It's Official...

We have a name for Baby Cates #2...

Cooper.

(Middle name to come soon.)

Movie Night

So we've been talking about wanting to have a "movie night" and rent a movie, popcorn, etc with Parker. Blockbuster has .49 rentals on Sunday, so we rented Cars for him to watch. None of us have ever seen it. We were excited.... view the pics to see how movie time went...

Started with homemade mini pizzas:

Enjoying the movie:

About 30-45 minutes into it, he's dressed and ready to go on a bike ride.

(Notice his belt.)

Me, Parker and Patches enjoying a walk/ ride:

Good Morning & Happy Friday!

Last night Caleb (& Parker) found the missing "batting glove."

Parker was ecstatic.

He came running to me and said, "Mom, now I can play baseball!"

This morning Parker woke up, wanted his clothes on- specifically asked for his baseball shirt-grabbed his gloves and bat.

He's ready for today!

After he had his batting practice, he asked for some coffee. (It's mainly milk- so all you paranoid people- no worries!) I showed him his "special" cup that Gram & Papa bought him. It's breakable. It's oh so cute though. It has a cute blonde headed boy with Parker on it. He thought it was a very big deal to drink out of it! He gulped down his coffee while eating his pop tart.

What a better way to start the day- coffee and baseball?

Bring it on, Friday. We're ready!

~And to think he's NOT EVEN 3~

Last night I was folding towels and Caleb was doing stuff in the kitchen, so we decided to encourage Parker to partake in the "picking up" fun that was going on.

He's always wanting to buy stuff in the vending machines at The Kettle & now gymnastics. We use those machines in our favor to bribe him to be on his best behavior- but that doesn't mean that every time he gets something out of the machine; sometimes we don't have the change. We've been telling him that he needs to help around the house and clean up his room and he would have his own money to get toys out.

Anyways, back to last night...

So I told Parker that I would pay him 2 quarters if he would pick up his toys in his room. I reminded him that it would buy him a ball or ring at the Kettle or he could take it to gymnastics and get something.

A few minutes later I heard him in his room doing something- our conversation went like this:

"Parker, are you picking up your toys?"

"Yes."

"Oh thank you. Are you putting them in their buckets?"

"No, I'm playing with them."

Duh, Mom. What was I thinking? I didn't clarify when I asked him to pick his toys up... he was doing what I specifically asked-- PICKING UP HIS TOYS!

Oh me.

Bryan Library... where have you been this whole time?

So my good friend, Kelly, told me that she stumbled upon story time at the Bryan Library last week. We went today and are sold! It's soooooooooooo worth the little drive to downtown Bryan versus the College Station library that is right around the corner.

The whole second floor of the library is for kids- so no need to feel like you have "that 2 year old" who doesn't have library etiquette. (Why do I always feel like that- what little kid really has library etiquette at 2? Really.)

The lady who does the story time is like a "Ms. Rogers" if you can picture it. She was great. They read a couple of books, did a few finger plays, enjoyed puppets, sang a few songs, had a parade and played instruments.

Parker is really enjoying this butterfly "puppet" thing.

Isn't he getting so big?

This was the first time we've been to the library and Parker understood checking out 3 books and taking them home. He was soooooooo excited about his Clifford the Big Red Dog book and his two Arthur books!

For the next two weeks I have to remember to not loose any of our books! ;)

Parker's Masterpiece

This morning Parker and I set out to Michael's to buy stuff for him to paint a picture. The deal was that after his nap he would be able to paint. He doesn't forget anything because as soon as he woke up, he asked to paint. We took his little table out front in the shade and set up the paint shop. He had a great time painting and I enjoyed watching and assisting him very minimal.

He was very proud of drawing a circle:

Comparing the blue (turquoise) on his paintbrush to the sky:

Taking a break:

He figured out how to use the sponges:

His finished masterpiece:

I added a thin brown line around the edges to "frame" it:

He got paint all on his hands and on his belly:

He finished up with a few runs through the sprinkler:

Don't Judge.....

If you see us around town, don't judge us. Parker is NOT practicing to be like Michael Jackson. He is over zealous about his batting glove. It's actually a mitten he's had for about 2 years. He's been devastated because he can only find one. He is begging to go buy another one. I've tried convincing him that 1 batting glove is great, but his response is "the Rangers wear two." I'm not sure where he learned that as we don't watch the Rangers around here very often. ;)

Evidence of a GOOD NAP!

His Own Style...

Parker LOVES to pick out his clothes & shoes.

He's a big shoe fanatic.

These are from the last couple of weeks...

he's rediscovered his love for boots-

both his cowboy & rain boots.

Swim Lessons

Parker has been in swim lessons for the past two weeks. He has improved SO MUCH! It's amazing what 8 days can do for a 2 1/2 year old!!! Last year at swim lessons ALL he wanted to do was jump off the side of the pool the ENTIRE time. This year, he was scared of the water and wanted you to hold his hands as he jumped in to the water. Tuesday and Wednesday this week Granny was brave and got in the water with Parker at swim since I was out of town for a conference. They used the life jacket and Parker LOVED it. He LOVED it so much that when his teachers, Ms. Sarah, announced last night that tonight she was going to have the life jackets out Parker was clapping and chanting "life jacket!" Even in the two days I was not at swim lessons, Parker was a lot more brave. Last night he jumped off the edge of the pool (after he saw some older kids do it) and went under. We did learn that if we comment on Parker going under the water, he wouldn't do it anymore. Tonight was the last night of swim lessons and Parker wore a life jacket and went down the slide ALL BY HIMSELF! Caleb was able to be there to watch him! We were soooooo proud of him. :)

These cute little goggles helped Parker so much. I'm not convinced they actually worked (they were .75 a pair at Walmart), but they made him feel comfortable jumping in the water.

Granny & Gramps

This week I had a conference in Houston for my new job. It was Tuesday- Thursday over night. Caleb is still not able to do a lot of things on his own, so Granny and Gramps came down to help out while I was gone. I don't have any pictures from the week, but we did snap a few pictures at dinner tonight.

Parker and Caleb have both thoroughly enjoyed having Granny and Gramps here this week. I hated that I didn't get to visit with them long (they are leaving in the morning), but they were a HUGE help around here.... Caleb told me that Granny cooked breakfast and dinner for him, did laundry and Gramps went to the grocery store and did yard work this morning!

We LOVE you Granny and Gramps and appreciate y'all always being so willing to help out around here! Ya'll always have gone above and beyond! WE LOVE YOU BOTH- even you Gramps! HAHA (Gramps will appreciate that last comment- for everyone else, it's a running joke between us!)

Favorite Ride at Chuck E Cheese

Aunt Stacy has been with us since last Wednesday helping us around the house and with Parker. We have enjoyed her company and don't know what we would have done without all of her help!

Today Polly and Corey came in town, so Polly, Corey and Caleb all went to see Transformers. Stacy and I decided to take Parker to Chuck E Cheese just to play the games. (Have I told you how much we LOVE Chuck E Cheese? Believe it or not, the pizza is delicious and the games are all .25!!! They put out GREAT coupons that make it totally affordable!!!)

Doesn't Parker look so big here!?!?!?! This is his FAVORITE RIDE-- the fire truck!!!

Irving

This week Parker and I have been in Irving. We've had a wonderful, RELAXING week!

Tuesday we spent the day with Nana & Papa. Wednesday we went swimming with Aunt Ashley. Today we rode the TRE Train with GiGi to Fort Worth, Parker ate Subway, then back home to nap. Once Parker woke up from nap, we went to see Uncle Kenny at the fire station. Although we don't have many pictures to show from the week, I thought these two were super cute of Parker- Man!

Parker sitting in the ambulance listening to Uncle Kenny explain what all he's doing to me. He checked my pulse and heart. We even got a print out of my heart rate. Ken tried to get Parker to participate, but he's not quite ready for all of that.

Parker got a much needed, new fire hat. His other two bit the dust after he wore them for days. Uncle Kenny wrote Parker's name on it along with #8 on the sides to signify the fire station we were at.

And of course our trip to the fire station was complete with a ride in the fire truck around the block and squirting water! Uncle Kenny knows how to do it up right! :)

Donuts with Daddy...

Catching up on his Toys R Us Sales Ad

Parker read the ads all afternoon. When I say all I afternoon, I literally mean ALL AFTERNOON. He showed me a Thomas the Train lunch box and backpack. He told me he "needed" a new backpack and lunch box. Notice- NEEDED it. He told me several times and finally I tried the excuse, "Parker, we spent all of our money today." He said "I have money" and found a few coins from his stash. I explained that he needed more than that. He said, "you have money on your dresser" and proceeded to get mine and Caleb's jar that holds our coins off of our dresser. He brought it to the living room and handed me a hand full.

He made me laugh.

So persistent. I wonder where he gets that from? ;)