A Small Town Vacation

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!

Mister Mischief.

Spencer is definitely entering toddler-hood. Not that we didn't know that already, but lately, it's seeming more and more evident that he's not so much a baby.

I say this because, lately, he's been getting into a lot more mischief.

No, I wouldn't say he's a naughty boy. He's curious. He's inquisitive. He's exploring. And he's learning boundaries. It's pretty normal for a child his age.

Here are some examples of his current mischievous acts:

• On Saturday of this last weekend, Spencer was sitting in his high chair, finishing up his lunch, while I was standing in front of him, starting to work on our lunch dishes. I had my back to him. I periodically was checking on him to see if he was finished, and sometime in between the check-ins, he did finish, and decide that it was time to get out of his high chair. The picture to the left is how I found him. Scared the heck out of me!
• Also on Saturday, he was flushing the toilet, just for fun, while the naughty dog had stuck his head under the toilet seat (ugh) and was trying to drink from it.
• On Monday (yesterday), while I was going to the bathroom, he went into his bedroom and pulled the strand of Christmas lights we use for nightlights off the window (they had been falling down... or he had been pulling them down, not sure) and into the hallway. He then pushed the bathroom door open to show me.
• On Monday, a little bit later, I was in the bathroom again, and I came to the kitchen to find that he had emptied 3 desk drawers onto the kitchen floor. There were file folders, pens, envelopes, and highlighters all over. He did not want me to clean it up.
• And, this morning, I am not sure what I was doing, but I came into the kitchen to get us both some juice, and I found that he had used a blue crayon and gave the fridge door a little makeover.

And yet... I just love him to bits. That's a good thing, right?

On a side note: He learned to say "There you go!" which sounds more like "Tay-go," and he spent much of yesterday handing me... anything he could find, and saying that to me. It's his new favorite game, it seems.

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!

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:

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:

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!

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.

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.

A few weeks worth.

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.

You can see his videos on youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/ninjasj

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.

Well Baby - 2 Month

SJ had his 2 month Well Baby doctor's visit this morning.

He is a fraction over 24 inches tall. Two feet tall sounds so short, and 24 inches somehow sounds tall. Go figure. That puts him in the 75th percentile for his age. I was a little surprised because he seems so tall to me. Not complaining, of course!

He is 13 pounds exactly. Though, of course, that changes with ever feeding and digestion, seeing as how babies are so small that 4 ounces of fluid fluctuates their actual weight. But anyway, he is in the 75th percentile for that, too! Yay! I was afraid he would be considered "big" for his age, because he seems to be getting so big so fast!

His head is 16 inches circumference. It's in the 50th percentile. The doctor laughed when I told him he had a small head.

Developmentally, she said he's right on track. She was very delighted with the amount of movement he was exhibiting, all of his talking noises, his smiles at her, and his few laughs! He was a jolly good sport, I tell you.

She even said she LOVED his diaper. Hadn't seen a cloth diaper before, and said it was the coolest diaper she has ever seen. That made me smile. She asked how it works and everything, so I gave her a mini lecture. Thought that was fun! He was wearing his kelly green with lime green snaps Mud Butt diaper that he got in the mail on Monday!

He had three shots this morning, and an oral vaccination. He did very well and guzzled the oral one right down. I had to sit down and not watch when they gave him the three in his thighs though, so Jake held his hand. Poor baby! I didn't like that. I didn't cry, I was strong, but he wailed and of course turned bright red. It took a few minutes to calm him down, but now he's sleeping soundly. He was a good boy. :)

Interesting fact for those out there who will deal with infant vaccinations: our doctor informed us that studies are being performed that are pointing to the fact that giving an infant Tylenol before they get their shots may in fact hamper the effectiveness of the vaccination. They recommend only giving Tylenol if a fever occurs after the injections, and you should let it get to 101 degrees before you administer the Tylenol anyway.

The Joy in SJ's days.

Spencer has been laughing a lot lately! It hasn't really become a "rolling giggle" like older babies, but we definitely get laughs on a daily basis, usually with specific activites. He's been smiling since the end of November, consistently, so this addition of daily laughter is pretty wonderful.

Here are some things that SJ smiles and laughs about...

BATH TIME! He loves his bath tub! He has started splashing in it, recently.

He also usually loves being wrapped in his towel after his bath.

He loves playing under his toy gym, and is lately, purposeful about hitting his toys.

He loves playing with daddy!

He loves being talked to, and apparently wearing his Christmas pajamas. Haha.

He loves playing peek-a-boo and snuggling up with blankets.

And, of COURSE, he loves spending time with his mommy!

There are a few things he really doesn't like, though, too.....

Snow, for instance. We figured that out today.

Can't blame us for trying, though, right?

I look forward, daily, to finding things that make him smile and laugh!

Sick.

Spencer is sick for the first time, today!

He slept quite a bit this morning, from 7 until nearly 11, before getting up and wanting to eat. When he did, he didn't eat much, and then... forcefully brought it all back up. It was a scary, scary mess as it kept spewing from his mouth and nose! After I got him calmed down (because it scared both of us), I gave him a little more, and rocked him until he slept. Then he slept another three hours before waking and wanting to eat just a little more. He hasn't had a messy diaper (just wet) since sometime yesterday.

I feel bad for the little guy. I've been periodically taking his temperature and that is staying normal with only decimals of variation, so that's assuring, but he's so sleepy and extra cuddly, and not eating nearly what he usually does. Makes his momma a little nervous!

On a happier note, he DID laugh at me again today when I was changing his diaper. I don't know what I said, but he had a cute little laugh for maybe a second, followed by super sleepy smiles.

Let's keep our fingers crossed (and pray if you do pray) that he doesn't get any sicker, and perks up by tomorrow!

Happy Growing Boy

Tonight is bittersweet. Spencer is wearing newborn pajamas for the last time. He is actually wearing the pjs he wore his first night home- pajamas that his daddy wore as a newborn. I think I might have to hang them on the wall. He has been on the brink of being too tall for the newborns for a few days now. The reason tonight marks the last night is because we are down to the last few newborn disposable diapers, and his adorable Fuzzi Bunz give his tushy a little poofiness so the pjs won't snap completely closed. We are very excited to start with the cloth though! I am sure I will take photos of his cute cloth covered bottom! Today, I am almost certain Spencer laughed in his sleep! It was adorable. I can't wait for it to be a regular event. He had a very happy day today. He smiled very often and was super playful, with me and with his toys. He played under his toy gym happily for 20 minutes! That is the longest so far!