The John Parker Update

Updating LOTS of milestones for our little man…

John Parker you are the most active and happy little man.  We have so much fun watching you grow!  You LOVE making music using your instruments or anything you can get your hands on that makes a loud banging sound. 

You love horses, cows, ducks, dogs, cats, and frogs.  You are all boy.  When we ride out to the farm you name each animal we see on our way.  When we see hay sitting in a field you say “oh no, pa pa, put the hay in barn.”  You know the difference between a tractor, combine, and all other heavy machinery that your daddy has taught you.  You like to dress up in your cowboy hat and bull riding vest (that pa pa bought you) and fake fall off your fake horse, just like a real cowboy.  You even hold one arm in the air like you are riding a bucking horse.  You get this from watching too many rodeos on tv with pa pa. 

You LOVE playing with trains and always want us to make your train track on the floor and sit with you while you play with them.  If we don’t sit with you then you get mad.  You only allow us to play with certain trains and like to crash your train into ours as we play. 

You also LOVE the Hogs and will randomly say “Go Hogs” and throw your arms in the air.  You know the difference between baseball and football (which we have watched a lot of lately…Go Cards and Hogs). 

If you wake up before we get out of bed you come up to our room and will stop at the door and scream “raaaa” and run into our room and proceed to climb into our bed.  If we turn cartoons on you will stay for another 15 minutes but if you are hungry, you demand we get up right then and go eat cereal.  This typically only happens on the weekend when we would greatly appreciate sleeping in.  Through the week you tend to sleep longer.  Sigh.

You will eat just about anything we place in front of you.  You LOVE egg rolls and started this appreciation for them when you started going with Ma and Pa to the senior center where they randomly serve them (which by the way you are a celebrity…people know you in public due to your “politicking” amongst the older sect of Dexter).  When we pick you up from Miss Tonya’s, Ma’s or Gi’s and ask you what you ate for lunch that day you always tell us “dog dogs” which is 99.9% false.  You love a good bagel, oatmeal, Honey Bunches of Oats, orange juice, eating the marshmallows out of Lucky Charms, bananas, apples, chicken, hotdogs, anything an old man will eat, pies (and you know what a pie looks like and can spot them from 50 yards away).  If we have coffee you always tell us yuck and will make the craziest face then proceed to blow on it for us.  You ALWAYS ask us if your food is “hot” and will not even look at it until we tell you its cooled down. 

You have started this new thing where you hold your ears if something is loud but will look at us to see our reaction.  If we tell you it’s okay you put your hands down.  You’re still a little unsure about thunder and will run to us if you hear it.  When we tell you again, it’s okay then you go back to whatever you are doing. 

You LOVE tacky yard décor.  Halloween décor was your favorite and I am guessing houses that are overkilling décor for Christmas will be also be your favorite.  

You know where people live and EVERY TIME you pass Gi’s you get really mad if we don’t stop.  If we are out somewhere you will scream in the backseat “no home” and this can occur anywhere from the time we pull out of the driveway until the time we return home.  Apparently you do not like being home (although you go right on playing as soon as we get in) and would rather be on the go!  When we pop over the hill to Ma and Pa’s you immediately start saying their name and talk about the farm and Pa Pa.  You know where the parks are, McDonalds, church, my work, Walmart, etc.  You also recognize cars and if we are in the parking lot at church, you can tell us what family members are already there.

You have this obsession with the claw games at Walmart and Town and Country. Your father introduced you to them and you have only won twice and according to him we have spent your college fund trying to win.  If you find out your daddy is going to the store you want to go with him because you know he will let you play the game.  I haven’t witnessed this, but apparently after you reach for the prize with the claw you drop down to the floor and put your head in the prize door.  Momma is not a fan because I am pretty sure your father is going to let you get your head stuck.

You have this new obsession with Max and Ruby (you even named a prize from the claw game Max) and still like Toy Story.  You LOVE books and constantly want us to read one with you which tickles me to death!  You like playing “match” (memory) and working your puzzles.  You are quite the little scholar!  You know how to count pretty well but LOVE the number 9 and will get on this kick of calling all numbers 9.  You will count anything we are doing such as putting a snack in the bowl….you want to count the pieces. You recognize some letters and will act like you are reading (you have great book orientation) Because of your mommy’s profession, we have been working on letter sounds and you know what sound the letter “d” and “s” make.  We are currently working on “m” which you already say but won’t associate it with the letter…you just like to say MMMMM when something smells good.  You say most words and will talk up a storm when you are in the mood.  Most of the time we can understand completely what you are saying or what you want.  If we don’t, it frustrates you to no end and you throw a “Deardorff” fit as your daddy likes to put it.  

You have the best memory and problem solving skills.  You know how things around the house work and how to reach or get what you need.  You remember where we keep things (which comes in really handy) like when a toy dies you know we keep batteries in the hall closet and will tell us your are getting “batts” out of the closet.  We are currently working on left/right so when you put shoes on you will know which foot we ask for.  So far so good most of the time.  Sometimes you are in such a hurry you seem pretty annoyed that such a crazy question is being asked and you will immediately grab your boot and just put it on yourself.  No patience. 

Your buddies are Lanie, Hunter, Libby, Evan, Caroline, Nathan, Will, and Cash (you reallllly like saying his name).  You love to play with other kids and do really well when we have playdates at the park with our buddies.  In the toddler room at church you are friendly with the other kids but you “taunt” them more than anything.  I think it has to do with the kids changing so much that you just make due with what ya got. 

You are very particular about where you are going the next day for a sitter.  It’s still hard for you when we get to Miss Tonya’s.  You walk in fine but the staying is the hard part, but you always go to her and just rest your head on her shoulder, like you have given up.  You always have fun with her.  You love to play with Hunter, Libby, and Evan (when he’s not biting and you always let us know if he’s provoking others…being somewhat of a tattle tale).  You love the days that Gi Gi comes to the house because you get to stay in your pj’s most of the morning before she takes you to Story Hour where you break most of the rules and like to raise your hand to answer questions.  You always light up when you see Lanie there.  When you go to Ma and Pa’s you always tell us bye before we can get out the door.  As soon as we walk in you go for the candy jar but will let us know we need to go because they have you trained enough to know they aren’t giving you the candy until we are out the door.  You are loved by so many and it makes going to work each day a little easier.

John Parker, you have this affinity for nice pj’s and will not wear a certain pair that I bought at Sam’s.  Not sure what the aversion is but you will throw a major fit if we even pull them out of the closet.  You always have to wear some type of hat and when we get home, you hang it on the rack.  Very old man of you.  You also have a new obsession with rubber boots, which I knew would come at some point since you like wearing cowboy boots, but you always want your rubber boots on.  You wear a size 18-24 months dress shirts/pants and 2t in most other clothes.  You wear a size 5 diaper and are not potty trained, although Miss Tonya informs us that you pretty much are for her.  You will sit on the potty every time we ask you if you need to go and will tell us when you poo poo but you will not take the initiative and just go yourself.  This is a big tackle before Reese is here. 

We love you little guy and cannot wait to see you as a big brother (which by the way you are in complete denial about and want your little sister to sleep outside….gulp).  You have made us proud parents and could not ask for a more enjoyable child.  Your personality is so fun and outgoing.  We are so proud that you will interact with just about anyone.  We love that you can belly laugh when something funny happens!  We love that when someone is walking in the door, that you go hide and will yell “surprise” and jump out.  We love that you have certain ways you want things done and know exactly what you want.  We love that you get so excited over the little things.  We love that you are so proud of learning something new and will show it to both of us when you do it (like drawing a picture).  We also love that you go through phases loving one of us a little more than the other, but not too much to make us jealous. 

John Parker we love watching you grow and change before our eyes!