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.