Starting Fall

There is never a shortage of activity around our house. Here is just a taste of the first 10 days of September

So, what is up with a six month old Baby Spencer? He has started trying out solid foods, "talks," is very interested in anything he can get his hands on and grabs everything, loves to get kisses, thinks his brother is the best thing on earth, got his first cold, and has pretty much stopped sleeping.

Here is sweet Spencer all excited because he sees the spoon coming at him. Spencer gets medicine three times a day, and he loves it because it probably has more sugar in it than a piece of cake. Those little arms and legs just start flying around in excitement. He was so happy to be getting some more good and yummy things to try and then...

Ummm...nope. Not a fan of rice cereal.

Oh, please don't make me do this again. And then he gagged and threw up.

I tried to wait until Daddy was home with us to try food, but it is too hard to get everyone organized in time before he leaves for work. So, that was the left-handed videography with the iPhone and right-handed feeding the baby...and toddler wanting attention in the background. Yes, that was Alden shouting, "Mommy, come get me!" He was in his high chair in the kitchen. We are in the mode of not sharing anything with our little brother, "No Baby Spencer! That is my _____!" This includes high chairs. Sometimes it is just not worth the battle when you can just go to Target and buy Spencer his very own.

This was Alden on the first day of his new school for Mother's Day Out. There are a few things to point out here. First, yes, I was the dork that made him an outfit just for his first day of Mother's Day Out. Second, he is wearing tennis shoes for the first time all summer which are required by the school for safety but, ironically, make him trip over himself and fall down all day long. Third, my child is SMILING! Yes, he is happy to go to school!! I decided to do a test run the day before just to let him know one more time how the carpool line would work and reiterate the fact that Mommy would leave when he got out of the car but would most definitely come back to get him. He cried when we did this. BUT, he cried because I wasn't leaving him there right then!! He has tears and screams, "Mommy, please, I want to go to school now!" So, the hours of role playing with play dough car pool and school and teachers and classmates (I am quite the sculptor now) seems to be paying off, but we still brace ourselves that on the real day when Mommy really left we would return to the clutching, screaming terrors of a month ago. As promised, Ms. Tracey got him out of his car seat he says, "Bye, Mommy" and goes. Then, stops and turns around to add, "I love you." Done. I LOVE THIS SCHOOL!!! Where do we write the check for the fundraiser?!

We decided to try out the state fair one night with our friends, The Johnstons. Daddy is probably smiling so big because Alden switched on us. He wanted NOTHING to do with Mommy at the fair. All he wanted was Daddy and Daddy to ride the rides. One of the only reasons I wanted to go to the fair was to ride the Ferris Wheel because I always get gipped out of riding it. Guess what?

There goes Alden onto the Ferris Wheel but with neither of his parents! He refused to let me go with him, and due to the fact that it took an obscene amount of fair tickets to ride this ride, we just sent that little stinker on with the Johnstons. He will go with Brice but not with Mommy. Go figure!

A Daddy's job at the fair is to win a random stuffed animal for their child.

Success! We left with one brown cow for Helen and one blue shark for Alden. Alden fell in love with the shark immediately and it has joined the small army that surrounds his bed each night. You are in high company when you get to sleep with Wolfie Dog Dog and School Wolfie Dog Dog. Of course, Brice informed us that you can't go to the fair without going to the pig races. I had never heard of this, but Alden was all into it.

So, did you notice that the pig races turned into duck races? Apparently, the fair folks will race any animal willing to eat the cheese puff at the end. This makes since. I think my children would run if I promised them cheese puffs at the end...maybe even my husband.

So, here is the sweetest photo of Baby Spencer in awe of his big brother, two brothers holding hands and playing together. What a wonderful time to get out the camera.

And then...there is always the attack. You really can't trust a big brother.

We regroup. We show Baby Spencer the puppet and Baby Spencer reaches out to grab it and join in the game.

And then the attack. Spencer never learns. Look at this, not even trying to be subtle, going right for the throat!

I am psycho about sewing right now. Seriously, I am sewing all of the time. The local sewing store has a contest for creative designs using their fabrics and patterns. I have never entered this, but thought these were pretty cute outfits. If you win, you get a gift certificate. So, I decided to try to get "the shot" that is perfect to send in for the photo contest. Really? Have I learned nothing about photographing these two boys together over the past few months. This is the best one I could get and I don't think that I will win any monthly prize when you can't even see Alden's outfit and Spencer looks like he is about to pounce. The fun is sometimes in the moment, though, so here is the ENTIRE attempt at a photo.

OMG! He is touching me!

Almost there...

And....we lost one. Notice the "Oh, yeah, score!" from Alden as Spencer plummets from the chair. This, my friends, is the same child who will ask me after every store if I am sure Sophie the Giraffe is in the car for Spencer and not lost at the store. He really loves him deep down, and even slips and tells him sometimes, but we never let it go so far that one might forget we have the upper hand.

On Labor Day, Alden decided that we needed to have a picnic after watching the morning Caillou. We do everything just like Caillou. This is why we stick to shows on PBS around here. We started to go to a park, but decided that the backyard would have to work. It was such an amazing day. Alden was so excited about his picnic and kept saying the word over and over. When we started to clean up, he started to cry and wailed, "My picnic! My picnic!" An added bonus, we finally found a use for this Ole Miss throw Joey's family gave us.

We could not have asked for better weather. It was cool and no clouds in the sky. Spencer loved being outdoors. Alden sat still and ate with us. He didn't even squeeze his apple juice box and to watch the juice spew out of where the straw could be or try to flush the straw down the toilet. It is the small things in life isn't it?

I said that one day the payback would start. One day, Spencer would find a way to torture Alden, and I promised I would say nothing about it because Alden would deserve every single bit of it. Alden said, "I love you, Baby Spencer." (This is a hug even though it looks like a tackle)

Yea, right, buddy. Not falling for that one. I love my Alden with all my heart, but he so deserved this hair grab like he has never deserved anything in his life. Oh, don't think I am horrible, we saved him in the end.

Spencer is just the happy-go-lucky go with the flow kind of guy. Not much will phase him. But the poor baby has one nemesis...the reflux. Our pediatrician finally sent us to the Gastroenterologist after month six of no sleep. Thankfully, we only tried making this little guy cry it out via the Ferber method for a few nights. Apparently, he is unFerberizable! His GI tells me that this baby can have anything he wants whenever he wants it even though, and I quote, "it will suck for you." So, as our wonderful pediatrician thought, it really is that bad. We have our Upper GI scheduled in a few weeks to check to see if he has normal anatomy, but until then, the only thing that will help the bad nights of crying and grunting and squirming is to swallow which means eating and pacifiers. Let me just say, the best gift my husband ever gave me is the iPhone. When you are up every three or four hours for thirty minutes to an hour for six months you come to cherish the following when trying to stay awake: Facebook, YouTube, Email, the People magazine app, NY Times, and just the internet in general. Oh, and for those of you who used to come and see me in the theatre, I have a musical extravaganza collection of showtunes and Sinatra that can be seen nightly from midnight to 4:00 am on closed-circuit baby monitor TV. At least Baby Spencer is learning how to sing himself: