Manipulative

I found this definition online word for word:

manipulative - skillful in influencing or controlling others to your own advantage; "the early manipulative techniques of a three-year-old child"

Here is an example of the early manipulative techniques of MY three-year-old child:

P1: Daddy can I have that?

(It was a pretty princess pack with Disney princess plastic rings, princess hair ties, princess bracelets, etc.  As I picked it up to look at it, I noticed there was also a Dora the Explorer version just like it except with Dora instead of the Disney princesses.)
Me:  Yes you can, but look.  Here is a Dora one.

P1:  Dora!

Me:  Do you want the Dora one or the princess one?

P1:  I want both of them.

Me:  You can't have both.  Pick one.  Dora or Princess.

P1:  Both.

Me:  You can't have both of them.  You can get one or you can get zero.  How many do you want? One or zero?

P1:  Two.

Me:  Presley, I'm serious.  You can't have both of them.  You get one of them or you don't get either.  Which one do you want?

P1:  Dora.

(I hand her the Dora one)

P1:  Daddy?

Me:  Yes Presley?

P1:  Can you get the princess one for Paxten?

Me:  No Presley.  Paxten doesn't want it.

P1:  But she does.

Me:  No she doesn't.  You're just trying to get both of them aren't you?

P1:  Yeah! (Smiling)

It cracked me up.  I love my three-year-old child!

Feelings

The following conversation took place the other day.

Me:  Presley I thought you wanted to go to the park.  You do don't you?

P1:  Yes.

Me:  Well go potty and put your shoes on so we can go.

P1:  Daddy at school today Lauren hurt her head.

Me:  Presley, I am ready to go to the park.  We are waiting on you.

P1:  Lauren hurt her head today at school.

Me:  Presley, I don't care.  Go potty so we can go.

P1:  But Daddy. (Whimpering)

Me:  Presley don't you want to go to the park?

(At this point Presley starts bawling, and this was not a fake cry.)

Me:  Presley, what's wrong?

P1:  You won't let me tell you my story.

Me:  Presley, you can tell your story.  I don't know Lauren, and I thought you wanted to go to the park, but you can tell your story.

(Presley is still crying)

Me:  Oh Presley, I hurt your feelings.  I'm sorry.  Tell me your story.

(Presley stopped crying, but it was not a fake cry)

P1:  Lauren hurt her head at school today.

Me:  Oh my gosh!  Did she get  a band aid?

P1:  Yes.

Me:  Is she okay now?

P1:  Yes.

Me:  You ready to go potty now?

P1:  Yes.

Obviously Presley is sensitive just like her daddy, and Presley’s daddy lacks patience just like his daddy.

Kiss, Kiss

Recently Lora taught Paxten how to give a kiss to someone.  She has been blowing kisses for a while now, but if you ask her for a kiss now, she'll lean up to you with her lips leading the way.  She doesn't pucker up and make the "SMACK" sound, obviously, but she is "allowing" you to give her a kiss on the lips, and it will melt your heart every time.  Lora showed it to me on Monday, and I have been asking for one several times ever since.  Sometimes, I'll get one right away, but most times, I'll have to ask 3 or 4 times before I get one.  The take away from that is that I ALWAYS have to ask for one to get one.

Also recently Paxten has not been herself.  After two trips to the doctor's office in two weeks, we've finally discovered she has white blisters on the back of her throat that probably hurt her quite a bit that she got from a virus.  It is not strep throat and should be gone in a week.  On the most recent doctor visit, where the white blisters were discovered, the nurse had to hold Paxten down, open her mouth with a tongue depressor, then swab the back of her throat to make sure she did not have strep throat.  She had to do this twice.  The first time it was when she was checking everything out, then the second time was to actually use the cotton swab.  Both times Paxten gagged, and both times she cried a lot.  So after I rescued her for the second time and was comforting her, she leaned up to me and gave me a kiss without me having to ask! ! !  Then after I kissed her on the lips, she leaned up again and gave me another one! ! ! ! She ended up giving me 4 kisses in a matter of 2 minutes.  I think it was her way of thanking me for rescuing her from the tongue depressor.  I thought it was so sweet, and obviously it melted my heart.

I love my baby girl and her kisses!

Charlotte, etc.

Recently in one of my posts, I mentioned Presley's good friend named Charlotte.  They have a lot in common.  Presley is just 5 days older than her.  They both weigh about the same and are the same height, which is on the smaller side, and I think they are both pretty smart.  They also get along pretty well too.  When we first met Charlotte's parents, we discovered that Charlotte and Presley go to the same school, and almost instantly we started hanging out, and the two girls hit it off.  At the time; however, Charlotte was going through a phase that thankfully neither of my girls has ever been through:  biting.  (Although I don't see Paxten doing that, the "biting phase" is usually closer to the age of 2 than Paxten is right now.)  Charlotte did bite Presley one time, but it was over a year ago, and they've probably seen each other 50 times since then, and Presley has never mentioned it.  Until yesterday.  I am going to go ahead and put my whole conversation with Presley below.  It does not all make sense to me, but here it is:

Me:  (After talking to Charlotte's daddy on the phone.) Presley, you want to go to the park and see Charlotte?

P1:  Yea! ! !  Charlotte! ! ! !

Me:  Okay. We'll go.  Just put your shoes on.

P1:  Charlotte doesn't bite any more.

Me:  She doesn't?

P1:  No.  She's not different any more.

Me:  Presley, we are all different.

P1:  Oh...... Well Paxten and I are the same.  We're twins.

Me:  You are?

P1:  Yes.

I posted this for several reasons.  One, to document Presley’s good friend Charlotte. (That is them in the picture above.)  Two, to document Presley’s good memory.  Finally,  to have record of our funny conversation that seemed perfectly normal to her.  I later found out that she had recently met a set of twins at her school, which I’m sure was kind of an eye opener for someone who had never knowingly met two people that looked identical to each other.

Fireballs

The other day Paxten was yelling and screaming about something that didn't go her way.  Lora and I have always said that Paxten was a fireball. Later in the car, I told Lora that I can understand why Paxten was upset.  I told her that when something like that happens to me, I can get upset too, so I'm sure the part of her that was upset came from me.

Lora just looked at me and said:

"Sweetie, any feistiness or temper-tantrum or fit that the girls throw is 100% from you."

You know... I couldn't really argue with her.

I love my two fireballs!

All You Need Is (what her shirt says)!

This is not a post about Presley.  And this is not a post about Paxten.  This is a post about my love for Presley and Paxten.  I’d like to describe to you how much I love my daughters, but I can’t.  I could write a 1,000 page dissertation on my love for them, but unless you have kids of your own, you would not, could not understand.  It is just one of those things you have to experience for yourself.  There is an old saying that goes something like, “you’ll never know how much your parents love you until you have kids of your own.”  I do agree with the concept, but I don’t think my parents love me as much as I love my girls.  They couldn’t could they?  It isn’t possible.  Not because they weren’t great, loving parents, because they were, but because no one could love someone as much as I love my girls.  Then again, my wife sure does love our girls a lot too, and I can remember my dad getting a phone call from me at 3AM and driving 4 hours immediately to come help me out when I was younger.  I honestly would take any type of pain in the world for as long as necessary to keep it from them.  I would do anything legal or illegal to protect them.  I can understand why someone would turn to crime if it is necessary to take care of his/her family.  It’s just one of those things that you do.

My wife and I often talk about how much we love our daughters, and I always end up saying something about how one would think the world would be a better place if everyone loved their children as much as we love our children, but unfortunately not all parents love their children the way we do.  It is life’s greatest gift and burden, and some people forget about that first part, and that’s sad.  But regardless, this post is not about those people.  This post is about my love for my daughters, and I love them a lot.  I do NOT love, however, how old Presley looks in this picture. Thanks for listening.  I love my daughters and their grandparents.

Horse

For as long as I can remember, I've often times put Presley and Paxten on my leg and bounced them up and down as fast as I could like they were riding a horse.  I always sing the Bonanza theme... da, da-da dun, da da dun dun... I was not aware that it was from Bonanza until my mother told me on Saturday night.  Anyway, I've always done it.  Well Sunday afternoon Paxten jumped on this horse by herself for the first time and tried her hardest to say da, da-da dun, da da dun dun.  It was cute.  I love my horsey-riding daughter!

FYI...

...Paxten loves lasagna despite the fact that these pictures may suggest otherwise.  She is going through a phase right now where if she wants something, she points to it, and says something that sounds like "night-night.”  It’s cute.  She’s cute.  I love my starting-to-communicate-more-1-year-old!

Charlie Brown

The other day, Presley came into the house on her own while mommy was still unloading Paxten, and when she opened the door, Cady, our dog, took off.  I eventually tracked her down.  She was in our neighbor's yard that lives behind us.  I know this man, but only because a few years ago a fence blew down and I had to talk to him about splitting the cost to repair it.  His name...... is Charlie Brown.

I made the mistake of telling Presley that Cady was in Charlie Brown's yard when I found her.  The following questions all had the same answer:  "It's not the cartoon Charlie Brown that you're thinking of with a dog named snoopy."

P1:  Where is Charlie Brown's house? I wanna see it.

P1:  Where is Charlie Brown?

P1:  Is Charlie Brown at his house?

P1:  Cady was in Charlie Brown's yard.

P1:  Where is Charlie Brown's house?

P1:  I want to see Charlie Brown's house.

P1:  Is Charlie Brown outside?

P1:  Where is Snoopy?

P1:  Where is Charlie Brown's house?

P1:  Can I look at Charlie Brown's house?

P1:  I wanna see him.

You get the idea.  I love my question asking daughter.

PAP2 Funnier Than PAP1?

The following conversation took place between Presley and her uncle Pat-Pat the other day:

Lora:  Presley, Pat-Pat is on the phone. Come say hi.
P1:  Hi Pat-Pat!
PAP: Hi Paxten! (teasing)
P1:  This is Presley.  (smiling)
PAP:  Oh, sorry.  Hi Presley.
P1:  Hi Kevin.  (teasing)
PAP:  Presley, Kevin's not here, but I'll tell him you said hi.
Me:  Ummm Pat-Pat?  She's doing the same thing to you that you did to her.
PAP:  Oh... Really?  Ha ha ha!

Three year old PAP2's joke went over 30 year old PAP1's head!  Stand up, Pat-Pat! !

I love my 3-year-old-daughter-who-is-already-funnier-than-her-uncle-and-mommy!

Aaron

Presley Parker has a good friend at school named Aaron.  A few months ago, one of her teachers told us that she was always playing with him, and after her best friend Charlotte left the school, she would tell us that Aaron was her best friend at school.  (On a side note, Charlotte, is a neighbor so they see each other 1-2 times a week.  Their birthdays are 5 days apart and they get along really well.)

Fast forward to Wednesday night, Lora told me that when she picked up Presley from school that Aaron's dad was also getting him, and he told Lora that Aaron says that Presley is his best friend too.  So then Lora tells Presley to tell Aaron bye, and she ran over to him and kissed him on the forehead and told him that she loved him! ! !

Then on Thursday when I was dropping Presley off at school, as her teacher was getting her out of the car, Aaron and his dad walked by, and Presley just yelled, "AARON" and then jumped out of the car and took off without her backpack and without telling her daddy bye! ! !

You have to know that Presley is always quiet when her teachers get her out of the car in the morning.  It is a little shyness that wears off after she's been at school for a bit.  After they unload her, I always tell her bye, that I love her, and to have a good day, and she'll turn and waive.  Again she doesn't really talk at this moment during the day.  So to see her shout his name, take off running and not tell me bye and forget her backpack broke my heart.

I know she is just a 3 year old, and it doesn't mean anything, but I got a taste of what life might be like in 12 years, and I just hate it!  It made me remember to appreciate the time with her now, which I always do, but man I love that girl so much.  It really didn't break my heart too much, but it was like someone poured cold water on me for just a second.  I love my little won’t-be-allowed-to-date-until-she-is-30-girl so much! ! ! ! ! !

Animal Sounds

Presley and I play a game where she pushes a button on an old calculator, and I turn into whatever animal she says.  The following game took place the other day:

P1:  Daddy, I'm gonna push the button.
Me:  What am I going to be?
P1:  A cat.
Me:  Meow, meow.
P1:  Daddy, I'm gonna push it again! (with a sparkle in her eye.)
Me:  What am I?
P1:  A lion.
Me:  Roar!  Roar! I'm going to eat you.
P1:  No, we don't eat people.
Me:  Lions do!  Roar!
P1:  Daddy, I pushed it.
Me:  What now?
P1:  A bear!
Me:  Roar!  Roar!
P1:  Bears don't say "roar!"
Me:  They don’t? What do they say?
P1:  They say "grrrrrrr!"  Silly daddy!

I guess she got tired of the lions and tigers and bears and dinosaurs all saying the same thing!  Oh my!
I love my animal sound expert daughter!!

Piggy Bank

Recently, our family finished a large tub of pretzels (or as Presley likes to say "pentcils") and I cleaned it out because I thought the girls might like playing with it:
P1:  Daddy, where are all the pentcils?
Me:  They are all gone, but I cleaned this out so you can play with it.
P1:  Where did the pentcils go?
Me:  We ate them all, but don't you want to play with this?
P1:  What is it?
Me:  Presley, it's whatever you want it to be.
(Presley went and grabbed some money off the counter, and dropped it in the large empty pretzel tub)
P1:  Daddy look, it's a guinea pig!
Me:  You mean a piggy bank?
P1:  Yea.

I love my guinea piggy bank making daughter!

Being Left Handed - By Mr. Phil Shapiro

One out of every ten people walking down the street is left-handed. Everywhere they go, left-handed people come across tools that were designed for right handed persons.

Medical researchers have searched long and hard for what causes people to be left handed or right handed. The researchers have concluded that left handed people are left handed for the same reason that brown eyed people have brown eyes. It's just one of those things that shows up in one out of every ten people.

A really interesting question is whether there is any connection between left handed people and creative genius. Some of history's most creative minds have been left-handed.

Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Ludwig van Beethoven, Benjamin Franklin, Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein were all left handed.

Bobby Fisher, the modern chess genius, is also left handed.

So even though it may be more difficult for a left handed person to live in a right handed world, lefties can know that they are in good company. Beethoven and Einstein had it tough, too.

P.S.  Lora and I are 90% sure that Paxten Cady Parker is also left handed.  Maybe one day she’ll be on this list, but if she’s not, that’s okay too.  I love my left handed daughter!

Birthday Party!

So Saturday we celebrated Paxten's 1st birthday.  Almost everyone who reads this blog was there.  Hopefully if you missed it, you've been updated.  Click here for a link to the pictures from that day.

The pictures below were taken by one of Lora's good friends, and then edited on picnik.com, and I think they look great and different so I thought I'd share.

I love hanging out with my family, and I love my two girls.

Blanket Paxten

Tomorrow we are celebrating Paxten Parker’s 1^st birthday, which was actually last week.  Due to this, there won’t be a post tomorrow because we will be getting ready for the party and cleaning up, etc.  There might be a post late Sunday night about the event with pictures, but we’ll see.

So since we’re celebrating her birthday tomorrow, I thought I would tell you about how much she loves her blanket in the morning, but since a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll just show you some pictures.

When Paxten Parker wakes up in the morning, the first thing we do is lay her on her changing table so we can change her diaper.  I don’t know how this got started, but unless you give her one of two very specific blankets and lay them on her, she throws a fit, and I mean a fit!  I’ve added 3 pictures below.  The first one is I-just-woke-up-happy-Paxten with her blanket.  The next two are what happens when you take the blanket away for two quick pictures.  Let me make myself very clear: these pictures are all within 10 seconds of each other.  The only difference is I pulled her blanket off to take the picture.  I regret that I had to take it away from her (twice) for the purpose of taking some pictures for this blog, but I really thought it needed to be documented.  She will also get upset if you give her any other blanket.  Like I said, it has to be one of two.  They look different, one is blue and one is pink, but the only difference is the pattern.  As long as she has either one of these lying on her chest in the morning, she’s a happy girl.  I love my temper-tantrum-when-she-doesn't-get-her-blanket-Paxten!

Toothpaste Update

Just yesterday you read about Presley using her big-girl-real-toothpaste-with-fluoride and how she constantly swallows it.  Well the effort has gotten better, but she still doesn't get it.

Now when I put the dot of toothpaste on her toothbrush, she puts her toothbrush in her mouth, then ONE second later, she spits out the dot of toothpaste still intact!

Then with the residue that was left on the toothbrush, I am able to brush her teeth with enough toothpaste for it to foam up on her teeth.  When I am finished I tell her to spit it out and she just makes a noise like she is trying to spit, but nothing comes out. Alas, she has swallowed the foamy residue too.

So afterwards, I've started giving her water to swish in her mouth to make sure we get it all out.  The problem with that is that she swallows the first 3 or 4 gulps she takes before she starts swishing.

Eventually, she does swish the water in her mouth and correctly spits on the water; however, I rarely notice any toothpaste residue by that point.  Oh well, she'll get it.  It is children's toothpaste, so I assume that means that it tastes good or that it is low on fluoride...at least I hope it does.  I love my toothpaste-swallowing-girl!

Dentist

Monday, Lora picked up Presley from school and took her to the dentist for the first time.  I stayed at home, but there are several stories that revolved around that trip, so here they are in the order in which they happened.

First Presley's appointment was at 4:00PM, and Lora called me at 4:08PM:

Lora:  I had to walk out of there.

Me:  What?

Lora:  Presley was screaming so much that I had to leave.

Me:  What?  She was? ! ! What happened? ! !

Lora:  She kept crying and screaming so they strapped her down to the dentist chair and asked me to leave the room.

Me:  Are you serious?  Lora, that's not good.  Go get her.  She doesn't have to go to the dentist right now.  We can take her later ! ! ! ! ! ! !  Those aren't even her real teeth anyway.  Go get her.  That would not have happened if I was there.  I would never leave her. 

Lora:  He he!  Just teasing.  We're already finished.  We got here a little early.

Me:  So she didn't cry?

Lora:  No, not at all.  She did fine.

(As a father that story went from breaking my heart to making me so happy in a matter of 10 seconds.  I don't even care that Lora played a joke on me because I was so happy to learn that my little girl did not get strapped down to a chair while she was crying.  That just sounded horrible to me.  My heart broke, then fixed itself in 10 seconds.)

So Presley got home from the dentist and I greeted her:

Me:  Presley did you go to the dentist! !

P1:  Uh hu.  My teeth are shiny! (Smiling)

Finally, the dentist gave her some toothpaste with fluoride in it.  He obviously warned about the danger in swallowing it, but told us that even if she did, it would just upset her stomach, and that is if she swallowed a lot of it.  So without talking about it, Lora and I had a plan.  When Presley got home from the dentist, I sat her down and showed her the toothpaste that the dentist gave her.  I explained to her how it was big girl toothpaste and that she could not swallow it like she does her current candy-tasting-fluoride-free-toothpaste.  I let her know it would clean her teeth a lot better than her current toothpaste, and again, that big girls use it.  I asked her if she wanted to try it, and she immediately told me she understood and asked if she could brush her teeth right then, but I told her we'd do it that night.  So 10 minutes later Lora put her in her lap on the computer and showed her a video of Elmo brushing his teeth because at the end of the video Elmo says, "PA-TUEY" as he spits out his toothpaste.

So bed time finally comes and Lora gives Presley the option of using her new toothpaste or her current toothpaste, and Presley tells Lora that she wants to use the new toothpaste.  Lora reminds her that toothpaste isn't food and that she is not supposed to swallow it.  Presley acknowledges this.  So Lora puts a little bit on Presley's tooth brush and Presley starts to brush.  What happened next?

a.  Presley brushed for 2 seconds before she swallowed the toothpaste.

b.  All of the above.

Oh well... maybe in the morning.

Prayers

The other night I overheard the following conversation while Lora was putting Presley to bed:

L:  Presley, let's say our prayers.

P1:  God bless Presley, Mommy, Paxten, Cady, Daddy, Poppy, Su-Su, Pat-Pat, Kevin, Hominy and Santa Clause.

L:  Santa Clause? ?

P1:  He he he he he! ! ! I said family and Santa Clause.

I'm glad I made the list.

Petting Zoo

On Sunday we bundled up the girls (sort of) and went to the Thomas The Train exhibit in Grapevine.  It was cold and windy and the highlight for the girls was the petting zoo with rabbits, ducks, chickens, goats and a miniature pony/horse.  Paxten was pointing to everything and saying what I thought was "down," but Lora let me know later that it was "duck."  At one point I set Paxten down on her two feet so she could walk and she immediately fell back into my arms so I would not let go of her.  She was scared of all of the animals.  So I got on my knees and got next to a soft, friendly rabbit and grabbed Pax's arm and started moving it closer and closer to the soft rabbit so she could pet it.  Well, the closer her hand got to that rabbit the louder her scream got until she pet the rabbit and started crying.  Her cry quickly stopped when I scooped her back up in my arms.  I always enjoy doing things for the girls only... even if I'm cold.

More, More, More

The picture above is the baby sign language sign for "more."  When Presley was a baby we taught her four or five of these signs, but "more" is the only thing we taught Paxten.  Studies show that if a baby is too good at baby sign language that they won't talk as soon..... or maybe we just don't care if she knows baby sign language.  Whatever the reason, Paxten only knows "more."  Sunday afternoon we went to the grocery store as a family, and since Paxten isn't talking yet the only communication she can do is point and sign "more."  Well apparently Pax was hungry because all she did the entire trip was point to stuff and sign "more" while making a lot of noise.  It was funny.  Lora would grab something to put in the basket and Pax would start signing "more," and then get so upset when it went into the basket instead of her mouth.  It was a fun trip to the store.

P.S.  We use two shopping carts, regardless of if we need a lot of items or not, so both girls can ride in a shopping cart, but the pic below is us leaving the store.

"Hold me."

Presley wants to be held by daddy ALL the time.  I don't know if it is because mommy is always holding Paxten, but she always wants to be held.  The other day, I was on the telephone and Presley asked me to hold her with her arms outstretched up to me:

Me:  Presley, I can't right now.  I'm on the phone.

P1:  Yes you can.  You can do this. (She made a gesture of putting her head on the side of her shoulder like someone does when they hold the phone without using their hands.)

Two free hands = two free arms = now I could hold Presley.  I bet you can guess what happened next.

Sledding

While in Utah, we also went sledding with the girls.  Presley rode down several times with the other girl her age that was also with us.  Here are several sledding videos and pics.  Enjoy.

Birthday Breakfast

It was quite hard to get this picture while P2C2 was trying to grab both the donut and the flame! !

Happy Birthday P2C2!

Today Paxten Cady Parker turns one!  One is a big event in a child's life, even though they don't know it, because they have made it through their completely and utterly helpless stage and the risk of SIDS is almost completely gone.  Also one is when their personality starts to show.  Paxten is my little smiley fireball!  She is the second P after Presley, hence P2, but also, like my brother pointed out, she is the second Cady after our dog, Cady, hence C2.  Happy Birthday P2C2!!  I never knew I could love someone as much as I love your sister until you came around.  My world and all of my love revolves around you two more than you will ever know, but hopefully one day you'll understand when you have kids of your own..... after you're allowed to start dating..... at the age of 30!  You and your sister and your mother complete me!

Reminder

"Hey, just a reminder.  Tomorrow I'll be one!"

Discovery Gateway Museum

We went to the Discover Gateway Children's Museum, and Presley and Paxten had a lot of fun playing with all of the different exhibits, but Presley is starting to learn how to read her daddy and when it is time to go based on my questions.

Me (while we are still at the museum):  Presley did you have fun today?

P1:  No!

Me:  You didn't?  It seems like you've had a lot of fun today.  Why did you say 'no?'

P1:  Because I don't want to go.

It felt good as a parent to take a day off for from skiing and get the girls out of the house and do something especially for them.

Paxten Parker, Walker!

It is official!  Paxten Parker is a walker!  You can read more about it at my brother's post here.

Sisters

While in Utah, we stayed with another couple who also had two girls.  Presley is 4 months older than their older girl and Paxten is 9 months older than their youngest girl.  Presley played very well with the girl who is just 4 months younger than her, and I have several stories from that week, but on the very first day, the following conversation took place:
(Presley and Hannah were coloring together on a coloring book when Paxten crawled up and grabbed the coloring book because that is what babies do.)
Hanna:  NO! !
P1:  Don't tell her ‘no.’  Only I can tell her ‘no.’

It cracked me up, but also made me feel good that she was so protective of her sister.

Airports

The Utah Ski trip was a lot of fun.  I must say traveling with a 1 year old and 3 year old can be very trying.  There is no down time on the airplane to read or rest; and getting through security when you have to take off two pairs of shoes and pack up the stroller, etc., while also making sure everyone/thing is still accounted for can be stressful too, but we managed.

I don't really have time to post a lot about the trip, so this post will be about the airports.

Paxten slept on the plain there and back; however, not for long periods of time or not before she got fussy until she fell asleep.  As a father, a crying baby does not bother me anymore.  I used to get so upset when I was on a plane and a passenger around me had a baby.  One 14 year old girl in front of Lora told her dad she couldn't sleep because of the baby behind her and looked disgusted with Paxten.  Oh well, she'll understand one day if she is lucky enough to have kids of her own.

Presley rode on my luggage everywhere we went in the airport.  It was either that or carry her, and I had two suitcases to worry about, so I really couldn't carry her.  She is not a fast walker and when she doesn't want to walk, she won't.  I thought letting her ride on the suitcase seemed like a very logical thing to do, but we got so many comments and or laughs/chuckles when people saw us.

Anyway, the pics below are of Paxten sleeping in the plane and Presley riding in the airport.  Enjoy.

Seuss

Presley got Dr. Seuss's Fox in Socks at her book exchange over the holidays.  I love reading that book to her.  I like it because it is challenging to read, fun to read, and I've read that the more new words a child hears before they are five, the better.

I liked it so much that I ordered the Dr. Seuss beginner library.

It included the following five (5) books:

The Cat in the Hat

Green Eggs and Ham

Hop on Pop

Fox in Socks

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

The day they came in, I read one of the books to Paxten and Presley and three of the books to Presley.  I must say that I enjoyed reading all of them, and I enjoy the interaction with P1 because she really enjoys them too.

While we were reading Green Eggs and Ham, once the main character tried them and liked them, P1 got so excited:

"Daddy, he likes them! ! ! ! "

She then "read" it to me the next night, and I could not believe how much she remembered from just the one reading.  I think the pictures helped, but I was proud.

I don’t really remember a lot of Dr. Seuss’s books when I was a child, other than Green Eggs and Ham, but I am here to tell you that Presley and I have the same favorite children’s author, and it is Dr. Seuss.  I think it is amazing too that we get so much enjoyment from books that were written over 50 years ago!

Moooo

The other day I played a trick on Presley.  I told her that I used to be a dog, and I told her to feel behind my ear.  As she touched behind my ear, I barked at her real fast and loud and made her jump and laugh.

Thirty seconds later, she tried the same trick on me:

P1:  Daddy, feel my face.  I'm a cow.

(I feel her face)

P1:  Mooooo!

I didn't jump, but I did laugh!

New Phrase

I can always tell when Presley has learned or decided to use a new phrase.  The following conversation took place the other day when I picked her up from school:

Me:  Presley, I got some animal crackers for you.

(I open them and hand them to her.)

P1 (as she pulls out and eats the first crackers):  A monkey!

P1 (as she pulls out and eats the next cracker):  Another monkey!  There's all kinds of monkeys in here.

Me:  There are?  Oh my goodness!

P1 (as she pulls out and eats the third cracker):  A lion! There's all kinds of lions in here too!

Humpty Dumpty

Unlike yesterday's post, sometimes we aren't running late; however, that can all change in a flash.

One day last week Presley was dressed, she had eaten, and we were about to walk out the door ahead of schedule.  I opened the fridge to refill Paxten's juice.  I left the fridge door open like always because I literally grab the juice, open it, poor it, close it, then put it back in the fridge.  As I am about to turn around to put the juice back in the fridge I heard Presley behind me make a noise like she was upset.  I looked down and she was squatting down with a cracked raw egg on her pants, her hands and the floor.  She had grabbed an egg out of the bottom of the fridge door and cracked it on her knees.

After washing her hands, changing her pants and cleaning the floor, we went to school.  We were no longer ahead of schedule.

Breakslow

Breakfast is often breakslow at our house.
The other day I brought P1 down and we were running late again.
Me:  Presley, what do you want for breakfast?
P1:  I want a snack.
Me:  Presley, you can't have a snack for breakfast.
P1:  But I do.
Me:  Presley, we are in a hurry.  Do you want a pop tart?
P1 (whining/getting fussy at this point):  Nooooo.  I want veggie sticks.
(I quickly grab an oatmeal pie out of the pantry, open it and throw it on Presley's table for her to eat.)
Lora (glaring at me):  REALLY, for breakfast???
Me:  What? It has oatmeal in it.
 (Presley finished her oatmeal pie.)
Me:  Presley, are you ready?
P1:  Noooooo.
Me:  Presley it's time to go now.
P1:  But I can't have a snack for breakfast, I want food now.
Me:  You want a pop tart in the car?
P1:  Yes.
Me:  Fine, let's go.

Spaghetti Smiley

P2 was all smiles and giggles after her spaghetti the other night! ! !

Park(er) City, Utah

I love to ski.  I used to go often as a kid in high school, but since high school, 14 years ago, I've only been two other times.  Once was with my wife, and it was her first time, but that was 6 years ago and the last time either of us has gone.

Today we leave to go skiing again.  We are headed to Park City, UT, (see pic) but this time we'll have some extra bags.  P1 and P2 are going with us.  We are meeting another family there who also has two girls.  The goal is to ski when we can, but also have fun with the girls.  This will be Paxten's first flight and only Presley's second.  As excited as I am about going skiing, I must admit, I am worried about the flight and how the week will play out.  We are not going to have the same toys that we have at our house to entertain the girls, and if we aren't skiing we'll probably be watching both kids at the same time while our spouse skis, which is never easy.  Plus sleeping in a different place and naps in a different place can be hard. Lora isn't worried about it, and I hope she is right.  I tend to worry about things I shouldn't.  There is just a lot to think about when traveling with a one year old and a three year old. (Such as safety for them, entertainment for them, and sanity for us)

After it is all said and done, I know we’ll have a good time because we’ll make it a good time regardless of what we do.  I am like my father in that I like to have everything planned out and I don’t like surprises.  We have no plans yet. 

I’ll let you know more when I get back.  There will still be a short post every day that I prepared in advance.  Special thank you to my brothers for house sitting and watching our JRT.

School Day

Presley asks us every morning, "Do I have school today," as soon as I start getting her dressed for school after I wake her up.  On Saturday and Sundays, I don't get her dressed immediately, so after a while she'll ask, "No school today?"

She has to wear uniforms at school.  Not strict uniforms, but everything she wears, not including socks, must be navy, pink or yellow.  During the winter we get away from the dresses unless she has tights on underneath, but on Friday with it supposed to be warm, we put her in a dress again.  AND she let mommy braid her hair.  She usually says, "I want my hair down," before we finish combing it, but not on Friday.  I thought she looked cute so I snapped the picture right before I loaded her into my dirty car.

A Mouse!

Paxten has a few toy cars that she likes to push while crawling and making an "hmmmm" sound.  I've noticed she does this with a lot of other things too, such as books and water bottles.

The other day though it cracked me up when I heard her coming around the corner, and I looked down and she was pushing mommy's wireless mouse while making the "hmmmm" sound.  Her face is blurry in the picture, but you get the idea.

Hot Pink

P1 loves Scooby Doo yogurt, I mean "rogurt," like the ones pictured above.  She has always eaten it out of the tube, but the other day for dinner she decided she wanted it in one of the compartments in her food tray.  I squeezed it out and the following conversation took place:

Me:  Presley look, it's pink!
P1:  It is different pink.
Me:  Yes, it is.  It's hot pink!
P1:  I love hot pink.  I can get my spoon "myfelf."
Me:  Presley, I'll get it. (handing her a spoon) Here.
P1 (takes a bite):  It's hot.
Me:  Presley, it's not hot.  It was in the refrigerator.
P1:  Yes it is.  It's hot pink.

Word Of The Day

de·lay  [dih-ley]

–verb (used without object)

to put off action; linger; loiter: She delayed going to bed by asking her daddy lots of questions.

After I read P1 a story (or 3) it is often very hard to leave the room if she isn't ready for me to leave.  She will ask a lot of questions to delay me.  Usually, I'll leave at least twice only to hear a "daddy" calling me back in her room to ask me something.

The last question most times is "Daddy can I just rest."

On Monday night she had a new one for me, and it was so random because we hadn't been talking about the subject at all that it just cracked me up:

(I leave the room)

P1:  Daddy?

Me (walking back in the room): Yes Presley?

P1:  The next time I see Santa can I ask him how he gets on top of the houses?

Paxten Parker, Walker? ?

Lora said that Paxten can walk now.
Lora said that Paxten took 10 steps in a row.
Lora also was trying to show me, and Paxten stumbled and took five small steps while she was falling forward to catch herself before she fell.
Lora:  See she just took five steps.

I haven't seen Paxten "walk" yet.
Lora has a history of doing this.  Lora also told my parents and brother a few years ago that Presley was crawling when in fact all she was doing was dragging her dead legs behind her.  My family teases Lora about this.
When I told my brother that Paxten was walking, he got excited.  When he found out that Paxten's "walking" was per Lora, he immediately put on the brakes.  Probably a good thing that he did. 
Paxten is not walking yet, but she is awfully close and her mommy is awfully cute!

Mommy Called the Doctor and the Doctor Said...

Presley has eczema on her arm, which sounds awful until you read about how it is common in toddlers and can be caused by allergies.  You can read all about it HERE if you'd like to.
We know this because Lora took Presley to the doctor's office, and the doc diagnosed it and told us how to treat it.

Later that night:
Me:  Here Presley let me put this cream on your arm.
P1:  Can I do it?
Me:  No I'm going to do it.
P1:  But I wanna do it.
Me:  Doctor Shori said that only Mommy and Daddy can put it on.
P1 (funny look, staring at me for a long 5 seconds): But Daddy, you didn't go to the Doctor's office? ? ?
Me:  Mommy told me what she said.
P1:  Oh, okay!

Shoes

To the untrained eye, the picture above is just three pairs of shoes at the bottom of the stairs.  If you lived in our house; however, you would know that Lora takes her shoes off 90% of the time when she goes upstairs.  You would also know that I take my shoes off 5% of the time before I go up stairs.  Finally, you would know that Presley has never taken her shoes off before she goes upstairs...... until last week.  She saw mommy and daddy's shoes so she took off her shoes before she went up the stairs.  I don't know why, but I thought this was so sweet and touching and just another sign of my daughter growing up way too fast!

She's Already Funnier Than Her Mommy

When I went to pick Presley up from school one day last week, it was a gorgeous day.  I showed up a bit early, and as I rounded the corner driving up to her school, I could see my little Presley playing outside by the fence.  Well that just made my day.  I rolled down my window and shouted at her, and she grabbed on to the iron fence and started jumping up and down yelling "daddy, daddy".  I loved it.  It was awesome.  I walked up to the fence, and she threw her arms up and said "hold me," but I have to go through her school to get to the yard, so I told her I would meet her by the door.  She said okay, and immediately started running through the big yard of grass as fast as she could go.  This also made my day.  So far, I’ve just talked about the magic of picking Presley up this particular day, but now the sense of humor showed up:

When I walked around back, I was surprised to see that she was not waiting for me, and then about one second after I stepped out the door, she and one of her friends jumped up from behind a hill and yelled, “surprise!”  I thought this was funny for a just-turned-three-year-old to be doing right after she was so excited to see me.

The next part requires a little background.  Know that Lora and I always ask Presley if she is Daddy’s girl or mommy’s girl, and honestly, most time, she says “Daddy’s girl.”  Usually as I am carrying her out of her school she’ll give me a kiss and say “Daddy’s girl” because she knows I love it when she says that.  Well this particular day, she did give me a kiss, but she followed it up with this:

P1:  Where’s Daddy Girl?  Do you see Daddy’s Girl?  I don’t see Daddy’s Girl.

(The whole time she was saying this, she had the biggest smirk on her face that she was trying to hold back.)

Me:  What Presley?  You don’t know where Daddy’s Girl is?

P1:  Oh it’s Paxten.  Where’s Paxten?

Me:  We’re going to get her now, but do you see any other Daddy’s Girls?

P1 (Shaking her head from side to side as if she is looking): No.

Me:  Presley??

P1 (Pointing to herself):  Hee Hee Hee ! ! !

Me:  Yea!  There’s Daddy’s Girl!

She is making jokes at the age of three.  I love it.  She will obviously be funny like her Daddy and Poppy!

Sibling Rivalry

Presley is a very good big sister.  After Paxten arrived almost 12 months ago, any fear we had of Presley being jealous quickly faded away because she is such a loving and caring big sister.  She always wants to hold Paxten or give her kisses or paint her fingernails with markers, and she rarely shows signs of jealousy.  However, if you look deeper, every once in a while you’ll see it, and I think it is very natural.  I saw two examples first hand on Tuesday night:

First, at dinner, Presley was not excited about her kid’s soft chicken taco and immediately started crying and lay down on the floor.  I decided I did not have time to pick this particular battle since my wife was out of town, and I was trying to feed and bathe and put both girls down for the night.  I picked Presley up, gave her a big hug until she stopped crying, and then set her on the couch.  I told her if she didn’t want the taco, she could have a cereal bar.  She told me she wanted an “oakmeal cookie,” but I told her she had to have her cereal bar first.  So Presley ate her cereal bar, and then asked if she could have her “oakmeal cookie.”  Here is what followed:

Me:  Presley, you can have an oatmeal cookie, but you still have this taco.  Are you sure you don’t want it?

P1:  Can you save it in the refrigerator?

Me:  I can save some tortillas, but the taco won’t keep.  Are you sure you don’t want it?  Maybe just take two bites of it?

P1:  I want an “oakmeal cookie.”

Me:  You can have both Presley.  Do you want the taco?

P1:  No.

Me:  I’m going to give it to Paxten then. (NOTE: Paxten just eats the shredded chicken that I pull out of the kid’s soft chicken taco.)

P1:  NO!  Don’t give it to Paxten.

Me:  Do you want it?

P1:  No. Can you give it to Cady?

Me:  Wait, you want me to give it to Cady?

P1:  Yes.

Me:  Can I give it to Paxten?

P1:  No.

Me:  Why not?

P1:  Because she needs to get older to eat it.

Paxten and Cady and I split the inside of the kid’s soft chicken taco that night with Cady getting the majority.

The second story needs some background.  You need to know that we bathe Presley and Paxten together most nights.  You need to know that there are around twenty (20) soft, water squirting animals that the girls play with in the bath tub. (i.e. ducks, whales, sharks, blow fish, star fish, turtles, crabs, etc.) You need to know that Paxten LOVES the starfish.  It is the only one she plays with, and it has been for at least three months now.  Every once in a while Presley will try to take it from Paxten, but we ask Presley if Paxten can have it because “it’s her favorite,” and tell Presley she can play with all the other ones.  On Tuesday night, I noticed as soon as Presley got in the tub, she grabbed the star fish, and she continued to play with it during the entire bath.  I could tell Paxten was looking for it so I asked Presley if Paxten could play with it:
Me:  Presley, can Paxten play with that.

P1:  Nooooo, it’s my favorite.

Me:  Presley, it is not your favorite.  You’re just saying that because you know it is Paxten’s favorite.

P1 (smiling from ear to ear): No it’s my favorite.

Paxten didn’t get to play with the star fish that night.

Yesterday and Tomorrow

"Yesterday" and "tomorrow" are very hard for Presley to understand.  She uses "yesterday" to mean anything in the past and "tomorrow" to mean anything in the future.
For example, she told me last week that she fell in the toilet at Pam's house "yesterday," but she hasn't stayed with Pam or seen Pam in almost 12 months.
She also always asks if she can do something "tomorrow."
"Can I have a blueberry pop tart for breakfast tomorrow?"  Of course she can.
"I will turn 4 tomorrow."  Um, not quite.
She is definitely trying though and sometimes it works perfectly:
P1: Daddy, do we have school today?
Me: Yes, Presley.
P1:  Mommy said I don't have to go to school until tomorrow.
Me:  She told you that last night.  Today is tomorrow.
P1 (puzzled look on her face):  Oh.
Also the other night we ate a friend's restaurant, and he was not there, but instead his mom was working.  Presley likes both he and his mom.  The following day we went to lunch with him at a different restaurant, and the first thing Presley said to him when she saw him was, "Why were you not at your store yesterday?"  I thought it was awesome.

Knock-Knock Jokes

Elmo was trying to decide what his favorite letter was in the book I was reading to Presley.  He thought it might be "J" because "jokes" starts with a "J," and Elmo loves jokes, like this one:
Knock-Knock.
Who's there?
Boo.
Boo who?
Don't cry.

Until this morning, here was Presley's version of that joke:
P1: Knock Knock.
Me: Who's there?
P1:  Boo Who.
Me: Boo Who Who?
P1: Don't cry.

Well this morning while we were waiting in the car line for her teacher to come get her, she told me a new knock-knock joke:
P1:  Knock Knock.
Me: Who's there?
P1 (Staring out the window of my car, looking for something):  Ummmmmmmmmm, CAR!
Me:  Car who?
P1:  Don't cry.

Once again, cracked me up! ! ! ! ! !

Growing Up

Every once in a while Presley will do something that will make me think she is growing up way too fast.
On Sunday night, I was headed to the grocery store to get stuff for dinner and the week.  I asked Presley if she wanted to go to the store with me, but her response was: "Daddy you go to the store by yourself."
So off I went.  Thirty seconds down the street and my cell phone rang.  Per my cell phone's caller ID, it was a call from Lora on the house line, but when I answered the phone it was not Lora:
Me:  Hello
P1:  Daddy, get some cupcakes at the store.
Me:  Presley, you want me to get you some cupcakes at the store?
P1:  Yea.
Me.  Okay.  I love you. Bye.
P1:  I love you. Bye.
She sounded so grown up during that phone conversation, and yes, she got her cupcakes.  Nobody that reads this blog could have told her "no."