yeah, it's worth it

This weekend our big activity (after baking some granola) was checking out the annual Ballunar Liftoff Festival at NASA. Spencer and I drove down on Saturday afternoon and he had fun on carnival games (slides and jumping!) before we met up with one of his favorite pals, Landon. We staked out a spot at the edge of the field and had a great view of everything in the sky: parachuters, power parachuters, formation flyers, and, of course, balloons. Unfortunately, throughout the afternoon and evening Spencer spent a decent portion of the time with his hands on his ears. He seems to be so sensitive to low, loud noises. And balloons are noisy. After sunset was the much-anticipated balloon glow, and we were sitting right next to the feature balloon: Airabelle the cow. The whole glow event was simply amazing. Afterwards Jim met us at our hotel near NASA, so we could go back to the field bright and early in the morning to check out the competitve part of the festival. Here are our pictures from the weekend.

When we left, things were starting to go downhill for Spencer. He usually sleeps about 14 hours a day: 11 1/2 - 12 hours overnight and a 2 - 2 1/2 hour nap . But Saturday he fought his nap and never went down. And between staying up late for the nighttime events and getting up early again on Sunday he only racked up about nine hours over night. So, by ten in the morning, he had been up for a while already, several hours short of sleep, and severe crankiness set in. He perked up when we stopped at Central Market on the way home, but fought his nap again for nearly an hour before giving in for just a one hour nap. After Spencer's (early) bath we were all relaxing on the bed together putting on his PJ's and he turned to Jim and announced "I like you." Then he turned to me and said "I like you too mommy." He continued, "you're my friend daddy!" Awwww. It really does erase the memory of the frustrations dealing with a cranky 2 1/2 year old all day, and makes being a parent so worth it.

"that makes sense"

Earlier this week I was having lunch with a friend and recounted the funniest moment from our trip to Pittsburgh. Even though we earned an extra hour moving from Central to Eastern time, we were still back at the hotel by 8:00pm each night to give Spencer a bath and put him to bed. His portable crib was in the same room with us, so Jim and I had some quiet reading time while he was falling asleep. Or, at least that was the plan. Spencer was so thrilled to have a captive audience and talked to us for quite a while.

"mommy, are you wearing your pj's?"
"daddy, is your light on?"
"this is a different crib with teddy bear sheets."

Eventually that gave way to talking to his bedtime buddies"

"puppy, would you like to do a somersault?"
"come here lion, i will cover you."

And finally he was down to talking out loud to himself, and it was this conversation which brought tears to mine and Jim's eyes as we quietly laughed so hard.

"we are in pittsburgh now."
"soon we will go back to houston."
"houston is very far away."
"we should take an airplane to get there."
"that makes sense."

back in Houston

After the last post I spent the next three nights in Houston, then three nights in Boise, then three nights in Houston, then three nights in Pittsburgh, and the last three nights have been back in Houston again. Whew. I am SO thankful that we returned from Pittsburgh just hours before the new security restrictions went into effect. Ugh. That would not have been fun with Spencer in tow. It was bad enough that our final flight home was delayed 1:15, but we just took our time, watched a video in the gate area, had some ice cream, and rode the people mover back and forth a zillion times.

Our trip to Pittsburgh to see Jim's mom was a great one. We brought Spencer to the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh and the Phipps Conservatory which were both awesome. I have some grand ideas to frame some of the botanical prints, we'll see if that comes to fruition. Every afternoon we spent time at "the park" - a swingset and pool in his mom's backyard. Spencer was able to visit with his grandma and great grandpa, and had an absolute blast playing around with his uncle Robb and with Tara's girls Devon, Paige and "baby Emma." It was really cute to see them all play so well together. He was also excited to meet friends Karen and Jack who taught him more signs during our bbq - including hamburger, hot dog, and most importantly, chocolate cake!

Here are pics from the trip. (The album is quite long, and includes many plant pics w/o people.)

potty talk

Just when I was going to blog I thought we had turned the corner on potty training, Spencer had two accidents yesterday. He only had one all of last week, and it was during naptime (yes, we are diaper-less for naps now - scary.) And then two in one day. Sigh. I don't think 'turned the corner' is even the right term, as this is a gradual process, but after two and a half months we have certainly come around the bend. Over the weekend he started announcing in advance that he needed to use the potty, without us having to constantly ask him. And another big plus was learning to pee standing up! Whoo hoo! I am hoping this will make it easier in public too.

On the subject of pee and poop and potties, I am completed addicted to the new show Dirty Jobs. I think I've seen five episodes (read: fifteen icky jobs) in the past 24 hours, during which I have never been so thankful there is no smell on television, or laughed so hard as Mike tries to crack jokes with folks who sometimes don't find humor in the situtation. Like asking the ancient Maryland crab fisherman about using chicken necks as bait, "don't those crabs wonder what a land-walking creature like a chicken is doing under the sea?" And received the flat response, "oh no, those crabs have never seen a chicken before." Or watching him try to keep a straight face as the young exterminator in Louisiana explains the natural balance of religion and nature and pests as he proudly holds up a huge dead mouse snapped in a trap.

curse the automatic flushing potties!

(Knock on wood) we're doing pretty well using the potty, but we have had some inssues when out in public. While Spencer initially thought it was great fun to use different potties, and he was intrigued with the ones that flush automatically, but a few too many flushed while he was still sitting on them. Now we've reached the point where he is absolutely terrified to use a potty in public when he doesn't see a handle for flushing. He litterally screams and cries and absolutely refuses to pee. Yesterday afternoon he held it for for two and a half hours until we returned home! While I was impressed at his ability to do that, this is not good.

water, water everywhere

A few months ago Spencer became fixated on fire hydrants. And suddenly, he noticed them EVERYWHERE as we drove around and pointed out every one in sight. He is still not entirely clear as to what they do - first he told us that "they have fire AND water inside!" and more recently he repeats our corrected statement "there is water in there for the fire," but I'm not sure he really understands what the means. Last week the focus shifted to water towers - when driving to Splashtown and taking the ramp from beltway to 45 way up high in the air Spencer's head was on a swivel and he was delighted to be able to see at least a dozen at the same time!

potty training update

While things have been going quite well (defined: 3 or 4 accidents a week) we hit a new low yesterday with a poo poo accident at school that yielded unsalvageable underwear. That was a first. And, Spencer's mood was genuinely off for the rest of the night because he was upset he had an accident. Poor guy.

back in TX

It was a fun time in NY for the week of the 4th. Spencer got to go back to the Burns Center a few times to see his favorite sculpture, mom went kayaking with Spencer on the lake, grandma got to show off Spencer to all of her friends during lunchtime, and Jim & I escaped to Karl & Heather's house for a few days to relax. Here are a couple of pictures in the kayak.

Our return to Houston brought us right back into some favorites - much to Spencer's delight - a birthday party on Saturday and Splashtown on Sunday.

Some of our recent laughs from Spencer have been when he thinks we're pulling his leg and just smiles and says, "no, that's not right! you're teasing me!"

And Spencer's teacher confided in us on Friday afternoon that his favorite little girlfriend M seems to have found a new pal to replace Spencer. :( Maybe she felt abandonded while we were away so long. We'll see if they reconnect this week, or if Spencer sets his sights somewhere else.

swimming (again)

This morning I got a chance to go to pilates at the YMCA, and afterwards the three of us spent a few hours together at the outdoor pool. Spencer got to show off his swimming skills for daddy, and in addition to going down "the curly slide," Spencer thought that jumping in from the side of the pool was an absolute blast. We enjoyed using the new camera toy we bought this week too. As you can see, Spencer is quite fearless - and always smiling as he plunges into the water!

And here are other videos 1 & 2 & 3 and several still pictures taken at the pool, both in and out of the water.

water play

Today, like every Thursday this summer, was water play for Spencer's class at school. Since water play is in the morning, the teachers request that we send the toddlers in their swimsuits to save a little time from having to change a whole classroom of kids in to, then out of, their suits. Spencer LOVES water play, and is acutely aware when Thursday rolls around. Jim, however, after rolling in late from Wednesday night hockey, forgot about this and started to get Spencer dressed in shorts and t-shirt after breakfast. But Spencer quickly corrected things and told him, "Daddy! We don't wear our shirt and shorts today! We wear our swimming suit for water play!" I guess as long as one person in the Leach family is keeping track of things then we're doing ok.

father's day

Last night we went out for dinner at Lupe Tortilla's which we like because a) food is yummy and b) they have a big sand area for the kids to play in. Spencer always says he's excited to play in the sand, but once we arrive he gets a little heistant once he feels the sand in his toes. After several minutes, he finally felt brave enough to wander in and play a little. Jim didn't exactly see what went down after that, but he saw Spencer's lower lip start to quiver and then suddenly Spencer was hysterical. It seems he put himself out there looking for a friend to play with and got rejected. We gave Spencer hugs while his whole body heaved and he sobbed repeatedly, "the little boy said 'no!' the little boy said 'no!'" My heart just ached for Spencer. Tears were flowing down his cheeks and he was so, so upset. We kept on giving hugs and telling him everything was ok, but seeing how devasted he was by this rejection (even if it hadn't been mean-spirited) was so crushing as a parent. My mind fast-forwarded a decade or so to a time when Spencer might face rejection from a girl he liked and wondered how I would be able to comfort him then. Last night he cried for nearly ten minutes over this incident, despite all of our assurances that he was all right. It really upset him to the core. Do kids learn to 'toughen up' or is this just an age-appropriate reaction? I guess rejection sucks at all ages.

proud momma

Sometimes Spencer makes me so ridiculously proud, even for the little things he accomplishes. We just returned from a few hours at the YMCA pool and Spencer asked, again, if he could ride the "big curly slide." We learned on previous visits that he and I are not allowed to ride down together, but after his bravery at Splashtown last weekend I thought he would be ok to go down solo. Unlike the slide at Splashtown, this one empties into 3 1/2 feet of water so I put him in a life vest, and the YMCA requires any child wearing a life vest to pass a swimming test to prove they are able to swim to the ladder after sliding down. So, we asked the lifeguard to give Spencer the swimming test with his vest: swimming the width of the pool solo in 5' of water! And he did it! He did it! Sure it took quite a few minutes as he swam the best he could, more upright than horizontal, but he kept on going! He was beaming as he reached the other side and collected his bracelet to prove to everyone that he passed the test! I was so proud of my little big guy!

more catch up

In the time since the last post, Spencer and I went back and forth to NY for the long Memorial Day weekend. Some of the highlights from that visit included Animals & Acrobats at Van Cortlandt Manor, the local Chappaqua Memorial Day parade, and spending nearly an hour at the Jacob Burns Film Center just to watch this George Rhoads audio-kinetic sculpture. Here are some pictures from the trip.

This past Saturday was Jim's final class for the semester. After completing finals this week, he'll be able to exhale for about a month before jumping back in for the final year. Rice congratulated their accomplishments with a big end of year bbq for the MBA students. It was a family event, and Spencer had a blast - riding trains, watching a juggler, and eating ice cream on the lawn. I really enjoyed my time there too. Although I only knew about half a dozen people by name, it was easy to strike up convesation. Here are pictures from the Rice picnic.

And yesterday it was painfully clear that little Spencer is growing up fast. We had an absolute blast at Splashtown (stayed for four hours!) and when we were getting ready to go down a big slide together Spencer suddenly started to complain, "No, mommy, no! I don't want to go down together! I want to go down by myself!" I sat there stunned for a second, and asked the life guard if it was ok. He said 'sure' and off went Spencer - alone. He looked impossibly small on the great big twisty slide, but I could see a huge smile on his face from above as he rounded the turns, and when I arrived down after him he was so excited and beamed as he shouted "I did it all by myself momma!" Yes, you did, big guy!

updates

Writing about Spencer's potty success did jinx things, Spencer's nine great days of being accident-free came to and end yesterday.

News

It's been such a while since the last post, and so many things have happened. We're still trying to sort everything out, but here are the highlights, and lowlights.

The Good:
- Spencer has been accident-free for over a week now (excluding sleeping when he wears a diaper.) I know writing this will interrupt his good progress
- We had a fabulous family outing last weekend to enjoy the art car parade and took some pictures of "all the crazy cars!" I was a bit anxious leading up to the event with the whole potty thing, but got there in time to secure a good place to watch and not too far away from the port-o-potties, including a nice, big handicapped-accessible one which Spencer used three times during our outing.
- This past weekend we had more fun together riding the trains at Zube Park and seeing tons of friends, and a family outing to pick blackberries at the King's Orchard.

The Bad:
- Spencer caught some stomach virus that was going around his school and got quite sick last Wednesday night. He vomited every half hour or so from seven until midnight. Our washer and dryer ran constantly for five hours washing bedsheets, PJs and his bedtime buddies (thank goodness he had at least one to cuddle each time we put him back to sleep.) Poor Spencer was not having fun and kept saying "I don't want to throw up any more." But he woke up just fine on Thursday, took a three hour nap in the afternoon, and was refreshed enough to return to school on Friday.

The ugly:
- Friends of ours suffered a house fire yesterday. Thankfully no one was injured. They, along with their two young sons, will be displaced for many months while it is being cleaned up and repaired.

Guess what I didn't do last night?

Laundry! Another successful day for Spencer whoo hoo!

This morning was Muffins for Mother's Day at school. We ran into his friend B and I told his mom that Spencer is still talking about B's birthday party from last weekend. Spencer repeatedly says "they turned out the lights and played the YMCA and the Hokey Pokey and the Limbo - it was CRAZY!"

potty training day 10

Today was a milestone - no diapers and no accidents! Whoo hoo! Obviously we know there will be plenty more accidents to come, but it is great to know that it is possible. We are all so proud, and Spencer feels great too. He is eager to tell everyone we come in contact with that he is wearing underwear and goes poo poo in the potty. High five, big boy!

week one: potty wrap up

Well, this weekend added a little more excitement bringing Spencer around to places outside of home and school. He wore underwear at the YMCA, at Costco, at a friend's house, and at a birthday party (where we nervously brought him to use the potty three times during our two hours there!) The weekend was not accident-free, but they all took place at home so we'll happily take it.

Yesterday afternoon Spencer was put to work shucking corn for dinner which he thought that was tons of fun. He thought it was even more fun eating it off the cob for the very first time and giggled as he said "did you hear that? it popped in my mouth!" Here are pictures from yesterday.

Baby Shower

Today I was at Kate's house for Ping's baby shower, and I hadn't been there in what seemed like, and probably was, years. I was speaking to mom on the way down and she even said, "ooh, party at Kate's - you're going to eat well!" And we did! And it was so much fun to celebrate with my hockey buds and share in the joy and excitement of first time mommies. I forgot my camera, but hopefully Ro will soon share her pics from the day - especially Natali's home-made mobile with hockey action figures!

While I was out, Spencer played with Aunt Ronnee and was accident-free! Yeah! And later in the afternoon Spencer and I had a blast playing around in the pool for the first time this year and capped off with a picnic dinner at his new little table outside. On our way to bath in the evening, Spencer glanced at the pool through the window and said "we had lots of fun!"

seven

That is the number of pairs of underwear worn by Spencer yesterday that were washed last night (along with assorted other shorts and socks.) Since most folks wear one pair per day, quick math tells you there were six accidents. Yesterday's daily report card had two happy faces in addition to the four frowny faces, and there were two more accidents at home after dinner. Sigh. We thought we were doing so well with the Day 1 report card showing four smiles, one frown, and no accidents at home. But as his teacher reminded us, some days are better than others. Sigh.