Singing & Dancing

Parker hasn't had much exposure to music. I'm 110% sure I'm tone deaf, so I rarely sing around other people.  Because of this, I sang very few lullabies to Parker when he was an infant.  The first time I sang to him, I couldn't remember any songs so Parker's first lullaby was the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song!  Last year, in preparation for traveling to and from Moscow; I bought a 3-disc set of what can only be described as 101 ear bleeding children's tunes and have avoided all kid music since then. Lately, though, music has started to make a come back.

Parker had been super squirmy when I rock him before bed. Out of frustration one night, I started singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  When I sang he stopped moving and just listened!  I've done this a handful of times and it works every time.  Parker's interest in singing made me rethink my ban on kid's music. So last week, I decided to give "kid music" another try. 

I found a great blog written by a Dad who was sick of all the horrible kid music, and set out to honestly review children's albums and weed out the crap. I checkout out a few albums and bought The Best of the Laurie Berkner Band.  Last Friday, we headed to a friend's house for dinner and a play date, so I used the 45 minute ride to test out the new tunes.  Parker really liked it! The songs are easy to sing along to and who wouldn't like a song about people w/ animals on their heads?  This weekend we listened to Laurie Berkner, but I also threw in some Adele and a little country.  I sang and drummed along with Adele and Parker clapped and drummed by stomping his feet on the back of the passenger seat.  I even got him to dance in his car seat!  Nothing cuter than a kid in a 5-point harness trying to shake his booty and move his shoulders! He even claps and cheers at the end of each song.

I thought the clapping and cheering was pretty cute until the other night, when I received a standing ovation at the end of Twinkle Twinkle. So much for singing calming him down before bed!

Parker only rocks out when the car is moving, so here is a video of P dancing in his highchair, enjoy!

The Clean Up Crew

Ike and Turner do this several times a day. Yes it is gross, but there is not much I can do about it.  Have you ever tried to keep two 95 pound labs away from food?

(Sarah, we will buy you a new slobber-free highchair for your next kid)

Likin' the ladies

I think it is only a matter of time before I find a Playboy under Parker's crib mattress.  Every time I leave a magazine out he seems to find at least one picture of a woman in a bikini. He walks around intensely staring at the picture, pointing and saying oh!

Just a little taste

We took advantage of the beautiful weather this weekend. We played at the zoo, BBQ'ed, chased Dad and dogs in the backyard and now, Parker is hooked on backyard sunshine. This guy craves it morning, noon, and night.

Last night I had to drag his crying, stomping, dirt caked butt inside for dinner. He scarfed down his food then started pounding on the sliding glass door, chanting "otside! otside!"

This morning he ran straight for the slider, I thought because he wanted the dogs to come in. Nope, he tried to push past the dogs and run out the door in his pj's and socks!

As I type this he is staring longingly out the sliding glass door. I am not looking forward to the next few days of rain and toddler vitamin D withdrawals.

Freud Would have a Field Day

I'm just going to say it, Parker is fascinated by his penis.  Which leads me to say things I never thought I would ever have to say...

"Parker, don't put your wiener in the shower marker cap, please."

"Parker, your wiener does not belong in the empty toilet paper roll."

"It's not going anywhere, quit holding it so much!"

"Parker, we don't stick our hands down our pants/diaper in public."

"Parker, we don't stick our hands down our pants/diaper at the dinner table."

"I need to fasten your diaper, hands off the merchandise."

"Parker! Quit pinching your wiener with my hair straightener!"

"Dude! I don't have one, but if you keep pulling that hard, I'm not 100% sure it won't fall off."

"I don't think you're going to be happy when you hit that with a hammer."

Zoo

Tired of pictures and posts from the zoo? Too bad. We have a membership.

We took advantage of the beautiful weather on Sunday and spent a few hours at the zoo.

We didn't realize there was a tropical reef section of the aquarium until a few weeks ago. 
It has become one of Parker's favorite spots to visit 

He squeals with delight every time a fish swims up to the glass.

This fish is the size of Parker!

6 week old Clouded Leopard cub

Climbing the spider web



He wouldn't crawl through the log, but had a lot of fun shoving the recycled tire mulch through the knot holes

Peeka-boo!

Not sure what to call this move

Kitchen Helpers

All three boys "helping" me make dinner.

Baby Shower Gift

I made this Princess Leia baby hat for my friend Tammy.  Leia is going to be part of her daughter's name. My first thought, I have to make her a Princess Leia hat!  It was a little more time consuming than I expected, but I am obsessed with how cute it turned out! 

Wipeout!

Parker was running full speed, tripped, and bashed his head on the metal kid gate. It was one of those falls that shot me off the couch and over the coffee table in a matter of milliseconds. He has a nasty goose egg, but is otherwise fine.

Fashion Star or Victim?

I am in love with this picture! It is from New Years Eve, but I just stumbled across it. 

Brian dressed Parker in the shirt - trips to Home Depot always require manly gear of some kind. Parker wanted to wear his teething necklace. I found the hat when we were cleaning up his play area and he wanted to put it on.

I call this look logger meets Jersey Shore.

Love that his collar is popped!

After I posted this picture on Facebook it was brought to my attention that the pageboy hat is an inherited fashion trait! Both Great-Grandpas and Grandpa Dave proudly sporting the pageboy...

Great Grandpa Vern

Soquel, CA House, a photo by keepapozatude on Flickr.

Great Grandpa Carl

Grandpa Dave

Date Night

Last night, I decided Parker and I were going to go out to dinner.  When I picked him up from daycare, I asked if he wanted to be my date for dinner, and he yelled YEAH! and made all the daycare workers chuckle. 

Since P was familiar with it, we ate at our local Mexican restaurant.  I planned to order him a quesadilla - he loves cheese and tortillas, put them together and I figured he would be in heaven.  As soon as we got to the table he started looking around and yelling, DA! DA?  trying to figure out why Brian wasn't with us.

While we were waiting for our food, I gave P a chip dipped in refried beans and he spent the next 10 minutes licking beans off the same chip and handing the chip back for me to redip.  After a while he decided he could dip the chip himself, then he gave up on the chip and grabbed a fork.  He alternated dipping the fork into the beans and salsa.  I told him to be careful, the salsa might be too spicy for him.  The spiciness hit him on the third dip.  I couldn't help but laugh!  He froze, got a strange look on his face, stuck his tongue out as far as it would go, shook his head back and forth, and shrieked while I tried to get him to drink some milk or water.  After about 10 seconds he drank some water and was fine.

When our food came, Parker took one look at his quesadilla and asked shrieked for one of my plain tortillas. We compromised by putting some beans on his piece of tortilla and he ate some of the fruit that came with his kids meal. 

 I'm not sure if we will go to dinner again without Brian.  It wasn't that much fun and the dinner conversation was BORING!

Bookworm



Grabbed a book and took over Grammy Q's chair

Dad! Quit bugging me can't you see I'm trying to read!

He read like this for probably 20 minutes

Birthday at the Zoo

Parker's cousin Jack, just turned 3 and invited us to the zoo to celebrate.  The cousins ran up and down the paths, checked out the animals, and as usual their first stop was the playground.

Jack showing Parker that the slide isn't so scary.

Jumped right on the slide

We tried to get them to go down at the same time, but Jack just couldn't wait

Parker taking his sweet time getting down the slide

Messy Fun

I set out Parker's moon sand and asked him to play quietly while I cleaned up the kitchen.  After about 10 minutes I turned around to see this:

The pictures don't show it, but Parker is covered from hair to socks in sand.  Next time I will ask him to play quietly and neatly!

Easter Pictures and a Bonus Recipe

We headed down to Brian's parent's house for Easter.  The weather was nice, and Parker was able to have an Easter egg hunt outside.  Dave and Vicki have a beautiful yard so my amateur photography looks pretty darn good.

This Easter, I attempted to dye Easter eggs using natural dyes (beets, blueberry juice, curry, paprika, etc) but I used too much vinegar and the outer layer of shell and color fell off when I rinsed them. So there I was with 12, really ugly hard boiled eggs and did I mention I'm not a big fan of hard boiled eggs?  The only way I like to eat hard boiled eggs is the way my dad made them when we were kids.  Brian looked at me like I was crazy when I made a bowl for breakfast, then he tried a bite and liked it.  Parker and I just shared some of these eggs and he devoured 2 bowls and wanted more! 

Here's the very simple and delicious recipe if you want to give it a try.

Grampy's Smooshed Eggs

1-2 hard boiled eggs, peeled
1 pat of butter
salt and pepper

Slice up or chop eggs and place is a bowl.  Microwave until hot, usually between 30-60 sec.  Drop in the pat of butter.  Using a fork; smash and smoosh the eggs into bite size chunks.  Sprinkle w/ salt and pepper. Enjoy!

Strawberries

Parker spotted some strawberries while we were grocery shopping and insisted we get some.  Luckily, the organic strawberries were on sale so into the cart they went.  When we got home I started fixing him lunch and put the berries into a colander to washing them.  Parker immediately started reaching for them, then ran off into the living room.  He returned a few seconds later with the colander from his play kitchen and wanted me to put his strawberries in it.  After "rewashing" them in the play kitchen sink he happily chowed down.

I'm a Mom - I'm Kind of a Big Deal

Excerpt from http://www.momheart.org/blog/youre-a-mom-youre-kind-of-a-big-deal

Mother's Are Irreplaceable

You see, a mother's space never closes. You could be the CEO of a company, but when you retire, there is someone waiting to take your place. You could win the Nobel Peace Prize, an Academy Award or a Grammy but after a couple years, no one will remember that you won. But a mother? A mother is never forgotten. After 35 years my mother is never forgotten.

What you do every single day may not win praise or awards, but it will always be remembered.

Motherhood is powerful

Through Your Child's Eyes

And if you need more proof of the power of your role, I want you to see yourself through the eyes of your child.

To your child you are a superhero - you can get the straw in the Caprisun without squirting juice all over yourself. You can even get those itty bitty flat Lego pieces apart. You are a super hero.

To your child, you are a rockstar - No other song soothes them at night like yours. And when you pick up your child from Sunday school, you have your Taylor Swift moment. You know what I'm talking about. That moment when they see you and their eyes light up. They scream your name and run to you with open arms. You are a rock star.

To your child, you are a supermodel - in your pony tail and your sweats there is no other woman in this world as beautiful as you. They have eyes only for you. You are a supermodel.

You're a mom, you're kind of a big deal.

So, the next time you have to fill out a form at the bank or doctor's office and you have to put something in that occupation box, I want you to write, "I'm a Mom - I'm kind of a big deal."

Parker AKA "Napoleon Dynamite"

Last weekend, when I was out in the yard surveying the doggy damage of some newly planted flowers; Parker wanted to come outside and join me.  Brian grabbed the closest pair of Parker's shoes, which happened to be his snow boots, and we all played in the backyard for a while.  Since then, every time Parker wants to go play in the yard he brings us his snow boots. Yesterday, he even brought me my shoes.  It's nice to have the snow boots designated as the muddy backyard shoes, but come summer time Parker may have some sweaty, smelly feet.

Parker has figured out that running with a stick gets the dogs to chase him

This picture cracks me up both boys bent over checkin' something out

Toddler Approved Muffins

Banana Pear Zucchini Muffins (inspired by this recipe)

Wet Ingredients:

2 medium bananas (mashed)                                                                                                                              

½ cup shredded zucchini (if using frozen, thaw and squeeze out excess water)                                          

2 eggs

1 cup fruit juice (I used organic pear juice)                                                                                         

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Dry Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup wheat germ, oat bran, or oatmeal (if you use oatmeal; coarsely grind in blender, magic bullet, food processor)

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

In a large bowl or Kitchen Aid, mash bananas.  Add remaining wet ingredients and mix until combined. Add all dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Fold in nuts. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Makes 24 regular muffins

Freezes well