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!

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!

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.

Road Trip, Sunglasses, and Swing-sets.

This past weekend, Jake, Spencer, and I took a road trip! It was Spencer's first "official" road-trip, I guess. I don't know what it is about this trip in particular that makes me label it as that, whereas any other trips not...

Anyway, after Jake dropped off Sir Wendell at my cousin's house, the three of us headed from Sioux Falls to the Twin Cities area.

On Friday, we went to Jake's aunt Marlys's house, north (I think) of the cities. We arrived in early evening, while the sun was still out.

We enjoyed spending time with she and her husband, and her husband's sister, while waiting for some of Jake's other family members. His aunt Marlene, her husband, and her granddaughter joined us, as well as Jake's uncle Gaylen and his wife. It was a great time, truthfully! We had supper together, spent all sorts of time talking, and laughing until we had tears in our eyes. Spencer was decided by one aunt to look just like his mommy, and the other decided he looked very much like his daddy. It's always great to hear people's first impressions.

It was wonderful, also, to see uncle Gaylen, who just recently had a pretty severe stroke. He is able to walk, talk, and function. He's not his "old self," necessarily, but he's truly a miracle. We really enjoyed spending time together, all of us. We were sad to see them go that night.

Saturday morning, Marlys made us all waffles, and then our trio ventured into one of the suburbs to see my best friend, Michelle, and her husband, David. Spencer hadn't met "Uncle David" yet, so it was a delight to allow that meeting to happen. Spencer really enjoyed David from the start! They were pretty darling together.

On Sunday, Jake's best friend, Brian, and his girlfriend, Cari, came to David & Michelle's for breakfast, and then our trio went with them to a small community gathering, where we met some new people, who adored Spencer, and had some fellowship. Following that, our trio went to the Mall of America to walk around a bit before making the long trek home. Spencer loved the mall. Nearly as soon as we got inside and he was being pushed around in his stroller he was talking and laughing and kicking his feet, watching everything bustling around him. He did very well, and we were there for a few hours, even!

He did well on the car rides there and back as well, only getting fussy a few times toward the end of each journey, as to be expected. On the way home, we stopped at Country Kitchen in Blue Earth, MN, and were three of probably 18 people in the entire place. We got in, got a booth and a high chair, and plopped SJ in and gave him a cracker. Everyone in the place took notice of him, smiling at him, commenting about him and how adorable he was, or how he was such a good boy. As an elderly couple was leaving, the woman came over to tell us that we have the most precious baby boy she's maybe ever met, and that she could tell we were wonderful, loving parents who were absolutely amazing for him. She reminded us to make sure that SJ knows the Lord. It was really cute. It actually made my day.

Monday, Spencer received a package in the mail from his great aunt SJ, from Washington! Inside were two pair of baby sunglasses, and a super cute, fuzzy, soft teddy bear from the town in which they live. I took the liberty to put them on him and take a few photos, which are displayed here. Funny as it was, we spiked his hair at daycare that day, which seemed very fitting with the glasses on.

Today, Spencer went to a park for the first time ever, during daycare. It was fun! Since the baby swings were being used when we arrived, I sat on a "big swing" with him on my lap and started swinging. He was smiling and talking and laughing as we went through the breeze. After a baby swing opened up, I put him in it. He loved that too. Jillian was awesome and let me borrow her cell phone to take this photo of him, to commemorate the big day!

Assuming the weather is nice enough tomorrow, Jake, SJ, Wendell, and I are probably going to head to the dog park (which is, by the way, officially called "Spencer Park"). Spencer loves watching dogs, and now the swing, so it should be a good time. We'll most likely bring the video camera.

I also believe he'll be painting this week, for the first time. I can't believe he hasn't done any artwork yet!

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.

Safe.

Someone was watching over our little guy yesterday.

My friends, Jillian, Marybeth, and I were shopping yesterday for ugly sweaters for our holiday party. We had Grayson and Spencer with us in Jillian's van. Before we went to pick up Marybeth, we were going to put Spencer's car seat in the very, very back of the van, so that Marybeth could enter through the sliding side door and we could just try to finagle his car seat in and out through the back hatch. Half as a joke, we decided to let Marybeth sit back there and crawl in and out, and also, for practical purposes, to make it easier to get Spencer in and out.

On our way back from shopping, Jillian's far back passenger window imploded. For no reason at all, that we have been able to tell. We didn't hear or see anyone throw anything. We figure it was a heat/pressure difference, from the warm interior to the super-cold exterior, but we just don't know.

It makes me feel sad to say that I think God was watching out for Spencer, keeping him safe from the imploding and flying shards of glass, because Marybeth was back in the spot where he should have been. Obviously, God was watching over her too, because she was facing away from the window when it happened, and the glass that fell upon her body did not harm her. I don't want this to be read as "I'm glad Marybeth had to go through that instead," because that's not at all what I mean. I hope you realize that.

We were all freaked out, completely, and baffled, but everyone was safe. Thank Heavens. Unfortunately, Jillian and Robert will need to replace their window. But, it could have been worse, too.

But, I can't help but wonder, would Spencer have been safe, had he been back there? In his rear facing car seat, with his face exposed, and his mouth wide open (because he has a cold and has a hard time breathing through his nose), would those flying shards of glass hurt him? I imagine they would have flown right into his face, scared him, landed in his mouth, where he may have swallowed them. Would he really be okay? I just don't know. I get chills and tears thinking about it.

But, as I said, we're blessed. I think God was watching out for both Spencer and Marybeth. Well, all of us, really, I suppose.

Spencer's first Christmas.

It's an amazing joy to have been able to celebrate Christmas with Spencer in our lives this year!

A few weeks ago, while shopping with Jillian, I found these cute pajamas for Spencer to wear on his first Christmas.

Christmas Eve, Jake and I went to church, while Spencer slept in the church nursery. Afterward, SJ's uncle Jesse (Jake's twin) picked us all up (including Wendell) and we headed to their mom's house, Spencer's Grandma Mindy's. As soon as we got there, I changed his diaper and put on these pajamas. The consensus was that he looked like a candy cane, which gave Grandma's dog, Jeb, a good excuse for all the licking Spencer he likes to do.

Christmas morning, Spencer was awake bright and early, and the entire family commenced a gift opening ceremony. Spencer was given many items, including a cute pair of shoes and clothes. We can't wait for him to be able to wear all the items!

We spent the entire day at Grandma Mindy's house, though daddy's friend "Uncle" Brian visited, and mommy's friend, Lesley, who teaches English and drama in Mexico came too! Yay!

Sunday morning, bright and early, we drove to Orange City, Iowa, for Christmas with Grandpa Lee and Grandma Angela. Spencer was fortunate to get to meet Aunt Shari, Uncle Tom, Cousin Alyssa, Uncle Cody, and soon-to-be Aunt Emily! We had a great time with family there, too. Many photos were taken of Spencer, but in the majority of them, he looked mad. I thought that was funny, as he did spend most of the day happy and smiling! Oh well. Grandma Angela took a photo of us on our first Christmas as a family of 3, and we can't wait to see it! From Grandma & Grandpa Worthley, Spencer received more clothes, a few toys, a touch & feel book, and a bumper for his crib!

We're back home now, and spending the day just the two of us, getting back into the groove of being at home. It's a little difficult though, because Spencer has his first cold! He sounds so funny when he talks and cries.

Oh yeah, he's "talking" now! Started doing that a lot this weekend!

I can't believe Spencer is almost two months old (he is 8 weeks old today)! I can hardly believe he just celebrated his first Christmas, and that it is almost his first New Year's! Time flies, it's true!

Flesners and Fenders.

Yesterday, Jake, Spencer, and I traveled to rural southwest Minnesota for my mother's family's Christmas gathering. We were joined by my cousin's twins, who were quite a delight to chauffeur. They sat in back on either side of Spencer, playing peek-a-boo with him... as he slept. They didn't care. They had a grand ol' time! They decorated his car seat with the bright orange Schwan's stickers. I wanted to take a picture, but by the time we arrived at our destination, they had been transfered from the car seat to the suburban windows, and then to their faces, hands, and arms. Ah, well.

The gathering was a great time. My mom, Spencer's Grandma Anita, was there when we arrived, so she took him immediately, and he was full of smiles for her! I was very happy. I had been telling her for weeks now that he is super smiley, and she would ask for pictures, but every time I would get my phone out, he'd get all serious on me. Go figure.

As usual, he was passed around from Great-Aunt to Great-Aunt, mostly with the help of his Auntie Allie (who is 11). She's a hoot. She even changes diapers, happily at that.

Everyone got to see his super cute diapers, including his new Charlie Banana style, "Under Construction."

Papa Web (my dad) showed up a little later than we expected, but Spencer was able to spend quality time on the couch with him as he snuggled up and slept against his chest, and then had a bottle. Everyone commented on how much he's grown, and how beautiful his blue eyes are, and how cute he is. I love hearing it. I wasn't sure I'd ever hear them talking about my baby, after all!

Too bad, I'm a slacker mommy and didn't take ANY pictures of him.

Anyway. When we go to church on Sundays, he goes to the nursery, and for the first time, he was awake in the nursery! The lady who was volunteering (who is pretty regular) was telling us how she was so excited to see him awake and be able to play with him. Though, he was sleeping by the time we picked him up.

And in other news, for the second time in his short life, Spencer was involved in a fender-bender (we should probably stop letting him drive, eh?) this afternoon. Some schmuck was not paying attention as he was going around a curve in a residential area and smushed his puny car into our beefy ol' suburban. Got a few scratches and bent parts on the monster of a truck, but we're all well. Barely woke Spencer up, actually, he just grunted and cried a little, then went back to sleep. The first time he was in one was a few weeks ago (he didn't have a blog then), and he and I were leaving Starbucks and someone in a dark car wasn't paying attention at a stop light and decided he/she should go forward while everyone else was noticing that the light was red. Barely affected the car but made a nice noise as it pushed us forward, and the driver sped off into the darkness. Ergh. I was so mad.

That's all for now.

One-Twelfth

Today, our little Spencer is one month old. It seems crazy to think that it has been that long since I gave birth to him. Over the course of the last month, he has gained over a pound, nearly outgrown all of his newborn clothes, gone from 4 feedings a night to 3 or sometimes 2, visited Iowa and Minnesota, celebrated 3 Thanksgivings, and met over 43 of his mom's family and friends. There was one week where he got to see each of his grandparents for various reasons, which was really wonderful. He has even been to church twice! Developmentally, he seems right on track. He already is tracking faces and objects, and really enjoys a few of his toys, like his little radio that plays classical tunes and flashes pretty lights. He also really likes his swing and watching the mobile on it. This morning we noticed he was watching his dad's eyebrows moving up and down. He is quite the cuddle-bug which makes being stuck inside due to frigid cold a nice and cozy experience.