Shoes

The boy is pretty fascinated by shoes lately. When it's time to go or he's just ready to get out of the house, he will first bring me my shoes, then C his shoes, and finally get his own shoes so we can put them on him. He also likes to try to put on shoes by himself. So far, my flipflops and Birkenstocks are the easiest ones for him to get into, but he has made it into C's boots a couple of times.

Click the photo to get the bigger version that includes his feet.

Summer is unofficially here.

We have this odd corner in the backyard that is shaded to the south and west by the house. The grass never grew here very well and was very mossy. A couple of weekends ago, we put in a shade garden. Because it was near the foundation, we had to heavily amend the soil with compost, manure, peat moss and garden soil. We have a mix of daylilies, hosta, ferns, coral bells, lily of the valley, bleeding heart, and forget me nots. So far, things seem to be sprouting well.



It's was rather hot and sticky yesterday, so I stripped Spenser down and started filling up his little pool. He had more fun playing with the hose than actually getting into the water. Oh well, nothing is cuter than a naked baby playing in the yard.



Playing with the hose got boring after a while, so he decided to go adventuring about the yard.



C was in the process of putting together a playhouse/slide/climber thing. Spenser couldn't wait to "help" and do some test climbing.

Mother's Day

Spenser painted the vase for the petunia and the butterfly magnet as well as helped make a card while he was school.



He also managed to "borrow" Daddy's credit card and order me this beautiful bouquet of lilies, roses and tulips.



The sentiment of the card made me cry....or maybe it's just the pregnancy hormones. We also had a lovely breakfast at IHOP and spent the day playing together. Very relaxing.

What we did last weekend.

Worked in the yard, putting in a shade garden. Spenser helped....And then we rewarded ourselves with pizza on the grill.



Buffalo mozarella and pancetta



Gruyere and carmelized onions.

Happy Easter!

April

I have been gently chided for not keeping the blog up to date. My reply? You come clean up after Spenser and I will update the blog. hehe. The little man is keeping us on our toes At the end of March, he started teething, working on his left lower molar. Then he got an ear infection and then he had another stomach bug, that put him down for about 5 days. His Grandma G came to visit, letting C and I escape for grown ups only time for two nights at the Greenbrier. They had a wonderful spa and fabulous food. We were there right at the end of low season, so I think we were the youngest guests by about 20 years. Next time we go, we will probably take Spenser as they did have individual cabins available as well as a park with swings. Spenser is still not sleeping completely through the night, which is starting to wear me out, especially since allergy season is hitting hard this year and I'm limited in what I can take. He has figured out how to back crawl down the stairs, but would prefer to be carried down if he has a choice. He will also now point to and say: hair, ears, eyes, nose, teeth, belly, and toes. We are working on please and thank you. He will also pet the cats nicely....most of the time.

Keeping up

So we had our second perinatology appointment yesterday. Here we have a couple of 3D shots of our wee baby. I am 23 weeks and 4 days in these pictures. Every thing is looking fabulous and healthy. We also found out the exciting news that we are having a GIRL!!!!

Gah!

I can't believe it has taken more than month for me to post again. Life with Spenser keeps us very busy. He got over his little tummy bug in January by the next day and was back to his super cheerful self. We've been working on his stair skills. If he has a rail to hang on to, he is able to walk up stairs on his own. Going down, he has never learned to crawl, but does very well walking down as long as he has a hand to hold on to. He can drink out of a regular cup by himself ( but we don't fill it more than 1/3 full). His vocabulary is expanding: mama, dada, kitty, puppy, ball, book, teeth, nose, and diaper. He still signs for milk, drink, hungry, and more. He can follow directions. For example, I asked him to get a towel after he spilled some water and he went and pointed at the paper towels. ( He couldn't reach them on the counter).

He loves to go to the park and generally spend time outdoors. He likes riding in the baby backpack. Bath time might be his favorite time of the day. He has recently started waking up in the middle of the night. Brief research indicates this is probably developmental and he should go back to sleeping all night soon. He's finished all his booster shots until he's four years old.

Parenting Fail

Spenser has been getting better about sleeping through the night. If he wakes up before midnight, it is usually between 9:30 and 11:00 PM and he requires some walking and soothing to get back to sleep. After midnight, he will usually fuss a bit (less than 5 minutes) and go back to sleep on his own. Last night was following his standard protocol. He woke at 11, I rocked him, he went back to sleep. As soon as I got back into bed, he started fussing again. I waited and he was back to sleep within 5 minutes. Sometime in the middle of the night, 2 or 3 AM I'm guessing, he started crying. He quit within 5 minutes so I didn't think much of it. This morning, he woke up at 7:15 AM which is pretty normal for him. What was not so normal was the dried vomit on the floor, all over the crib and all over him. Poor baby had gotten sick last night and we, his lazy parents, didn't even know it. He's been acting mostly normal this morning, though he's barfed about 8 more times, triggering two loads of laundry and a bath. He ate lunch and seemed ok for it and is now down for his afternoon nap. I'm hoping his little stomach bug is short lived.

It's about time I got back here

Yup, Christmas and the New Year has just flown by. We've been hunkered down at home, working, playing and trying to keep warm in the frigid winter. I worked Christmas Day. I came home and C and I started cooking furiously. C had already smoked a turkey breast, so all we had to come up with were side dishes and dessert. Dinner was rounded out by creamed spinach, cheese grits and homemade rolls. We followed it up with Jack Daniel's Chocolate Pecan Pie. Spenser was pretty amused by opening gifts, but all gift opening stopped when he unwrapped a tiny baby sized broom that C had got him. All bets were off. He was completely enamored and ran around, sweeping the floor and swinging the broom through the air.

For New Year's, we had a couple of friends over for Detroit Style Pizza. Their little girl is 2, so our festivities were done by 8 PM and we were down for the night by 9 PM. Sadly, I think this is evidence of my domestication. I don't even feel like I missed out on much by not getting to go out and Party it up.....not that I could drink anyway.

Yes, for anyone that missed the hint in the last post, we are expecting bambino #2 in July. We're 16 weeks along and we'll find out the sex in about 4 more weeks. We are very, very excited about this.

And, to finish, I give you: Spenser's first taste of Oreos. I don't think it would exaggerating to say he really, really, really liked it.

Round up.

A mishmash of pictures from our trip to Oklahoma in November.

Kisses from Grandma Gail
Climbing trees with Grandpa No-no. We call him that because he's always telling Spenser "No, no!" hehehe
Hanging out in a tree with Grandpa No-no's hat
Trying to take pictures of Spenser and his cousin, Owen. Spenser was more interested in poking at Owen and making him laugh.
Spenser's beautiful Great Grandma at his birthday party.
Rocking away in the adorable red rocking chair that was a gift from Grandpa No-no and Grandma Gail.

Sitting on the stairs, waiting for someone to notice....

One year!

Our boy has turned one year old! Time has gone by so quickly and our little baby is well on his way to being a little boy. He's walking with more confidence every day and can climb a flight of stairs in the wink of an eye. He has four teeth on top and three on bottom (with a fourth threatening to poke through any day now). He has a very healthy appetite and frequently eats half of Mom's dinner after finishing his. He loves lemonade and chocolate as rare treats. He continues to jabber away and we are finally recognizing some words: mama, ki-ki (for cat), dah (for dog), up, dada. He uses sign language to let us know when he is hungry, wants more, needs a drink, or is done. He has a few mystery signs that we haven't quite figured out yet. He loves bath time and playing in the water. He frequently tries to climb into the tub before we have gotten him undressed. He is full of giggles and belly laughs.

Here he is at his birthday party!

Ready to go.

Thank you to Aunt Leslie for hosting the party and providing the cool door decorations!
Eating his cake. He ate the whole thing and only a few very tiny crumbs made it to the floor.
Monkey cake! Thank you, Grandma Gail for making Spenser his special birthday cake.

His party was part of a much larger trip back to OK for Thanksgiving. More pics and commentary to come as I get caught up from the horrendous flight back.

First Steps

He's finally taking some independent steps. Now we need to convince him to keep going, even if crawling is faster.

A shift in mobility

Spenser just climbed an entire flight of stairs by himself! Daddy was right behind him so there was no chance of falling, but he didn't provide any help. He hasn't managed to climb a single stair before this, so we were just amazed. Spenser was sooo proud of himself. We could see it in his eyes and his wide toothy grin. (He has four teeth now - two on top and tow on bottom)

Back to New York

Way back in September, we took a trip to New York City. My best friend from residency lives in downtown Manhattan and it had been two years since we had seen each other. C and I also had some shopping to do that we could only do in the big city.

We packed up the boy and took the train from F'burg to New York City. It was the perfect length trip....Spenser was just starting to fuss from boredom when we arrived at Penn Station.

We stayed at the W hotel on Union Square. The hotel was wonderful and the location was perfect. K lives a half block off Union Square. The Square also has a playground and a daily farmer's market that had all kinds of interesting produce, flowers, honey, and baked good to look at.
On Friday, we had dinner at 'Wichcraft. Spenser ate half of his sandwich, part of his fruit cup and most of a huge glass of milk.

Union Square has a great playground with separate areas for the big kids and the little guys. Spenser enjoyed playing there every morning.

His first cab ride. He was so excited to be looking forward and was jabbering to the cabbie through the window. Before anyone gets upset, carseats are not required in public transportation and with NYC traffic, we could hardly go fast enough for it to be hazardous.

We took a round trip ride on the Staten Island ferry so we could see Lady Liberty. C has never seen her, but we didn't think Spenser was quite old enough to be taking a tour inside the statue.
Dinner at the The Knickerbocker in the Village. K is a regular here. Spenser was the perfect gentleman. He ate an entire piece of cornbread, lamb shanks, skirt steak, sweet potato and french fries. He was so worn out by the experience that he fell asleep on the walk back to the hotel and missed out on some really good ice cream.
Spenser LOVED this little rocking chair. It was K's when she was a small child.

Back at the playground.

Swinging!
Test hugging bears at FAO Schwarz.
Resting after a picnic lunch in Central Park.
Who would have guessed that being picked up by your pants and swung around could be so much fun? Apparently M knew this was the case because Spenser just laughed and laughed and she swung him back and forth.

The only non serious face he made while on the carousel in Central Park. It was very serious as he checked out all the horses and music and spinning about.

Happy Birthday!

The computer is barely hanging on and working so I thought I would start working on the huge backlog of photos I have to post. Let's start with the most important one!


Spenser is 11 months old! He's looking more and more like a little boy and less and less like a little baby. Today, he made the transition out of Small Wonders and into the Bouncing Bunnies classroom. At first I was a little hesitant, but he seems so much happier with the big kids and out of the room with the tiny babies. He gets to play on the playground twice a day and they do frequent art projects as well. I already have a tiny handprint that is painted to look like a turkey. He has started saying "mama" and "dada", but is not consistent about it. He is starting to be insistent that his food not be cut up into tiny little bites. He wants the whole piece of food to chew on. He drinks very well out of a cup if it is held from him and can drink by himself with a sippy cup. He is still a very joyful and happy baby. He is very interested in everything going on around him and he likes to go to the store because there is so much to see. He's a speed demon when he is crawling. He is cruising like crazy. As you can see, his favorite thing to walk with is a bar stool. He pushes them all over the place and prefers them to the little walker that we bought for him. He should be walking independently any day now.

We took a trip to the farm to pick out a pumpkin. It was a beautiful sunny day and Spenser really liked the outing.

Sorting though the baby pumpkins.

He's very interested in textures and likes to scratch at and feel everything. This warty pumpkin kept his fascination for a long time.


Hanging out on Daddy's shoulders.

Happy boy pushing his barstool around.

Taste testing C's great grandmother's oatmeal cookie recipe.

A friend of Spenser's recently turned one. We went to her birthday party where he got to try cupcakes and frosting for the first time. Despite the serious face here, he really, really liked it. I mean, really really really liked it. He wouldn't let us pinch off bites for him, but was shoving us out of the way to grab the whole thing and stuff it in his mouth.

He had such a good time playing with this ball at the party, that I had to get one for him to play with at home.

All the ladies love Spenser. I'm not sure who this girl is, but she climbed into the bounce house just to give him hugs and kisses.

Kinsley, the birthday girl, hugging on Spenser, as well.