Long time, no post!

Let's see...what have we been up to??

Seth graduated from MNU (but still has 3 classes to complete!?)



















Quinn enjoyed his first biter biscuit (courtesy of Grandma D) This was also the day that Quinn's mom decided that biter biscuits are a special occasion, bath-day treat.

















Quinn learned to ride this fun toy AND make a face like it!
(Thanks, Kepharts!)















We celebrated our first Mother's Day with Quinn on the OUTSIDE!













And, Quinn is on the move...crawling, cruising the furniture, pulling up, etc. What a difference! So, what do I have for you by way of documentation? One of the few non-blurry pictures from the last month!















Those are the big highlights...there are other milestones that only parents look for or care about much, I'm sure, so I won't bore you with those. Okay, I will bore you a little bit. He now has 4 teeth on the bottom, and one with a second peeking through on the top. And he's now officially weaned. It was less systematic and ceremonious (and faster!) than I had planned on, but he seems none the worse for it. So, that's what we've been up to. He's now 11 months old, and the countdown is on to the big birthday!

Gender Identity Confusion, parts 2 and 3

Monday afternoon we went to urgent care at our pediatrician's office because we suspected Quinn had pink eye (he did, and it's okay now). Enter the nurse practitioner, medical records in hand:

NP: And what are we seeing her for today?

Me: His eye has been oozy, and his daycare provider thinks he has pink eye.

NP: Well, let's take a look at her. She's such cutie!

Me: We think he's pretty special.

NP: Okay, let's look in his ear.

???

Next day, we go to Hen House, scene of the last gender confusion debacle. Quinn is wearing his blue polo shirt and khaki cargo pants, and looking, I think, very "little man." We're checking out, and the lady bagging our groceries comes rushing over.

Lady: I just have to come see your little girl. How old is she?

Me: He's almost 10 months old.

Lady: Well, she's just adorable. (Quinn shoots her a smile. He loves the ladies, and the ladies love him.) Ooooh, she has such a beautiful smile!

Me: Yes, he loves to flirt with the ladies....Have a good day!

As we're walking away, I hear her say: And I love her cute little shoes, too!

Now, I'm not upset, but it is funny to me. Mostly because, number one, I don't think that Quinn looks like a girl. I think he's a pretty cute little boy, but I don't think he makes that cute of a girl. Number two, I do recognize that there is some gender ambiguity when it comes to babies under a year. I've been in that situation myself. And I have evolved the following coping mechanism: "What a little cutie!! How old??" And then most obliging parents respond with "(personal pronoun) is (number) months old." Probably all the while they're wondering why I don't finish my sentences. But I've got my information, so I don't care. Of course, now my cover's blown, but it's worked well for me up to this point.

Anyway, just a slice of our life, mostly to cover up the fact that I haven't figured out how to get the pictures of our exciting weekend off the camera yet. So, stay tuned for that. Sneak peek: Graduation, Biter Biscuit, Umbrella. Now you're thinking, aren't you??

Original Hair

Quinn has always had this piece of hair at the back of his head that we call his Original Hair. It's been growing as long as he's been alive, and when all of the rest of his baby-baby hair fell out, it hung on.

I talked to Seth about his Original Hair. I twirled it around my finger while he nursed. I tried to decide whether to comb it forward, down, or around in a cowlick-y circle.

I even tried to photograph it...
















but it didn't photograph very well. And WHY did I try to photograph it? Because I knew that it would, eventually, fall out....or be cut...in short, be no more. Some even tried to suggest that this would be the perfect lock of hair to take for his baby book. But I resisted. This is his Original Hair. I could not willingly get rid of the Original Hair, the last of my itty-bitty Quinn, who is so quickly becoming bigger-baby Quinn.

So, I did know that this day would come. I discovered that his Original Hair is gone. Gone. Where did it go? Did I dry-dry-dry it out in our after-bath fluff-the-hair ritual? Did he pull it out himself? I had this fantasy moment where I envisioned Seth coming to me with a cute little envelope and telling me that he had cut off the Original Hair himself and stored it safely away for me. But he didn't. It's just gone. And I'm...sad. I'll get over it, but still, today, I'm a little sad for his Original Hair.

Do Quinn and Poppy get along?

If I were to write an FAQ about life at our house, this would probably be the number two most popular question. (Number one is, "Getting any sleep yet?" To which my answer is, "Yes! He's been sleeping through the night since week 2!" Then, if it is another new parent, I smile sheepishly, knowing that this sounds like bragging of some sort, but really it's just me reveling in my amazing blessing of a sweet boy.)

Back from tangent...When asked how Quinn and Poppy get along, I often try to describe pictures from this photo session, so I'm posting them now, even though they're almost 3 months old.
And honestly, why should they not get along? Neither monopolizes the conversation, they don't make each other feel self-conscious about the drool, and they're both happy being the center of attention. Oh, wait. That last one does create some trauma for Poppy, since she pretty much loses out on that, but overall she's been terrific. And now that she's often the center of Quinn's attention, things are starting to look up for our pup.

p.s. Any other questions you'd like answered? Be sure to post in the comments as fodder for future blogging!

9 month check-up!

And we're back on the growth curve at 17 lbs, 3 ounces, exceeding even my uncharacteristically optimistic guess! Yippee!

In honor of today's events, Quinn decided to skip all napping longer than 30 minutes. He also flirted shamelessly with all the ladies at Harper's Fabrics and Hen House. At the latter he was praised effusively for being "such a pretty little girl." Hmph. I ask you...is this a girl face?? I didn't think so.

Captured on film

Courtesy of Marty (daycare provider extraordinaire), we have two items of interest captured in the photo below.

1) Quinn is giving Marty the Seth-eyebrow. See it? Definitely daddy.
2) This is the first official photo of the twins. See the two pearly whites (nearly eclipsed by the hand he is chewing on)?

Stay tuned...tomorrow is the big 9-month weigh-in. Any guesses on how much he'll weigh? The only hints we have are that he weighed 15 lbs, 10 oz at his 8-month weigh in, and he grunts/growls for more food between each bite during his evening feedings. Piglet. Anyway, I'm hoping for 17 lbs. It's ambitious, but I can hope.

Chubba-wubba

So, one of our only real struggles with Quinn has been his eating/weight gain. He has been struggling to reach the 5th percentile in weight throughout his short little life. But it's starting to look like we may be rounding the corner on that battle.

Here's the little man and his new favorite pastime.

No, he doesn't really feed himself (I'm too mess-phobic for that), but I think this captures the passion he has for food.

As further evidence (and just because they're AWESOME), check out the pictures of his fluffy belly at our photo shoot with Jamie last Friday. Finally, a little chub on my boy!