Spencer Baby

Spencer. Oh my goodness, Spencer.

He is such a bright spot in our lives right now. I take time to just breathe him in every day. 

Maybe it's that Cameron going to school has awakened me to how fast these boys will grow. Maybe it's that I've realized I have less babies left to have than I already have. Maybe it's that his temperament has been perfect for how hard our latest transitions have been. Maybe it's that somehow he has helped me to better appreciate and soak in each of the other boys as well. We are all just over the moon about Spencer.

He gets passed around like a hot potato in our ward on Sundays. I don't see him for the 2nd or 3rd hour and I actually almost left church without him one Sunday! Sorry baby. Someone I've never met in my ward came over yesterday and saw Spencer on the floor and said, "Oh, you're who he belongs to!"

Of course, everyone knows him for his hair. You can see how it has progressed over time in the pictures from wanting to stick up, to being part down and part up like a weird toupee, and now it mostly lays flat with some occasionally rebellious areas. Jayce wanted to cut it, but I just can't bring myself to do it yet!

He also seems to be hitting milestones sooner than our other kids have done. I stuck my finger in his mouth the other day and noticed he has a TOOTH coming in! I couldn't believe it. He also loves getting up on hands and knees and rocking back and forth vigorously. He'll be crawling before any of the other three. This is probably normal for kids who have so many older siblings running around, but it also fits his personality. He has been on the move ever since he was in my belly. 

It's funny how with Cameron we were so excited for him to reach each new milestone. Our appetite for the next new adventure couldn't be satisfied fast enough and now our fourth is filling us up before we've even digested. Slow down sweet boy.

Spencer enjoys classical music, particularly "Canon in D." He went through a phase when all you had to do was turn on "Canon in D" and he would calm right down. Hopefully this means I've found my violinist or cellist. ;-)

He has also helped me find my mother voice. Those who know me know that singing in a small group (let alone a solo) is like the going to school in your underwear nightmare. Times ten. It was a big deal for me to join my ward choir at BYU and it gave me that "I'm facing my fear" adrenaline kick. 

But I love singing to the boys now. I've always loved doing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" with Cameron because he so cutely did the motions when he was a toddler. I've also always enjoyed singing "Edelweiss" to them because I just love that one. I've just expanded my repertoire and have been singing more often since having Spencer. I've added a few more Primary songs and I'm working on memorizing "I Believe in Christ." I like singing Spencer "Bicycle Built for Two" and Jayce and I both catch ourselves singing random stuff to the tune of "Santa Baby" only with "Spencer Baby" instead. They'll hear many more enchanting voices later in their lives, but for now I like being their song bird. :-)

Without further adieu, here are some of the pictures I've been snapping over the last few months to capture his sweetness.

Squishy baby thighs. *Sigh*

Sometimes I get a kick out of imagining it being common for adults to have thighs like this and for us to comment on how cute and squishy each other's legs are. Haha! Oh to be a baby!

He's gotten so big!

With all that hair I couldn't resist putting it in a man bun for a moment for kicks and giggles. Move over Brad Pitt!

Being the fourth child is often like this. Sorry Spence, but thank you for being ever so patient.

At his four month appointment.

We were in a public bathroom and Jack was using one of those really loud hand dryers. Spencer did not love it. I may have had Jack do it again just so I could catch that adorable puckered lip!

!!!!!!!!!

And I just barely realized that we are matching in these pictures as I'm reading through this post. Ha!

Ever so happy.

And of course here's how how his brothers feel about him:

Ben loves on him a lot. Like it's almost like Spencer's hourly dose of torture Benson. We have to remind Ben a lot to be soft, sometimes a lot less patiently than others, but he just loves Spence.

If Spencer wakes up from a nap crying and I'm right in the middle of preparing dinner or something, I'll send the boys up to "help make Spencer happy" and they entertain him enough to buy me another 5-10 minutes. The other day when I went up to go get Spencer out of his crib I found Jack in there like this:

Note Cameron's voice...!!