First dip in the pool

Naked baby, shaded porch, cool shades, swimming pool. Summer doesn't get any better than this.

Milestones

Spenser saw the pediatrician yesterday for his 6 month booster shots. He weighed 19 lb 6 oz. Babies should double their birth weight by 6 months and triple it by 12 months. I think Spenser skipped the chapter on baby growth and development.

We've also started him on solid foods. Here's a rundown of what we tried and his apparent reaction:

Rice cereal mixed with breast milk ----- Are you trying to poison me?
Organic apples ----- This stuff is tart!
Bananas ------Not bad, I'll think about it.
Carrots ------ I'm reserving judgment for a future date.
Bananas (again) ----- I kind of like these, let me grab the spoon and try to feed myself.

I was lazy with supper last night and we ate at Chili's (predictable food and kid friendly). We gave him a couple of tastes of mashed potatoes which he seemed to like and guacamole, which got a big yucky face. (C agrees with Spenser's assessment of guacamole). He's still figuring out what to do with Cheerios. Right now, it's much more entertaining to get them to stick to his fingers.

At school, Spenser gets little monthly report cards as to how he is doing with various milestones. This month, he's able to sit unsupported for short bits of time, he's playing with his feet, he will imitate sounds you make, he's dropping things on purpose, he can roll to his stomach ( and now, consistently, to his back as well), and is vocalizing lots of different sounds. In fact, he doesn't just repeat the same sound over and over (la, la, la), but makes lots of sound combinations.

So that's the big Spenser update.

In other news, I'm thinking of ripping almost everything out of my front garden and starting over. I hate my sticky, big, overgrown barberries and the holly bushes are succumbing to a fungal disease that is indigent to the soil here. I just dread digging up bushes in our heat and humidity.

6 Months!

Spenser has turned 6 months old! I think the hood on his little outfit is hilarious as is his expression in this picture.


Sorry for the blur, but he's a man of action. He's able to sit up in this corner (with a little bit of pillow propping) for up to 30 minutes at a time.





Spenser had the giggles after I found a tickle spot. I was squeezing the flubby fold where his hip joint is and he thought it was hilarious!

Great Grandma Virginia came to visit Spenser. She really made him giggle.

Spenser!

Grandma Gail and Great Grandma Virginia on the swing in the backyard with the handsome boy.

Milestone!

Spenser figured out how to blow raspberries today....now if he would just do it without a rainstorm of slobber to go with it.

Grandma time!

Spenser is getting to spend time with his Grandma and Great-Grandma. Great-Grandma really gives him the giggles. We also gave him his first tastes if rice cereal. He kicks up a horrible fuss about it here, but is starting to get used to it now.

Iris give away!

My irises are threatening to take over all my gardens and are begging for a division.  Anybody need some iris bulbs?  Let me know which colors you want and I will send you some  I have three more colors that haven't bloomed yet.  I'll put those up when I know what color they are.  The bottom picture is not the best, I know.  The forward color is an orangy-peachy color and the back one is a pale blue.  I have names for some of these documented in my garden book, but can't be bothered to look them up right now.  If I send you bulbs, I will pass on the name if I have them.

Feeling better

He's feeling better. Monday night, he woke up every two hours crying and screaming. Tuesday, C stayed home to help me with him. Late in the afternoon, we noted nasty, thick, white fluid leaking from his left ear. He was back to his usual good humored self. I didn't have the equipment to look into his ear adequately, but the best assumption is that he had an ear infection and his ear drum finally ruptured, releasing all the pressure and goo. I had a colleague look at his ear, but there was too much gunk leaking out to see his ear drum. We have him on antibiotic drops now and will recheck with his pediatrician on Monday.

I'm also happy to say that he is feeling better just in time for his FIVE MONTH Birthday! He consistently now rolls from back to tummy, but gets very angry because he hasn't figured out how to go back the other direction. He has discovered his feet in the past couple of days and has been grabbing at them. He can raise his head up when laying on his tummy. He loves to grab Mommy's hair and chew on it. In fact, anything he can grab goes straight to the mouth right now. The drool is also tremendous. He continues to talk, laugh, and giggle. He finds it especially funny when Mommy dances around like a goofball while humming tuneless tunes.

Happy but rumpled first thing in the morning



Zoe still loves to sleep near her baby

Sick baby napping in the bouncy seat

New milestone!

Crazy baby hair!  His hair is starting to get so long!  Some day we will have to cut it and all those brown baby wisps will be gone and we will have a towheaded baby on our hands.

For the past several weeks, Spenser has been spinning in his crib.  We will lay him down in one direction and when we check on him later, he has turned 90 degrees from where he started.  This morning, he was also on his tummy!

Cuteness overload!

This is the smile I found waiting for me after naptime this morning.

Naked baby on the changing table!  He's naturally modest..unlike Mommy and Daddy.  We're really lucky to have such a good natured, happy baby.

First artwork

Sprint PictureMail, originally uploaded by Sweetypants.

I was picking up Spenser from school yesterday when I noticed artwork on the wall. Spenser made his first finger painting! Picture's a bit blurry since it was taken with my cheap-O camera phone.

Milestone!

The small baby managed to roll from his tummy to his back today. I only caught it out of the corner of my eye so I rolled him back to his tummy to see if he would do it again. Nope. Apparently once a day was good enough for him.

Spring time!

Spenser had his first school photos taken to celebrate Spring. I think he looks mighty handsome!
Grandma Gail made Spenser some awesome bibs. With his sudden influx of copious drool, he definitely needs them.
They are cotton and flannel and are reversible. They are even large enough to double as shoulder protection from spit up when you are carrying him around. We love the monkeys!

Spenser and his Daddy

I caught the two of them spending time on the couch yesterday evening while we were waiting for the grill to heat up. I really like the light in this photo.
My boys. Notice the slobber threatening to drip at any moment?

Baby is going to have brown eyes!

Happy Easter! March Redux

We've had a very busy month and March flew by. There were a lot of big firsts this month and I'll try to remember them all.

The biggest thing that happened is that Spenser went on his first plane trip! His aunt Leslie was getting married back in good old PC, so we made our way back to participate in the festivities and meet all his aunts, uncles, grandparents, and other assorted relatives. He did great on the plane...either looking out the window, standing up and taking it all in, playing with his toys or sleeping. In fact, he did better than 90% of the other passengers and had less carry on baggage!




Taking a bath in the kitchen sink at Grandma and Grandpa B's house. Rumor has it there is a similar photo of Mommy somewhere.



Sitting with Great-Grandpa Jones. We're very lucky to still have great grandparents!


Great-Grandma Martin, Great Aunt Terry, Grandma Gail, and Great Aunt Beverly at Leslie's wedding shower.

Hanging out with Uncle Nathan at the shower.

The lovely bride and her father (Grandpa Gene). She had a blizzard that dropped 5" of snow on the ground so things were moved inside. Everything was still just as lovely and fun!



Spenser promptly fell asleep as the music was cued up. He was exceptionally cute in his little sailor outfit.

The radiant bride and her handsome groom. Welcome to the family, Daamon!

The morning after, we got together for breakfast. Great Grandma Martin is quite smitten with the new baby in the family!

Lovely Leslie, newly wed, with her handsome nephew.

We went to Edmond to visit with old friends. Thank you, Christina for opening your house and cooking some awesome food. Somehow, I managed to get NO photos of Christina or our other friend, Jon. Sorry Jon, no front page mention.

We did get this shot with Claire. She was quite fascinated with how Spenser ate and had a million questions for me.
Grandma Marilyn loved squeezing Spenser!

Grandpa Eldon. Here we have three generations of Georges all together.


Here he is in his cute sailor outfit laying on the quilt his Great Aunt Renee made for him. Thank you so much!
Back home, the weather has turned sunny and warm. The cool guy has to wear his shades.

Oh my gosh! Spenser turned 4 months old this month!

Matching overalls for playing in the yard! (or doing yardwork depending on how big you are.)

Happy Easter!

The Easter bunny came to visit. Spenser isn't quite old enough to be impressed yet.

He really likes this exersaucer that we are borrowing from friends. Lots of squealing and bouncing around.

Sick continued

Spenser had a great day yesterday. It was a beautiful, sunny warm day, so the two of us strolled downtown and visited a few kids' shops that I've never before had a reason to check out. Found a great kid's book store, Jabberwocky. Bought a few things here and there. Spenser napped in his stroller most of the time and when he did wake up, was bright eyed and chatty with the shop ladies.

Things changed when we got home. He was clingy and miserable after his bathtime. He woke up every two hours to nurse. At 3:30, his congestion was just awful and he was starting to cough. I spent an hour in a steamy bathroom with him, using the nasal aspirator, saline drops and Vicks to get his nose cleaned out. Then, he spiked another fever and just wouldn't lay down, so I cuddled him close and fell asleep with him in the rocker. Two hours later, C woke me up. I managed to get him to lay down in bed. He would sleep as long as he was propped up on pillows. Guess it helps all the snot to drain instead of just plugging up his tiny nose. On top of that, C has been sick as well and even stayed home a day. Sigh...no fun being the only well one in the house. Fortunately, I've been off all week and only have to go back to work on Friday, so I have time to play sick nurse.

Unhappy first

We started out with a lovely day yesterday. We drove to Richmond to break in the new truck and ate at Schlotzsky's for lunch (a rare, hard to find treat). The boy slept through most of it, though he joined us for lunch. We cruised around Richmond a bit. There's a nice little area called Shockhoe Bottom that is in the midst of being gentrified and is full of cute little shops, bars, and restaurants. Once home, I took Spenser next door to visit Auntie Diane. After a bit, he got hungry, so we went home to feed him. Poor baby was having a feeding frenzy. He is due for a growth spurt, so this wasn't too surprising, but we did notice his cheeks were super red.


This is the baby we started the day with:


Cute, happy, and cooing up a storm.

He woke up at 1:30 AM and was crying and coughing. His nose was all stuffed up. He gagged a bit and finally threw up some mucus and milk. Poor baby had a fever of 101.1 F. I gave him some tylenol and tried to aspirate his poor stuffy nose. He nursed some more and finally went back to sleep.

This is the baby we had this morning:



Poor little sweet thing! He slept later than usual, but appears to be back to his usual cheerful self except for his stuffy nose. Hopefully, it will clear up before we have to fly in a week and a half.