Walking - Brock

Monday January 23 welcomed Chinese New Year and the year of the dragon.

For Brock it marked the year that he will begin walking as he took his first official steps (as witnessed by mom and later dad)

Walking for Brock has been in the works for the past few months. Refusing to bypass the steps that lead to walking Brock has championed crawling (with a little bit of a bum leg dragging behind), pulling himself up, the bear crawl, and now taking the daring steps on his own.

These latest steps come at a time when mom has suddenly found it difficult to do the walking as an injury is preventing her from taking many steps. Maybe mom can take some lessons from Brock.

Bidding farewell

Seeing dad go off to work daily must be a significant part of Parkers day.

Each day as dad leaves Parker bolts for the door and starts doing a routine which includes waving, blowing kisses, and what appears to be dancing, all simultaneously on the front porch as he drives away to work. This display lasts until the car is out of sight. To be fair, mom gets the same treatment.

To some observers it would be comical, to others it touches the heart.

What a night

"I've got to tell you something" is a phrase this is both charming and frustrating.

Of late (especially on days when there is no nap), Parker (after being put through the night routine of scriptures, articles of faith, teeth brushed, potty attempt, stories, and laying down by him for "five" minutes) waltzes (more like a tiptoe), out of his room and with a sheepish grin and hands behind his back declares, "I've got to tell you something." It of course is not enough for one of us to hear so he then declares, "both of you". The routine seems to go as follows:

On the first "I've got to tell you something" he notifies us that he has to go "number one". He does, washes his hands, and goes to bed (with of course us tucking him in)

On the second "I've got to tell you something" he lets us know that "his stomach is telling me that it is hungry." It would be easy to deny such a request if it was a "treat" but through that innocent face and pitiful plea he requests an "orange". Of course he has to peel it and eat it with us. By now it has been a good 20 minutes since we have "put him down."

The third "I've got to tell you something" is more forceful. He puts us in our place and says, "You both need to go to sleep." After reminding him who is in charge (but at this point realizing who REALLY is in charge), he dashes off to bed, with of course us tucking him in.

It is at this point that he finally gives in and the night is free. We then realize that his creativity is just beginning.

The fourth "I've got to tell you something" he excitedly shows us his tag on his "jammies" and pronounces this as if he had never noticed it before. This of course must of been a decoy he conjured up as he was laying on his bed as he looked around and pronounced "you maybe are watching a movie?" Busted. He then notices mom with her bowl of cereal, "you maybe are eating something?". Guilty as charged and no maybes about it. Mom is kind and gives him a bite of her cereal and once again he is off to bed, tucked in and finally going to sleep.

What a night. What a boy.

A Sunbeam in the family

Farewell toys and snacks, welcome to Primary!

With scriptures in hand, 8 articles of faith memorized, a repertoire of primary songs and sporting Christmas church attire, Parker entered the ranks of primary as a "Sunbeam." With mom keeping a watchful care as the primary pianist she watched as Parker made the transition without a hitch as he displayed his independence by not "needing" his mom. I guess this makes sense, after all he is a "sunbeam" now!

Parker loved singing the songs and going to lesson where he learned about the "world" from his teachers Sister Leroy and Sister Johnson. He proudly showed us his depiction of the world pointing out the earth and "spiderman".

All of this is not easy for mom. Watching her kids grow up so fast is not easy on the heart strings. At the same time, we are grateful to say with a sparkle in the eye, "We have a sunbeam in the family!"