11/06/02 - Happy Birthday Spekky!

We had a small party for Spencer on his real birthday.  We couldn't have the big one on his birthday because it fell on a Wednesday this year. Tia, Bethany, Emily, Rebekah Abuelo, Abuela, Ba, Dada came to celebrate his special day.  Even Tio stopped by for a little while.  Abuelo bought Spekky another Blue's Clues cake, this time an ice cream cake! Yummy!  Spekky got more presents and, best of all, lots of hugs and kisses to kick off his next year as a big boy!  Wow, is he growing up fast or what!?!

11/07/02 - Spencer is getting more daring every day...

...and Mommy has to learn to let go more, too.  Today while playing at the park by Tia's house with Bethany, Spekky walked across the kid bridge all by himself for the very first time.  Mommy reminded him to hold onto the rails, please!  He did an awesome job.  He also went down the slides by himself, once head first!  But we think that one was by accident, though.  Oh well! He had a great time, so that's what matters!

11/08/02 - 2 year doctor visit!

Spencer did a good job at his appointment.  He met Dr. Mary and was very polite.  (the same doctor he's had since he was born)  He sang "out of the box" for her and counted from 1 to 10.  He also asked nicely for the lollipop at the end of the visit.  Luckily he didn't need any shots and he doesn't have to go back until he's three. Yay!

12/02/02 - Potty milestone!

Yeah for Spekky!  He poopied in the potty today (the BIG potty) for the very first time!  He proudly flushed it away, too.  WOW! Our boy is getting so big.  He has been wearing underwear for a good part of the day while we are home to get him used to the idea of going "in the potty only" and keeping his underwear dry.  Sometimes he does really well, and other times he makes his "underwear friends" sad, like Blue, Bob, Elmo, Boots, and Swiper.  But we're working on it.  He's getting better everyday at keeping the underwear dry.  Go Spekky! Potty training is not an easy thing, but he sure makes it as easy as we could've ever hoped.

12/08/02 - Improved relations...

	Spencer is doing much better with Baby Kieran.  He hardly ever tries to be mean to him like he was doing the first few months Kieran was home.  Lately, he'll play with him, make him laugh, sing to him, and always ask him if he can play with his toys.  He'll even request that Kieran sit with him, lay down with him, and that he just be around.  Spencer is also more helpful again with Kieran.  He seems to be more motivated to be a great big brother now that he can play and interact with Kieran more.  We love to see our boys get along. We hope they are always close and take care of each other.
	Spencer was having a hard time recently with strangers and acquaintances coming up to him to say hi.  He would get defensive or moody, and say things like, "No!"  But he's getting better with that part of his manners.  He saw Fr. Ennis today at Church and kept saying hi to him and even had him pick him up for a few.
	Spencer is also praying a lot now.  He has a special prayer he says every night: "Thank you Jesus for this day. Amen. I love you Jesus. I love you Mama Mary." And he also does the sign of the cross.  He loves to go to "Jesus' house."  He is doing well in the cry room when he goes on Sundays.  And he tries to "make Jesus happy" by being kind and sharing with others.

12/24/02 - Christmas Eve at Abuelo and Abuela's.

	Even though Spekky's been under the weather, he managed to make it to mass with Bethany to celebrate Jesus' birthday.
	After Church, Spekky had so much fun opening lots of fun toys. Some of his favorites this year include: Pots and Pans, The Doctor Kit, virtual PB&J, and the Drum Set from Ba & Dada.

12/26/02 - Doctor revisited...

	Poor Spekky went to the doctor on Sunday because he was running a fever.  We were hoping he'd be better by now, but he's still feeling yucky.  We saw Dr. Mary (Janarious) today, and Spekky did an Awesome job for her.  He let her check his chest, eyes, ears, nose, and even his throat.  She checked Mimi too (formerly known as Bear Blanky) because Spekky told her Mimi was sick, too.
	Spekky weighs 28 lbs as of today.

01/02/03 - Binky update...

Spekky only has the Binky now, in the car, during his nap, and at bed time.  We're starting to wean him off of the binky.  Next to go will be the binky in the car.

01/03/03 - Babysitter hyjinx...

Spekky has learned how to dupe the babysitter while Mommy and Daddy are out.  Aunt Garland was nice enough to watch Spekky and Kieran tonight.  After she put Spekky to bed, she noticed he wasn't in his bed (over the video monitor).  When she went in to check on him, he wasn't anywhere to be found. She called his name (but didn't yell his name, or turn the light on, in case he was asleep and she just didn't see him), and even checked the bathroom.  Finally when she kept looking, she heard him laughing.  He was hiding on the floor in his room under a bedspread that covers the window.  He laughed at her, he thought it was so funny.  Poor Aunt Garland.  She was worried to death!

01/04/03 - Adventures in the library...

We are so proud of our boy. At the downtown library today, he politely asked the librarian, "Please, I want Blues Clues book."  Then he said, "Thank you," when she helped him find a couple of books.  We decided to get him a library card, because he enjoys being there so much.  At the counter, he asked the man, "Library card, please." Our boy is officially a juvenile-library-card-totin' kid.

01/11/03 - The terrible two's--not too bad...

	Spekky is definitely more confident and adventurous on the playground nowadays.  He loves to go down the slide, especially the tunnel slide at the park by our house.  He can safely climb the steps to the slide by himself now.  Mommy still gets a little nervous, but she knows that he can do it now on his own, and when he does falter, he isn't too upset about it at all.  He still doesn't like to play on the swings, however.  Spencer also loves to play with the sand, and find sticks to draw clues in the sand.  Another new thing he can do at the playground is hang on the monkey bars.  He really enjoys the view from up there, and he feels like a strong boy!
	Spencer is doing a great job doing his "business" (wink wink) in the potty, now that he has the peeing part down pretty well.  We reward him with a small hair band (he likes to wear them on his wrist) for peeing, and 2 hair bands for pooping.  But he has to keep his pull-ups dry.  Now we've begun to take a hair band away when he gets his pull-ups wet, so he remembers that he needs to go "in the potty only."
	Our boy has got us mesmerized some days with the many long sentences, stories, and conversations that are coming from his little mouth.  Here is a list of a few highlights of his growing vocabulary/conversational skills: "I screamed...I hit myself with the drumsticks on my head, I bumped my head, and it hurt really bad, and I scream louder..." "No, I didn't..." "Blues Clues is next on Nick Jr...." "It's Steve...no, maybe Joe, no maybe Steve..." "Mommy, where are you? I'm playing outside. I'm coloring. I'm making circles. I love you. Bye!" "I like peanut butter, and Bethany likes jelly, and I like jelly, too." Conversation on the phone: Bethany: "Hi Spekky!" Spekky: "Hi Bethany!" Bethany: "Are you sick?" Spekky: "No, I'm all better now." Bethany: "Are you asleep?" Spekky: "No, I'm awake." Bethany: "I love you, Spekky." Spekky: "I love you, Bethany." Bethany: "Bye bye." Spekky: "Bye." Spencer sings many songs now: ABC's (he knows them all!) Out of the Box theme Out of the Box "Goodbye Song" Blues Clues theme Our Father Hail Mary "Michael on the Bus" "Tia Song" Bob the Builder theme

01/23/03 - Big boy underwear...

Spekky wore his underwear all day until it was time for bed.  He did a great job of keeping Bob the Builder dry (the picture on his underwear).  He's doing a great job potty training and earning lots of hair bands (which he gets if he pees a lot and keeps his underwear/pull-up dry).  Now he's wearing pull-ups only at night.

01/28/03 - At Ben the Barber's...

We are so proud of Spekky today.  He sat in the barber's chair for the very first time by himself and did and AWESOME job! He didn't cry at all.  He fidgeted a little and got a little antsy towards the end, but no tears.  And what a great haircut he got, too.  And he got his yummy lollipop at the end.  Our boy!

01/30/03 - The urinal attempt--success!

At Pizza Hut tonight, Daddy took Spekky to go potty in the urinal...and he did it! Now he can go standing up, too.  He decides! Of course, he gets some help from Mommy or Daddy!

06/30/03 - It's been a while...

WOW! Spekky has been doing so many things since the last time we updated. Let's see what Mommy and Daddy can remember and we'll add to it as it comes to us: Spekky talks A LOT now. His favorite thing by far is CARS, CARS, CARS. He loves corvettes, and minivans, and Hondas, and has learned about so many cars from Daddy. He can spot a car from far away and tell you what it is before we can even figure it out. He is so awesome at it! On 6/28/03, Spekky had his first movie night and we saw Monsters, Inc. He LOVED it! He got to eat popcorn for the first time. We watched the movie at night in the dark. He got a little restless after about an hour, but still was enthralled by the movie enough to stick it out. He talked a lot during the movie about what was going on. He definitely is not ready for the movie theater, though; too confining. But it was special to have a movie night at home, just us. Spekky loves Max and Ruby, and Ruby's friend Louise. He can't get enough of the books. Spekky is so wonderful at the library. He is especially polite and knows how to ask to get a book renewed or to use the computer. He knows how to ask the librarian for a book he's looking for, and always helps us check out the books at the end using the self-check-out. Our boy! We set up Spekky's computer in the living room so that he can play some games on his own. He likes to do the Seasons with Zoe, color with Elmo, and unwrap the toys with Elmo, too. We bought Spencer his very own little mouse that fits just right with his hand. Spencer is definitely left-handed. On 6/26/03, Spencer started coloring with a much more controlled hand. He tries to stay inside the lines, like when coloring the wheels or circles. He also built a house out of blocks that day at Ba's house, all by himself, He had the foundation, the roof on the top and in the middle, etc. We couldn't believe it! We were so proud! Spekky's favorite color is blue. Spekky sleeps with Elmo Pillow, Mimi, Wendy, Bob, Bo the praying bear, and Aunt Kendra Bear in his big boy bed. Spencer is behaving much better at Church on Sundays. He has his moments, but lately, he's been doing great there, kneeling, praying, and listening to songs. Spencer knows how to work the car. He can put the key in, turn the car on and off, and use the left blinker and right blinker. He can also turn on the lights and use the windshield wipers. Spencer has his binky in the car now only when the traffic light is green, and for when he sleeps. When he turns 3, he will give it to Mickey Mouse at Disney when he goes for his birthday. Spekky does great at brushing his teeth. He rinses, he spits, and uses mouthwash as well. Today, Spencer went to the potty by himself while Mommy was feeding Kieran his rice cereal. Spekky lifted the seat, peed, flushed the toilet, and put the seat back down. Great job! Spencer is doing better at sharing with and caring for Kieran. When he wants to play with something that belongs to Kieran, he has to ask him and also give him a kiss and a hug. If Spencer does a bad job with Kieran, we take Spekky's cars away for the day. Spekky can count 1-20 in English, 1-10 in Spanish, and 1-10 in Gujarati. He is learning many new words and phrases in the other languages. He is like a sponge! Spekky talks about school and is excited about the prospect. We read many books to him and hope that he will always carry that love of reading throughout his life. Spekky can recognize most of the numbers visually now. He seems to enjoy doing this in puzzle fashion mostly. He is definitely into puzzles. Favorite DVD's: Bob the Builder, and Rainbow Fish/Dazzle the Dinosaur. Favorite drinks: agua, mickey mouse gatorade, daddy iced tea, apple juice. Favorite foods: hot cheese pan, pizza, blue's clues noodles, hot cheese triangle, PB&J, mint chocolate chip ice cream.

07/21/03 - No more binky in the car...

We knew it was time to start getting rid of the binky in the car for good. So Mommy put an old Mickey Mouse in the back of the minivan, seatbelt and all, and told Spekky that he would take turns with Mickey in using the binky in the car. Not too many days later, it seemed that he was starting to forget about the binky or be content enough knowing that Mickey had it. Today, he went without the binky in the car all day. So it is official now: no more binky in the car.

07/29/03 - Binky pieces...

Spencer has been biting on his binky the last few days and it has gotten all torn up. Mommy told him that if he wanted to continue using it, that she would have to cut off the broken piece that was hanging off of it. He agreed to that so we cut a big piece of it off. There isn't much of it left. He has to give his binky to Mickey at Disney when he turns 3, so he won't have it for too much longer. We hope this will help him to not feel as satisfied with his binky anymore, now that it really isn't the same binky but just 1/2 of one.

08/01/03 - Growing up and some terrible 2's starting to show themselves...

	Spencer has been learning so many new things and amazes us each day. So far he has: gone to the bathroom by himself with his clothes on: he stood on the stool, opened the lid, pulled his underwear down, peed, wiped, flushed, closed the lid, stepped down, and only had a problem getting his pants back up; but he was adamant about doing it "all by myself" this morning; knows so much about cars, even more than before: spoilers rims hubcaps engines wipers "pumps" on trucks and knows about so many different types of cars, it would take too much time to list them all! helps Daddy with projects around the house: he helped Daddy put the numbers up back on the house. He helps Daddy fix the computer and wire some things for the TV as well. He loves to be Daddy's helper; can count up to 30 in English; can count up to 20 in Spanish; takes out his own garbage from his room;
	Spencer's favorites these days include: songs: Norah Jones - "Something is Calling You" (Tony Song), "Out of the Box", REM - "It's the End of the World" (the World Song), Sade - "King of Sorrow" (the silly song), and songs at Abuelo's house ("Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Little Rabbit Foo Foo"); cars: Corvettes, Accord, Civics, S2000, NSX, Viper, minivans, school buses, garbage trucks; foods: add to the old list Wendy's chicken nuggests, some Goldfish soup with crackers (only the chicken broth one), toaster scrambles with Daddy, S'mores Pop Tarts; shows: Max and Ruby, Out of the Box, car shows (Speedvision); movies seen: Monsters, Inc., Toy Story, Treasure Planet;
	New teeth are coming out. His bottom and top molars are breaking through. We believe this might be the reason behind his crankiness lately. That and the combination of the....
	Terrible 2's... Spekky has been on a roller coaster ride lately in terms of good days and bad days. Some days he is great the whole entire day. Other days, it is just one whiny thing after another and he says he is doing "a good job" even though he knows he is doing a bad job. Spekky was getting rough again with Kieran. Mommy had to talk to him and was getting very frustrated because he was really hurting Kieran with his rough behavior. We talked about what bothered him about Kieran. He said it bothers him when "Kieran scratches me, or climbs on me...when he cries..." So we talked about things we could do when Kieran does something that bothers him so that he won't feel so angry at Kieran. Things have since much improved between the two of them. Spekky is good at telling Kieran to not press the button on the TV. At first, he was pushing him, yelling at him, or smacking his arm down from the TV. Now he gives him a stern, "no" and covers the button with his hand as he waits for Kieran to crawl away. Spencer is sharing with Kieran now and makes sure to take turns with him for toys. He also makes sure to ask, kiss, and hug Kieran when he wants to borrow one of his toys. We talked to Spekky about being a "mommy dinosaur" to Kieran and to protect him and keep him safe. It seems to have helped him figure out how to be with Kieran. Spencer is being a pain lately about listening to Mommy and Daddy. He has his moments where he blatantly does something after we told him not to. Or he gives us a hard time about going to sleep right away, rolling around in his bed for an hour and talking to his "friends". He threw out a bunch of clean tissues from the tissue box in his room in his new trash. We had to take that stuff out for a little while. Spencer knows that he gets to do fun stuff when he does a good job. Yesterday, he was, and had been, doing a great job for a while. So we bought some finger paint and paper and as Kieran napped, we were having fun painting. All of a sudden, when Mommy pointed out that the water we were using had turned purple from the mixture of all the paints we had used, he went crazy and dumped the whole bucket of water all over the garage floor. It was so sad how he ruined such a fun time and refused to stop screaming and crying. He talked back excessively and was put to nap shortly after the chaos of it all.
	Here's hoping that this days where we don't know what to expect won't last too long...

9/9/03 - Science Center with Hazel...

Wow, the Science Center is soooo much fun.  We got to see dinosaurs and sand (where we were able to dig up dinosaur bones) and a huge mouth, and huge lego's, and we got to see lots and lots of fish in a huge fish tank.  And we saw a lady walking a pet iguana around.  And Hazel and I played Tetris on the Super Nintendo.  I just wish Daddy didn't have to work so he could've been there.

9/22/03 - Spencer dressed himself today...  

Spencer saw a boy on NickJr dress himself. So naturally he wanted to try it himself.  Imagine our surprise when Spencer was able to do it.  (with a little coaching on the shirt)

9/24/03 - No more DIAPERS!!!!

Spencer has been wearing big boy underwear during the day for a while now, with Pull-ups for nighttime only.  Last night he wore big boy underwear for the first time at night. (except for that time daddy forget to change him into pull-ups, but that doesn't count) (he didn't pee in them that night either, by the way).  So now he's all big boy.