Spring Break 2013

Our Spring Break this year was quite a bit different from our other breaks to start off because we didn't travel anywhere.  That's right...we stayed at home!  We did this because we decided we would potty train Anderson.  It turns out that he wasn't quite ready for that (the proof was in the puddles on our floor), so our week opened up quite a bit and we had a great time!

We figured that we better find some fun things to do and what better place to start than The Mall?  Anderson immediately caught on to the idea of Spring Break!

We were so proud! He also wanted some money to throw in the fountains!  Finally, he decided to work on his Fantasia routine with his dad!

We continued our week with some painting!  Anderson wasn't quite sure about it at the beginning.  We put some in his hands and he gave us a questioning look.

After some time though, he became pretty free with the paints!

I was so excited that he was having a good time and that we had something nice to show for it in the end!

I have heard so many horror stories about how art projects go horribly wrong, no one has fun, and in the end the product was not what anyone expected (or wanted to keep).  This however, turned out to be a positive experience and Anderson asked to paint almost everyday for the rest of the week.

We also spent some time with our friends Jen and Oliver at the walking bridge in downtown Louisville!  We had a great time!  It was a little cold, but still fun and not nearly as crowded as I had anticipated.  First, Anderson looked in the Ohio River for "dolphins".

Surprisingly, none surfaced, but he and Oliver did see a boat!  That was definitely a highlight!

Poor Oliver wanted to run up the ramp to get to the bridge, but Anderson wanted to take his time.  I love that these two are so different, but just adore each other!  Our afternoon looked a lot like this...Oliver and Anderson would take off running.

About two seconds in, Anderson would slow down to look at something.  Oliver would keep running until Jen would tell him to come back and get Anderson.

Oliver would then run back and tell Anderson to come on.  Anderson would, and it would start all over again.

When we finally got up to the bridge, we had so much fun running around and playing!

We went back down after awhile and played on the park until we were all starving and tired!  We are so lucky to have Jen and Oliver as friends!

Another set of friends we got the chance to see over break was Kristy and Charlotte.  They met us at the park and we got to catch up and play all afternoon!  While we were there, they met another friend!

Charlotte spent most of her afternoon on the slides, while Anderson went for the seesaw!

It was so nice to get to see Charlotte and Kristy and catch up with them!

We also took a family trip to the zoo!  It was super crowded, but we had a great time!  This was our first time taking Anderson's wagon with us and it was a hit!  It carried all of our stuff, plus the kid and his snacks!

We saw lots of fun animals and Anderson worked to perfect his animal sounds!  Some animals were right out in the open!

Some, we had to really search for.

At times, our searches got a little off track.

We had a fantastic break with fantastic people!  We are so blessed to have a break to spend together!  We ended our break with a big Final Four win for the CARDS, followed by a National Championship title!  It was a great ending to an incredible week!

Easter 2013

This year, Easter fell on our Spring Break.  We had several celebrations and Anderson got really into the egg hunting this year!

Our first celebration was at the Forum with his NayNay and Great Grammy!  We got there right at 2:00 (when it started) and all the eggs were gone.  These kids meant business.  Luckily for us, the Wallace family was there too.  Tess and Mara put a couple of their eggs out for Anderson to "find" and Ginny fought off some other kids who were trying to swoop in and get them before Anderson could.

Anderson was very excited about the eggs and was even more excited when he realized that they were filled with goodies!

That was a big deal until he spotted the bunny.  After that moment, it was a bunny stalking event for Anderson.  That poor rabbit hugged our son a good 46 times and was a fantastic sport about it.  I do have to say that I loved that Anderson was not the least bit interested in the candy the bunny was handing out; he just wanted to love on the Easter bunny!

The next celebration was a surprise!  I had to go to the LaGrange Walmart to purchase items for my classroom.  While we were there, Anderson spotted the Easter bunny sitting in the photo center.  He went back to say hello and they told him he could get his picture taken for free.  The Easter bunny invited Anderson to sit with him and then gave him his first sucker.  Well, to say it was an instant hit would be an understatement.  They ended up giving us two free pictures because they said Anderson was so cute!

When the pictures were finished, Anderson still wanted to sit with the Easter bunny.  That poor bunny was stuck with Anderson for a solid 10 minutes.  I finally said we needed to go and Anderson hesitantly said goodbye to the bunny!


Following that, Richard and I worked to make Easter cookies for the next few get togethers while Anderson napped.  We had a great time and most of them turned out very well!

Richard put his own creative flare on a couple.  This bunny was a victim of Richard's creativity when Richard accidentally put a beak on him.  When the beak was removed, crumbs were left.  Then, Richard decided to leave it because he looked like he had been maced.

The chick was also subjected to Richard's creative side when he decided to make an "Anthony Davis" chick for his sister to eat (as she is a UK fan).  He used some of the extra Oreo crumbs to create the unibrow.

We had a Southwest Easter with the Garrett family and Anderson loved the Tumbleweed meal and the time with his family.

After that, we headed to his Grandma and Grandpa's house and had an egg hunt with his cousin Lilly!  Aunt Janice made 36 hard boiled eggs and colored them.  The eggs were hidden and then, the children were let loose!  They both found a lot of eggs (we were hoping they found them all so the dogs couldn't eat them) and were happy to go through them to see what they all looked like.

It was a fantastic holiday and we had so much fun celebrating with family and meeting the Easter bunny (a couple times)!

Things we are learning from, and about Anderson

As with every relationship, we learn more about someone as we spend time with them.  A child is no exception.  We have learned so much about Anderson in the 22 months we have been with him, but never as much as fast as we are learning now.  We are also constantly learning from him.  He reminds us on a daily basis of what life is truly about.  Here are some examples.


No matter where we have to go or what we have to do, it is never so important that we cannot take the time (a lot of time) to smell any and every flower in a two mile radius.  It seems tedious at the time, but in hindsight, is totally worth it.

Sam's is a fun place to be because the boxes are big enough to climb on and get behind.  These make for great hiding places or crevices to fit into so that no one can get you and make you keep moving through the store.

Speaking of Sam's, they also have the motorized carts that make shopping much quicker.  On that same note, there are not enough people who truly appreciate moving in reverse.

The simple act of watching a UofL basketball can put anyone in a good mood (as long as you are surrounded by people you love, and you can see, and someone is there to hold you all the time).

It's the little things you accomplish throughout your day that allow you to have the stamina to accomplish the big things!  Keep going and you will be amazed at how good it feels to finish something!

If you fear that you may have to leave the water fountain before you are ready, just soak your shirt so you can suck the water out of it when you get thirsty later.

A love of ice cream transcends most things, including age, gender, and time in the play place.

Everyone looks cooler in sunglasses!

Whatever you do, do it all out!  Play hard, sleep hard!

Anderson teaches us so much and we are so blessed to learn from him!  He is a constant reminder to appreciate the little things in life and to keep it light (don't take life so seriously).  Life is more fun with him in it!

First Gymnastics Class

Yes, Richard and I enrolled Anderson in a gymnastics class called "Parent Tot." This means that Anderson follows his coach (Antonio) onto the floor and Richard and I follow behind like baby ducks. This is how the first gymnastics lesson went.

First, we walked out onto the floor and Coach Antonio took us to the trampolines and the pit.  He tried to teach us how to spot Anderson doing a back flip into the pit, but Anderson just wanted to jump on the trampoline and play with the "blocks" (the foam squares that make up the pit).  We sang "The Wheels on the Bus" while Antonio bounced the kids around on a little yellow mat that he placed on the trampoline.  Anderson was pretty sure that everyone was singing just to him and had the biggest smile on his face.  This was the moment that Richard and I knew we had made a "good parent" decision.

This is also where I tell you that I was so excited about this first gymnastics lesson that I forgot my phone throughout this first part and did not capture a single second of it except for in my brain.  This means, as most of you know, that it will be gone unless I write it down.  Thank goodness for blogs!

Next, we headed over to the balance beams.  There were three beams and we were to aid Anderson in walking across all three.  Once he finished this, he was allowed to go down the slide.  Richard and I took turns helping Anderson across the beam and even gave him some opportunities to walk unassisted back and forth between us.

After the beam, Coach Antonio (that is much more fun to say, than it is to type) took us over to the obstacle course.  Anderson LOVED this!  He didn't follow all the directions exactly, but he had a great time and did go through all the obstacles!  At this point in the evening, Richard and I were really just there for decoration as Anderson was climbing in, out, over, and under different mats.

There were two parts of the obstacle course that Anderson seemed to like more than the others.  He really enjoyed what I loving refer to now as the "mountain mat."  This is a mat that is very steep and the kids climb up it, only to slide down in on the other side.  Anderson had a great time doing this!

He also loved hanging from the bar at the end.  I, of course, did not get video of this because I was busy explaining to him that if he did let go, he would not fall a great distance (maybe 5 inches) and he would, in fact, live to see another day.

Those were all great, but Anderson's favorite part of the evening was...the water fountain.  Yep.  He spent a good portion of the evening getting drinks from the water fountain.  Fantastic!

All of these things were very fun and at the end, Coach Antonio gave all the kids stamps.  Anderson pointed to the stamp on his hand several times and said, "What's that?"  To which we would answer, "Your stamp from Coach Antonio."  He would then say, "Stamp, Tonio."  It was a fantastic experience and we are so glad we did it!  I am thankful for these moments that we get to spend doing new things as a family.  Loving Gymnastics!

Resolution Check in

Recently, the Parrotts took stock of new year's resolutions made for 2013.  Here is how it is looking.

Resolution 1: Travel more.

We are going to go ahead and check this one off the list.  Anderson is raring to go and we are super excited about our upcoming travels this Summer!  We plan to visit a water park in Pennsylvania as well as the Omodt family in Kansas City!

Resolution 2: Learn to play an instrument.

Check. Check.  He may not make any money from it, but he is learning!

Resolution 3: Improve manners, especially while eating.

OK...admittedly we need to work on this one a bit.  But, that kid in the mirror was MUCH messier than Anderson.  He swears it!  Also, we may need to re-evaluate his role models, as Cookie Monster could also use some lessons in etiquette.

Resolution 4: Give more hugs.

Check and check...people and toys.  Hugs all around!

Resolution 5: Make time to dance and enjoy the music of others.

Well, we have been dancing quite a bit and enjoying music of all kinds.  I am not sure, however, that our skills are improving.  Luckily, improvement was not on the resolution list.  Anderson definitely dances like his dad.

Resolution 6: Make time to have a drink with friends.

We can always make time for friends!  They mean the world to us!  Anderson has a real affinity for his furry friends, but talks about his daycare friends all the time.  We are so thankful for Crestwood Childcare and Learning Center!

Resolution 7: Learn to drive.

 

Well, this one may take some time.  Anderson surprised his Great Grammy by shifting her cart into reverse at Sam's.  Grammy recovered well and Anderson had the time of his life.  He also climbed into the kayak on his own and was excited about the idea of being in a boat.

Resolution 8: Try new things, take risks, take a flying leap out of the comfort zone

Anderson recently started requesting bubble baths.  Therefore, I am counting it as something new (really, I just LOVE this picture).  He is also working on walking in other people's shoes and meeting new people/bovine.  Finally, he is working on his repeating skills as well as his stamina in saying the alphabet.  After K, it got a bit ugly.  Ha!  I am going to call this one "resolved."

Resolution 9: Build and create new things.

Anderson worked with his dad to build a tower at the Louisville Science Center.  They got it pretty high until Richard knocked it over.

Resolution 10: Cheer on the CARDS at as many games as possible!

We are working on this one with the help of Susan and Elgin as well as Anderson's Grammy and Granddaddy.  Anderson loves the live action games and enjoys the atmosphere.  He mostly loves finding, and tweeting at the Cardinal bird.