Parkinson Family: October 2011

Thursday, October 13, 2011

The Adventures of Jared

Look at my hiding spot, mom!

I haven't posted much on Jared lately so I wanted to write a little just about him.

From the minute he was born, our little Jared has been such a delight! He just has a fun, happy little personality and being the fourth, he has had to be pretty easy-going, just hanging out with his brother and sisters most of the time. He will be 17 mo old on the 19th.

Jared started walking almost a month ago now. He loves pushing his little walker around the house. It is so fun to watch him cruise around and do a little 360 turn all of a sudden. He has also developed an attachment to his blankie (pictured above). The funny thing is that he actually has 2 favorite blankies which makes it easier for us because either will work. He still takes 2 naps a day although recently the morning nap sometimes doesn't happen.
Jared is also a climber. His favorite thing to climb up is the ladder on Heidi and Kyle's bunkbed which always makes me really nervous. He thinks he is pretty cool and giggles like crazy when he can crawl around on the top bunk. He has no fear.

Jared loves to plunk out a tune on the piano.

Here is a picture of Jared "helping me" can peaches and pears. I finally had to move the pears because he kept grabbing new ones and taking some bites out of them, then moving on to the next.

He is such a great eater and especially loves juicy fruits and vegetables. During melon season, he wanted to eat it so much that I had to take it away after a few episodes of "the runs".

Making peaches and pears was a 2-day event at our house and during the meantime with the kids running in and out from the sandbox, the floor was like sandpaper. Walking in our kitchen sounded like this: squish-scratch, squish-scratch. Until I finally got the mop out and balance was in the force again.

Okay, mom- you caught me. I just can't help it!

I made over 70 jars of jam this year and this is what my kitchen looked like at 1 o'clock in the morning, when I was finally done. It was a disaster zone! (We don't eat THAT much jam- it is for neighbor gifts for Christmas- one less thing to do over the holidays!)

The other day, I put Heidi in the bath and was hustling about doing things before I put Jared in. Well, he didn't want to wait for me and so he just jumped on with his clothes on. He thought he was pretty funny!

We love having Jared around. He is such fun for the kids to play with. Erika says, "I don't know what I would do without my cute little Jared!" I love having him around with me when the other kids are in school. We have cuddle time. Sometimes I think I could just kiss his little face off- it is so soft and kissable. He loves to read books. He can "growl" like a tiger or bear. He can also say "no" and "mom" (usually not at the same time :) He also likes to "dance" to music. I enjoy his constant chatter in his own little language. I don't know what I would do without him, either.

Parkinson funnies

Nov 2012- Aaron was watching football on TV and Jared came out saying, "I want to go watch grass!"

Dec 2011- Heidi said one morning, "Mom, there's frosting on the house!" (on a cold day when frost was on the house).

June 2, 2011- Driving in the car Kyle said to his sister, "If you don't learn to talk, Jesus will make you talk Spanish." (He explained later that he actually meant sign language. That's how he thought it worked.)

Feb 28, 2011- Kyle said, "I don't like to have babysitters because they are only supposed to take care of babies!" Then we explained that they can take care of bigger kids too.

Dec 15, 2010- Kyle said, "I know how they make egg nog. First they dump in the eggs and mix them around. Then they put in the nog..."

Oct 20, 2010- Kyle said, "Mom, is some cheese blue?" I said it is called blue cheese but isn't really that blue. He said, "Well, then does it taste like blueberries?" I love all the questions he asks about how the world works- He's really trying to figure things out.

Oct 7, 2010- We were driving by Arctic Circle and Kyle said, "Is that the hamburger hut? I like that hut." I am wondering if he was remembering a time when we went to "Pizza Hut".

Aug 12, 2010- We were driving by a farm where there was a big fire burning up the field and Kyle said, "Dad, is that where the indians live?"

Aug 8, 2010- We were driving in the car and Kyle said, "Dad, I think I 'm truck-sick." "You mean car sick?" "No, truck sick- when you're sick in the truck."

Aug 2, 2010- We were headed off to a doctor's appointment for the baby and he was crying. Kyle said, "Mom, I think he's crying because you said he is going to get a shot."

June 28, 2010- The other day at dinner it was Heidi's turn to pray and daddy was helping her. She was just repeating everything word for word when he got to "Please bless it.." and said it 3 times. Finally I had to open my eyes to see what the hold up was. Well, little Heidi was just stuffing spaghetti in her mouth as fast as she could and it was hanging out all over. We all just bust up laughing. I guess she just couldn't wait any longer!

May 19, 2010- On the way home from the hospital after seeing their new baby brother, Erika said, "When I was born mom and dad said that I looked blue." Kyle said, "And when I was born I was pink and red. "

Dec 9,2009- The other day we were eating dinner and Kyle didn't want to eat. He said, "I don't like to eat aliens!" We told him there were no aliens in his dinner. Then, realizing what he was talking about, I said, "You mean onions?" He kept calling onions "aliens" and we got a kick out of it.

Nov 20, 2009- Erika lost another tooth at school today. Kyle said to her, "Erika, when my tooth gets loose and comes out, I'll give mine to you."

Oct 10, 2009- Today Erika said, "Mom, someday when I'm older, I want to get that recipe from you!"

Sept 9, 2009- We couldn't find our puppy anywhere and had driven all over the neighborhood to find him. Finally about 2 hours later Kyle showed up holding him and I said, "Where did you find him?" He said, "In the killer-box". "The what?" "The cooler-box". He had stuck him in a cooler in our backyard and forgotten about it. We were glad he was okay!! I felt terrible and gave him some extra TLC for a little while.

Sept 4, 2009- Erika said tonight, "You know what my favorite thing is about school? It's lunch... and learning... and break!" We said, "Isn't that the whole thing?"

Aug 17,2009- We were camping and had brought all our bikes. As we were leaving camp for a little while, Aaron commented that it might have been wise to bring a chain to lock up our bikes so they wouldn't get stolen. Erika said, "Or, we could have just brought a sign that said, 'DON'T STEAL!'".

July 12, 2009- Today at church Kyle looked at my Young Women's Medallion and said, "Mom, is that you on the necklace?"

July 3, 2009- Kyle had been sleeping down in Erika's room with some friends and came upstairs before we went to bed. He said, "Mom, there was some noise down there. I think it was the tooth fairy, coming to get the loose tooth."