Holiday Weekend

Things are very busy with a toddler. And the long weekend was all about him. We did get to have a great lunch with Audra on Saturday. We haven't seen each other since August of last year - Spencer wasn't even crawling yet! It was great to see her looking so great, and meet her beau and enjoy a yummy lunch at Lupe Tortilla.

We went back to Splashtown, Spencer's new favorite place. He is among the youngest children playing in the pools, but that didn't stop him from climbing way up the dolphin slide and going down headfirst! After I picked him up from his submerged state at bottom, he was very quick to say and sign "MORE!" Speaking of signing, I have four more signing classes officially scheduled through the summer. How exciting!

Save the Date - May 12, 2007

Two years from now, Jim will be receiving his Masters in Business Administration from Rice University! We'll be a two-owl family. It's been a stressful spring here in the Leach household while Jim busied himself with the application process, taking the GMAT and getting pre-reqs taken care of. But it paid off when the letters arrived announcing his acceptance for admission. I'm so proud of my sweetie for all of his hard work to date. We know there is a very tough road ahead for the next 22 months, but we think we're ready!

Algeria, Bulgaria, Cambodia

"Here Come the ABC's" arrived today (pretty darn quick for free shipping!) and the Alphabet of Nations is one of my favorites so far, along with E Eats Everything. Spencer likes the scat feel on Rolling O, and often says "yeah!" and claps during the songs, and says and signs "more!" inbetween tracks! Very fun!

Over the weekend we went to Splashtown for the first time. Man was it awesome! Spencer and I spent hours hanging out at Crocodile Isle. After a few trips down the slides with me, he enjoyed going on them alone (although he did squeal like a girl a few times!) The afternoon there wiped him out COMPLETELY! He crashed for a late afternoon nap in the car ride home, and woke up on the way to dinner. He simply sat at the table with us with eyes half open, and mostly too tired to even eat. It was very pathetic. But I can't wait to go back with him again!

Sunday was an indoor (AC!) day at the Children's Museum catching up with Tracy and almost 1 year-old Aurelie. But, before that trip, we enjoyed some more swimming (or as Spencer says "mimming") in the morning in the new pool I picked up at CostCo. He simply outgrew the infant pool which was so perfect for him last summer. :(

Friday

Today Spencer got to experience Tot Shabbat at the JCC. We practiced singing "Shabbat Shalom" in the car on the way down, and he thought it was pretty fun when we got there to discover that other people knew that song too! We enjoyed seeing Alicia and George and their daughter Sophia, who is just a week older than Spencer. And 17 month-old Seth's mom was so proud to show that he had learned the sign for moon - one of the few signs I had taught during a promotional talk for some moms and toddlers last week. Spencer had so much fun playing with the kids, and sat captivated when we lit candles. He had three (maybe four?) pieces of challah, and was still sitting at the table long after everyone else had returned to play!

Pics have been posted to a new May album which include some backyard fun from last night, Tot Shabbat at the JCC, and Open Gym at the YMCA this evening.

mutli-media

I finally broke down and ordered the latest versions of the Baby Bargains and Toddler Bargains books from Amazon today. I needed to add a few dollars to qualify for free shipping, and splurged on a They Might Be Giants CD for Spencer that I've been wanting to get since I heard about its release in February of this year. Listening to their music always puts me in such a happy place. I rarely go to concerts, just not a huge fan, but I have terrific memories seeing them perform at Rice during my freshment year when "Flood " had recently been released, and a few years after graduation when they did a show at Numbers. I have no doubt that their newest children's album will stir up that same sense of happiness for Spencer. "Here come the ABCs" has twenty-six tracks (of course!) including titles like "The Vowel Family," "Letter/Not a Letter," and "Who Put the Alphabet in Alphabetical Order?" How fun! Spencer already knows several letters, and is THRILLED when he sees one he knows on a street sign. He enjoys when we sing the alphabet, and I hope he enjoys this new CD about letters as much as I think I will!

tiiiiired

Man, I haven't been this beat (when feeling healthy!) in a long time. We were on the go all weekend, spending much of it outdoors. Saturday morning we left to spend some time at a nearby playground, then down to the Art Car Parade. We ran into Katie, which was ironic because the last time we were there was when she and Audra and I were actually in the parade in 2002. Spencer was not quite sure what to make of the whole event. He recognized tons of objects/animals, but was visibly confused by the size/shape of many of them. Such as a larger-than-life mouse car, upside down cars, and flowers driving down the street. Here are pictures from this weekend's parade. After spending time in the heat, we enjoyed some AC at Joel & Julie's who graciously allowed us to park in their driveway, just a block away from the parade route. Then headed over to a bbq at Pete's (the only other Carleton grad I have ever known besides my sister, who then became a classmate of Katie at UH Law) with the rest of Jim's hockey buddies and their wives and kiddos. Spencer's eyes were practically closing on him as he played in the sandbox, so we said our goodbyes early and headed home. We promised, as we always do, to make dinner plans with some of his teammates and I really hope we can follow through. We have such a good time hanging out together at the parties, but those only happen a few times a year.

Today we discovered that Spencer seems to have outgrown his kiddie pool from last summer. It was still fun for him to sit and and play around, but he could rest his head on one of the inflatable walls and his feet on opposite side! After drying off, and a brief nap (Spencer only) we all went to a MBA graduation party/first birthday party for one of Jim's co-workers (and his son.) Spencer had a BLAST playing with someone else's toys for a few hours in the afternoon! And we caught up with Aunt Ronnee for dinner, who showered him with toys and books and clothes.

Now I'm beat. Finally relaxing on the couch, while asparagus soup is simmering on the stove. (This is the recipe mom made in NY that Spencer though was so delicious.) Just one last step to puree it, and then maybe an hour or so of relaxation before bed, and then the week starts all over again...

"Bobin"

That's how Spencer says his name. We're not sure how that came about, because most of his vocabulary is pretty understandable, but he is quite sure that his name is pronounced "Bobin." I point at Jim and ask "who is that?" and he says "daddy!" Then I point at myself and ask "who am I?" and he says "mom!" But when I point at him and ask "who is that?" and he says "Bobin!" Hmmmm. Maybe they have a nickname for him at school we don't know about??

Do the Hokey Pokey

Spencer thinks the hokey pokey is pretty fun. His favorite part is turning himself around and he usually makes a couple of spins. I try hard not to laugh at his attempts to stand on one leg while shaking the other one. Today Hokey Pokey Elmo arrived from grandma. He sings, he dances, he spins around, and then declares "whew - Elmo's pooped!" Spencer was not totally sure what to think, but I'm glad to have someone else help sing the song!

Mother's Day

We are all finally feeling a bit better around the house. Yesterday, after a nice treat of Spencer sleeping until 9:00 in the morning (!) I took the boy to the Downtown Aquarium for an afternoon outing. I wrestled with taking the stroller or not, and finally decided that it would be worse to need it and be without it, than to juggle Spencer and the stroller, which turned out to be just fine. The weather was terrible, but the place was packed. I'm looking forward to going back so we can ride the train into the shark tunnel and play in the fountain. Here are some pictures at the Aquarium, with comments, from our day.

sick sick sick

Two weeks ago, Jim and Spencer went to doctors for feeling poorly. That was the day before we left for NY. Spencer was better within 24 hours, as usual, but Jim was in pretty bad shape. By middle of last week I was feeling so crummy that I had to go see a doctor in NY. Sinus problems gave way to a dry cough that has kept me awake for the last six nights. Jim has only been marginally better, fighting a sore throat and cough as well. Yesterday I finally went to the doctor, who prescribed cough medicine, which was also to help me sleep. But, I have been nauseas and throwing up since I opened my eyes this morning which the doctor concluded as an unfortunate (but not uncommon) reaction to the medicine. I just want everyone in our family to feel better!

back in tx

I am completely exhausted right now. Spencer was an ace on the plane ride home, but I am still wiped out. He was so sad to say goodbye to "mama" (poor guy got upset every time she went into another room!) and I know she was equally sad too.

The week ended at the same pace it had gone on since we arrived. More visits with friends: back to Penny's and across the street to his little girlfriend Emiliana, and family: lunch and a playdate with pop, and visit from cousin Carol and Bob from Philly, and of course more time with Spencer's great-grandma. I got a great picture of her reading to him that has been added to the album from our trip this Passover. During that visit we also discovered that Spencer loves asparagus soup. As he drank it from a cup, he annouced "MMMMM" in between each mouthful.

I have been sick as a dog, and have no idea how I will make it back to work tomorrow. Although I'm looking forward to a bit of a rest when Spencer goes back to school tomorrow, I will definitely miss the litte guy more having had him by my side practically 24x7 for the last ten days!