Fourteen Months!

Today, New Year's Day, our darling young lad turns 14 months old! That seems so crazy to me.

He is quite the little monkey climber now, as well as a chatterbox. He learned to get up and down on the couch, and can get down from our bed all by himself, too.

He learned to climb out of his high chair if he's not strapped in. I learned this one evening, while he was eating and my back was turned doing dishes. I turned around to check on him and see if he wanted more to eat, and he was on top of the kitchen table!

He can say quite a few words now. Most of them seem to be dog commands, like "go away," "sit down," "no," and "out." He also says "no way!" That sounds pretty funny coming out of his mouth. He is perfecting "Wendell" more every day, too. He can also say "baby," "bath," "girl," "duck," "dog," "hi," "mama," and "dada." There are other noises we catch from time to time, though we're not sure if he is saying actual words.

Lately, his favorite activities seem to be playing with his toy snare drum, carrying around his giant puppy dog that he got from his aunt, uncle, and cousin for Christmas, watching Elmo or Praise Baby DVDs while mom is trying to get housework done, playing balls, and his shape sorter.

He also LOVES playing with glow sticks, especially in the bath tub.

Spencer had a good Christmas. We stayed home because I have been tormented by sciatica, but, fortunately for him, his aunts Samantha and Allison were here for an entire week! He had a ton of fun with them. I'm pretty certain this next week he will be crabby and depressed with them gone! We opened gifts on Christmas morning (he wore his new holiday elephants Mud Butt Diaper (see picture) for the occasion), and spent the day just spending time together. The following day, his Grandpa Lee and Grandma Angela came to visit. Today, he and daddy took his aunts home, and visited Grandma Anita and Papa Web, and then went to Grandma Mindy's house for supper (while I stayed home). So, despite my limitation on travel, Spencer still got to see all of his grandparents for the holidays. :)

I can't wait to see what this year brings for our little boy!

One year together.

We have known about Spencer for over one year! We (Jake and I) found out I was 3 weeks 5 days pregnant on February 22, 2010.

We celebrated with our baby boy on Wednesday, the 23rd, though he didn't obviously understand. I treated Jake to Olive Garden, and SJ came along. Why the Olive Garden? We went there for lunch the weekend after we found out, and we spent our lunch time discussing our thoughts, hopes, and visions for our future child. So, I thought it'd be fun to go back.

It was. It was amazing to sit there together... with Spencer, in his car seat, looking at him, and visualizing new things, like when he learns to dribble a basketball, or chasing Wendell around, or running and hugging his daddy's legs when he gets home. Jake said "I hope he talks like you do." Haha.

We also took family photos together in the photobooth... also known as our bed. We just lay on it and do self portraits. Here's a favorite of mine:

Let's see... what else. OH! Yesterday evening, I was taking photos of SJ on the bed, and he rolled from his tummy to his back twice! I went to get the video camera, and of course, he just decided to scream at it for seven minutes or so. I did get a nice video of him puking on the bed, woohoo.

Shortly after, he was in his bouncy seat. I was wearing a ponytail, and I flipped it toward him, and he GIGGLED. Yup, he's laughed for a long time, but I kept doing it, and it was a rolling giggle... over and over and over. So, we called and left Jake a voicemail of Spencer giggling. :-)

That's all for now. He LOVES being at daycare with Jillian, Grayson, the other kids, and I. It's pretty wonderful.

Oh, and he has his own activity center now. He also loves that.

And, he's waking up.

A few weeks worth.

As you may know, on January 20-23rd, Jake and I were in Coronado, California, and Spencer was home in Sioux Falls. My mom and sisters came to spend the four days with SJ and Wendell, which was very wonderful of them.

It was very hard to leave Spencer, but we all did pretty good, I think, for the four days of separation. Grandma and Aunties said he was a little fussy, which was to be expected, but generally, a pretty good little guy, as usual.

The week following our return, Spencer and I spent a lot of quality time together. Over the course of just a few days, he was paying attention to his hands, sucking on them, playing with them, grabbing his own fingers... and then he was holding onto toys... then bringing them to his mouth. He was babbling and talking tons, and laughing like crazy! It's like overnight, he became extra jolly and playful!

On Saturday of last week, we tried cereal for the first time, and he did REALLY well. He barely had problems swallowing it and keeping it in his mouth (for a 13 week old, especially)! He loved it, smiled, talked, and laughed through it all. He's been having it every night ever since,

followed by a bath and bedtime.

That's been helping him sleep longer at night, I think. Three times since then, he's slept from 11pm or so until 4-5am or so! Wow!

On Sunday, January 30, SJ and his best friend, Grayson, were dedicated to the Lord at our church. It was wonderful! I had goosebumps during the whole part of the ceremony. Afterward, we all gathered at

Grayson's mom and dad's house for a luncheon. We dressed our boys to match, and they were SO stinking adorable! I could have just hugged and kissed them to bits!

On Tuesday of this week, we got a video camera! Jake gets points for his sales at work, and he used some of them to get the camera for our family! We've been having fun with it. Spencer is "warming up" to it too, you could say.

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

My mom and her boyfriend spent four days with us this week too, while she looked for a new vehicle (hers was totaled by some punk kid driving over 75mph in our 30mph residential zone the night before we left for California), so SJ got to spend more quality time with her this week, which was pretty wonderful for all, I think. She couldn't believe how much he's changed in the last week!

He also wore shoes today, for the first time, just for fun, since he's liking to stand more and more.

The Joy in SJ's days.

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

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

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

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

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

He loves playing with daddy!

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

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

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

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

Snow, for instance. We figured that out today.

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

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

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!