Jack & Spencer's World

Our family recently visited my family in NC. Along the way, we learned many interesting things about our family and other topics. 1. Our boys are really good (really they're great, but good will suffice for this story). The trip started a bit rough - with a 3+ hour delay at LaGuardia (LGA). If you've never been to LGA, you're not missing much. It's old (though refurbished sometime in the last decade), smelly, crammed with generally disgruntled employees, and has little to offer in terms of entertaining little ones. Regardless of these challenges, Jack and Spence did great. Justin and I took turns with each boy - walking Spence in the stroller (thank you Trenchers for letting us borrow yours!), guiding Jack through the book stores (yes, he left with a set of cars - NYPD to be exact), buying food and water, and keeping Spence from eating whatever he found on the ground and from licking the handrails (yuck, yuck, yuck - at least now we know that Spence's immune syst...

Wow - lots has happened in the last few weeks. Let's start with Mimi and Poppy's visit in mid-March. They came to town the 16th through 18th and had a packed weekend. Friday, we headed to our favorite local Italian restaurant for a great meal. Unfortunately, Spence stayed home as he has decided that his Mariah Carey impersonation is the perfect compliment to any meals - most everyone else agrees that it is, in fact, not complimentary. The highlight of the meal was Jack toasting us with his glass of cranberry juice. The servers kindly poured it into a wine glass for a truly special drink. Jack was beyond thrilled...our parenting skills perhaps sank to a new low - I'd like to think that we are exposing him to the finer things early in life. Saturday was jammed packed as well. Mimi and Poppy accompanied Jack to Kids Club for open play in the morning. He showed off his ever-improving jumping skills and his forward rolls. Later that afternoon, Mimi and Poppy attended War Hor...

I recently posted that Spence is miserable. Yesterday, when tickling him, I finally saw why. He's getting not just his front two teeth, but the two on either side of those teeth. He's getting four teeth at once! That would make anyone miserable. See the chart for what I'm talking about. Spence already has his two lower central incisors. Now, he's getting his upper central and lateral incisors. Good stuff. Maybe once these four come in, he'll stop screaming every time he eats. 

In a word, that describes Spence. His two front teeth are slowly making their way in. I mean slowly. They must be close, because he is an irritable little man. Lots of screaming and crying and generally being fussy. He also wants to be held all the time - by me. It's sweet, but (and I'm sure I'll regret saying this in the future), a bit tiring (to clarify, he wants to be held, but then uses his full strength to push against me or he bites or pinches my shoulders and arms...so, it's not cuddling with a sweet sweet baby). Hoping that these teeth come in soon. The bottom teeth took a good two weeks (probably three) before Spence calmed back down. I really hope the next teeth aren't as tough. I'm assuming that the next teeth will be easier because other teeth will have paved the way. If this assumption turns out to be false, molars are going to be a blast!

I can't believe that it's already been 9 months. This time is flying by. As you may have seen from previous posts, Spence is growing growing growing and picking up all sorts of new skills. It's amazing how quickly he learns new things. Last week, he was starting to pull himself up to standing, but usually needed help to get all the way up to his feet. Well, this week, he's getting up to his feet in his crib, in front of the tv and sofa, on some toys, and his favorite, on my legs. His legs are already so much stronger - I wish I gained muscle like this (of course, if I worked my muscles as much as he does, I probably would...hmm something to think about separately...). Anyway, now he's starting to cruise which is walking along while holding on to something. More surprising, he's reaching for objects that are out of arms length. He's definitely thinking, "ok, how to get there without having to drop to the ground". My bet is that he's walking in ...