Day 63

Parker has become very deliberate in his coloring. He likes to make sure that the entire picture has color on it, usually all one color and he isn't yet concerned about staying in the lines. He doesn't like to be interrupted and Kaitlyn better not even look at him or he'll get upset. (Kaitlyn, on the other hand, is not allowed to play with the crayons because she eats them. Grandma came over and found a crayon that was all chewed to bits and she asked "Oh, did the dog get to this one?" To which I had to reply, "No, Kaitlyn did.")

Day 62

Menu: French Bread Pizza
Guest Chefs: Parker & Daddy

Day 61

So here is a picture of the crazy bird that lives in our front yard. Every day for the last week it has been ramming our front window - repeatedly. Starting at about 7:30 and continuing until about 8:00 - or at least that's when we leave for work. If you stand in front of the window and try to discourage it from crashing its beak into the glass, it just waits until you move away and then starts doing it again and again. The cats and the dog just sit and stare at it, but it's not bothered. I can't imagine what's going on in its little head, but I hope it doesn't hurt itself.

Day 60

Grandma came by before bedtime to sneak in a bit of quality time with the kids. Both of them sat very nicely and listened to her read books. Parker kept asking for just one more book . . . which both mom & grandma have a hard time saying "no" to.

Day 59

So now that Kaitlyn can climb in the the chair by herself, she has decided that standing up on it is great fun. I like to think of this as her "Are you going to make me?" face . . . as in when I say "Kaitlyn, you need to sit down," and she turns around and gives me this look.

Day 58

Kaitlyn really likes to get in the big blue chair and rock back and forth. Parker climbed in with her and we all sang "Row, Row Row Your Boat."

I can't look at this picture without noticing that Kaitlyn in wearing a pair of Parker's 18-24 month PJs. They are really large on her, but I was out of clean PJs for her (running behind on laundry as usual) and she didn't seem to mind.

Day 57

So, we hired a friend from work to clean up the leaves & debris in the front yard. All Parker wanted to do was sit out on the deck and watch him . . . so I gave him a broom and told him to get to work too :) The broom was almost twice as tall a Parker, but he was having so much fun trying to sweep all the leaves off the deck.

Day 56

She's really asleep here - butt in the air. Peaking in on her, I couldn't resist snapping this picture.

Day 55

Cheese!

Yes, I know his hair is getting out of control "I am a hippie child" length; I swear getting it cut is on my to-do list . . . one of these days . . .

Day 54

Kaitlyn can now successfully climb in and out of the chair all by herself. Doesn't she look so pleased with herself?

Day 53

Parker's best buddy came over for dinner and playtime. They ran around the house shrieking at each other as Kaitlyn watched with a befuddled look on her face. When it was time for him to go home, they both pretended to be asleep on the big couch. Only 2 1/2 and already starting the stalling techniques . . .

Day 52

It was Taco Night at the McCord house. Parker ended up eating most of the shell separately from the insides of his taco. And if he would have gotten his way, it would have only had cheese and corn inside. Clearly everyone hopes he will grow into his father's eating habits - not mine!

Day 51

Here is Kaitlyn's "I am sooo tired" look. As bedtime approaches, she'll go find her blanket, crawl into your lap and she gets this look in her eye. It's the one that says she wants to stay awake and play with Parker, but she can hardly keep her eyes open . . .

Day 50

Sundays are almost always bath night. Parker, being such a good big brother, always likes to help wash Sissy's hair. Kaitlyn, on the other hand, isn't sure if she likes when he helps because it usually means he just constantly dumps water on her head.

Day 49

For our Valentine's Day celebration we went over to the Deemer house for dinner and family fun. Parker and Kaitlyn were very excited about their gifts (and Les & I were excited about their candy).

(And for those of you keeping track, it did take 49 days for me to get myself in the picture. Thanks to Aunt Susie for the photo!)

Day 48

Les sent me a dozen long-stemmed roses at work today - 6 red & 6 white. So not only did I get flowers to show off to my co-workers, but I got to play with the Macro settings on my camera.

Best husband ever.

Day 47

Parker had his first Valentine's Day Party today. He was so excited. All of his Valentines to give away were in this little pink bag which he insisted on carrying around all morning. But then when we got to day care, he didn't want to give them away.

You can just barely see it in this photo, but his shirt says "Call Me." And of course, I couldn't get both Kaitlyn and Parker to sit still long enough to get them together in one picture in their V-Day shirts.

Day 46

Les went to a Blazer game with Job and came home with matching Brandon Roy jerseys for him and Parker. Parker refused to take his off for several days and even insisted on wearing it to bed over his jammies.

Day 45

Woke up to snow again this morning. This is pretty unusual for Oregon, it's something like the 15th most snowy winter on record.

Day 44

So I know I just posted a morning picture of Kaitlyn in her high chair last month. But this smile was so dang cute I had to use it for my photo today. And she got some new hair rubber bands and these match her shirt perfectly . . . Oh and did I mention she's the cutest thing ever!

Day 43

Weekend mornings almost always involve Parker coming into bed with us. Both Les and I would do almost anything to sleep in a bit more . . . so one of us will get up with Kaitlyn while the other cuddles with Parker in the big bed and tries to get a little more sleep. Then the next morning we trade off.

Day 42

It was a lazy Saturday morning and the kids never quite made it out of their jammies. Here is their mid-morning snack of popcorn (the fancy Topsy's Popcorn from Kansas that Les got for Christmas). Parker likes the cinnamon and Kaitlyn likes the cheese.

Fun to note: Parker has discovered that it is all sorts of fun to show you the food he is chewing on. "See!"

Day 41

"Hello, Police? I've been home sick with this lady for the last two days. Please come and rescue me!"


(Kaitlyn had her 15 month doctor's appointment on Wednesday and she never reacts well to her shots. She was sent home on Thursday and we kept her home on Friday.)

Day 40

The bird is probably our most neglected pet (oh wait, is there actually something alive in the fish tank? Anyway . . .). It doesn't even have a name, unless you consider "the bird" a name (as in, did you remember to feed The Bird?). However, The Bird is usually pretty talkative in the mornings. And this morning, as we were getting ready to leave, Les snapped this photo of both the kids thoroughly engrossed.

Day 39

Pam from work gave Parker & Kaitlyn a great hand-me-down. It's a keyboard that does about 40 million different things - including making pig & cow noises. What this picture doesn't show is that Les has being playing with it more than the kids.

Two things I like about this photo: Parker has a band aid on his forehead for no reason at all, just because he likes it. Kaitlyn is trying desperately to get into that chair - she loves sitting in the chair - but she's too short to get in by herself. Consequently, she often will shriek until she's lifted into the chair. That lasts for about 2 minutes and she gets down. And, of course, immediately wants back up and starts screaming again. Oh the joys of toddlerhood!

Day 38

Les got the kids mouse ears from Disney World. Kaitlyn hammed it up for the camera, of course, but Parker wouldn't leave his on. Oh well, I'll get one of his ears eventually.

Day 37

Even though she's barely even 20 lbs when she's fully dressed, we did recently upgrade Kaitlyn to a forward facing car seat. (In fact she so little, we were able to kept her in her infant carrier until we made the switch). Here she is all tuckered out after the drive home from day care. Little does she know that Daddy's home from Florida . . .and he brought gifts!

Day 36

Did I mention that Les went to the Superbowl? (Did I mention I was so jealous?) Well here's Les as the post game festivities are taking place on the field. Now that he's got the Superbowl and the Kentucky Derby off his list, all that's left is a World Series game and an NBA Finals game. I guess it's a good thing he doesn't like hockey or NASCAR.