ONE YEAR!

***Disclamer: I started writing this post a month ago, but the pressure to reflect on an entire year overwhelmed me to the point of procrastination. Anyway, it's a bit scattered, but better late than never, right?

Hopefully there wasn't too much doubt about whether we'd all survive Parker's first year, but we did it! I'm so happy that we've put the sleepless nights, blow-outs (have I ever mentioned that Parker literally had a blow-out everyday?), and the constant fear of dropping him behind us. I feel like I've learned a lot in this first year. In no particular order:

* New moms talk about their babies. A lot. Way more than anyone is interested in listening to. So to those that feigned interest as I described the minutia of Parker's sleeping habits, his bowel movements, and those crusties behind his ear, thank you. I promise to return the favor to other new moms.

* Just when I think Parker has established new, consistent habits, he changes them. For a couple days he'll repeat sounds after I say them, and then he'll stop doing it for a week or more. I remember when Parker was about two months I asked his pediatrician how long it would be before Parker was on a same-time-everyday schedule for napping and eating. He looked at me with a "this really is your first child, isn't it?" kinda look and said that I should forget that notion. "Why tie yourself down like that?" he said. "Most babies don't operate like that, anyway." Didn't he understand that I needed some structure to my crazy life? We've found that it's much easier to work around Parker's schedule and I've learned to go with the flow a little better.

* In the last two years I've been served heaping portions of humble pie, over and over again. Hey! I'm full and I don't want anymore- this pie tastes like junk! I hadn't realized how judgemental I'd been about parenting; it's so easy to judge when you haven't gone through a similar experience yourself. So, if you want to nurse your baby until he's five, let your baby run around in his diaper all day everyday, or name your daughter Princess Toadstool, (and not that you asked my opinion, but) I'm cool with that! I don't have to live with the consequences of your parenting actions, and you don't have to live with mine. I think we're all just trying to do the best we can with what we've got.

* Being a mom takes some getting used to and has forced us into a new normal, which I feel like I'm still adjusting to. But, it's brought so much joy into our lives! I love that Parker squeals with delight when Paul or I walk through the door. I've certainly developed a deeper love for Paul as I've watched him be a great dad and as he supports me as a mom. I love that I'm never bored with Parker around and I love seeing him learn and develop.

Some Parker updates:

*Parker is an amazing crawler, but no walking or standing on his own yet.
Update: He can stand on his own for up to 20 seconds. He loves walking around our apartment while we hold his hands. He had never been exposed to stairs before last week at my dad's house and he learned how to crawl up them the first day and how to crawl down on the second.

*He talks a lot and is very expressive while doing so, but it's nothing that we can understand.
***Update: Parker knows his first word: no!, although it sounds more like na. At first I thought it was a coincidence, but he definitely says it when he wants us to stop doing something, like giving him food he doesn't want to eat.

*While we were in Boise, Paul said that he slept in almost every day and I was so jealous. It was good that he got all rested up because when Parker and I got home, we started to wean him. Paul has been waking up with him in the morning so that Parker doesn't smell me and want to nurse. I love that I've been able to nurse and I'm glad that I stuck with it even though it was pretty dismal at the onset.

*Parker is getting better with his stranger anxiety. The last time we were at the YMCA, I went to pick him up from the kid's center and he was chasing a ball down the hallway. It was the first time that he had ventured out of the lap of one of the babysitters.


Parker had an amazing birthday celebration that literally lasted for three days. On his actual birthday (February 24th) we went out to dinner with my sister and Paul's parents. Parker loved sitting in between grandma and grandpa, who let him play with all sorts of fun things- especially grandpa's Blackberry! The next day we headed to Orange County to visit Paul's grandparents, who also have February birthdays. We went to Laguna Beach and walked around the tide pools and ate chocolate and hot dogs (at Parker's request, or course). That night Parker opened his presents and then we stripped him down, sat him on the counter, and put a delicious chocolate cupcake in front of him. He was not a fan. I put a piece of the cupcake in his mouth and he promptly took it out. It wasn't the frosting-in-hair experience I thought it would be, but it was late and I think he was a bit out of his element. The following day we did a reenactment of the birthday cupcake, this time in the comfort of his own home and high chair and he loved it!


With Great Grandpa and Grandma Fjeldsted:


At Laguna Beach the day after his bday:



In heaven with both Dad's AND Grandpa John's cell phones:


Elmo cupcakes (Turns out red food coloring really does taste awfully. Although they were cute, they were inedible. Sad!):


Opening presents:







I am lovable:


Paul taught Parker how to love chocolate:

Toy Box

Parker's toy corner is really getting out of control... as is the rest of everything else within his reach. Gone are the days of books staying on the shelves, clothes staying in their totes, and food staying on his high chair tray. Will my house ever be clean again? If I was on Pinterest, I would totally "pin" this toy chest! I love it. Maybe someday I'll figure out how to make one of my own.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Bob!

Love,

your favorite grandson, Parker

Baby Bibs

I often wondered what moms who stay at home do all day. Let me first say that taking care of a kid takes way more time than I thought, but I'll also say that I now have time to take up new hobbies and develop some talents that have been on the back burner for a long time. One of those things is sewing. Paul got me a sewing machine for my birthday in 2010 and it stayed in the box until Trudy came to stay with us when Parker was born. She re-taught me how to use a sewing machine (it had been almost 10 years since I'd used one) and I've been fiddling with it on small projects ever since. I made a couple bibs last week for a baby shower I went to- I think they're the cutest thing and need to make some for Parker!

Stake Youth Auction

Apparently updating our blog wasn't one of my New Year's resolutions... :)

As the date of our departure from LA nears, I've been considering some of the things I'll miss most about this place. There are a few things that I can't wait to put behind us (mostly the traffic and lack of grass in the mile radius surrounding our apartment), but for the most part it's going to be difficult to leave all the things and people we've come to love.

One of those things is the Stake Youth Auction held every year to help pay for Scout and Girls Camp. People donate items ranging from quilts and cupcakes to babysitting and SAT tutoring and lots of things in between for the silent auction, then later in the evening is the live auction. In previous years, there have been helicopter tours, a basketball autographed by Jimmer Fredette and other big shots in the NCAA championship game, box seats at a Lakers game and other cool items for the live auction. This year the coolest thing up for bid was to have your answering machine message recorded by Larry King. We have bid on several items in the silent auction, but in the last four years, I can't remember ever having won anything. Last year Paul was in a fierce bidding war with some Korean teenagers for a pair of high top sneakers. They were guarding the sheet of paper where the bids are placed and to his great dismay, they outbid him seconds before the bidding was closed. This year, we decided to bid on more items in the hopes that we would at least get something. To our great surprise, we won four items!

Our loot:
* A round of golf
* A $25 dollar gift card to Chilis AND a chocolate cake (we won with a bid of $20!)
* A "Tiffany Cake" which was shaped and decorated like a jewelery box
* 10 homemade greeting cards

So... anyone want to come over and have some cake? We have plenty. Actually, we gave the chocolate cake to the Dungeons and Dragons group that gets together every Sunday afternoon, so you might have to fight Paul for a slice of the other.

I love our ward and I love our stake; I don't think we've ever felt so needed as we do here. I guess the saying goes that your favorite ward should be the one you're currently in, but I think it's going to be hard to top the USC ward and the LA Stake.

Christmas Break

Having Paul at home was the best Christmas present I can think of, and even though he was usually studying, we got to do a lot of fun things.

I started off the break by going to the LA Ballet's production of The Nutcracker with a friend from church. Can you believe Paul didn't want to go with me?? Weird. Instead, he volunteered to babysit Parker and have a male bonding night.

We got a Christmas tree- a real one that smelled wonderful! The last time we got a tree was in 2007 and since then I've been a Scrooge and have not wanted to spend money on one. I don't know what changed this year, but I'm glad it did. I also put up some other Christmas decorations and I love how festive our little apartment felt.

We went up to Paul's parents' house for Christmas where Parker was the only grandbaby. He got lots of attention, and was only a little fussy, which I'll blame on him having a cold. While we were there we got to spend time with friends from BYU.

Paul had his third and final interview for a dental residency and we should hear back at the end of this month. If our wildest dreams come true, we'll be in Sacramento staring in July for one year.

Paul has been studying to take Part 2 of the Dental Boards. He took Part 1 two summers ago and did very well, but it came at a price. Paul usually keeps things light and likes to joke around, but in all seriousness he refers to that summer as "a very dark time" and that studying for that test was the worst thing that has ever happened to him in his whole life. This time around the exam is pass/fail, so I think there's less pressure, but it's still been very consuming of his time.

We got some really awesome gifts this year, but I think it's safe to say that Paul's favorite is a remote control helicopter from Parker. On his study breaks, you'll find him in our garage perfecting his piloting skills. Parker prefers to enjoy the helicopter from a distance- like, out of sight or sound. If he sees or hears it, he starts to cry.

We had a really wonderful break and spent a lot of time contemplating our many, many blessings and how fortunate we've been this year. We're so excited for 2012 and all the new adventures headed our way.

Dancing Baby

Parker got several musical toys for Christmas that he loves. Up until this point, I think he has regarded his toys more as interesting things to investigate, rather than really playing with them. Now that there's music involved, the fun has really begun- even with non-musical toys, he seems to know that they are for playing. He started to do this bouncing thing when the music came on and eventually we figured out that he was dancing! I love in this video that he knows when the ABC song is over and in the last clip he is dancing to the beat... mostly.



A few other Parker things for posterity's sake...

He continues to hate getting his diaper changed and putting on clothes. Are all babies like this, or did we just get lucky? You'd think that after the hundreds of times that we've done this that he'd just suck it up an hold still for the minute and a half it takes to change his undies. We can always count on protest crying and him trying to crawl away; I'm constantly chasing his bare bum as he escapes.

He's a really good eater- as long as the food doesn't have hard chunks in it, he'll eat it. Both Paul and I have aversions to certain foods, so I don't expect that this will last forever, but it's nice for the time being.

He makes the most hilarious faces- I really wish I could get them all on camera.

He is finally, FINALLY sleeping through the night consistently. Up until nine months, we let him wake up once or twice at night to eat, although towards the end I think it was out of habit, not from being hungry. At nine months we cut him off and it took about three weeks for him to not wake up at night and only just recently has he started sleeping until 6:30ish. Before that, he'd wake up at 5:00 or sometimes earlier and we thought he was still just learning how to self-soothe and go back to sleep. We started putting him to bed earlier and it has made all the difference. Since he's been sleeping through the night his naps have also been longer. Hurrah!

When I give Parker kisses, he holds his head really still and opens his mouth. I laugh every time.

When Paul says, "Clap!" he claps and when we say "Come here!" he follows us.