14 months

14months old today, baby boy! My goodness. I haven't done a post about how much you've changed in a long time. In fact, I think I skipped out on it even when you were a year old. I looked at the date today and woke up thankful for you my sweet boy! Seriously, sometimes it is still unreal to me that I get to be the mom of Parke. I have a son, amazing.

So Parke is still a joyful child. He is a lot of fun. I could tell you so many things about him. Something that I've taken to heart is how he plays like a "big boy" now. He "vrooom" cars, fly's airplanes, knocks on the window, climbs on furniture, knows how to get down feet first...etc. He is in to boy things. Like a friend said it's just amazing sometimes that boys and girls are interested in different things from the beginning. My mom has a playroom upstairs with tons of toys my cousins have generously passed down and he isn't so much interested in the dolls and strollers and bassinets. He ignores them completely. He loves the blocks, the little people toys, the radio/microphone (b/c he loves music and dancing) and the puppets. He loves puppets...they are kind of ugly puppets but he loves them! He also loves the water, loves to splash and recently has learned he loves the water hose.

Parke is getting pretty good at picking up sign language too. He can tell you he is all done, wants more, please, bird, elephant, airplane (his own sign), giraffe (who is so tall) and eat. He roars like a lion too. He still loves his blankie and paci but only gets them at sleeping time and says bye bye to them when we leave them in the crib. OH yeah...and he gets them in the church nursery....yep, he does.

Parke is getting more excited about taking steps. He is not walking and actually hasn't been that interested. We practice and he pulls up on everything but just in the last week has he actually wanted to hold onto my hand and walk everywhere. He giggles, he loves to tickle people, he still loves to read books and some days (like today) is pretty much only interested in reading. I'm glad he thinks of it b/c there are plenty of days I forget to read with him! He is also still a tentative child but getting less tentative. Sometimes he is still slow to go to new people or someone besides me and Blake. At playgroup he still has days he would rather sit next to me and watch everyone than play and then sometimes he is crawling everywhere and playing with the boys. I can relate :).....

After his nap he loves to roll around in his bed when I go to get him. He smiles, plays peek a boo and loves taking his time to wake up. He still kicks his feet in bed like he did when he was little (sometimes). He is less afraid of his toys that make loud noise but has days when he is still as fearful. He loves to hug stuffed animals and if something is soft he will probably just lay down on it for a second. If he hits his head he touches his head to tell you he hurt it. It's just a really fun age and I am so thankful I am home with him to take in every part of it.

Lord, continue to give me joy in the moments, to slow down to take them in and relish in every little gift you have given us through Parke. Thank you for Blake who works hard so I can stay home! Thank you for trusting us as Parke's parents. We are blessed...tremendously blessed.