Quentin on the Outside

Quentin made his first visit to the outside today on a shopping trip to Target. He was helping mom and dad by some gifts for some other children and did a nice job picking out toys and clothes for the boy/girl two year olds. The shopping trip was an eye opening experience for dad who found out everything related to children costs a fortune. After a trip to the toy section college looks affordable. I don't know how parents do it. Even books cost a fortune. How can a kid's book cost $15? That's like a buck a word! At any rate Quentin will be spoiled rotten by everyone we know saving mom and dad a few dollars this Christmas.

Quentin handled Target like an old pro and even helped us shoplift a bit. The clerk stopped me on the way out smuggling a padded envelope to send a Christmas ornament to a friend. It cost 79 cents, with tax. I did buy the other $156 worth of stuff so clearly I wasn't trying to save that final 79 cents and she allowed us to pay for it - thankfully. I really didn't want to get Quentin arrested on his first trip to the outside. Next thing you know social services would've been contacted and we would've lost custody in all of 8 days of being parents. I don't think the judge would've accepted my certificate of parenthood as evidence of solid parenting to date so it was nice the clerk believed me when I said I didn't mean to steal the envelope.

Everything is going well. Quentin has had good nights and bad nights if you consider a good night sleeping for four hours in a row. (Which we do). You can tell he is putting on weight as he has grown a second chin this week. The wife says it was always there, but trust me he's growing Dizzy Gillespie cheeks as we speak. It's crazy, but you can see changes in only 8 days of hanging out with him. He has a great disposition rarely crying and being soothed easily. We've heard tons of horror stories of kids crying on end forever so we are thankful that he only has spats that can be counted in minutes instead of hours. We're also happy to announce that he has been poopin on the regular so we didn't have to fill him up with Karo sauce.

It was asked yesterday if I was changing diapers. I think if you are a male, have a baby in the house for more then a week and haven't changed a diaper it's safe to safe your wife has already filed for divorce and is seeking more then half for damages. Yes, I am an expert at changing diapers and was the go-to-guy for changing diapers in the hospital. Who knew I had such a talent for cleaning up messes. I guess all that experience at work is really paying off. Today Carrie handed the Quinster to me to watch while she hopped in the shower - soiled. Uh huh, payback is coming honey! Well, in the time that it took her to shower he pooped twice so she obviously planned that shower at a very strategic time of day. You know what they say about karma...I see a blow out coming your way.

Speaking of blow outs we had a good one that Grandma Reiter got a close up of. I was in the kitchen getting something to eat and Grandma R. was on the couch holding him and he let out an explosion that I heard, crystal clear, in the kitchen and wasn't quite sure if that was Grandma having a faux pas moment or if it was actually possible for Quentin to drop that much bass. It was Quentin and he went through the diaper, through his outfit, through his blanket and Grandma was emphatically asking for a towel. "I need a towel! I need a towel right now! It's leaking in here!" Fortunately for us Grandma R has been the only casualty of his blow outs. The earlier one happened in his crib. Interestingly enough the Tide bottle doesn't give instructions on how to get poop out of clothes. Hmmm, do you just chuck that in the washing machine? We probably want mom to handle this one. I do laundry but generally speaking my clothes are not soiled with people manure so that's a new challenge for me. I figured we just grab a five gallon bucket, throw some bleach in there, cross our fingers and see what happens. I don't know what happened but I assume mom took care of it. (The clothes are probably sitting in the garbage right now, which is what facilitated the shopping trip). We'll just let it go as the mystery of the day.

We took Quentin on a short stroller ride the other day just to see if the BMW of strollers really lived up to its cost. It was like driving the Cadillac of Hummers. It has the over sized tires for getting over the tough terrain (the hummer part) but drives smooth like Great Grandpa's caddy. Well, worth it. Quentin slept through it and the dog got a huge kick out of it. Lucky didn't know what to think. A new person he doesn't know very well tucked away inside that he desperately wanted to shove his snout into to get a better look but then the monster truck-like stroller itself looked like a fun new toy to bark/growl/eat the tires/jump on too. What to do? Plus he had to figure out how to do all this while walking because we were all moving. I'm sure the neighbors think we are the freaks on the block. Here Carrie is moving at a nice leisurely pace, because she just gave birth a few days ago grappling with a stroller while dad is in tow hanging on to a leash with a 90 pound dog attached doing circles around the stroller. I'm sure it was an interesting scene. It was nice to get some sun. This is the major positive of having a baby on the edge of winter but being fortunate enough to live down south. We've heard the snow stories already from up north. In a word BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Everyone we know is busting out their snow blowers. Well, that doesn't sound like too much fun so we feel good to be able to get some fresh air (of the 70+ degree variety). The sun is good for Quentin to keep jaundice at bay as well so it's a twofer.

Just a few final thoughts. Both Quentin and I agreed after watching the umpteenth Packer debacle this weekend that Ted Thompson (GM) should step down, they should hire me as the GM who in turn will immediately put Quentin on the short list of the draft board. Since the Pack are well on their way to a top 5 pick (for being atrocious {which could possible be an understatement} this year) they should have a good shot at getting him. I have been absent for the past couple of days so I will get back into updating daily. (I was mourning the poor showing in sports - Badger B-ball loss, Packer loss, Favre and the Jets going down hill in a hurry). I am recovered. It was interesting to hear Quentin's mouth after all the defensive mistakes. You wouldn't think he'd have such a potty mouth at his age. I guess they played that bad. I scolded him, but did agree so couldn't come down on him too hard. I am attaching a few pics. The first couple are an example of how picture taking with a newborn can quickly get out of hand. These pictures were taken in succession. So you have a nice baby posing wide-eyed and happy and then "enough...just FEED ME!!!" He was modeling one of his Christmas (Santa) outfits today and I have a pic of him in the stroller as well. Enjoy!