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!