1st 4th!

Parker got to celebrate his first banging holiday and it was a weekend of fun! It began Friday night. Family dog Reagan kinda put a bad start to the evening by getting sick and having to go the vet. She had some funny spots on her stomach and has been getting sick - ended up being a staph infection and now she is doing much better. So while Kevin was gone with Reagan, Parker and I took a walk with the other family dog Oscar. When we all met back at the house, we had some dinner and then fired off some fireworks. Parker was very intrigued...didn't know what to think of those loud, flashy things. Of course, Dad had to introduce really loud noises by lighting one of his very illegal morters. After the neighbors put things back on the walls and the ringing in our ears stopped, we blew up some smaller ones and called it a night.

The next morning, Parker started the household at the usual 9:00 and we headed out to Cassady for Fox Lake. It was a great day out there and not only because of the usual Fox Lake festivities, but we also got to see Grandma Chris's brother, Rod. Kevin hadn't seen him for about 15 years, so it was nice to catch up. Rod paired up with Aunt Jenny to play horseshoes and I have to note that in the tournament they beat Grandpa Tom and Uncle JD. Aunt Jenny threw 4 ringers! GO GIRL!! Parker got passed around and enjoyed meeting everyone again. But by late afternoon he was due for some AC and passed out in the camper. After some hambugers we drove back home and slept REAL good!

Sunday we had plans to go to Cheney lake with Grandpa Kirk. Mom and Dad were having a lazy morning, so we didn't make our way out there until about noon. Our original plan was to meet up with Aunt Loni and Uncle Eric, but plans changed a little. Let me back up to Thursday night. Eric had to go the ER because of intense stomach pains and throwing up. Ended up that Eric had appendicitis! So Friday morning he had surgery and everything went fine. We went to visit and of course he was super sore and pretty exhausted. So unfortunely, they didn't get to go the lake with us. Parker enjoyed the beach, but wasn't very excited about the boat ride. I really don't think it was the boat that caused his dislike, but rather the life jacket. He didn't enjoy how it was up in his face, but once the sound of the boat motor and the rocking of the boat started, he was out! We got some pictures with a disposable camera so I will have to post those later. I think he preferred being in the water or in the cabin of Grandpa's boat. The wind in his face was not quite his thing just yet. But he better get ready because Table Rock is in just a couple of weeks. Overall the weekend was long, fun and exhausting!

I'm trying to keep everyone up to date of Parker's progress : can drink out of cup - and NO not a sippy cup! We have been working on it ever since we started cereal, and I would say he has had it down for a couple weeks now. Also, as of 5 months old, Parker is eating food twice a day. Once around noon - usually cereal and green beans and then again before bed at 8:30 - cereal and bananas. Parker is quite the workout buddy. He goes walking/jogging with me in the jogging stroller each morning after he wakes up at 9 (12 hours of sleep is awesome!) and then again in the evening around 8. Dad usually goes with us and sometimes we go on a bike ride instead. Speaking of being mobile, we are still working on the crawl. However, Parker is getting around by means of ROLLING! He will roll over 4 or 5 times to get somewhere. Crazy kid! He is also able to sit up now. He weebles and wobbles sometimes, but he bring himself back up. Overall he loves the water...whether it is the pool or the lake or just bath time. He is quite the splasher! He is a riot when you get him playing on the floor and he grabs for everything. He loves it when you nibble on his belly and his new noises are the "rasberry" spit thing (the other day he entertained a perfect stranger at Hobby Lobby for a good 5 minutes with that one) and fake coughs. Whatever it takes to draw attention to himself. And as you can probably see, it is time for a THIRD haircut!