Second Year Update

Here we already are with a two year old.  And we haven't broken him yet.  Things are looking up.

Let's look back at our dear friend Mr. Elephant (and Palmer):

One Year:

 One and a Half Years:

Two Years Old:

Two-Year Stats:

Height: 36.5 inches, (93rd percentile)

Weight: 30 lbs, 14 oz, (80th percentile)

Head: 48 cm, (30th percentile)

Number of Teeth: 16

Likes:

ALL THINGS TRANSPORTATION:  But especially fire trucks and golf carts.  Palmer is very directionally inclined and is quick to tell me in the car which way we can find a "fire house for the fire trucks that are night night" (Let me translate: I told Palmer the fire trucks sleep at the fire house.) Palmer is also really into trains, or "choo choos", and I plan to get him a train table around Christmas when his coordination is a bit more developed.

Every day when I pick Palmer up from school, I ask, "What did you do today?"  You can almost bet he will say, "CARS!"  I told the teacher this once and she was quick to assure me they don't play cars all day.  Too bad, because Palmer would love it!

BICYCLES:  Thank goodness we live in Texas where the weather is so gorgeous most of the year.  Palmer loves to ride outside in our driveway or sidewalk or back porch on one of his many bicycle options.

PIZZA AND ICE CREAM AND CEREAL:  If you ask Palmer what he wants for dinner, he will probably tell you pizza or ice cream or cereal.  I've noticed he especially loves to eat things out of a bowl with a spoon.  So, yogurt, soup, ice cream, and cereal are clear winners.  And who doesn't like pizza?!?

ALL THINGS GOLF:  The obsession with the golf cart has not died.  Palmer will also tell you if we pass by a golf course.  Rick is good about taking Palmer out to the course for nine holes or so.  Palmer is in heaven on the cart with his own club and ball.  He knows basic golf rules:  Don't touch other people's balls.  Use a driver and a tee at the tee box and a putter on the green.  Rake the sand when you get out.  Wave down the drink lady for a treat.

CAR WASHES:  A quick way to Palmer's heart is to go thru a car wash.  That's a guaranteed 3 minutes of fun.  Palmer is also quick to tell you in the car if we are approaching a nearby car wash.  My car is really clean.

BOOTS: I've mentioned before that Palmer is a huge fans of his boots from Uncle Luke. The highlight of Palmer's weekend might be that he gets to wear them as he can't wear them to school.

SWIMMING: I enrolled Palmer in swimming lessons back in January and he gets so excited on the days we go swimming.  In fact, one day on the way to school I mentioned that we were going swimming after school.  When we got to the intersection of the pool, Palmer said, "This way.  This way."  I told Palmer we would go to the pool AFTER school.  He cried all the way to school, cried as we walked to his room, and continued to cry in his classroom.  I apologized to the teacher and quickly dashed away.

New Skills:
NAME:  At some point, Palmer learned his first name and last name.  Lately, he has been talking in the third person about how "Palmer Jordan and Mommy are going swimming" or whatever.  He also calls me "Mommy Bethany Jordan" and Rick "Daddy Rick Jordan".  He thinks it is HILARIOUS when I call him "Palmer Thomas Jordan".  I love that he thinks I'm funny.

VOCABULARY:  Palmer's language and sentence lengths amaze me every day.  He is a talker AND a repeater.  I love hearing what's on his mind.  And I know the language will grow by leaps and bounds in the coming year.

COUNTING:  I recently heard Palmer playing with his toys and count all the way to TEN.  I had no idea he could count that high.  Then, his teacher told me he counted to TWELVE the other day. 

LETTERS:  Aunt Amanda bought us some cool bath letters for Christmas.  Rick is in charge of bath time and they have been playing with the letters lately.  Rick and I were impressed that Palmer will see an "A" and say, "A Apple", or "M Mommy" for M, or "B Bear for B".  He knows way more than we imagined.

Dislikes:

BROCCOLI AND CHEESE:  Palmer is a great eater.  But, the other day he told me, "No broccoli, Mommy".  Another day I was cooking in the kitchen and he asked for some of what I was chopping.  I said, "Here is your cheese."  Palmer replied, "EWWWW, cheese!"   Well, excuse me.

ART PROJECTS:  Palmer's teachers tell me he doesn't mind art projects, but I don't believe him.  I have a heck of a time getting Palmer to sit down and do a craft.  And when we get crayons at a restaurant, Palmer always eats them.  Yum.

Sometimes, I just want to freeze the time.  My mom will be quick to tell you I've always had a place in my heart for toddlers.  I just love these days.  Palmer is sweet and funny and independent and strong and fearless.  He makes us laugh every day and we love having him in our family.

Happy Birthday, Palmer.

-Bethany

Eighteen Months

Although I've refrained from regular monthly updates since Palmer's one year mark, I do think it's important to stop and mark the half year occasion.

But first, I would like to ask why my son and my dog are giving me "the look" in this photo.

My goodness, Palmer.  I haven't made you sit here with your elephant in six months.  And Boston, what got in your water bowl?  Sheesh.

"Oh, mom.  We were just kidding."

Eighteen Month Stats:

Height: 34.25 inches (94th percentile)

Weight: 29 lbs, 4 oz (80th percentile)

Head: 46 3/4 cm (20th percentile)

Number of Teeth: 12

Likes:

-TRANSPORTATION VEHICLES:  Basically, if something has a wheel or an engine, Palmer loves it.  I never had a clue how many vehicles we passed on a daily commute until Palmer alerted me.  He happily exclaims, "Bus!" or "Truck!" or "Digger!" or "Golf cart!" (which is a pretty generic description that could actually describe a multitude of vehicles) when we are in the car.  Palmer also loves to play with his cars and trucks and is learning to focus on carefully moving a car down a toy ramp or road.

Palmer's eyes lit up when I pointed out the "golf cart" at the park the other day.  Man, you shoud've seen the little guy sprint across the park so he could go "drive".

-GOLF:  It helps that Palmer's parents also love golf, but Palmer really does have his own harbored love for the sport.  He still happily hits plastic golf balls around the house with his golf clubs and just graduated to a new putter.  Rick took Palmer out the other day for a legit 9 holes and said Palmer could've easily done another 5 or 6 holes because he was so happy to get in and out of the golf cart and hit balls or run around while Rick played the game.

-WATER DISPENSER:  Ugh.  This is a tough one.  Although I'm so proud of Palmer's problem solving skills that helped him to figure out how to fill cups of water from the dispenser, I easily tire of stopping him from over-filling and spilling the cups on a daily basis.  Palmer tells me he wants "wa wa", but what he really means is he wants to fill up a cup of water and not necessarily drink the water.

-READING: Well, let me clarify.  Palmer likes to read about trucks, trains, planes...you get the picture.  I found a lovely book the other day about everyday objects that do not have wheels.  Palmer had no interest in it.

Palmer, we love you so much and are so thrilled with your budding personality.  You are funny, independent, active, fearless, and adventurous.

But, don't grow up too quickly on me.

-Bethany

Fifteen Months

Once Palmer reached the age of one year, I decided not to do monthly updates.  But, since I have new stats fresh from the pediatrician's office, I'm going to go ahead and do a status check. (I admit, it's probably more for my memory bank's sake, than yours).

DR STATS:

Height: 33 inches, 93rd percentile

Weight: 26 lb, 12 oz, 75th percentile

Head: 46.5 cm, 38th percentile

Number of Teeth: 8.5 (and that .5 is one nasty sonofagun molar)

LIKES:

TALKING:  Palmer is coming up with new words every day.  And when he isn't saying specific words (at least that I can tell), he carries on like this:

SPRINKLER HOSES AND THE LIKE: It's warm outside and Palmer has embraced all things water related...kiddie pools, big pools, sprinklers and sprinkler hoses, splash parks, etc.  He's getting quite brave at the pool and enjoys walking all the way across the kiddie pool without assistance.

SHOES: As mentioned, Palmer is becoming quite the chatty guy and one of my favorite words to hear is "shoe".  There's something about the way he says it that is so cute.  Now, sometimes he gets "shoe" and "choo choo" mixed up.  I had never thought about the resemblance until he misspoke.  Anyway, Palmer LOVES shoes.  When I'm still hanging in bed in the morning, Palmer often goes to my closet and brings a good half a dozen shoes to me.  Luckily, he also tolerates his own shoes and is willing to keep a shoe on all day.  

EXPLORING:  Thankfully, Palmer doesn't need many toys.  He makes his own fun by always exploring his surroundings.  Palmer is brave and confident and has no fear to go off and check out everything he sees.

Every day is a new adventure with this guy!

-Bethany

1st Year Update

I'm okay...I'mokayi'mokayi'mokayi'mokay.  That's what I repeated in my head all weekend to keep the tears back.

When did I turn into such a sap?  I mean, in high school I was known as "Stone Cold Thomas".  So, why am I weepy over this little boy's first birthday?

Because this boy means the world to me and I'm thrilled with the wonderful year he's had.  Mr. Palmer is one year old.

One-Year Stats:
Height: 31 inches (85th percentile)
Weight: 24 lbs, 14 oz (80th percentile)
Head: 45 cm (23rd percentile)
Number of Teeth: 6

Likes:
-Golf clubs: Rick bought Palmer a golf club set a few weeks ago.  Palmer is rarely seen without his golf clubs.  He has also figured out how to hit the golf ball with the club, so there are always little plastic golf balls scattered around the house.

-Sticks: What else does a man need besides a stick?  (And maybe some dirt.)

-Eating acorns: Unfortunately, Palmer can't kick the squirrel's habit of eating acorns.  The choking hazard gives me much excitement on a daily basis.

-Waving: Palmer is quite the social fellow these days.  Everywhere we go, he waves to the people he meets.  Luckily, most people can't resist Palmer's charm and happily engage and wave back.

-Dogs: Palmer continues to love dogs.  He now recognizes neighboring dogs barking and without even seeing the dogs, will happily exclaim, "DOG!". Imagine his excitement when he got his very own dog to walk from Aunt Adrienne.  This little (upside down) dog is from Adrienne's trip in Paris, so we've named him "Pierre".

-Hugs: Palmer gives hugs.  I love that he can understand us now and when we say things like, "Give mommy a hug" or "Give Boston a hug" he really comprehends and will give us a hug.  It melts my heart.

-Running: Palmer believes that he is so good at walking, he can now run.  Unfortunately, his body can't keep up with his brain and he ends up falling a ton because he goes too fast.  But, the boy is tough and brushes off the falls and keeps on attempting to run.

Happy 1st birthday, Palmer!
-Bethany

Eleven Months

"Yo, Mr. Elephant, Can you believe my mom makes us go thru this song and dance every month?  Enough already.
Yo, Mr. Elephant, Can you believe you don't have a better name than 'Mr. Elephant'?"

11-MONTH STATS:
Height: 30.5 inches
Weight: 26 lbs
Number of Teeth: 6

LIKES:
*Dancing- Dancing is innate to a human spirit.  You hear the beat and you gotta groove. Palmer loves to get down to the tunes from his learning table and "Party Rock" when that Kia commercial comes on the TV.  Check out his moves:

*Talking on the phone - Like most kids of his generation, Palmer is obsessed with our iPhone.  Early on Rick reassigned an old cell phone to be Palmer's play phone in an attempt to distract from our working iPhones.  Just recently, Palmer engages us when Rick or I "talk" on the play phone and then hand the phone to Palmer. (Excuse the blurry iPhone photos.  The boy is hard to capture in action.)

Sometimes, a shoe is just as fun to talk to:

*Waving and signing "more" - Palmer likes to wave hello and good bye to everybody we see out and about.  It's pretty cute to see him wave to everybody and wave at random times when we are at home.  Palmer also knows what he wants now and furiously signs "more" when he wants something to drink or eat.
*Cousin Elle - As Elle and Palmer get older, they are learning to play toys with each other very nicely.  Palmer loves having a cousin so close in age.

*Climbing - The boy continues to be fearless.  His latest craze- climbing onto his little rocking chair and standing backwards while rocking the chair back and forth.  Hello, future trips to the ER!

DISLIKES:
*Being sick!  February has been a really really tough month for us. In the midst of cold and flu season, Palmer has jumped from one sinus infection to the next ear infection to the next pink eye infection to the next 104-feverish virus.  When you have two parents trying to juggle careers and full daily calendars, life gets a little hairy and we absolutely hate to see the little guy struggling and uncomfortable.  I asked the doctor when cold and flu season ends and she assured me May.  MAY?!?  Oh my.  Here's sweet Palmer with rosy feverish cheeks:

Poor guy.

Happy Eleventh Month, Mr. Palmer.  Just a year ago, your mommy and daddy were very very ready to meet you!

-Bethany

Nine months

(Palmer's nine month birthday and Christmas happened to coincide this year, so you are going to have to put up with two long posts.)

STATS FROM THE DOCTOR:

HEIGHT: 29.5 inches (90th percentile)
WEIGHT: 22 lbs (65th percentile)
HEAD: 44 cm, (15th percentile)

Likes:
*Eating - Based on the stats above, you can see that Palmer is a big boy (although trending towards the "Tall" side as opposed to the "Big and Tall" like in past months.)  I am regularly told, "Palmer had a big lunch and out-ate all of the other kids today" when I pick him up from school.
And when there's not food around, a hanger will do just fine!

*Balls - Palmer is a big fan of throwing balls (and everything else) and says, "Ba".

*Boston - Boston is still a favorite although Palmer has recently taken to pulling his hair and laughing like crazy.  Boston is not pleased and we've had a lot of talks about "being gentle" and "nice".  Palmer says, "Da" when he is looking for Boston.

*Books (especially Goodnight Moon at night)

*Standing - I think Palmer is able to stand by himself, but when we practice he balances for a second and then falls down and laughs hilariously.  He's missing the point and thinks it's much more fun to fall than to stand.

 

*Pushing trucks and other large objects around the house.  Check out this shopping cart Aunt Samantha got Palmer for Christmas.  She said she wants him to be a foodie!

*Boston's dog food.  (Yes, this continues to be an issue, especially because Boston's vegetarian dog food looks just like puffs.)

Happy nine months, Palmer!

-Bethany