Thanksgiving 2012

I believe the Parrott family has found an annual tradition that will make eating a Thanksgiving feast a secondary thought.  For the second year in a row, we did the Turkey Trot at the Northeast YMCA.  This year, Richard ran the 6 mile race, I pushed Anderson through the 2 mile race, and Anderson ran his own race this year (about 100 feet for 0-2 year olds).

The toddler race was, by far, the funniest thing I have ever been a part of!  They lined up the (about 15) children at the start line with a parent and then lined up the other parents at the finish line.  The start line parent's (Richard's) job was to wrangle the toddler and keep them within the boundaries.  The finish line parent's (my) job was to stand at the finish line and yell for said toddler to come to them.

You can imaging that this was quite a scene.  It was loud and chaotic and hilariously funny and enjoyable!  I had a wonderful time!  Anderson "ran" the race in pure toddler fashion, getting distracted and face-planting one time.  What must this have looked like, you may ask.  Don't worry...I video taped it.  (Anderson is the little bit in the left"ish" middle"ish" wearing a blue shirt).

When they finished, each participant received a trophy with a turkey on the top.  The person handing out the trophies was dressed as a turkey and Anderson was more than happy to give her a good nose honking.

The Turkey Trophy is now sitting in its respectable place on our kitchen counter for all to see.

After the Trot, we went to Anderson's Grammy and Granddaddy's house for our first Thanksgiving meal of the day.  Anderson had a great time and played outside for a majority of the meal.  He went down the to ditch with his Granddaddy and spent quite a bit of time under the cedar tree...quiet...too quiet.  I came down to check on him and asked him if he was pooping.  He nodded yes.  After a couple more minutes, I asked him again.  He nodded yes again.  This happened several more times.  Without all the gory details, it ended with Anderson needing a bath and Richard having to change shirts because of some poor timing.  Ha!

After Grammy and Granddaddy's, we went to Anderson's Grandma and Grandpa's house for our second meal of the day.  We got to hang out with lots of family and Anderson did some posing with his cousin Lily.

He also did some individual posing!

At about 6:00, Anderson walked himself to the stairs, pointed to the door, and said, "go."  We had a very tired boy on our hands and he fell asleep in the car on the way home.

The next day (Black Friday), we had Thanksgiving dinner at our house for Anderson's NayNay's family.  Aunt Katie and NayNay came over early to cook.  Anderson did his part by hanging out with dad on the couch watching the Macy's Parade on DVR.

We had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed seeing all of our families!

Halloween 2012

Halloween has always been my least favorite holiday, but Anderson has made me rethink that.  Last year he was a peanut (costume made by his NayNay) and this year, he was a parrot (get it).

He looked so cute as both and I have loved every minute of him being dressed up!  Another thing I am really liking about Halloween is the tradition we seem to have started with Janice and Lily coming over for trick or treating.  Last year, we stayed in and gave away candy.  This year, we went out and got some candy.

The similarities between these two children are undeniable, but they could not have been more different about they way they approached trick or treating.  Lily was motivated.  After that first house gave her candy, she was on a candy-getting mission the rest of the night.  She hiked up hills and climbed up stairs.  She knocked on doors, with Aunt Marilyn's help, and took stock of her booty after each stop.  The little elephant was born for this holiday.

Anderson, on the other hand, could have cared less about the candy.  He was, however, very interested in getting to walk up to the doors and look into the houses.  He sniffed everyone's flowers and looked closely at everyone's decorations.  He spun himself silly in people's yards and was not interested in carrying his bucket.  He had more fun talking with his dad and letting Uncle Chris fly him like a plane than he did with actual trick or treating.

They were so fun to watch!  I am also very thankful for my Mom and Grammy, and Richard's Mom, who came over to our house to hand out candy so we could go out and trick or treat!  We are so blessed to have such amazing family!

Also, that day we got to dress him a little for daycare.  We didn't want to go all out with the parrot costume (that might make it hard to nap), but we did feel like we needed to acknowledge the holiday.

New Interests

As Anderson gets bigger, he also grows in his interests.  His interests are diverse and adventurous and I love seeing him try out new things!

He has found a new interest in industrial sized fans.  I came home one evening recently to find our kitchen ceiling sagging and water dripping onto our kitchen floor.  We called the insurance company and they were quick to bring large fans and de-humidifiers into our house.  Anderson was not at all inconvenienced by this.  In fact, he saw it as a new way to style his hair!

It's strange, because his hair seems to be a new focus for him in general.  He is trying out some new looks.

He is not only experimenting with the hair on his head, but also with his facial hair.  It is my understanding that every young man goes through this, but I was not yet prepared for it yet.

Anderson has also found a new passion for reading.  He can no longer just sit and listen to a story.  He must tell the story himself.  He is an amazing reader, if I do say so myself.

He also has a new love for football.  He pronounces it bah ball, but we know how he really feels as he yells at the players to "GO," claps his hands, and demands a touchdown.

I can't wait to see what his interests grow into in the future!  I am so lucky to be this little bit's mom!

Trunk or Treat

This year, we wanted to get as much "bang for our buck" as we could with Anderson's Halloween costume, so when Aunt Marilyn invited us to Crestwood Christian Church's trunk or treat, we happily packed ourselves up and went!  It was a super cold evening that was a little out of the ordinary this year so we didn't stay long and it wasn't very crowded.  There were six cars there for us to visit, but Anderson made the best of it.  He got to spend some quality time with Aunt Marilyn, Uncle Chris, and Max.

He also made a new friend who was dressed up like a spider.

I don't know if you could hear it in the video, but the little boy said, "Me Maw, I met a new friend."  I absolutely melted and was so touched.  What sweet people!  I am very glad we went because it ended up being so much more than just another opportunity to wear the parrot costume (although I really can't get enough of seeing him in this costume)!

Florida was Calling Our Names

In late October this year, we went on our second annual Fall Break trip to Dunedin, Florida.  Anderson's Grammy and Granddaddy own a condo there and have invited us to stay there with them the past two years.  We are truly blessed to have opportunities like that to spend with family!  While we were there, we stayed busy, just as Richard planned.  We began our stay at the park and we played while Dad and Granddaddy played tennis.  The park had a great playground and a splash park that we took advantage of on almost a daily basis.

Anderson also learned a new way of going down the slide.

We also spent quite a bit of time at the beach on Honeymoon Island playing in the sand.

Anderson was not a huge fan of the showering the sand off of him part.

The beach also had a playground, so we took full advantage of that as well!

Some days, we chose not to go to the beach, but just to play in the pool at the condo.  While there, Richard taught Anderson how to "play" with others in water.

After we had our beach/condo fun, we took a couple of days to do some traveling around Florida to "see the sights".  We started our adventure at the Clearwater Aquarium and Rescue Facility to see Winter, the dolphin.  (At this point, many of you may be saying, "Ruthie, who the heck is Winter?"  For those of you saying that, he is that dolphin who doesn't have a tail because it got caught in a crab trap and they made a movie about him called "A Dolphin's Tale - get it...ha!)  Anderson really enjoyed seeing the dolphins and watching the shows.

He also really liked the other parts of the aquarium.  Especially the part where he got to touch a ray.  He missed the first time...

But then he touched it and was very happy with himself.

There were all kinds of photo opportunities at the aquarium!

Next, we went to Busch Gardens thinking we could get discount tickets.  We didn't get past the front gate because they wouldn't let us get the discount at the gate, we had to get it online and print them.  Well, that wouldn't do, but we did get a couple pictures in the front of the park.

When we realized that Busch Gardens wasn't an option, we went, instead, to Tampa's Lowery Zoo.  If you haven't been, plan a trip.  It was fantastic!  Anderson got to pet a camel and got to see all kinds of fun animals!

Once our travels were done, we decided to carve a pumpkin back at the condo seeing how it was so close to Halloween.  Anderson loved the pumpkins and called them "nay nays", but was not a big fan once we cut them open.  Be sure to watch his reaction very carefully...I still laugh about this moment whenever I think about it.

We had a wonderful time and were able to experience so much with our sweet boy!  So blessed!

Recognizing Granddaddy!

Recently, Anderson's Granddaddy was recognized as the College of Arts and Sciences alumnus of the year at the University of Louisville.  It was a big deal and we are so proud of him!  They even made a table reserve sign with his picture on it!

We were so excited to celebrate with him that night, but there was also a mention of him at half time of the South Florida game.  Anderson went with us to cheer him on!  I am not going to lie, I was nervous. I was picturing Anderson being crazed and wanting to walk around the whole time.  I was picturing him walking in and out of people and me not being able to find him.  Boy did he ever prove me wrong.  He was amazing.  He was completely mesmerized by the football game and clapped with everyone when UL made a good play.  He was not a fan of the booing, but then again, neither am I.  He spent his time on our laps unless it was a break in the game when he sat in his own seat or went up on Richard's shoulders.  I think he is officially a football fan!

We appreciate Granddaddy inviting us to celebrate with him!  We had a fantastic time!

Anderson's first icee

Richard is one of the cross country coaches for Buckner Elementary's intramural program.  After all of their hard work and practices this year, they had a meet.  Anderson had a great time watching the runners and playing with the dogs who also attended.  After the kids ran, there was a Kona ice truck giving the runners a free treat.  Anderson got in on that fun and was very happy that he did!