Too funny!

My sister showed this to me and it was too funny not to share. Unfortunately Parker already has had a few of the sufferings of 2nd and 3rd children.

BIRTH ORDER OF CHILDREN 1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy. 2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible. 3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.

Preparing for the Birth: 1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously. 2nd baby: You don't bother because you remember that last time, breathing didn't do a thing. 3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your eighth month.

The Layette: 1st baby: You pre-wash newborn's clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau. 2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains. 3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?

Worries: 1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby 2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your first born. 3rd baby: You teach your three-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.

Pacifier: 1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it. 2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle. 3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

Diapering: 1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not. 2nd baby: You change their diaper every two to three hours, if needed. 3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.

Activities: 1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, Baby Zoo, Baby Movies and Baby Story Hour. 2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics. 3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaners.

Going Out: 1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home five times. 2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached. 3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.

At Home: 1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby. 2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby. 3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.

Swallowing Coins (a favorite): 1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays 2nd child: When second child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for the coin to pass. 3rd child: When third child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!

Holiday fun

I've been wishing to be in the hospital right now having a baby, but since that hasn't happened, we've been passing the time doing some fun things. I've been trying to finish up the rest of the Christmas shopping and walking as much as possible- to no avail in encouraging the baby apparently. Santa was at Walmart today, so Parker had his picture taken with him. Parker wants "an elephant and a hippo". We'll see about that.

Tonight we made a gingerbread house. Parker did a lot of the decorating himself. Our house suffered a few temporary structural flaws, but Parker had a great time.

Last night we watched Kung Fu Panda. It had some pretty funny lines. My favorite was, "There is no charge for awesomeness. . . or attractiveness." We had a great Thanksgiving at my parents' home. My sister and her family were in town. They were hoping to see the baby while they were there, but no such luck. It was fun to see them, though.

Lest there are illusions that my child is perfect

I'm doubtful that anyone thinks that Parker is perfect, but here is an example of something somewhat aggravating.

Last night I slept horribly, which is common when you are nine months pregnant. In the morning I wasn't ready to get up yet, so I read a few books to him and let him play in my room. He was playing with some toys he had brought in, or so I thought. I actually fell asleep and woke up to Parker telling me he needed a bath. I asked him why and he showed me his hands. I looked on the floor near our walk-in and this is what I saw. In case you can't see it well, that is a lot of lotion smeared all over our carpet. This is the conversation that followed:

Mommy: "Oh Parker, look at that. Was that a good choice or a bad choice?"

Parker: "It was a bad one, Mommy."

Mommy: "What are you going to do to make it up to me?"

Parker: "I'm going to bapent (repent)." (Great remembering F.H.E. Parker!)

Mommy: "How are you going to repent?"

Parker: "I'm going to get some wipes and clean up the mess. I'll help you, Mommy."

I'm glad he has an idea what repentance is. We learned about it on Monday during Family Night and has noticed that the Grinch repented as well. Well, I guess he is a pretty good boy after all.

Honey Buns and Letters

Parker listens so carefully these days. He always comments and asks me questions about the news or songs on the radio. "They're talking about Obama, Mommy," and "He is singing about missionaries in the world" ("Viva La Vida" by Coldplay). He asks random questions like, "Is he singing about you, Mommy? Is he talking about your smile?" ("When You Say Nothing at All" by Ronan Keating) and "Is this man singing a grandpa?" Some of his comments are really funny.

His favorite song ever is "I Can't Help Myself" by The Four Tops. He requests it every time we get in the car and would listen to it constantly if I let him. Every time he hears the first couple notes, he squeals in delight, "Honey Buns, Yay!"

Parker has gotten really interested in the alphabet lately. The Leap Frog Letter Factory really launched his fascination with letters and helped him learn some of them. Ever since watching it, he asks me about ever letter he sees. Because he is so interested, he has been learning them fast. He knows them better than some of my former first graders did. I wish I could take all the credit, but it is really due to his own motivation to learn.

I'm ready!

So I'll be 37 weeks pregnant on Monday and I'm really starting to feel it. Other than the most common pregnancy woes, I've felt pretty good for the most part of my pregnancy, but not so much anymore. I'm more uncomfortable than I was in the last weeks of Parker and I'm already dialated to a two. I'm hoping that means that this little boy is coming a little early. Of course Murphy's Law would go against that thinking, but here's to hoping.

Last week was my neice Isabelle's third birthday and she had a fun party on Saturday. Here's a few pictures of the festivities.

Besides the usual opening gifts and birthday cake, they had an inflatable jumper and a parachute. Happy Birthday Bellsie-Belle!

For all those parents out there

I have a few recommendations that I have really been impressed with.

I have been reading Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood for the third time and still appreciate the reminders. I think it's excellent advice. Love and Logic is not just for young children, but for everyone. It has great examples and I've found it really works well with Parker and it worked great when I was teaching school. I highly recommend it.

Generally Parker doesn't watch hardly any t.v. or movies. His average is less than one movie per week, but I had heard great things about Leap Frog's Letter Factory. We borrowed it from our friend and within a couple of viewings Parker knew the letter names and sounds for more than half of his letters. It's only 35 minutes, but it is very efficient. I actually wish I would have known about it when I taught first grade so that I could have recommended it to some my student's parents. Parker loves to watch it and now wherever we go he'll point out the letters and sounds. It doesn't teach lowercase well, but I am very impressed with it otherwise. Here is a picture of Parker singing along. He likes to have his alphabet puzzle near him as he watches.