Looking stylish

Here is one of the many great shots I took of Parker out in the backyard earlier this afternoon. Doesn't he look adorable in his stylish cap and matching shorts? I will upload more, but I am headed back out to Seattle tomorrow for the week, so it will have to wait. Enjoy!

Random shots of Parker

Here are some random images from this past weekend of Parker. The first is of him playing with the grill set he got as a birthday gift. I don't think he knows how to use the tongs. :)

These next two images are of Parker enjoying his sand/water activity center that his Aunt Megan gave him. He loves it. Thanks, Megan... more sand in the house! :(

This final image is of Parker wearing his mom's underwear. And not just one pair, but two pair at the same time. I hope this is just a phase. ;)

A father's very special book

Parker loves to read. To tell the truth, he loves to look through books and find pictures of apples. Then he points at them, smiles, and says "Appoo". He is so cute when he does that. But I digress...

On a flight from Houston to Seattle one day, I watched the free movie Despicable Me. I didn't expect it to be that great, but it had Steve Carell in it and I love him in The Office, so I figured I would give it a shot. It was actually kind of cute. But the main thing that I took away from it was that the main character didn't like all of the lame kids books that he was asked to read before bed each night. So he made one himself and read it to the kids. It made me cry.

That very week, while in Seattle, I began working on my own book for Parker. It took me quite a while, but I finally finished it last week. Here is the cover of the one-of-a-kind book I made for Parker. We read it for the first time last night and he loved it. He kept looking through it even after I tried to get him to read some other books with me.

I love my little boy!

Parker visits Dewberry Farm

This past Saturday, Parker took his parents to Dewberry Farm, located a few miles north of Brookshire (about 20 minutes from the house). It is a neat farm-like place that has a bunch of fall activities mainly geared towards kids. Parker got to visit the petting zoo and see a lot of animals including bunnies, goats, cows, chickens, horses, and ducks.

Parker had a lot of fun riding on the "corn train", which was a series of 55 gallon drums on wheels pulled behind a tractor. It was dusty, but it was a blast. As you can see from the next three photos.

After riding the corn train twice, once with mommy and once with daddy; Parker wanted to take a break. We sat on the hay in some shade while we had a drink. Parker watched all the kids playing on the rope swings, wishing that he was just a little bigger so he could partake in the fun.

After doing some other fun stuff like riding a real pony and sliding down a tall slide with daddy, Parker took off in a corn maze. As you can see from the photo below, he fell a few times because the ground was quite uneven, but he didn't cry or get upset. He just got back up and kept on truckin'.

Parker is walking!

Here is some of the first video of Parker walking. Enjoy!

Campbell's 4th Birthday

Happy birthday Campbell! We had a lot of fun at your party today. Parker enjoyed seeing everyone. He loves to eat pizza and he really enjoyed the cupcake for dessert! Thanks for inviting us. We hope you had a great day. Below is a sketch that of Parker and I that was created by one of the game machines. I think it turned out pretty good.

Lost video clips

I was going through my email and found a few video clips from a while ago that I wanted to post. The first one is of Parker learning to stand on his own. Of course, he is pro at that now and he is almost walking, but it's fun to watch him try so hard to support himself. The second video is of Parker on my lap. I just love his cute laugh. The third and final video is of Parker the other day with Tyson in the library. He grabbed Tyson's squeeze toy and had a blast making noise. Tyson was just watching to see what the little terror on two legs was going to do. Enjoy! :)

More from the trip to Six Flags

Well, sorry this has taken me so long, but it has been very busy at work. Christen is busy with the oil spill and I am spending a lot of time in Seattle for the new toll bridge. Anyway, I wanted to post some pictures from the trip to Six Flags Fiesta Texas. I think Parker had a great time. I know I really enjoyed seeing him experience so many new things. Check out all the great pictures I took of my little man!

The first morning there, we took Parker for a walk on the grounds of the hotel. It was a very nice place and they had a lot of great picture taking opportunities. Here Parker is sitting on a wooden bench.

Here Parker is doing some rock climbing. Okay, he's not really "climbing", but hey, he's only 11 months old!

Here Parker is showing off how he can sit in a big boy chair. This happens to be a rocking chair, but he still likes to show everyone how much he has grown.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Parker. Here he is riding on the Looney Tunes train and he is loving it. Of course, it was hot and sunny that day, so he was wearing his stylish hat. :)

And last, but not least, this picture is of Parker on a merry-go-round. He loves them and we take a ride anytime we are near one.

Parker's school picture

Here is a quick post with a recent picture of Parker taken at school. I had to retouch it a litte, but I think it is a cute picture of him. Of course, I am WAY biased! :)

A week with Grandpa Watson

First, let me start by saying that Parker loves his taco meat! He takes after his dad and his grandpa in that regard. You mention the word meat around any of the Watson boys and our mouth immediately starts to water. Check out the damage that Parker can do to some taco meat left on his tray.

This week Grandpa Watson came to visit. He hadn't seen Parker since his was three weeks old when we took a trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama for the family reunion last summer. He has grown quite a bit since then. Grandpa was so happy to spend time with Parker. We took him to the doctor to get his eyes checked out and we had a bunch of fun playing with all of his toys. Granpda even got to feed Parker a bottle.

It was such a busy with with Grandpa visiting that Parker was pooped by mid afternoon after his visit to the eye doctor. Grandpa and Parker played while dad worked in his home office. Parker took a quick power nap so that he would be ready for dinner and a night of more playing since Grandpa was leaving on Friday.

Grandpa bought some new shoes while he was visiting and Parker thought it would be fun to play in with the boxes he left behind. We played boat in the hallway after Grandpa left.

After having his fill of the "boat", Parker when on the offensive. He wanted to play with the lanyard on the camera. Parker loves strings, cords, or anything that dangles. This could be dangerous as he learns to crawl more quickly or, worse yet, walk.

We had a lot of fun with Grandpa. Thanks for making the trip! We love you and we can't wait to see you again soon!

Parker's crawling ability is improving

While he is not crawling on all fours, Parker is much more capable of getting around on his own. He does what we know in the Army as a "low crawl". This will be handy if he ever needs to slip under enemy razor wire or if there is incoming machine gun fire from enemy bunkers up ahead. Either way, Parker is ready. Check him out!

Parker and the Easter Bunny

Today Parker went to visit the Easter Bunny at the Memorial City mall. Although we got there a few minutes after they opened, it still took about an hour to get through the line. Parker was a trooper though, no crying, no fussing, and no puke on the Easter outfit! Check out the results...

My new backpack

Parker and I tested out the backpack Grandma Hogan gave us as a baby shower gift. I think he likes it! I know I do. It's much nicer than carrying him around in my arms. He gets really heavy after a while. :)

Tyson had to get his teeth cleaned... again. And even though he has had this done before, it is always hard to send your helpless best buddy off to the vet to have surgery. You can see the bandage where they inserted the IV. :( And to make things worse, he had to have four teeth pulled because of decay. He is doing really well though. The best part is we have to feed him moist food for two weeks! :) He is a great dog and he makes Parker smile.

A future gymnast?

Parker is really getting the hang of his Jumperoo. He has always liked it, but recently he has learned how to push the limits of what it is designed to do. Check out this video I took on Friday as he was really going at it.

Happy 2010 Everyone

Parker wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy 2010! He is looking forward to his first full calendar year and to all the new things the new decade has in store for him. Keep checking back throughout the year for more of his whereabouts and doings. The following pictures were taken on New Year's Eve day as Parker was playing in his jumperoo anxiously awaiting the ball drop later that evening. Enjoy!

Parker's First Christmas

We arrived at my aunt's house about 5:30 pm on Christmas Eve. We wanted to get there a little sooner, but with Parker, everything takes a little bit longer. When we finally made it, everyone was ready for dinner. We had a Mexican dinner with homemade goodies like guacamole, queso, enchiladas, and empanadas. It was delish! Parker had apples and carrots as you can see.

Grandma had a great time visiting with Parker, as did he with her.

Parker got A TON of gifts from the family. I think we may have to add a wing onto the house just to accommodate his new stuff.

Drums... now that is what I am talking about!

Parker was amazed by all the commotion of the day's activities. Although he won't remember any of it, I think he had a good time.

In the Jumperoo!

Here is a quick video post of Parker in his cousins' Jumperoo. The kids' voices you hear in the background are his cousins and the other random noises are his aunt and uncle cleaning up the kitchen after tearing into some Thanksgiving Day leftovers.

Rooting for Auburn! War Eagle, Hey!

Parker is all set for tonight's football game against Kentucky. Yeah, I know, Kentucky isn't a perennial powerhouse like next week's opponent, LSU, but that's no reason not to get all dressed up and root for the team! Below are some pictures from Parker's pre-game activities, which include eating, sleeping, and... well, you know! :)

Play Time for Parker

A few weekends ago, we went to the Gymboree Gym near the Galleria in Houston. They offer a free trial of their playtime service, so we took advantage of the offer. We got there about 15 minutes early and we signed in. Then we got Parker ready to have fun. They laid out a small parachute and we all placed our little ones on a blanket on the parachute. The facilitator sang songs and lead activities like blowing bubbles, clapping, and snapping. Parker seemed to like it and he definitely liked watching some of the other babies. We plan to go back if we can find a more convenient time and location for his classes. The Galleria area is kind of hard to navigate on Saturdays. Below are some pictures I took with my iPhone of the days events.