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.