Happy 4th Birthday, Parker!

Parker turned 4 on Sunday, so I wanted to take a few minutes and talk about my sweet little guy.

Parker is definitely the child in our family that gets the least attention from the rest of the world. He's a quiet, mellow kid right smack in the middle of two darling, verbal sisters. But the rest of the world is missing out, because this kid is awesome.

He is very serious about his playing. This is a costume he created that's some sort of Star Wars person. He loves all things Star Wars, Cars, Transformers, etc. He especially loves to build things, and Legos are a favorite right now. Here is a person he built with Trio blocks.

One thing I love about Parker is how much he adores his sisters. He LOVES Kenley and Claire, and is so sweet and gentle with them. He uses such a soft voice with Claire, and is usually very patient with her. Kenley is his best friend, and the first person he listed when asked who he wanted at his birthday party. These two are best buddies.

He's still quite picky, but improving a little, thankfully. He's added a few (plain) meats to his menu this year, thankfully. He LOVES any sort of chocolate. This is a picture of our layover in Juneau when we moved here, and I was so tired that I accidentally let him eat chocolate milk, a chocolate muffin, and Cocoa Puffs for breakfast. Oops.

He's not perfect, of course. He is currently in a tantruming stage where, once he gets going, he does not like anything. "I don't like you, Mommy. I don't like any of my pajamas. I don't like this bed - it is not cool. I don't want any of my toys anymore." And so on and so forth. It is frustrating and discouraging to have him act like this because up until now he has been such a sweetie. But we're working on it, and it's improving. Plus, how could you stay angry at this face, especially when he says you are beautiful?

In October Parker was assessed for his speech and qualified for weekly Speech Therapy. He and his teacher adore each other, and it's nice for him to have something that's just for him. He is making amazing strides. They work on a sound each week and he picks them up so quickly. When he was first tested, he was something like 70% unintelligible, and now most people can understand most of what he says. I am so proud of his hard work, and he's really proud of himself.

So that's Parker right now. I love him so, so much. He brings so much happiness to our family, and I couldn't imagine life without him.

"Her name is Clairey-Beary, and her nickname is Ding-Dong."

Title quote courtesy of Parker, explaining to one of his stuffed animals why we call our baby Clairey-Beary Ding Dong. Here's a few funny videos to give you a glimpse into our Claire. She is such a funny kid and brings so much sunshine into our family! The first one is of her eating salsa with a fork, the second is her trying to climb INTO her bed at bedtime, and the last is of her refusing to get out of her high chair.

This is why I don't do laundry.....

So the kids were immensely helpful in folding their laundry today. Claire started it all by grabbing some of Parker's underwear and walking around in it. Of course we gave her the desired laughs, which made the other kids think it would be equally funny if THEY walked around in some brand-newly washed clothes. Parker, by the way, is fully dressed, wearing footie pajamas OVER his clothes, and then some other pajamas over that. *sigh* You've heard the phrase, "Trying to clean when your kids are little is like trying to shovel the driveway while it's still snowing" - that's how my life feels. But at least they're cute while they're causing their trouble.

Kenley's Quotables of the Week

About ice skating: "Can you believe I'm gliding and I'm only five?! What kind of a kid AM I?"

When James said he was disappointed he didn't have hockey this week: "Uh, Dad? Every week when you go to hockey you're all, My knees hurt, my back hurts, blah blah blah. You should feel GRATEFUL you don't have hockey this week!"

When we walked outside it was very bright and sunny, and I said jokingly, "Kenley, why'd you make it so bright out here?" And she says all sassy, "It's Jesus' fault! Blame Him!"

Little Darling

Well, it took 5.5 years of parenting, but we finally reached this epic milestone - a kid coloring on the walls. Does she look appropriately remorseful?

Park Day!

Well, it's officially March, Spring Break, and sunny, so we headed off to the park today!

What? Different from what you were expecting?

Iditarod!

Today we went to watch the ceremonial start to the Iditarod, which is a big sled dog race here in Alaska. The morning was crazy and chaotic making sure we had all the snow gear for everyone in the family, but once we got there we had a great time! Well, aside for the time when Parker decided he no longer wanted to go to the Iditarod and wouldn't move from his spot in the parking lot.

Here's Claire all bundled up and ready to go:

Here are some of the dogs resting and eating:

The kids plopped right down and had a little snow picnic:

Here are some of the dog sled teams:

And here's the whole family enjoying our Alaskan experience!

The magical backpack had the same effect on Claire that it used to have on Kenley:

What a fun day to start our Spring Break!