Hungry Hungry Hippo!

Quin's getting pretty good at this whole eating solids business. He's so good at recognizing that food is coming his way that the moment he sees the food, he drops his jaw and opens that pie-hole so wide that you can nearly see his internal organs. It's looks something like this:

Or for those of you who are picky about species, it might look a little more like this:


When we started solids, we started with the standard rice cereal. But then he got super constipated (why do new parents love talking about poop so much?); the poor little guy spent all day groaning in pain and blew up like a balloon. The easy remedy for that was some apple juice a couple times a day and some pureed prunes at dinner. While he really likes the prunes, when he gets the first bite, it takes a minute to remember that, and he makes faces like you just inserted something totally unmentionable into his mouth (see, there I go with the ka-ka-poo again). Then those taste buds kick in and we're off and running. Here he is before that taste-bud-to-brain-signal is fired:


When all is said and done, prunes and rice cereal is everywhere, including his face, hands, feet, shoulders, stomach, kitchen table, and his Bumbo seat where we feed him.


For more pictures of Quin's latest eating adventures, as well as photos of him wrestling with first mate Sagan and a day at the park, check out the bottom of his Picasa candids photo album.

And I promise that a video clip of his first try at solids is coming soon. We've been so busy having fun feeding Quin that we haven't had any time to put the video together.

Also, 9 new portraits have been added to Quin's Picasa portraits photo album, in case you've already looked since the last post. I took a few more after making the last post. They feature him sitting up on his own!

5 1/2 Month Portraits Out Now!

We haven't taken any portraits of just Quin since Halloween night. Once we realized this, it was time to break out the studio and take some new pictures. Quin is 5 1/2 months old and full of personality these days. We thought we would try to get some pictures that catch that new trait.

This was the most fun we've had taking portraits of Quin yet. Now that's he's a little firecracker, getting him to smile for the camera is easy.


36 new portraits have been added to Quin's Picasa portraits album. Check 'em out.

Quin the Serial Cereal Eater

Quin finally got a taste of some solid food. On Sunday night we tried giving him some rice cereal for the first time.


After the great snocone incident of 2006 we knew he'd have no trouble jumping right into spoon feeding. We were right. We had a blast with our first feeding.

He took to it like a fish to water, gobbling up every bit of food that went near his face...except for all the stuff that ended up ON his face that is.


As usual, we took lots of pictures, and video too. A short video of him ravenously chowing down will be up here shortly. If you want to see the photos of his first and second tries at solids, there are 22 of them in his Picasa Candids photo album for you to see.

Sick and Snotty

Sick, tired, cranky, and full of snot. That pretty much sums up how our entire house has been feeling for the last few weeks. I never knew that one little boy could possibly produce as much mucus as Quin does. A simple sneeze often turns into a huge pile of Kleenex, yet he can't even blow his nose! And you guessed it...if mom is not there ready and waiting we have a mess on our hands. Our poor little boy looks terribly pathetic when he coughs. Is it wrong for a mom to think her son looks adorable when he is sick? He sticks his tongue out when he coughs and it is very cute. Don't you agree?
Since Quin is sick, he is not nursing as well and has been getting Pedialyte. I think overnight, some time in the recent past, he has grown up just a little bit more. All of a sudden, he has a ton of fuzzy hair and likes to hold the bottle by himself.

Is this what it is going to be like from here on out? Is going to keep growing up and doing things for himself? Before we know it he won't need his mom and dad. Ok, I might be getting ahead of myself just a little... He's only 5 months old. I guess for now I am ok with letting him hold his own bottle and his new fluffy hair is great.

Learning to Sit

Just in the last week or so Quin has been starting to sit up on his own. It's his undying interest in those wonderful toes that keeps him focused on staying upright. So we thought we'd capture a study session on video to share with you all. This was just last night.

Quin's Newest Friend

For Christmas, Quin got a new teddy bear. Pokey, as the adorable light caramel colored bear is called, just happens to be the perfect size to cuddle with. Consequently, Quin naps in his swing with him every day. And wouldn't you?

Snocone!

While grandma Donna was in town shortly before Christmas, we took Quin to the Austin Zoo. While we were there, we gave him his first taste of a wild cherry snocone. At first, he wasn't sure about it. I think the cold really freaked him out. But about ten seconds later, he realized what was in his mouth tasted really, really good! He started to go nuts and clearly liked what he tasted! After that reaction, we had to get it on video. This reaction wasn't nearly as priceless as the first try, but still pretty cute if you ask me.



Also, we've added 10 new photos to Quin's Picasa Candids photo album.

Happy...Well, Lots of Stuff From Quin

So let's see, Quin celebrated Elizabeth's birthday on New Year's Eve Eve.

Then he celebrated New Year's by staying up late, drinking way too much, and partying like it's 1999. Never mind the fact that his mom and dad hadn't even met yet.


Then on New Year's day, Quin got to ring in the New Year by going to the doctor because he has a respiratory infection. So do mom and dad. How fun, our very first family illness! I have to say though, he's really cute when he coughs the way his tongue sticks out. It's really pathetic, but cute. How demented is that? I'm so going to hell.

But Quin's biggest thing lately is the discovery of his new favorite toy. We got this playmat/Exersaucer thingy before Quin was born and had it setup to be a playmat. Last week I finally took the time to set it up as the Exersaucer. It's bouncy and covered in toys. Quin will sit there and play happily by himself for hours on end. He absolutely loves it. The pictures below were taken in the very first moments after he first tried it out. At the time, he was overwhelmed by all the excitement, as demonstrated by the spit bubbles gurgling from his pursed lips.