Spencer is THREE!!

My sweet Spencer,

Today you are three!! The pictures above and below were taken last summer, and boy have you grown since then! I can't believe how little and sweet you look!

You are a talker just like your mommy and daddy! You always have something to say. You love to sing, you love to tell us about everything that goes on, and you love to read books. It's amazing how verbal you have become. You can count as high as 60 in English and 16 in Spanish, you know all your letters and most of their sounds. Your current favorite song is "Jesus Christ is risen today" from Easter service. You know all the words to verses 1 & 2. You don't really know what all the words mean though so when you sing it some of the words get smooshed together to create new ones. It's adorable! You know all the nursery rhyme songs (Baa Baa Black Sheep, ABCs, London Bridge, etc, etc). You also LOVE the Laurie Berkner CD and know quite a few of the songs on the greatest hits album by heart.

Your favorite thing to do is to play sports. You love to golf (it was a sad day for me when you stopped saying "dolf" and started pronouncing it correctly!), you love to play hockey (golf with a helmet), and play catch. You got a basketball hoop and a soccer net for your birthday and you have been using them non-stop since Saturday. You are not really into cars or trucks. You love construction equipment whenever we see it when we are out and about and you love books about them, but you don't "play" cars, trucks, or trains. You love blocks and puzzles. You're getting really good building "tall towers" which Peter now is obsessed with knocking down.

You are a good eater and sleeper. You sleep from 8ish-6:30ish most days. Probably one night every 1-2 weeks he will end up in our bed from 1-4 am. He climbs in the middle and then one of us will wake up eventually and put him back in his bed.

You eat most of what we eat every night. You are currently crazy about the Mueller Yogurts that have the layer of chiffon on top. You eat one every morning with a little bit of granola on the top. You eat fruit or veggies for most of your snacks when we are at home. You love all fruit and your favorite veggies are peas and carrots. We still have to soften up the carrots just a touch for you or else it takes you 20 min to eat just one baby carrot. You can be picky at times and, heaven forbid, we put a green bean on your plate. That almost always leads to a full on fuss fest. We do have to encourage you to drink milk. You much prefer water. I can't blame you buddy, but I also know that you need the calcium for your growing bones!

You adore daycare. You love your teachers (so do we!!) and have great friends in your class. Your best friends are Ethan, McKenzie, and Kelsey. You talk about them all the time. There is a little girl named Rachel who follows you around all the time and just adores you. It makes me smile every time I see it! Miss Kelly says that you tend to hang out with the girls more because you are not as rough and tumble as many of the boys in your class. I would definitely agree with that. You have a tentative personality and are never the one I am going to have to worry about doing wild and crazy things. It's just not who you are at your core. You are sweet and smart and shy until you get to know people.

 

One thing we are really working on with you both at home and at school is picking up. You want to jump from activity to activity without any cleaning up in between. You will let other kids in your class pick up for you and not help. You've gotten slightly better over time, but it is still your weak point. We also have to remind you at times to have your own voice as you won't get into trouble on your own, but if someone else is doing something and asks you to do it, you will join them even if you know it is wrong. We have talked about it a few times with you and it does seem to be getting better in the past few months. I feel that finding your own voice now will lead you down a better path throughout the rest of your life, my boy!

 

 

You adore Peter. Sometimes a little too much :) We have to tell you to stop hugging him so tight sometimes!! You are so good to him and try to help him walk or learn how to do other things. It's so sweet. You do occasionally become protective of your toys and you will often tell us that something is yours and not Peter's. We know that sharing will be something we will always have to work on with both of you over time, so we expect this! Overall, though, you are just the sweetest thing to him and he loves you too. I am excited to see your relationship develop even more this year!

 

We are so blessed to be your parents, Spencer, and wouldn't wish any day with you away. We know you will continue to learn and grow and develop this year and are excited to see you blossom. You have made us realize that there is nothing like the love we have for our babies. It's truly an amazing process to be a parent and we're so lucky to be yours!!

 

Happy Birthday, SYT!!!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

 

Today I am thirty-five years old. Also known as advanced maternal age! Isn't it funny that that is how I look at my age? That's the nurse practitioner in me for sure.

 

I took the day off work and the boys are going to daycare. I have a massage booked (thanks Mom!!) at 10 a.m., I'm going to get a workout in prior to that, and I'm hoping to spend the afternoon organizing my closet and the boys' closets as well.

 

The babysitter comes at 6:30, and B and I have a date at a steakhouse downtown at 7:30. I have my outfit picked out, and I'm already dreaming of dinner. Peter will be 6 months in 1.5 weeks, and my pediatrician has given her blessing for me to try to introduce dairy back into my diet tonight. It's perfect that I can do it on my birthday and on a Friday. This way I can watch his stools and his fussiness all weekend to see if he has any problems with the milk protein. (Please, please Lord, let there be no blood in his stools- I really miss cheese and butter and normal baking and cereal with milk) I cannot be more excited for dinner. I'm having French Onion soup as my first course and I know it's going to be one of the best things I've ever had. I haven't yet decided on which dessert I will have- there's a chance we'll get two and split them. I may be giving dairy back up on Saturday, so I want to get in what I can in my first/potentially only splurge night.

 

My brother and sister in law and their daughter are coming up on Sat for a few days, so it's going to be a very fun weekend of spending time with them and watching the kids play together. We're going out for dinner on Sat night too- yep, we're living it up :) Our babysitter's going to make a fortune this weekend! We've also got our neighborhood trick or treat on Saturday from 5-7, so hopefully I can get some cute pictures of the boys to share here next week.

 

It's been really, really hectic the last 3 weeks at work so I'm thrilled to have the day off and all to myself. I know the day will fly by, but I am looking forward to every minute of it!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday, Dear Spencer!!

Spencer Young, today you are TWO!!!! How quickly time flies! Your smile is enough to light up a room and when you errupt into laughter, everyone else does too. Your happiness, energy, and vivaciousness are definitely contagious, buddy of mine!!

Morning of your second birthday in the front yard.

You are talking up a storm.  Constant stream of two word phrases with some three word sentences thrown in for good measure.  You can currently identify about 3/4 of the letters of the alphabet and can easily count to 11.  You're definitely meeting all your milestones that you need to meet, though I don't think you're the smartest kid your age (even though Mimi thinks so!!).  Right now your favorite saying is "Oh man" with the cutest little accent.  It's really funny and since we laugh at it, you say it even more!!  You're pretty good about please and thank you but we're still working on saying hello to strangers or people you don't know as well. 

You are slow to warm up to people you don't know.  You are definitely NOT a social butterfly unless you are in your regular situations.  You talk a lot at daycare and are very busy there (and not shy), but you are pretty hesistent in other situations (even at church which is a weekly situation for you).  When other kids, friends, or family come to our house, it takes you less time to warm up as you are at home with mom and dad. 

(You've got one down, now we just need to get you to do 2!)

You're a good eater still.  Today at the doctor's office you were 29 lbs 6 oz.  We're able to switch you to skim milk now (yea for one less gallon in the fridge).  We also have to work on getting you to like cheese less as it's definitely your favorite food!!  There really isn't much you don't like- green beans and cucumbers do not cross your lips ever :)  Peas and carrots are the veggies you like the best.  You'll eat any fruit, you love pasta ("noonles") and pretty much all meats.  Tonight we made black bean burritos and you ate them right up- lettuce, onions, beans, cheese and all!!

You've been waiting for these cupcakes for weeks!

You have been soooooo sweet with your "brudder",baby Peter.  Daddy and I are so happy that you are responding well to him.  It certainly helps that Mimi is here helping for 10 days so you are getting tons of attention.  You give him kisses all the time, love to hug him, and want to show him all your toys.  I'm hoping this continues once we are settled into normal life with no visitors.

You are really upset that mommy can't lift you up but you understand that mommy has band-aids from when baby Peter was born.  It's going to be a longggggg two months, kiddo.  I already miss holding you and picking you up like crazy.  It's probably harder on me than it is on you, but I do know that it's hard for you to understand.

You're a great kid, buddy, and we're lucky parents.  You have your moments (ahhhhhh.......two.  I've heard it gets worse at 3, lucky mommy!!!) and I'm sure we'll have some discipline issues in the next year, but, honestly, we do feel that you are a pretty good kid.  We love you like crazy and cannot believe how fast the past two years have gone!  I hope the next year is just as funfilled!! 

Spencer's Birthday Party

We had a few of our friends and their kids over on Saturday to celebrate Spencer's first birthday.  We were hoping the weather would be nice enough to grill out, hang out on the deck and watch the kiddos play in the backyard.  Unfortunately it was 56 degrees and raining, so we all hung out inside instead.  We just rolled with it and everyone seemed to have a good time!

I didn't necessarily have a theme as Spencer doesn't really like anything in particular yet, so instead I bought a bunch of seersucker fabric and made banners to decorate the house.  I also made a onsie for Spence to wear for the cake eating and set up the hutch in the dining room with a picture from each month of his life.  I also bought a bunch of balls at the dollar store which I am SO glad I did.  There were balls flying everywhere in the family room and living room and the kids loved it!!

We had burgers and hot dogs on the grill, a fabulous pasta salad (I'll have to share the recipe-it's perfect for summer), grilled vegetable kabobs, a fruit salad, munchie mix, a wine punch, beer, juice boxes, sodas, cake and cupcakes.  B made the burgers on the grill, and they were some of the best burgers he's ever made.  Overall, I think the meal turned out pretty well. 

My precious boy is ONE!

Chocolate cake with vanilla buttercreme frosting (both from Annie's Eats blog)

Yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting (again from Annie's Eats)

In his one year onsie with his cake

Some of the kids blowing out Spencer's candles

Settling in with the cake

First bite

Really going for it

Chocolate mustache!

Now it's everywhere!!

Happy Birthday little buddy!!

Spencer is ONE!

Today my baby turns one!  I absolutely cannot believe how fast this year has gone.  I wonder how it's possible that we've gone from a sweet little newborn that fits cross cradle in a sling to a one year old that is taking his first steps! 

First day of life

First day home

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

1 year

Being Spencer's mom has changed my life completely.  Making him smile is the highlight of my day.  Watching him learn new skills every week amazes me.  It makes me wonder how the brain works and how it is possible for such a little person to learn so much so fast.  His little brain is fast at work all the time, and you can see the concentration in his face as he tries to solve problems and get himself into and out of different situations. 

He is standing on his own and has taken two steps from a standing position before falling.  He can go from crawling to a bear crawl position to standing without much effort now.  It really won't be long before he is walking confidently (though I think it will be awhile before walking is faster than crawling).  He is busy- crawling into drawers, taking everything out of cabinets, pushing kitchen chairs around the house, crawling down the step to get outside, crawling up and down the steps, etc.  His absolute favorite thing to do is play with balls- throw them, catch them, crawl after them, and watch them bounce.  It's all a delight to Spencer!

His verbal skills aren't quite up to par with other babies his age.  He says "dada" and "mama", but not strictly for us.  He had moderate hearing loss because of all his ear infections, so on the 6th of May he got bilateral ear tubes to help with both his hearing and for prevention of further infections.  I am praying it helps!  In the past week I have noticed that he has "talked" a lot more and made more consanant sounds than prior to the surgery.  I am hoping that his verbal skills will come along nicely from here.  We're definitely working on it and will watch him closely.

He will eat all kinds of foods.  The only foods he's had so far that he doesn't seem to like are cucumbers and pineapple.  He loves chicken, cheese, toast, sweet potatoes, squash, spinach and pears, yogurt, spaghetti, cantelope, peas, etc.  He is no longer drinking out of bottles (his choice) but also refuses breastmilk and regular milk from a sippy cup, so right now his only daytime liquid is water.  He likes it okay but is not having nearly the wet diapers he used to.  It's a transition time this week, so we'll see how it goes over the next few weeks.  I know he would LOVE juice, but because I know he'd never drink anything else, we're choosing not to give it to him at this time.

We have his one year apt on Tues, so we'll find out then how much he weighs and how long he is.  He has grown a lot in the past few weeks that we've noticed and right now we're struggling to find clothes that fit.  All his 12-18 months sizes are summer clothes and we've had a very cold, very wet spring, so he can't wear those without freezing but his warmer clothes are all 6-12 months and much too short.  We're praying for better weather here for so many reasons, one of those is to see my little guy in his cute summer stuff!!

Happy Birthday, my buddy!!  Daddy and I adore you and feel blessed every day for the chance to watch you grow and be your parents.  We love you, SYT!!