Look Who's Walking

For the past two weeks now Spencer has surprised us by taking off on his own, letting go of our hands and walking by himself. It is still odd to see him wobbling around the apartment, but he is so pleased with this new freedom, and we are happy to give our backs a break!

More noise games with Spencer

Piano

I have loved listening to Daniel play the piano the last two months now that we have one in our home. My sister Nancy was so kind to let us borrow it and my parents managed to fit it in their van when they came out to visit us (that's where a digital one comes in really handy--it's not nearly as big and bulky, but, alas, it does provide one more cord for Spencer to play with). I've sometimes been concerned that Daniel doesn't sit back and relax enough, but now that he has a piano so accessible, he often takes a break to play. And now I can relax knowing he's relaxing.

Of course Spencer has to give it a try as well.

Toy Box

Spencer has discovered some fun new toys that happen to be right at his height. He would stay entertained for at least half an hour so it was hard to get too upset. We finally removed the "toys," however, but he still loves playing with the drawers, even though he has shut his fingers in a few times :(

Cousins

I had wanted to post another entry about my trip to Iowa, and now a whole month has passed since we got back. Part of my excuse is that I couldn't get the video to upload (the one I told you about, Amy) but here are at least a few pictures capturing a conversation between Spencer and his cousin Annabelle. For the most part they got along really well and Annabelle would make the sign for "baby" and point to Spencer whenever he was around, or to ask where he was if he was taking a nap. It was fun to see them play together, even with a few quibbles now and then, as seen below.

S: "Hey, Annabelle, can I try on your hat?"

A: "No way! Boys can't wear girls' hats. Everyone knows that!"

S: "Sheesh. Daddy was right. Girls ARE complicated."

A New Stage

For about a month now Spencer has been enjoying the thrill of standing and walking, with a little help from us. He has figured out how to grab our hands and then will steer us around to wherever he wants to go, though we sometimes have to steer him elsewhere when he's heading for trouble. This has opened up a little more freedom for us by letting him play in new places, such as at his changing table pictured below, which entertains him for longer periods of time. He certainly is one determined boy, and eager to check out EVERYTHING around him. He's still doing a great army crawl and I almost doubt that he'll even get to the traditional crawl before he's walking. He seems pretty content with his little crawl and it hasn't changed much in the last month. Daniel and I will both be pleased when we no longer have to lean over so much, but we're enjoying watching Spencer discover how to do so many new things.

Road Trip

I had a crazy little idea a few weeks ago and decided to stop ignoring it and give it a try, and it actually worked! My parents and Emily were coming out for a visit here in Utah, but I was sad that I wouldn't be able to see my cute nieces back in Iowa. I just didn't want them to grow up too soon without seeing them again! So, I looked at plane tickets, found a great price for a one-way ticket from Chicago to Salt Lake, and then asked my dad if I could bum a ride with them back to Iowa when they returned. Grandma and Grandpa were more than happy to have a few more days with Spencer, though it came at a pretty high price. Spencer has never really liked being strapped down in a car seat, so 20 hours in it was not an easy task. We made the trip in two days, with a few extra stops along the way. Thank you, Mom, Dad and Emily, for being so tolerant of a frustrated, and fussy, 8-month-old! Thank you, Amy and Ben, for letting me stay with you, for sharing your food, for squeezing me in for a dental appointment, and helping me with Spencer. Thank you, Annabelle, for sharing your booster seat, your towel, your bathtub and wash cloths. Thank you, Katie, for playing with me outside and for planning a great karaoke party. Thank you, Nancy, Evangelina, and Elizabeth for coming over to see us and for the ever-so-sweet church outfit for Spencer. And thank you, Daniel, for be willing to be alone for a whole week without us. Boy were we glad to see you again!!!

We made it to Nebraska before stopping for the night. Isn't the sky beautiful?

Grandpa let Spencer have a turn at the wheel.

You look beautiful, Amy!

Annabelle is just too cute.

Apparently the humidity has been pretty mild in Iowa, but when I pulled out my camera at the park one evening, the lens fogged right up! That was about as humid as it got the whole time I was there.

Katie helped me make a cake for our karaoke party (Amy wrote more about that on her blog entry). She was such a good helper in the kitchen.

Nancy's helping Spencer do some karaoke!

I bought this little toy laptop at a Wal-Mart in Nebraska to help entertain Spencer while in his car seat (and because it reminded me of Daniel). It turned out to be a great hit with Katie and Annabelle as well.

Spencer and I stayed at Gramma's the last two nights. This little "play pen" worked pretty well, for about 5 mintues.

Evangelina sure knew how to get Spencer to laugh!

Sorry to catch you crying, Spencer, but the rest of us were so happy to be together!