spencer is 7 months old

i took you to the doctor's for your 7-month well-check appointment. you weigh 15.11 and are 27 1/4 in long. you're long and skinny. you loved to kick around on the table and crinkle the paper. there's also a wallpaper border of kids that you lunge for. it was a great appointment. dr. aj was impressed with how well you sit up and stay balanced. you don't spit up nearly as much or as often so we no longer have to give you zantac! you had been on it since you were about a month old and for a stint there you weren't gaining a whole lot of weight so i was worried there was something more serious wrong with you. back to the appointment . . . you got 2 shots and really bawled for one of them. you usually do so well, that novice of a nurse must have poked you in a bad spot. we go back in a month and then not again until you're 1! wow, you're going to be 1!

your top two teeth are coming in--you got your bottom two around 5 months. they are big and while i'm happy to see you getting teeth and getting bigger it makes me sad to think i won't see that top gum of yours when you smile. i loved that. like i said, you sit up well on your own and you love to play with toys--so much more than your sister did. she would get into everything and you're happy with your soft baby's bear/bottle, your keys, and taggies blanket. you LOVE to jump in your jumperoo (i want to get you one for the doorway that isn't so big). you laugh and smile and jump forever.

yesterday i sat you up in your crib and you must have thought it was the greatest thing with the way you were smiling and laughing. you grabbed the rail, played with toys, and even tried to pull up. we should probably lower your mattress since we haven't had to do that yet.

you're so easy to love!

typical day

i forget what my days were like when riley was an infant. i only remember those mornings where she got up at 4am and was ready to get her day started. or when she'd be up at 7 then we would take our morning nap from 8:30 to 11:30 while she lay on my chest on the couch. everything else is a blur.

now, i sleep until i hear spencer make noise. i go into her room and see her perched up with her arms and that sweet happy face smiling back at me. it's 7am, i'm exhausted but i come to life as soon as i see her. "good morning, sweetheart." i don't even change her. she freaks if i try to change her and i really don't want riley getting up at this point. riley wakes usually a bit before 8. i remember thinking she would never sleep later than 6. so now, we're all up. riley needs her orange juice asap and so do i. after some time watching oswald or franklin, we turn off the tv and make oatmeal. riley eats oatmeal 5 out of 7 days a week. spencer watches from her exersaucer. riley pulls her "stoo" up to the counter and pours the oatmeal and milk into a bowl. it's always too hot when it comes out of the micro so we sing that new edition song "you've got to cool it down . .. oooo watch out. you're gonna lose control." i add an ice cube. she was sitting in her highchair but i'm thinking she's too old for it. eating at the big girls table is a real challenge, but we do it because i think she needs to learn. mike disagrees.

after breakfast we all play until spencer's nap around 9:45. riley and i either watch sesame street or play in the basement with the cards (a plastic bin of cards people gave us for one of the girls' births, riley's baptism, christmas, riley's 1st and 2nd birthdays, anniversary card for mike, etc). basically, i try to keep things quiet so spencer doesn't wake up. she only sleeps until about 10:45 now so then we go up, play more, change diapers, get dressed, spencer eats oatmeal and fruit. i make riley's lunch. riley's down at 12:30 thought it's been slipping to 12:45 and spencer's back down at 1. riley's up around 2:30, spencer sometimes not until 3:30.

daddy's home! i prep dinner, we all play in the basement. the basement is mike and riley's domain. they could stay down there for hours. we eat. bathtime, i get spencer ready for bed around 6:50. i typically exit spencer's room and see mike and riley watching something like edward scissorhands, ghostbusters. we get riley ready for bed and read from about 7:30 to 7:50. lights out. "tell me about ratatoille." "tell me about frankenstein and randy." it's a new tradition that i spin a yarn before bed. usually the same one with slight variations of where ratatoille lives and what he eats. (for a while it was about riley and frankenstein playing at the park and swimming.) hopefully she's sleeping by 8. that's it. wow, doesn't seem that eventful to think about it but typing it out makes it out to be a busy day.

caramel cheese

this is riley's special creation. i have no idea where she got it from, but this is what she makes in her kitchen. it sounds totally awful. seems everyone wants to the reciple though . . .edward scissorhands, barney, ernie. we call people from her kitchen phone and share the recipe. she also makes mac n' cheese and serves up orange juice.

for christmas this year, my parents got her a step 2 country kitchen with cordless phone, burners that sizzle and boil, and a microwave that pops popcorn. when she first got it she would press the button on the microwave that made the low humming noise and she would imitate it with a smile. of course it came with a gazillion utensils, pots and pans, spices, a pepper mill, and hot pads.

"will you cook with me?"