Parker is a bouncing ball of energy- we have to constantly watch him because he is always getting into something! He watches everything that Braden does and then tries to do it himself- I always think that he has that song "anything you can do, I can do better" playing in his head at all times because he is always copying his big brother! He loves to climb, explore, touch, and run! He is our hands on boy! He also loves to cuddle which I surely don't mind for 2 reasons- 1. it is the only time he usually stops opening drawers, cabinets, etc and 2. I love to cuddle with my baby boy.
Parker's personality is hard to describe- he is serious, yet very silly. He is independent, yet wants to be held. He is an explorer, yet spends a good portion of the day at my feet. He doesn't like for me to be out of his sight and follows me from room to room, unless he finds something interesting to "discover"! He is stubborn and very strong willed. We have to be very consistent about getting onto him. He is getting better about throwing temper tantrums- thank goodness- but every now and then he will still throw himself on the floor kicking and screaming. We just step over and ignore him and this seems to work well. He is one of the toughest kids I know... he always has some sort of bruise or boo boo from his escapades, but when he gets hurt 99% of the time he keeps going like it was nothing!
Parker is the best hugger I have ever met (he squeezes around the neck so tight and kicks his feet while he squeezing) and will finally give kisses on command...we sometimes. Sometimes if I ask for a kiss he shakes his head no and takes off running! He has the cutest smile that lights up his whole face and makes him look like he is up to something! He loves his brother and he also loves to bother Braden. He loves to sneak up behind Braden and steal whatever he is playing with and run off! 
Parker can say several words now, but he doesn't say them all the time and will say a word a lot and then go for awhile without saying it again. Here are the words he says: mama, grr, uh-oh, ooh (juice), nana (banana), ball, dada, palpaw,cat and bye. Mostly he just walks around saying "mama, mama,mama" over and over. He can follow directions and understands what we are saying.
Some Parker 18 Month Facts:
*He has all of his teeth except his molars
*He loves to eat blackberries, raspberries, bananas, grilled cheese, hot dogs and peanut butter sandwiches
*He doesn't like strawberries, watermelon or potatoes- even french fries
*He loves shoes and will try wearing any one's shoes he can find! At random times during the day he will bring us shoes to put on
*He has finally started sleeping through the night! Woo Hoo!
*He loves to brush his teeth
* He has had 2 bumps on the side of his neck for several months now and after several trips to the doctor and blood work we are meeting a children's surgeon for a consult tomorrow.
And yes by the way, my kids are still in thier jammies- Braden calls these "jammy days" and we usually stay this way unless we have somewhere we have to go!
At the end of last summer, we let Braden take his water wings off a few times and he practiced swimmimg to Brad. This year he is only waering them when we are not in the pool with him. He is doing so awesome! He is holding his breath under water for over 5 seconds, sitting on the bottom of the shallow end, swimming halfway across the width of the pool under water, going under to pick up diving sticks and even jumping off the diving board with out his wings! If he paddles he struggles more, but when he swims under water he does great!
