Christmas Morn

What a great Christmas! We chose not to travel this year and enjoyed waking up and celebrating in our home. It was low key and quiet. And super cold outside. So, Ben and Quinn only got to try out their "shared" present for a minute...

Ben got a new bike and Quinn got a stylish helmet and riding-along-seat.
I anticipate them being gone for hours when the weather warms up. ;)


Quinn has been enjoying a Mickey Mouse music set (drum, tambourine, maracas, castanets, recorder, and harmonica). We've already had front row tickets to several concerts. Another musical gift he loves is his "Elmo-pod." Imagine an iPod, except for babies. It has about 15 songs on it with play, stop, and shuffle buttons. We rarely get to hear a song in its entirety. Quinn is definitely a "flipper" like me.

New mittens!

Another favorite is his big-boy table and chairs. What kid doesn't want to enjoy a snack or do some art at his own table?

Holding the Elmo-pod in one hand, using his veterinarian kit with the other hand, and standing at his new table....a gift trifecta!


Almost forgot about the train table. At the moment, it's getting hit by earthquakes and sinkholes instead of "working properly."

Sneakin' Cookies

When a 15-Month Old Decorates the Tree

Yogurt Makes a Great Hair Product!

Quinn, Have You Been a Good Boy This Year?

Um...... of course!

Making....Uh, Eating Cookies

I made Christmas cookies for the first time! Rolling out the dough, cookie cutters, the whole shibang! And Quinn helped....eat them, that is. We made candy canes, stars, and trees. Note to self for next year: Do not feed the kid sugar cookies with icing and sparkles 30 minutes before bed time.

Our Little Picasso

Apparently, Quinn LOVED using stamps to decorate his Christmas Tree. His teacher said he had a blast in Art that day.

Go Jesus, It's Your Birthday!

Last Saturday, we took the Wojtalewicz's (Abby and her folks) to a birthday party for Jesus at our church. And it was a great party! Quinn and Abby were cuttin' rugs like nobody's business! There was lots of singing, dancing, lights, and confetti. Puppets sang about the night Jesus was born to Pop songs (except the words were a tad different). One of our favorites was a motorcycle gang singing "Born to Be King" to the tune of "Born to Be Wild." The end of the show had day-glow dancers and black lights. It was awesome! Finally, we sang a very upbeat version of "Happy Birthday" to Jesus!

Quinn dancing


Obviously, this was the best show Abby has ever seen!


Abby & Quinn on stage after the show.
Look at her cute Christmas outfit!

Ben and Abby & Me and Quinn singing

Part of the puppet show

A hilarious action version of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas"

Doings and Goings On

I haven't been in a blogging mood for some time. But I would like to keep all of Quinn's loyal fans abreast of his doings and goings on. Check it out:

• To look at the Christmas tree, he lays down beside it and looks up.
• He knows one color- yellow. It seems like yellow would the be hardest color to say or pick out...other than purple. He loves to tell us when he sees anything yellow.
• He can point to his toes and his head when you ask him to do so. Ben reads this book, I Am Blessed, to Quinn before bed. There's a part that mentions eyes, nose, mouth, and toes. Quinn points to his toes each time.
• He tells us when he has to poo-poo. And goes to sit in the corner.
• He can climb on the sofa all by himself!
• When I put on my shoes, Quinn asks, "Go bye?"
• He loves to have his toes "gotten." He'll lay down and stick his foot in the air so that you'll "eat some sausage."
• He blows kisses with the back of his hand.
• Still sleeping 12+ hours a night!
• When the cow comes out at Chick-Fil-A, Quinn watches him like a hawk and waves to him. As soon as the cow gets close to us, Q gets nervous. But once I hi-five the cow, Quinn will do the same.
• He is now taking a interest in his riding toys. But...he can only go backward. So, he gets on, goes backward across the room, gets off, and pushes back to the starting point. Repeat.
• He helps me blow on his food to cool it.
• When he talks to Ruby, he says, "Hi Roo!"
• He has discovered the magnets on the fridge. You can see his brain thinking away as he plays with the magnets...like he's developing a "why-does-it-stick-to-this-shiny-thing theory."
  

We Have a Clown on Our Hands

Children's Museum of Houston

15 Month Check-Up

This is what happens when Mommy is sick in bed and Daddy is in charge of dressing Quinn... a muscle shirt and no pants.

The First Haircut

We took Quinn to get his first haircut today. Initially, I had planned to take him to the Sports Clips up the road. Ben, however, vetoed it. He gets his hair cut there and said it's really hit or miss. Plus, he wasn't ready for Q to get a hair cut...even when I told him I found a place specifically for kids- Snip Its. I don't think Ben was okay with the idea until the whole episode was over. I wasn't about to admit it, but I was nervous too! Quinn was born with his "baby mullet." For the longest time, Q was bald on top and on the sides, but had a FULL patch of hair at the base of his head- from one side to the other. As he got older, the hair became wing-like. It never really curled, just became wispy.





At check-in, Quinn was given a key card to wear while getting his hair cut. At the end of the service, he got to put his card into a cool machine-thingy that spit out a prize. Q's stylist was Chelsea. She was so patient and kind- to both me and Quinn. Chelsea let me take all the pictures I wanted and even paused right before the first snip and recommended a snapshot. She kept the first lock of hair and put it in a tiny keepsake bag for me! Next, she blew bubbles for Q, put on a movie (each station has its own mini tv), and even let Q take the comb from her so he could brush his own hair. At first, Quinn was quite suspicious; turning his head each time she squirted it with water. Then, he just sat there in amazement. The event was over in less than 10 minutes. Since I just wanted to trim the bottom and over the ears, there wasn't much to do. And instead of charging the usual $18, Chelsea only charged $8!

And then our baby boy walked out of the salon a little boy.
He definitely met "all the requirements of a first haircut with courage and bravery!"

Vocab This Week

• "Dank you"- Thank you
• Yellow
• Gentle- also uses the baby sign

and as of this afternoon....

• Elmo!
  

Happy Halloween

Quinn and Abby went trick o' treating together and had a great time. We made it to 5 or 6 houses and then went back to Abby's house to play and watch some football. Q is battling some severe teething and was a trooper the entire night! He even gave us a couple "Rrooaars!"