New Year Wishes from Our Family

Hi all. Belated Merry Christmas! We hope you had an awesome day (or extended weekend) of family, friends, food and also joy in remembering what Christmas is all about. Also, before the year is out, we want to wish you all a great New Year! We hope this next year for you (and your families - some of whom have been newly increased in size) will be one of growth, challenges, happiness, fun, balance, peace and joy also.

So to all, have a wonderful start to a New Year from the Spencer Three.


(p.s. sorry the picture is a bit blurry... it's hard to control how the picture will come out on a spur of the moment taking and not to mention we're in the picture and are not taking it ourselves... but the picture was also to cute not to show you, even in all its blurriness)

Merry Merry Christmas from the Spencer Three!

For everyone out there (on the world wide web)... Merry Christmas! Here lies our end of the year "letter", "photocard" and "Christmas card". I know everyone loves getting real mail with cute pictures (to line your refrigerator door with), but the time was just not there for us and now we've gone away to visit the family. (Yep, this early. We had to do some Christmas present setup - our present to Ian's grandparents was our old computer, newly cleaned and setup for them and a new internet service. Of course, with all my over planning and expecting the worse, I figured it would take two days at least... but in total, it only took about 4 hours. Oh well, we're here now.)

So... here's 2007 in recap:

January -
E is starting to eat, sleep and poop on more of a schedule. She's just over two months at this point and is sleeping fairly well in the bassinet in our bedroom.
Gilda starts a new part time job from home working for a friend on web templates. Yeah, extra income.

February -
E has her Red Egg and Ginger Party. This is the Chinese baby party to show off the new one and to get showered with love, gifts and food. E slept through half of it and then cried through the other half. We tried to give her a bottle... oohhh BEWARE... she did not like it. This is probably what pushed us to get a nursing cover and feed her wherever and whenever... which she liked much better.
We also discover the magic of the sling. E sleeps in it and we save our poor arms!

We also invest in a BebePod and E loves to sit in it. This means we can eat dinner together at the same time and not have to hold her (because she just doesn't last very long in the clip-on chair)... of course a few months later, she figures this one out and it doesn't last. Too bad.

Lots of new parent learning went on this month.

March -
E is only 4 and half months old and she's sitting up all on her own. She's batting at toys and reaching for things. Not much in the crawling or turning over area though. She also "reads" several books a night with Daddy before going to bed. The bedtime routine is born!
Over Easter, we also take a few family pictures and E has a mini photo shoot. She's SO cute!



April -
E , all bundled up, discovers the swing and Gilda discovers an activity to occupy E for a good 30 minutes. What a sanity saver for those long days when Ian is gone for several hours at school. Just imagine if he had a standard work day... Gilda would go crazy!

May -
E starts doing the army crawl. At first it's only a backwards scoot, then it becomes a slow forward crawl. She's finally moving!
She also has her first "solid" food meal... rice cereal. If you ever want to watch the hour long video of her eating, we have it. You're happy to see the progression of first bite and pushing it out inadvertently to baby scarfing it down and actually closing her mouth. She's a quick learner.
Oh and E is now sleeping in her own crib too, for the whole night (ok, minus the one feeding in the middle of the night, but after that she goes back to her crib) - 12 hours in total! Yippee.


June -
E meets her Great Grandma on her Daddy's Dad's side. It's love at first sight!

One thing we'll always remember from this summer is how much E loves the outdoor. For the next few months, she discovers the joys of swings, slides, sand, grass, sun, trees, bird, other kids... oh, she can't wait for summer to come again!
School ends for the summer and Ian gets a much needed break.



July -
E learns how to drink from a cup via a straw. How did we discover this? Ian and I were sharing a Jamba Juice... she saw, she grabbed, she stuck it in her mouth and got a pleasant surprise, and she wouldn't let go after that. Ah ha, we immediately go out and get a straw zippy cup. This works for a while until she gets her teeth and starts using the straws for teething and not for sipping.
Our family gets a new digital SLR camera which enables us to take lots of beautiful pictures of our beautiful baby girl. Thank You Vivi (and family)!
The whole family stays up late into the night to pick up our copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, including E . She loved staying up (we couldn't get her to go to sleep at the grandparents house before we had to leave) and hanging out with the family. This event also starts the beginning of the "rocky sleep" period.

About a week later, we go to Sea Ranch with the Thompson/Bossert/Spencer side of the family and have a blast going to the beach and hanging out. BUT E sharing a room with us for a long weekend results in her sleeping in our bed for most of the night and ruining her great run of sleeping in her own crib for 12 hours. E also really starts teething at this point. All odds were against us I guess.

August -
E starts learning to drink out of a cup. Ok, she totally still needs us to hold the cup for her, but she tries and wants us to help her. She wants us to be just like her Mommy and Daddy. She also wants to eat what we eat... so Mommy does a lot of "pre-eating" of her food (mainly, I chew up/mash up her food or bite everything she eats into bite-sized pieces). She does love her cheerios though, whether or not Mommy and Daddy eat them.
She is also really starting to crawl around, sit up, pull herself up, play with her toys and generally make a mess. It's fun to watch her discover the world around her. She especially loves looking at herself in the mirror. Does she know it's herself or not??

September -
Our family takes it's first vacation to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Let's just say E loved our trip. She slept in our room with us (we had finally got her back in her crib at night and sleeping through the night, too) but we worked out a way to share a room and get her down in her own crib and asleep. Yeah! She loved the fishes, the sea otters, eating out, the ocean, the birds, the waves, the seals... well, about everything there. We'll have to make this trip an annual one!


October -
E turns ONE! It's an animal party! She didn't really know what was going on - lots of family, some wrapped toy things and lots of food. Hmm... alright. :) At least the rest of the family had fun.

She also dresses up and celebrates her first Halloween (even though this was technically her second Halloween, the first one was spent with the lights off in the front of her apartment and us just beginning to adjust to having our new bundle of joy).

November -
We get the Ergo Baby Carrier. This is a life saver. E is getting heavier and heavier and we're still holding her for naps. Now she sleeps in the carrier. She also can sit on our back and be carried in the carrier and she even likes it. So... walks around town and carting her around the supermarket is easy peasy. Thanks for the tip (and demo) from our friends.
E is toddling around everywhere with her cute crocodile soft shoes while we hold her hands.

She also has mastered getting up and down from our bed, stairs, couches and other things she can climb. Uh Oh, she's climbing? Yep! She can't walk (or won't, on her own yet anyways) but she can climb... even up her baby gate. Oh yes.


December -
Ian hits the halfway point in getting his dissertation outlines done. Woohoo! After all the (in depth) outlines are done, then he'll start on the writing phase. Oh and did we mention he needs to look for jobs, but that won't be until next summer. We expect he'll get done with everything by the summer of 2009.
Gilda is still working from home. This last year has been quite a year of balancing life - spending focused and unhurried time with E , getting time work to make (financial) ends meet and also personal balance. The one thing I've learned and constantly remind myself is that these early years with E will pass by too quickly. Also, I know that I really need more vacations, time with girlfriends and solitude - maybe even more than I need to work (God always does work out those financial details), but not more than sleep, oh no. I definitely don't have the right balance still, but I am trying to figure it out and some days are just bliss, fun and exciting... others I could just use a nice break.
E is really talking a storm these days. She says words here and there and then doesn't again, but she shows that she knows what they mean. She even occasionally signs for more, hot, and eat. She loves to babble. Boy does she like to babble. She'll even "sing" with us or music she hears. She's going to be quite the talker when she grows up. We think she might also be a confident type-A know-what-she-wants little girl. Oh and she's loving to share... food, books, toys with anyone who wants to play with her. How cute!

E's New Do

E got her second ever hair cut today. Now she has "messy" bangs. Do you like?



So actually, I did them this morning. I didn't want them straight across, but I did make a mistake never the less. But I hope I also did a good job of hiding it. And even though it might look a little odd right now (shorter than most people would cut them), that means it doesn't have to be cut again for a while. This is a good thing, as she would either shake her head back and forth really fast or try to grab the scissors with her hand every time I got near her with them. It was hard to distract her and still figure out where and how much to cut.

Oh and it is really nice not having to pick food or boogers out of her hair that used to go right down the front of her face... all the way to her chin. And (yes, one more and) she still has enough hair to be able to pull them back for either pigtails or a clip off to the side. Of course she's also starting to pull out anything we put in her hair. Hehehe, smart girl!

She's a Quick One

This is probably something every parents says when their child learns to crawl and gets really proficient at it. But really, E is really fast. Here's a really super cute "slideshow" of E blazing across the room to climb on top of me (who was sitting, but ended up lying down on the floor in order to keep her far enough away from the camera to still get these funny pictures), all to give me a hug! :)

Stander, Climber (and Wii player)

Here's some long overdue pictures.

First, E climbing onto things. Now that she can stand all on her own, she is trying to climb up onto things - the bed, the couch, her toys!, the baby gate!! She can get up to a standing position and sit down all by herself, so I guess she figures she'll try getting even higher. Does this mean she'll be walking soon? ... Maybe... and Maybe not. She's actually been standing without help for 2 weeks and can cruise (while holding onto furniture) quite well, but does not like let go of our hands if we're walking with her. And we've been finding her climbing up things that she shouldn't (like the baby gate, we think she was trying to make a break for it) or we find her having climbed into things (like her box of blocks) and their wimpering for help to get out. Hehehe, at least she's not walking... that's something that shouldn't be rushed, because most likely she'll just get into trouble even faster if she was walking!





Second, here's E enjoying some Wii fun. Actually the console isn't even on, she's just "playing" (and eating) the remote. She's trying to be like us!



E continues to amaze us with her copying what we say, shaking her head "No" to every question we ask her (whether she actually wants to say "No" or wants to say "Yes") and going to look for something and even being able to get them when we say "Where's ...?" It's very cute!

An early Christmas present

I bought an early Christmas present... for myself... "paid" for by my parents (well, I know they're giving me money, so I pre-spent it). What did I get?? A Wii!!

I know that they are supposed to be so hard to get... but I got mine fairly easily and at regular retail price too from a retail store. More on that adventure later.

First, let me just say that usually for my birthday or for Christmas I get money or something open ended like that from my parents. Don't get me wrong, money is great and very versatile. But usually the money, checks, etc... get put into our checking account for when I might want something. And then, usually what ends up happening is that I never get around to choosing something or I can't bring myself to spend money or something that might not be worth it... so guess where it goes?? It gets used to pay bills, buy cleaning supplies or other household necessities, or things for us all (like food). That's not bad... I mean, it's nice to have a little money to fund our Netflix's account or go out to eat every once in a while, whereas maybe we'd be too over our budget to do any of these fun things... but it's not much of a present personally for me.

So going back about 7 months when we were looking at getting a present for my oldest sister... She wanted DDR for her birthday. Well we could't afford the game and she didn't yet have a console... so we decided we'd buy her the pad (a little cheaper than the game itself). I asked her if she wanted a Wii, because I think they look fun and I don't think she's much of a gamer. She said adamantly that she didnt' want a Wii. Hmm... odd I thought, but then I think that's only because I wanted a Wii.

Fast forward to this last week. I'm been thinking about the Wii. I added it to my Amazon Wishlist, not expecting anyone to get it for me, but just to looking for everything and anything that I might possibly ever want to pad my wishlist and make it look not so boring or sparse. So I added the console and a few games. No biggie. Then on Wednesday, E was getting so fussy being at home. It was so sunny and nice outside that I thought, hmm... let's go for a walk. She was way into that. We went across the street to the U-mall (a small outdoor stip mall) that has a Gottschalk, a Game Stop, Starbucks, Ritz...etc. We popped our heads into all the non food stores and just poked around. While in Game Stop I just randomly asked if they had Wiis in stock... they said they did, just 1! Somehow it had got overlooked in their computer system and was just sitting there. That was when I first though, hmm... maybe they're not so hard to get... and hmm.. maybe I really do want one.

So I called my mom, to see what she was planning to give me/us for Christmas. It was going to be money. Check one! Then I called Ian to see what he thought about getting a Wii. He said he'd be fine with it. (Personally, he'd get a X-box 360, but then I'd probably never play.. because I get motion sickness with first person shooters or really any first person moving in 3D space type games.) Check two! Then I ran into a couple people just lounging outside with E and got a talking. Twenty minutes I went back to the store to see if the Wii was still there. Nope. Someone had snatched it up. Oh well, too bad. But then the guy behind the counter said that they get regular shipments (most on Fridays) about weekly of a few Wiis. That day it was three.

Well then I went home and thought.. hmm.. well I guess I might try again to call or stop by and see if any are there. If I don't get one, oh well... if I do, that'd be great. And it was a reason to get out of the apartment and take E for a walk (while we still can and it's still not rainy). So Thursday I called, the store said they were expecting a shipment on Friday of some number unknown. They also said it usually comes around X time. I said ok and hung up.

Then on Friday, I called at about 10 seeing if the shipment had come in. They said no, but that they still expected it at X time. E and I wandered around our apartment complex, talking to other Mommy and kids, going to visit the apartment office and then went across the street at just before 11am. We went to Game Stop, stepped over the threshold, noticed a small gathering of mostly adults (probably all but one being parents) in the store - which I consider to be a non usual group of people to be found at the Game Stop at 11 am in the morning, asked about a Wii and was then given a card with the number 9 on it. I was thinking "Huh, what's this?". The guy behind the counter said "You're the last." I was still thinking "Huh" and I must of showed it on my face because he contined by saying "We're expecting 9 Wiis today in the shipment and if they all come in as expected, you'll get the last one." Wow, (1) I guess I didn't expect a line. Some of the people there had actually been waiting when the store opened, CRAZY! (2) I didn't expect if there was to be a line for me to get one, as I had just shown up at 11 and supposedly the shipment was to arrive around then or shortly thereafter. So E and I took our number, looked at stuff in the store, talked with other Wii waiters... and waited... and waited... and waited.

Well, to make this already longish story shorter... UPS came a little later than anticipated. But I only had to wait about an hour and a half (and I'm pretty sure I could have left, done shopping, eated lunch or even when home and came back if I knew how long the wait was going to be) before getting a Wii. And that's the end of the story... or is it?

Unlike some of the other people in the store, notably the parents who were buying it for their kids Christmas presents (one who actually got so much stuff with the console he had to make two trips to his car), we only got the console. So maybe this weekend we'll look around... Fry's, Costco, etc... and maybe we'll get a game or two... or maybe just some Wii points so we can "buy" some old school Nintendo titles. Or maybe we'll borrow and swap with friends who already have a Wii. The possibilities are endless. Oh and I've already gotten a little bit of exercise flailing my arms and bouncing around our living room trying to get the hang of the Wii sports games. :) And Ian and I had a "date" while E slept and bowled 10 frames. (I did dismally and Ian totally ruled the lane!)

Can I just say... I'm excited about the Wii! It's my first console ever! (Heck, I think it's the first console anyone in my family has ever owned. We've always just played at other people's houses on other people's systems.)

Tired Rumble Tumble

Oh, one thing happened on Thanksgiving that I forgot to mention. First I should tell you that E has been "mastering" the ups and downs of climbing stairs.

So, when we were at my sister's town house (which has fourish flights of stairs.. broken up with two landings) E was having a field day going up and down, up and down, and up. Though of course when she's tired, she tends to get wobbly. Most often noticed in the early morning or later at night before bedtime wen she tries to reach for a toy and just "Plop" falls over and then starts crying. Silly girl.

Anyways, back to our story, so on Thanksgiving night, after the dinner.. after the games.. after the non family diners had left... we were all standing around watching E's stair climbing skills. I was sitting right next to her... but in slow motion I saw her tip sideways (of course the side that was down the stairs) and then... boop, boom, plop, blop. She had tumbled down four stairs and landed on the non carpeted landing. Of course we all went "AUHHH" and came running over.. and E started crying. She didn't hit her head or anything, more just tumbled down the carpeted stairs and was really crying because of our reaction, not so much the fall. Poor girl!

I won't kid anyone, this stuff happens to all kids. And I'm not ashamed that it happened and tell everyone about it, but of course I won't be letting her climb the stairs again at night or without extra reinforcements at the bottom of the stairs... BUT one thing is she's ok. (no concussion or lasting effects) And surprisingly, she still loves to climb stairs. Go figure!