April & May

 My kids are growing up way too fast!  

Parker has entered a "make believe" phase and spends his days either pretending to be a doggie or chasing invisible dinosaurs.  I like pretending he's a doggie because he'll go and fetch things I need. He will also copy things he sees on tv (his favorite show at the moment is Curious George).  In the picture below he is drawing the squares for hopscotch after he saw Curious George playing it.  

He also counts "8, 9, 10, 11, 12!"  Jake and I are assuming he heard this on one of his cartoons because we definitely didn't teach him!  We are still working with him on what comes after 2.  His favorite thing to say before bedtime is, "Just one more minute..." and holds up his index finger.  He will also count things on his plate, but after two it is hit or miss if he says three.  Sometimes he'll count, "one, two.... too many!!" One last "Parker-ism" that Jake and I love (but also find frustrating) is his use of the word maybe.  A common conversation in our home is:

Parker - "Mama, I want car snacks, please."  (car snacks are like fruit snacks/gummy bears)

Me - "Oh, I don't think we have anymore car snacks."

Parker - "Maybe..." he shrugs his shoulders

Me - "No, I'm sorry.  We definitely don't have any car snacks.  We can get some next time we go to the store."

Parker - "Maybe!"  getting a little frustrated

Me - "Nope, there's no more.  What else can I get you?"

Parker - "Maybe!... I need car snacks!" and a temper tantrum begins...

Maybe gets thrown around a lot... not just with snacks...

Holly turned 4 months in April.  This is a huge month for little ones.  Usually they are smiling more, playing more with their toys, rolling over, and many will start solid foods.  Holly is right on track with all of those things.  Also, I've read that many babies will go through a "Four Month Sleep Regression" and, unfortunately, Holly was a textbook example of this as well.  Right after I blogged that she was sleeping through the night she abruptly stopped!  tear, sniff...  There are lots of theories as to why this happens, but no one knows for sure.  Most things I read said to just wait it out...

 Holly enjoyed the rice cereal.  She didn't seem to like it as much as Parker and definitely not as clean as he was. 

 

 She now sits in her "exer-saucer" and actively plays with the toys.  She can get very frustrated when she can't reach something she wants.  On the floor, she will roll from her back to her belly, but start screaming and crying if she didn't get to the toy she wanted.  I see a feisty personality coming out... it's like looking in a mirror... yikes!

 She loves watching Parker.

 Don't be fooled by these photos.  He really doesn't care much about Holly.  Once in a while he'll want to kiss her, but usually he's doing his own thing and running around playing.  He can get a little jealous when I'm holding her and sometimes he will pretend he's a baby.  As I sit here writing this, he has climbed onto my lap and is saying he's a baby and needs me to hold him...

 For Mother's Day I requested strawberry picking at a local farm followed by a picnic.  Cute idea, right?  Well every other mom in a twenty mile radius must have requested the same thing.  They told us most of the strawberries were picked by the time we got there at 11.  Oh well.  We still had a good time. 

Love my little family.