Parker and his cousins

This is from the last night at the hotel. Parker enjoyed living with all of his favorite people. He has been listing everyone's names several times a day, asking where they all are. I felt like I said "They are at work today, but we'll see them again soon" at least 10 times today. I'm glad that he enjoyed them so much, but we are not ready to ask everyone to move in with us so he can eat breakfast with Gaga (Grandma) and Papa each morning!

Chicago/Legoland

Legoland was a blast. The kids loved it, plus it helped that we were one of only three families there at that particular time. They had amazing displays of characters, the Chicago skyline, a jungle, etc. All out of little Legos! They also had two little rides. I didn't get to go on them, however, as I was rejected at the front of the line for being pregnant. It never even occured to me that the slow moving ride might not be okay for pregnant women. I guess I've never tried to hop on a ride in either pregnancy. I just had to look on and act as if I was excited for everyone else :)

Yes, my little cuddler is giving Bob the Builder a good ol' Parker hug:

My brother's special talent:

Chicago/Museum of Science and Industry

This was a big museum for our little guy, but he found plenty of things to drive. He sure loves to be behind a wheel.

Parker in the perfect-sized car---the electric car. He loved it!

Chicago/Shedd Aquarium

My whole family went up to Chicago for the week to have a little vacation together. We stayed in Schaumburg next door to IKEA (spent a good amount of time there, as usual) and drove into the city a couple of days to enjoy the museums and Garrett's Popcorn. The first full day, we headed to Shedd Aquarium. Parker loved it all. He was there a little over a year ago, but what a difference taking a 1 year-old vs. a 2 year-old! We had so much fun watching him explore.

The Big Gift

The Beachy's came over for dinner one night last week for a mini-celebration for Parker's birthday. They brought the biggest package Parker has ever seen, so nicely decorated by the kids (also cleverly decorated with Cubs logos--booooooo). It was a wagon!! Parker has been living in it. He can get in and out himself, which is a blessing for me, and he eats his snack in there, reads his books, plays with his toys, talks to himself....basically, he loves it. Thank you, Beachys! (They also provided these pictures for me in hopes that I may post a blog entry or two in the future--it worked)

Parker's 2nd Birthday

I have not blogged in some time, and yes, I've been very much reminded of this. So, here goes the last several weeks. I will be going backwards!

Parker celebrated his 2nd birthday last week! Crazy! It was a very busy month, but we did finally have a family party for him on Memorial Day. He had a blast, and it's fun to watch him enjoying the attention. I made two cakes, as you can see in the pictures. The big one for the general public, and one small vegan cake for our little boy with allergies. I made him a dairy/egg-free applesauce-spice cake. Some people actually chose to eat that along with him, which I enjoyed. It made me feel like his allergies won't keep him from enjoying delicious things all of the time. He has been practicing blowing out his candles for the right moment, and he did an excellent job. :) Parker opened up his first ViewMaster with pictures of Disney characters. He immediately figured out how to change pictures with his finger and also that he could see better if he held it up to the skylights :)

Learning New Words

Parker made up a sign and sound effects for when he has a dirty diaper. Lately, he uses this sign every time we change him. One day, I told him "There's no 'yuckies,' just pee-pee." He laughed hysterically, and that has been his new word he likes to use. Craig was home alone with him a couple of days ago, and they were going through all of the words and people's names he knows (including pee-pee!), and halfway through, he fortunately thought to grab the camera. This is our little boy laughing about his new potty talk.