Old Pictures

Oliver helped Eric hang up a few new pictures one night last week. He had a lot of fun "using" the tools. He made us laugh, as he was trying to hang up the pictures, he kept yelling "push, push."

The weather has been showing signs of warming and we were anxious to get outside. Here are a few pictures of one of our days in our backyard last week.

(that yellow blob is Parker :) )

When I told Oliver that it was getting to cold for Parker and that we needed to go in, Oliver told me "Mommy go inside, Oliver stay outside." He didn't win though, we went in :)

Who's Who?

Oliver is on the left and Parker is on the right.

So I have been asked multiple times if Parker looks like Oliver and I never had really compared the two very much. So I found a picture of Oliver where he was between 2 and 3 months and I dressed Parker in the same clothes and put him in the same chair and took his picture. So here it is... I don't think the two look very much alike at all when the pictures are side by side. Oliver's eyes were blue for quite awhile and Parker's are darker already. Oliver had a lot lighter skin apparently too- plus he smiled for the camera more than Parker does. Everyone will have to let me know if they think they look alike or not.

Parker's two month appointment went well on Monday. The doctor said he is healthy and doing great. He weighed 11 lbs, 14 oz and was 22 1/4 inches long. He got a bunch of shots which he was not a fan of. It definitely took some time to get Parker calmed down.

Oliver is staying busy. We had a playdate at our house this morning- he must have used a lot of energy because he went right down for nap and slept for over 3 hours.

Eric is staying busy with school stuff, he is working on his proposal for his dissertation. He is also working on some things for an upcoming conference in April.

I started subbing at my old job, Head Start. I worked one morning and one afternoon this week. It is nice because if I am busy, I can just say no. Eric is able to stay home with the boys when I am working so it has been nice for all of them too. It was nice to get out of the house this past week.

We all went for a walk one afternoon this week also. The warmer weather has us all anxious for spring to get here quick. Oliver has been able to play at the park 3 times already and is always ready for more. We were in the backyard a few days ago and I said it was getting to cold for Parker and that we needed to go in and Oliver told me "Oliver-backyard, Mommy go inside." He didn't win that battle though. :)

Eric's parents are coming for a visit tomorrow so as usual, we are excited to have visitors. We had a 60 degree day today, although there wasn't any sun, we had a brief thunderstorm tonight and it is supposed to be back in the 30s tomorrow. Hopefully the warm weather will come and stay soon- Have a great weekend everyone!

Parker is 2 months old!

Parker is two months old today! He continues to be a pretty sweet baby boy.
At two months, here are some things he does:
-smiles when we talk to him
-watches Oliver a lot
-holds onto our fingers
-likes to use his legs to "stand"
-rolled over one time from tummy to back (I'm sure this was just a fluke)
-has started taking naps in his crib
-sleeps at night in his cradle
-sleeps from about 9 pm to 7 am, waking up to eat between 2 and 3 times
-likes to watch his fish toys
-likes to look at himself in the mirror
-loves baths
-loves to chew on his fingers

He is still a great eater and is getting bigger every day. He has his two-month appointment on Monday so we'll get to see how big he is then.

One big step in the Shook household today was that Oliver and Parker both napped at the same time in the same room today. Parker was sleeping when it was time for Oliver's nap so we decided to try it. Parker stayed sleeping for quite awhile and Oliver slept shorter than his normal nap time, but we are calling it a win because they both slept some at the same time :)

Bath Night

Tonight was bath night so now we have two clean boys. Both of them love their baths- Parker is so relaxed and seems to like the water pouring on him. Oliver loves playing with all of his bath toys- tonight his used his bath crayons. After their baths, we put them both into their robes.

Catch Up (As usual)

Parker finally lost his umbilical cord stump last Monday (at 6 weeks, 1 day) so the next day, he got a real bath. He liked the water and didn't cry at all for his bath.

Eric & Oliver

Oliver did some painting for Valentine's Day. He would paint a little and then say "do other side" and quickly flip the paper over. I worked on explaining that when painting, we don't do the other side. By the 4th sheet of paper, he seemed to be getting it.

Oliver building legos one cold February day.

Parker is doing more smiling so I tried to get a few pictures of it. It is rather hard to catch a smile on camera it seems from my pictures :) So after the pictures, there is a video that shows some smiles (ignore my voice please:))

This weekend was wonderful- it warmed up and was in the 40s! By the end of the week, it is supposed to be in the 60s! A lot of snow already melted after this weekend and I'm sure more will this week. I'm looking forward to the sidewalks being clear enough to push a stroller for a walk.
Both boys keep doing well. Oliver is very excited about Valentine's Day this year- we are going to a friend's house to decorate cookies and exchange valentines. He got Cars valentines this year. Parker keeps getting bigger and bigger. I think we will be pulling out some 3-6 month stuff in the next few weeks. He continues to be a pretty easy baby- he is starting to have more awake time during the day, but is typically pretty content. I think he is getting used to Oliver jumping around him. The two of them do pretty good together- one day last week, I looked in the living room where they both were and saw Oliver taking Parker's hand and using it to push a button on a toy to make music. It was pretty adorable.
Have a great week!

Snow Day!

Oliver all bundled up and ready to go outside.

Oliver and Eric played outside in the snow today. We got another 4 inches of snow today and luckily it was light and fluffy- not the icy stuff that is underneath. Oliver loved having Eric pull him around on the penguin tube. They played outside for almost an hour and Oliver was not very happy to have to come in. We are supposed to get more snow tomorrow and Monday so maybe we'll be out there playing again later this week!

We have been stuck in the house for a few days and we finally got out today! We got snow and ice between Monday and Wednesday so the city was pretty much closed down on Wednesday and travel was not advised on Tuesday. We went out today for Parker's one month appointment and to the grocery store- pretty exciting stuff. Getting out of the driveway was an adventure- it was iced over so we couldn't really shovel, but not iced over enough that the car would just drive over it. So we gunned it and tried to back up and got stuck multiple times and had to drive back and forth- finally I hit reverse and Eric pushed outside and we made it out. We weren't able to make it back in right when we got home, but later in the evening, we did!

Parker's appointment went really well- the doctor said he looked perfect. Parker weighed 10 lbs, 5.5 oz and was 21.75 inches long.

Oliver has been practicing his ABC song- here is a video.