Singing in the Mirror

It's taken me awhile to find time to post new videos of the Spoon family onto youtube, but this is one of my favorites. The other day, Babykins discovered the mirror on her Einstein jumper and spent half an hour singing to herself. I was pleased to get some of it caught on video. Take a look! -Daddy Spoon.

Can't Hold No One Back

There are times where I wish that I could post audio onto this blog, because this Daddy Spoon was lucky enough to record his precious daughter singing to her heart's content yesterday. I made sure to add it to a photo text (below) that I sent to my entire family. They loved it.

Here are a few of the pics from my camera phone since yesterday. Using it is a little easier than my actual camera because Babykins has started blinking in response to the camera flash. And that has ruined scores and scores of photos within the past two weeks. But I'm patient. I know to snap away until I can get the photo I want!

Even though the resolution isn't that great, you can see two new developments in the realm of the Spoons. One is that our Punkins can now hold her bottle on her own (we love it!) and Two is that when lunchtime has carrots on the menu, it can be a dangerous experience for her poor bib! But like I said, we love it. We're very happy and pleased for all the ways our Baby Spoon is growing and developing. We work hard to take good care of her! -Daddy Spoon.

Deconstructivism

Ophelia has now entered her deconstructionist phase. She's become very good at wardrobe decontruction and is also a strong critic of graphic design print ads. Which means she crumples up the ones she dislikes. And also the ones she likes too. It's super cute! We love watching her grow and explore and learn. Too much fun! -Daddy Spoon.

A Day of Thanks

Wow, I had such a great time yesterday for Thanksgiving. Mommy and Daddy Spoon took me over to cousin Sheryll's house to celebrate the holiday. I had a great time and got to eat some turkey dinner too! I didn't like it as much as my sweet potatoes or carrots, but I ate it up and had a good time taking a nap in Mommy's arms. I love falling asleep there. Mommy is the best! I am thankful for my Mommy and Daddy. They take good care of me. I am thankful for all of my family. I love them, and I know they love me!

A Fire Going

Today I wanted to post up some cute pictures of our adorable little Spoon, just to show how cute she is at what she does. From hanging with Mommy Spoon and also nomming on her new bib to waking up in the morning and even getting caught chatting away on my phone, these photos go to show this Baby Spoon has a personality all of her own! -Daddy Spoon.

Call of Duty

So after last week's quasi-emergency with being constipated -you don't really want to know the details- Baby Spoon seems to have been awakened to a new sense of duty with her vendetta of old. Here are the particulars of a conversation this morning between Mommy Spoon and myself:

Daddy Spoon: "O filled her diaper massive! It was like she was trying to bury China or something... it was that much."

Mommy Spoon: "Oh... WOW... How is that possible? She has been making 3 or more dirty diapers a day..."

Daddy Spoon: "You forget about her vendetta..."

Mommy Spoon: "Ha ha ha ha..."

So now our Baby Spoon is again unleashing her wrath on all the poor clean diapers in the house. Be warned. And afraid. Very afraid. Some of those dirty diapers can be a fate worse than death....

Watermelons and Turkeys

We go in for Baby Spoon's 6th month check-up today. After weeks of speculation and guessing over how big our Little Spoon really is, we will find out today. I can't wait to see how much our little turkey weighs. We think she's about 22 lbs. but the produce scale at the supermarket isn't very reliable when it comes to wiggly-bug babies. We'll find out for certain today! -Daddy Spoon

A Mad Hatter's Party

Yay, I'm six months old today! I'm so excited because Mommy and Daddy Spoon threw a small un-birthday party for me. I even had presents to open! And a card to read! The card was from Mommy and Daddy and read, "Happy 6th month Un-birthday! We're so lucky to have you in our lives. With much love, Mommy and Daddy."

And after that, I got to rip and tear! I now have a cute new pair of jeans and a shirt that says, "My heart belongs to Mommy." But if you want to know, I had more fun tearing the wrapping paper to pieces. Don't believe me? Take a look!

It wasn't me

I don't know who they think did it, but it wasn't me. I didn't do it. I'm too cute to have done it. And why would I even think about doing something like that? I can barely stand the thought. Not me. I was raised properly by my parents. I know better. Yes, I do. I know what the stakes are. Who do they think I am? I'm not your run-of-the-mill debutante who does things and expects Daddy to pay for it all with a credit card, I'm a polite and well-mannered young woman. So if that is the case -and I plead my innocence- then why am I behind bars? Huh? You tell them, because I've said it one too many times already: It wasn't me.

As Things Stand

Well, sadly, the Spoon family is under the weather this weekend. We're all battling either a cold or a fever. This isn't the way we wanted to spend our Saturday because we had plans to go to Bellingham tomorrow and visit some close friends. Unfortunately, these Spoons have to stay home tomorrow and recuperate. 

Onto glad and happy news, our Baby Spoon is standing on her own! She's been doing it here and there -and with something to support herself with- and we're very pleased about how well our Babykins is progressing. She's a very strong, healthy and happy little girl. And now that she is standing on her own we're only left to wonder what achievements she will accomplish next. -Daddy Spoon.

Bolt (the kitty-cat)

Another big day today! Ophelia rolled over four times today! We are so excited for her. She rolled from her belly onto her back during tummy time this morning. It's the most that she's ever done anything like this during tummy time. That means that she'll keep this up and soon roll all over the room. The cats better watch out! Her iron-grip fist will soon send them running whenever she gets nearby. Hahahaha, the kitties won't know what to do. Except run.

Paying it Forward

We did something very nice for another family the other day. One of the girls that Mommy Spoon works with has a daughter a few months younger than our Baby Spoon, and her oldest daughter accidentally put crayons through the wash and ruined all of the baby clothes. We Spoons were more than happy to go through Babykin's old clothes and separate selected outfits to give to Jasmine and her family. We had received a similar gift early on when our family had just begun from the ladies in my church, so I feel it's more than appropriate that we help another family in similar fashion. It's nice to pay things forward and continually help other people. In that small way, we're able to help change the world around us. -Daddy Spoon.

Smashing (well, carving) Pumpkins

There has been a lot going on within the Spoon family lately. First of all, our Baby Spoon is getting bigger and bigger each day. We're guessing that she is now 20 lbs. and 28 inches tall. We won't know for certain until we go into the doctor's for her 6 month check-up -next month. We can only wonder how big she'll be by then.

One thing that our Babykins is able to do by herself now is hold her bottle with both hands while she's eating. Her arm strength is improving and she enjoys tummy time more than she used to. All that hard work is definitely showing now, since she can hold her own bottle to eat. Though not for very long. I was just changing her diaper -before her middle of the night feeding- and since she was crying so much I gave Babykins her bottle and let her hold onto it to eat while I finished working on changing her diaper. To my surprise and pleasure, she held up the bottle on her own long enough for me to do what I needed to do with her dirty diaper. And then she held up her bottle for a few minutes after that. I was very pleased about that. :D

And then we can't forget about smashing, er, carving pumpkins! Mommy Spoon, Baby Spoon and I had a fun time last night slicing up the pumpkins we got at the u-pick pumpkin patch the other week. We had two tiny, baby pumpkins, a medium orange pumpkin, a white pumpkin and a large, green pumpkin with warts all over it. Both Mommy Spoon and I took plenty of pictures! Since we started carving after dinner, Baby Spoon only had enough energy to help us carve her pumpkins. They are the eyes to the medium orange pumpkin. After she went to bed, I carved the white pumpkin -the green pumpkin with warts will get carved up later, probably Friday- and Mommy Spoon finished taking pictures of all of the fun!

Don't you think we have the best pumpkins? Baby Spoon sure thinks we do! She thinks they look sooooo spooky! She loves them. Mommy Spoon and I do too! -Daddy Spoon.

1-2-3-4-5!

I'm five months old today! Wow, I feel so accomplished. :D I'm a big girl now. I can do all kinds of things now. I can stand up (with Mommy or Daddy Spoon's help), I can sit up (when I'm propped up in Mommy or Daddy Spoon's lap) and I can sing and coo them awake in the morning (I don't need any help for that, hee hee hee). I'm such a good singer. Daddy Spoon loves to hear me sing. So does Mommy Spoon. And I love to sing for them! I love my Mommy and Daddy. They take such good care of me. Yay!

Unca J, Auntie Jet and Cousin AJ

Yay! Yesterday my cousin AJ came over to visit. I have too much fun when he is around. I like my cousin. It's always fun to see Unca J and Auntie Jet too. They like to pass me back and forth and figure out which of them can make me cry first. I like crying when I'm with Auntie Jet. Hee hee hee, don't tell her. It's a secret. I like to mess with her because she's too nice. It's too easy! Hee hee hee.

One of the fun things that AJ and I did was play together. He's sooo much fun to play with. Daddy Spoon took pictures while we were playing. I showed AJ some of the sweet moves I've learned while watching Miami Dolphin football games with Daddy. My stiff-arm is pretty good, don't you think? I also helped myself to some of AJ's bib. Well, AJ told me he didn't mind sharing. You can totally see how happy he is to let me take his bib. Can't you? Hee hee hee.

Unca J and Auntie Jet are a lot of fun. I like it when they come over with AJ. He is such a cool little guy. We all have too much fun together. We're a nice group, don't you think? I can't wait for the next time they come over. I'll have to practice more football moves for when they do!

Not a Single Dry Eye

I love my daughter. She is such a joy to my life, and being a father is an amazing experience. I'm thankful that I can be involved in her tiny, precious life.

Not everyone receives the same blessings though. Through friends down in Florida, I know of a family whose baby daughter is fighting a battle against a cancerous growth along her trachea. They have a group on Facebook for their daughter, Praying for Zara Marie Sanchez, so that people can add their prayers towards to healthy recovery of a beautiful baby.

They also have a video of baby Zara online, and every time I watch I'm unable to keep a single eye dry. I hope that you will keep Zara and family in your prayers, as I consider it a privilege for me to be able to do so. -Daddy Spoon.

Zara @ Hospital from www.MyVideoandPhotos.com on Vimeo.

Cousin Invasion!

It's an invasion of the cousins! Hee hee hee, we're on all a photo together. Nonna Spoon sent this to Daddy and I get to share it with you. Look at all of us! We're such happy cousins! I can't wait to meet my boy cousins and get to play with them. We'll drool on everything and make people fall in love with how cute we are. It will be so much fun! Hee hee hee!

More Entertaining than TV

Daddy Spoon is so funny. He says that I am more entertaining than the TV. I don't know what this TV thing is, but I like that I'm better than it at making my Daddy happy.

I had such a fun day today. I went with Mommy and Daddy Spoon on a long car ride this morning. Moo Cow and I had the most serious of conversations. It was whether ruffles looked better in purple or pink. I spent a lot of time convincing Moo Cow that purple ruffles are better. Why purple? Well, I'm wearing purple today, silly! It took me so long that fell asleep and when I woke up I wasn't in the car anymore!

Daddy and I have had a good time together today. We played in all kinds of places and did all kinds of fun stuff. I got to go for walks and play on my freshly washed play quilt and even help Daddy stack some firewood. (I supervised) I've made sure to make all kinds of cute noises for Daddy and he loves it. I think that is why he says I'm more entertaining than TV. And with compliments like that, I know my hard work is very much appreciated. And with pictures like these, you know I'm definitely loved! :D

Four Months and First Nicknames

So it's a little known fact that our first nickname for Babykins was "Truffle Shuffle" and was earned after her first ultrasound appointment. Since we didn't know her gender at that time, and given that she was a full pound heavier than most in utero babies at that stage in development, -plus there's the fact that I love the Goonies- we gave her the short-used nickname "Truffle Shuffle" which turned out to be a good call on my part since Ophelia was 9 pounds, 9.6 ounces at birth. We've since moved onto cuter and more punkin ba-bunkin-appropriate nicknames, but now that we've passed the four-month milestone for our precious Baby Spoon, I wanted to post a video to the namesake of her first nickname.
Jerk alert. It's Chunk:

Four is a Good Number to Reach

I'm four months old today! Yay! I keep getting bigger and bigger. Hee hee hee, I'm so big nowadays Daddy Spoon has started to do exercises for his arm strength. Why? Because I'm a heavy little bowling ball, they tell me. I don't know what a bowling ball is but I'll take the compliment. Hee hee hee. I'm so happy to be so big! I'm already playing in my jumper-bouncer and rolling from side to side and singing along with Daddy Spoon when he puts me to sleep at night. I'm doing great for four months. And four months is a third of a year. I wonder what fun things I'll be doing then. We'll have to see won't we?

the Patriot

Eight years ago, I remember where I was during the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington D.C. I was a missionary for the LDS church, working in Recife, Pernambuco -one of the northeastern regions of Brazil. The most that I saw that day was quick news clips of the planes entering the World Trade Centers followed by rapid commentary in Portuguese -which I didn't understand too well at that point. The confusion and anger that came from those attacks only served to heighten the love I have for my country.

Eight years later, I understand all too well what Patriotism means to me. I love my country and abhor the type of hatred that led to the loss of so many lives on that day and since. Today I am blessed with a young daughter who thankfully will never have to experience the horror of 9/11, but I plan to raise her with a love for both her country and the history of this nation. I may not be able to teach her much, but she can learn by example. That is the best teaching tool of all. -Daddy Spoon.

Definitely a Big Girl Now

Our little punkin ba-bunkin is growing up so fast! She's been going on play dates with Grandma Spoon and friends of the family during the times that Mommy Spoon and I are both at work. Everyone tells us that our Baby Spoon is so well-behaved while we are away. I feel blessed to have such a wonderful daughter.

As much as we'd love for one of us to be able to watch Babykins daily, we are thankful to have the support of family and friends while we are both working. And the plus side is that Miss O. gets to share her infectious joy with everyone else that she spends time with. We love her for that and look forward to sharing more wonderful moments with her. After all, she is the punkin ba-bunkin who always steals the show! Here she is going on her first full-day play date while Mommy and I were both at work. We love her so much. :D -Daddy Spoon.

Being a Big Girl

I'm so happy whenever Daddy Spoon or Mommy Spoon let me take big naps in the afternoon. I get so happy because they always make me a big bottle and have it ready for when I wake up! I like eating. Lately, I've been able to almost hold my bottle too! See? I like becoming a big girl! hee hee hee!

Playtime is the Best Time

So our little Baby Spoon is keeping up her ambitious growth spurt. She weighs well over 16 pounds now, and is 25 inches tall. On top of that she's teething and it seems that she might pop at least two teeth on her first try. We are thankful for teething tablets and baby orajel! It has relieved a lot of stress for both of the Spoon parents.

Aside from the growing pains, Babykins is one lovable, happy little baby. She's really developing her personality right now. Her face lights up whenever Mommy Spoon, Grandma or I play with her. And we all agree: playtime is the best time. -Daddy Spoon.