2.5

On Friday, this amazing little man turned two-and-a-half!

He's nothing but sweetness! And we are so in love with him.

This bundle of energy lives for being outside. Blowing bubbles, throwing balls, running around, coloring with chalk, watering the garden... he can't get enough.

Parker gets happy feet whenever I say it's time to cook. And by happy feet, I mean he literally runs in place, now while narrating "happy feet" out loud since we've labeled this move as such. But really, cooking/baking is just that much fun. 

Whether it's pouring juice in a blender for a smoothie, whisking eggs, measuring out sugar for cookies, or stirring up our dinner salad, little man has to be in on the action. And I just love working with my tiny sous chef! Mamma is cooking like Baby!

As soon as Daddy comes home from work each day, little man requests to go to the "ahh-fuh" (Max's office, which is really a euphemism for his packed-to-the gills lab). Here you'll find Parker "helping daddy work" - typing on the computer (EXIT is his favorite word to type), using the screwdriver, pressing buttons on the multimeter, turning on the instruments, "working on" wires... I mean, it's totally normal for two-year-old to be using a spectrum analyzer, riiiight? Perks of having a super scientist daddy! Parker knows this is where things go to get fixed. If we spot something broken, Parker will be quick to say it needs to go to the office to be fixed with a screwdriver (a screwdriver is the answer to everything for him!). The office is above the garage, so Parker also gets to peek in on Daddy's project car, Sandy (the 911 convertible). Max has been changing out the wiring so the car is completely taken apart, and Parker will point to all the pieces that need to go back in. Those seats go in Sandy! Sandy broken!

Parker is also quite fond of Mommy's craft room where we stamp, color, and paint. Parker explained, while watercoloring in the photo below, that he had made a windsock and radar (because he is obsessed with both - it could have something to to with the 38 flights he's been on and all the time spent looking around at airports!). 

Little man is serious about his reading! 

His most-read books are pretty much memorized, so he loves to finish off sentences when we read them aloud and also likes to paraphrase the pages in his books. His favorites vary, but Little Blue Truck, The Little Airplane, and Little Owl's Night are all usually daily reads. We've introduced the concept of authors and illustrators, but for now he thinks everything was written by Lois Lensky ... as in, he'll "read" the title of a book (he's just committed all of them to memory) then "read" the author and say "by Lois Lensky" - no matter how many Eric Carles or Nancy Tillmans we drop in, everything is still by Lois Lensky. It cracks me up, but also makes my heart burst with happiness and pride because he is such a reader already! He sleeps with at least three of four books every single night, and has been doing so for probably the last year. During bedtime last week, we turned off the lights and he just wasn't finished reading, so he took his book over to his EXIT sign (we use it as a night light) and was reading the pages in its glow, trying to get in every last tidbit he could. 

Parker loves to sing! My favorite is listening to him wake up in the morning, reciting Bingo, Old McDonald, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Frère Jacques, The ABCs, The Wheels on the Bus, and his other favorites. If we're in a group, he'll often say "Everybody sing!" and will call you out if you aren't participating! Then he'll direct the song (for The Wheels on the Bus verses, he'll say "How about the windshield wipers!" "How about the motor!" prompting these verses next). Little Man is also a dancing machine. He specifically requests Sitting on the Dock of the Bay,  Pharrel's Happy, ZZ Top, or anything by Taylor Swift or Meghan Trainor (he's got quite the eclectic taste in music going on). Or, he'll just ask that we sing "No Treble All That Base" and then he'll get down! 

Parker's food preferences are pretty random as well. He's picked up the typical toddler finickiness - having big appetites some days and none the next. When he decides he does want to eat, he loves a fruit smoothie (we mix it up and we'll make it with green juice or spinach), and also favors cheese, french toast, and milk. He cycles through favorite fruits and veggies - cucumber and raspberries usually show up most often on the "like it" list. He will totally surprise us out of the blue with loving very non-traditional toddler foods as well... sushi? Couldn't get enough. We had to order extra unagi. We explained it was eel, and he was totally for it. Capers? Smoked salmon and cream cheese? Yes, yes, yes. It's like he has the palette of a forty-year-old sometimes! He's also a big fan of Chia seeds, and loves to mix them in yogurt. And, he's inherited his Mamma's love for ice cream :)

Other favorites include snuggling, hotel lobbies, being tickled (he'll request "tickle baby!"), general horsing around (he loves when Daddy hangs him upside down), trains, elevators,  and getting cake pops at Starbucks. We conveniently have a Starbucks in the Target we frequent, and little man perks up when we enter, always requesting "Milk aaaaaaand a cake pop?"

Playing "pretend" has also become a big part of Parker's day recently! It's so much fun to watch. We'll be at home and he'll proclaim: Being like teacher! or Being lifeguard! or Driving! Driving monorail!, basically emulating all of these people (the teacher at our Botanic Gardens classes, the Lifeguard at the pool, the Seattle monorail driver). 

Television: We continue to provide Sweet P with a television-free environment. This includes time on iPhones or iPads, so it makes them big treats while flying or occasionally if we're dining out at a nice restaurant (because Parker would basically like to do anything but sit these days!).

Colors: Parker can identify all colors of the rainbow (though pink and purple still get mixed up a little), plus black and brown. He seems to like the color orange the best right now - if he's given an option lately the choice is always orange!

ABC's and 123s: Parker has been obsessed with letters for as long as I can remember. He's directed his own learning just by being curious about them. Parker can identify all 26 uppercase letters and many lowercase.  He can spell Parker, Klein, Exit, Yield, and Stop, and will randomly impress/surprise us doing things like pointing out an H somewhere and saying "H like Home Goods!" He counts to his teens, and identifies lots of numerals. He loves to point out the numbered registers at Target - Seven is open! Five is closed! His favorite register is eighteen. I'm not sure why he latched on to this number (possibly because he knows his birthday is March 18th?), but it's totally his favorite. He will exclaim "Eighteen open!!" if he sees the light on and insist we go to that register; it's adorable. If it's closed, he says "Maybe next time!"

Other gems that make us laugh:

(After Mamma brings in a shipping box from the front porch)
Open box with scissors! Only grown-ups! Get ooooolder. 

Hey Babes!
Parker will call this out to get my attention or Max's, obviously he's heard us using the nickname!

Meghan Trainor have a seat. Sitting by Meghan Trainor! 
(Parker at Starbucks, talking to his beloved Meghan Trainor CD case)

Need screwdriver!
(For anything that's broken)

Oh, thank you!
(When he delivers something.) 

 We just can't wait to see what lies ahead!