Jack & Spencer's World

This little man does not want to be awake. Is this the rarely studied 8 week growth spurt?

Jenn: Jack, what color is ducky? Jack: Green. Jenn: No, try again. Jack: Purple. Jenn: Ducky's not purple. What color is it? Jack: Bye bye ducky.

What do you think? Justin Spence

Hanging out at one of the neighborhood playgrounds before it gets super hot. Also Spencer now fits into 3 month clothes. Already packing away things he's outgrown. I think he's trying to catch up with his big brother as fast as possible.

When I went into Jack's room yesterday afternoon after his nap, he had a little surprise for me. First I realized that he wasn't wearing a diaper. Then, Jack says, "yucky diaper" and holds up the diaper that he had so helpfully taken off. Visions of poo covered everything race through my head. I'd like to say it was yucky because it was only wet, but I'm not that lucky. There was poop. Fortunately, not that much. No hazmat team was required for the cleanup. Taking the positive view, maybe Jack is one step closer to potty training. For now, we'll make sure that Jack is wearing pants during naps.

This afternoon, Jack found a penny and a quarter on the walk to and from the ice cream shop. This is exciting stuff for a little guy. He carefully held on to each coin along the way. When we got home, I thought it would be cute to introduce the concept of the piggy bank. I pulled down one given to us when Jack was born and proceeded to put the penny in expecting Jack to enjoy the process and the noise. Well, I was wrong. Jack looked at me as if I'd kicked his cat. He was almost in tears - especially after I convinced him to put the quarter in as well. I'm thinking to myself, "Great Jenn. Jack's first exposure to saving is a painful one - what precedent will this set?". With some quick thinking, I grabbed a few other quarters from Justin's change and gave those to Jack. It saved the day. His mood turned around as he had several items to put into the "money saver" as he called it (seriously - those are his words). Phew - hopefully this is the beg

On Wednesday, July 13th, Justin and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. Remember when we looked like this? What's happened in the last nine years? Well, a few things. Moved twice Discussed where we wanted to live for about a million hours Sold one house and bought two houses together Adopted one of the greatest cats ever (Beacon) and then said a painful, early goodbye Adopted the neediest cat ever (Syd) and a friend for him (Mel) Started six new jobs Bought one car Lived overseas Earned and then (fortunately) lost platinum status with Delta Received one MBA Drank countless bottles of wine Introduced the sport of chair surfing (ask Matt and Dan for details) Made many, many great friends Said goodbye to several loved ones and friends Most importantly, had two wonderful little boys What will the next nine years present? Who knows, but it will definitely be interesting!!

Spencer at 5 weeks.

Justin: Jack, eat some of your sandwich. Jack: no. Hungry. Hungry. Jenn: if you're hungry, eat some of your sandwich. Jack: takes a couple of deep breaths. Looks at the sandwich. Picks it up and reluctantly has a bite.

Jack's first concert at Tavern on the Green in Central Park.

Jack's reading has progressed quite quickly. :-)

Spencer is one month old today! Being born on the first of the month will make remembering his month birthdays even easier. (Today is also Grandma Judy's birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!) In this short time, we've learned a lot of things about you, about us (meaning your mom and dad), and about caring for an infant (these things are not really learned, but remembered - usually as an "oh yeah" kind of moment). 1. You are a cuddler. You love to sleep on someone's chest or in someone's arms. You get completely relaxed and your lips form a perfect little pucker. 2. Diaper rashes suck. Yep, learned this one in the first few days you were home when you screamed every time we changed a diaper. Sorry little man. 3. Newborns make a lot of noise when they sleep. You now sleep in the foyer. Hopefully this arrangement changes soon and you can claim the little crib that is rightfully yours. 4. You hate your carseat. It's hot and it's confining. We get