19 Months Old!

Parker is officially 19 months old! And I'm pretty impressed with myself that I'm getting this post written on the actual day he turns 19 months! Sadly I realized that I forgot to take a picture of him today (Opps!) but oh well, I'll try to take one tomorrow and add it then. And, I just realized I forgot to meausre and weigh him. I'll add that to tomorrow's list as well! I'm sure he won't change that much in a day! The eighteenth month was pretty fun for Parker. I started working full days at the office twice a week, which means Greg watches him those days. I can tell that Parker really loves those special days when he has his daddy's full attention. He is such a daddy's boy!

I wrote in my 18 month old post that I did the CIO method to get him to sleep through the night. A few days after writting that post I decided I also needed to let him CIO before he went to bed. I'm so glad I did! Prior to that I would spend at least thirty mintues leaned over his crib, patting his back until he fell asleep. The first night I laid him in bed and left the room he cried for maybe five minutes. The following night it was about 30 seconds. He continued with the 30 second cry for the next few nights, until one night he just magically didn't cry when I left the room. Horray!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I was pretty pumped about this little feat! The down side is that I really have no idea when he wakes up in the morning. Since he figured out I don't run into his room anymore when he cries, I think he lays awake until he absolutely can't stand it and then he wimpers. There have been numerous times that I would go into his room around 7 and peek at him, only to have him pop up and start talking to me. Other times I'll hear him rolling around and I know that he's up. He got to spend lots of time with family again this past month (another bonus for moving back to Oklahoma!) His grams came and watched him a few days while Greg and I were both working. Then, we went to Norman and stayed at his Papa and Nana's for a long weekend. While we were there his grandma (technically his great grandma C), granny (his great grandma L), and grams (my mom) came to visit him as well.

While we were there he got to go trick or treating for the first time! He was a little handyman! I was so excited about the outfit that I created for him: a shirt I ordered from cafepress and a toolbelt from etsy. Sadly, Greg made fun of the toolbelt, saying it looked more like a waitress apron. And, I have to admit, he's right. Oh well! The best picture I have of him is with him wearing this witch hat. I did have a construction hat for him to wear, but it was too big and he kept taking it off. He had a blast and loved hanging out with his cousins!

I don't know if I've mentioned this in other blogs, but Parker loves to dance! It all started with a toy guitar that he has that he will "play" and he dances to it. I love it and hope he continues to love dancing! His favorite dance is when Greg imitates the music to Michael Jacksons "Smooth Criminal". Parker LOVES other kids. If he's around his cousin Zoe, or his friend Braxton, he is constantly going up to them and hugging them. Granted, both kids are older than Parker and after awhile they get tired of it. It's still pretty adorable to witness.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I took him to a pumpkin patch. It was a fun outing for my cute little toddler.

He now has a new favorite food: bananas. Anytime I open the pantry he immediately points to the bananas (even if we're out he points at where they are normally kept) and says, "nana". He also has a new found love of ICE. One habit my husband has that drives me bonkers is that he loves to chew ice. I'm afraid I may have a son who has inherited that habit as well. This is what Parker usually does when he completes a meal.

He calls it a hat. Silly boy! Parker still loves dogs. One really exciting event that has happened in our house is that we finally have our dog, Shady, back! Our awesome granny was dog-sitting her for the last six months, since the cabin we were staying in in Texas didn't allow pets. We brought her home two weeks ago and Parker is over the moon to have a dog to "play" with. I use the word play lightly because Shady is old and doesn't play. However, if she's inside, I can often find Parker snuggled up next to her on her pillow. His new favorite game is to chase her around the kitchen island with his popper toy while I'm making dinner. Hopefully I can catch that on video soon. Prior to bringing Shady home there was a neighborhood dog that continually made an appearance in our front yard. Her name was Billa, which is a name that Parker quickly learned. According to Parker, Shady's name is also Billa.

Other words that Parker began saying this past month were: banana (sounds like Nana, and it's funny to watch him say it because his tongue gets in the way), luckily that made it easy to teach him the word Nana (Greg's mom), and he also began saying PaPa while we were at their house. He also began saying "mower". In case you're wondering why he says mower it's because before we got a golf cart (a required item in a lake community!) Greg would give him rides on the riding lawn mower. He also says ice (eye) and boot (boo). I'm sure there are several other words but they are escaping me at the moment. Parker loves books! In fact, the other day I spied him in his room doing this:

He had received the boots in the above picture at Christmas last year. They are finally the size that he can wear so I put them on him for the first time last week. It was a struggle to get them on him, but I finally got his feet in. I was kind of apprehensive about putting them on him because I am in no way a cowgirl, but they are sooo cute on him! While I was at work that day, Greg had to put them back on him after his nap. He taught Parker to push (complete with a loud grunt) and it makes it so much easier to put them on. In fact he thinks it's a game and begins signing "again" after we put the first boot on! Parker has finally perfected the kiss. He will randomly come up to me or Greg making a loud "mmmmm" sound and his little mouth will be puckered up. What's cute is when he knows one of us is leaving the house, he will pucker up and expect a kiss (and rightfully so!) before we walk out of the door. Stay tuned; I'll post a pic of him soon! *side note-I just began using Bloggers new settings and for some reason it didn't save my paragraphs...sorry! And, if anyone can tell me how to fix it I'd love to know! Here is my 19 month and 1 day old little boy! He weighed 23.3 pounds!