Reading Is Super!

Spencer and Mommy went to the book store yesterday and bought a couple of new board books. Spencer had fun reading them with Daddy.

He also had fun playing the saloon piano at Hill's after lunch yesterday.


Spencer got to hang out and play with his cousin Audrey from New York on Friday. He's now met two of his four 1st cousins. He'll meet Taylor and Hyelom this week—yay!

Lots of new pictures in the July album—I had forgotten to grab the ones from Lake LBJ weekend off Dave's camera. Have a great Sunday! We're off to eat Pho with some friends soon.

Lake LBJ and 9-Month Stats

We spent last weekend at Lake LBJ with Geep, Pop and a big group of aunts, uncles and cousins, including 2nd cousin Caroline who is one month older than Spence. The babies were the center of attention, of course! Spencer swam in the lake, went on his first boat ride (or should I say, slept on his first boat ride), and did a face plant off our air mattress, which resulted in two grisly scabs on his nose. I think he was having withdrawals from all the fun on Monday—he seemed stir crazy all day.


Just as I was starting to get over the air mattress incident, today he slipped and hit his face on his bookcase. I guess I have to get used to all the bumps and bruises that come with toddler-hood.

Spencer had his 9-month checkup with Dr. Bayer last week, too. He weighs 23 lb. 2 oz (85th percentile) and is 30.5 inches long (97th percentile). Long and lean! He had to get two shots and also have blood drawn from a finger prick, which he did not like. It's now time to expand his menu and start feeding him more solids.

A Super Silly Monday

Spencer was in a fun mood today and I filmed a couple of moments. There's nothing better than that sweet laugh and unabashed excitement.

Giggle Fest from Susan Rives Horridge on Vimeo.

Flying! from Susan Rives Horridge on Vimeo.

9 Months Old

Hard to believe Spencer will be 9 months old tomorrow. He's growing and changing so much—seems like there are new sounds and new moves every day. We've been having a lot of fun this summer. So much so that I haven't had time to update the blog in awhile... I added more pictures in the June web album, started the July album and posted two new videos.


I'm highlighting the picture above for two reasons: Spencer looks SO tough and I want to showcase our new backsplash in the kitchen. Hooray!

Just a quick update. Spencer seems so heavy and tall lately. We can't wait to find out his stats at his 9-month checkup later this week. He has three teeth now—all on the bottom. He's eating more fruits and veggies, but we are still taking it slow with solid foods. We'll probably start ramping it up this month though. He is also quite talkative. He says "da da da da" a lot, and last week he started saying "yeah yeah yeah yeah" in a very conversational way as if he's making sentences. Super cute.

Spencer loves to read books. I often find him sitting on the floor or in his crib with a book in his lap. His favorite is Are You My Mother? He also likes to open the bins on his bottom shelf and pick out toys. He's creeping around all over the place and will also stand alone for a few seconds. Not sure how we feel about having an early walker!


I didn't get any pictures of Spence holding a flag or looking patriotic on the 4th, but the picture above captures how he spent much of the afternoon— picking blades of grass and tasting as many as he could sneak by us.

Travelin' Man

Travelin' Man from Susan Rives Horridge on Vimeo.

Jumpsterrific!

Spencer's jumping was cracking us up yesterday.
He "sticks the landing" at the end, as we say.

Level 3 Jumping from Susan Rives Horridge on Vimeo.

Splish Splash

For those of you keeping score, Spencer is now 8, count 'em, 8 months old. His new favorite thing to do is clear everything off the bookcase in his room. He's getting tall enough to reach Level 3 now. I'm having a hard time adjusting to all the bumps and scrapes he's starting to get as part of his new-found mobility, but as my good friend Tracy always reminds me, babies are resilient.


Daddy bought Spencer a little pool for our yard and we had fun introducing him to swimming on Friday. Today we went swimming at Tracy and Jamie's house—Spencer's first time in a real pool. He acclimated quickly and had fun floating around and paddling his feet like a duck. Unfortunately most of my pictures are blurry for some reason...


I created the June photo album and uploaded a few pictures. Now I'm off to read more of my new book, The No-Cry Sleep Solution. Hopefully I'll have good things to report on that front next time!