We had another combined party for Spencer and his cousin, Seth, who turned 5. And, we had another pinata, which was a hit -- AGAIN!! Even Spencer loved bashing at it, once he caught on to what they were doing.
The spoils...
Look at that studious face, as he opened his first present...
Surrounded by his loot... train, bowling set, pajamas, cars and trucks, candy ring pops, and peeps. Lucky boy!
Surrounded by his loot... train, bowling set, pajamas, cars and trucks, candy ring pops, and peeps. Lucky boy!
Here (below) he's looking up at a ball vacuum, in the SLC children's museum. He LOVES balls, and he LOOOOOVED that ball vacuum. We moved on several times, only to find Spencer had made his way back to the balls. I just thought it was a cute pic...
And now, some bits I like to remember about our boy:
- Spencer is my favorite cuddle bug. He loves to climb on my lap and sit with me, reading a book or just being still together -- as long as he has his blanket and finger to suck.
- He loves trucks, trains, buses -- and sometimes cars, too. When we go anywhere, we get a running commentary from Spencer about the trucks and buses that pass us: "Yellow bus!" "White truck!" "Blue truck!" "BIG BIG truck (semi)" ... we love it.
- He also loves to jump and dance. He's learned some great moves from Samantha's ballet practices (she tends to "practice" several times a day). He even has his own version of an "arabesque" -- where he goes leaping across the room at full speed yelling "Ahh-Besk!!" (arabesque).
- When we're eating dinner, Spencer LOVES salad, mainly for the salad dressing. Every time we start to pour the dressing, as it pours out he excitedly says, "there it goes!" (sounds more like air-go). We love to hear him say it, so he gets lots of dressing. ha!
- He's not quite so musical as Samantha has been, but Spencer does know and love one song -- Do You Know the Muffin Man? He spontaneously sings "muffin man, muffin man, muffin man" all day long, especially when we're in the grocery store, for some reason? He first sings it in a little innocent voice, then he squints his eyes in a silly face and starts singing again, in a very loud, growly voice -- "MUFFIN MAN!!" It's really quirky and quite comical. Maybe one of these days, I'll bring my camera to the store and see if I can get a video? :)
- Spencer is now in his own "big boy bed" -- Sam's old toddler bed. He's so happy about it, and calls it his "nice bed." When he's done napping, he now lets us know he's up by going to the door (which he still can't open), and laying next to the springy door stop, "dooiiinngging it" loudly, until someone comes to open the door for him. He thinks this is a very clever move -- it works, but only when he's been sleeping for awhile, which he likes to test from time to time.
- Speaking of naps and sleep, he's still our AMAZING sleeper -- averaging 15 hours a day. I know, that's a LOT of sleep. But he really seems to function best with 12 hrs at night and a 3 hour nap in the afternoon. I encourage this behavior, of course!
- Spencer loves to be tickled, and will raise up his shirt to show us his huge belly and ask politely, "tickle??" He also loves to have Daddy "eat toes." He raises up his feet, one at a time, for Brian to pretend he's eating Spencer's toes.
- Spencer politely says, "Bless you, Mama," every time I sneeze. (And since I have this weird 'pregnancy sneeze' -- three in a row at least three times a day -- he gets to say it quite often.) He also blesses Sammie, when she sneezes or coughs. And she gets irritated if it was just a cough because "you're not supposed to bless people for coughing, just sneezing!!" she tells him. Also, when he sneezes, he politely blesses himself with, "Bless you, Boy!"
- He is our fridge and pantry bandit. If the pantry is left open, he will rummage through to find any kind of snack he can sneak before we catch him. He can't open the fridge, but if it's open, he'll sit himself down in the door so we can't close it. Then he'll start looking for things he can ask for -- "cottage cheese?" "juice?" "yogurt?" ... etc.
- At bed time, Spencer eagerly awaits his "kisses" from Daddy, Mama, and Sammie. He leans his head in toward whoever's turn it is to kiss him on the cheek. But he's yet to learn that he can also give kisses. Oh well.
I'm sure I have more I would like to write about Spencer. He is such a sweet little boy, most of the time. He can melt on the floor in a real fit, just like any two-year-old. But usually he's just a pleasant, easy boy, and we love watching him grow.
