Spencer's first visit to the "big zoo."

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.

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!

He's already 19 (months old)!

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.

15 Months!

Spencer is already 10 days past 15 months old! Wow!

He had his well-baby check this past Wednesday. His daddy took him, because I had to work.

He weighs 24.8 pounds, and is 32.25 inches tall! He's definitely getting taller, but also slimming down some. Most likely due to all the running and dancing he does lately!

Unfortunately, while they were there, it was discovered he has RSV. He seems to be doing okay with it, though it's been kind of a rocky week. I think, well, judging by today anyway, it is finally maybe starting to go away. We can hope!

Starting yesterday evening, Spencer and I are now staying home together, full-time, until it is no longer possible for us to do so. I am very excited! I'm looking forward to being able to focus more intently on his needs and his learning. Some things I hope will become more noticeable is his ability, attention, and desire to help clean up toys, to say please, and you're welcome. I would like him to work on using his eating utensils, and hard-topped sippy cups.

As a treat for him on this new journey, I purchased a car ramp and a few matchbox cars for him yesterday. He loves them, and has been playing with them for the better part of the day today!

Let's see.. what else. Spencer has molars! Three of them are in the process of breaking through. I can see them, but they're not all the way in yet. Not sure where the fourth one is hiding (well, I know, but it's not making it's way quite yet). We've been fortunate that the molars haven't affected his mood too much.

He can say "Happy Birthday!" Too. We taught him that on January 23, for his auntie Sam's birthday.

He says "What's that?" probably 100 times a day now, and I've been working hard to clearly identify what he's pointing at and give it a proper label. He seems to really like lights and windows. He also likes to say "no way," and what sounds to be "uh-oh-dear."

And, lastly, he LOVES walking around outside. I don't think I could get him to happily stay in a stroller anymore. We go on walks around the block, with Wendell, when it's nice enough out. He walks the entire way. Sometimes we'll walk for an hour. He had been trying to use driveways and corners as an access point to the street, but after many times turning him a different direction, and saying "turn around," he's pretty much got it figured out, I think.

That's all for now. Time to read a book it seems!

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.

Cake Smash!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It was awesome.

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

Pumpkin Guts!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love that kid.

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

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

It was fun. The end. :)

A short update with a few pictures.

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

Let's see.

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

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

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

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

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

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

He loves this video, by the way.

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

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