Mommy Went to Minneapolis

This week, I had to take my second business trip since Spencer was born. Four nights away - ouch! (Well, technically three nights, but I get home late on Thursday and he'll already be asleep...) But luckily Spencer has the world's most awesome Daddy to take care of him so I can focus on work and not worry. They decided to take me to the airport early Monday morning. Later in the day Spencer was asking about me. David said, "Spencer, where is Mommy?" and he replied, "Jet!" I love that little guy.

He had something else to say yesterday. There will be a cash prize awarded to the person with the correct translation of this rant.

Happy Feet, First Puke-a-Thon

Spencer, Geep and I took a trip to Sandy's Shoes a couple of weeks ago because Spencer had been telling us his shoes were tight. So I bought him some new sneakers and some cool sneaker/sandal type shoes that can get wet. Well, from the get-go he did not like those wet/dry shoes. If we tried to put them on him, he would fuss and say, "Tight." And then every time he walked by them in the house, he pointed and said, "Tight." OK, we can take a hint. Daddy took Spencer to exchange those bad shoes for some Crocs, which, judging from this video, are not tight.

We survived our first bout of projectile vomiting last week. I went to Angleton for a quick overnight visit, and while I was gone Spencer caught a yucky virus that's been going around. He was so sweet about it though - before he would get sick, he would touch his tummy and say, "Hurt" and that gave us time (usually) to grab a bucket or get him off the carpet at least. The vomiting and some bad diapers lasted several days but he's great now.

Questionable Parenting Choices + Wildflowers

When we woke up Sunday morning Spencer had a fever. I had noticed the day before he seemed a little hot but he tends to run warm and was acting normal so I didn't think anything of it. But Sunday he was saying "hurt" and just looked like he felt bad. After a couple of hours though, he seemed fine and even did some partially naked indoor mowing.

So here's where the aforementioned questionable parenting comes in...we moved forward with our plan to see wildflowers in the Hill Country. The poor little guy faded quickly on our trip and just looked pathetic. He slept the entire time after we grabbed lunch in Dripping Springs. Normally we would not complain about being in the car for over 3 hours with a sleeping boy, but we wanted to take family pictures in the bluebonnets. That was a no-go. I gotta tell you though, if you've never driven the Willow City Loop, you have do it. It was breathtaking with the wildflowers in bloom, but it's worth the drive even without the added beauty of bluebonnets - there are some magnificent scenic overlooks out there. I love Texas!

18-Month Checkup

Spencer had his 18-month checkup this week and it was the first time he has not wanted to cooperate at Dr. Bayer's office. We could barely get him weighed and measured with all the squirming and complaining. Apparently that's common for this age. According to the nurse's quick (inaccurate) measurements, he's 27 lbs 8 oz (though he weighed more at a visit earlier this month when he was sick) and 34 inches tall. After the nurse left we measured him at 35 inches - he was 34 inches 3 months ago so we knew that wasn't right. I just found this picture that Dave took on his 18-month birthday and thought it was so sweet!

Wagon Rides

Great-Grandma Rives gave Spencer a red wagon for his first Christmas because Paw-Paw got a red wagon for his first Christmas. We actually just assembled it because Spencer is big enough now to use it. He enjoys pulling it around (indoors and outdoors) and likes for Daddy to give him rides in the front yard.

p.s. If you've checked out the April photo album you'll notice there are tons of photos in there (probably way too many!). I just haven't had time to sort through and select the best ones - I just posted most of them. Just so ya know.

Ouch! And Leaves

Why have both of Spencer's big boo-boos happened on my watch?? The first one was at the lake last summer - he fell off an air mattress and scraped his nose. Yesterday, we were walking along the curb in front of our house. He tripped and caught himself, but then his head and face scraped the concrete. I couldn't believe he didn't cry.

Spencer had a lot of fun helping Daddy rake leaves and then playing in them yesterday. We've been loving this nice weather before the oppressive heat arrives.

Blowing Dandelions

Geep showed Spencer how to blow on dandelions while they were hanging out on the porch at the ranch. I just love this picture so much that I thought it deserved a dedicated entry.

On the Road Again

We had a fun weekend visiting all four grandparents. We went to Angleton on Saturday and spent the day with Grannie and Paw-Paw. Spencer loved mowing the yard with the new lawnmower they gave him. He also helped Aunt Renee pull some weeds and push the wheelbarrow to the pasture. This morning after breakfast and more mowing, we headed to Pine Fork to see Geep and Pop for a couple of hours. They just got back from visiting New Zealand and Australia for over a month, so we enjoyed catching up with them. We also received some fun gifts from down under. I've said this before, but Spencer is so lucky to have all of his grandparents nearby. He loves spending time with them!

We saw lots of pretty wildflowers along the way, and even a few at the ranch, but we haven't taken the required bluebonnet portraits yet. Hopefully next Sunday!

Recap: Flu, Canceled Trip, 18 Months, Sleeping, Etc.

Lots of things have been going on, but I haven't been keeping up with the blog updates. Our boy is getting so dang big it sometimes catches me off guard. Anyway, here's a recap of the last few weeks...

Spencer and I both got sick at the end of March. After several days of fever and a super runny nose, and a second trip to see Dr. Bayer, we found out Spencer had Type A flu, which is either seasonal or [insert dramatic music] swine. He also had an ear infection. My flu test came back negative, but it took almost 2 weeks for my virus to run its course. Unfortunately, all of this coincided with our big trip to New York to see the Loves. We had to cancel lest we cause a new flu epidemic. We were SO disappointed. We had been really looking forward to taking Spence on his first jet ride, and of course there was lots of fun planned with his cousins.

As many of you know, Spencer's Grannie (aka Geek!) is sick, and once my virus was gone I was finally able to take a few days off to go see her. The boys did so great on their own. In fact, Daddy started a gentle sleep bootcamp and we are excited to report that last night Spencer fell asleep on his own in his crib and slept from 8 PM until 6:30 AM! He fell asleep on his own tonight, and we are praying for similar results. After 18 months of on-demand nursing throughout the night, it was time we made a change and we decided night weaning would be a good place to start. We are not into the whole cry-it-out method, so we've been carefully navigating our way through this process.

We also discovered while I was away that the reason Spencer doesn't usually eat that much solid food must be that he just isn't hungry because he nurses so much. Without me around, he ate like a horse. One day he ate a hotdog ("doggo"), veggie burger patty, tortilla with cheese, 3/4 of an apple, and a bunch of cereal for lunch. I was floored - that's more than he would normally eat over the course of a few days. He even says "try" now and points to what we're eating and wants to sample everything. We also discovered he likes food to be cut into sticks. We were out at dinner last night and he ate a piece of red onion. These changes in sleeping and eating have really given us a new lease on life, even if it's only been a few days!

Spencer turned 18 months old on April 6. His language continues to explode. He knows his ABCs and puts together 2-3 word phrases. One of the most popular right now (unfortunately) is "Elmo. Watch. Down." This means he wants to watch his Elmo video downstairs. When he was sick he started saying "no," and though that might seem like a bad thing, it is seriously the sweetest, most polite little "no" we've ever heard. At his doctor's appointment when he was sick, he weighed almost 30 lbs with his clothes on. We have his 18-month checkup next week so I'll report his stats for those of you keeping up with that. ;)

So that's the update. Aren't these pictures Dave took with his groovy new iPhone app the coolest? You can see more in the April photo album.

Thank Ya Easter Bunny

Spencer had a lovely 2nd Easter. We went to church with Steve White, then he joined us for lunch. Dave grilled the most AWESOME burgers! The Easter Bunny brought Spencer all kinds of goodies in his basket. After his nap, Spence hunted the eggs that Dave and I had fun dyeing Saturday night. Then we went on a nice, long walk around the neighborhood. It was a relaxing day!