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!
Well well well. Mother nature has decided to shower us with some permanent white stuff, and boy have I (Jake, aka "dada") been waiting to get Spencer out it it! We got a little blue sled from Angela and Lee as a gift for Spencer this Christmas. It sports a nice little seat and a long enough draw cord that I can pull him all over the place! Spencer had been enjoying our little adventures in the snow around the yard, but only because there wasn't substantial amounts of moisture to accumulate on the hills of our nearby park, Spellerberg. Not anymore! I planned an outing today with Spencer and I to enjoy some downhill time like I had when I was a tiny yonker. Nothing better than some chilly air running in your face at high speeds! Ok, we didn't go that fast, but it did seem to be a nice enough acceleration to give him a thrill. I strapped him in with video camera in my hand and we began our downhill experience!
Well...... It really didn't go that bad! I almost made him wipe out be trying to guide this speeding sled from the side with his rope, causing him to somewhat go sideways. But we made it to the bottom in one piece and that was a success! I don't truly know if he enjoyed it, but the subsequent trips down he seemed to smile more, but never a sound! Just kind of catching his breath each time we started sliding down. Let me be clear: I wasn't on the sled with him, just running along side the sled with him, with camera in hand trying to get this on video. The first capture was the best, and I will be posting that as well on his youtube channel. I tried to get some middle school kids to get us on video, but they were inept. None of the videos they capture could keep up with us going down the hill. Oh well. Perhaps our next time will include Nicole who is infinitely better at catching these great moments.
Overall, he lost his one boot twice, and his hat six times in the eleven trips up and down. I got a workout, and I hope Spencer had some fun, though truly he enjoyed the ride home best because I ran him along the ice covered sidewalks. Think the smoothness of that ride is what he was laughing and giggling about the most.
(This is the moon that he saw tonight, however, the photo was taken about 2.5 hours after he found it, while he was sleeping in bed.) ---->
I know, it's a simple thing, but for some reason, it feels like a big deal to me. Maybe because I've always thought as the heavens as somewhat magical. Or mystical. They're intriguing. They're PHENOMENAL really.
Here's the story of Spencer's discovery.
We were just leaving work/daycare/Robert & Jillian's house (because it's all the same) around 5:30pm this evening, same as usual. He looked across the street at their neighbors' Christmas lights, lit up on their house, and said, "ohhhh" like he does for most Christmas-related decorations. I replied, "they're beautiful," as I usually do.
We walked across the driveway to the car, and he was looking around checking out the scenery, as he usually does, and then I see him stop and point up at the sky. In a whisper-type voice, he declared, "WOW," in pure, simple, amazement.
He was looking at the moon! He had never really noticed it before that I have experienced (and since I'm with him 99.9989% of the time in the evenings, I feel like I would know), so the fact that he sighted it and was amazed by the piercingly bright crescent in the sky filled me with giddy joy.
"That's the MOON," I explained. "Moon."
He didn't say it.
He just kept speaking the simple, "Wow."
I had been trying to get him to say "wow" for at least 5 days, and he had not once said it for me to hear.
I guess he just had to find the perfect thing to be awestruck by.
And the moon was it.
He repeated, "wow" a few times in the car, and when we got out of the car again, he looked up and searched the sky, and found it again.
He laughed to himself.
It was priceless.
I think we'll be making a habit of finding the moon on clear-sky nights now.
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.
At 7:34pm this evening, Spencer "officially" turned one year old.
Shortly after he was born, I realized how neat his first birthday would be. He would turn 1 on 11/1/11. His first birthday would also be his golden birthday. Pretty cool, I think.
Jake and I woke him this morning, and sang "Happy Birthday" to him, right away. i think we might make that into a birthday tradition. It was a fun way to start our day! SJ spent the majority of his day at daycare, but that is okay, since that means he was with me all day. That also meant he got to spend much of the day with Jillian and Grayson, as well as Robert, who all came to meet him when he was just minutes old!
At daycare, he got a birthday muffin with a candle, and ice cream. He "opened" one gift, which really meant it was basically opened for him, because he had absolutely no interest in participating. Haha. He was too excited about walking, nearly running, around the basement, holding onto a sock.
After daycare, we met up with uncle Jesse (who was also there to meet Spencer when he was minutes old), Samantha, and auntie Tarah (my cousin) at the mall. He got to play in the children's play area, before supper. After supper, he actively opened a present! Woohoo!
Then, Tarah joined us at Barnes and Noble, where SJ got to wander around the children's section at his leisure. So cute. Since I have a membership and he is in the kids club, he got a free giant cookie. He ate some, and we brought the rest home.
When we got home, he had his b-a-t-h, and then we read six books together before he went to sleep.
Tomorrow, since Jake and I both have the day off, we are having a family birthday celebration,.with gifts and rice crispy treats, and most likely lots of reminiscing.
I took many pictures, which I hope to be able to share soon, hoping our computer is fixable!
If you would like to read Spencer's birth story, click on the "mommy" link to the right and follow the link in my entry from this evening.
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!
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.
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.
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!
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:
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.
Last Saturday, on Spencer's uncle Bryan's 19th birthday, he and I participated in the Great Cloth Diaper Change World Record Setting Attempt, held locally at Elegant Mommy in Sioux Falls.
While there, we opted to participate in a Cloth Diaper Mini Shoot, done by Mprints. Click the business name to see the facebook page! He donned an infamous Mud Butt, of course. He loved having his picture taken, and it was a lot of fun for me to watch him have his photo taken by someone else! I can't wait to see more, this is just the facebook preview image she shared.
Anyway, the event was pretty fun. We scored a bag of random goodies, and showed off our super cute Mud Butt diapers. Spencer got a certificate stating he was a part of the local attempt as one of 49 participating babes!
I was really excited to take him to the event, mostly so I could put it in his baby book some day. I mean, I've never been a part of any world record, so it's pretty cool that he is! The official results will be posted in a few weeks, I think.
In other news, Spencer likes baby yogurt, drank from a sippy cup, loves bouncing, ate some pureed tater tot hotdish (which looked DISGUSTING, but Grayson wouldn't eat it, so we gave it to SJ), and was bit twice this week!
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 morning, Spencer had his One-year photographs taken, with Staci of 
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.
