Quentin the Prodigy?

Before we get into boy-genius I wanted to provide everyone with my overflowing Christmas joy. When I worked at the University of Wisconsin, coincidentally where our son will go on a football scholarship, the Foundation encouraged employees to donate and was actively involved with toys for tots. The annual giving office, which consisted of 5 employees all got together and went shopping to buy some toys. We always thought it was kind of fun to indiscriminately buy toys for kids. Shopping is a lot easier when you don't have to buy "the right" gift. So since leaving the UW I've always tried to keep the tradition going. This year Carrie and I went down to our local ABC news station that partners with the Salvation Army to give children the Christmas they deserve. They had an angel tree down there with literally thousands of kids whose parents couldn't afford to give them a Christmas most of us are accustomed to. Now I know most of the people reading this know me pretty well and know that I would fall a little closer to Scrooge then baby Jesus on the holiday-cheer-o-meter. I figure all these people being nice to you for these three weeks are probably stabbing you in the back the other 49 weeks out of the year, but that's a whole other blog altogether. With Bush running the economy these days there are likely more children then usual getting the shaft when they deserve better. You wouldn't believe some of the things people were asking for. One of the most common gifts up there was toiletries. Can you imagine peeking under your tree and having soap and deodorant? Yikes. So we adopted a boy and a girl who are two year olds unrelated. I dropped off the gifts this morning and there was quite a stash of loot for the lucky little ones but there were still a good 100+ kids waiting to be "adopted." Carrie and I feel so fortunate this year to have Quentin, who is happy and so well adjusted that we just thought we would pass on the idea and try to spread a little good cheer since we've been so lucky. It will give you a little holiday-boost after standing in line at the mall for 45 minutes trying to spend $200 as well. So if you have some extra time this holiday season see if you can help a shorty out.

Alright, I'll get off my soapbox. So for the past two nights Quentin has decided that day equals night and midnight equals wide awake play time much to the chagrin of mom and dad. Monday night he didn't even settle into bed until about 2:30 am. On a solid Thursday night in 1999 on Madison's campus I would've been hitting the sack at about the same time. Pushing mid-30s in 2008, not so much. So we've been dying the last couple of nights. Last night as Quentin was sleeping through a sleeper of a Badger b-ball game Carrie was contemplating waking him up so we didn't have a repeat but he looks so cute and he makes all these crazy facial expressions that it's pretty entertaining to watch him sleep. Like the previous night he awoke with full force right around midnight so we decided to entertain him a bit. We laid him in between us on the bed, where sleep has been forgotten some time ago and it's now the couch on the "east wing" of the house, he did the impossible. Apparently we are supposed to be exercising him giving him "tummy time." This is supposed to be good for him working his neck muscles but he could pick his head up before we even left the hospital. Impossible you say? I say child prodigy. The big event last night? He rolled over on to his back. Now, I'm not familiar with babies so I'm not sure if a kid has to do a complete 360 turn to be considered an official roll over. I have an email into the olympic committee and will let you know what I hear. My initial reaction was, "Carrie, go get him a treat." Oops, that's dog training. You have to cut me some slack I've only been doing this for about 10 days. Carrie didn't believe it so we got him some treats to entice him for another roll. We placed him on his tummy and within about a minute he rolled over on to his back again. This kid's going to be walking by 2 months. He's already on his way to graduating college in two years saving dad a ton of money. We're so proud. A lot of parents probably say that.

I'm attaching a pic of when diapers go stinky. You have to hold out a little while after you feel/hear the squirt. If you don't what happens is you take the diaper off and unleash fate. Fate sometimes smiles on you but more often likes to stick it to ya. Mom found out the other day what happens when you take the number two diaper off too soon - you get projectile poop and that's not good for anyone. Incoming!! Here is a pic of me holding Quentin while waiting it out.