker at breakfast this morning when I showed him the awesome Christmas card that Nana and Papa sent to him! Thanks!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! This is our tree before we ransacked the presents. :D

Lots of Christmas photos coming soon!

Winter Is Awesome

Here are some photos of Parker playing in the snow for the first time ever! He was wearing one of Mommy's touques, which was a bit big, but he didn't seem to mind.

Thanks for the mittens, Grew family!

This photo cracks me up. I took three frames of this sequence, and in the first two Parker is just kind of staring at Mommy while she makes a snow angel. In the third, he looked back at me, smiled, and pointed! Haha! He's all like, "You so craaaazy, Mommy!"

Snow hugs for Mommy!

The view from our front door. The scariest part is that our snow banks are now three times the size they are in this photo.

Secret Closet Forts

Sometimes if you need something to do, it's pretty easy to spend time making forts in the closet. Here's Parker getting ready to close the doors on himself in my bedroom closet.

The weird glow is from the flashlight that we play with. When he wants me in the closet he'll pat on the floor next to him and say, "Da...ddy..." And when I ask, "Do you want Daddy to come in with you?" he goes, "Yeah!"

Here were are, in the closet with our flash light to make laser beams.

And here he is after I closed myself in the closet and then he found me!

And here's Parker and Mommy before bath time goofing around on the bed. Parker loves Mommy so much!

Testing Video

I won a camera in a photo contest the other day so we finally have something to record video! Here's a test video of Parker after he woke up from his nap (note the sweaty hair). He's just kind of jumping around and being goofy, but when I get a larger memory card I'll record some nicer videos of him actually doing stuff or saying stuff!

The Almighty Playtrium

April was telling us about The Playtrium the other day, because she takes her class there. Since it's snowy and cold out, Parker and I decided to check it out. Our conclusion: it's the greatest thing ever. They have a toddler area (3 years and under) full of little slides and toys and they also have a super gigantic jungle gym thing for everyone else full of rope ladders, secret passageways, ball pits, tunnels, slides, gigantic rubber balls, and crazy swinging poles. It's awesome. They also have video games and a place where you can order some food if you're sticking around for a while! Anyways, we had a blast, and we ended up going on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning. Here are some photos of Parker getting his Playtrium on:

You know the opening scene to 2001: A Space Oddyssey? That's what should go through your mind as you approach the Atrium Mall from the outside in all of its magnificence.

Once inside, the first thing you notice is the gigantic structure thing, begging you to climb around in it. It's awesome. You might also notice the bank machine.

There are some arcade games, and the food counter is off in the distance, around the corner in this photo. There are plenty of places to sit or put your snacks while you play. And all three times we have been there (so far) it's been nice and clean and well-maintained.

A climbing wall for the older crazies.

If you can figure out how to get up there you're a better man than I.

These swinging poles are awesome. Parker was hilarious trying to run through them.

Here he goes!

"Whoa!"

The toddler section has this crazy thing, which might actually be a Death Machine, but we're not sure. You grab the steering wheel and pull yourself around, spinning both seats in the process. I'll take a better photo next time of Parker swinging around like crazy. It builds up some serious momentum!

These photos are slightly out of order, but Parker went straight to the little house (the same one at the Early Years Centre) so he could close the door and check for mail! He also brought an abacus, in case he had to do any emergency math.

So overall, the Playtrium is really cool. We're hoping to go back about a million more times or so.

Houdini Styles

Trying to escape from his jammy jams.

Daddy, Potty Time, and Bath Time

After 18 months, Parker finally figured out that I'm Daddy, and if he refers to me as Daddy I'll answer! Hooray! Because it's a new thing I think he gets carried away sometimes, because he'll go into overdrive mode repeating, "Daddy! Daaaaddy! Daddy! Daddy! Daaaaa.....ddy!" but it's still really cute.

He also officially went pee pee in the potty for the first time ever! April and Parker have been practicing during bath time, and the other night when she sat him down on the potty seat before his bath and asked if he had pee pee, he did! And he even got to flush the toilet himself. What a treat! Ha! I also noticed that, today for the first time, he came over to me holding his bum. I said, "Did you have a poo poo?" and he said, "Yeah...." so I asked, "Do you want to go change your bum?" and he replied, "Yeah..." and walked to the stairs to go to his room! Hooray for poo poo and pee pee!*

And here are some random photos of Parker having a bath!

*who knew we'd be so concerned (and writing on a blog) about poo poo and pee pee a few years ago? Not this guy.

Hanging Out Around The House

Although the snow is melted today, last week was CRAZY cold and snowy! Parker and I had a few indoor days that involved much dancing, hat-wearing, hiding in the closet with flash lights, and running around the kitchen and basement. Here are some photos of us avoiding the outdoors:
Here's Parker lifting my basketball by the inflatable needle thing. Spalding does not recommend this. But if it means Parker wants to play with a basketball, I'm all for it. :D

Smiley face!

Smiley McSmilerson!

Hiding in the front hall closet, trying to be all sneaky.

I see you! The closet that we play in more often is probably my closet in our bedroom. I'll have to take some photos of that tomorrow because it's kind of funny. There's enough space for both of us to fit in the closet, and sometimes we bring a flash light in and shine it around.

On his birthday my grandma brought a fireman's hat for Parker! He wasn't that interested in hats before, but now he's all about the "at"! It usually stays in the front hall closet, but he'll run over, point at it, and go, "At! At! At!" Here he is, modelling the hat in the mirror (which is why the writing is backwards).

Making a small adjustment to the hat.

And here he is, wearing boots on his arms, of course.

Yo Gabba Gabba Fridays...Er...Sundays

I didn't add a post on Friday with a Yo Gabba Gabba song, so I'm doing it late!  Here's the uber-catchy "Eyes, Nose, Mouth" (which is even better if you get your kids to point to their face parts when the song names them).  Yoooooo Gabba Gabbaaaaaaa!

Winter Already?!?

So it snowed the other day. A lot. And I think the temperature dropped to about -5000 degrees. Amherstview held their annual "Light Up The Season" festival yesterday so April, Parker and I went down to meet Santa. It was really, really cold. But everyone is always super nice (and free hot dogs and hot chocolate help a bit) so we had a good time. Here's a photo of Parker with Santa. By this point he had been hanging out either in Mommy's arms or on his little sled for about 45 minutes, which is really long for a toddler to be in sub-arctic temperatures, but he did really well. He didn't totally freak when he sat with Santa -- he just kind of stared at him for a minute and then said, "Okay, I'm done." Here are the photos in reverse chronological order (thanks, Blogger!):

Staring at Santa.

Staring at Santa while Santa says, "Haven't you ever seen a camera before, kid? Look over there!"

Bundled up because it was SO COLD. Doesn't he look thrilled?

Okay, that's a bit better. Mommy is an awesome sled puller.

"Weeeeeeeeeeee!"

Visiting Baby Milo!

April, Parker and I went to visit Scott, Gemma, and new baby Milo this afternoon! He was born on November 27th so he's still just a little tiny baby (complete with new-baby smell). Parker thought the baby was pretty cute.....until he wanted to hang out with me and realized I was holding Milo. Then he had a mild fit of jealous rage. But other than that, the visit was great and Scott and Gemma are doing really well adjusting to parent hood! Hooray for babies! Here are some photos:

The happy family!

One of Parker's words is baby, so he thought the baby was pretty awesome.

"My camera sense is tingling!"

Kisses from Mummy!

Happy Dad!

The thinker.

Kung-fu grip! And bass-playing hands?

Sleepy Milo!

Zzzzz.....