Like Father, Like Son

What’s cuter than one Totten boy? Two Totten boys, of course! Parker just loves spending time with his papa and it looks as though David enjoys Parker a bit as well. Some have said that Parker is looking more like me these days, but just take a look at these pictures and try telling me Parker doesn't look a little like his papa.

  

So Close!

There once was the time when we could set Parker down anywhere, walk away, and know that he would still be in that exact same spot and in the exact same position when we returned. Friends, these days have passed. Parker has mastered rolling, which is his primary mode of transportation, but he’s experimenting with some more interesting strategies. There is the “get up on all fours and try to go forward only to push myself backward” strategy. This generally ends in being stuck underneath something. There is also the “get up on all fours and push with my feet only to do a face plant” strategy. This doesn’t usually end well either. Then there is the ever popular superman pose and the good old lean. Both are staples in Parker's repertoire, but not real effective when the goal is to move. While none of these strategies have proven to be super efficient yet, we’re confident that at some point he will figure out that in addition to pushing with his feet and moving his legs he also has to move his hands in order to crawl forward.

"Jogging" Stroller

Parker J went for his first ride in the big boy jogging stroller! Now, don’t be fooled by the name. Just because it is called a “jogging” stroller doesn’t mean any actual jogging took place. For one thing, Parker is too young to jog yet people. Now his mom isn’t too young to jog, but the side ache that ensued after increasing the pace to a brisk walk would indicate that we are not yet ready for jogging. Parker did kick his little legs with glee the entire ride, though, so he kind of looked like he was jogging.

Merry Christmas...In March?!

Hopefully better late than never applies in this situation because I just realized that no photos of Parker’s first Christmas were ever posted!!  We are blessed to have both sets of grandparents in the same town, which means when we head to Camas for the holidays we get to see everyone! The current routine is to spend Christmas Eve at the Totten house and Christmas Day with the Jackson/Deans. This year was no different (except for Tiny Tots joining us of course). Parker's first Christmas was a success in many ways. First, he got to cuddle with all his favorite people. Second, Christmas trees have lights on them and Parker is a BIG fan of lights. Third, he is use to taking naps so the mid-day Christmas nap was not a surprise to him. The biggest success of the day, though, was that Parker rolled over for the first time. In fact, it took so much effort for him to get from his back to his belly that the momentum brought him all the way over and on to his back again. We're not sure if he was more frightened by his new accomplishment or by the loud cheering that ensued. Either way, he calmed down quickly and we all had a Very Merry Christmas.


It’s okay, Parker. Uncle Gary was only kidding when he said you weren’t getting any presents this year.





Enough with the presents! I want some of Grandma Connie’s famous cinnamon rolls!!



Six Months Old!

Best kid ever, and he keeps getting older, crazy!  Six months old, can you believe that?!  Obviously, his neck is a lot stronger, his smiles are getting increasingly bigger, and apparently, his P90-x "Ripped Abs" exercise routine isn't really showing the desired effects.  Yet. 

Snow-mageddon!

Well, that was a pretty crazy week!  After a very tame winter so far, the weatherman finally had to earn his paycheck last week!  Of course, they were a full two days off for when the snow would come - but came indeed, it did!  We got a few inches and Seattle did the only thing that Seattle knows how to do when the white stuff falls...SHUT DOWN! 

I worked from home on MLK, Jr. Day, and we met up with the Kid Mafia (Mollie, Miles, Jack, Roark, Tatum, and Jesse) at Phinney Market up on Phinney Ridge for some happy hour food, drink, and catching up with good friends.  It was a lot of fun, started the week off right!  I'm actually kind of miffed why Microsoft doesn't take MLK, Jr. Day off in the first place - I'm taking it off from this point on, no matter what.  It's ridiculous, and fired me up for the entire day.  Thankfully, the Hueys reserved a table for 30 at the restaurant so I could wash away my anger with a nice amber and some soup....

Tuesday was when all the big weather was supposed to hit, which was concerning as I had half my team in town for something they call "Licensing University."  Yep, my job is pretty darned geeky if you have to have a "school" for four days to get people the 101 level information they need.  The problem is, they only offer this classwork once every year.  One of the gals on my team, while new to Microsoft, has worked with Microsoft licensing for years.  She could have written the syllabus.  Instead, she just distracted everybody, and then proceeded to lead a snow angel walk-out / revolt on Thursday with the rest of the students.  Go figure. 

Anyway, the snow didn't come on Tuesday.  I stayed in sunny Bellevue all day, even for a team dinner late that night...no snow.  But it was cold, and Wednesday brought the chaos!  I couldn't get off the hill on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, so I had to work from home.  Basically, Parker and I got to wear the matching PJ's Treva got us all and he listened to more conference calls in between naps...good times!

This snowstorm reminded us of our very first winter in Queen Anne, when we were snowed in and walked to Fremont with the beagle at least twice to meet the Hueys for drinks.  Thankfully, the snow wasn't as bad this time around, but we still had the good friends to meet up with for company!  Parker loved the snow.  Well, not really - he liked watching the snow, and he was so bundled up, he surely didn't feel the cold.  But watching the cars try and get by our house on McGraw was pretty fascinating for both Totten boys, and he'll remember it forever!

Good thing we have some indoor activities to keep him busy.....can't tell below if he's happy or not :).

dwt.

SLEEP TIME!!

Good times are abound in Parker’s sleeping schedule, which makes things much happier for Mama and Papa Tots as well!  Parker has always been a pretty good napper / sleeper (like his mother), but he’s always had that late-night food craving (like his father) that wakes him up and turns him into that plant from Little Shop of Horrors until he gets fed.  So, a little over a month ago, we rolled the dice and tried to let him “work it out” on his own as opposed to his regular 3:30-4am feeding.  It did not work that well.  Hard nights for the little man, and hard on Treva and I as well – I apologize, in writing, for the numerous people I’m sure ran into me on a day where I had less sleep than normal – “my bad.”  So we took a break from the official Tiny Tots’ Training Camp over the holidays and restarted in late December.  And…IT WORKED!  Sort of. 

Ready for bed!!

I mean, the kid is still a tank that has to be gassed up with fuel on a regular occasion.  But now, he’s not setting his sleep schedule to that 3:30 feeding.  Sometimes he wakes up at 5am, some days at 5:45 or 6am, and even a few days sprinkled in there he’ll sleep until 7 or 7:30!  So, all in all, while still a work in progress, we’re trending in the right direction!  Nap schedules are similar – General Treva runs a pretty tight ship on his wake time, with scheduled naps at 08:30 hours, another around lunch-time, and then a little cat nap around 16:30 hours.  That third nap is starting to turn hit/miss – he still needs to sleep, but at times the duration leaves a little to be desired.  I think he’ll quit taking that nap within the month, which hopefully will make sure we can put him to sleep even earlier than his current bedtime is now.  Speaking of, special kudos to Lars and Shannon Johnson for being the first couple we’ve inconvenienced by forcing them to eat dinner when old people eat, just so we could be back to tuck PJT in.  Thanks guys!!

Sleep “style” is also changing – Parker is rolling over onto his belly to sleep now, so no more swaddling.  In fact, the first time he did it was in his Pack and Play over at Karen and Ernie’s place on New Years, and he lost his cool with the result – he was not happy!  Treva and I are talking about this all the time, questioning his to-belly movement since he’s not exactly a big fan of “Tummy Time.”  Yet, for whatever reason, he can’t seem to sleep on his back anymore, unless he’s really, really, really exhausted.  In addition, while he’s officially an Honor Student in rolling over to his belly (specifically the lean from his right side!), he can’t seem to figure out how to roll onto his back yet.  As a result, he gets pretty fired up on his belly, but can’t help but fall asleep in that position every single time we put him down right now. 

Other sleep quirks:  Still smiles like Bill Clinton at a Cheerleader Camp when we wake him up from his nap / sleep to keep him on schedule!  He’s usually pretty happy to see our smiling faces, I love that, one of my favorite things!  But, when he wakes up on his own and is starving…well, he’s less happy.  He also makes a lot of noise – still talks to himself, a lot of grunting and “argh’ing”…in fact, Treva asked me the other night as we were going to bed, if I was worried that a Pterodactyl may be eating our son at that very moment.  Oh, it’s no dinosaur, just a kid settling into Position A to sleep the night through!  He moves a lot too – when he does wake up early, circa 5am, he usually can put himself back to sleep…unless he’s wiggled his way to the top of his crib and his face is smashed against the end.  Sleeping with your face against a wood panel seems like it may be uncomfortable – Parker concurs.  Before he was belly-bound, he used to turn himself in circles.  We would put him down with his head facing north, we’d wake up in the morning and his head is facing South.  I’m pretty sure Olive didn’t move him…so that little wiggle worm continued to readjust through the night!

All in all, we’re seeing more good sleep days than bad sleep days, and that’s fun – still some bad days, like, I don’t know, YESTERDAY??  Regardless, more good than bad and we’re thankful for that!  Sweet dreams everybody, beware of those nursery carnivores out there!

dwt.

5 Months Old!

No, not this week!  Back right after Christmas!  Parker turns 5 months old - check out those well-defined pectoral muscles...or not!  Looks like we need to spend more time on the bench press with old Tubs here....

Times, they are a changin'....

We are LOVING Parker at this age, he’s so expressive and interested in so many different things!  We have seen a lot of change in him as well – he’s growing and learning so much, every day!  Some key / fun milestones we have seen recently:

• He used to talk all the time – just sit there on his own and babble.  Now, he only does this part of the time.  If he’s being vocal now, it’s about sticking his tongue out and “coo’ing” in a steady, high-pitched voice.  It’s probably too early, but gauging his tone….I’m pretty sure we do not have the next Justin Bieber with this kid.
• Yes, he has discovered his tongue – and he loves it.  And he watches with so much excitement when I stick my tongue out at him.  Treva doesn’t stick her tongue out at him, of course – but I do all the time.  It’s kind of our thing. 
• Parker’s favorite food:  still breast milk.
• He blows bubbles.  Remember the Cosby Show, and Dr. Huckstable used to call them “zerbits”?  Yeah, he does those by himself, and it’s hilarious!
• When we’re changing him, or trying to put his pajamas up, he gets this ridiculous devilish grin on this mug and tries to grab you with his hands and bring whatever he can get to his mouth.  It’s really cute – and unbelievably annoying at 5am. 
• He has discovered Olive the Beagle – before, he didn’t even notice her.  Now, he watches her come and go – it’s only a matter of time until I try and see if Parker can ride her.  It’s going to be an epic video.

• My favorite Stupid Totten trick:  when you blow on Parker’s face, his eyes get big, he takes a giant breath in through his nose, then lets it out slowly through his mouth…making that cute baby sigh.  It’s hilarious!  It actually is so funny, it makes me light-headed.  Though, thinking more in depth about this now, that could be from my blowing on him so much.
• Parker’s favorite band:  Blink 182.
• He can roll over now – we’ve witnessed it, even have the first “official” rollover on tape!  Actually, his first rollover was technically here at the house – he went from his stomach to his back, but it was only because he was trying to see something and once his head gets to a point of no return, his body has to follow.  He’s like one of those crocodiles they hunt in his 4^th favorite show, Swamp People.  Once you get the head in the boat, the body has no choice but to follow.  Well, that’s like Parker rolling over.  He rolled from his back to his belly, then back to his front over at Grandma Jackson-Dean’s house on Christmas, after some significant training from Grandma Totten the night before  – everybody was pretty excited.  But not Parker – in fact, it freaked him out something special!  It’s never funny to laugh at your child when they cry – except for when it’s something super funny like a panic cry because of rolling over!

• Parker has a jumper – and I’m not referring to a sweatshirt in England.  He loves jumping!  Though lately, when we put him in his “Jumparoo,” he’s noticed the toys / things to look at.  So he spends less time jumping, more time analyzing.  Pretty interesting stuff on there, apparently.
• He’s ticklish. 
• He knows his dad is HILARIOUS.  Well, I guess it's just that Parker loves to laugh and smile - his face just lights up when he sees a smiling face, it's pretty funny.  I think we should actually get him some clown paraphernalia or something in fact, keep him laughing all day long.  If only I didn't have a recurring dream involving a clown....clowns are weird.  So instead, I just laugh and smile at him, and he seems to respond well to that....Check the video below as proof!

In fact, prepare to see more videos on this site as well.  My mother told me that videos don't work when viewing the blog on one of those archaic technology "iDevices"...and I support that boycott.  More videos to be posted!!

Giggles and Grins for all you do in 2012, happy New Years!