Changing Every Day

It seems like Spencer is changing more and more every day. Dave and I are constantly asking each other, "Did you know he could do that?" or "Does he look taller today?" Figuring out how to turn the crank on his jack-in-the-box. Filling in words in his favorite bedtime stories. Stringing a few words together ("Mama, car, home" or "Dada, shoes, walk"). Dancing with us after breakfast. And even showing some, shall we say, strong will from time to time. Our little guy really is growing up fast!

I had a neat moment with him at the playground last week. I found myself making a conscious effort not to hover too much while he was on the playground, and the next thing I knew, he climbed up and went down the slide all by himself for the first time.

Geek, Ducks and Kites

What a busy week! Grannie (aka "Geek") was here to hang out with Spencer while Daddy was working on his SXSW film poster and title design contest stuff. Paw-Paw brought Grannie up on Sunday, then came back Friday afternoon to pick her up. So Spencer got some good grandparent time.While Grannie was here, cousin Sarah came over to play one afternoon. Spencer and I actually went to Sarah's house the day before to play, too. I love getting the little cousins together - two days in a row is unprecedented!

On Saturday, Spencer and I went to visit Jenni and Mitch. Jenni gave Spencer some neat airplane toys she found at O'Hare. He loved hanging out in the back yard with Mitch and their kitty. Then we went to Mills Pond to feed some ducks. Spencer was so brave - he walked right up to the ducks and loved throwing bread to (at) them. Even when a dog got loose and caused all of the ducks around us to go crazy and suddenly fly away, he didn't flinch (I think I screamed!).

Duck Feeding Frenzy from Susan Rives Horridge on Vimeo.

Today was the rescheduled Zilker Kite Festival, so Daddy, Spencer and I headed down there for a little while. It was fun to all be together after Dave's crazy schedule lately. The weather was incredible - almost a little hot even. Spencer looked at lots of kites flying overhead and also got to try limeade for the first time.

The Great Hair Debate

I've been getting some "Spencer is starting to look like a girl" comments because we haven't cut his hair yet. I do not agree with this assessment - Donald Trump, maybe, but not a girl. For those of you in that camp, I give you Cindy Crawford's son (yes, that's a boy on the left):

This made me laugh and I had to post it! Those are some freakishly gorgeous children though - what a gene pool!

Aquarena Springs

We met Geep and Pop at Aquarena Springs (now called Aquarena Center) on Sunday for a picnic and Glass-Bottom Boat ride. Even without Ralphie the Swimming Pig, the Mermaid Show, Alpine Swiss Ride and Space Needle thingy of the old school Aquarena Springs, we had a good time. Spencer loved seeing all the fish of course, but he also had fun crawling through a dark cave, drinking from a water fountain, walking across the Wetlands Boardwalk, and trying Nacho Cheese Doritos for the first time. It was a banner day!

Geep made Spencer a book of some of the words he knows and gave it to him before we left. She also made flash cards that he can match to the words on the pages. Very cool! You can check out a noisy little video here.

Snow Day

The Austin meteorologists finally got it right. Snow! We didn't get as much as our friends in north Austin, but we had several good bursts of fat, globby snowflakes throughout the day. After missing our first opportunity to get some pictures outside (by the time I got our coats and shoes on the snow had turned to sleet...), we jumped outside the next time it started up. Spencer ran around and had a blast experiencing his first snow. Check out the February web album for all the pictures.

Zilker Zephyr

Sunday was the most gorgeous day we've seen in a long time, so like thousands (millions?!) of other Austinites we headed to Zilker Park. We rode the train for the first time—a rite of passage. Spencer had fun running around while Daddy waited in line to buy our tickets.Good thing we soaked up that sunshine because tomorrow it's supposed to snow. What??

 

Spencer's First Run-In with the Law

Spencer called 911 yesterday. I heard a voice when I took the phone to hang up, but I thought it was the "If you would like to make a call, please hang up and try again" message you get when you mis-dial a number. But then I saw 911-1115 on the screen... I guess I should've called back, but for some reason I wasn't convinced the call had gone through. Then the police arrived 15 minutes later... Oops!