Road Trip

Okay, so the North Dallas suburbs really aren't far enough to be considered a road trip, but Q made his first trip longer than an airport run. Airport runs are really one good nap time, so Katharine and I were prepared for this to be quite an adventure. The trip was planned to visit with Katharine's parents, Quin's Grandma MJ and Grandpa Roy, but it also served as a traveling dry run, so that we will be ready to trek to Pennsylvania (via airplane) at the end of July, where we will introduce Q to his 3 great-Grandparents.

We left P-Ville around 10, Wednesday morning, after keeping Q up from his morning nap, which he usually takes somewhere between 9 and 9:30. The little man was asleep by the time we drove past Hutto and didn't wake up until we stopped in Italy, a little past two-thirds of the way. We were very impressed. I was especially surprised that he slept through the 10 minute stop we made without waking up.

The visit was a huge success. Q is much loved by his grandparents and they got to spend some good face time with him.



He got to meet his Grandparents' very good friends, Steve and Mary, who brought him a very interesting toy (interesting because of the way he scrutinizes it).



Plus, we happened to be in the area for Jenni's birthday, and Quin wouldn't want to miss a chance to wish Jenni a happy birthday.



Q adjusted well to sleeping in a different room in his pack 'n play (portable crib) and even napped a little bit some of the time. He used his first disposable diapers (the Huggies Pure and Natural, partially organic not the nice cloth ones he is used to) and didn't seem to mind one bit. All in all, Q turned out to be pretty good at the whole traveling thing, and we are looking forward to our next mini-trip with him. Anyone want some visitors?

Q enjoys visit with Pops

It has been so fun for us to watch as Quin gets more and more interactive with people and things around him. When you call to him, he often turns his head until he locates the voice. He also has started talking quite a bit, and though we are not sure what he is saying, we are encouraging him and trying to listen closely.

With his Pops here, Q got quite a bit of attention. They sat and had lengthy conversations together, with mostly Pops making noises and Q laughing.



Sometimes they played with toys. Q loves his monkey, but when Pops makes it come to life, and make noises and dance in front of him, he really likes it.



They discussed his teething progress and the pleasures of having something plastic to chew on. Q likes to hold onto things, and his strength and grip are incredible; his ability to actually move things to where he wants them is still be perfected though.



On his third swim, Q showed that he does like the pool. He had a great time splashing around with both his Mom and his Pops. Katharine even had him kicking his feet. Here he was bobbing up and down with Pops and laughing, even while getting some water splashed up into his face.



They tried reading together, but Q was sleepy and more interested in fitting his entire hand into his mouth.

The Four Month Birthday

With the summer here, it's been awesome just to spend time with Quinlan.
It is fun to just sit and read a book.



Sometimes the little man just hangs out, looking quite dapper.

On Friday, Q got dressed up for the airport trip to pick up Pops, and then he made a visit to the camp where Dad was working for the week. We all liked his new turtle outfit.



Saturday is Little Q's official four month birthday. He has been excited about spending the day with his Mom, Dad, and his Pops - who came down to visit for the weekend. It has been an exciting day so far, with a trip to the grocery store and some time spent watching golf on TV with his Pops.


Of course, we had to take the obligatory birthday photos with the monkeys.




Q clearly had a good time.


With Pops here to visit, Q can't deny his familial resemblance.

ROLLING!!!!!

The big news of the day is that Q rolled over. He was on his stomach and flipped onto his back. He did this two times today, and we attempted to see if he would flip again while the video camera was out, but he was not performing for the camera.

Katharine got a photo of Q on his back, after he flipped over. It doesn't really look different than the other photos of him on his back, but we are excited that this was another first in Q's life.

Swimming, for real!

Just to warn you, this is the first Mommy-blog. Jared wants a disclaimer so that no one criticizes his lack of crazy sentences. :)
Q took his second dip into the water yesterday, with his dad, and his friends Rachel, Caitie (sp?), Emily, and Zachary. The Wilkinson-Morgan clan joined us for a little swimming and cookout. It was a lot of fun!
He was pretty calm through the whole ordeal, though he wasn't squealing with delight--maybe the third time'll be the charm! He didn't seem to mind it, though, and he was in almost up to his chest. We're a little limited on times that he can swim--he's still too young for sunscreen, and he's way too fair to let go in the pool at any time that's not early morning or late in the evening (that Texas sun is a killer!). Hopefully, he'll get more water time as the summer progresses. Jared's keeping the pool very clean for Katharine's lessons, and Quinlan should benefit from that.
Just getting in


Enjoying (maybe?) looking at Daddy

Sleeping

Little Q is acting like a big little boy and has been sleeping in his own bed. We stopped swaddling him and have been encouraging his own self-soothing as he falls asleep. We are very proud of his efforts, last night (Friday into Saturday) he fell asleep and slept up until his 12:30 feeding and then didn't get up until 5:30 for his next feeding. What an awesome job! I got him up around 7:45 and took a few photos of him looking very cute, in his crib.

Long-Distance Birthday Wishes

Little Q wishes he were able to celebrate with his Great-Grandma Mammy Care, as she recognizes another wonderful year. He will be traveling later this summer to wish her a belated happy birthday and looks forward to meeting her and many other Pennsylvania relatives.

Reading

Since Katharine and I are home for summer, we have been spending more time with the little man. We have ambitiously attempted to transition him into his own room, create a better daytime schedule, and work on the self-soothing sleeping thing. We will see how it all goes. He loves his room, and since we moved the big comfy chair in there, too, we started using his room for some afternoon reading as well.
Q, naturally, is getting very into the story thing, though sometimes the ceiling fan can still distract him. We are working on holding the book and turning pages, which can be a lot of fun.







Sometimes just reading a good story is a lot of fun, too.

The Headshots

Since Q was born, we have been taking a lot of photos. He is, of course, the first born. We did pretty well, getting at least one a day all the way through the end of April, missing only the 19th. Then in May, we missed a few more days - but usually not too many in a row.
It is amazing to see how much he has changed in these first few months, and his expressions are wonderful to look at. If you have 4 minutes and 20 seconds, watch the video of our little dude growing, smiling, laughing, sleeping and sometimes even yelling. Occasionally, you can also figure out who is holding him as well - hint: it isn't always Katharine or Jared.

Empty House

Katharine and I are very grateful for all the people who loved and cared for Q for the last 5 weeks. We are also super excited to be alone in our house again. :) It is officially summer break, and we looking forward to all the time that we get to spend with the little man.

This past week, Jenni came and took excellent care of Quin.


She took some cool photos with her cooler phone. (no free ads here, Apple has to pay for that.....oops)



He is of course, still growing, and talking some and playing lots. It will be so fun to hang out with him at home.
Here is a picture of him sitting "kangaroo style" in Katharine's awesome sling. (Sissy's Designs)



And he is still playing the tongue game that his grandma MJ taught him. So, if Q ever sticks out his tongue at you, it is not rude, he is simply playing, and you should stick your tongue out at him, too.