PCK 16 Months

Our sweet Parker Campbell Klein is 16 months old today! He is tipping the scales at almost 22 pounds and is outgrowing clothes and jams left and right!

Hair: Our littlest man had his very first haircut! Not too much off, though mamma did snag a curl for the baby book.

Diapers: Still Huggies Little Movers Size 3, but not much longer!

Clothes: Some 12-month and mostly 18-month now

Health: Still working on our molars! Poor guy has been in pain and hasn’t even wanted some of his favorite foods lately. We’ve been making up for it with green smoothies.

Sleep: Still sleeping like a champ most days! Naps are sometimes interrupted by the teething monster, though, boo!

Diet: Parker loves anything mommy has. Case in point, mamma made a green smoothie and put it into two cups, one for mamma and one for Parker. Parker wanted nothing to do with his smoothie, just mamma’s. Ha! Since Parker’s appetite hasn’t been that great lately, I’ve been throwing in extra snacktimes just to see if he’ll eat. It’s hit and miss, but he usually goes for grapes, yogurt, veggie crackers, and cream cheese on anything.

He is also loving his green smoothies and gets so excited when he sees me making them. I make sure to pack them with spinach and kale since he’s not doing the best job eating his meals as of late.

Likes: Parker is currently obsessed with finding pairs of things. Stop signs, vents, fans, he’ll point to one and then very excitedly point to the other one. Parker also loves picking out books and bringing them to an adult to read to him. His favorites are anything Nancy Tillman or Sandra Boynton, as well as Where’s Spot, Little Blue Truck, and his picture dictionary. Parker will also happily look through all his books on his own. 

If Parker is awake, he is moving! He loves walking all around the house, opening and closing doors, peering in the washer and dryer, shaking maracas, chasing balls, opening drawers, kissing himself in full length mirrors, taking all of his toys out of their baskets and throwing them on the floor, then picking them up, then throwing them back down… it’s non stop fun around here! Parker also instigates “rough house play” by squealing and leaping on me if I’m anywhere near the floor. He loves to be tickled, twirled around, and hung upside down. Recently we have been having lots of dance parties (the Nashville station is our jam… so odd to think that not too long from now, Nashville will be considered “the city” as we’ll be living less than 2 hours away from there!). 

Parker likes the occasional double-double, especially if enjoyed from dada's lap!

I purchased a faux set of fruit to teach Parker names and colors, and so far he can identify the banana (he calls it “nana”) and the apple (“ah-pull”). 

Parker is still quite the fishie and loves swimming and playing in water. 

He will even sit on the diving board and scoot himself into the water! (Into daddy's arms of course.)

And Parker has been used to being dunked since last year, so he happily goes underwater! Our little Pisces! 

Parker also likes to help mamma "cook" by taking out all the tupperware from the kitchen while I'm preparing meals. 

Social: Parker still loves waving and clapping. He loves to interact when we say “How big is Parker?”, or when we ask him where his belly is, or to show us his tongue. Randomly, he also knows where mommy’s feet are! We were reading a flip book that showed baby’s feet and Parker got up, walked over and pointed to my feet! Whether we are just at home or out and about, Parker is constantly pointing and saying “dat! dat! dat!”, wanting us to identify every single thing he sees (which we do so happily). 

Parker has not been loving our usual music classes and play dates though, and has been getting overwhelmed when we attend. He’s a sensitive little soul!

Milestones: Parker’s sign language vocabulary now includes “more”, “milk”, and “bird”. Yes, totally random, but we’ll be out on walks and he’ll point to birds, say “dat!” and make the bird sign. He also spots them in books. He is making lots of text-to-self connections now while reading, and the elementary educator in me is twelve kinds of excited about this. He’ll point to the window in Goodnight Moon, then point to the window in his room! He’ll grab The Belly Button Book to read and pat his own belly, then when we get to the page where the hippo looks at his belly button he’ll do the same. He will also point to the fish in his picture dictionary, say “ishhhh” and then say “dat!” and point to our aquarium. Parker recently started following directions. He will put his clothes in the hamper, bring me specific books (e.g. “Bring mamma Little Blue Truck.”), and can put his books back in the bookcase when prompted. He surprises me all the time with what he understands and what he can do – just this morning, he was walking around with his sippy cup while I prepared his breakfast, and when it was time to put him in the high chair to eat, the sippy cup was gone. I said (more to myself than to him) “Where did your milk go?” and he led me over to the chair where he had put it! (I’ve noticed chairs and couches provide a very convenient height for him for placing things!)

Firsts: First haircut!  First sushi, sharing a (cooked) California roll with mamma, and first taste of Reddi Wip. 

Parker also went on his first overnight playdate with our Boys Club! We headed up to a cabin in Payson, AZ, to escape the desert heat. 

Parker "painted" for the first time here using pudding outside on the grass. The boys were all very excited when they realized how good it tasted and soon the painting stopped and the eating began!

Parker is seriously growing and changing every single day. He is constantly surprising me with new things he can do - sixteen months is such a fun age!!