He's Got a Lot to Say

Parker is talking up a storm lately. He is starting conversations on his own and pretty much going on and on about a number of things.

We had worried that he was a bit more challnged because he seemed to be developing slower than Kallsen did. But it seem that all of a sudden Parker has taken some giant leaps forward. And he expresses himself very well.

Smells Like Christmas

We got our Christmas tree yesterday. It's a free cut tree from a Christmas tree farm just down the road from where we live. And it smells great. And it's probable the best shaped Christmas tree we've had in a couple of years. I'll post pictures soon.

When does underwear go out of style?

Boxes of Christmas presents ended up at our house yesterday. Sent by my Mom. Inside was underwear for the boys (Kallsen and Parker) Parker was so excited he curled up with his underwear at bedtime. And Kallsen was so excited that he ran down the hallway to big brother Joseph's room to share his excitement.

While I know parents use underwear as a selling point to help get kids potty trained. I'm just amazed that one would want to curl up with several pairs of underwear at bedtime.

Pecans

The above pecans were picked off the ground under one of my three pecan trees I have in the yard. The boys (Kallsen & Parker) helped me pick them up and enjoyed the pecans.

In this first picture Kallsen is working at getting the pecan out of the shell. At first he didn't want to try the pecans but once he got a taste, it was like it became his favorite food of all time.

You can also see in this picture that Kallsen's hair is coming back. And that he is focused on getting his prize.
Parker has his hand out for a pecan Momma helped the boys with taking

the shell off of the pecans. After Momma took the pecans inside the boys continued to find pecans and asked me to crack the shell for them. I was using my hands to crack the shells and I tell you this...my hands hurt.

We decided to pick pecans for their Nana. We're going to Nana and Poppa's for Thanksgiving on Thursday and we thought the pecans picked from our own yard we be a nice gift for Nana.

"I just gotta be running"

That's what Parker told me and his momma this morning. I just gotta be running...

He was running from the living room to the kitchen and back. Again and again and again. And again.

He had already eaten his oatmeal and we were asking him if he wanted to eat the rest of Kallsen's waffles. He said 'No, I got to be running...' and then he ran and ran. And ran.

I only wish I had that kind of energy first thing in the morning.

Shaved Head

There was a lice breakout at Kallsen and Parker's school this past Monday. One of the other children in Kallsen's class apparently came to school with lice. Kallsen got infected. It wasn't bad on Kallsen but his hair is so fine that after shampooing and using the gel, the comb that comes with the lice kit didn't pull the nits out. And after battling for sometime trying to pick the few nits out Kallsen had, I decided that it would be easier to shave his head. And I did.

I will post a picture to go with this post later today.

I want to state for the record that it wasn't my son that brought the lice into the school. These things happen. I'm just glad both boys didn't need to get their head shaved.


Kallsen didn't want me to take his picture so I had to wait until he fell asleep tonight and this is the best I could get. You can notice that in the day and a half since I shaved his head, a decent amount of hair has grown back.

As you can see in this picture taken in May, 2006, that Kallsen does have beautiful hair.

Me & Grandma & Burnt Food

Last night I got home a little later than normal due to breaking news. Anyways...when I got home the boys were almost done eating and my wife had already finished her dinner. So I got some chicken and fries left over from the other night and put them in a pie pan in the oven on broil. A little bit later they were more than warmed up...they were burnt just slightly the way my Mom, AKA Grandma Judy, likes them.

So I sit down to eat and I eat most of the food I've prepared. There was a fry that was more burnt than I like. Parker, on the other hand, apparently likes really burnt food. He points to my plate and gets all excited about the burnt fry. So I give it to him. And he couldn't have been happier when he was chewing up and swallowing that burnt fry.

A bit of history...growing up my Mom and my Grandma always cooked things till they were slightly burnt on the edges. Just a little bit. My wife, on the other hand, was raised where if things were just a little brown on the sides the dish might be ruined. Just the two extremes I guess. I tell you this...I enjoy both of their cooking very much.

I Can Do It...

Parker's response when it's time to get dressed in the morning or get his jammers on at night. He doesn't want help. He wants to get dressed all by himself.

Of course it sometimes leads to having both legs in the same opening in a pull-up and him walking around that way for a short period of time proud as can be.

Parker is a very proud boy when he does things with no ones help. At least at night he still wants to hold his Daddy's hand until he falls asleep.

TigerProof.com

I have opened an Internet Store of sorts. TigerProof.com is now an online store selling mostly sporting goods and some other things related to sports. Please check out the site and let me know of any suggestions to making it look/work better.

Barely 2

And he can count.

Parker the other night got up on the coffee table and stood at the end. I said, "Parker, get down...get down off the coffee table..." And Parker replied (while holding his hand up to shush me)..."Give me a minute...one, two, three, four, six, seven...here I go!" and he jumped off the table.

Just interesting to hear him count...to shush me and to do an announcement of sorts explaining exactly what he was about to do...and counting it down (or up)...

Zoo Trip

This past Saturday we took the boys to River Banks Zoo in Columbia. My Mother In-law and my niece came along for the trip. Here's several pictures of our day at the zoo.

Parker Pope

There are certain pictures of your kids that you keep coming back to. This is one of Parker that I just love. For some reason this particular picture makes me think that next year we need to dress him up as the Pope for Halloween.

Oh My Goodness!

Kallsen's new favorite expression.