The end of January and Spencer's Birthday

We finished January, it's true.  And Sterling did that thing that babies do: he grew up quickly and started giving us some handsome smiles.

The kids made a train in the living room:

And Spencer had his birthday!  We went and got cupcakes and he enjoyed blowing out the candle.  Spencer happens to like fire quite a bit.

This little boy is a treasure in our home.  He loves superheroes, cars, horses, and technology.  He is a Daddy's boy and tells Daddy to "tickle me" whenever he sees him.  He sneaks and steals the iPad, which the other kids love because then they play with it too and blame it all on him.  He likes to throw things around the house, which is a little dangerous and painful for the rest of us.  At Church he sits with his friend "Lina."  He wants to ride bikes all the time, even if it is frigid outside.  He either eats and eats and eats, or throws his food away completely.  He loves bananas and we have to buy several bushels a week to keep up with his ravenous banana appetite.  He loves his siblings and is always asking who is going to sleep with him at night (they take turns joining him upstairs).  He doesn't like waiting to pick up Meg and Ellie after school and often yells at Mommy "Drive! Drive!"  Despite this, he insists on going on car rides and cries if he is left home.  Spencer has done great with Sterling.  Sometimes he likes to play "Baby Spencer" but he loves his brother and pets him when he can.  We love our Spencer!!!

Visit to Salt Lake to Meet Baby Eli

Spencer and I spent a quick Labor Day weekend visiting his new cousin Eli in Salt Lake.  The first two days he ignored the baby (Eli is a very good baby that rarely cries).  Then, when he noticed the baby cried and that it was real, he became very excited.  From then on he would hold out his little hands saying "Peas, peas."

Playing with cousin Olivia and the phone camera (Spencer was very shy on this trip and cried when I went anywhere... unless Olivia produced the phone):

Falling asleep at night on the couch (Spencer is not used to sleeping without Grant):

With cousin Cody:

Random Photos

Meg does Spencer's hair.  If only my girls had ever had this mop.

Riding the rides in the park.  I don't usually do videos, but these are funny.  The first is the kids on a ride while Spencer watches.  (He was too little.)  The second is him trying to crawl under the fence to get to them on the ride.

He finally gets a turn riding the train:

Meg's gum in Spencer's hair after she tended him while I took a shower.  I cut it out.  Peanut Butter seemed too time intensive, and he has enough hair to take the loss.

Playing hop scotch with a 1 year old.

Step One:  Draw your hop scotch and then throw your hoppy taw (sp) to begin.

Step Two:  Try to convince your brother not to touch!

Step Three:  Try to jump over your brother while he holds the hoppy taw.

Step Four:  Just keep jumping!!

Step Five:  Ignore the fact that your brother has rolled the Hoppy Taw away.  Again.

Only Child

Recently I ventured to Lowe's to buy supplies for my performance scenery.  Meg and Grant were playing at a friends, and Spencer got to be an only child.  He was especially overjoyed when he was given four paint stirrers, and immediately set to whacking me.

Spencer becomes obsessed with looking at himself on the phone camera....

Why are narcissistic photos of small children so cute?  I don't know.  But they definitely are.

One Year Old Photos

I have pictures of all my children at 1 year old on my wall.  Ellie and Meg have matching dresses at a professional studio.  Grant is on the lawn at the park wearing clothes that clash with his socks... but he is cute and so I picked it anyway.  Today I worked on getting Spencer's photos.  He pretty much rebelled and wanted to eat the camera, but I gave him a bottle to drink and then let him play with the fingernail clippers while I took the pictures.  Fingernail clippers are really cool.  So, now you have to vote on which one I should print out for our wall.....

#1 - Actually this is just a good photo of the fingernail clippers.

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

"Look at this dumb place my mom made me sit..."

Honorable Mention:  "Please let me eat the camera, it looks tasty!"