1st Road Trip

Quinn and I took our first road trip (we're not counting our hurricane evacuation last Sept)to Gulf Breeze and Foley last weekend! I know I say this often, but I really do have the best baby ever born! We drove 10 hours and neither of us had a meltdown! Quinn happily road in the backseat, played with some new toys, and enjoyed Baby Einstein on his new portable dvd player (thanks Mawmaw and Grandad!). We stopped at the awesome Louisiana Welcome Center for lunch and enjoyed a picnic under a mossy oak tree. Then we strolled along the Swamp Walk. Q and I had a second picnic at the Mississippi Welcome Center for dinner. The weather was crappy the ENTIRE week, so we didn't get to the beach or really do much outside. Ben flew over on Thursday and drove back with us. I am amazed how Quinn had no problems sleeping in two new places and he kept to his schedule almost to the second! We have so many great memories from the trip: playing the Wii, watching the Connie shows, parading in pirate hats, playing Go Fish and Disney Uno (even though it has weird rules), and hearing Quinn "talk" to everyone in the family!

Play Ball

Mr. Jim at Fulbright gave Q his first baseball cap. Ben and I thought, "Oh, this won't fit Quinn for a LONG time; probably until he's 2 or 3." Guess who was wrong! Granted, we tightened it a good bit. Isn't Quinn cute? Maybe we have an Auburn baseball player living with us! I guess we need to teach him how to spit sunflower seeds. WAR EAGLE!

Q Loves Becky!

Aunt Becky sent us a few snapshots from her trip down south (and a little to the west). As you can see, Quinn loves him some Becky!

It's serious love when Q holds onto your face like this.

He loves getting hugs!

If you look closely, you can see Q making eyes at the cowgirl that's helping him settle onto the longhorn. And he's giving her the "How you doin' grin."

Quinn Crawls

Quinn is doing a lot of crawling lately. It's not the most elegant crawl you've ever seen--it involves a lot of elbows and some flailing of arms and a little bit of grunting, but it gets him where he wants to go. And, if you turn your back for a second, he'll be somewhere you didn't think he could get to.

Last night we decided to try and video him. Of course he was crawling perfectly UNTIL he saw the video camera...then he practically quit. So, we had to bribe him with some of his favorite things: a shoe, a remote control, a toy, and Ruby. It worked. We actually got the crawl on film this time!

It's time to go buy some baby fencing or something.

Latest Milestone

Look at Quinn's latest achievement! The sippy cup! By no means is he a pro yet, but practice makes perfect. The sounds he makes while trying to drink from it are hilarious. My sweet baby is growing up so fast!

Happy Spring!

Quinn on the Move

Cool! A dinosaur from the dino
pod that Molly sent!

Let me see what you got there

R-O-D-E-O

Quinn had a blast at the rodeo. He LOVED sitting on the longhorn. By the time we started walking through the livestock stalls, he was sound asleep- while still in the bjorn. He slept through the birthing center (thank goodness), honey bees, chickens, and on the walk to the show. He woke up just in time for the bucking broncos and cattle roping and watched with amazement.

I Heart New York Ya'll

Aunt Becky visited from New York this weekend. And just as we imagined he would, Quinn fell in love with her (plus, she brought him presents). Ben and I miss our Duke Law friends so much and we are thrilled Becky has been able to visit us in Houston- twice!
Quinn and Becky became instant friends. They spoke Spanish together, practiced baby signing, danced some jigs, and both enjoyed the world of rodeo- Houston style.
It's like they've been friends forever.

Becky even received a famous Q open-mouth kiss. The really big kind when he holds your face in place with both hands and lays a whopper on you. Such a ladies' man.

Quinn rode public transportation for the first time this weekend- just like they do in New York. To avoid rodeo traffic, we rode the Metro from Ben's office to Reliant Stadium. As always, Quinn made several friends: Little Cowgirl wearing boots, Cornstalk Trinket-Maker Guy, Crazy Cat Lady, and the Cook-from-A Different World-Look-Alike Man who renamed Quinn, "Blue."

By Leaps and Bounds

It's hard to believe that with a shaking start eating and growing, Quinn is now one extremely healthy, always happy (and hungry), irresistibly hug-able baby. Dr. Suell was surprised to hear that Q is sitting without support, army crawling, and interested in feeding himself. Regardless of what Ben and I eat and drink, Quinn is interested. You can tell he wants to eat grown-up food so badly! And also to drink from a glass. Dr. Suell gave us the okay to start sippy cup training. So this week Quinn is going to try apple juice.

***Warning: Obnoxious bragging mom alert***

Dr. Suell was also impressed with Quinn's hand/eye coordination and how easily he can pass items from hand to hand. Q is also incredibly engaged with people. He demands eye contact and waits for your reaction while the two of you are "conversing." It's amazing how he anticipates your response. I believe Dr. Suell's exact words were, "Quinn is doing things that a nine-month-old baby should be doing."
My favorite part to the entire check-up is when Ben and I discovered yet another "trick" Quinn has started. While waiting in our exam room, we could hear nurses talking, kids laughing/crying, etc. in the hallway. Quinn wanted to know what all the hubbub was, so he leaned around the door to look. And just watched and listened. Now he loves leaning to look around doors, corners, furniture, you name it. He wants to see what's happening wherever he isn't.

Dinner Date

Quinn had his first play date with Abby Wojtalewicz on Friday. They strolled through the neighborhood and hung out at Abby's house. Abby (and her mom, Allyson, and dad, Matt) lives two houses down from us. She is seven weeks younger than Quinn and is the sweetest little girl!

Later that night, we all double-dated and enjoyed dinner at Chuy's Mexican restaurant. Watch out Lilly Downer...Quinn's lining them up!

You sure are pretty, Abby!

I wish I had hair like yours.

I think you are my very best good friend!