Parker's Firsts

Before Christmas, Parker ate his first piece of dog food. Jack's bowl is by the back door, and it is super tempting to Parker. We have to shoo him away from food and water bowls at least five times per day.  I was home with Parker and noticed that his drool was tinged with brown.  Odd, I thought.  I stuck my finger in his mouth and found a piece of dog food that he was sucking on - I guess he thought it was a puff and would dissolve.  Yuck!

Friday on New Years Eve, Parker said his first word - kinda.  Marking milestones is hard for me because I'm a perfectionist and I want to know for sure when its THE day of a milestone.  What day do I decide Parker's new tooth is "in"?  When it breaks through the gums?  When its all the way out and full-sized?  So I'm tentatively going to say that Parker's first word was Jack.  He loves Jack and when Jack came up on the bed to say good morning to Parker, Benton said, "Parker, say hi to Jack." And Parker responded with something like Jah - close enough.  Tonight in the bathtub, I also got duh for his bathtub ducks.  Pretty cool to know he's comprehending the world around him!

My best friend Hayley has also diagnosed Parker as a climber.  I didn't know there was such a thing, but my child does seem to want to get higher and higher, even though he's not yet walking.  On Friday, he climbed on top of his suitcase, onto his ottoman, and then stood up to touch things on top of his dresser.  We were both right there to supervise, but it does make you wonder what he'll be able to do once he is freely walking about on his own.

Last Thursday night after we got back from Austin, we also had our first "could be a concussion" moment.  Parker used a kitchen char to stand up and then decided it would be fun to literally hang from the top rung on the back of the chair.  I was three feet away, but couldn't get there before he timbered flat on his back and the chair landed on top of him.  He was so mad at the chair for not only causing him to hit the back of his head, but that it also smacked him in the forehead.  We waited over an hour to put him to bed and checked his pupils with my new mag light (thanks dad).  No concussion I guess, but I'm sure we'll have more scares in the future.

Last, but not least, today's was Parker's first trip to church and the church nursery.  He had no problem being handed over and when we picked him up they said he was the sweetest boy and he played great (there was only one other little girl in the infant room).  I'm sure they tell this to all of this first time moms.  It was nice to sit with Benton in church and not have to worry that Parker was crawling, climbing, or getting in to other trouble.  Now that we've broken the ice, we'll be attending church regularly in 2011 (one of my New Years Resolutions).