Bubbles

Dear Parker,

Lately, you have been singing this song from school about a turtle who gets put in the bathtub to see if he can swim.  We are with you up until the part at the end about bubbles, at which point, we have a hard time deciphering the actual lyrics.  So, tonight after the bath, you started singing it.  Your Mom asked, "What happened to the bubbles?"  You thought for a really long time and then said, "They comed out of my bottom!"  Hilarious because you had just farted in the tub and thought that the bubbles were super funny.

We laughed for a long time.  Thanks for being so amazing.

I love you,
Mommy

So hard

Dear Parker,

I love you infinitely.  That will never change.  But life with you is kind of hard right now.  You are super clingy.  You have always been a Mommy's girl, but lately it's been excessive.  I can't leave your side or you have a complete meltdown. It even extends to your cloths, blankets and toys.  You are very possessive and anything that is "mine" has to be with you at all times.   I feel terrible because every morning when I leave you at school, you scream your head off.  We had almost gotten to the point where you weren't even crying.  Going to bed is another nightmare.  Before we moved, you were going to sleep by yourself.  Ever since the move, I have had to lay next to you until you fall asleep.  There have been a couple nights this week where it has been tragic.  You wouldn't go to sleep and even if you did appear to be asleep, the second I leave, you start crying.  The problem now is that you are a bit beyond "crying it out."  You just scream and scream and scream (and scream and scream and scream.)  It kills me.  I've been so stressed and frustrated with life that I'm not handling any of these situations well and it makes me feel worse and even more stressed out.  Tonight, I finally sent your Mom in.  You screamed for her for awhile and finally went to sleep.  You weren't happy about it, but you are still sleeping.

I hope that you know that when I leave you at school or make you go to sleep that I still love you more than anything.

You are the light of my life.  I just want you to be a little more independent than you are right now.  Tomorrow is another day and I am looking forward to seeing your beautiful little face in the morning.

I love you,
Mommy

Insomnia

Dear Parker,

What was up with last night?  I know that we sort of messed you up by allowing you to nap in the car on the way back home from the shower, but you just refused to go to sleep.  You kept "trying" by closing your eyes, but they would just keep popping back open.  We were all so frustrated.  I did not handle it well.  I'm sorry.  In the end, we put you in our bed and turned on a Sesame Street thinking that you would just fall asleep.  Notsomuch.  You didn't fall asleep until 11 or after and even then you were flopping around all night.  This morning (which came WAY too soon) I got up to get in the shower and you woke from a dead sleep and insisted that you come with me.  I tried to encourage you to stay in bed and sleep, but there was no convincing you and I didn't have time to fight.  So, I got in the shower and you crawled out of bed and laid on the bathroom mat right outside the shower door with your cloth and blanket.  I'm not sure what's up with the extreme clingy-ness lately, but it's getting kind of old.  I love you more than anything, but other people love you too and would love to hold you and take care of you.  Plus, you are a big girl and can do things for yourself.

Anyway, I'm very glad that you went to sleep normally tonight.  Hopefully, you will sleep well and will be in a better mood tomorrow.

I love you so much, bits.

Good night. Love,
Mommy

Here we go again

Dear Parker,

Around the time you were a year old, you had a string of ear infections that wouldn't go away.  Finally, we were able to get yo on some super strong antibiotic that got them to go away.  I fear that we are starting down that path again.  You were diagnosed about a week ago with double ear infections.  We started the regular amoxicillin, but I just didn't think it was working.  When you were first diagnosed, you didn't have any symptoms, but as the week went on, you got a terrible cough and a super runny nose.  That just didn't seem right! So, we I stayed home with you today and we went to the doctor (again!)  Sure enough, infections are still there.  Back to the super strength stuff.  Here's hoping it does the trick.

I am having a good day with you, but you weren't able to get a good nap and you don't feel well, so you are pretty much a giant crank right now.  We spent a good deal of time cuddling on the bed and watching tv.  You alternated between running around and being crazy and whining and only wanting to be held.  We put you to bed early, but I can still hear you coughing and hacking.  I feel so bad for you and just want you to feel better.

Every time I get a chance to stay home with you, I just want to do it every day.  Luckily, we only have to go to school 1 more day and then we get a weekend.

I love you so much.  Please get better soon.
Love,
Mommy

Oh Boy.

Dear Parker,

I am going to have to keep myself in check. We went to your first parent-teacher conference tonight. I wasn't sure what to expect, seeing as you are barely 2. Basically, your teacher (Miss Jackie) had a checklist of the things that you should be doing (or maybe should be doing by the time you leave the room) and next to them she had written A,S or N (Always, Sometimes or Never.) You had mostly A, some S's and a few N's. Now, I KNOW that you just turned two and that you have 6 more months in this room, but I want to practice all the things you had S's and N's in. That's just me being a psycho parent. Not that the practicing is bad, but that I want you to have all A's and be the best. I'm just going to have to work very hard to keep myself in check.

I love you very much and I AM very proud of you and all the things you are able to do right now. Miss Jackie said that you were on or ahead of schedule developmentally, but that they (and we) need to work on your independence. I don't think that's going to happen this weekend as we are going to visit Grandma! LOL

In other news, you have a really bad cough and are starting to act like you really don't feel well. I don't think the 'pink medicine' is doing the job, so I am not going to school tomorrow and am taking you to the doctor. I hope you feel better soon, Bits. It's so hard for me to listen to you cough and moan all night. :(

I love you. Feel better soon.

Love,

Mommy

Just some stuff

Dear Parker,

Well, it's been about a week since I've written. We had a busy weekend during and are now onto a busy week.

Here are some things you like right now:

You will ask if we want some food and the proceed to dump EVERY piece of food you own on us. Then, you want us to hand it back to you so that you can put it away. Repeat process as needed

You still LOVE to draw with your markers. We have so many pieces of construction paper with your "work" on them!

You have been really into your books again in the past few days. Your two favorite right now are "Froggy Goes to School" and "Llama Llama Misses Mama." You are so empathetic. On the page where Llama Llama starts to cry, you almost start to cry!

You have been saying, "That's not a good idea" or "That's a good idea!"

We have your very first parent teacher conference tomorrow. I'm not really sure what we are going to discuss about your "education" as a 2 year old in our 10 minute time slot, but I'm actually kind of excited about it.

I'll let you know how it goes! :)

I love you,

Mommy

A (mostly) good night

Dear Parker,

Tonight was so good. I got home late since their was a bad accident on the expressway. You greeted me with a big hug and then asked me to "play markers" with you until dinner. So, we did. You ate a good dinner and were so hilarious. You kept saying, "How was your day?" We would keep saying things like, "good" or "fine," but this did not appease you. You wanted us tell you stories about our days. You would keep saying, "yeah" or "ok" during the stories. Then, you randomly reached out, shook our hands and said, "pleased to meet you!"

After dinner, we colored some more and then you went upstairs. You asked us to come up and you began making us food. You insisted that we all sit on the floor and gave us each matching plates, cup and silverware. Your Mom asked for more food. (I had a plateful and you had a few things. She only had a potato.) You said, "No. You have potato." Then, you randomly started playing with your Little People. You would imitate all the noises and sounds that the vehicles made. The funnies thing of the night though, was when you got out your stamps and started stamping all over your body. We even let you take your shirt off and stamp on you belly. You thought you were hilarious. Then, you ran around in only your shorts and started calling Mrs. Lockwood on the phone, which I always think is funny. "Hello, Mrs. Lockwood? This is Mrs. Silly Baby!" Sometimes, you would sing her the alphabet.

It was a really good night. Of course, you then didn't want to go to sleep, but that's a different story and I think I would rather focus on the great times I had with you before that!

I love you so much, Parker Alyse.

You are amazing.

Love,

Mommy

2nd Birthday

Dear Parker,

Yesterday was your 2nd birthday. Time is going by so fast. When given a choice between going to the zoo and the Children's Museum, you chose to the museum. So, that's where we headed in the morning. You wanted to see the dinosaurs first. Really, you like playing with the dinosaur eggs, but are not so much a fan of the actual dinosaurs. After you finish with the eggs, then we always have to go see the Chinese dragons, which you think are great.
You did many new things on this trip to the museum. You sat in the racecar for the first time.
You also enjoyed some old standbys - playing in the water and with the sand in playscape.
We ventured into the Dow Science area. I'm not sure why we haven't gone in there before - other than perhaps you usually poop out too soon. You LOVED it. We had to bribe you out because it was getting so late and we knew you needed a nap.
On the way out, in honor of your birthday, we let you choose a toy from the gift shop. You like many things and in the end, we gave you a choice between a pink "ugly doll" (really just a funny shaped stuffed animal) and a Nerf football. You originally chose the pink "ugly doll." Then, as we were standing in line, you said. "I want the football!" So, we switched and you seemed very happy with your choice.

We came home and you took a nap while I ran to the store and made your pink cake. When you got up we played for a bit while your Mom wrapped your presents. Then, we opened presents. You are a PRO at presents now, bits. You didn't need any help and you even politely opened the card first. In addition to the tricycle we gave you last weekend, we gave you some books, pjs, socks and play jewelry, which you loved. You put everything on at once!
Then we had cake (yes before dinner!) You sang Happy Birthday to yourself when we sang to you and you and your Mom blew out the candles. You requested a "pink" cake, so that's what you got.
While we were eating cake, we asked you what you wanted for dinner. You said that Mom and I should eat salad and that you would have more cake! Too funny. Later in the we walked to the park. You walked almost the entire way there. You are much more adventurous at the park than you used to be. You swung and slid and didn't want to go home, but it was getting late.

Clearly, you were getting tired. We need to take you to the park more often.
I'm sorry that I have to work right now, Bits. I don't feel like we have enough time to do fun things with you. I wish I could take you to the park every day. I need to do a better job of doing that on the weekend. I love you so much and am so proud of the little girl you are becoming. I hope you had a great birthday.

Love you always,

Mommy

Funny sayings

Dear Parker,

You have been bouncing between hilarious and cute and extremely trying lately. On the cute side, you started calling muffins, "nuffins." And last night, you said your teeth hurt, so we asked if you would like some Tylenol before bed. You said yes. A few minutes later you said, "I need Tynenaw!" We had no idea what you were saying. Finally, we figured out that you were saying "Tylenol." It's too cute. On the trying side, you are pretty bossy and when you don't get your way, you often have a GIANT meltdown. I guess that's part of being 2, but it drives your Moms crazy.

We are still trying to figure out what to do for your birthday. We are going to play with your friends Bryn, Shay and Liam tomorrow after school, so that will be a good kick-off to your birthday weekend, but I'm not sure where we are going from there. I just want you to have a great time!

Trying or not, I love you more than anything. I can't believe you are such a big girl. (Do I write that every time?)

Love,

Mommy

2nd Birthday Party!

Dear Parker,

I'm sorry that I haven't written in awhile. Things have been a little crazy around here. We had your 2nd Birthday Party this weekend. I can't believe that you are (almost) 2!!!!! Time is going by too fast. You have such a personality. You love being the center of attention and you are pretty bossy. You are also really caring. I have been really stressed out lately and you are always telling me that's it's ok and giving me hugs and pats. You are also really funny. Tonight you told your mom that she needed to go outside (your room) and do some work. Too funny. At (almost) 2, you love to sing, dance, color and draw, play with your kitchen. You also love the movie "Annie." Tonight you even started singing, "Tomorrow" while you were playing.

Here are some pictures from your party. This is you posing on the porch before the party started.
You picked out a balloon cake for your party. For you actual birthday, you requested a pink cake. I'll post pictures of that next weekend!
You are getting ready to play with the blocks Aunt Stacy got you.
On your new tricycle
Whee!!!!! (If you were actually pedaling, this would be better! You will learn.)
I love you so much, Parker. I can't believe how fast 2 years have gone. You are the most amazing thing in our lives.

Love,

Mommy