Category: gear

Little shoppers

Looks like Meg found a good deal
Looks like Meg found a good deal
One of the presents for Meg from Grandma and Grandpa Felty was a toy shopping cart. Meg and Spencer seem to both like it very much. Thanks for such a great present (and thanks to Grandpa for putting it together)

Dump truck play

Meg and Spencer playing with the dump truck
Meg and Spencer playing with the dump truck
While Spencer continues to be pretty good in terms of sharing toys with Meg, he does occasionally do the thing where he only wants to play with whatever toy Meg is playing with. Yesterday while I was making moussaka for dinner Meg was playing with the big Tonka truck Ellen had gotten Spencer a couple years ago, and Spencer was getting jealous. Clare finally resolved the situation by suggesting that Spencer could push Meg around in the dump truck, which kept them both happy for quite awhile. Then at some point Spencer got tired of pushing Meg around, and wanted Meg to push Spencer around. We weren’t quite sure she could do it, but in typical Meg style, she pushed him quite well! She still has to learn how to steer a bit though.

New drumset

Spencer playing his new drumset
Spencer playing his new drumset
Today we received boxes 2 and 3 of the 3 boxes Great Aunt Jean recently sent us, which were filled with a kid’s drumset. Jeff had given it to Billy quite a few years ago, and he has since outgrown it. It was packed very well, and arrived in wonderful condition. I eagerly put all the pieces together. Spencer seemed quite excited about it, though he didn’t want to play it until I sat down and started playing my kit too. Thank you so much Jeff, Jean Ann, Billy, Shannon, Kristen, and Bill!

Megasaurus

Megasaurus
Megasaurus
I recently was looking through Meg’s clothes and came across the dinosaur outfit that Spencer had worn when he was about this age, and decided to see if it would still fit Meg. It fit quite well, and Meg was just as cute in it as Spencer. Unlike Spencer, she didn’t seem to mind wearing it quite as much. We even sent her to school in it one day, which her teachers thought was cute.

Bikes and dinosaurs

Spencer touching a fossil at Dinosaur Ridge
Spencer touching a fossil at Dinosaur Ridge
Here are two totally unrelated topics. Several weeks ago we went to Dinosaur Ridge to see some dinosaur fossils. It was lots of fun. Spencer seemed to really enjoy it. Here is a picture of him with a fossil.

In other news, Spencer continues to ride his Strider bike almost every day, and likes it very much. He is also getting quite fast, so I bought him a helmet several weeks ago. The day we bought the helmet, he was very excited to try it on, but then it was nap time. After his nap, he kept asking for his “elmo”, and was getting very upset. We eventually figured out he was asking for his “helmet”. We’re still working on the pronunciation of that one a bit.

Spencer exersaucing

exersaucing!
exersaucing!
As I was posting pictures of Meg exersaucing, I was surprised to discover that I could not find any pictures of Spencer exersaucing, even though I was certain I had posted them. Well, apparently I took the pictures, but never posted them. So here are some pictures of Spencer exersaucing from almost two years ago, almost exactly the same age as Meg in her recent pictures. Better late than never I suppose.
Oh my! I like to exersauce
Oh my! I like to exersauce
Spencer exersaucing -7/11/2009
Spencer exersaucing -7/11/2009

Meg exersaucing

Meg exersaucing
Meg exersaucing
We recently got out the Exersaucer for Meg, and she has been enjoying it quite a bit. It sure does make for some cute pictures. She has been very smiley for the last month or so.

Thomas’s third birthday party

Spencer and Rob in their matching outfits
Spencer and Rob in their matching outfits
We recently went out to California to visit Paul and April, who had a big birthday party for Thomas, who turned 3. We had a really great time. Both Spencer and Meg are really great travelers. Spencer gets really excited now to see all the airplanes, and he is getting more helpful all the time too. We left fairly early Saturday morning, and on Friday night, we told Spencer we needed to go to bed because we were going on an airplane the next day. He got very excited and wanted to leave right away to get on the airplane. Eventually we convinced him that it wasn’t until tomorrow, and that we had to sleep first before getting on the airplane. Then we got him up around 6 a.m., the first word out of his mouth was “airplane”.
Paul and Thomas
Paul and Thomas

We recently got a Go-Go Baby Kids carseat attachment, which basically adds wheels to any forward-facing carseat. You can then push or pull it just like a suitcase, with kid in tow. It is very handy in the airport. This time around, Spencer walked and pushed his carseat about halfway around the airport, and Clare or I pushed him in it the other half. He always stayed right by us and never tried to run away. The only mishap on the way out was probably my fault. Spencer, Meg, and I stopped at a coffee shop in the airport to get some warm water for Meg’s bottle, and Spencer got some juice. They only had glass bottles of juice, but I didn’t think much of it. I got a bottle of orange juice for Spencer. He patiently waited in line, put the bottle on the counter, and we paid. Then I gave him back the bottle, and he started to walk out. But then he tripped and fell, and the bottle broke, and he got a little cut. Fortunately there was a man behind us in line who reacted immediately. He picked Spencer up right away so that he wouldn’t put his hands in the glass, and he helped me stop Spencer’s finger from bleeding and get a band-aid. Spencer cried a bit, but was quite stoic.
Spencer and Camilla riding tricycles
Spencer and Camilla riding tricycles

One of the most remarkable parts of the trip for me was on the way back. We were in the line for security, and after we showed our IDs and boarding passes, we stepped in line for the x-ray machine. Apparently Spencer had remembered from the trip there that we have to take our shoes off, so he sat down and took his shoes off. What a traveler!

Thanks to Paul and April for their great hospitality. It was a very relaxing visit.

more pictures follow