theparkerfamily.org

Month: October 2009

  • photos: the first weekend

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    photo of the week // week one
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    photos: the first weekend, washington, dc

  • guestbook: auntie melissa

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    ECPA20091018_0259, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • eyeballs

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    ECPA20091017_0235, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    it’s the little moments in child rearing that are so special … it’s realizing that your baby has all four limbs, and all in the right place. it’s the first time that you wipe someone else’s rear. it’s discovering that your baby has not just one eyeball, but two.

    the good news is that sparklet has been sleeping like a brick. she’s slept through feedings, slept through car rides, and even slept through being dropped on her head (kidding!). the bad news is that, up till now, we haven’t had independent confirmation that sparklet has eyeballs.

    but with this morning, sparklet’s eyeballs are out and a blazin’ … looking anywhere and everywhere. of course, that’s only until we try and feed her … which is when she goes back to sleep.

    not that we are complaining. the lady sparkler and i have gotten waaaaay more sleep in the last two days than any new parents would have the right to expect, which is okay by us.

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    photos: we’ve got eyeballs, washington, dc

  • guestbook: grandparents

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    photos: grandparents, washington, dc

  • “hook ’em horns!”

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    ECPA20091015_0191, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    three possible scenarios for this picture:

    • first “hook ’em horns” sign, in support of the University of Texas at Austin
    • sparklet indicating she’s ready for her first cell phone
    • gang signs

    the lady sparkler is pretty certain it is the former, but i’m banking on the latter. i hope she picks out a good honduran street gang.

    UPDATE: Texas beat Oklahoma this afternoon, so we (and “Auntie Texas-in-Africa”) are now absolutely sure it was the former.

  • homecoming

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    ECPA20091015_0189, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    mercifully very little to report.

    sparklet’s already producing some top shelf imitations — she does a wicked good “goat” sound while she’s sleeping, a mean Gary Coleman face (“what’chu talkin’ ’bout Willis”) when woken up early, and a great “Nazgûl flying over Frodo’s head” sound when she’s hungry.

    (UPDATE: she’s added a great dolphin imitation to her repertoire, too.)

    other than that, we’re just settling into a routine. the family parker is up from virginia to provide cover until the family spindler can drive up from texas. sparklet is sleeping like a brick, and eating well considering the early date and her early birth.

    leaving the hospital, baby spindler (and the lady sparkler) both checked out great … mommy is still moving a little slowly, and because baby sparklet crashed the party earlier than planned we’ll to keep an eye out for jaundice.

    and with that, the lady sparkler and I are going to do a quick feeding, and take another of those 2 1/2 hour naps we’ve grown to love so well…

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    photos: homecoming, washington, dc

  • photos: day one

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    ECPA20091014_0163, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
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    photos: day one, washington, dc

  • kate elisabeth parker

    [Kate Elisabeth Parker, Washington, DC.]

    photo of the week // week zero
    like the little overachiever that we all know she is going to turn out to be, baby sparklet was born this afternoon (4:19 pm) a solid four weeks earlier than the lady sparkler or i had been daring to expect.

    baby sparklet was only day after full term (37 weeks) but the doctors and nurses have been speechless with how big (and healthy) and healthy (and big) the baby was for being three weeks early — measuring in at 7 lbs., 6 oz. and 21 inches. our delivery nurse guestimated that sparklet would have been 9+ pounds if she hadn’t decided to come charging out of the gate early.

    anyway, mommy and sparklet are perfect, and we expect to be discharged tomorrow morning.

    i did “liveblog” the event into my iPhone as they happened, but never had the chance to set it up formally (that whole three weeks early thing) so i’ll post more of a running commentary a little bit later.

    in the meantime, thank you from both of us (or all three, actually) for being so spectacularly supportive and sending us all those thoughts, prayers and encouragements.

    i was actually reading the out at down times during the labor, and the lady sparkler (especially) was incredibly grateful.

    more later, promise 🙂

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    kate elisabeth parker, washington, dc

  • the next chapter

    [Susquehanna State Park, Havre de Grace, Maryland]
    ECPA20091012_2439, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    i had the day off today (some kind of national holiday honoring the beginning of the end of Native American civilization) which conveniently doubled as one of my last chances for a solo hike in the near- to mid-future.

    I’ve often joke with the lady sparkler that boys have it harded than girls getting ready for a baby. girls have a constantly growing reminder that something is about to change. boys just have longer-than-usual home improvement list, and the odd sensation that their wife is putting on a couple extra pounds.

    not to mention, boys aren’t that good at sensing or reflecting anyway.

    but, that’s why i’m at susquehanna state park. located about 30 miles north of baltimore, it has always been my favorite hike, and i’ve been so many times — half a dozen in the last decade — that it’s become a place for me to measure the passage of time, relationships and all sorts of personal milestones.

    as our due date edges close and closer, it’s been dawning on me that somethings are about to change. I’ll no longer have the lady sparkler all to myself. I’ll probably be way more focused on other’s bodily functions than my own.

    that being said, I will soon have a beautiful daughter to share beautiful places and beautiful afternoons just like this one. I’ll also have a dumptruck-sized load of perspective that I’m pretty sure I’ve lacked up til now.

    but the beautiful hike has cleared my head, and even if there are a couple small things left to wrap up before sparklet arrives, I’m ready. I have a wonderful wife, we have a wonderful family, and are surrounded by wonderful friends.

    I can’t think of a better world to bring our little sparklet into.

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    Susquehanna State Park, Havre de Grace, Maryland

  • shower

    3960955816_2fdd0d3e07_b
    yeah. about that shower post i promised …

    i was thinking of getting a guest post from the lady sparkler, or texas in africa, or foster mom adventures, but then the thing with the guy in the place happened (“it was our pleasure … i had never been to Belize“).

    anyway, i’m caving … and posting a link to the pictures instead.

    from what i could tell, the food was great, the people were wonderful, and the presents were generous (and creative!) beyond words. that, and i got to drink bloody mary’s for two hours on a Saturday morning.

    that’s what we call a “win, win” in the bizness.

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    photos: baby shower, washington, dc