A Message From Quin

Happy Birthday GG!

Enjoy the video...

Bad Subaru!

Gwen's naughty little Subaru misbehaved this week and wound up in the body shop. Carl was driving down our driveway (thankfully I wasn't) and the car developed a mind of its own and took off in the general direction of a tree. We couldn't drive it out of the ditch that it had worked its way into, so we tried to pull it out with the tractor; it still wouldn't budge. The body shop picked it up yesterday with a flatbed truck and hauled it off.



Other than hurting the car and the bark on a tree, everything else is fine (i.e. the people who were in the car). More than likely I am going to be at least somewhat scared of our road again (I had actually gotten comfortable with it), but hopefully not to the point where I won't leave the house.

Fight Against Gravity

One of the many skills that a tiny human must learn is to jump. Before having kids, I never thought of jumping as a particularly difficult skill; then again, I never really thought about the complexity of the action or the fact that you have to overcome gravity to even leave the ground (and place your trust in it to bring you back to the ground). Quin enjoys trying to jump and is extremely proud of himself after every attempt. He has been mastering his form of jumping for months now, but hasn't gotten to lift off. Someday soon I am sure he will jump like everyone else, although for now he remains at least somewhat unique (I know most kids learn to jump like this). I never want to forget these attempts to defy gravity.

Bouncy Baby

For Christmas, Great Grandma and Grandpa Solley got Quin his very own bounce house. While in Texas, we used to frequent the bouncy play areas like Ready, Set, Play, but since moving we haven't found a great place for our little guy to play. All that has changed since setting up Quin's bounce house. No longer do we have to pay $5 for Quin to bounce for an hour. Now he can bounce for as little or as much time as he wants, whenever he wants (including when he is naked after bath time!). All I can say is that he loves it! He even loves it when we get out the air pump and fill it up!


Sooner or later he will tire of it and we will probably deflate it for a month or two, but have no fear, it will be back!

Our Daily Battle

Twice, every day, Quin and I engage in a battle. If it weren't for his own good, I might have given up by now. But nope, mommy wins the battle every time. What is this awful event full of screams and sometimes even tears? The brushing of the teeth. After breakfast and dinner I dread walking to the cupboard in the kitchen, digging around for the colorful toothbrush and yummy Elmo toothpaste, and approaching my son for what we both know will be a fight. Why this has turned into something so awful is beyond me.
I am sure you are thinking that he doesn't look so mad, right? Well, he is holding the toothbrush, not me. He is perfectly happy brushing his own teeth; he even does an adequate job. Its too bad I still have to do it.

I have tried everything I can think of to make the experience better. Sometimes he gets to brush his teeth, followed by the torturous event of me doing it. Sometimes I get the torture out of the way first and brush for him, followed by a reward of using the toothbrush himself. Other times, Quin gets to brush my teeth (lips, cheeks, nose, etc) just to see that it really isn't so bad. Nothing seems to ease his anxiety about this dreaded activity. I can't wait until we go to the dentist. That will be oh so much fun. I guess all we can do is continue with the daily battle and hope that it will get better.

What? Sick Again?

What? I'm sick again?

Yep, Quin is sick again. That poor kid has had bad luck. He's got the same thing that's been going around here in Colorado. I got it, then Quin and Elizabeth got it real bad.

Call me a terrible father, but sometimes him not feeling well is kind of nice. You see, Quin becomes a little snugglebug when he doesn't feel good, and all he wants to do is sit and snuggle.

Which is nice, because if he wasn't sick, he'd be bouncing off the walls, the padded-bouncy-house walls. He would be pulling spoons out of the kitchen cupboards and inspecting dishes in the dishwasher. He would be pushing buttons on the oven and he would be handing us every stinky Coniferous Seedbug he could find around the house. He would be throwing toys over the baby gate and down the stairs leading to the basement. He would be going into the bathroom and flushing the toilet or turning on the bathtub faucet. He would be chasing our cat Kinkajou all over the house calling "joo joo!" He would be picking crumbs of food from the crevasses in his high chair and spreading them around the house. He would be pulling the fiberglass insulation out from between the logs. He would be climbing the only two steps he has access to and turning the lights on-off-on-off-on-off-on and finally OFF, then leaving it that way. Just like the lights, he would turn the DVD player and the TV on-off-on-off-on-off-on and finally OFF, then leaving it that way...in the middle of a movie.

Like I said, sometimes sick and snuggly is kind of nice.

Besides, why wouldn't I love snuggling with my boy? After all, he's my favorite little buddy in the whole world.

And if you're wondering about the photo, this was the look Quin made when he found the air pump for his bouncy house. He was curiously looking down the business end of the hose when he found the power switch. It's a high capacity little pump. Heavy laughter ensued for at least a half hour.

My Mom's Visit

Having my mom here for a visit was great. She got to see our gorgeous house, a little bit of snow, Fort Collins, the Denver Aquarium, a very cool park, her friend Penny in Longmont, and even The New Belgium Brewery. I suppose even more important than any of that, she got to see Quin, Tim, and I.

It took a few minutes for Quin to remember her, but once he did, he was very happy to see her. She was amazed by what a toddler he has turned into. When we left Austin, Quin had only been walking a week; now he runs. When we left, he babbled (and signed) more than talked; now he asks for what he wants in words (as well as some signs). He is no longer a baby; instead he is turning into a sweet little boy.

While my mom was here visiting, Tim and I got some time to go out and play in the snow. We opted for a trip into Rock Mountain National Park (only about an hour and a half from our house) to go snowshoeing. Although we enjoy snowshoeing with Quin, it was a nice change to not have to constantly worry if he was warm enough, too warm, hungry, thirsty, etc. For this trip, it was a good thing he didn't join us, because it got a bit windy as we hiked. I think he would have been pretty cold and uncomfortable; I know we were by the end. As much as the cold, icy, wind was uncomfortable, we had tons of fun. I can't wait to go again!

Quin's First Kiss

I'm a bit behind on blog posts, as usual, but here is a good one:

A few weeks ago my mom came to visit and while she was here, we went to see one of her friends, Penny, from Tennessee who just happened to be in Longmont (small world- Longmont just happens to be about an hour south of our house). Penny happened to be watching her one year old granddaughter, Elsa, so it turned into a playdate of sorts.

Quin seemed to really enjoy playing with Elsa, as long as she didn't have her pacifier. The moment that little colorful plastic object entered her mouth, Quin turned into a grabby little monster. He is, and almost always has been, a thumb sucker; he does, however, seem to have a hard time resisting the allure of the binky. Even though Quin got a little grabby with her, I think he really liked her. What do you think?Quin was given a Valentine's Day kiss from Elsa.