Pianist?

Zoe was very interested in the thing that made noise when she stood up at it. Grandma MJ indulged her.

Christmas puzzles

Quinlan was lucky enough to receive several puzzles for Christmas. This is a 100 piece one his Grandpa Roy gave him and he put it together with the help of his Dad, Mom and Aunt Liz.

Merry Christmas.

Random recent photos

I know the posts have been few and far between. In an effort to catch up here is just one picture, capturing the play between Q and Zoe. She is having a great time watching and playing with her bug brother.

6 Months old and eating

Zoe celebrated her 6 month birthday on Saturday. We took some pictures.

Happy smiles!
She loves her fingers.

On the move

Tickles and giggles

So big that I am outgrowing the monkey carpet!

If anyone spends time with the Stevensons, they know how important our food is to us. Whether we are shopping for it, preparing it, eating it, or even just planning any of those activities, it is one of the pleasures we find on an ongoing basis.
Q has kept the tradition alive with his ardent love to mix and decorate things and sample.

Here Zoe keeps up a strong tradition, having her first "official" feeding. (Previous sampling has occurred with some sweet potatoes and avocados, but they weren't planned feedings. If she is close enough she attempts to taste whatever she can reach.) Q does a great job helping out.

Catching Up

It is amazing how time passes so quickly with two children moving around. We (I) have been negligent in updating photos and sharing. Q is doing amazing fun things everyday, and Zoe is rapidly developing many skills including full-on crawling and starting to pull up onto things.

I threw some photos up and video as a catch up. Hope you enjoy.

Zoe at 4 months.

Quinlan cooking in Dallas. Chronologically, this photo is probably out of order, but it was uploaded from Grandma MJ's camera in Sept. and is too good to not put up.

Grandpa Roy tickling Zoe.

Zoe at 5 months.

So excited about sitting up.

Grandma MJ doing some Zoe-approved exercises.

Blue icing on a green cake. Happy birthday, Shawn!

Q being a good big brother and showing how things work. Yes, this is one of the places she is starting to pull up, trying to find some balance.

Every once in a while he lets Zoe use it, too.

Pulling up made us put the crib mattress down. Read the caption bubble, "I know I can get out of here."

Zoe, beginning to crawl. She now is more than proficient and sometimes challenging to catch.

Zoe - ready to rock

and ROLL!!! Zoe rolled at home on Saturday, but we were told she rolled at daycare on Friday, too. She is getting pretty good at front to back rolls, though she hasn't been caught on tape yet.

She is spending a good deal of time up on her hands and knees, however.
Here's a short video of her. Notice that she follows Quinlan wherever he goes.

A beautiful smiling girl

Proud brother and a happy sister

Mommy and Q at the splash park spending quality time before school started back--this was taken after they went down the "big slide". Q didn't really like it.

Zoe in her fancy bathing suit and hat combo

Quinlan jumping into the pool.
He loves swimming and
is getting to be quite a little water bug.

Q and Z visit Pennsylvania

The Stevenson/Riedlinger clan made a successful trek north to visit family in Pennsylvania. Zoe followed her big brother's lead, and they both traveled well on the plane.

We were able to visit with many different relatives:

Great-Grandma Mammy

Cousin Jillian represented her generation of the Care crew.

Great-Uncle Stan, showing he has the skills to be a granddad, too.

Mossil (Jared's Mom), the proud grandmother of her first female descendant.

Paging Dr. Stevenson!

Zoe getting held by her great-grandmother, Mom-Mom.

Q sharing his snacks with his great grandparents.

Pop, sharing his fruit with Q.

Fossil, hanging with his granddaughter. Zoe loved his attention.

Singing the hammock song, on the hammock

The Stevenson girls

Q creating with Play-Doh.

Making puzzles, a newer passion for Q
He is extremely proficient at the 48 piece ones, and we are ready for the next challenge. It won't be long until he and his mom are tackling giant puzzles together.

Watching Eric Herman videos on YouTube
(The Elephant Song and Blackbeard, Bluebeard and Redbeard - A Pirate Story-- those are almost as good as The Duck Song-- almost.)
Not sure who likes them more.

Uncle Jason (and Aunt Elena in the background) spending some quality time with Zoe.

Pops (Jared's Dad) reading Q's new book from Minnesota (Thanks Aunt Meg!).

Mossil and the swing
All three of them would spend the night there if they didn't think they would be eaten alive by mosquitoes.

Then we returned to Dallas. We were able to visit with Katharine's parents a bit before and after our time in PA.

Grandpa Roy, trying not to be chewed on by Zoe, who is known to put anything within reach in her mouth.

We don't have photos of everyone we saw. Notably missing are Katharine's Aunt Meg, who was able to stop by and see us, and Q's Auntie Kie, who is always full of excitement and fun. I'm sure there are pics of Grandma MJ, too, but most likely on her camera.
It was wonderful to see everyone, and now we're gearing up for our first school year with two small ones. There's never a dull moment!

Z's 3rd Month

On July 8th, we celebrated 3 months with Zoe. I was ready to make a post, but then we went out of town and now I have several posts that need to be made.

After her 3rd month, Zoe weighed 14 lbs and 7 ounces as she still stretched 24.5 inches long. Her current hobbies include eating, standing up while holding hands with someone, eating, sleeping, eating, eating, and laughing at her brother.

A happy smiling little girl

Another blue-eyed babe, perhaps? Odd recessive genes . . .

Look how big I am!

Inquisitive? Contemplative? Looking for her next meal?

A loving brother, who always has kisses for his sister.

Photos from our trip north to come . . .

Rocking Out

My son, the heavy metal rocker, singing his favorite lullaby.

Overwhelmed - in a good way

The grass needs to be cut, the pool needs to be cleaned, and there are plenty of other chores that are waiting to be started and/or finished. That being said, I played several rounds of Hi-Ho-Cherry-O and Candyland today with Q and spent time bouncing Zoe, trying to burp her. That was only after I got home around 5:30; Katharine spent a good deal of the day in the same activity schedule.

We are now sitting and watching TV, with two sleeping children. It is a beautiful thing, and they are beautiful. As much as we love spending time with them, it is nice when everyone gets the sleep they need to.

In a much needed update - here are some photos (the top pictures are more recent).

Big brother taking care of Zoe

Just hanging out in my monkey pjs

Checking out the mobile in the big crib
She still sleeps in the cradle, but hangs in the crib in Q's room some of the time, too.

Grandma MJ and Zoe

Hanging out together on Q's bed

Grandpa Roy can find Goldbug. Why can't I?

Pops holds Zoe out by the pool.


Zoe at one month

Zoe at two months

Quite a crew

Q in his first bounce house--he loved it!

Momma and Zoe

Smiling at Auntie Jenni

Still smiling

Q carefully getting past Zoe in the tunnel.

Mossil and Q

Q wants to know why Zoe won't stop yelling while he is trying to watch his show.

Q dying Easter eggs.
He ended up getting sick and not doing a hunt, but he loved picking out the color of the egg to eat out of the refrigerator.

Grandma MJ and Zoe, both looking very fashionable

The little one

I'll try not to let two months go by without another post, but I do need to mow the lawn before it gets too tall. We are all happy and enjoying spending time together.