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!

Seeing horses and deploying family photos, a birthday party, and a football game.

Spencer had a busy weekend.

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!

Tomorrow, he will be SEVEN MONTHS OLD. Holy cow.

Adventures at the Zoo!

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.

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!

The Little Boy and the Rock Stars.

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.

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.

Carrot Lou.

Spencer LOVES carrots! Last night, I decided that instead of staining a bib or his clothing, I would just put him in his bouncy chair in the buff (well, wearing a diaper) and feed him that way.

Naturally, I finished feeding him and he was orange from head to toe. So, I gave him his burp rag so he could help me clean himself off.

He thought it was hilarious.

Wendell also enjoyed watching me feed Spencer, and was not more than two feet away the entire time. Too bad I didn't give him any carrots, so I think he was a little downhearted at the end.

Until I went to get the camera, of course, and he was sniffing Spencer and licking his legs and stuff. Spencer thought that was really funny as well.

Anyway...

This morning, I brought Spencer into bed with me around 8 and nursed him there, and we both fell back asleep. I woke up to go to the bathroom and left him on the bed with a big teddy bear that Jake's mom gave me in 2002. I came back, and he was wide awake, talking to Lou!

Click here to watch the video. I can't figure out how to embed it.

Jus tkidding. I guess I figured it out. Now you can watch it either way?

Oh! And SJ held his bottle today! For fifteen minutes! He actually fell asleep holding it and eating! I was so proud.

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.

Shower (and other stuff)!

Spencer, as you may or may not be aware of, LOVES his bath time. He could be the fussiest baby I know (okay, that's a lie, he's never reached that point), and you draw him a bath and stick him in his tub, and he's full of joy and happiness. It's amazing how a bath relaxes this little guy.

We found out a few weeks ago that he also enjoys a shower, too. He had pooped a nice big one while Jake was holding him, so Jake showered with him. Now, granted, at first, he screamed and wailed, but we figure that was the shock of the water smacking him in the face, and not long after, he was happy.

Last week, I decided to shower with SJ. I hadn't yet, and I really wanted to see how he reacted.

He LOVED it.

I laughed so hard, he was in my arms, smiling and talking, and trying his hardest to lick the stream of water coming from the shower head. Needless to say, he totally reminded me of a puppy. He was happy as could be throughout the entire shower, too, and loved being wrapped in a big towel on the bathroom floor- hence the photo from my cell phone.

This past weekend, Spencer had his first outing to the Empire Mall! Grandma Mindy and Travis brought SJ a stroller a few weeks ago, and we decided that it was a good time to break that out and go shopping.

He looked so tiny in the stroller! The stroller is pretty big, and, well, he's not. He slept for quite a while in it, until he was hungry. Later, when we were walking through the mall, he was all wide-eyed and smiles at the various stores and people. SO cute.

When we were in JCPenny for what felt like 234.3428397 days, one of the sales representatives said how cute he was, how alert, and well behaved.

I can't wait until spring (or when it's not -16 like it is today), when I can take him on walks around outside, even with Wendell! I'm sure he'll quite enjoy those.

Speaking of Wendell... Spencer is starting to really take notice in him. The other day, he was lying on my lap, and Wendell beside me, and he snuggled right up against Wendell and was rubbing his head on Wendell's fur. He was smiling and talking and laughing. It was so dang cute!! Now, if only Wendell would refrain from peeing on Spencer's things. He's now peed on his bouncy chair, and his play mat!

Acid in the tummy, smile on the face.

SJ in his swing, 5 weeks old.

Over the past few weeks, we have had the unfortunate experience of being covered in frequent baby spit up. The indicents have been increasing, and Spencer has been having some fussy times after eating. Following a discussion with another friend whose son has acid reflux, I decided it was in Spencer's best interest to place a call to the doctor.

So, for about a week now, SJ has been on Zantac (or a generic version, anyway), as the doctor did think he probably is suffering from acid reflux. For infants, it's called GERD, but it's basically too much acid in the stomach, causing upset, and occasional heartburn like symptoms in babies.

Poor little guy. Makes sense though, seeing as how the increase was happening, and he's had more hiccups, and gas, and fussy times after eating. We were told to try the medication for a while and if it doesn't work then we will take him in to see what they'll try next, I guess. So far, its' a toss up. Sometimes I think it's working, and then other times, I find my back covered in messiness.

That's not stopping Spencer from being a happy little guy most of the time, though. His smiles are becoming more frequent and consistent. He smiles at me many, many times a day, often after I make silly noises, or just talk to him after he's sleeping. He also smiles at his toys, and at his swing.

He loves his swing. So much, that the he's used it to the point of battery exhaustion. His daddy is a hero though, and brought home new batteries this morning. He's finally taken interest in the mobile, and likes it even more when the music is playing.

On his daddy's birthday (12/8) we set up the Christmas tree, and he loves playing under his toy gym, under the tree, looking at the pretty lights. He even loves when I sing Christmas music, especially my favorite, "What Child is This?" Though, that one comforts him to the point of nearly falling asleep every time I sing it!

Anyway, wanted to post a quick update, and also say our computer is temporarily working again!

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!