My Baby Is Three!

Today is Parker's birthday, and I can hardly believe he is three years old. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was wondering when I would EVER have any kids, and look at me now! THis past year has been such a whirlwind of change in our house, and mostly all for the good. Parker has gone from my baby boy to such a big boy (but still always my baby!). He is so good and loving and full of positive energy, but as he has gotten closer to three, he has also definitely learned a thing or two about having his own opinion, flexing his own muscles, and in a nutshell, having a will of steel!
For his birthday, Parker had his favorite breakfast (waffles) and since he went to Mom's Day Out, got to have a little party at "school." I brought in cupcakes, and let me tell you, feeding seven three year olds chocolate cupcakes is a messy job! Later in the day, our friends the Kubals came over, who have three kids that are Parker's best friends, and we opened gifts and had cupcakes and ice cream. To top it off, we went to a High School Football game. Parker has been begging to go for weeks, ever since football season started, so we thought it would be a great birthday activity. Here is another photo of Parker playing with one of his birthday presents:

Here are some things to know about Parker on the day he turns three:

1. He still loves to hug and cuddle. Sometimes int he middle of the day he will just run to me with his arms outstretched and say, "Hug! Hug! Hug! Hug!" I love that.

2. He says the CUTEST and FUNNIEST things! One of his newest sayings is, when we tell him thank you for doing something, he says, "Well, it was MY PLEASURE!" Or, he will walk up to me and say, "Hey, Mom, how've you been?" He is also very observant of things. The first time he pooped in the potty by himself he said to me, "Look, Mom! I did it! And it looks just like a big potato!" (Sorry, for the visual, but it was hilarious!)

3. He loves all sports. Parker will play just about any sport possible and available to him. We play basketball, football, soccer, baseball, bowling, and golf on a daily basis at our house. We have trained him well too, and when there are sports on TV he always looks for the cougar or the jayhawk. And no matter who is playing, that is also who he cheers for. "Go Cougs!" "Go Jayhawks!"

4. Parker will not eat fruits or vegetables. It has been about 9 months now, and Parker refuses to eat them. Occasionally, he will eat corn, and once in a blue moon, he will take a miniscule bite of jello with fruit in it (one of my "great" but failed ideas for sneaking fruit into his diet). We have tried many different tactics to get him to take just ONE bite at dinnertime. None have worked yet. He will happily go throughout the evening with nothing more to eat or drink (except water). He will happily give up toys, movies, books, and privileges to avoid the one bite of fruit or veggies. We have tried everything short of forcing them down his throat, which sometimes I feel like doing when he flatout yells at me, "NO FRUIT!". Sometimes I sneak baby food veggies in with his mac and cheese, or mix some applesauce into his jelly. I think my mom has one word for me in this area: payback. :)

5. Parker is into trucks and cars in a very big way. When we drive in the car, we are constantly identifying the different kinds of trucks and diggers and tractors that we see. Parker knows the difference between a cement truck, a fuel tanker truck, a transporter truck and a dump truck. If I say, "look at that big truck!" He says, "No, Mom, that is a CEMENT truck." He loves to play with his Hot Wheels cars, too. Josh intorduced him to YouTube, and if you type in "rally car crashes" you get compilations of stunt drivers crashing their race cars, which Parker loves to watch while crashing HIS cars off the computer desk. He asks to watch "crashing cars" many times thorughout the day.

6. Parker is on Prayer Patrol at our house. He is the best reminder that we cannot take a bite to eat without saying a prayer first, and he won't go to bed without one either. Recently he has started saying the prayer again, too. (He had stopped for a while.) He is a great example in that way! Also, recently the twins were sick, and not eating, and Parker could tell I was concerned about it. He said to me, "Maybe we should say a prayer, Mom, so Wyatt and Brynley can eat." It was so sweet, so cool to see that he was actually understanding a little bit about how prayer works! He also lets Josh and I know that Wyatt and Brynley are not good at folding their arms and closing their eyes during the prayer. We're working on that....

7. Parker is a great big brother! Besides the occasional "push the babies over and see what happens" Parker is fabulous with the twins. He is so excited that they are actually starting to play and interact. He is usually good about sharing his toys, and he loves to tickle them and get in their cribs with them. He also talks to them in a "baby" voice the way he hears us do it. Since Brynley is our little princess, Parker refers to her as "princess" on a regular basis. "Mom, Princess is crawling on my cars!" Or, "Mom, Pretty Princess has a big booger on her nose!" Wyatt is known mostly as just "Wy" or "Wy-Wy" and Parker thinks it is funny when we get tot he letter "Y" in the ABC song, and he will sing "W, X, Wy-Wy and Z!" I know that it is inevitable that my kids will argue and fight sometimes, but I am also so thankful that I know that they love each other from the beginning.
Of course, ther is always more I could add, but for now, I will post a couple of Parker's more recent and cutest smiles....

First day of "school"....

Potty Training and more...

So, last week I decided it was time to try potty training Parker. Actually, HE decided he was ready to try sitting ont he potty. He has been showing signs all summer that he was ready, but when asked to sit on the potty, he would run screaming into the other room. Last week I spent Monday just talking about how "tomorrow we are going to try sitting ont he potty." He seemed a little bit interested, and at least didn't scream when I brought it up. Tuesday morning off came the diaper and on came the pull up. First I tried having him sit on the potty every 30 minutes. No luck. He would go in his pull up right after he got up from the potty. So off came the pull up and onto "big boy underwear." This was actually a good thing, because Parker was thrilled to be wearing "THomas" and "Diego" underwear. But, after 3 pairs of wet underwear and no success in the potty, back to the pull up and down for a nap. So far no success. I debated on whether or not to continue after he woke up, but decided I better at least be consistent for the day. When he got up, off came the pull up and back to big boy underwear. Then, to my surprise, about 1/2 an hour later, I walk into the front room (where his potty was, we put it there so he could watch a show and "relax" while trying) and he is sitting there going! All by himself! Wow! Could it really be this easy? He has been going ever since! Granted, we haven't left the house in underwear yet, because right now he will only go in "his" potty, not a regular toilet. We also have not tackled "number 2" yet, but I'll save those details from this blog so that you will continue reading...

Here is Parker showing you that he can sit on the potty. He really is smiling, even though he looks to be in pain!

Another "fun" part of the day here at the Hall home is dinner time for the twins. As anyone out there with multiples can attest, the only thing worse than a hungry crying baby is two hungry crying babies. I have found that the easiest way to feed them is at the same time, alternating bites from one mouth to the other. This way one is taking a bite while the other is swallowing, and, if I am fast enough and create a speedy rhythm, I can keep the food coming at a fast enough pace to keep them from crying. It is not that I don't feed them enough or that they are so starving, but they really get jealous when they see the other one getting a bite when they are not getting one. (This is not a good sign for the future I have decided.) When we started feeding them baby food, we also learned very quickly that it was easier to feed them with no clothes on. Carrots and sweet potatoes are hard stains to get out, and bibs definitely do not provide the needed coverage to keep the food off. Maybe wrapping them in saran wrap would work, but that is also a choking and suffocation hazzard, so we opted for nudity. Okay, not full nudity, we keep the diaper on, otherwise there would REALLY be a mess to clean up!

Can you SEE the amount of food on their little bodies?! It is amazing they get anything in their mouths!

After they eat they go straight into the kitchen sink for a bath. Josh and I have set up a sort of assembly line clean up routine that works out well. He bathes the first one while I start cleaning the kitchen area (baby food usually covers most surfaces within a 5 foot radius of the babies). Then I take baby #1 (usually Wyatt because he cries when he is not first. Hmmm, is this a complex he is forming due to the fact that he was the second to be born? Dad? What do you think?) and dry and dress them. Josh gets baby #2 (Brynley doesn't mind being second, becaeu she can hang around and lick up any stray or extra food she may have missed durring the feeding. She will eat whatever whenever!) and bathes her, and I come get her and get her dressed while Josh cleans up around the kitchen sink that is now SOAKING WET within a 5 foot radius of the sink due to excessive splashing and kicking during the bath. The rest of the kitchen gets cleaned sometime before bed. Mission accomplished!

Here are a few more photos of play time around the house...

Here is Parker teaching Wyatt and Brynley to play "tackle." Basically, the game is that Parker runs at you and tackles you. It started out as a form of football, but soon he gave up on the football part of the game, because the tackling was the part he likes best. Wyatt and Brynley are tough, too, they pretty much just roll with the punches when they get tackled. It is a gentler form of the game when he plays with the babies, too, like a slow motion tackle that doesn't hurt them. It is pretty funny to watch! Notice Wyatt is this picture, he still fits under the coffee table quite easily. I have had to look for him a couple of times when rolls under there and doesn't come out!

Wyatt and Brynley in their exersaucers! Wyatt looks a little freaked out, I know. Check out those thighs on my little Brynley!

Here is what happens when Josh lays down on the floor to play with the kids on a Sunday afternoon. I'm not sure where the kids went, but at least he has found a good use for that boppy pillow!