The life and times of Quinlan Rian

With school in full swing for Katharine and me, it is great to sit back and see all the fun we are able to have with Q. I love coming home and seeing him, and my weekends are totally devoted to him (and grocery shopping, which we usually do together - Katharine sometimes comes too.)

One of Q's words, that he uses frequently, is "draw". He loves to draw and takes whatever instrument he can get. He loves stealing pens, but will use a pencil if he has to. His favorite is Katharine's highlighters, but he also uses his crayons. He has made several pieces while at daycare, which he brings home and shares with us.


He usually draws at his table, but he wanted to draw in the kitchen, so we used his floor mat, which happened to be clean for the occasion. He is holding tight to the highlighter he stole from his Mom (though she gave permission if he stayed on the mat).



We were very happy to have some nicer weather come through this weekend. We let Q decorate the driveway, which he loved.


Another major change around here was the chair switch. We moved from the highchair to a booster chair. During the transition we had a few days of Q trying to eat from a chair, but the temptation to get down and run around was too great, and he didn't really eat a lot.


He likes his new chair and loves being a big boy and eating at the table.



Still reading.....

Q has always enjoyed reading, and we have several other pictures of him enjoying books that have been shared previously. I like this photo, and like several of the other ones here, shows our growing boy as he becomes more boy than baby.



Another new activity Q participates in is shoe stealing. Q loves to get a pair of shoes that Katharine or I leave out. He takes them and walks around in them smiling his happy smile.

He is a wonder. :)

Our very own Dr. Naismith

Q had an eventful Sunday: eating pancakes for breakfast, going grocery shopping with Dad, and then coming home to spend a few hours refining the rules to his own game. For anyone who doesn't know, James Naismith is credited with creating a popular game, too. Maybe Q's game will catch on, and we can license the whole deal and then live a relaxed life on the profits. Even though I sincerely doubt there will be any money involved with this game, it did bring a lot of entertainment, especially while watching him play and being recruited to play with him.

Needed to play:
A ball, the bouncier the better, but any will do. 1 is preferred, but up to 6 various balls of differing bounciness and size were utilized.
Soft foam long things that can be swung and jiggled, one per player.
A box, or five

Playing surface needed:
Hard enough for ball to bounce, but with enough obstacles for it to ricochet around and possibly get stuck or temporarily lost.

Players:
From 1 to 3. Q made it work with 1 but he recruited until he had 3 consistently.

The play:
From a sitting position swing the foam jiggly thingy around until the ball is encouraged to move in any direction. When the ball is out of reach, one player is assigned to retrieve it and restart play. It seemed that this was a steady position which Q, as captain and game creator, claimed for himself--in fact, he shrieked if another tried to go get the ball.

Q, seen here retrieving the ball.

Q, getting set to restart. Notice the squatting position which happens before he sits.

I liked this shot because it caught some of the action, the bouncy green ball in the background. Additional skill is needed if the cabinets on the playing field are left open, causing the ball to bounce inside of them.

Ready to retrieve, again.

Quin's battle cry.
"Come on, lets play round 48."

Lucky for the other players, a break was needed for lunch and a nap. After a long morning round, everyone was ready for the respite and this way, some of us can think about our strategy.

DOS!

We interrupt your regular-scheduled Q blogs with a little exciting news! Dos, our oft-discussed sibling for Q, is in the oven! We're due April 11, though Katharine thinks it'll be an April Fool's baby. Mom and baby are doing well--our midwife, Liane, caught a strong heartbeat on the Doppler, and we did have an early sonogram which showed our little gummy bear hopping and bopping--we didn't have one of these with Quinlan, so at least Dos can say that he (or she) had something of his or her own! :) We're thrilled that Quin'll be a big brother--he already waves to his mama's belly and gives it kisses when prompted. I'm sure he'll have a little attack when it means he has to share attention with another, but what are you gonna do?

Two videos from the doctor: the first shows one of the practice's midwives, Liane, picking up the heartbeat of the little baby. The heartbeat races and is hard to hear over the talking, but it is the steady rhythm on the video. The second video shows the screen from the sonogram; the electronic measurement shows Q's younger sibling is 2.67 centimeters long. It's pretty amazing to think how much growth will happen in the next 7 months. We are so excited that our family is growing.

18 months later.......

Hanging out with Q is always such fun. Even when we are doing the same thing for the gazillionth time, he makes it seem completely new. Here are just a few moments in the last week or so.

Building blocks with Dad.
Q always was great at demolishing, but now he is getting better at building. He likes to make short towers and carry them around.

Q enjoyed some Chik-Fil-A: his first official fast food meal. It may have been a little greasy, but it was yummy. He got fruit with his chicken, which he calls, "Bock bock" after the noise a chicken makes, but he enjoyed some of my fries too. Yuuummm, waffle fries!

Q got some new sneakers, and he is very proud of them. He stomped all over in them and has brought them over randomly to be put on while hanging out in the house--very funny.

Having some of Mom's morning shake.
He has been practicing drinking from a cup (or plastic container in this case) with no lid.

That was the best protein shake ever!

On August 20, 2010, Quinlan turned 18 months old. After a year and a half in our lives, it still is an amazing time. On Thursday, we took Q for his 18 month well-check.
He weighed in at 27 pounds and 7 ounces and was 34 inches tall. His head was 19 inches in circumference, which means his hats don't fit him anymore.

Quinlan got to play with a giant foam nose, which was pretty cool.

And since he is so tall, he can now open drawers, which is proving to be a problem at home.We keep repeating no, and he usually closes it. He liked putting the nose back in the drawer it came from and getting it out.


I am still working on getting Q to help with regular chores, but he is a great helper with whatever we are doing. Here he helps with the laundry by putting his laundry basket back in his room. His favorite part of laundry is taking things out of the washing machine and putting them into the dryer.

Mossil and Fossil sent a random present down for Q and his new found love of giraffes. This is a hand-carved giraffe from Kenya. Q loves to carry it around by the neck and kiss it good night.

My students come to school tomorrow, and Katharine starts Tuesday. It will be a busy time as we start the year, but we will continue to share Q's exploits as often as we can.

Back to the grind - and loving it!

With Katharine and I both going back to school, we have had a hectic beginning to August. Thankfully, there is still time for all the important things in life.

Quinlan reading with his Mom (the cuddle was included for free).

We received some large boxes in the mail.
Q was very happy and still plays in them.
Note for future self - save the money, buy the box.

Not only do the boxes make good houses, but they can be danced in, too!

An awesome summer treat: the ice cream sandwich.
It took Q a minute or two to realize that this was a really good thing, but once he figured it out, he was totally into the treat.

A friend knitted Q a new blanket. He was thrilled to have it, and carries it around and cuddles it every chance he gets. I love his very proud pose here.

Our little boy grows bigger every day. He flips and flops at night, and though he generally sleeps very well, he often gets into a position where something hangs outside of the bed. It is very funny, and since he doesn't seem to care, I don't feel bad laughing.

We are taking him to his 18 month check-up this week. One and a half years. It seems like all of the things we have experienced couldn't possibly have happened in only 18 months, but they did. We look forward to the next days, weeks, months, and years as he shows us his personality and learns more each day.

Lions, Tigers, and Bears: Oh My!

While visiting Grandpa Roy and Grandma MJ up in the DFW area, we took a day trip to the Fort Worth Zoo. It was Quinlan's first zoo experience, and he really enjoyed it, as did his entire entourage of Mom, Dad, Grandpa Roy, Grandma MJ, Auntie Jenni, and Shelby. We made it through most of the exhibits, only skipping the reptile house and the Texas exhibit because of time--the poor kid needed a nap and lunch pretty badly!

Q and his Mom in front of the orangutans--we got to watch the female spit at the male when he tried to steal her snack. We hoped Quin didn't learn any new tricks.

Fish! Q loved watching the ducks and koi swimming around on the pond.

If we can teach him to say flamingo, I think he'd really impress people.

Quinlan and his Dad, watching and learning about the gibbons. Q did not want to be in his stroller because he was worried that he'd miss the cool animals, so Dad carried him a lot.

Adorable!

Giraffes!
Q consistently points to all of the animals in the books we read (and we've been reading a lot of animal books lately), and he really seems to like the giraffes.

Listening to Mama lecture about the difference between primates and
monkeys--note the glazed eyes.

Quinlan's first carousel ride!
Shelby and Jenni graciously offered to take him.
Of course, as soon as he saw his Mom watching, he burst into tears.

You can see Q trying to make his elephant sign--the lifted arm and the trumpeting noise--we tried to catch it on video, but he was really quiet and there was a lot of background noise. He usually does it on command now, whenever you say, "Elephant."

Quinlan poses on the same komodo dragon that his Mom sat on when she was a
little kid visiting the Fort Worth Zoo.

All-in-all, it was a great day trip to take and Q really had a lot of fun. It was fun to watch him sign for "more" as we walked in between exhibits. We had a wonderful family adventure before returning to schedules and work.

End of Summer Trip to Frisco

After the trip up north, Q made the shorter trip to the Dallas/Fort Worth area to visit with Katharine's parents in Frisco. It was a great, relaxing visit with friends and family.

Quinlan traveled with his basketball and had a great time running around Grandma MJ's and Grandpa Roy's house.

It didn't take long for Q to learn that he could help in the kitchen. And by help, he means eat some of whatever is being cut up.

Visiting with Aunt Jenny was lots of fun. Q was able to borrow her phone,
but he gave her lots of kisses in return.

Grandma has a hippopotamus planter that Q loves. He has a Sandra Boynton book about hippo belly buttons and was very excited about the hippo that he could touch.

Grandma MJ got lots of snuggles and cuddles. Q loved playing the piano and
watching videos online with her.

Quinlan loved his time with Grandpa Roy, who let him listen to music on the computer and recruited Q to help water the trees outside. Here they are sitting up past Q's bedtime to watch the beginning of the MLS Allstar game.

Katharine and I opted to drive up in the evening. We fed Q and then put him to bed in his car seat. He did a great job sleeping on the way home from Frisco. It was great to be with Roy and MJ for a few days, and Quinlan really loved every minute of it.