Happy Halloween

Quin celebrated his first Halloween today in his first ever Halloween costume. Here are some photos of our little gnome.



I'm pretty happy being a gnome. I think I can learn to like this Halloween thing.



Everyone, look how cute I am!



Thinking about how to travel for cheap--it's tough.




I couldn't wait for the pie at Thanksgiving.


Playing with my Mom and loving every second of it.

All in all, I think that Halloween rocked. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for giving me so much fun!

Go Phillies!!!

Quinlan is proudly sporting his Phillies gear, ready to cheer the current World Series Champions on to a repeat win. Go Phils!

Cribs are for sleeping . . .

I am not sure if we want to celebrate quite yet (let's hope this is not a jinx), but little man has recently decided that eating in the middle of the night isn't always necessary. Needless to say, Katharine and I are thrilled at this change. He hasn't quite mastered sleeping all the way through the night, but when he wakes up he babbles and moves around a little bit and then goes back to sleep. It is very exciting, and as a bonus, both Mom and Dad realized how much more energy that extra sleep provides. So far, it's happened twice. Let's hope it's a trend!


Taken this morning around 6 AM. He did get up around 5:20 when Jared woke up, he ate a little and went back down. After going to bed at 7:30 the night before, this was the longest he has gone without eating--probably ever.

Of course, on the same day that he sleeps like a champion, he also learns to pull-up like a champion. As I drove home tonight, I got the message from Katharine that I had a job when I got there. Evidently, she had placed him in his crib when they got home because he had been sleeping when she picked him up. Katharine went in to check on him when heard louder than normal breathing, and there he was, pulling up on the side of the crib.


Look what I can do!
Of course, this picture was taken later (though he did prop himself up). Needless to say, it was time to lower the mattress in the crib.


A new perspective of the room.


Exploring the new pad.

It's my Grandpa's birthday!

Katharine's Birthday

8 Months Old

Happy 8-Month Birthday to Me!

Quin celebrated his 8 month birthday today. Well, he hung out while Mom and Dad celebrated.

We did the obligatory measurements and took pictures for your reading and viewing pleasure.

Q gained a touch of weight, topping out the Wii scale at 20.1 pounds. His head is .5 an inch larger, measuring 18 inches, and he is .5 an inch longer, stretching to reach 28.5 inches long.

Of course, he doesn't stay still and stretch for very long.

His mom and dad are really enjoying the time they spend together with their little man. Here he is, learning the guitar with his dad (who's also still learning).

Here Dad, let me tune it for you.

Hey, I know where the C chord is!!!


He is so much fun to hang out with. The people who say children change your life are absolutely correct - and in such great ways.

Swings, part deux

The weather in Austin has been gorgeous the past few days. Katharine and I took Q for a long afternoon walk this weekend and were able to stop in the park and let Q truly experience the swings. We had a great time outside, and he seemed to like the new activities.

Oh, what a wonderful world . . .

Freefallin'

Me and my Mommy


When we first started off he seemed a little hesitant, but definitely got a little more relaxed throughout.



Once Q got into it, he really dug the swinging. Fun times, laughing with his Mom.




A quick trip down the slide didn't impress Q too much. Maybe he is more of a swing-man than a slide-man.

Currently, Q is a little cranky and fussy--cutting tooth #7, we think. Can't wait to post more pics of his chompers! Just in time for Halloween. Maybe vampire should be our costume choice. . .

Grandparents and random photos

Katharine and I feel so lucky to have such wonderful family members. This past week, we were graced with Grandpa Roy and Grandma MJ, who hung with little guy and were a huge help around the house. Q certainly enjoyed the time with both of his grandparents.


Climbing up Grandpa Roy


My Grandma MJ loves me lots!


Just two guys, having a good laugh together.

And here are a couple of random photos of the life and times of Quinlan Rian.


We had to break out the Halloween pajamas.
Q is still thinking about what costume he wants to wear.


Next stage of baby proofing - moving things that Q can pull himself up on.
He almost stood up here trying to pull magazines out of this box.
Life will certainly be interesting for a while.

Pears and Zucchini

Little Man had some new foods tonight and enjoyed dining on pears (jarred.....I know, we have some fresh ones, but they aren't ripe enough) and zucchini. He had lots of fun eating with Mom and had food all over, which resulted in a timely bath this evening.

Check out his happy smiling face. He seems to get that the camera is a fun toy, and it is hard to divert his attention when it is out. (Katharine edit: I think he just wants to eat it.)


Yum! Food . . .



Check out my tongue!


This is WAY too much fun. :)



Mo-om, I can do it on my own.

There has to be more in there!

On another note, Q has had special Riedlinger visitors this week. The whole crew was here on Tuesday; sadly, we have no photos to show from it. Grandpa Roy, Grandma MJ, and Aunt Liz hung out with Q on Wednesday. Grandma and Grandpa will visit through Saturday, hanging with Q during the day, and we will be sure to get some photos of Q with his adoring grandparents.

Photos

"I don't trust words -- I trust pictures." Huzaifa Asif
I am not sure who Huzaifa Asif is, but I found this quote online and liked it, especially for this purpose. Feel free to send me a message if you have anything to add about Asif, hopefully he/she is a good person.

I've written before about how amazed I am watching our son. I also have heard before that many parents go through this phase, but I sometimes wonder if it will ever end. I hope not.
It's easier to just show you: he is truly wonderful. It makes me enjoy the weekend in totally different ways.

We got to play with some peas and sweet potatoes mixed together. After having some, we dumped some out to get our hands in it. A couple of times Q was able to move his hands to his mouth and ate the food that was on his hands. It wasn't really a movement of food to mouth as much as it was accidentally getting some food off of his hands.

Really, it was all very good. Dad just didn't think that cleaning it up was as fun.

Playing with Dad. I love flying through the air!

Contemplating life. Yeah, it's good, and tasty.

You can almost see the laugh there, and the concentration on Dad's face as he avoids the drool.

An almost artistic photo that Katharine shot of Quin in midflight while Dad did arm raises and tossed Q about. It was completely unintentional, but cool.



Ready for fall: all decked out for the season. Check out my coloring--orange is my color!



See how cute I am! I'm really, really, really cute!



Ready to play. I like both sides of my exersaucer, the top and the bottom.


Yes, my shirt says, "Bone to be wild." Our little dude is quite the wild one.
(You can tell by the smile.)

Happy Birthday, Pops!

SWINGS!!!!

Tonight was National Night Out, and Katharine indulged me in visiting our local park as part of our walk. Our neighborhood association was hosting a gathering and while we visited, Katharine put Quin in the swings for his first swinging experience.


This seems fun! I think monkey will enjoy it too!


Thanks for pushing me, Mommy.

The video is probably the worse quality posted online ever. It comes from my cell phone, and I didn't even know my phone did video. We obviously didn't realize that the cell phone video would include sound, so all the crazy noises come from Mom and Dad. In our defense, I knew we only had a few seconds of memory on the cell, and we were trying to get him to look up. The video is literally 6 seconds long, so watch fast.




We will try the swings again and take the appropriate technology with us to capture a real video.

Giant Balls and Miniature Books

Post edit: Thanks MJ for catching my typo! You may redeem your prize in person at your own convenience. :)

Technology update: Jared figured it out! YAY! So we are back to being our up-to-the-minute-tech-savvy selves, ready to Skype whenever you are (we think). I know everyone was very concerned. :)
We did so enjoy having Peg visit, and we're hoping the next set of pictures will entice other grandparents (or aunts and uncles) to come visit. You know you want to hang with Q! He's just so . . . . fun!

Shared post - I am taking over from Katharine. This afternoon, she was on the phone, and I was playing with Quin. After bouncing on the exercise ball together, he got on the floor, and the ball rolled towards him, and HE PUSHED IT BACK! It was the first time father and son played ball together:another proud dad moment! We probably batted it back and forth 3 times before I thought to get the camera out. He was so cute grabbing at and pushing the ball.

I will now return the writing back to Katharine for the captions.


Yeah, I think I can eat that.

Whaaaaaat???

Preparing to jump aboard, captain! (Jared adds - He's pushing it back - how cool!)

Jared says: It was great having Mossil (Mom/Peg) here. She got up early on Saturday, her last day, to hang with little man and read to him. He sometimes gets more interested in eating the book than listening to the story.

See, Mossil, it tastes better than it looks!

YUM! Mom and Dad never let me eat books!

Random Photos and a Visit with Mossil

Q has been a very lucky guy this week, since he got to hang out with his Mossil. She flew down from Philly to spend a few days with the little guy and was very eager to feed him right after she arrived.


What are you going to put in my mouth?


Okay, that was pretty good.
Mossil was amazed with how wide Q opens up his mouth, ready to be fed. We give credit to Mister Craig who feeds Quin at daycare. It is hilarious to watch him open his mouth and wait for you to bring him that little spoon.


Random Photo #1. Quinlan in his hat, ready to see the world and avoid the sun. His head has grown and is quickly outgrowing the hats that we have already, but we have several that were too big for his little head that he can now start to wear with his larger head. Not pictured are his larger feet and the larger socks that we have to get onto them. It is amazing to see how he grows.



Random Photo #2. One of the many things Katharine and I enjoy is a leisurally stroll through Target. Q has clearly picked up this habit, though he usually rolls through the store in the cart. He is practicing at home and will hook his arms through the bag handle and scoot along the floor pulling the bag along with him. He will clearly be a great shopper.

Internet update: the modem arrived on Monday, so I give the evil empire (see previous post) credit on that. Now I have to deal with my wireless router not connecting to the new modem. I reset it several times and even tried loading the original setup software to make it work. My tech knowledge reached its peak though, and we are temporarily living off of one ethernet cable to receive our internet feed. It is frustrating to be wired down with the laptop perched on my lap, but we will survive this too, and hopefully be networked and wireless again soon.