mean daddy

Christmas Card

Porter has caught on to baby sign language pretty well…we think. Even though ‘more’ I think translates to “I want” since he signs “more” for just about anything. It’s been fun hearing his voice start to develop and as he’s now attempting actual words (“uh oh” being a personal favorite). Porter has mastered walking in about a week, and has been running into head level items for a while now, which works out since he’s so easy tempered and smiley. We have Porter enrolled at the children’s center at Cal Poly where he’s interacting with lots of toddlers his age, so that Mommy’s able to work a little each day (a break Porter and I both really appreciate sometimes). A highlight was Porter’s first birthday at the beach, with a BBQ, friends and family. Although the time already feels like it’s slipping away from us and that Porter’s growing more independent, it’s also exhilarating to watch his mind lighten up with understanding at something significant each day. We love love him, and are so grateful to our Heavenly Father that he’s in our lives, brightening and challenging them.
Lora is still the breadwinner and mommy of the family. This is the third year of having her massage therapy business and it is growing… ever so slowly. Lora is now also working as an aid to a wonderful woman named Shel, and her beautiful family here in SLO. With Mark’s help, Lora taught a lindy hop swing class at the Adult School and is about to start a second semester. Lora is working with the Primary at church and was in charge of this year’s primary sacrament program where all the kids did fantastic. This summer Lora’s niece and nephews (Hunter, Bella, Bryant, and Thatcher) visited us and tore it up as we skateboarded, skimboarded, danced and cooked all week. Rayne, our favorite preteen, is always a sassy delight, and an incredible help with Porter, who can’t stop laughing every time she comes to visit.
Mark is still the overworked student daddy. He has started on his senior project where he entered into a national design competition designing the riverfront in Minneapolis. It’s been great to watch his portfolio develop into a beautiful and professional compilation from these last several years. We both pray it will pay off as Mark applies to jobs and MBA programs this fall. Mark and Lora both had fun this year joining an adult soccer league, trying to work off both of our baby fat. Mark is on the activities committee at church and directed one of Mom & Dad Scribner’s Reader’s Theater about the life of Joseph Smith. It was a lot of work, but very rewarding. Marks Family all came to SLO for the family reunion this summer and we had a blast filling up our days with fun activities.
The Spencer’s this year have been busy. We’ve been able to take a few trips with some great friends and family. Life with a one year old is great! We love and miss having you all around us but are glad to have this season to remember our Savior and to connect with those we love. Merry Christmas everyone!

JUST PROVING TO THE WORLD THAT MOM LIKES PORTER

In response to mom's kicking and screaming about not being in any recent pictures on my blog, I henceforth dedicate this to mom scribner and declare: MY MOTHER VISITS US! ... oh ... and she likes us too. love you mom, lora mark and porter.

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Beach Bum Birthday Boy (How's that for alliteration?)

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update

porter's first halloween party last night, with his first step. he was a frog, and his friend sam was a tiger and his friend lucy was princess lea. they were all pretty cute, especially with porter constantly popping out of our trunk through the spider webs during the trunk or treat. his second step was this morning. he's been a master at stairs for overa month, but decided today he would keep turning around on the second to last step and tumble down the last. i realized that he has seen his friend Lucy sort of step down the front way, and he thought he'd do the same. also he wants to show mama how he can stand on his own, so he'll sit on the very last stair like a chair, and prep himself for a 1, 2, 3 and STAND. most of the time he just falls to his hands and starts crawling away like mogli (SP?). and yet today- a single moment standing with one step before crawling away... my boy is one on monday, and he is growing up so fast.

pick a boo with porter at church with van den eikoffs
porter laying his head down to look under the greenlees fridge
porter slapping his head and chest instead of his hands
signing more- WHOO HOO

porter's clapping and giving me things
squishing food in his hands cuz of the sound of a sticky hand opening and closing
can reach the table when standing
in love with lucy-playing together is so great
where's daddy? game- best with rayne

Just catching up May and June. Includes a lot of firsts. EnjoyMake a Smilebox slideshow

porter's army crawl-two weeks ago

Wrote a Memorial Weekend BLog, but it erased when I tried to put in these Photos...so now you just get the Photos

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A photo catch-up....

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Rolling Over

So about a month ago, porter really started getting long. we jokingly put him in the big stroller without the infant seat, and although i was happy to see he didn't fit, I was sad to see he could hold himself up. Now he does fit. Since then, we've been watching him outgrow all his old clothes, and move up all the notches on his infant car seat and actually touch the ground when in the bouncer,

...and, now, the true sign that my baby really is growing too big? his new trick is rolling over in both directions. though that means Porter can't be left alone on the bed or changing table anymore, I'm a pretty proud mama when seeing how he's struggled to accomplish getting from his back to his tummy. He starts by turning his head towards the toy that he wants, then (because my little man doesn't believe in any unncessary work) he reaches his arm as far as it goes to see if perhaps he can stay comfortably where he lies. The toy is just beyond his grasp,so now he's on a mission. He brings over his other hand, and simultaniously brings his knees to his chest, making it easier to catch the centrifical force to a side position. once again, my somewhat lazy child does a toy check, and tries to grab the rings. If he gets them, he releases his horizontal squat, and throws his unooccupied hand back to his side, rotating him again to his back, where he happily stays. If he still is unable to reach his toy, he makes the final push and rolls to his stomach.

The victory is short lived; seconds after getting to his tummy, the joy is soon
replaced with frustration as he realizes he's stuck on his stomach. Porter love/hates his tummy. He loves his new vantage point, loves getting there, getting his toy, and pushing up his head for the first five times or so, as he finds us and smiles. He hates the extra work it takes to lift his massive noggin, and once he has had enough of his belly, even though I am determined to not flip him back over for the umpteenth time, he wins once he puts his face straight down into the blanket and begins to muffle his own cries.
Porter rolls best while we're trying to change a poopy diaper, but who can blame him?? I mean, finding those crackly wipes bags is essential, and totally DELICIOUS.

I did say he knows how to roll both ways, but he has only rolled from his stomach to his back about three times, and I have missed all three of them.

Other milestones? Sure, in a blip that I now dub the milestone minute: evil tearing of tooth number four, yikes. screams like a girl. no really, he's started to experiment with how high he can possibly squeal...i love it. As for today's Delicious Dish? Soup...sorta. soupy sweet potato, soupy bananas, and soupy avacadoes. He wears nothing but big boy two piece outfits or pjs, he can sit up for 10 seconds before faceplanting, and does his jumping aerobics when being held if you're sitting. Instead of being permenently attatcheed to his toys, he can finally release them and is even somewhat decent at throwing them. he smiles, laughs and snorts constantly, loves being scared and loves crowds, has a death pinch when excited, and he's now around 18 pounds...what a big boy!

shots

i took porter to get his first shots yesterday. it was so sad. he was so happy and trusting when we went in, and then he took my hands, and the shots just seemed to keep coming. He started crying of course, but stopped as soon as I picked him up, and just whimpered and shuddered afterwards. I got somewhat steamrolled when asking for less shots at one time, and I'm never making that mistake again, because that boy was tired and cranky and, yes even at his young age, sad for the rest of that day.
So I wrote that a while ago, and since have taken Porter in for his second shots. I went in and complained like a good future soccer mom, and got Porter on an alternate shot program that seperates and spreads out Porter's shots so that there's less of them, and that they alternate between lead and aluminum (I'm pretty sure) vaccinations with every visit. The Baby Book by Dr. and Dr. Sears (which i highly recommend) didn't write this alternate shot list, but their son did, and my Doctor said it was a great way to go when worried about getting too many shots at once. Anyway- the second visit was such a better experience. Porter didn't even cry, and was smiley before and after the visit. He didn't even seem lethargic afterward. what a brave boy.

Just a Little Ditty

i love to laugh. WHA HA HA HA

i love love love porter in the morning. he's all smiles, and he's got smirk that just makes me foresee not being able to say no to the kid. it starts with him looking in a different direction, and me calling his name trying to get his attention, then, without turning his head, he looks at me out of the corner of his eyes. once he's made eye contact, he slowly smiles as big as he can, while pushing his chin into his neck making a triple chin:) i love it.
He's also really big into short, one syllable laughs. and he really makes you dedicate the time before bestowing those laughs as well. He'll give you about three or four good ones in a row, and then he's done. then, even though he's through with you, he still strings you along with his huge smile, and goading eyes. this technique is tremendously effective, and usually leaves us doing the goofy sounds and motions for the next five minutes that got him laughing in the first place.
although...there have been a handful of moments where he actually tied together his laughter into one long giggle fest.

p.s. porter's already has two little icebergs jutting out of his lower gum....the one area i'm not so sure i wanted him to excel at....

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just a day hike

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Mark's 25th B-day (Feb 22)

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Well, it's Feburary, so it's not really Summer, but Still a Fun Slideshow

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my gorgeous grey eyes

Porter's just starting to play with toys...and when i say play, i mean that i'm prying open his fingers, placing a toy in his hand, and trying to get that automatic reflex going to help him clench his fist around the toy. the sad part is that he can't let go. this leads to 'play time' backfireing, mostly because Porter still doesn't have full control over his arms. when he's overtired, he often will accidentally hit himself in the head...which only makes him cry when he's been set up by mommy to have a toy stuck in his hand.
porter's funniest 'playing' upset though came when i decided that he should play with the plastic rings that were obviously enticing him as they were dangling over his face. i helped his grab hold of the lowest ring, which he enjoyed for quite awhile until he realized he couldn't let go, and that his arm was going to be stretched up into the air forever. then that game got sad very quickly, and 'bobcat' made himself known. before he did though, i snapped a shot:)

VICTORY!!!

He's done it! he has single handedly (haha) conquered the thumb suck. this feat, Porter's mount everest, is a goal that has been widdled away on ever since his long sebatical of isolation in utero-land.
seriously though, it was pretty exciting. after months of sticking his whole fist into his mouth, or just the thumb part of his fist, it all finally came together. and i'm pretty sure i was watching when the "aha" actually happened. One day, after repeatedly shoving his hand (or at least whatever would fit) into his mouth, Porter was just staring at his fist with some seriously fierce tunnelvision. At some point during this focus, he saw his thumb seperate from the rest of his hand. this moment of understanding came into his eyes, "whoa!!!" without hesitating, he took advandtage of the situation, and stuck that sucker (man, i'm hitting them all...) in. yes, i know i shouldn't end a sentence with the word 'in'...but that's where he stuck it. :)
ok- enough bad grammer. and i'm not fixing the mispelled words either...too tired. the point is, porter's been a pro with thumbsucking ever since, and i'm pretty sure that puts my baby into the 'freakin awesome' level on the scale of baby smarts/coolness.

Porter, or in times of severe stress; Bobcat. Yes, our normally sweet and cheerful child has an alias, or rather, an alter-ego that finds his way to the surface when Porter can't seem to create his desired results. But now a third character has introduced himself, and has tapped into our hearts with his pathetic cry, and is to be known henceforth as 'little lamb.' Yes, he "baa"s, in a last ditch effort to get the sympathy he knows we are all too willing to give.
we're sorry to let the family know in this impersonal way that our child officially has multiple personalities, but we feel that the most healthy thing at this time, is to indulge Porter until he no longer needs these aliases.
Thank you for your support.

i took porter to get his first shots yesterday. it was so sad. he was so happy and trusting when we went in, and then he took my hands, and the shots just seemed to keep coming. He started crying of course, but stopped as soon as I picked him up, and just whimpered and shuddered afterwards. I got somewhat steamrolled when asking for less shots at one time, and I'm never making that mistake again, because that boy was tired and cranky and, yes even at his young age, sad for the rest of that day.
So I wrote that a while ago, and since have taken Porter in for his second shots. I went in and complained like a good future soccer mom, and got Porter on an alternate shot program that seperates and spreads out Porter's shots so that there's less of them, and that they alternate between lead and aluminum (I'm pretty sure) vaccinations with every visit. The Baby Book by Dr. and Dr. Sears (which i highly recommend) didn't write this alternate shot list, but their son did, and my Doctor said it was a great way to go when worried about getting too many shots at once. Anyway- the second visit was such a better experience. Porter didn't even cry, and was smiley before and after the visit. He didn't even seem lethargic afterward. what a brave boy.

a couple of moments;
mom and dad got to talk to porter using skype for the first time, and it was pretty entertaining for all involved. you know mom and her classic noises and faces...well it was pretty much all in vain, because porter was far more entranced by the labtop keyboard than my grandma's song and dance. what can i say, he's a big reader. there was one highlight of the moment though, and that was when grandma started sticking out her tongue, and before you know it, porter and grandma were on a roll sticking out their tongues to each other and laughing. it was pretty great, until porter started drooling on the keyboard and got banned from his front row seat.
i love how much porter loves his tongue right now. i've never been more impressed with how successfully a child can smile and simultaniously try to touch his chin with his tongue. of course i do it back, but trying it one time in front of the mirror let me know that my tongue smile is for porter's eyes only.
okay- here's one last anecdote, but it's more a mark moment than a baby moment. so two nights ago, i went to sleep and mark stayed up to put the baby to bed. all of a sudden i get woken up with mark saying very loudly in his sleep, "It's OK Porter"... which is usually what he says when porter's fussing, but porter was sleeping deeply, and mark was just sleepshouting. since i was just out of a deep sleep myself i look at mark and assume that the outline of his body in the dark showed porter in his arms, and that he was squeezing his too tight, so i start shaking him to let go of porter. like i said, porter was sleeping fine, but in the basinet, and not in mark's arms; i was just seeing things. mark wakes up, says he doesn't have porter, goes back to sleep, and doesn't remember any of it in the morning. it was a funny bit of confusion all around.

well i have to say that everything is extremely repetitive with being home with Porter all day, and yet- everything also seems to be new and exciting. For example, Porter has just started to transition from smiling coos to a hiccup that is noticably a laugh. it's such a renewing feeling in my day to sit with Porter and laugh with him. i love that time. also, today Porter held a toy for the first time. yes- he completely ignored the plastic ring he was holding, and he didn't grab it on purpose, but who cares?? my boy is a toy holding genius- i can feel it. the other miracle of the day was the fact that i actually made dinner by the time Mark came home. I'm not going to tell you how long it's been..

christmas pages #2

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