I see the moon, and the moon sees me.

Tonight, Spencer discovered the moon.

(This is the moon that he saw tonight, however, the photo was taken about 2.5 hours after he found it, while he was sleeping in bed.) ---->

I know, it's a simple thing, but for some reason, it feels like a big deal to me. Maybe because I've always thought as the heavens as somewhat magical. Or mystical. They're intriguing. They're PHENOMENAL really.

Here's the story of Spencer's discovery.

We were just leaving work/daycare/Robert & Jillian's house (because it's all the same) around 5:30pm this evening, same as usual. He looked across the street at their neighbors' Christmas lights, lit up on their house, and said, "ohhhh" like he does for most Christmas-related decorations. I replied, "they're beautiful," as I usually do.

We walked across the driveway to the car, and he was looking around checking out the scenery, as he usually does, and then I see him stop and point up at the sky. In a whisper-type voice, he declared, "WOW," in pure, simple, amazement.

He was looking at the moon! He had never really noticed it before that I have experienced (and since I'm with him 99.9989% of the time in the evenings, I feel like I would know), so the fact that he sighted it and was amazed by the piercingly bright crescent in the sky filled me with giddy joy.

"That's the MOON," I explained. "Moon."

He didn't say it.

He just kept speaking the simple, "Wow."

I had been trying to get him to say "wow" for at least 5 days, and he had not once said it for me to hear.

I guess he just had to find the perfect thing to be awestruck by.

And the moon was it.

He repeated, "wow" a few times in the car, and when we got out of the car again, he looked up and searched the sky, and found it again.

He laughed to himself.

It was priceless.

I think we'll be making a habit of finding the moon on clear-sky nights now.

103.7 or so.

Wendell keeping "his" baby boy warm on the couch tonight. Spencer loved it so much and was so comforted by it, he let me leave the room more than once without crying hysterically.

Yesterday, Spencer woke up feeling warm, so I thought. I didn't think much of it, since he had a tooth pop through the night before. But, as the day went on, and he was tired and cranky, I was a little more concerned.

He went to spend a few hours with Tarah so I could have a break to get things done around the house easily, and have a little time for myself. He slept basically the entire time he was with her. When she brought him home, he was suddenly pretty cranky... and hot. I took his clothes off to give him a bath, but feeling how hot he was, I took his temp. It was 103.5. I decided immediately I would take him to acute care, since it was only 7:50 or so, and I knew if I didn't, I probably wouldn't sleep last night due to worry.

Ugh. Acute care. I generally have fairly good experiences there, but last night, I was a little more distraught.

The doctor there took his temp, which was quite high, and then scheduled him for lab work after checking his ears, throat, lungs, and pulse. The lab work went pretty smoothly, actually. Spencer whimpered a bit but didn't really cry.

As it would go, I got a text message saying I had an email from Sanford, and the lab results were available for me to read online 15 minutes before the doctor came in and told me that they were "normal" though on the higher end, and according to the blood smear, or whatever it was, they couldn't tell if it was viral or bacterial, so to alternate Tylenol and Motrin and bring him back in the morning.

Ugh. So I did. And of course, I slept like crud with worry.

I took him in this morning, and his fever was down quite a bit at the time due to some ibuprofen, but he was still warm. After talking with the doctor(s), they decided to test his blood and urine, and run a strep and RSV test.

Well, he SCREAMED when they took his blood today. Poor little guy. And then the urine... yeah, he didn't like that at all either, and wailed and screamed. Broke my heart.

And when it was all said and done, they decided he had "something viral, probably a stomach bug" that should pass in 5-7 days. They told me I should probably keep him home the rest of the day so as to not infect others since his fevers were still so high, and alternate the aforementioned medications, and bring him in or to the ER if it were to get worse instead of better.

*sigh*

So, I brought him home. He has been super cranky, and sleepy, of course. Much of the afternoon, it seemed like his fever was going down, but then tonight, two hours after giving him medication, it was back up over 100. And just an hour ago I took it and it was over 102 again. So, I gave him a cooler than normal bath, more Tylenol and put him to bed.

I feel so bad. I wish I could just make him feel better. He is so unhappy most of the time that he doesn't want to do anything but cling to me. He whimpers in his sleep. His cheeks are so super rosy. And his fever just doesn't seem to go away.

Though, I will admit, I feel almost most "motherly" when he's sick and needs me so much.

some photographs

Here's a collection of photographs displaying events of the past few weeks, such as Halloween and Spencer's first birthday party!

If you are my Facebook friend, you've probably already been able to view them, and this post may seem redundant.

And, just a forewarning, these are in opposite chronological order, because I'm too lazy to fix them. Whoops.

One of Spencer's birthday gifts was a tricycle. Yesterday, daddy helped him to ride it for the first time.

Since it was nice out yesterday afternoon, he also took some of his new cars out to play. These were another birthday gift.

Spencer is obsessed with plastic bottles. He digs in the recycling bin all the time to get them out. He especially loved this almost empty one that I hadn't gotten around to putting into the bin, yet. He carried it around for the better part of a day.

At his birthday party, he ate a lovely frosted cupcake. He actually had two, his and Grayson's.

Because SJ is super fab, he got to celebrate his birthday on three different days. On Wednesday, the day after his birthday, he had a birthday-cake flavored rice crispy bar when he celebrated with mommy, daddy, uncle Jesse, and BFF Samantha.

On Tuesday, his birthday, he went to Barnes and Noble with mommy and "Auntie" Tarah, and he got a giant cookie for free, because he's a member of the Kids Club.

He also got to wander around the store and practice his walking skills.

The evening of his birthday, we went to the mall to play in the play area and have supper at Burger King (he LOVES chicken fingers), and open a gift with Uncle Jesse, BFF Samantha, and "Auntie" Tarah.

At daycare, on his birthday, he had a celebratory blueberry muffin. He didn't really eat it.

For Halloween, he was an elephant, and his best buddy, Grayson, was a Rhino.

He was so darn cute in his Halloween costume!

Now, he's getting his fourth upper tooth in, hopefully it will break through in the next few days, because especially at night, he's been pretty restless and fussy. He is also trying to say a few more words, like "Wendell" which sounds like 'nu nud' (but he only says it for Wendell, so I'm pretty sure that's what he's trying to say), "All Done," and "Okay." Haha.

And he's walking EVERYWHERE, and getting pretty fast. He loves to wander the mall. That seems to be his new choice activity.

1 on 11/1/11 - He's golden!

At 7:34pm this evening, Spencer "officially" turned one year old.

Shortly after he was born, I realized how neat his first birthday would be. He would turn 1 on 11/1/11. His first birthday would also be his golden birthday. Pretty cool, I think.

Jake and I woke him this morning, and sang "Happy Birthday" to him, right away. i think we might make that into a birthday tradition. It was a fun way to start our day! SJ spent the majority of his day at daycare, but that is okay, since that means he was with me all day. That also meant he got to spend much of the day with Jillian and Grayson, as well as Robert, who all came to meet him when he was just minutes old!

At daycare, he got a birthday muffin with a candle, and ice cream. He "opened" one gift, which really meant it was basically opened for him, because he had absolutely no interest in participating. Haha. He was too excited about walking, nearly running, around the basement, holding onto a sock.

After daycare, we met up with uncle Jesse (who was also there to meet Spencer when he was minutes old), Samantha, and auntie Tarah (my cousin) at the mall. He got to play in the children's play area, before supper. After supper, he actively opened a present! Woohoo!

Then, Tarah joined us at Barnes and Noble, where SJ got to wander around the children's section at his leisure. So cute. Since I have a membership and he is in the kids club, he got a free giant cookie. He ate some, and we brought the rest home.

When we got home, he had his b-a-t-h, and then we read six books together before he went to sleep.

Tomorrow, since Jake and I both have the day off, we are having a family birthday celebration,.with gifts and rice crispy treats, and most likely lots of reminiscing.

I took many pictures, which I hope to be able to share soon, hoping our computer is fixable!

If you would like to read Spencer's birth story, click on the "mommy" link to the right and follow the link in my entry from this evening.

First Halloween!

Today was Spencer's first Halloween! He was all dressed up as an adorable baby elephant.

For the beginning of festivities, he went with the rest of his daycare friends trick-or-treating at a few of the businesses in Harrisburg. After daycare, his friends Grayson, Izzy, Judah, Jeremiah, Judah, and Krystian all went around the neighborhood together, dressed as various zoo animals. Of course, parents went with.

One of the highlights of the night, though, was that uncle Jesse and BFF Samantha came with! They are "home" from Alaska for a few days, so they can celebrate Spencer's first birthday (tomorrow)! Uncle Jesse did most of the trick-or-treating with Spencer.

I hope to have pictures to share in the next fewdays, but our computer is currently broken, so I am writing this on my phone. However, if you visit http://www.YouTube.com/ninjasj there are a few videos of Spencer in his costume from the photo shoot we did on Saturday!

Cake Smash!

This morning, Spencer had his One-year photographs taken, with Staci of Something Clicked Photography. She did our family photos this summer, as well as Spencer's 4th of July Patriotic session. I love her work, so naturally, when it came time to schedule photos for his birthday, she was my first choice photographer.

The photo session was at 10:30. Spencer woke around 9am, and had breakfast, then played until we got ready to go. I figured he wasn't super tired since he slept in, but he started to get groggy and doze off in the backseat on the way to the session. I drove slow, thinking maybe he'd take a quick power nap then, before we got there, and be happy and refreshed.

I was wrong. He didn't sleep, and when we got there, he was in a "questionable" mood. He wanted to hang on me, which isn't totally abnormal since he's going through that "I need my mommy" phase. But, he wasn't very smiley, that's for sure. More often than not, he gave us both serious and silly expressions, as opposed to smiles.

It didn't help either that he's started taking steps (he took his first steps on Thursday! And now he keeps trying it over and over. You can watch a video by clicking here.), and crawling, and doesn't stay still for anything. And then, he kept tipping over chairs, crates, and such, that were used as props, and banging his head and face on the floor and the wall. He's hit that super clumsy stage, it seems, as well. He also kept pushing the crate, chairs, and bucket across the floor and room, right off the photo set. It was sure a busy hour!

But, Staci did a great job! She uploaded five preview shots on her Facebook page tonight, and I LOVE them all. My gosh, I think I have one of the cutest kids in the world.

I don't think you'd be able to tell his not-so-smiley-clumsy-cranky mood was going on by the shots she's shared already. Now that's a great photographer, right?

He did enjoy parts of the session, though, don't get me wrong. He LOVED the balloons. He kept crawling around holding onto them, and bringing them all over the room. And he loved banging on the metal pail. And, of course, he had a good time with the CAKE SMASH! Yeah! He was actually pretty focused and a little serious about it, but it was fun to watch! He got frosting EVERYWHERE. All over himself, all over the floor, all over me... all over... well, pretty much anything within reach.

It was awesome.

Spencer will be one in like... 10 days! WOAH!

Pumpkin Guts!

For the first time today, Spencer (and his daddy, actually, also!) experienced "pumpkin guts" for the first time. For me, carving, de-gutting, and harvesting seeds from a pumpkin has been a long-time "love affair" stemming from my childhood. Jake... not so much. I guess they didn't have those traditions in their family?

And of course, it's Spencer's first fall, so he hadn't experienced this all before.

Needless to say, I took it upon myself to make this a family affair.

Spencer didn't have much of an "outward" reaction to the slimy, gooey, seedy insides of our pumpkins, at least vocally, I guess. But, he did make quite a few funny faces for the camera. We took video, but who knows if/when we will get it actually put online.

I can't actually gauge if Spencer liked or disliked the experience, to be quite honest. He wasn't too fond of the idea of sticking his arm into the middle of the pumpkin, but he didn't seem to mind the stuff hanging from the "lid."

He was a big fan of the seeds. Really. He discovered them almost right away and was having a hard time picking them up and holding onto them, because they're slick little buggers. When I was de-gutting my pumpkin, he was glad to be of assistance, though, and was all up in my way and stealing seeds from my bowl.

Love that kid.

And, Jake had fun too! He laughed his way through feeling the pumpkin's guts and proceeded to de-gut and seed his entire pumpkin all by himself. I was so proud!

I carved mine already, but haven't taken pictures because I don't have a candle. Jake hasn't carved his. Spencer has yet to paint his miniature one. Oh! And I made a second pumpkin of mine into a chalkboard pumpkin.

It was fun. The end. :)

A short update with a few pictures.

I just feel like I should write a short update about Spencer's life and activities lately, although, I guess, there aren't any "developments" or anything of that nature to report.

Let's see.

Last weekend, Jake, Spencer, Wendell, and I packed up our things and headed to Jake's mom's house, or as Spencer will refer to it, Nana Mindy's. He had a good time, as far as we can tell! He enjoyed playing with Wendell and Jeb, getting kisses, and trying to pull to standing using them. He had supper, breakfast, and lunch with everyone, and did a really good job eating what we did! Mostly, anyway. We discovered he likes grapes and bacon!

He witnessed his first bonfire there as well, and was very entranced by it.

He also met a new friend, Morgan, daughter of my life-long friend, Miranda, and her husband, Brandon.

The other night in the bathtub, he was squatting in the water, and proceeded to stand all by himself in the middle of the tub, without using any assistance.

It freaked me out! It has only happened the one time, though.

He has also taken his bath-time splashing to a new level, as seen here.

He loves this video, by the way.

Today, he went to a funeral with me, and didn't even yell "uh-oh Nicole!" during the mass, like I was terrified he would.

Unfortunately, though, he's been a little bit crabby and restless lately. I am pretty sure he is getting a few more teeth.

oh, the things he will eat...

Wow. I can't believe it has been nearly a month since we last updated Spencer's blog! My apologies.

It has been kind of stressful around here.

Spencer is now almost eleven months old! It seems insane to think it has been nearly a year since he was born. We are in progress planning his birthday celebration.

On the 1st of September he officially started crawling, and since then, he has been into all sorts of "mischief." He got a container of salt out of a box I had forgotten was stashed under the table and dumped it on the floor and then later got into the dog food bowl and threw that all over the kitchen. That was all the first few hours of his crawling beginning!

He has also been found throwing things in the garbage and bath tub, playing with the dig kennel, unplugging cords (yikes!), and tormenting the dog.

Lately, he has developed an interesting palate for non-food items as well. His favorite things to stick in his mouth seem to be dog food and rocks, though I have also found him attempting to eat (or eating) such peculiar items as chapstick, paper, shoe laces, socks, keys, coasters, and my personal "favorite," his dad's wedding ring (which he then lost...).

He loves pulling up to anything and everything he can reach, especially his excersaucer as it is eight next to the keyboard. Today, he let go of the fire pit in Jillian and Robert's backyard tonight, twice, and stood, all by himself in the middle of the patio, for over 20 seconds each time before sitting slowly down! He also let go of the side of the bath tub tonight and just stood in the middle of the tub. He seems too little in my mind to be doing that, but I am clearly mistaken.

He also learned to crawl up the stairs all by himself, on his first try!

He has started "talking" a bit, too. He says "dad/dadda," "go," "uh-oh," "cracker" and "Nicole," though the last two aren't quite as clear. He doesn't usually call me "mom/mama" but occasionally I hear it, mostly if he's stuck in his crib and wants out. Haha. I think he started saying "Nicole" because we have been asking Grayson to say it at daycare, and the other kids, and Jillian, call me Nicole, so that's what he hears me referred to most often. Hopefully, he will call me "mom/mama/mommy" consistently, eventually, but for now, it's kind of funny to hear him call me by first name. It sounds more like "Kih-cole" but we're pretty certain he's saying my first name.

We went to the apple orchard with Jake's brother, Josh, and his girlfriend, Jessica, a few weekends ago. It was cold and windy, but Spencer loved seeing the animals in the petting zoo. That's about all we did before we were too cold to continue. This past weekend, we went to my high school friend Jason's wedding reception, and Spencer had fun "chasing" another friends' three daughters. It was cute! He also met some of my friends from high school for the first time. That same day, we visited Grandma Mindy's house for a little while, and he got all kinds of kisses from her big fuzzy dog, Jeb. We're going back there this weekend, possibly to spend the night, so I'm sure he'll get a ton more. Yesterday, my dad and sisters came to town, and we went out for lunch, then to Falls Park for a few hours, and then out for frozen yogurt. Spencer had a great time and was pretty smiley most of the day!

He also had his first "sleepover" at a couple of his/our friends' house a week and a half ago, without his parents or any family. He did a pretty good job, from what I hear, and came back saying "uh oh" more clearly, and seemingly on a broken-record fashion of repeat. His baby brother or sister was born into Heaven (as a miscarriage) that week, and I was unable to care for him, so he got a little vacation from home to play with Judah and Izzy.

I have uploaded quite a few videos onto his youtube channel over the last month, mostly poor-quality cell-phone videos because he and his dad forgot our video camera in Iowa, but you can check them out here: http://www.youtube.com/ninjasj

Big Brother is almost crawling!

Spencer is getting so close to crawling... but lately, it seems he wants to avoid being on his knees as much as possible. He seems to like to crawl on his shin and his foot, which is pretty normal so far as I have ever witnessed. Though, he also likes to stretch his legs straight out and try to "crawl" flat footed. He's not so great at it, and falls on his face a lot!

He loves to walk along furniture. He loves to push toys across the floor, walking. At daycare, there's a walking/push toy in the basement, and the other day, he walked the entire length of the basement and back at least 10 times! What a goofball. He LOVES it though. He also likes to push dad's milk crates around the living room.

I really need to get planning his first birthday party, scheduled for November 5. I can hardly believe he's going to be 1 so soon!

Spencer is going to be a big brother!

It sounds so crazy to think of our baby, who turns 10 months tomorrow, as being the older sibling already, but really, that's what we wanted!

This morning, he got to see Sprout via ultrasound, with mommy and daddy, of course! Baby is scheduled to arrive around April 18, 2011.

Fun at the Fair

On Wednesday this week, Spencer, Daddy, Mommy, Uncle Jesse, and "Auntie" (Best Friend) Sam went to the Turner County Fair!

It was a lot of fun!

The week before, he went to the Sioux Empire Fair with Daddy, Auntie Sam, Auntie Allie, Mommy, and some of mommy's friends. In Sioux Falls, we watched a band, walked around and looked at animals, pet a miniature horse, napped, and enjoyed watching carnival rides.

This week, Spencer participated in a few more activities. He got to see more animals, and try to pet them (including pastel chickens (he didn't try to pet those) and a camel).

Daddy and Uncle Jesse played a fast-pitch game, and won SJ and Sam matching twin elephants! Yay!

Spencer also played the duck game and won himself a toy monkey!

He enjoyed some homemade ice cream, "played" Bingo, watched the rides, and laughed a bunch at daddy and Uncle Jesse.

Sam took a bunch of pictures! Here's a few to share!

Adventures with my Aunties

Last week I went to the Butterfly House with: My Mommy, Daddy, Auntie Sam, and Auntie Allie. It was lots of fun! Mommy and Daddy each had a butterfly land on them!

Every night other than some Auntie Allie has been giving me bathes! she makes them so fun. Last night I decided that I needed to take the pink starfish out of the Tub and play with it because it tasted so good. other nights daddy has been giving me bathes. He likes to play guitar when I'm in there!I have been saying 'Uh oh' a lot lately... almost for everything. Next week Papa Web is going to take us to the zoo! I cannot wait I love it there! It is probably one of my favorite places because there are lots of animals!

I have 4 teeth now and one is named 'Howie' according to Auntie Allie. Howie is my biggest tooth.

I went to Cherry Berry with Mommy, Sam, Auntie Sam, and Auntie Allie. It was fun I got 4 plastic spoons and had 2 samples of frozen yogurt. Yummy. I had vanilla and strawberry because mom said no chocolate. They we very tasty. So today I had fun and tomorrow Auntie Allie is coming to work with Mommy and I!

Tonight we are watching "Fox and the Hound" so I can attempt to fall asleep. I had a bath before bed (as usual) and it was fun! Auntie Allie sang 'Oo-De-Lolly' to me. Except instead of 'Robin Hood and Little John' it was 'Spencer Jacob and his Mom'.

Tomorrow will be fun and I am looking forward to it... so goodbye for now.... keep reading my posts to see what I am up to.

Funny little toothy boy.

Spencer has been a hoot lately! He's really quirky, so he makes me laugh a lot. Okay, maybe it's just me, but I think he's really funny. You should check out some of the videos on his youtube channel. I'll provide you links below:

First Popsicle

Silly Daddy & Spencer (good for a laugh!)

Hiccups

Coffee Table Drummers (co-starring his best friend, Grayson)

Arguing (another laughable one)
And... I found his tooth!

Yesterday, Spencer's first tooth broke through! Yeah! It is the lower left front tooth. Then, this morning, after his nap, I noticed his SECOND tooth had broken through! That was the top right front tooth. Ah!

He has been moving a lot lately, which is crazy! He doesn't crawl yet, but he, as he has for quite some time, bounces on his bottom all over, and now he also scoots on his tummy backward. He inchworms too, which is super fun to watch. And then, he scoots on his butt, too. Sometimes, I think he might not crawl until after he walks.. just like I did!

He also eats mostly "table food" now, and has been for a while. He loves eating what we're eating (if he can), including things like chicken noodle soup, or grilled cheese, cereal, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, and yogurt! I think yogurt is his favorite, but he also loves to feed himself peas. It's really cute. I can't believe how crazy fast he is growing!

In fact, he will be 9 months old on Monday. HOLY MOLY. That just seems... absolutely incredible. He'll be 3/4! And with that in mind, we're already working on planning his first birthday party. It will most likely be family and a few friends (which he does have, thanks to daycare and church!), and possibly be a pool party. I guess it just depends on the cost associated with a bunch of kids swimming. Our place is not big enough to have a party here, so I've been looking into other options. I know it seems far away, but most of his family live far away, so it only makes sense to plan ahead and get it on the calendar! I'm thinking the party will be Saturday, November 5.

He's been sleeping through the night (almost every night) for like a month now, too? I think? And loves pulling to stand, especially in the bath tub (UGH, but when he does, I take him out and tell him bath is done). He also loves walking alongside the couch. And shaking his head no.

Tonight, he waved many times in a row at me and Uncle Jesse! Yay!

First Fourth!

Before I write about Spencer, let me just say I think that holidays that are primarily referred to by their actual date are somewhat silly. (For example: Cinco de Mayo, September 11th, The 4th of July.) I think they deserve more creative, meaningful names... like.... Independence Day!

Happy Birthday USA!
Anyway.

Yesterday was Spencer's first Independence Day! While he obviously has no idea what Independence Day (or even the two words, separately) means, he still was able to celebrate.

First, he had a spiffy new Mud Butt Diaper! And on Saturday, he had his professional photos taken in it. Here's one:

On Monday morning, we decided to go to the Annual 4th of July Parade! He loved it! I actually decided we should go based on prior experience with him loving traffic as it whizzes by our house in the morning. I figured he'd enjoy being close to traffic that was "more fun" than your typical morning commuters.

He hadn't had a nap beforehand, but he was still a jolly little guy, attracting attention from people actually in the parade, which was amusing to me.

Afterward, we went to Chevy's for lunch. He ate a little Spanish rice, some beans, some corn... mush... stuff, and had water through a straw! We took a video of that. He didn't suck it up through a straw, but it counts well enough, I think.

Came back and napped.

Then we took Wendell to the dog park. Unfortunately, there were hardly any other dogs there, so Spencer was somewhat bored... until we played in the sand! He played in the sand for the first time on Sunday, and the second time yesterday. He only attempted to eat it once each day, and it never even made it into his mouth. I was impressed! He really liked walking in it, and squishing his toes underneath the surface. He didn't so much care for me burying his feet. Not sure why.

Came home and put him to bed/nap for a bit, and then woke him up to go watch the fireworks display! At first, I couldn't tell which he liked more, the fireworks, or the traffic. I think by the end of the show, the fireworks won. :) He's such a great little baby!

And, he's saying, "Dad" all the time. Sometimes, I joke about him thinking the dog is his daddy, but he really gets excited when I talk about daddy, and I know he knows who that is.

Here's a video of him saying it tonight before bed:

Spencer's First Wedding

Spencer went to his first wedding this past weekend! His uncle, Cody, (Jake's step-brother) married his sweetheart, Emily!

It was fun to bring Spencer to a wedding, and for the most part, he was very well behaved.

There were only a few times during the ceremony where he thought it wildly appropriate to start yelling 'Da da da da da!'

It was a bit embarassing, but I must admit, I thought it was kind of cute as well.

At the reception, Spencer got his own seating assignment and place-soda. How cute! It's currently on the shelf in his room. If it lasts long enough, he can drink some of it in a few months, when we deem he might be ready for fizzy pop.

The wedding was early afternoon, and the reception ended a bit after four, so following, we went to his Grandma and Grandpa Worthley's house for a few hours. There, Spencer got to spend some quality time with Aunt Beka (his wedding date, awww), Uncle Josh (see blow), Grandma, Grandpa, "Auntie" Jessica, and some other people (like Grandma's parents, for example). It was a lot of fun!

He even spent some time with daddy playing on Grandma's piano. I'll attach a video at the bottom.

For supper, he was a big boy,

and he ate whole peas, potato salad, and watermelon. It's crazy to think that he is already enjoying "real" table food, not just baby foods that I make for him. He seems so little for that! I guess he is seven months old. Man, time flies.

Overall, it was a great day!

Don't really have much more to say about it (because I'm exhausted and not feeling well) so I'll just attach the video I mentioned of Jake and Spencer's dinner concert.

Seeing horses and deploying family photos, a birthday party, and a football game.

Spencer had a busy weekend.

I seriously thought about leaving the blog at that. Haha. But, I won't.

Starting on Thursday evening, Spencer had a busy four or five days. That evening, he and I met up with our new friend Samantha, and went for a beautiful walk at a local camp. We saw horses! Though, Spencer, truthfully, was more interested in her watch, until one horse whinnied, and then it was back to her watch.

While we were there, she took a few photos of us together, and of Spencer playing with long grass. The one to the left is one of my favorites from the evening!

Following photos, we sat on some swings and talked a while. By the time we got home, Spencer was so tired he went to bed in his clothes, with one shoe on, one shoe off. It was pretty adorable, if you ask me.

On Friday, the three of us traveled back to my hometown area, to attend my younger brother's deployment ceremony.

He is currently in Wisconsin for training, and at the end of July or beginning of August, or something, he'll be headed to Kuwait for a month, and then to Iraq for 11 months, I believe.

Spencer seemed to enjoy the actual ceremony somewhat. He not only was intrigued by the activity, but he made friends with a baby girl sitting behind him.

Post-ceremony, we all traveled back to my dad's and spent some time together as a family. Spencer and my dad's dog, Adelynn, deepened their friendship. In fact, she tried to take a nap on him at one point.

It's crazy to think that Spencer will be walking and talking (hopefully) by the time his uncle Bryan returns from deployment.

On Saturday morning, we had the second half of our family photo session with Something Clicked Photography. We had the first half a few weeks back, but the wind was crazy (up to 40 mph gusts) so most of the photos had crazy hair and a freaked out look on Spencer's face.

LUCKILY, the weather this time turned out much better. Though, it was quite a feat to get Spencer to smile for photos. He was distracted by EVERYTHING and sat there with a gaping mouth and distant stare most of the time. Between the baby ducks, the grass, the trees, and the sound of a waterfall, he was just not an easy baby to get smiling... unless... Jake was hoisting him up above us both or jumping off in front of us, in which case Spencer would smile and laugh incessantly. We decided that next time, maybe we'll have his uncle Jesse (Jake's twin) come along and either stand in for Jake in the photos (haha) or be the side-show that gets the smiles.

The photo shown here is one of the previews the photographer put online, and I think it's super cute!

That afternoon, we went to Spencer's best friend Grayson's first birthday party! It was a lot of fun! Spencer got to eat a little bit of cake even. He LOVED watching Grayson's balloons.

On Wednesday prior, Spencer made Grayson a birthday card, using green cardstock and washable markers!

He was quite the little artist.

Also on Saturday, we went to a Sioux Falls Storm game! That's the local arena football team. They might be semi-pro or something, I don't really know. It was Spencer's first football game, which was kind of exciting! Jake won two tickets that morning, which is really why we went.

We were a little nervous that Spencer wouldn't like the crazy loud crowd and be cranky, but he really wasn't at all. In fact, he really enjoyed being there! I think he was fascinated with all the activity going on around him. He only cried a few times, mostly when he was hungry or dropped his toy. And, he was so lucky, because his daddy caught one of the miniature footballs that are tossed into the stands as prizes and gave it to him as a souvenir!

The elderly man behind us made a point to tell me once, Jake once, and both of us together one time, that we have such a great little boy, super well-behaved, and adorable. I won't lie, I like hearing those random compliments. Makes me feel like we're doing an okay job parenting, at least!

On Sunday, my college roommate came down for the day and went to church with us. She hadn't seen Spencer since he was only a few weeks old! He didn't care that so much time had passed as he was all smiles when he saw her right away! She really did spend almost the entire day with us!

And then on Monday, he had a calmer day at home, while Jake and I cleaned, and then his uncle Jesse and our friend Sam came over for supper and played games. He very much adores both of them!

In other news, he's getting really good at his pincer grasp and has little to no problems eating his puff food things (little rice puffs) by himself, AND, he's really doing well with his sippy cup!

Tomorrow, he will be SEVEN MONTHS OLD. Holy cow.

Adventures at the Zoo!

Today, Spencer went to the Great Plains Zoo! My friend Jenna has been itchin' to meet our little man for quite some time now, so she and her friend came up from Marshall, and we met at the zoo.

I wasn't sure how Spencer would like the zoo at first, because animals there can be pretty boring (at least at this zoo it seems) when they're really hard to see far away. But, luckily, that wasn't always the case, and he seemed to really enjoy it!

The exhibits he enjoyed the most (or so it seemed anyway) were the Spider Monkeys (which he watched very intently, tracking their movements and kicking his feet), the petting zoo (which we got a video of) and the tigers (which we also got a short video of).

He seemed to enjoy it so much that he was awake nearly the entire three hours! He slept for about a half an hour in his stroller, and then was awake and participating. He (and his daddy) is sleeping right now, though, making up for the big lack of sleep earlier in the day.

Jake and I decided we're getting a family pass in a year or so, so that he can enjoy the animals more frequently.

It was a great day!

Oh, and Jenna got him a tiger onesie that he'll be modeling in the next few days, hopefully.

6 Months!

Spencer had his six-month well-baby doctor's visit today!

He weighs 19.1 pounds.

He is nearly 28 inches long!

He is in the 75th percentile for height and weight, and head is around the 50th percentile, I think.

He had a blast playing with the paper on the exam table, and attempted to rip the stethoscope right out of his doctor's ears. Haha.

He did all sorts of talking and laughing and squealing... until his shots. Hated those, of course. But, he's still in a relatively good mood!

He got a ball at the grocery store tonight, and I had him laughing so hard he drew a small crowd. I was bonking it on his forehead saying, "bounce! bounce!" He was SO cute.

He got to eat a chunk of watermelon after supper tonight! He loved it. I did not take photos. I will next time.

He also got to spend time with Grandpa Lee today, shopping, and then with Grandpa and Uncle Jesse for supper.

Lately, he's been playing outside a LOT. He LOVES being outside under normal circumstances (unless he's really cranky or tired). He is also experimenting with different "hard" foods, like crackers (which he's had many times before) or toast (which he had for the first time on Friday).

Here's a quick video from tonight, where Grandpa made him giggle:

World Record Setting.

Last Saturday, on Spencer's uncle Bryan's 19th birthday, he and I participated in the Great Cloth Diaper Change World Record Setting Attempt, held locally at Elegant Mommy in Sioux Falls.

Here's a news article to explain more:

http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=114160

While there, we opted to participate in a Cloth Diaper Mini Shoot, done by Mprints. Click the business name to see the facebook page! He donned an infamous Mud Butt, of course. He loved having his picture taken, and it was a lot of fun for me to watch him have his photo taken by someone else! I can't wait to see more, this is just the facebook preview image she shared.

Anyway, the event was pretty fun. We scored a bag of random goodies, and showed off our super cute Mud Butt diapers. Spencer got a certificate stating he was a part of the local attempt as one of 49 participating babes!

I was really excited to take him to the event, mostly so I could put it in his baby book some day. I mean, I've never been a part of any world record, so it's pretty cool that he is! The official results will be posted in a few weeks, I think.

In other news, Spencer likes baby yogurt, drank from a sippy cup, loves bouncing, ate some pureed tater tot hotdish (which looked DISGUSTING, but Grayson wouldn't eat it, so we gave it to SJ), and was bit twice this week!

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Yesterday, Jake and I took Spencer swimming for the very first time! We're getting a family membership at a local wellness center, which means that not only can we work out, but we can take Spencer to an indoor pool!

After touring the center on Saturday, we were very excited and could hardly wait until open swim time on Sunday. Spencer's aunt Shari and his cousin Alyssa joined us as we went to the pool!

He seemed to enjoy it right away, maybe a little unsure at first, because it was pretty loud in there. The "therapy pool" was open for family swim, and it's about the temperature of a bathtub as opposed to a typical swimming pool, so there was no shock there. Almost immediately, he stuck his butt up and began floating by himself... well, with the help of me holding up his chest/head. He would do the same when you tipped him over to his back. He'd pop his belly up to the surface! Seems we have a natural swimmer on our hands!

The first time or two that we dunked him under, he wasn't a big fan, needless to say, but he didn't really cry or anything. He made a couple wimper/cough noises, and pouted a bit, but the sadness was short lived. I think that shocked him more than anything, as well. As we continued swimming, we would occasionally dunk him under. By the end of our hour swimming, he wasn't too phased by it at all.

Jake took him "wake-boarding" on a floating raft, and he loved it. He would smile and squeal and kick his feet in delight! We really do think he'll be a great swimmer!

He also thought it pretty funny when I would hold him up in the air, and then go under the water myself and blow bubbles. Jake said he'd squeal with delight then, too!

I won't lie, we each accidentally dunked him under the water from some sort of floating device. I know the time I did, he tried to roll off the raft thing (successfully, obviously) and rolled right into the pool. My instincts grabbed him in record time, I feel, and after, I had the residual panic thinking "what if he drown!?" I wasn't prepared for that feeling, but I didn't really dwell on it for more than a few seconds.

Shari was awesome and took a few videos for us. Well, Jake took the first one, and she took them after. I'll share two- the one Jake took where he first entered the pool, and one Shari took of him "wake-boarding." Enjoy!

The Little Boy and the Rock Stars.

Yesterday, an amazing band led worship at church- NEELY. Prior to the services, we'd only ever seen their name on facebook.

I ended up going to both church services yesterday (because I was there with Jake, so I couldn't leave, and decided it an awesome way to spend the time (with our friend Robert, and friends Trevor and Marybeth)), and enjoyed their music. Spencer was in the nursery for both services, so he didn't get to enjoy the music during church.

Unfortunately, there was no announcement at church that they were having a concert in town later that evening. We knew about it via facebook, and were very excited to go.

We were a little unsure if we should bring Spencer along, thinking it might be a bit loud for him, but we decided that we'd go, and if it was, we'd leave sooner to save the little guy's hearing.

Well, as blessings would have it, it was a very personal feeling, small-time, acoustic rock set! My favorite! I think, Spencer's too! Yeah!

Spencer was sleeping in the car seat when we arrived, but as soon as we walked in, he opened his eyes and perked right up. Probably had a little bit to do with the fact that his daddy plays guitar for him almost daily, and it's noted that he loves music. Coupled with the fantastic light show to keep his attention, he was excited to be there!

He danced to a few slower songs with me in the back of the room, smiling and focusing on the performance the entire time. Since it was so low-key feeling, and ever-so-wonderful, we got a little table, plopped him on top of it, and let him sit there watching Jeremy and Kaci play and sing. He was pretty intensely focused the entire time, smiling, making "singing" noises (as I decided to call them), and kicking his little feet like he was running, as he does when he gets very excited.

He was happy for the ENTIRE show. It was awesome!

Afterwards, Kaci came up to us at our table to meet Spencer. He LOVED her. Seriously. He was all smiles and hamming it up for her like a little cheese. He met Jeremy a little later, and flashed his smiles at him too. He really liked them! It was adorable. Unfortunately, we didn't bring a camera for him to get his picture taken with them (because we weren't thinking, nor knew that the atmosphere would provide for it), BUT, he did get an autographed picture from them for his baby book!

We were fortunate to be able to spend some time talking and getting to know the duo, as a family of 3, along with our friend Pete, from church, who is also managing them. Way cool. Talking with them seemed so familiar. It was very memorable.

But yeah.... It was his first concert! Yeah, Spencer!

We also have their CD now, and I'm tempted to (pretty certain I will) make sure he gets to have a copy of it for when he's older, as a souvenir from his one-on-one time spent with the Christian rockstars. Surely, he won't have the memories, except what we provide for him, and I want to be able to provide! From what we've gathered, he's already got quite a love for music, and he truly did enjoy the NEELY concert! Tell you what, our little guy has great musical taste.

Road Trip, Sunglasses, and Swing-sets.

This past weekend, Jake, Spencer, and I took a road trip! It was Spencer's first "official" road-trip, I guess. I don't know what it is about this trip in particular that makes me label it as that, whereas any other trips not...

Anyway, after Jake dropped off Sir Wendell at my cousin's house, the three of us headed from Sioux Falls to the Twin Cities area.

On Friday, we went to Jake's aunt Marlys's house, north (I think) of the cities. We arrived in early evening, while the sun was still out.

We enjoyed spending time with she and her husband, and her husband's sister, while waiting for some of Jake's other family members. His aunt Marlene, her husband, and her granddaughter joined us, as well as Jake's uncle Gaylen and his wife. It was a great time, truthfully! We had supper together, spent all sorts of time talking, and laughing until we had tears in our eyes. Spencer was decided by one aunt to look just like his mommy, and the other decided he looked very much like his daddy. It's always great to hear people's first impressions.

It was wonderful, also, to see uncle Gaylen, who just recently had a pretty severe stroke. He is able to walk, talk, and function. He's not his "old self," necessarily, but he's truly a miracle. We really enjoyed spending time together, all of us. We were sad to see them go that night.

Saturday morning, Marlys made us all waffles, and then our trio ventured into one of the suburbs to see my best friend, Michelle, and her husband, David. Spencer hadn't met "Uncle David" yet, so it was a delight to allow that meeting to happen. Spencer really enjoyed David from the start! They were pretty darling together.

On Sunday, Jake's best friend, Brian, and his girlfriend, Cari, came to David & Michelle's for breakfast, and then our trio went with them to a small community gathering, where we met some new people, who adored Spencer, and had some fellowship. Following that, our trio went to the Mall of America to walk around a bit before making the long trek home. Spencer loved the mall. Nearly as soon as we got inside and he was being pushed around in his stroller he was talking and laughing and kicking his feet, watching everything bustling around him. He did very well, and we were there for a few hours, even!

He did well on the car rides there and back as well, only getting fussy a few times toward the end of each journey, as to be expected. On the way home, we stopped at Country Kitchen in Blue Earth, MN, and were three of probably 18 people in the entire place. We got in, got a booth and a high chair, and plopped SJ in and gave him a cracker. Everyone in the place took notice of him, smiling at him, commenting about him and how adorable he was, or how he was such a good boy. As an elderly couple was leaving, the woman came over to tell us that we have the most precious baby boy she's maybe ever met, and that she could tell we were wonderful, loving parents who were absolutely amazing for him. She reminded us to make sure that SJ knows the Lord. It was really cute. It actually made my day.

Monday, Spencer received a package in the mail from his great aunt SJ, from Washington! Inside were two pair of baby sunglasses, and a super cute, fuzzy, soft teddy bear from the town in which they live. I took the liberty to put them on him and take a few photos, which are displayed here. Funny as it was, we spiked his hair at daycare that day, which seemed very fitting with the glasses on.

Today, Spencer went to a park for the first time ever, during daycare. It was fun! Since the baby swings were being used when we arrived, I sat on a "big swing" with him on my lap and started swinging. He was smiling and talking and laughing as we went through the breeze. After a baby swing opened up, I put him in it. He loved that too. Jillian was awesome and let me borrow her cell phone to take this photo of him, to commemorate the big day!

Assuming the weather is nice enough tomorrow, Jake, SJ, Wendell, and I are probably going to head to the dog park (which is, by the way, officially called "Spencer Park"). Spencer loves watching dogs, and now the swing, so it should be a good time. We'll most likely bring the video camera.

I also believe he'll be painting this week, for the first time. I can't believe he hasn't done any artwork yet!

Bathtime Fun and Voice Exploration

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but because of continual flooding in the kitchen due to Spencer's desire to splash like crazy, he moved from his infant tub in the kitchen sink into the big bathtub in the bathroom a few weeks ago... or so.

Anyway, he LOVES it. Not only does he get to float (which he attempts occasionally... and I find impressive) if he chooses, he can play with more toys, and splash much, much more. I think that he also enjoys the change in sound while he's talking and what not created by the bath tub itself.

You can see some of his fun bath time videos on his youtube channel.

He's been a bit.. louder lately, too. I think he's realized more of what his voice can do, and is having a blast experimenting with it. His pitch fluctuates more and more, as well as the decibel at which he uses it. He has different squawks and squeaks as well. He's hit that "pterodactyl" phase. (For the record, I love how not only many people describe baby noises as "pterodactyl" type noises... but the fact that we all seem to know what that means, despite no one actually knowing what a pterodactyl sounds like.) So, it's fun (and sometimes kind of a pain, say, if you're at daycare and trying to let other kids sleep).

He's also eating more lately.. which is crazy to me. It's almost like he's currently a bottomless pit! I can't quite guess how many ounces to put in his bottle at any given time, and it's really thrown me for a loop.

Today, he sat for 31 seconds, unassisted. I know it doesn't sound like much, but when you're right there waiting to catch him if he starts to topple, it seems like quite a long time!

And he LOVES to stand. Assisted, of course.

So... that's all. Just wanted to throw in a quick update.

And this means war?

I tell you what, tonight was war at home.. or so it seemed.

Usually, the evening goes like this:

5:30pm-6:00pm; SJ sleeps in the suburban on the way home from work. Usually wakes up as soon as we get home and the dog comes in the house.

6:00pm-ish-8:00pm; bottle, play

8:00pm-ish-9:00pm; nap

9:00pm-ish-10:45; fruit+oatmeal and bath

10:45pm-ish-11:30; play, bottle, bed

Then, it's a toss up. He usually either wakes up around 3am and 6am, or around 4:30am and then again around 8am.

Well, tonight.. we'll see.

He slept until about 6:00 at Target, and then was awake. We got home around 7, because I had to go buy formula.

Then he was awake, he played, he had a bottle.. and got tired and cranky around 8, as usual... but instead of being able to get him to sleep, we fought it out. I rocked him, until he was almost asleep, and went to lay him in his crib, as I usually do, but that just made him MAD. And from then on, it was he trying really hard to stay awake, but falling mostly asleep, and then just screaming and fussing.. no matter what I tried. So, he fussed until about... 9:20, despite having a bit of a bottle and almost sleeping. Then I gave him his pears, which he was mad about, because he was tired, and didn't really want to eat it. And then... a bath... which he enjoyed, and finally... he drank about .0023 ounces of his bottle and fell asleep at about 10:45.

So, his schedule wasn't so off, I guess.. but boy, that no nap in the middle replaced by lots and lots of fussing, and me not being able to nurse him which would generally make him fall asleep no problem... it just seemed like war.

But, hopefully he'll sleep a lot, since he fought so hard. I'm home alone with him tonight and don't want to get up 21.23849734 times.

I typed this as I finally got to eat supper, and the bottles are about ready to be scrubbed, and then I'll be off to sleep.

Or just kidding, I just heard him scream.

I'll go get him in a second. But I'll leave you with a link to this cute video of he and his dad doing a "duet" yesterday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRcHnGox5EY

Veggie chutes making me shoot up!

The time has come for another check up! Woohoo! At 4.5 months old, Spencer needed another series of shots today, and boy was he excited about it. Well, not actually. Though I must say that leading up to the shots, he was having a grand ole time entertaining so many faces this morning.

We stopped over to the surgical tower at Sanford to drop off Nicole, and then sped off to see our family doc. In waiting for the MD, we shared all about the cloth diapers he was wearing and so many people we simply fascinated with the variety of colors and prints. Our nurse told me we one of her favorite families because she never knew what color might be coming in on Spencer's butt, and because he always smiled at her with a huge smile.

So, just to let you know, I'm not sure they measured Spencer correctly last visit. But apparently, he grew 2 3/4 inches! Must be his new diet of vegetables and fruits! Or it could simply be that the nurse might have measured a little shorter than he actually was on our last visit. But now standing at two feet two and three quarter inches, that puts him into the upper 90th% among his peers. Crazy honestly. But his 16.1 pounds makes him a lightweight compared to his height. Guess giving him food this early isn't going to make him fat. Sorry Mindy mom if you are reading this! But his head is growing at a steady rate making him within the 70th%. And then of course came the dreaded shots.

His doctor came in and gave him a thorough looking over, and then had two nurses come in to help with administration of the shots. Like last time, it took a second for him to realize the pain, and then you couldn't have painted a color more red than his face on him! But that actually passed very quickly. I rubbed his legs out really fast, and then put his clothes back on to leave. Not too bad at all if you ask me.

The rest of the day has been awesome! We got to spend some time outside with Nicole and Wendell walking down the half snow covered sidewalks. Spencer slept most of the time, but at least he got a little sunshine. Our little baby isn't so little anymore.

Sitting and Such.

Spencer is getting really big, really fast. Not necessarily size-wise, but... developmentally, I feel like.

Currently, he's between 15 and 16 pounds and 24 to 25 inches? Not certain, but he has his next well-baby visit and shots on Wednesday, so we'll be able to report then.

He has some really long hairs. Like, 3 inches long. They're funny. They stick straight up and you can really notice them in the sunlight.

He's really taking interest in people and movement around him. The other night, Jake came in, and talked to him, and left the room, and then I noticed Spencer was looking around the room to find him. He got a little mad, and I called to Jake to tell him, Jake came back, and SJ smiled. When Jake left again, Spencer began the search all over. It was pretty cute!

On Tuesday of last week, I got a wild hair, and let go of Spencer while he was sitting up. He stayed sitting up for 6 or 7 seconds. On Thursday, he sat up, unassisted, for almost 15 seconds! It doesn't sound like much, but when you've never sat on your own before, it's kind of a long time and a big deal, at least I think so.

But, he's only four months old, so I feel like he's already growing up way too fast! He's got amazing core strength already, too. And, he loves to stand. He can support his own weight for quite some time, and I just keep my hands around his torso so he doesn't fall. Ah! My tiny, big boy!

You are what you eat, my little social butterfly.

Jake was awesome and ordered a food processor with his reward points from work. I decided this weekend, I would get on the ball and start making a bunch of baby foods to store up for SJ, since he's eating them now, twice a day.

Well, too bad he's terrified (SJ, not Jake, haha) of the noise, all of a sudden.

Anyway, here's what we've gotten done so far:

Zucchini

Squash

Avocado

Pears

Peaches

And here's what we have left to do:

Eggplant

Cucumber

Carrots

Celery

Green Beans

Peas

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Sweet Potatoes

Mango

Papaya

Apples

Bananas

Nectarines

He won't be trying all of them right away, some we'll hold off on (like tropical fruits, for example). I eventually want to do radishes, turnips, beets, parsnips, and asparagus too. Oh, and cherries, strawberries, blueberries, plums, watermelon, and grapes.

Here are the foods he's tried and loved (he's really loved anything we've let him try) so far:

Carrots

Peas

Sweet Potatoes

Green Beans

Squash

Avocado

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Pears

This afternoon, we made a trip to the grocery store, where I discovered that Spencer is somewhat of a social butterfly, today anyway. He was smiling and talking to all sorts of people, so they would talk to us, and we were there for about an hour. He made friends with the produce man, lady, one of the sampler-passer-outer ladies, the check-out girl, the check-out girl in the register behind us, the bag-boy, three elderly ladies in aisles, one little girl, and a teenage boy in the gravy section. Haha.

Now he's talking to himself in the mirror in the living room.

One year together.

We have known about Spencer for over one year! We (Jake and I) found out I was 3 weeks 5 days pregnant on February 22, 2010.

We celebrated with our baby boy on Wednesday, the 23rd, though he didn't obviously understand. I treated Jake to Olive Garden, and SJ came along. Why the Olive Garden? We went there for lunch the weekend after we found out, and we spent our lunch time discussing our thoughts, hopes, and visions for our future child. So, I thought it'd be fun to go back.

It was. It was amazing to sit there together... with Spencer, in his car seat, looking at him, and visualizing new things, like when he learns to dribble a basketball, or chasing Wendell around, or running and hugging his daddy's legs when he gets home. Jake said "I hope he talks like you do." Haha.

We also took family photos together in the photobooth... also known as our bed. We just lay on it and do self portraits. Here's a favorite of mine:

Let's see... what else. OH! Yesterday evening, I was taking photos of SJ on the bed, and he rolled from his tummy to his back twice! I went to get the video camera, and of course, he just decided to scream at it for seven minutes or so. I did get a nice video of him puking on the bed, woohoo.

Shortly after, he was in his bouncy seat. I was wearing a ponytail, and I flipped it toward him, and he GIGGLED. Yup, he's laughed for a long time, but I kept doing it, and it was a rolling giggle... over and over and over. So, we called and left Jake a voicemail of Spencer giggling. :-)

That's all for now. He LOVES being at daycare with Jillian, Grayson, the other kids, and I. It's pretty wonderful.

Oh, and he has his own activity center now. He also loves that.

And, he's waking up.