Catching up...from Halloween to Hanukkah (and a few holidays in between)

Thanks to everyone for Spencer's wonderful new gifts.

He loves all of his new toys and clothes.

Here we are before my firm's holiday party

Hanging around...and hanging cords (high on the list of Spencer's favorites)

Visit from Grandma Carole and Papa Kenny

Halloween...it seems like so long ago now!

Where has the time gone? Spencer just enjoyed his second Hanukkah and Christmas and thanks to our wonderful families he has wonderful new toys and new clothes.

Spencer turns 16 months in a few days and moved into full blown toddler mode several months ago. He quickly passed from walking to running and now gets himself into everything. He particularly enjoys cell phones (only the real phones - toy phones don't cut it with him) and pretending to talk on the phone. He loves his toddler class at daycare. The teachers treat Spencer and his friends like little adults and he really has grown into a very interactive and extremely playful kid. We love taking him out on the town and now that he toddles around he has a new appreciation for activities.

We are spending the holidays at home in Denver and cannot remember a more relaxing and fun few days with just the four of us. Life gets a little hectic with Jon and I both working full time and our time with Spencer seems limited. We finally have a few days together without a long list of errands and activities to pack into a short weekend. Yesterday we went for a long walk in the park and played with Spencer in the playground. he loves the slide and the swings and running around chasing after other kids. Last night we took him to zoo lights and we all had such a fun time together.

Doesn't every blog need pictures of the toddler at the pumpkin patch?

Last week we took Spencer for his first visit to the pumpkin patch. He focused more on not tripping over the vines (the pumpkin patch poses a bit of an obstacle for a new walker) than on the pumpkins! We had such an amazing day together and it gives Jon and I such great pleasure watching Spencer grow into a little boy who enjoys running around and observing life.

The weekend prior to pumpkin picking we had Jon's mom and stepfather stay with us. Here's a picture of grandma Vonnie reading to Spencer before bedtime and grandpa Don playing around with Spencer.

13.1 Miles

Here's a pic from the Denver Half-Marathon. Jon and Spencer cheered me on somewhere around mile 11. The race had a great course through the city and we had beautiful weather. I ran the first few miles with my girlfriends that I run with in the mornings before work...then I was feeling a little zippy and took off, only to have some hip pain toward the end. In all, it was a great day and I was so glad to have my boys cheering me on!

Visit from Grandma Linda and Grandpa Lewie

We had a wonderful week with Grandpa Lewie and Grandma Linda. We drove to the same spot we went the week prior (see last week's blog posting) to look at the yellow aspen trees. This week they were a beautiful yellow. Spencer had so much fun hanging with his grandparents.

For those of you keeping track of his new tricks, Spencer officially became a walker...no more crawling for this toddler. We are so proud of our little guy who moves into the Toddler One class (graduating up from Infant Two) next week.

autumn hike

Happy Autumn! We took Spencer on our annual fall trek to see the yellow aspens. He loves hanging out in his hiking backpack (is there a better way to hike!) and we all had a really fun day together.