Many Faces of Spencer, part 1

So, for those of you out there who don't know me yet, I should proably warn you -- I'm a very complex little nearly 3 / 12th - year-old. So to help you all know what I'm thinking, I figure I should post a small guide to what I'm thinking. Mostly, you can tell via my little expressions. I'll leave out the obvious ones, like "mega annoyed so I'm screaming" and go with, say, the more fun ones...

First, curious -- mommy sometimes calls this my "Meerkat look" as I'm stretched out and MEGAcute, just like a little meekrat... This maximizes my limited vision and hearing so I can take in everything going in around me...

Second, hungry. You can tell as I'm trying to eat a rattle. Sure, it's not nearly as nice as say, a chicken pot pie, tomkatsu, sushi or the like, but it should get the point across. One of these days, Mommy will be nice enough to replace it with a lolly or something sweet!


Thirdly, scared. Daddy made a baaaaaad joke. Anybody who knows daddy's bad jokes should be quaking just by the very mention of it. Add in the "CLICK!" of a camera, and its at times like these I wish I could flee in terror! Just wait until I'm 16 and have the car keys!

Hiding...

I've taken to hiding behind my toys to escape Daddy's Evil Eye. It's kinda funny to watch him try and find me. In fact, I can even stick my tongue out at him and he can't do anything about it!


Mommy is smarter; she will just pick me up and feed me...

Rain in Brooklyn...

It was raining and foggy the other day. Daddy took a couple pictures, and said it looked "very Blade-Runner-esque". I asked him what that meant, and he said I could watch it when I'm older, like 16. Being that I'm 12 weeks old now, I think that means I have to wait another 4...

Personally, I like staring out the window and watching the lights fly past...its cooool.

Auntie Francine...

I got to hang out with Auntie Francine the other day. She brought mommy and daddy pastries, and then we all went out to lunch at Rice -- a local eatery that focuses on, well, Rice. Mommy got the Rice Benedict. Daddy got a curry. Auntie Francine got a rice salad. Uncle Eric -- who seems to be afraid of me -- had tea smoked salmon...

A Walk about the Neighborhood...

Daddy took me on a short walk around the neighborhood. We started out with some coffee at Rebar, which is a hip artsy joint across the street...


Coffee in stroller, we wandered around the neighborhood and looked at some of the art. It's quite dramatic ...



I was momentarily frightened by the big mechanical mammoth creature depicted, but then I figured it was just art. The sidewalk was bumpy and far scarier then any mammoth!

My First Show!

We went out for dinner the other night. As an added attraction, they had a live band, so I got to see my first show!


I couldn't get too close to the stage (I blame daddy for that one!) and while my view was somewhat obscured by some groupies, I could still see enough. One guy had a fancy pacifier that made cool noises! I tried to make my pacifier make some music, but no matter what I did, it didn't do anything more then squeak and fall onto the floor. Maybe someday, I'll get myself one of those cool ones!

Daddy deposited me on the mat, again -- this is nothing abnormal as I usually have a pretty good time. But I wanted something *special*



And what do you know? He held a second toy so I could hit two things at the same time!


Ambidexterity : punching two toys at once! You must practice it...

Goofy Smiles..

...on a bad camera... ...in low light...



Yup. I really seem to be getting this smiling stuff down!

The Japanese word for torture...

...is Tomkatsu.

Sure. It's really breaded pork served with cabbage, rice and sauce. But its torture! Mommy and Daddy took me to Katsuhama. It's this little Japanese place on 47th street in Manhattan that does pretty much only Katsu. And they do it pretty well.


Sitting at the table, this plate of delicious croquettes was delivered in front of me. They smelled wonderful, and then ... I realized ... I COULDN'T EAT THEM!


Shortly after, two large plates of tomkatsu were delivered. They smelled wonderful and I had to endure watching mommy and daddy eat them. I could only sit there and fuss for a bit until they finished.

In any case, I'm going to make them take me back there the moment I have teeth. But as for the Tomkatsu, well, I got them back -- I kept them up *ALL* night!

Sunrise...

I made daddy watch another sunrise over Brooklyn:



It's definitely something about this place I like. Quite colorful and dramatic with the Williamsburg bridge and the industrial look of Brooklyn in the background...

'da Finger!

Daddy kept sticking the camera in my face the other day, so I tried to express my displeasure with him. Sadly, I kinda discovered I don't *quite* have the manual dexterity or coordination required to get my message across...



Maybe next week...

The Answer: Four Feet.

The Question: How far can sick travel when I throw up?

Yup, I got sick the other day. I had just finished eating and felt a little funny. And sure enough, something weird happened -- lunch went flying all over the sofa. Mommy freaked. Daddy wasn't around. Grandma was immediately concerned. But it was an interesting experience, to say the least!

Artistic Streak...

These hand things are becoming kinda useful. I can now grab things and they're really good for sucking on. Somebody decided to take pictures of them as well, so of course, some of them are getting stuck up here. Go figure. All this 'cos some artist did a picture of little dude holding someone's finger...




And some day, I'm sure I'll look back, and go, "What do you mean, my hands were THAT small!?!?"

Understanding the Mat

I now understand how to use the spinner on the bird on the mat. I was playing with it the other day and in between punching it and kicking it, I decided to do something different. I grasped it and carefully studied the picture on it.

And then rotated it one picture...

And another...

Ok, so it's not the most exciting thing to do. But it might be good for *something*, someday...

Mommy Time...

Sometimes, mommy takes a break from the feeding and the changing and the rocking and the everything *else* she does and actually gets a chance to play with me!

She's usually pretty good, keeping the sunlight out of my eyes and paying careful attention to me.


There isn't any of this "bouncing around on a knee" thing that grandpa does. Nor is there any of this "Ooooh! Let's go walk 'round the neighborhood!" like daddy always does... Yup. Just good, classic playtime. And I get milk and cookies afterwords! Though, I'm not entirely sure what to do with a cookie yet...

The Papa-razi strikes again...

Oi! You with the camera! You're not feeding me, you're not playing with me, so GET THE CAMERA OUT OF MY FACE!

Smile Time!

Oddly, parents, grandparents, visitors, neighbors, stray kids and strange dogs all seem to go absolutely crazy when I make these silly facial gestures. I get this "Ooooh...wooot a biiiig liittttle smmmiiiiilllleee!" from them. Usually, followed by "Ooooooooo....soooooo keeewt!"



Now, if I could just figure out how to charge them for it, I'd be all set!



If you want, I take cash, charge, or cheque. (Yea, I know ... so last millenium ... I really should take PayPal!)

Grandparents #1...

While daddy is traveling, grandparents #1 from London showed up. It was a bit of a surprise seeing them so soon, so for a while there I thought I had grandpa #3 and grandma #3 -- 3 sets of grandparents!

The next morning, I realized that #3 was the same as #1 -- which upset me greatly. It meant that there wasn't going to be an extra set of birthday prezzies or Crimbo prezzies... And I kinda had a small meltdown which concerned mommy greatly. But when you consider it is a 33% reduction in the number of Christmas gifts, it's pretty serious!

Playing with Grandpa #2

Ok, this should have been posted *last* week, but here are some piccies of grandpa #2...

So Sue Me..

Yea, yea, yea....I know, I haven't written in a while.

Daddy's been busy. He's been off traveling to some place called "Illinois". I've been told I'm going to move there... soon... I'll even get to fly on a plane, those big things I see from time to time out my window. Which is a definite change. Mommy doesn't let me onto the computer, which is unfortunate. Only daddy trusts me with a computer! ('da fool!)

So, Now I get to spend the next few days catching up on things before he takes off to Illinois again...

Sunrises...

I've taken to making Daddy watch the sunrise. Sunrises in Brooklyn are particularly nice, with the large eastern facing window. I cry, they wake up, daddy comes and changes me. And I get to lay there, staring out the window at the ever-changing sunrise.


The last couple mo(u)rnings have been foggy, with crappy sunrises as a result. Days like that I hardly wonder why I bother to scream at 5:00am and think, I should just sleep through the night!

Mommy Spencer Girl

Mommy did her impression of the Morton Salt Girl the other day, with a Spencer instead of salt...


It's nice to see that Mommy has an evil twin too! At least her evil twin isn't as cute as "Widdle Face"...

More Grandparents?

Wow. This whole grandparent thing is confusing. First, the grandparents leave...and then the grandparents come back -- but they're not the same! Something is wrong with the universe when someone like me has to keep track of *4* different grandparental units!





But then again, since they all bring gifts, I guess they can all stay...

I'm Moving?

Rumor has it I'm moving to Illinois.

I don't know where that is. It's clearly somewhere beyond Buy Buy Baby -- the farthest I've ventured from my flat. I'm told that there's a good park there, but as I can't go down the slides nor can I swing on the swings, I don't see the relevance. I'll need to find out where I can get the best sushi, the best beer, and figure out a new cable TV system to get my cartoons.

I'm not sure I can handle all this!

Cute Contest

Trivia Question: Which is cuter? A baby goose or me?




See, the baby geese were out playing in the park. I was out on a stroll with mommy. Mommy's reaction was quite clear -- "Baby Geese? Yea, so?"

Spencer 1, Baby Goose 0.