8 Month Parker

Just a few Parker updates...

He weighs 19.5 pounds (~ 50th percentile) and is 28.5 inches long (~ 75th percentile).

Parker's first tooth (tooth #O, the mandibular central incisor- thanks Dr. Paul) came in last week! I think the one next to it (#P) will pop through in a few days. I haven't noticed any extra fussiness, but at our appointment last week I asked the pediatrician if we should expect some fussiness and what to do about it. Paul had said that the gum numbing cream isn't effective for babies because they just lick it off. The doctor said that teething isn't painful for babies and we don't have to do anything concerning the tooth except brush it. No pain?? No discomfort?? I came home and told Paul what he had said and Paul agreed with him. Hmmm... That goes against everything I've ever heard about teething. I'm not sure what to think of it.

A couple weeks ago I gave Parker some mashed bananas. About two hours later, just as I was putting him down for a nap, he started coughing, and then when he was in his crib he started gagging. I went to check on him and he was sitting in a puddle of vomit. He continued to throw up several more times. When I thought he was done, I gave him a bath and put him on our bed while I cleaned up his crib. In the time it took me to get everything taken care of, Parker had thrown up in our bed and fallen asleep. I called the doctor's office and was initially told that it might be a food allergy, but when we went in for our regular appointment, our doctor said it was more likely a food intolerance. With allergies, the body sees certain proteins as invaders and makes antibodies to attack them. There aren't many proteins in bananas, however, they do contain salicylates (also found in asprin), which some people have an intolerance to. The symptoms are very similar, but whereas you might eat one peanut you're allergic to and go into anaphylactic shock, intolerances are dosage dependent. I'd rather not find out what Parker's tipping point is, so I think we'll stay clear of bananas for awhile.

I'm continually amazed at how well Parker does with traveling. He's been on 10 flights (only four round trips, but sometimes we've had to change planes) and he has never been fussy on the take off or landing (I've heard that sometimes baby's ears can hurt them with the changing altitude) or any other time during the flight. He always makes friends with other passengers and the flight attendants. What a blessing!

Parker is making lots of sounds these days and even combining consonants.

He gets a kick out of peek-a-boo.

He laughs when he hears other people laughing.

I'm not sure, but I think he knows how to play copycat. I'll imitate what he does and he gets a look of extreme contemplation and then ends up giggling.

Most of the time when I go get him from his crib in the morning or after a nap, he's sitting up. For a while he'd get stuck there and start screaming, but he's figured out how to lay back down now.

When he wakes up in the morning, I'll bring him into our bed so that Paul and I can continue to rest. Parker always dives for Paul's face. He grabs at his nose and pulls Paul's hair. It's one of his favorite activities.

Parker had serious stranger anxiety for the first time! It was so weird. It was at the doctor's office and he was fine with all of the nurses, but when the doctor came in, he turned his head into my chest and stayed that way the whole time. I think the only other time he's been so still is when he's asleep. Poor little guy.

Some days Parker does really well with solid foods, other times he throws his head back, locks his lips, and won't even try a single bite- even if it's sweet potatoes, his favorite! This happened a couple days ago and I noticed that he kept staring at the bowl that the sweet potatoes were in (I had warmed them up in a normal, non baby bowl). While he wasn't looking, I put them in an empty baby food jar and then he ate them all up. How can such a small person have such a big opinion on what type of jar the food is coming out of? Not cool.

Hurricane Parker has hit and is about to terrorize everything in its path! Parker can crawl! Paul's interactions with Parker are now dotted with "Treats! Treats!" and "Come by call!"

Halloween!

Here we are as a Nascar lover, a skeleton, and Parker's mummy.

CicLAvia

For one glorious day each year, LA closes nearly eight miles of downtown streets for pedestrians, cyclestrians, and the like. What a neat experience to enjoy LA without cars! If only it was always like this...

Quarter of a Century

A couple weeks ago I turned the big 2-5! I was thoroughly spoiled and loved every moment. Paul woke up early with Parker, made crepes, and set out the flowers he'd been hiding since the previous night all before I woke up. That evening we went out to dinner and got a pizza and a pizookie! Yuuuuuummmmmm!


Paul insisted that I have a birthday cake too, so the next day he made an almond cake with raspberry sauce and whipped cream per my request.

4th Anniversary

Our anniversary was on August 25th, but we celebrated it a couple weeks later by going to Catalina Island. Trudy came down and watched Parker for the day so we could explore the island baby-free. We were able to sit in a private cabin on the ferry ride over where they brought us drinks and snacks and provided blankets and magazines. We felt very posh. We brought our bikes on the ferry, which made seeing all we wanted of the island possible. Most of the locals get around via golf carts. Once we docked it was non-stop excitement! We took a bike ride towards the center of the island to the botanical gardens. The bike ride back into town was so fun and soooo fast- we got up to almost 25 mph! Then we rented kayaks and made our way over to Frog Rock. The water was so clear we could see to the bottom and saw lots of fish swimming about. Then it was on to snorkeling at Lover's Cove- how perfect for celebrating our anniversary! Lover's Cove is a protected research area where the fish are well fed and not afraid of humans- they'll come right up to your face and say hello. It was such a fun day! Many thanks to Trudy for watching the lil' Parkster and my dad for buying our ferry tickets.

Solid

We fed Parker solid food for the first time last week. He seems to do okay with the rice cereal although at times he seems a little confused. We decided to get really wild and let him try peaches. Boy, was he in for a surprise!













Definitely love at first bite.

6-month-old Parkito

I'm amazed at how Parker grows and changes every day. I feel like I say that a lot, but it's true. It was only a month and a half ago that he first grabbed at something. Since then he reaches for things, passes objects between hands, and puts everything in his mouth. He is most interested in things that Paul and I are holding- cell phones, drinks, food, books, remotes, the computer, you get the idea.

He hasn't started on solids yet, but I think we'll start soon.

Paul's convinced that he's teething, but nothing has popped through his gums yet.

He still tripods sometimes, but now he can sit up without the support of his arms. When he falls over, it's usually a slow fall and doesn't hit the ground very hard. (A big relief for me. Darn our cement flooring covered with cheap industrial carpet!)

He can roll from front to back if provoked long enough, but it happens rarely. He can roll from back to side, but I haven't seen him roll all the way to his front yet and I'm really not in any rush to have him roll around, so where's he's at right now is just fine with me.

I think his hair is getting lighter- all except the little tuft in the back we affectionately call his "mud flap." It's right below his bald spot and is dark brown.

His eyes are still sparkling blue! Yay! I thought they might change color, but now that we've hit the six month mark, I think they might be here to stay. The first comment strangers have about Parker is always about his big, beautiful eyes. I have to agree with them, his eyes are big and beautiful.

Parker knows when we're talking jibberish and he'll laugh and laugh. He also likes to be tickled. His favorite tickle spots are his chunky thighs and neck/shoulders.

After all our travels Parker's sleep habits were all messed up. We had to let him cry it out for two straight nights (worst thing ever!) but he got right back on track. The time has come when his nap times are consistent. Woohoo! I've been waiting for this! He wakes us around 7:30 and takes three naps and then goes to bed around 6:00 or 7:00. I've found that his naps are longer if I swaddle him, so I do. I didn't want him to become swaddle-dependent, so I tried to break him of the habit, but his naps were shorter and he was so cranky. I guess we'll be swaddling until he moves out of the house! :)

We went to the beach last Saturday and Parker got to play in the waves.



I love being Parker's mama for the most part, but there are just a few things that I'm having difficulty adjusting to. The biggest is that I sometimes feel trapped at home. The opportunities to go out are so short. Once he wakes up from a nap, eats and goes potty, we usually only have an hour or so to run a few quick errands. I rarely accomplish more than one errand at a time before we have to come back home. And forget about going anywhere more than five miles away; in LA five miles can translate to 45 minutes of sitting in traffic. And while that 6:00 bedtime sounds great (I know I shouldn't complain, it's mostly awesome), it means that we are home-bound before the sun sets. I often have church obligations after 6:00, so Paul and I try to work it out that on those days he'll come home from school promptly after his last patient to watch Parker, but sometimes he gets held up in the clinic and on several occasions I've had to wake Parker up to come along with me. It would be great if he could continue sleeping in his carseat, but no such luck. Invariably when this happens, he wakes up a lot during the night. For some reason it's been really hard to find babysitters. I guess the problem is mostly mine- I feel guilty asking people to babysit even though all they would have to do is watch tv and make sure the house doesn't burn down. A wise father of mine reminded me that this is part of the sacrifice that comes with having children. So true...

Here's Parker on his six-month-old celebration day (can you call it a six month birthday?). One smile like that melts my heart and I forgive him for being such a good sleeper.