It's Come to This

Regarding breakfast, it's come to this:

I bought sausage and a can of biscuits a few weeks ago at the grocery store. Last week, I managed to open the biscuits and put them in the oven and throw chunks of misshapen sausage in a skillet to (slightly over-) cook before my husband left for work that morning. Imagine my horror when he was overjoyed about the cuisine before him. He talked about it for days. Think he is tired of scrambled eggs with toast every morning?

Regarding Spencer's language acquisition, it's come to this:

My sister is out of school for the semester. Actually, she is out of college for good, but her graduate level classes start in January. (I want to give her credit where credit it due) More importantly, she is spoiling me by helping out with Spencer a day or so a week so that I can do a load of dishes or possibly even put up the Christmas tree. She recently informed me that Spencer could tell you what the cow says. I knew he could tell you what the dog says. He pants--I think because he can't figure out how to "bark" or "woof." It's hilarious either way. So, I asked him what the cow says, and he looked at me with his lips pushed together and said "mmmmmmmmmm." He can't "moo," but exhaustive testing has shown that he does in fact know what the cow says.

This just goes to show that even though you may stay home with your child all day and (almost) every day, other people still notice things about them that you do not. I do think he was showing off for his aunt, because I am fairly certain he has never "mmmm"-ed for me. I do attempt to keep track of these sorts of things. I'm sure his future siblings will have to get an air horn to alert me to their milestones because I will be too busy making sure Spencer is not jumping off the roof or convincing one of them to do the same.

Regarding non-negotiable discipline issues it's come to this:

Into the category of "things I swore to myself I would never do once I had a child that I now do without shame" goes letting Spencer pull everything out of my wallet...in public. The need for distraction is much greater when we are out and about! Target is the main place he enjoys a foray into "ridiculous things parents let their children do in public." I knew this was not going to end well. I pictured a credit card statement with multiple charges we would have to contest. Instead, I noticed that my visa was missing a couple of days after having used it for our co-pay at the pediatrician's office. After scouring the house, my purse, my car, and the diaper bag, I swallowed my pride and texted my husband to ask if he knew where it was. He did not.

I have a feeling it is in the dump somewhere. Oftentimes, when we are wrapping up our shopping, I grab all miscellany that Spencer has pulled out of the diaper bag and cram it into one of the sacks. Then, as Spencer plays happily while I put things away at home (insert smirk here), I put things back in their rightful place. So, I think I overlooked it and tossed it out. That or someone found it and waited too long to use it. Either way, I've learned my lesson. While Spencer played with my wallet today, I paid much closer attention.

Happy Birthday to Nana!

Spencer's Nana turned 60 yesterday, and we surprised her at her school. I'm not sure if Spencer or Sherry had more fun. He loved the balloons we took her. He enjoyed running like a wild man through her library, and he had lunch with her in the teachers' lounge where he promptly located the youngest teacher and began to shamelessly flirt with her. He eventually lured the young (and attractive) teacher from her chair and convinced her to chase and tickle him as he wallowed all over the floor and giggled. He was strutting with a little more confidence than usual because he was sporting one of his new birthday outfits.

He was most certainly Nana's show and tell. I think he saw every person who is currently employed at the school. Not surprisingly, his favorite "class" was definitely the PE room. He fussed at me until I retrieved the specific color basketball he had his eye on from the huge metal bin. When he began gesturing towards the basketballs, I grabbed an orange one off of the top. (O, ridiculous woman that I am) He continued to gesture and then went on to "vocalize" loudly until I handed him the purple basketball that he had his eye on. What was I thinking?

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving did not turn out as I had expected it to turn out. And that's fine. Spencer did not feel well, I came down with the flu, and Jonathan had to be Mom and Dad for almost 3 days straight. I'm so blessed to have a husband who is just as attached and connected to Spencer as I am. They did great together. I think the whole thing was hardest on me.

I had one plan for Thanksgiving. At both of our families' gatherings, I was going to change Spencer into a turkey costume that I found at Babys'rus (it was on clearance for $4.74 with tax and I just couldn't pass it up). I was then going to have him saunter out to the living room and delight everyone. I also wanted to take him to his great grandmother's assisted living home to see her and her friends. I figured they'd love it. Instead I stayed home in bed and other people attempted to dress him up for me, but he doesn't love costumes when he feels good, so, he spent a combined 4 minutes in it.

Luckily for you, all of posterity, and Spencer's future wife, I took some pix at home a few weeks before Thanksgiving when I tried the costume on him for size.

Without further ado,

Spencer Is 1!

Little Spencer, you are 1 year old! What a joy you are to know and love. It's not just me who thinks so. You are the little boy who gets everyone's attention wherever we are, and it's usually the good kind of attention. People say, "What a HAPPY baby" and "He's too pretty to be a boy" and "Is he walking? How old is he?" Some also comment on your gorgeous blue eyes and your blonde hair that is curling up in the back. But, mainly they focus on your sweet, playful smile that you flash as you wave your hand to say "hi" to all patrons of Target, Kroger, or wherever else we happen to be that day. You certainly are a people person. You are adored both publicly and privately and have come to expect it as the usual course of things.

Your Gigi insists that you can always teach other things like humility and delayed gratification when you are older but that if you miss instilling the knowledge that you have power to manipulate the world around you and that people like and love you, it's very hard to put that in later. As in most things, I think she is right. And you have definitely internalized these life principles.

You love to rough house, run, be tickled, jump onto soft things, and dance to music. You have finally decided to pay attention to steps instead of just walking on like they are of no consequence to you. You now slow down and hold on to something to go up or down a step. Well, sometimes. A few days ago you finally got your foot up onto your "toy table." You had been getting your knee up for quite some time, but you really needed a foothold to be able to stand on it. Mission accomplished.

You are really into pushing buttons right now. It appears to be the thrill of cause and effect (and it usually involves music). You want to be in on whatever I am doing. You FINALLY enjoy your baths. You dump cup after cup of water on your head and then get a huge smile on your face. You seem to be concentrating on some fine motor skills lately (you certainly have the gross motor stuff down for now). You can take the credit cards out of all the different slots in my wallet, and you can take the battery panel off of the remote control.

You were sick a couple of weeks ago, and you learned how to stand there and stick out your nose when I say, "Let me wipe your nose." You also sit down immediately when I say it if you think we are getting you ready to go somewhere. So, now you have given yourself away. You automatically run the other way when I say I am going to change your diaper.

Your seemingly new sleep schedule involves waking up between 3 am and 5 am screaming. Your dad gives you a bottle and then, instead of being up and at 'em, you go back to sleep. Then you sleep until 6 or 7 and sometimes later! Then, naps seem to be of no importance to you. You refuse them at the old, regular times and you refuse them at later, adjusted times and by the end of the day you are exhausted. You run into everything with your head, you fall, etc. I'm working on getting a new groove, but we've hosted many a virus in our house this past month and we are all worn out.

You are such a precious baby boy.

ps--pix and movies from the birthday party to come

"Portrait of the Spencer as a Young Man"

Spencer is almost 1. Part of me CANNOT believe he is that old, and part of me feels like he has always been in our lives. I still get overwhelmed with gratitude for God's gift in him. On the less mushy side, he is HILARIOUS and never boring. And I really appreciate that. I bore easily, so thank goodness he's a mover and a shaker. I may sound like I'm complaining about his activity level and quirkiness sometimes, but just know that I'd be bored out of my mind if he was what is traditionally referred to as an "easy" baby.

For example, when we scheduled a photo shoot for this fall, I thought, "Why not get a 'family picture'?" After all, what kind of mother would I be to not have pictures of myself with my husband and my child all fully clothed and smiling. It's almost like you attempt to do it, just to prove to yourself that while it doesn't happen very often, it's not because you CAN'T do it--you just don't bother yourself with silly things like putting on eye liner or pulling together multiple pieces of clothing that fit you properly to make an "outfit."

The last time I attempted this, Spencer was 6 weeks old, and it was a challenge then. But that photo shoot had nothing on this one.

That about sums it up.

Now, you have to know that we have some beautiful pictures from this shoot. Really. He loves our photographer (and friend) Hannah. He flashes his flirty little grin at her big beautiful brown eyes. He ain't no fool. He just wasn't up for being in a sitting position because that necessitates that his body remain stationary for more that 1/10 of a second. That's just not his thing. "What IS his thing?" you ask. Well, he prefers to stand in any shopping cart with or without a buckle, to carry 3 heavy things while walking, and to refuse milk for an hour and then eat an entire grilled cheese sandwich.

Almost a year ago, I was in the hospital having Spencer. My OB commented that Spencer was going to have his own perspective on life. He said this because Spencer WOULD NOT turn over the way babies typically do in order to put an end to the "delivery" process. They are supposed to rotate to a face down position. Spencer refused for a good 2 hours, at which point we reached a compromise of a "sideways" delivery. I didn't think much of it at the time. There was much more to think about, like trying to have a baby in between yanking my oxygen mask off to throw up...but I digress.

"He told you I have a mind of my own, Mom! How long until you cease to be surprised?"

I read that Spencer should be pointing to things now, and I was trying to remember if he's ever technically pointed at anything. Then it dawned on me, he takes my hand and walks me to whatever he wants. Why would he point? When I keep my hands out of his reach because I don't want to face the temper tantrum that will ensue when I don't stand up and walk when he pulls my hand, he grabs my big toe and starts pulling it as he walks. And it's not just me. He will take anyone's hand who will give it to him. He will then walk them to what he is currently interested in and try to convince them to do his bidding.

Did I mention he's a little bit of a thrill seeker? He loves the grass in the backyard, because he figured out 1--that it slopes in certain places and you can get running PRETTY fast and 2--that when you get running pretty fast and then squeal with excitement you inevitably fall, but that's ok, because it doesn't hurt to fall in the grass.

I am usually the one taking pictures of Spencer, so there are not a lot of the both of us. And typically that's a good thing because, as I mentioned above, I don't consistently present as "photo ready," at least by 21st Century American standards. So, I really like this picture that Hannah took, because more than most it typifies what life with Spencer is like right now. Boisterous, strength-requiring, joyful, but purposeful in our intention to love him and teach him the best we can so that he can be and do what we cannot imagine.