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Wednesday, June 29, 2005

we're back!

Well, we're not all back quite yet, but tomorrow things should settle down - at least for one week until travel picks up again. Tonight was the first time since the previous post that Spencer took a bath back in his own tub. We've had a whirlwind of a month, with visits from Jim's grandpa and mom, house guests which included Karl and my dad, an opportunity to catch up with Stacie during a brief trip back to the states from London, and our family vacation to Cancun with Spencer. What finally prompted Jim's grandpa to fly to TX was to make a trip to Lubbock to visit the Silent Wings Museum which was opened a couple years ago to commemorate pilots who flew gliders during the war. Here are pictures from the museum visit. We have also created a separate album for miscellaneous June pictures, including many from Stacie's visit with her daughter Kate (two months younger than Spencer) and a couple of Karl and pop. We did take pop to Splashtown with us, but no pics from that trip. And, most recently we have returned from five days in Cancun with Spencer. I'm not sure it is all that 'relaxing' to vacation with your toddler, but we had great fun introducing him to the beach and the ocean. And I am happy to report that we had great weather every day (it poured the morning we left) and no one got any sunburns. Here are (a lot of) pictures from our vacation to Cancun. I have to confess, there was nothing cuter than Spencer saying "Hola!" to the folks down there! And the women at Baby Club where he spent a few hours one day were pleased that he knew to ask for "agua!" He was a great flyer (fingers crossed he does well when I fly solo with him to NY next month) but chasing Spencer around a resort for a few days has left Jim and I wanting our own vacation. Plus, both of us used our leisure reading time to read Jim's required books for business school. The two I read I found absolutely fascinating: "Sam Walton, Made in America" and "Nuts!" which tells the story of Southwest Airlines' success. With the Rice MBA program kicking off in July, I think our getaway will have to wait until a break in courses at the end of the year.

Friday, June 10, 2005

He's a big boy, still

The nurse and the doctor were quite pleased at Spencer's 18 month visit yesterday. He continues to grow exactly along the 80% curve for both height and weight - a little over 33 inches and a little over 28 pounds. They were very impressed at his developmental milestones, as Spencer rattled off shapes and colors and counted a little bit. (He still starts his counting at "two!") It's been obvious how signing with him early on has helped to build the impressive vocabulary he has today. Earlier this week I gave a promotional talk about Baby Signs® Programs to a new moms support group at the hospital where Spencer was born. They were so excited to get started, and I expect that many will show up at the next scheduled workshop for parents. Another woman called out of the blue to sign up for the workshop and it turns out that she lives in an adjacent subvision, so it was easier for me to drop the kit off at her house instead of bringing it to the Post Office! She was delighted, and couldn't wait to get started!

Thursday, June 09, 2005

So far, so good

Things started off smoothly this morning - I gave Spencer his choice of cups BEFORE I poured his milk at breakfast. (He chose pink today.) Everyone here seems to be healthy for the first time in nearly a week. This afternoon is Spencer's 18 month check up and he is not due for any shots - hooray! He is totally wise to the doctor's office and rarely lets his guard down anyhow. He is adjusting well at his new school and we are so thrilled and we sleep much better now. Unfortunately, although he naps well at school, Spencer has decided to NOT sleep better these past several nights. We are perplexed, as his routine is unchanged.

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

opinions

Spencer had a near meltdown this morning when I poured his milk for breakfast. Apparently he wanted the orange cup, not the purple one I had selected for him. He began to cry. "Orange! Orange! Orange!" Good grief.

I did indeed get horribly sick to my stomach just a few hours after the Monday post. The lunch I just finished was my first meal in the last 48 hours.

Monday, June 06, 2005

weekend wrap up

Man, I do need to blog more often. Friday evening was lovely as Spencer gave me big (& loud!) unsolicited kiss while getting into his PJ's. But later at night as Jim and I were heading to bed, Spencer began sobbing and through the tears we heard "all done!" We knew something wasn't right, and as soon as we opened the door we smelled the puke. Poor guy got another bath, and we stayed up another few hours with him while he continued to puke. Not fun. By 8:00am Saturday he was back to his chipper self and we headed off to our first play class together at the YMCA which he LOVED. Jim was able to buy wood for one last play room project (not sure what it will be, as it has morphed from a bookshelf, to a bench, to a window seat to built-in bookshelfs plus a seat!)

Saturday night we went to Rice to socialize with MBA classmates. It's exciting and becoming very real! We met some new folks who will be part of Jim's class of 2007, and connected with a few HP people who have now hit the halfway point towards their date in 2006. We stopped off for a quick beer to celebrate Todd's 30th b-day. It felt so great to be out socializing like an adult for the evening!

Spencer and I had a fabulous afternoon meeting up with friends at Splashtown yesterday, but things had taken a turn south for Jim. While Spencer was ill for less than 12 hours, the bug managed to take Jim down for the count. Why do we ALWAYS get it 10x worse than him? I'm still feeling ok, but so far the pattern usually flows Spencer --> Jim --> me. So I'm just enjoying my time of feeling healthly. I can't deal with another two weeks of feeling horrible like last time. That was just too awful.

Today is Spencer's first full day at his new school. We went three times last week for about an hour each time, so the environment is hopefully familiar to him. I have had my fingers crossed that the sprinkles we drove through on the way there will not keep the kids from water play, as Spencer was super-excited (albeit a bit confused) to put on his suit first thing in the morning. He was unhappy when I left this morning, and I'm hoping that when I call to check in later today they will tell me he has been having a wonderful time.

Friday, June 03, 2005

Good Friday

Today is a good day. 1) It's Friday. 2) Fridge is full of groceries. 3) A major project launch at work this week was tremendously successful. 4) Still excited that Jim will be getting Rice MBA. 5) Spencer is about to wrap up his final day at current school before moving to a new school on Monday. 6) We're planning to go to Splashtown one day this weekend. 7) Making plans to go to Montauk during next month's trip to NY. 8) Already booked a vacation to Cancun!