Snow time is Great time!

Well well well. Mother nature has decided to shower us with some permanent white stuff, and boy have I (Jake, aka "dada") been waiting to get Spencer out it it! We got a little blue sled from Angela and Lee as a gift for Spencer this Christmas. It sports a nice little seat and a long enough draw cord that I can pull him all over the place! Spencer had been enjoying our little adventures in the snow around the yard, but only because there wasn't substantial amounts of moisture to accumulate on the hills of our nearby park, Spellerberg. Not anymore! I planned an outing today with Spencer and I to enjoy some downhill time like I had when I was a tiny yonker. Nothing better than some chilly air running in your face at high speeds! Ok, we didn't go that fast, but it did seem to be a nice enough acceleration to give him a thrill. I strapped him in with video camera in my hand and we began our downhill experience!

Well...... It really didn't go that bad! I almost made him wipe out be trying to guide this speeding sled from the side with his rope, causing him to somewhat go sideways. But we made it to the bottom in one piece and that was a success! I don't truly know if he enjoyed it, but the subsequent trips down he seemed to smile more, but never a sound! Just kind of catching his breath each time we started sliding down. Let me be clear: I wasn't on the sled with him, just running along side the sled with him, with camera in hand trying to get this on video. The first capture was the best, and I will be posting that as well on his youtube channel. I tried to get some middle school kids to get us on video, but they were inept. None of the videos they capture could keep up with us going down the hill. Oh well. Perhaps our next time will include Nicole who is infinitely better at catching these great moments.

Overall, he lost his one boot twice, and his hat six times in the eleven trips up and down. I got a workout, and I hope Spencer had some fun, though truly he enjoyed the ride home best because I ran him along the ice covered sidewalks. Think the smoothness of that ride is what he was laughing and giggling about the most.

Fourteen Months!

Today, New Year's Day, our darling young lad turns 14 months old! That seems so crazy to me.

He is quite the little monkey climber now, as well as a chatterbox. He learned to get up and down on the couch, and can get down from our bed all by himself, too.

He learned to climb out of his high chair if he's not strapped in. I learned this one evening, while he was eating and my back was turned doing dishes. I turned around to check on him and see if he wanted more to eat, and he was on top of the kitchen table!

He can say quite a few words now. Most of them seem to be dog commands, like "go away," "sit down," "no," and "out." He also says "no way!" That sounds pretty funny coming out of his mouth. He is perfecting "Wendell" more every day, too. He can also say "baby," "bath," "girl," "duck," "dog," "hi," "mama," and "dada." There are other noises we catch from time to time, though we're not sure if he is saying actual words.

Lately, his favorite activities seem to be playing with his toy snare drum, carrying around his giant puppy dog that he got from his aunt, uncle, and cousin for Christmas, watching Elmo or Praise Baby DVDs while mom is trying to get housework done, playing balls, and his shape sorter.

He also LOVES playing with glow sticks, especially in the bath tub.

Spencer had a good Christmas. We stayed home because I have been tormented by sciatica, but, fortunately for him, his aunts Samantha and Allison were here for an entire week! He had a ton of fun with them. I'm pretty certain this next week he will be crabby and depressed with them gone! We opened gifts on Christmas morning (he wore his new holiday elephants Mud Butt Diaper (see picture) for the occasion), and spent the day just spending time together. The following day, his Grandpa Lee and Grandma Angela came to visit. Today, he and daddy took his aunts home, and visited Grandma Anita and Papa Web, and then went to Grandma Mindy's house for supper (while I stayed home). So, despite my limitation on travel, Spencer still got to see all of his grandparents for the holidays. :)

I can't wait to see what this year brings for our little boy!

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!