On Thursday, my darling, first-born baby boy turned two.
I know it's been quite a long time since I have updated Spencer's blog. If you are my Facebook friend, you more than likely are bombarded with all sorts of Spencer (and Collin, his new little brother, born September 1) statuses and stories, so while I feel a little bad about neglecting his blog, I take solace in that fact. It's been a hectic few months, introducing the new baby into our family, moving, and all sorts of other things.
Spencer is now 36 inches tall and 30-ish pounds. He can count to ten, and partially to twenty, all by himself. He can recite the entire alphabet by himself. He can point out and name both numbers and letters when he sees them. He knows red, orange, yellow, chartreuse, green, aqua, blue, purple, pink, black, gray, white and brown. He knows circle, flower, star, heart, square, triangle, rectangle, moon, and oval. He knows a ton of animals and their sounds. He is learning words like crazy. He's full of hugs and kisses, climbing and exploring, and of course, mischief. He's an amazing boy that I am grateful for, every single day. Yes, sometimes, I will admit, he drives me a little batty, but you'll have that.
With that brief update, I will leave you with a few videos, taken on his birthday.
Sioux Falls has a pretty... decent zoo, for the most part. They're undergoing renovations again this year which will make it a little more awesome, I think. Spencer has been there at least three times... possibly five or six. I cannot remember exactly. He enjoyed it when we went, for the most part, but he was a bit younger then and didn't really understand animals or have that much interest in them at the time. Also, sometimes the animals in the zoo in Sioux Falls seem hard to see. That's my opinion, anyway. They have a pretty good variety, but it's not nearly as awesome a zoo as the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, NE.
Ever since Spencer started showing interest in fish (which he calls "wish!" very excitedly), I have had it in my heart and mind to take him to the zoo in Omaha, because they have a wonderful aquarium with an underwater tunnel. I just always thought he would love it.
Spencer's fantastic daddy made it possible for the three of us to take a day trip to Omaha this past Sunday to visit the zoo. While the temperatures climbed to over 100° that day, we left early enough to be able to spend a good five or more hours wandering the zoo. We, by no means, saw it all, but it was our plan to attempt to see all of the animals out of one of Spencer's favorite books, "Where's Spot?" as well as the aquarium.
We accomplished that much, plus a few animals he hadn't heard of yet and a few others he had from different books he has. He is 20.5 months old now and he knows quite a few animal names and noises, which made the adventure even more exciting, I think. We definitely got to put his knowledge to the test! He did so well! And was so excited!
We first visited the desert dome. We decided to start there while the temperature outside was only in the 80s and so it wasn't going to bake us. Spencer really liked the foxes, the jack rabbits, porcupines, and a few other animals that I can't remember. He got really excited with the rabbits, and an elderly lady next to us just loved watching him squeak at them. After, we went to the... night.... area... where the animals that love the dark are. Spencer honestly loved watching the bats in the bat cave flying around overhead. He would say "flap flap" as they flew. He also got very excited about the snakes and frogs and made their noises for quite some time. Then, we visited the swamp lands, and he got to see turtles and alligators, both in his book.
Then, I think, we went and saw the gorillas and monkeys. Spencer was enjoying the monkeys from inside the pavilion area, where we were about three stories above ground, until we pointed out a monkey on the ground for him to look at, and we think he was afraid he was going to fall down there (because the glass was clear), and he started to get a little freaked out. He enjoyed it again when we were on the main level with various other primates and the big gorillas. I got to stare a gorilla in the face with only glass between us. It was pretty intense. He made a lot of monkey noises the entire time.
I think we then went through the aviary, but there weren't many birds hanging out. We saw a few and a deer of some sort.
We stopped for a rest and snack, where there were little wild birds waiting for Spencer to drop his goldfish crackers. He liked them. Haha. Then we saw the bears! He really enjoyed watching the polar bear swim from atop daddy's shoulders. He enjoyed the grizzly and sunbear, too, but I think the polar seemed to be his favorite. He growled for the bears.
Then we went to the cat pavilion area. Spencer watched the big tiger pace for a while, and roared. He saw a few lions, panthers, jaguars, and a leopard, too.
The last stop (I think) that we made was the aquarium, because it was getting to be to the point where Spencer was getting potentially whiny and needing to sleep (we woke him at 6 and he only slept 20 minutes out of the entire 3 hour drive to the zoo). It was the part, as I said, I was most anticipating for him. When we walked inside, I got the video camera out, and Jake put him down to run free. He ran excitedly toward the first tank inside which had a bunch of fish (I don't remember what they were), yelling "wish! wish! wish!" the entire time. He kept pointing and squeaking and running and LOVED it. Here's the video:
We took him to penguin area next. He watched from right up against the glass for a bit, with daddy, until a penguin zipped by him in the water and made him jump. I didn't get to see it, but Jake and various other spectators did, and commented on it quite a bit. He warmed up to watching them shortly after, and was mesmerized by their swimming.
Then, we took him to the underwater tunnel. He sat atop daddy's shoulders again, fascinated with fish swimming overhead. After a bit, we set him down right at the glass, and he watched more "wish" swimming, until a sting ray swam by his face and made him cry. Then he wanted to be held, so I held him, and we watched sharks and others swim by us. It was wonderful!
The final thing that we took time to see (other than a few other types of ocean fish) were the jellyfish. Spencer was mesmerized by these as well. The orange ones (again, I forget what they're called) were his favorite. We stood right up against the glass and watched them swim in front of us. He kept reaching out to the glass to "touch" them and saying "wow!"
By the time we got out of the aquarium, he was basically asleep. :)
Because we didn't see it all (we missed out on many safari animals (like elephants, zebra, giraffe, rhinoceros) and rain forest type animals (macaws and such)), we decided that sometime, probably next spring when Spencer's brother or sister is a little older, we would go back and see more.
It was definitely worth the trip, I think. We didn't have our camera with, but had our video camera, cell phones, and my sisters point and shoot, so we did get a few photos and videos to share with Spencer when he's older.
Last week, on Monday, Jake (aka Daddy) took Spencer and I (Nicole, aka Mommy) back to my hometown, where we planned to stay the week.
Jake has a new job (if you don't know about it, feel free to read up on the change in my own blog), and is gone four days/three nights a week. He's been working in my hometown area for a few weeks, so I thought maybe it would be an easy enough thing for him to just drop us off there while he was working, so we could have a change of scenery for a while.
I was a little nervous about Spencer adjusting to being there, sleeping at my mom's and not his room for four nights (we stayed until mid-day Friday), but overall, it was a wonderful trip.
Monday: On Monday, we arrived around noon. We were dropped off at Papa Web's house, where we waited for Auntie Sam to wake up from her nap and join us. Uncle Bryan came also that evening, and brought bubbles! Yay! After they were done with work, Uncle Dustin/Groovy and Grandma Anita came by. Eventually, Auntie Allie came for a while, too. We had a good afternoon/evening mostly playing with balls in the yard, as well as bubbles. Wendell spent the night (and the rest of them) with Papa.
Tuesday: On Tuesday, Sam and I went to the high school and visited Frau (my former teacher and now friend) and talked about the school yearbook. Papa took Spencer to play at the park, and to see some of Papa's friends.
Wednesday: Wednesday was a fun day, in which Papa took Auntie Sam, Spencer, and I to Sanborn (SJ fell asleep on the way), and we visited my grandparents' grave. Afterward, Papa decided we should road trip to the nearest Wal-Mart (about half an hour from where we were) and get Spencer a pool! So, we did. Papa bought him a pool and a squishy ball, and I got him a big blue ball to play with, too. And some PediaSure since he was against eating while we were on vacation. After, we went to Dairy Queen, and then the local park where they have some animals at the "zoo." Spencer LOVED the ducks. He would run up to them super excited like and yell "QUACK QUACK!" before running away, and back again, and away again, and back again... When we got back to Papa's house, he blew up the pool and "filled" with with a few inches of water. Spencer got right in and played for quite a long time. He didn't want to leave that night, but rather just keep swimming.
Thursday: Early Thursday morning, Grandma and Auntie Allie took Spencer to the strawberry farm (about forty minutes or so away) to pick berries while I got to catch up on some sleep (because Spencer was staying up late and getting up very early on vacation). He didn't so much help pick berries, I hear, but had a good time anyway. After he got bored, Allie took him to pretend to drive Grandma's truck. They came back mid-morning with a bunch of berries. I tried to get Spencer to taste one... and he really didn't want to, but he liked to touch and look at them! Then, Grandma and Allie went to Grandma's job so she could show him off and meet her co-workers. He had a great time, I was told, splashing in puddles, running through rows of flowers (she works at a nursery), and climbing on rocks. When they got back, it was nap time, and then back to Papa's for more swimming! Spencer had a BLAST swimming on Thursday, especially since he discovered he could splash people by throwing balls into the water. His favorite was to splash Grandma. I have a cute video to share!
Friday: Daddy came to Grandma's on Thursday night, so when Spencer woke up Friday morning, he was very excited to see him. Grandma was at work, so after lounging around and relaxing a few hours, we headed back over to Papa's house to play in the pool one more time before driving home, and also to get Wendell. By the time we left town, Spencer was super exhausted, and had fallen asleep on my lap in a matter of seconds after sitting down on it. He didn't even wake up when Daddy put him in the van!
It was a great trip. To be honest, I'm kind of sad we're back at home! Spencer had a great time, as did I. I hope we can do it again sometime!
In other news, his fourth bottom tooth is FINALLY coming in, many months after the other three. I was beginning to wonder if it would at all!
Today, Spencer turns 19 months-old. My slacking blogging skills mean that it's been a month since I last wrote about our little guy! Yikes!
We've been keeping busy. Spencer is on the go pretty much the entire time he is awake nowadays. He's been doing "cute" toddler things, like lying on his tummy to play cars, and saying 'vroom vroom' as he drives them across the floor.
He's also been doing not-so-cute toddler things, like throwing a fit if he doesn't want to do something, like come in the house after he's been re-routed from entering the street four times in a row.
He's been doing funny and mischievous toddler things, too, of course. Recently, he discovered he could re-position the rolling computer chair and climb in it so he can reach things off the table. He also discovered he can take the computer keyboard off the desk and type. He's been found using Google as well as trying to print things from my email. Good thing we don't have a printer, I guess.
Overall, though, it's been a good month.
Jake started his new job, and Spencer and I went through a period of sleep-training where I would let him cry-it-out in his crib until he finally went to bed on his own. The past two nights in a row, he cried a little on the way to his crib, where he went willingly, because I won't give him his milk in a cup until he gets there. And as soon as I laid him down and gave him his cup, there wasn't another sound. He just drank his cup, plopped it out on the floor, and went easily to sleep. I was so proud.
He has been learning more animal sounds, too. He has a See-and-Say that he got from Nana Mindy and Travis for Christmas that's been aiding in that, though he sometimes seems a little freaked out by it. He also has been practicing them with a few books that have animal pictures. It's been interesting, because even animals that don't really have distinct noises have to have some sort of noise or he won't turn the page. So, we make them up from time to time. So far, he's knowing goat, owl, horse, cow, duck, dog, cat, bee, bear, lion, snake, and a couple more that I can't remember.... monkey... and something else.
One of his new favorite past-times, I think, is watching Hot Air Balloons launch. His uncle Jesse and honorary aunt Samantha help crew hot air balloons for her family that owns them, and invited us to watch two weekends in a row. The first time we were pretty close to the action, but when the fire started, he got scared. The second time we were about 100 yards away or so (I'm bad with distance, so just guessing) and he stood, silently, happily, and mesmerized for about 15 minutes while the balloons were inflated and took off. It wasn't until he couldn't see them in the skyline anymore that he first moved. It was SO cute. Last weekend, he got his hair cut for the fifth time. This time, my aunt opted to try the clippers. He did NOT like them at all. So, she switched to the scissors for the main part and then trimmed up again with clippers, and then the scissors once more. He looks like he's three now, I think! But goodness, he's handsome!
Next week, he and I are going to stay at my mom's house and visit my mom, dad, and siblings for four days while Jake works his new job in my hometown area. I'm really excited. I hope he does fairly well sleeping, I am a little nervous since it'll be not at home, but I think it'll be okay. And then, in two weeks, my sisters are both coming to stay. Yay!
The pools opened in town now, too, so I bet we're going to start swimming quite a bit, as soon as it gets hot again. It's been pretty chilly this week.
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!
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.
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
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.
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!
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:
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!
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!
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.
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:
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!
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.
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!
As you may know, on January 20-23rd, Jake and I were in Coronado, California, and Spencer was home in Sioux Falls. My mom and sisters came to spend the four days with SJ and Wendell, which was very wonderful of them.
It was very hard to leave Spencer, but we all did pretty good, I think, for the four days of separation. Grandma and Aunties said he was a little fussy, which was to be expected, but generally, a pretty good little guy, as usual.
The week following our return, Spencer and I spent a lot of quality time together. Over the course of just a few days, he was paying attention to his hands, sucking on them, playing with them, grabbing his own fingers... and then he was holding onto toys... then bringing them to his mouth. He was babbling and talking tons, and laughing like crazy! It's like overnight, he became extra jolly and playful!
On Saturday of last week, we tried cereal for the first time, and he did REALLY well. He barely had problems swallowing it and keeping it in his mouth (for a 13 week old, especially)! He loved it, smiled, talked, and laughed through it all. He's been having it every night ever since,
followed by a bath and bedtime.
That's been helping him sleep longer at night, I think. Three times since then, he's slept from 11pm or so until 4-5am or so! Wow!
On Sunday, January 30, SJ and his best friend, Grayson, were dedicated to the Lord at our church. It was wonderful! I had goosebumps during the whole part of the ceremony. Afterward, we all gathered at
Grayson's mom and dad's house for a luncheon. We dressed our boys to match, and they were SO stinking adorable! I could have just hugged and kissed them to bits!
On Tuesday of this week, we got a video camera! Jake gets points for his sales at work, and he used some of them to get the camera for our family! We've been having fun with it. Spencer is "warming up" to it too, you could say.
My mom and her boyfriend spent four days with us this week too, while she looked for a new vehicle (hers was totaled by some punk kid driving over 75mph in our 30mph residential zone the night before we left for California), so SJ got to spend more quality time with her this week, which was pretty wonderful for all, I think. She couldn't believe how much he's changed in the last week!
He also wore shoes today, for the first time, just for fun, since he's liking to stand more and more.
Spencer has officially lived in 2 calendar years, already, and he's only 9 weeks and one day old! Crazy!
For New Year's Eve this year, Jake, Spencer, Samantha, Allison, and I were invited to spend the evening at Pastor Lance's house (from Falls Church), playing games and having fellowship. It was a random call that Thursday from Lance, asking me what our plans were, to which I responded we had none, because Jake was scheduled to work on his overnight route.
Well, there was a blizzard, so we were able to go visit Lance and his family.
It was a good time. His wife's parents were there, as well as two of his daughters, and some of one of his daughter's friends. Spencer was passed around quite a bit, which was totally fine, as we played Outburst Remix. Spencer was very proud of his mommy and pastor Lance, as their team (comprised also of Samantha, Lance's father-in-law, and eventually his daughter) won all three games! Woohoo!
At midnight, the noise-makers were blown, and Spencer didn't even care. He was very happy and content the entire time! And, he was awake, which was fun. He got New Year's kisses from both his mom and dad. :-)
Following that evening, Saturday, we spent the day at home, Spencer, Samantha, Allison, and I. Spencer had multiple story-times with his Auntie Allie. He either really loves Dr. Seuss, or he REALLY REALLY loves listening to Allison read. He was flailing, and laughing, and kicking, and smiling, almost non-stop every time she would read.
Sadly, on Sunday, his aunts had to go back home to Papa Web's house in Minnesota. Spencer got to play with Papa Web for a while, as well as their dog, Adelynn, so that was kind of fun, too.
Now, it's just back to SJ and Mom at home. It's really quiet. I thought Spencer would be a little hard to adjust to not having his aunts around, but he did pretty well yesterday when we went to play with his friend Grayson, so I could help make posters for daycare.
Oh, and starting soon (hopefully) Spencer will be going to daycare! However, if he goes to daycare, so am I, as I'll be working at my friends Jillian & Robert's house, and Spencer can play with Grayson almost every day! That will be fun for all of us, I think. Keep your fingers crossed we find families!
On Tuesday, Spencer and I roadtripped to Minnesota, to visit his Grandma Anita, Uncles Dustin and Bryan, and Grandpa Richard (haha, that sounds funny)... er... Papa Web, and also to bring his Aunts, Samantha and Allison, back to Sioux Falls.
He did very well in the suburban, sleeping the whole way there and the whole way back.
He got some Christmas presents from the family as well, shoes, onesies, a sleep sack, and Papa Web gave him a Bumbo chair! Although, the Bumbo was purple, so Jake exchanged it for a blue one. It was a mistake on Papa Web's part. He thought the chair was green! Spencer does great in his Bumbo already. He can hold his head up pretty well for up to five minutes before his neck starts getting tired (though it's usually not that long at all). (In this photo, I was sitting in the chair, so he was looking up at me, whoops.)
On Tuesday night when we got home, the aunts gave Spencer a bath. Of course, he loved it. He loves his bathtub. He has a cold though, so he used the Vapor Bath, which really did calm him down, too!
Wednesday, Jake's best friend, Brian, came to spend the night. Spencer stayed awake with a couple very tiny naps, from 6pm until 1:30am. He drank 1.5 ounces at 1:00, and then he slept until 5:55am when he woke starving! I was very surprised. He seemed to have a good time with the pizza and cards party we had, smiling and playing in his bumbo chair, bouncy chair, and swing.
Thursday, Spencer, Sam, Allie, and I went to "the Land of Books and Coffee." (That's Barnes and Noble.) He slept basically the entire time there, too. He had kind of an off day on Thursday, a little fussier than usual. He got another bath, and then, go figure, as soon as his dad came home, he had a massive poop, and so daddy took him to the shower.
It was pretty funny. Spencer started out screaming and crying in the shower, but before long, was silent, and all you could hear were Jake's constant giggles. Apparently, Spencer likes to shower!
Samantha and Allison will be here until Sunday (unless the weather or MN roads are still horrible), so we still have two days and a few hours to spend together. Since it's snowing and icy, we'll most likely stick around the house today, maybe have a New Year's Eve pajama party. I can't believe it's almost 2011, and Spencer will have lived in two years! That's amazing!
Oh, but some Spencer related developmental joy: talking and laughing! He's making a lot of talking noises lately, random utterances we love hearing, (especially instead of his cough), and he is also laughing! Not very often, and it's very short lived when he does, but he has laughed at least twice a day now, all week! We're just not sure how to get him to do it consistently, so we're hoping he does, soon. He loves when you stick your tongue out at him, or make buzzing noises with your lips.
It's an amazing joy to have been able to celebrate Christmas with Spencer in our lives this year!
A few weeks ago, while shopping with Jillian, I found these cute pajamas for Spencer to wear on his first Christmas.
Christmas Eve, Jake and I went to church, while Spencer slept in the church nursery. Afterward, SJ's uncle Jesse (Jake's twin) picked us all up (including Wendell) and we headed to their mom's house, Spencer's Grandma Mindy's. As soon as we got there, I changed his diaper and put on these pajamas. The consensus was that he looked like a candy cane, which gave Grandma's dog, Jeb, a good excuse for all the licking Spencer he likes to do.
Christmas morning, Spencer was awake bright and early, and the entire family commenced a gift opening ceremony. Spencer was given many items, including a cute pair of shoes and clothes. We can't wait for him to be able to wear all the items!
We spent the entire day at Grandma Mindy's house, though daddy's friend "Uncle" Brian visited, and mommy's friend, Lesley, who teaches English and drama in Mexico came too! Yay!
Sunday morning, bright and early, we drove to Orange City, Iowa, for Christmas with Grandpa Lee and Grandma Angela. Spencer was fortunate to get to meet Aunt Shari, Uncle Tom, Cousin Alyssa, Uncle Cody, and soon-to-be Aunt Emily! We had a great time with family there, too. Many photos were taken of Spencer, but in the majority of them, he looked mad. I thought that was funny, as he did spend most of the day happy and smiling! Oh well. Grandma Angela took a photo of us on our first Christmas as a family of 3, and we can't wait to see it! From Grandma & Grandpa Worthley, Spencer received more clothes, a few toys, a touch & feel book, and a bumper for his crib!
We're back home now, and spending the day just the two of us, getting back into the groove of being at home. It's a little difficult though, because Spencer has his first cold! He sounds so funny when he talks and cries.
Oh yeah, he's "talking" now! Started doing that a lot this weekend!
I can't believe Spencer is almost two months old (he is 8 weeks old today)! I can hardly believe he just celebrated his first Christmas, and that it is almost his first New Year's! Time flies, it's true!
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.
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...
As you may know, on January 20-23rd, Jake and I were in Coronado, California, and Spencer was home in Sioux Falls. My mom and sisters came to spend the four days with SJ and Wendell, which was very wonderful of them.
