Almost 6 months!

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Table Rock Lake

Well, we went on our first family vacation to Table Rock Lake! Kevin, Parker and Aunt Loni and Uncle Eric and myself piled into my SUV on Thursday and took the 5 hour trip over to Campell's Point, Missouri. Parker did great on the way over there (coming back was something else!!!). He kept Loni and I entertained for most of the trip. We got there shortly after dinner that night to meet up with Great Grandma and Grandpa Woodard and the Forrester family (except Daddy Forrester, Jerry - who flew in later that week). (Ethan below)



After catching up with everyone and some great chat on the deck we called it a night. We brought along Parker's pack-n-play and he slept all night long; the usual 12 hours! The next day we got up, made breakfast, hit the grocery and liquor store, and got out on the water. Great Grandpa allowed the 5 of us to take out the Cobalt and boy did we have a wonderful afternoon!









The water was the perfect temp, the wind was barely blowing and the sun was out! Parker is still not a big fan of the lifejacket, but he loved the new floaty toy we got him. Around 4 we called it a day and made our way back into shore to find Jerry had flown in, Jill and her kids Sheldon and Josh and girlfriend Melissa arrived, and Grandpa Kirk and Nancy had joined our group. Loni, Eric, Kevin and myself made tacos for everyone and we hit the bed pretty early after catching lots of rays that day. The next day, Saturday, we did it all over again but the whole gang joined us. Grandpa Kirk had a huge floaty that fit lots of people and we had a great time in that. But poor Aunt Loni had a mega sunburn from the previous day so we tried to stay in the shade most of the day.







Parker got a nap under a beach towel tent and it was another awesome day at the lake. We called it a day and turned in for a great ham dinner and a movie. Later that night Carm and Steve and Mike and Jeri and baby Ayden came in. Ayden was a cutie!!!





Ayden is about a month and a half older than Parker, but I think Parker has a couple pounds on him. They didn't get a whole lot of play time together, but they did get to share some toys Sunday before we left early afternoon. Now Parker had been super ALL weekend, but the ride home was something else. He took a nap along with Loni and I for about an hour. But when he woke up he was ready to be out of the vehicle (we ONLY had about 3 hours left!). Squirmy little guy and he definitely told us how unhappy he was! But we made it home all the same! HOME SWEET HOME! It always feels good to back at home!

And let me back up to the 17th because we sprung our first tooth!! We have seen the white under the gums for a couple days, but on Thursday we could feel it. So far teething hasn't been too bad, but the last couple of days Parker has told us different. Poor little guy.

Parker got to "play" with Grandma Lisa's new manx kitty. ATTACK OF THE KITTY!!





3 haircuts, eating bananas, green beans, carrots, and pears, and of course cereal. Drinks apple juice mixed with water out of a cup, starting to get mobile - army crawl and lots of rolling. Sometimes I leave him in the living room to clean up the kitchen and when I come back he is on the other side of the coffee table. Not sure how to maneuvers all the way over there and so quickly, but something tells me we need to secure the baby gate on the stairs. Started teaching him sign language. Did some investigating online, and they said around the 6 month mark is a good time to start teaching it and usually by 8 to 9 months they can start signing some back. Of course this will be great since he can't talk yet! Online they said he could tell us when he is hungry, when his stomach, teeth, etc. hurts or when he has a dirty diaper. I have been signing mom, dad, bath, eat, more, milk, drink, banana, play, walk, sleepy, and dirty. I really hope to keep this up, but it will be difficult since I will be heading back to school in a couple weeks. I'm hoping our baby sitter will sign a couple words to keep Parker practiced!

Just to prove that Parker is NOT the perfect child...believe it or not...he was SO fussy this night. I mashed up some bananas and threw them in front of him for the first time. He liked them for a while - the taste and feel. But in the end he was still not in the best mood.

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!

Here are some of the pictures that the photographer took of Parker and the family...