Christmas

Quinlan was delightful as we celebrated his first Christmas. We traveled to Frisco (a suburb north of Dallas) to share the holiday with Katharine's family.



Wrapped boxes are quite exciting. Q has trouble figuring out what to do with them: should he chew on a corner or swallow the wrapping paper? Mom usually knows how to help.

Q gets a little start from his Mom.

Almost better than presents are the shiny bows that stick to his hand.

Presents, new toys, fancy books, and lots of clothes - why would Q want to play with any of them when there is a leftover wrapping paper tube to play with?

Q's favorite new toy is the rocking giraffe his Aunt Liz gave him.

Christmas was a treat with the little dude. He really took his time with unwrapping and was full of smiles for all. After getting sick earlier in the week, he was feeling somewhat better, though he was still under the weather enough that he wanted to cuddle. We are glad that he had a full recovery and is back to his old self, demanding food and attention from everyone.

Snow

Quinlan got to experience some freezing precipitation this afternoon. The Dallas Grandparents came through with some snow for Christmas; you can hear Bing singing in the background.





Merry Christmas Eve!!!!

10 Months Old

Q - The Newest Slew of Photos

Last week, Katharine made gingerbread cookies for her class to decorate. She baked like crazy, and Q got to enjoy his first Christmas cookie.

The ducky tub is just about ready to be deflated and stored. Q has so much fun kicking and splashing; we will have to see how things work in the big tub.

Flying in the air with Dad as the landing gear. Q spent some only-in-the-diaper time recently after an especially messy dinner found itself all over his clothing.



On Friday, Mom and Dad got to come home early and take me to the park to hang out on the swings. I love the feeling of the air in my face, but I just wish I were a little bigger and could stay in place without the blanket wedged in to hold me.

Almost more fun than swinging was watching the other kids at the park. There was a girl on a swing that I couldn't keep my eyes off of. Mom kept trying to take my picture and all she got was my profile as I stared to the right.

It's barely there, but if you look closely I am sporting my sly little smile.
Music makes me very happy.

The 10 month birthday photos

Our at home measurements have Q at 22 lbs., 30.5 inches long, and with a head circumference of 18 inches. All of that means that we needed to order a new car seat where his feet don't hang over the edge and his head doesn't hit the top.

Are they going to take photos of me again?

I think it's pretty funny that I won't sit still for a picture.

For lunch? I'll have the monkey brains.

We are looking forward to celebrating Q's first Christmas. Not sure if he realizes it yet, but even if he doesn't really get into the spirit, it will be fun to be off of work and hanging with him.

Jumping

A short video of Quin jumping in his jumper. He is playing and talking with his Mommy and having lots of fun.

He's Crawling the distance

We've been watching Q crawl around, two or three "steps" (what do you call a single crawl anyway) at a time for a few weeks now. He usually steps once or twice and then scoots the rest of the way that he is moving. Tonight Katharine got some video of the little man really moving.

Thanksgiving and Holiday Decorations

We have been a little slackerish in the posting department - so here is a quick recap and catch up.

Thanksgiving was a blast. Quinlan's first was spent surrounded by loving family and lots of food.


Quin hanging out with his Grandpa Roy.


Snuggling with Mossil before she flies back to Pennsylvania.


Everything's a laugh when you are riding on Grandma MJ's shoulders.


The whole Thanksgiving family crew.

One of the fun changes going on with Q has been his constant desire to stand up. He now often wakes up from a nap and stands, waiting to be picked up by anyone who happens by.


Sometimes sad


Sometimes happy

After the visitors left, we were able to set up some of the decorations for Christmas. It has been very enjoyable to watch Q discover all of the new things around for the holiday season.


Q really likes this musical snow globe. He watches the glitter swirl around and tries to eat the glass. It sits up on our new cabinets (sort of visible behind us - THANKS ROCKY/FOSSIL!!!!), and Q will stand beneath it and fuss until we take it down for him.


The tree has so many things that look fun to grab and try and put in your mouth and lights and shiny stuff.....it is so exciting.


Bundled up to look at the lights outside. Quin helped Dad put some of them out on the fence.

9 Months and counting

Katharine likes to tell me that little man has been here now for longer than he was cooking. Friday was his 9 month birthday, and in our regular fashion, we measured all of the important stats and took some pictures. Really, who are we kidding? We don't need a birthday or other special moment to take a picture.

He is now topping the Wii scale at 21.4 pounds.
Q is 29.5 inches long--though this was an estimate, since he won't lay still for longer than a millisecond.
Q's head circumference is 18 inches, for all of those cranial-measurers out there.

He was not overly cooperative with the official posed photos, but we got some good ones of him sitting up. As you can see, everything he touches is still going into his mouth, making us believe that teeth numbers 9 and 10 are not too far away.

We're off to see the Wizard!

My parents don't like when I chew on them. This will have to do.



I love my new letters. Yum.



A little sag in the pants never hurt anyone.

Crawling!!

He did it! After weeks and weeks of scooting, and getting up on his hands and knees to rock, he crawled! With alternating hands and knees, moving more than one step at a time. We had a surprise show last night while we were Skyping with Grandpa Roy and Grandma MJ, then this morning he took off and Katharine speedily grabbed the camera to catch his action.



Now we can all feel better about his standing up and not worry about skipping early developmental stages that could cost thousands of dollars in future therapy. I can only imagine the bills that would come to have the 40-year-old Q crawling on a therapist's floor. He'll thank us one day.

Dog Watching

Poor Quinlan may never have a dog that he can call his own, but he seemed to enjoy getting to know his "cousin" Brazos, who stayed here last week while Q's Aunt Liz visited Dallas.

Brazos was very good and would sit and wait while Q pet him, which consisted of putting his hand out, touching Brazos's fur and then recoiling. Brazos even gave some encouraging kisses which Q took laughingly. He especially liked it when Brazos kissed his feet.

Going for walks really showed the dog's true nature; Brazos insisted on walking right next to the stroller, keeping a vigilant eye on anything or anyone who may want mess with the little man.

Katharine got some video of Q trying to communicate with Brazos through the kitchen door. She wasn't prepared to put Quinlan on the tile outside--who knows what he would eat.

...and the next stage is...

Quin's newest trick is a little scary for Mom and Dad. We are amazed each day while Q gets stronger and braver. I have learned that he needs a spotter most of the time, but that he also wants to be independent. There has to be some deep, parental lesson in that.

Take a look and see what he can do now.

Climbing

As you can tell from the awesome clothing, this video was shot back on Halloween. If he was wearing the hat and shoes, you would recognize the gnome costume, but without them it looks more like a lumberjack. Where can you find a plastic axe to accessorize with?

Anyway, one of Q's newest tricks is climbing up on you, or on objects if they are around. He is also sitting fairly proficiently for longer periods of time. I clipped two short videos together, one of him sitting, and one of him climbing up onto Katharine.



On a side note, Katharine and I looked back at a few of our older videos from when Q was just a small little newborn. It was a lot of fun to see how much he has grown in the past 8.5 months. If you are curious use the side-bar to navigate back to February or March. Our favorite was this one which was from his first bath the day he was born. Such little lungs.

Speaking . . . . ? and playoffs

So, Q has been babbling a lot recently. He picks up a syllable and uses that one for a little while. It was pretty funny waking up the other night and listening to him chatting in his bed. He went back to sleep after his conversation; we're not sure what he was telling his lion, but it was interesting to listen in on it.
Over the weekend, Q was all into his mamamamamama, we just never got the camera out for it. Today, he switched over for dadadadadada, and we did have the chance to catch it on film. Neither of us really thinks he is calling us as of yet, but it is still fun and exciting.



Too cute.


It is game 6 of the series, so we washed and broke out the Phillies T-Shirt. Q was allowed to stay up late to watch the first inning. I know, we are such push-overs as parents.



Let's Go Phillies!!




Sitting up all by myself to watch the game.

Let's go Phillies

Game 5 was predicted to be a winning night, at this point, let's hope that doesn't turn out to be true.

Q wore his Phanatic t-shirt for game one and the city of brotherly love celebrated the only win so far in the series. It's been a tough week seeing them drop games 2, 3 and 4, so Q broke out his rally shirt in support. Let's hope for a win.

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.