Spencer is two years old! We talked about his birthday all month. Spencer was very observant about my birthday and really got the concept. Spencer saw the birthday banner hanging up, heard people call and wish/ sing happy birthday, and enjoyed a birthday treat as we celebrated. After my birthday we started talking about his quite a bit. Once we entered February I showed him on the calendar when his birthday was. Then he would sometimes ask during breakfast about his birthday and point to the calendar. We made big plans for this birthday and talked frequently about how we were going to go see big fish on his birthday. The anticipation was so fun to enjoy together as we waited for his birthday weekend to come!
This month we had some resident friends come over. Spencer loves when kids come over our house, especially if they are older than him. Dan Filitus' daughter Maddy came over in a dress she had made with her mom. We talked about how cool it was. Spencer must have been listening because a couple days later he held up his Ma and said, "make dress!" We've made his Ma into a dress a couple times since.
We've also been getting the baby things out for our new baby to use. Spencer likes trying them out :) Spencer also got a new bed. He put it together with Brian and loved getting in it. Anytime we go over a friend's house he has loved climbing into their toddler bed, and now he loves his own just as much.
The old school next to us is getting turned into a dental office and we have been entertained by all the diggers and other machinery working every day. We watch the worker guys too. One day I asked Spencer to put the silverwear in the dishwasher. He said no. I asked him who he thought should put the silverwear in the dishwasher. He stopped and thought for a minute, then said, "worker guys."
One Saturday after Brian finished studying we took a family trip to the Riverside Park. The weather was chilly but the water was so fun to play with. Spencer took to throwing rocks in it right away. When we got home he didn't want to come inside, so Brian and him played outside a little longer in the yard. Spencer likes to play "set, go!" and "gotchu"... a couple racing and chasing games.
Fun in the snow! In the first picture you can see his "cheese" face he has started using. He has also started telling me when he no longer would like his picture taken. After this first picture he said "no more pictures."
Indoor fun! Spencer has gotten a longer attention span for activities, especially new ones. He has also started using his imagination! This first picture of him with playdough on his finger shows his imagination. I've been wearing a bandaid on my finger for a couple days now and he always talks about it. He came in the room one morning and showed me his hand with playdough on his finger and said "bandaid!" Also, one morning he woke up and was loudly and excitedly yelling my name from his bed. When I walked in I saw him lying in his bed with his Ma over the top part of his head. He looked at me and said "helmet!"
A few other indoor activities have been playing with bubbles at the Montshire, "excavating" toys from ice with warm water, and making block towers. Spencer often gets out and plays with the blocks on his own, then yells, "mom. made this!" to show me what he made. He builds some pretty cool towers.
You can also see in these pictures his before and after haircut. I usually cut Brian's hair while Spencer sleeps, but this last time we did it with Spencer around. When Brian was done we asked Spencer if he would like a haircut. He sat on Brian's lap and watched "Jesus videos" (the LDS Bible videos online) while I quickly trimmed his whole head. It was hard to see his lovely locks of blond hair falling, though this is his third hair cut. But it looks really good!
The blue face resulted from a little alone time with a stamp the librarian gave us... haha. On Mondays, during breakfast we meal plan together. Spencer commandeers cookbooks and finds all the dessert pages and says "make this, make this, mom." He also likes to get the list and add things to it. I thought it was pretty cool how he really was trying to write. You can see how he scribbles up and down from left to right in the rows.
Spencer and I went down on a one day trip to see Nikki and her kids visiting from Indiana. It's so sweet to get to see them more while we have been living in NH.
Spencer's best friend is Tate Shelton from church. When we first moved in we watched Tate on Tuesday mornings off and on for a couple months. Spencer and Tate get along so well and love being together. The day before we left for Spencer's birthday weekend we watched Tate. I took them shopping for a couple things and they had so much fun. It was fun to hear them talk to eachother. Tate, who is about 9 months older, would say, "Spencer, say 'beep beep'." and they would look at things on the shelves together. They are a crack-up!
For valentines I made this portrait of our family. It's a thing right now to do faceless watercolor portraits. I haven't done anything artsy in forever, and I had so much fun drawing and painting this portrait. It really made me want to explore my creative abilities more. I loved drawing when I was little and was pretty good. Then I just got more interested in sports, and never liked any of our art teachers after elementary school. Alas.
And now for Spencer's birthday weekend! It was perfectly timed with Brian's inservice dermatology exam. That Thursday Brian took his test in the morning, then finished consults. We packed up and started down for Grandma and Grandpa Harpers' stopping at the stake center on the way for Brian to attend a Stake Priesthood Leadership Training. Spencer and I hung out in the church until Brian was done then we zipped down to my parents. The next morning my parents watched Spencer while Brian and I went to the temple. When we got back Spencer napped and then we started his birthday festivities: playing with balloons, Grandma & Grandpa giving him the tool bench, dinner and treat with singing.
We spent the night in Boston by Bunker Hill at a Hilton. Spencer spotted "couple S's" on our way. He's been into spotting letters when we are out and about, especially S's. The next morning we had the yummiest fruit bowls and yogurt at Whole Foods and then headed to the New England Aquarium. We saw all sorts of fun things! When we asked Spencer what he liked seeing at the aquarium he talked about the "blue frogs, climbing trees" "big snake" "big fish" and "big turtle". However, his favorite thing was "man! water!" There was a worker scuba diving in the big tank in the middle feeing the fish. Spencer loved it and it was easily his favorite thing at the aquarium. :)
I had told Spencer we were going to see dolphins... luckily there were dolphin statues because there are definitely not dolphins at the aquarium.
After Spencer's nap we went to see the Boston temple with Spencer. We realized that he has never really seen the temple since he's been old enough to talk about it/ really remember it. We sang "I Love to See the Temple", walked around, touched the outside and even went into the foyer for a couple minutes. We talked to Spencer about the day we got married there and about the blessings of being married in the temple. We can be together as a family forever through the sealing powers available in the temple.
We went out to Thai and then went to Whole Foods again and let Spencer pick out his birthday "cake". He chose a mini chocolate cheese cake. He is a chocolate lover!
Sunday we went to church with Nate & Mindy in Worchester and then hung out with them the rest of the day and spent the night. Spencer so loves Holden and Isaac. It really made me relax about having another child. I know the transition will be hard, but siblings are so fun and Spencer will love having a little sister as his friend.
When we left Monday morning we drove over to UMass Amherst where Max is going to college. We went out to lunch and took a nice driving tour of Max's school and heard all about his classes etc. It was fun to see him! I love that he is less than 2 hours away. Whenever we talk about Max now, Spencer says "Max, college." :)
It was such a good trip and was so fun to get to spend so much time together as a family! It was so sweet. We both had a hard time letting Brian go back to work when we got home.
Spencer has changed so much over the past two years. It has been so fun to get to know him.
- He is a very thoughtful boy. Whenever we are at a playgroup and someone is sad, Spencer runs over to me and says, "[child's name], sad" and then when they stop crying Spencer runs back and says "[child's name], all better". He also is very in tune with my emotions. One time at an OB apt I didn't even cry, but I shared some of my fears about labor with my midwife. Spencer had been playing next to me, but noticed I was sharing real feelings and asked me to hold him. He sat on my lap until the end of our visit, just leaning into me. What a caring boy!
- He loves being independent. Spencer loves running errands around the house on his own, especially if it involves going to another room where he can not be seen. Often I will ask him to go get a new diaper. He will run off and if he thinks I am heading with him he will stop and turn around and put his hand on my leg and push on me and say "No, Mom. Stay back. Spencer do it." He likes running to go get Ma, helping put laundry away, picking out his own clothes, putting on his own boots, etc. The other morning I had folded all our laundry but when I went to put Brian's shirts away I couldn't find them anywhere. I checked to see if I had already put them away but forgotten. Then when I went to put my shirts away, I found them! Spencer had put them where my exercise shirts are! He must have done it while I was putting towels away or something. So cute!
- He loves books. His favorites lately have been "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Suess, "Glady's goes out to Lunch" by Derek Anderson, and "Good Night, World" by Wila Pearlman. We often read a book 2 or more times when reading. We always read a book before nap, sometimes before bed, and often while dinner is cooking or while waiting for Brian to come home.
- He loves being like his dad! Spencer used to refuse to wear his white button up shirt to church. Then he realized that Brian wears a white button up shirt and a tie. Since he has realized that, he will only wear his white shirt with tie. Last week I asked if he wanted to wear his vest. He said no, but later when Brian put on his suite coat for church, Spencer ran into his room to get his vest out. He has also started putting on Brians shoes and coming to tell me he is going to work. He says "going to work. be back soon. two minutes." (Wouldn't that be fun if Brian only had to work for two minutes each day?!)
In preparation for the new baby I typed up this typical schedule of Spencer's day to have to help my mom and Hailey (who are coming after the baby is born) know what his typical day is like and how it is structured. It was kind of fun typing it all up. It's also crazy to see how often we have shifts or changes in his schedule. For example, it's 3 weeks since I wrote this and we have stopped doing the potty before nap unless he asks for it, we have taken down the Christmas lights, and Brian has been coming home later again (6:45+) so Spencer and I eat by ourselves earlier. It's just funny how quickly I assume our schedule has changed for good.
Spencer’s Typical Schedule (2/16/2016)
6:50-7:15am wake up; help him out of crib or bed; ask him to
turn off sound machine; we change his diaper and he picks out his own clothes, or
I do. Then breakfast!
7:30am Breakfast. His
favorites are instant oatmeal “oats” or puff pancake with syrup and peanut
butter or cereal. He likes bananas
sliced with peanut butter on top too. Or
yogurt (but that’s usually later in the day).
Spencer eats in his booster seat with the tray and the bib (called the
“clean”, not a bib!). I give him water
with his breakfast.
8:00am Spencer either helps me unload the dishwasher or
plays. I get ready for the day. Either exercise for 30 mins with a video at
the computer (spencer likes participating too) or shower, brush teeth, brush hair… spencer likes to brush his teeth too and will usually
come in to do it together.
9:30/10:00am leave the house! We usually do groceries, or
library, or museum, or dump, or play date, or errands… I try to be home by
11-11:30am. Because nap goes nicer if
lunch happens at 11:45.
11:45am Pre-Nap rituals begin! Lunch is eaten from
11:45-noon. So if you want to eat
something that takes a little prep you need to be home to be prepping it 10-15
mins ealy. He like a “seabub” (sandwich
with peanut butter and honey) or dinos in the oven or micro, or mac and cheese
with lots of peas, or cheese quesadilla on stove top. Sometimes leftovers. Again, he likes water.
12:00-12:10 I let him play by himself in the toy room to unwind before nap
12:10pm-12:15pm sit on potty and pee while I read him a
book. Then we put on his nap
diaper.
12:15pm go into his room and turn on sound machine and
heater and read him 1 book; then hold him while standing next to his bed and
sing him 1 song (usually the “jesus” song which means “a long time ago in a
beautiful place…”). He will usually
lean toward the bed. He sleeps with Ma, Bobo and an assortment of other friends
in his bed; I usually make sure they are to the sides of his pillow so he has
some room too. Then I say “I love you
Spencer, have a good nap” and walk out of the room and shut the door. I usually leave the room by 12:30
12:30pm-2:30pm/3pm NAP J
I read pray, read scriptures, and take care of any tasks I need to do on the
computer. I usually don’t get on the
computer with Spencer awake because it just doesn’t go well. I respond to emails/texts/calls; search for
housing… plan for the afternoon and future days if not already planned etc.
2:30pm/3:30pm When Spencer wakes up I usually let him talk a
couple minutes before I go and get him.
He’s usually in a bad mood if I run in and get him too quickly. I take him out of the bed (we treat the
toddler bed like a crib… I don’t want him getting out whenever he wants, so I
just don’t ever have him get in or out by himself at the beginning or start of
nap or bedtime). Again, he turns off the
machine and heat.
2:30pm/3pm maybe a small snack, but don’t let it get out of
hand or there will be no eating of dinner. So perhaps apple sauce or yogurt or
a cheese stick.
3-4:30pm Play at home.
Books, cars, coloring, playdough, help with laundry, play in the yard or
the basement.
4:30pm I start dinner prep… Spencer usually joins me and
will push a chair over. It is kind of an
early start but things take longer with a 2 year old helping and it is a fun
activity to do together. Spencer likes
dumping ingredients in and stirring whatever is on the stove top. He is good about letting me have a turn if I
just say “mom’s turn”.
5:30pm/5:45pm dinner is usually done. We will do as many dishes as possible. Set the table, make Brian’s lunch, pick out
Brian’s outfit for the next day, listen to Pandora and dance, turn on the
Christmas lights and watch for Brian out the window. Then Brian comes home!!!
5:45pm-6:45pm (unless it’s Wednesday… then not until 8:30 so
Spencer and I just eat whatever (scrambled eggs, a smoothie, sandwiches,
applesauce, peanut butter and apple with granola sprinkled on top…) and usually
much earlier around 4:45/5pm… oh how I wish we could always eat dinner then!
But, it turns out I’d much rather have a hardworking husband that supports our
family and provides so I can stay in the home and raise our lovely children!)
So yes, then Brian comes home and we eat and clean up. Brian usually gives Spencer a bath while I do
any remaining dishes and start the dishwasher.
(Though lately Brian has been doing dishes since he’s been getting home
early around 5:45.) Brian’s really good at letting me know as soon as he has
insight into when he will be home. So
I’ll usually get a text around 5:30pm.
If it’s going to be much later than 6pm, Spencer and I will go ahead and
eat, then talk to Brian when he gets home and eats.
6:45pm Spencer takes a fairly quick bath… 3-10 minutes or so
depending. And he only takes a bath
every other night, unless he really needs one or if we are bored. We just have him play then wash his hair
really… I don’t usually wash his body. I
wonder if that’s odd? After bath he gets dried off and then usually runs away
for his Ma. We put Aquafor on his
elbows, knees, under his nose/ on his cheeks if they are chapped. We brush his teeth, comb his hair (he hates
this!). We let him brush his teeth first
then he chooses me or Brian to “check his teeth”; which means we brush the
bottom teeth, top teeth, tongue and inside cheeks. He has special tooth paste and his tooth
brush is the little blue one.
7:15pm Then to Spencer’s room for scriptures. We are in 1 Nephi 22 tonight. Spencer hands out the scriptures to everyone;
we each have our own set in his room.
Mine is the big blue one, Spencer and Brian each use a military size red
one. We read about half a chapter or
less together depending on the night and mood and tiredness. Then Spencer puts the scriptures away and we
all kneel down to say prayers. Sometimes
Spencer will say his own prayer (which means he bows his head and says 3 words
then amen! Pray! I prayed!) then one of us will say a prayer on his
behalf. Next one of us hold spencer
(almost always Brian) and we each kiss him goodnight and get kisses. Spencer turns out the light, the other one of
us turn out the light in the kitchen.
Brian will sing him the “jesus” song again and put him in bed and walk
out singing. We usually walk out around 7:30pm.
Favorite foods:
Breakfast:
·
Cereal and milk with banana
·
Puff pancake with syrup
·
Instant oats plain or with berries or banana
·
Waffles
- Yogurt
Lunch:
·
smoothies! (if we have a smoothie for lunch we
will usually have one of the snack foods as well, but he really does drink a
lot of the smoothies we make)
o apple,
banana, orange, frozen pinaeapple, spinach, water… this one is a hit!
o banana,
milk, spinach, and any of the frozen fruits is more standard
·
pita filled with hummus, or hummus and pretzels
·
bread or pita sandwich filled with peanut butter
and jelly, honey, or fluff
·
macaroni and cheese with lots of microwaved
frozen pees
·
pasta with a little butter, pepper and grated
parmesean
Snacks:
These can be added to lunch or as a wake up snack
·
banana cut with peanut butter
·
apple with peanut butter
·
yogurt with granola
·
apple sauce with cinnamon
·
cheese sticks or slices of cheese
·
grapefruit… this is time intensive! You have to
get the piece out and hand him the spoon
·
trail mix (this is more of a treat though)
·
home made fruit snacks
·
veggie chips/straws
·
canned fruit
·
berries
Dinner:
·
We are giving him whatever we are eating for
dinner; sometimes he eats it sometimes he doesn’t… we are wanting to help him
try things and eat and not get his own individual meal after. This is a work in progress! J I honestly think what makes dinner so hard is
how much snacking he does in the afternoon or while we make dinner together…
I’m working on this too!
Our typical outings:
These are just options, I don’t usually go to all of them in
a given week (especially the W-F activities because we usually will need to
stay home and catch up one on life of those mornings, or do Visiting Teaching,
or be sick, or just decide to do our own thing.
M - groceries
T – Stay home and clean (vaccum, laundry, sweep, tidy)
W – Playgroup at Marissa’s (not always)
Th - Library
F – Dump or/then Montshire
S – groceries or dump
Fun ideas to do with Spencer
Indoor Outings:
-
Montshire children’s museum opens at 10am (15
min drive)
-
Lebanon library, opens at 10am, story time at
library in basement at 10:30am Thursdays; we will also just go and color
sometimes if I can’t think of anything else do to and we need to get out
-
Pet Store in West Lebanon, opens at 10am fun
fish etc in basement and birds in the atrium
Outside:
-
chalk on front walk
-
blow bubbles
-
parks (CCBA, elementary school)
-
picnic
-
just play in the yard or by the porch infront of
the house… this is probably his favorite!
Inside:
-
Bath time
o Bubble
bath
o Glow
sticks in bath
o Crayons
o Bath
letters
-
Playdough
o w/
cookie cutter tools
-
Coloring
o Draw
letters
-
Painting
-
Magnets on whiteboard
o Letters
o Animals
-
Ice Melt
o Freeze
several items in a wide mouth canning jar; remove next morning and place in
pan; give him warm water in bowl and measuring cups to dump the water on and
melt out the items
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