Holidays - 2010

It was wonderful to experience the holidays with Q. He was so much more engaged this year, and when asked, he can now tell you that Santa says, "Ho, Ho, Ho!" We learned that he is a very careful unwrapper (i.e., a shredder), cherishing each tiny piece, and even occasionally tasting the wrapping and tissue paper. With family members in several locations, we survived 8 days of travel, which included the drive to Dallas, an airplane to Philadelphia, a trip to the doctor with a double ear infection and not enough sleep. All in all, it was wonderful, though we were very happy to return home to recuperate prior to returning to work.

As usual Q was the star of the show, whether we were with aunts and uncles, grandparents, or random strangers in the airport. Q is always ready with a smile and wave, and now either a cheery "Hi!" or a defiant "No!".

Here are some pictures from our holiday adventures.

We started early with an advent calendar made up of mittens. Each day (almost) Q found a little treat. One of his favorites, naturally, were Mint M&Ms.

Q helped his Mom make gingerbread cookies for her class. He liked rubbing the flour around on the counter and eating the dough.

Mailed presents were fun because they stretched the gifts over more time. Q loves his bike sent by Mossil and Fossil. So far he "rides" it up to the park and around the block.

Also arriving early was a tent from Pops and Nona Stina. The tent has a tunnel attachment that Q loves crawling through and tries to get his Mom and Dad into as well.


We started Christmas in Dallas with Grandma MJ and Grandpa Roy. Q had a great time visiting with his grandparents, as well as his Auntie Liz, Shawn, and Auntie Jenni.

New special monkey chair, check. My very own laptop, check. Life is good.


Thomas, James, and Percy too.
Trains are awesome!


Q got all sorts of toys, but Grandma's new salad spinner still looks pretty fascinating.
(Come on, can we cook now?)

After the time in Dallas, we flew up to Pennsylvania on Christmas Eve.


Q did great in the airport and on the plane. He really likes the Southwest boarding area which had blue stripes on the posts. Blue!!!



Christmas morning at Mossil and Fossils. Sick and tired, but happy.
At this point, he was getting pretty good at unwrapping presents and was ready to volunteer his services to other people who had things to open.



Sunday morning.
During one of our most interesting moments, Q put himself down for a nap, on the floor. He was a tired little dude.

It snowed while we were there. It was very different than last year when we got some snow in Dallas. This year's was a lot of very light and powdery snow. Q thought it was fun.

We spent somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes outside, which wasn't too bad since we had a great jacket but not good pants or shoes. Q desperately wanted to stay out, until he decided he was finished and wanted to be carried back in, which happened to be an instantaneous decision.




The video of snow fun!

After the snow was shoveled and plowed we were able to visit with Pops and Nona 'Stina at their place where Q got to open yet another present. :)

A new bowling set!!!!!

All in all, it was an awesome trip, surrounded by friends and family. We had a great time, and obviously, Q did, too!

24 down, 16 to go....

Katharine and I went to see the midwife and the medical practice this morning for her 24-week appointment. It was another quick visit without too many questions or too much new information. I was a little surprised when Liane handed me the Doppler to try and listen to Zoe's heartbeat. I kept searching and hoping maybe she would offer assistance or guidance, but I was left all alone to search and find our little girl all on my own. (Notice that he did it, too!)




We are excited about the Christmas holidays and know we have been somewhat sparse in our recent posts. We will try to capture some of Q's excitement to share in video and photo. If we don't see you to wish it in person, Merry Christmas!!!!!

Thanksgiving Fun

Thanksgiving came and went, as did many visitors, all of whom were wowed by Q with his eager and inviting attitude. In true Quinlan fashion, he was not interested in food on Thanksgiving, but he happily dug into some leftovers.

It was pretty funny to watch him dip the bread from the stuffing into the cranberry sauce.

Aunt Liz came up and brought her dogs with her. When Q is told Auntie Liz is coming, he always says, "Dog!" He seems to be good at making connections.

Katharine's cousin Kelsey is spending a year in Texas working with Habitat for Humanity and spent the holiday with us, while Q chased her around and stole her phone.

After waking up early on Saturday, Q spent some time wrestling his dad.

After pinning his dad, he was very eager to cuddle.

The post-Thanksgiving Christmas preparations have begun, and we are trying to get good photos. Quinlan really is enjoying the decorations and having so much fun with everything. Experiencing each step through his eyes has been so much fun.

Quick Aside:
This evening, as we were reading to Q, he was drinking from his water cup, and he hit Katharine with it. She took it and put it aside. A few minutes later Q saw it and made a quick grab for his cup, prompting Katharine to tell him he could have it, but no hitting Momma with it. Q replied, "Dadda," which didn't sound very good from my end. Katharine had my back though and told Q, "No hitting Dadda with it either." He smiled at her with his knowing smile that says, "I know what you are saying but will only listen to what I want to". To that, she laughed and said (admitting defeat), "You're incorrigible." To which Q replied, "Yeah." Ahh, the joys of parenthood.

Dos is a GIRL! Dosa?

We had our 20-week checkup with ultrasound today. Everything looked good--and it turns out that Dos is most certainly a girl, as we have been suspecting for a while. Quinlan and his Grandma MJ accompanied us to the OB/GYN, and MJ was the baby-wrangler for our visit. Here you can see Q looking on very intently to what was going on in the office.

What are they doing to my mom????

Here he is, engrossed by the computer screen. It WAS pretty cool.

A girl! Good news for Q: he'll still be the much-beloved, only grandson.

We are very excited and thankful as we go into the Thanksgiving weekend to be surrounded by family, in close contact with those who are far away, and with happy, healthy hearts and bodies. We'll be celebrating our eighth anniversary on Monday, too!

Working out

When Mossil was here she taught Quinlan how to train people who are working out. He is an expert in counting down and telling you that you have "One more". He even holds up his finger to show you.

In addition to running the workouts, he also picked up a few tricks for his own workouts on the special ball his Mossil bought him.

Check it out - -

Halloween

Quinlan was very interested in the whole set-up of Halloween. As soon as decorations went up, he would point them out wherever we were and ask his favorite question, "Wassat?" ("What's that?" in Quinlanese, a new language in which Katharine is an expert, and I can barely get by.)

He particularly loved pumpkins and enjoyed helping me turn our light-up ones on each night as part of the bedtime routine. We have placated his enthusiasm for holiday decorating with some turkey towels, or, as he calls them, "Gobblegobble". I can only imagine his excitement when the bins for Christmas show up to replace the measly collection of turkey towels.

With all of the excitement around Halloween pumpkins and decorating, we wanted to let Q paint a pumpkin. We both decided he was probably a little young to attempt a carving project.





Later on that night, we had plans to trick-or-treat with a neighbor friend who is Q's age. The two of them were geared up to visit with a few specific neighbors we know. It was very exciting and fun.

The little doggy all ready to go.

He seemed a little unsure at first, but got into the spirit by woofing a few times.

Here he is, coming off a porch, one of the four we visited. He did a good job of knocking on doors and really got into the fact that people gave him things.

All in all, this was the first holiday that he really understood some of what was going on around him, and that was pretty exciting to watch and participate in with him. It makes me look forward to the Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year season with much greater anticipation.

A Stupendous Visit with Mossil, Part 2: The Haircut

After 20 months of letting Quinlan's hair grow, he was getting to the stage where a strong wind might have caught the wings he had growing and lifted him off the ground. This photo was from Saturday morning prior to "The Haircut". I love the pose and the new glasses, but the hair sticking out was so precious.

Yeah, I can dig it!

I think he was frustrated over not being able to run around and go where he wanted to, since we were corralling him to a chair so that there wouldn't be an accident with the scissors.

Here's a shot of the longer hair as he runs around. Now that I look at this, it seems like he is holding onto it; maybe he was attached to his longer locks. Or maybe, he just didn't want to be told what to do.

Hmmm....a comb and the computer: which will hold his interest longer?

"Come on Mossil, you're blocking my view."

All done!

With the hair stylist
We were very thankful Mossil was willing to make the first trim.

After his first haircut, he was all ready to go out. Of course, he wanted to trade his new glasses with mine; he was still looking pretty good.

I am still adjusting to his new, older look. Our little boy is getting ready to be a big brother and keeps getting bigger and wiser everyday. He continues to bring us joy and laughter--with occasional frustration thrown in. He's pretty awesome. :)