The Daycare Week (Doomsday Week 2009)

Well, we survived the first week of daycare. As of today no one has made any appointments with the area shrinks. I am hating the morning rush hour drive. This morning there was a major accident in front of us closing our main drag to daycare resulting in an adventure of road rage proportions attempting to find an alternate route during our lovely bumper to bumper commute. I find myself really thanking our employer for not making me drive to work every morning. There are a lot of really, really poor drivers out there. I mean really pathetic excuses for being able to hold a driver's license. No wonder people say flying is so much safer. Apparently anyone qualifies to get behind the wheel. And what's up with the total lack of blinker usage? Is it really that arduous of a task to hit the little handle up or down? I mean just hitting the blinker once in a while could really cut down on the idiocy. Part of the reason the drive is so stressful is our little hotbox of a son is sweating his tail off in his car seat. Those things don't breathe. I already told Carrie we could quit our jobs right now by simply designing a car seat that breathes. Millions! This thing is plastic and has a cushy cover that goes over it and since he's facing the trunk he doesn't get the air blowing from the vents. If we had a fancy mini van or an SUV we would probably have the vents on the roof that could blow down on him but we live in Accord land and don't. In the 15-20 minute drive it takes us to get there he is literally soaked from sweating so he's crying and kicking trying to get out of there exasperating the situation making him sweat more. This coupled with the numerous, what's the PC word I'm looking for here, not jackasses, let's say nincompoops weaving in and out of traffic while putting on their make up while sending that last minute all important text message all while driving with one knee. I'm not sure if daycare or getting to daycare is more dangerous.

At any rate, I don't think we're really satisfied. As soon as you say that you wonder if there would be a situation you could be satisfied in. Oh, I know, he could just stay home with us. That would be the solution we can't seem to get our heads around. We only need to provide two weeks to get out of this place so I think we are going to continue to research options and see what we can find. There are few red flags we've noticed. Today the doctors tell you it's only safe to have your baby sleep on their back. I realize previous years it's been their stomachs or even their side at one time. Every time we walk into daycare all the kids are sleeping on their stomachs. He's also only been there four days and two of those days he's come home with another child's bottle. That's not the worst thing that can happen, but he has his bag with Quentin spelled out on it in size 72 font. The bottles have his name on it. It shouldn't be hard to match one with the other unless you can't read; a possibility I suppose (shudder at the thought). My concern is whether or not they are feeding him the right bottles. I mean if they can't figure out who the bottle belongs to once it's empty how do I know they can figure it out when it's full? Breast milk is considered a bodily fluid, probably because it is, and therefore comes with all the risks of sharing bodily fluids such as hepatitis or the HIV. We certainly don't want our son going to daycare and coming home with some random person's HIV (pronounced like sieve). I again shudder at the thought. He keeps coming home with a rash on his cheeks as well. And the cheap perfume thing is driving me crazy. I'm buying a case of decent cologne for all these ladies to wear for Christmas. If my kid is going to smell like them at least put some cologne on so he can smell like a man. Am I being petty? I don't know ask me when we have child number three. I hear by that time you are a lot more relaxed. Until then I'm giving these people the third degree. Quick update - Carrie just got back and did give them the third degree and they passed. The lie detector test helped us feel at ease. We are probably over reacting a bit so hopefully we (read me) can calm down in the coming weeks. I'm still dousing him in cologne, though.

Quentin doesn't seem to be sleeping too much while he is there. He likes to be held so much at home that he really only sleeps for long periods of time when he's held and that's just not realistic at daycare so he comes home pretty tired and sleeps the afternoon away. Carrie has been taking the family in the afternoon on some nice walks, which the dog loves (he's back to getting two a day!) and it's nice for Carrie to bask in the sunshine as she goes back to 40+ work weeks on Monday. I think it must be a quite a sight with the stroller and our rambunctious giant dog. Our neighbor witnessed this the other day driving home and pulled over to see "if she needed any help." Nope! This is actually organized chaos. It was a nice gesture though.

It's nice that Carrie, the dog and Quentin can be outside. This is some of the nicest weather in the nation this time of year. Every day it's a breezy, sunny, low humidity 78 degrees which will last until late April/early May. We've been spending a lot more time after work on the porch and can't wait for the clocks to change again so we can get more afternoon daylight. There has been some scheming to see if we can get everyone (in one piece) to the beach this weekend. Is it possible to get the dog and Quentin there in one car? We had a vote and decided Lucky is too much of a menace, so in all seriousness I think we are going to take two cars - one for each child. I have tried to teach Lucky to swim and he failed so this may be a big moment in Luckylore. He's a pretty big wuss and it takes him quite a while to overcome his fear. (He wouldn't go outside, even to pee, for about a week after New Year's because of the fireworks). It's ironic because when we walk him our whole neighborhood is afraid of him because of his size and he's so chicken of them they have nothing to fear. At any rate we'll see how he does in the sand and surf. With that I'll leave with a a picture of Quentin making like a rubber ducky coming out of his bath.

Devastating!

I had a great blog that I wrote on my plane ride home on Friday morning. I showed Carrie while I was getting ready to post it and she declared that there was an awful lot of ranting about the government. You know, the same one that ruined the last eight years and is still nursing that hangover this year? She thought we may end up on McCarthy's list and be blackballed from working in the near future. In this economy we didn't want that so I set out to begin editing. Well, it turned out there was an awful lot of government ranting and to take it all out meant I was left with very little so I am starting over.

First things first, I was in Green Bay and one of my clients cancelled on me so I was afforded a few hours of free time and made my way over to historic Lambeau Field. It was about minus ten outside so we were living up to the billing of the frozen tundra. I was able to make it to the pro shop before closing so needless to say Quentin is all set for football season next year. That place is awesome. Even the hangers have the Packer G inscribed on them. (They wouldn't let me keep the hangers). We got some sweet Packer gear. There is a pub upstairs so I got to catch up on my favorite Wisco beer as well as fried cheese curds. You forget how good the cheese is. People make a lot of fun of you for being a cheesehead but I'd rather be a cheesehead then a cornhead. Cheese is much, much better and comes in a lot more variety. I cannot believe you can just run around in Lambeau but it's wide open to the public. Pretty neat. I recommend you go.

Upon returning to above freezing temps on Friday at the homestead we began the countdown to Quentin growing up and leaving the house. It used to be you had to wait until you were 18 or lied about your age and joined the military but in these economic times we need our children to forge their own lives a little earlier. So we spent the weekend cuddling, cooing, talking, spitting (new skill learned!) and generally being a family. The fateful day was this morning. We awoke at 3am to our house guest getting ready to catch their flight home. Who knew they even let planes fly that early? We went back to sleep and got up for real around 6am, which I guess is going to be our new starting time to get everyone ready and out of the house. We've been fortunate that we don't have to commute during rush hour. You can cross that dandy off the list. We are official commuters. Has anyone seen Office Space? That opening scene where the dude is in the car rapping along to his CD sitting in bumper to bumper traffic beating the hell out of his steering wheel because a 110 year old man complete with walker is passing his car on the sidewalk beside him - well, that's what driving in rush hour is like in Tampa. Yes! We are part of the status quo!

No tears were shed on the way there in the car. Jimmy Buffett was playing on the stereo. He's sort of uplifting in your time of need. (It's 5 O'clock somewhere, right)? We did take a few photos of mom and baby before leaving to feed the constant need of mapping Q's all too fast growth. The mood was silent. You could hear a pin drop. It was sort of like when you got picked up from school, before it was out, because you just got suspended and your parents hadn't slammed the iron fist of discipline down on you yet, but you knew it was coming so it was eerily, scarily quiet. That has happened to you, right? Well, we were all sort of afraid of each other. No one wanted to upset anyone else so we sat silently in the car as the sun rose on the horizon without even so much as giving any one of the numerous people cutting us off the bird that so clearly deserved it.

We arrived at the daycare. It was go time. We either sucked it up right now, wrote a way too large check and dropped our son off or quit our jobs, ran back to the car, withdrew all of our savings and immediately made a bee line for the Keys. I tried. The wife didn't go for it. We could've been hippies for life. The Q has the hair for it... We went in and I was holding Quentin and they immediately sent us to the nursery. Carrie was going over the particulars with the teacher while I held a very happy, smiling Quentin, which made me feel really guilty like you're telling your dog you are taking him to the park only to drop him off at the vet to get neutered. When it was time to go and we were stalling a little bit, I couldn't take it any more. I gave him to Care to say good-bye, which meant tears were welling up and I just had to get out of there. It makes you feel like you just sold your kid on the black market for a goat or something. You're getting screwed! I tore out of there and Carrie was not too far behind. The drive home was similar to the ride there. We had a rush of emotions. Do you think it's possible to convince our employer that it makes a lot more sense to take Carrie's salary give it to me, allow her to quit and they would be better off? I actually tried the sell at my 2:30 with my boss. He laughed. Well, at least we got smiles out of it.

Rough, to drop your kid off at daycare. I don't really see that getting any easier either. (Maybe when he's a teenager). Tomorrow's another day and hopefully by the end of the week we won't need therapy. I hope we figure something out because when he came home he was jaded. Granted, it was only for a little bit but he was definitely upset we left him with strangers for the day. He also smelled like perfume. I need my son to be all man here so we need to knock that off. He did have a blow out on his teacher so that made us feel better. We feel like we're sort of getting our money's worth. He also came home with someone's bottle. They tell you to label everything and I do mean everything. We're talking socks here folks and then he comes home with a bottle labeled Jake. Um, hello? Jake doesn't sound like Quentin does it? They are spelled similarily though, right? Geez, I thought this place was called the learning center!?!?

We made it through day one, but only because we have lots of pictures to surround ourselves with when he's not here. These are two of my favorites.

Is the sunshine going to return?

Well, today is a sunnier day. We have gotten over the shock and awe campaign that the area child care providers rained down on us and have redoubled our efforts to put our child into a day care that can remain open for more then a few months at a time. We would also like to find a day care that doesn't just take our money, but provides some sort of service for cashing our check. Any service at all would be a step in the right direction. Interestingly enough this task is more difficult then one may think. After pouring over the spreadsheets we have come to the conclusion, again, that Carrie cannot be a stay-at-home mom so we must come to terms with the fact that smiley, I mean Quentin, will have to vacate the premises by 8 am Monday morning. Carrie did weasel some extra time and will be pulling half days her first week back so Quentin will only be making other people smile for no more then four hours at a time next week. This of course, does not cut down on the cost for Dad. Surprise, surprise. Here is the next great idea. We could start a day care to make money while also selling specialty beer. That way, when mom and dad come to pick up junior after a hard day at work we can save them that extra stop and fill two holes the greater Tampa area needs with one fell swoop; beer and child care. I know at first it seems like this might not be the greatest idea. While you are pondering that thought, though, I encourage you to go grab a beer, take a swig and then think about it. See? Now, that is a great idea. All I need now are some VC's to help with the financing.

We think we have two pretty decent options but first let me say thanks and give a shout out to two family members who graciously stepped forward to fill the child care hole by offering to not only get on a plane and fly to Florida but to help out indefinitely until we found a suitable decision. Aunt Jo, previously of Florida fame, worked it out with her generous family to come down and help out. She is also a former in-house child care provider and is considered some what of an expert in these matters. Grandpa semi-retired Steve also offered his services. He was a bit of a snake charmer getting Quentin to sleep on command several times throughout the Iowa visit. We appreciate both their offers. We did want to find something permanent that we both felt comfortable with and due to the recent economic conditions we found several places with vacancies because families were forced to pull their children due to financial constraints. These places cost a fortune, so we feel their pain. We found two day cares. They are essentially total opposites and I leave it up to my fair-minded wife to ultimately make the decision. One place is your Florida down home keeping it real day care that has been in business for 38 years and uses the term y'all a lot. Now, who wouldn't want their kid coming home every night asking how y'all doin' tonight? They have been in business before I was born so I think their track record speaks for itself. The second place was more of a learning center and didn't appreciate the term "day care." This is a school they matter of factly stated. It was a lot fancier and they didn't use y'all once throughout the visit. Both places had nice people and Quentin would be taken care of. We'll let you or y'all know what we decide this week but they both could open their doors as early as Monday. Unbelievable, but we'll take it. We are officially short on kleenixes so if you have extras send them down because a fairly traumatic event of dropping him off has exponentially increased, well, traumatically.

In case anyone needed cheering up throughout this saga I have attached a picture of Yahoo Serious. If you don't remember Yahoo Serious google the name in images. It will be worth it. This is Q after a bath. That hair will be touching the ground before he'll be able to walk at the rate it is going. He is smiling and talking so much now that it's impossible to put him down. We've stopped reading the paper, watching TV and doing anything else personal because you just want to play with him all day. It will be weird to not have him here during the day.

Tampa, we have a problem!

Calling all nannies, mannies, daycares, child care providers, pre-school teachers, baby sitters and midwives. Did I miss anyone? We had an atrocious Friday the 13th. We finally found some time to go down to Quentin's new daycare and get our ID's so we could pick him up and drop him off. We decided to to do it at rush hour so we would know how long it would take to get there during peak traffic times. I can't even begin to give this situation justice writing about it but I'll give it a shot. It took us about 20 minutes to get to the daycare so we felt pretty good about that. The day took a dramatic turn downhill immediately upon pulling into the parking lot. It was clear the daycare wasn't open and it was 4:30 in the afternoon. Not a good sign. When we got closer it was clear the center was no longer open and under construction. We whip out a cell phone and call the number. The number is disconnected. Not good. Carrie walks up to the door and there is a cardboard sign etched with an exacto knife that says closed. Classy. All this daycare, ahem or lack there of, for only $200 a week. We get home and did some checking and called our first choice where we were wait listed. They have been inundated with calls since this place closed several locations so they had the scoop. Yes, these people took our money and closed their doors without sending a letter or a phone call ala Madoff. Scumbags apparently can be found in any industry including child care. Through a little research we found they were taking people's money on Monday knowing full well they were closing their doors on Friday. They gave parents no notice who already had children there. We are officially screwed because we have one week of maternity leave left and the best estimates for the lists we are on will have openings by summer so we now have no alternatives either. Anyone want to take care of Quentin?

We had some minor issues later in the day that don't hold a candle to that, but this Friday the 13th was so unkind. Carrie's awesome verizon phone took a run down the proverbial crapper and now only the 6 key works as in every time you open the phone it just repeatedly dials the 6 key. Some how that is my number on her speed dial. How did I make it to only number six? I don't know but every time she flips the phone open it calls mine. So today we are going to have to go out and buy another phone. Does anyone notice that these cell phone companies require you to sign a two year deal but none of these phones make it to two years. They all die before hand forcing you to "upgrade" to a new phone and sign another two year agreement. We've had enough! We're buying our contract out. Those fees really aren't that bad if you do the math. We are talking about less then $10/month prorated and she only has a couple of months left so we're done. One year agreements going forward.

So, we lost our daycare and Carrie had her phone die but I did attempt to get some flowers delivered yesterday for V-day. Of course that would go right. Right?!? No, I learned my lesson last year as I was attempting to track down flowers the day of so this year I took care of them a couple weeks in advance. I asked the flower shop to deliver them around noon. Noon comes and goes, no flowers. We have to get to the defunct daycare but I can't leave until the flowers come so I start stalling. I decide I'll got to the gym. That will give the flower folks a good hour to make it. I come back. Still no flowers. I go back to work and make some phone calls. It's now after two and still no flowers. I call the flower shop and they promise they will have them there no later then 3pm. I take a shower, make some more phone calls. Still no flowers. It's 4 pm now and we can't wait any longer so I take off to go to our hellhole of a daycare. We return ultra angry. There are some tears because poor Quentin is going to be homeless or Carrie is going to unexpectedly be a stay-at-home mom. We would be fine with that if we could keep her paycheck. So, it's really not the ideal time to walk in the house with a bouquet of flowers because everyone is mad and panicking but I did pay for them. It's officially 5:30 so I call the florist again and they put me on hold for about five minutes. They come back on and ask if they can call me back in 15 minutes. That's not a positive sign. They call back to tell me they already delivered them. Uh-huh. And they would be where? Well, I tell them they didn't get here. Carrie of course by now wants to know what is going on so that kills the surprise but does add to the misery. Flower shop says they will make it right. Well, in the end it turns out they read the 5 in our address as an 8 and delivered them to our neighbors - who accepted them with Carrie Spiegelhoff on the card. The driver went back several hours later and asked for them back and then ran across the street and delivered them to us. That must have been a really interesting conversation the wife had with the husband over there. In the end she got her flowers and liked them but by this time a stiff drink would've had a more positive effect. It was a rough one.

This morning we awoke still in disbelief and having no idea what to do. I figure everything happens for a reason so I am being patiently optimistic. That's a new role for me so I'll let you know how it works out. We can only wait and see. Hopefully some Christmas miracle happens and a grade A child care provider presents themselves at our door during our most dire hour. And oh I can't wait for March 13th, another Friday the 13th. And if that's not enough, there is yet another one in November this year. Happy Valentine's Day - from hell!

Pictures

Here are some pictures of the trip to Iowa. There are way too many to post so I am putting just a sampling out here. There are several going out via email. If we missed you and you want to see them shoot us an email or place a comment on the blog and we'll get them out to you.

I think after having Quentin for nearly 3 months (can you believe it?!?!) we have finally figured out how to properly put on a diaper. I don't know what to say but Quentin just set the all time record for not pooping in/on an outfit. We currently stand at three days, 6 hours, 11 minutes and 23, 24, 25 seconds. I'm sure while I am writing this he's building up some pressure, saving breakfast and going to have a nice explosion waiting for me. However, when I was having breakfast this morning Quentin was in his chair playing with whatever you call those toys dangling above him cooing away having the time of his life. Sometimes he's so loud you wonder what he's thinking about. You just sit there and go wow that fifty cent toy is really knocking his socks off this morning. Whatever works right? Well, I'm reading yesterday's paper because it's tough to get 10 minutes of solid "me" time these days and I'm still catching up on yesterday's news when I hear a rather loud bass-like 30-secondish pounding in the pants. I think to myself well, there goes that record. Fortunately for me I have to "run" back to the office and will quietly make my escape just in the nick of time. Sorry, mom, but we wouldn't want to spoil you. Valentine's day is tomorrow after all. Well, I get upstairs and Carrie runs up to Quentin's room to get him an outfit and what do you know Mr. Diaper held after all. So I say again, apparently we learned how to put diapers on within the last few days or Quentin has learned the slowl release. Either way it's a win. We don't want any O rings blown around here.

The state fair is going on this weekend. Kind of strange to have your state fair run in the middle of February but they want to do it before it gets too hot. Well, this is the last weekend so we thought we should make an appearance. They have several attractions that won't be at your state fair like the shark tank experience. It's like going through the cow barn except it's water and these cows can eat you. That should be something a little different. They also have chocolate covered bacon. Ummm, salty and delicious. It sounds like something Homer Simpson would crave. Mmmm, chocoooolate covered baaacooon...mmmmm.... At any rate you have to try that right? So, we'll skip the funnel cake this year in hopes of saving up enough calories to pound some chocolate covered bacon strips. I hear they are selling it by the pound. Two please. Should be fun.

Just some taglines for the pictures. The first pick is of the three babies. Carrie and all her friends planned their pregnancies together so they all could be moms at the same time. My kid is the one wearing the toupee. He kind of stands out. Who knew so many babies were lacking hair? The next one is of Great Grandpa Alvin on Carries' mom's side. I also posted one of 4 generations except Carrie forgot to put herself in the picture! She must have taken that one when I was on furlough because she's the missing generation, but Grandma and Great Grandma on Carrie's mom's side are in there. That last one is I would say the Pregger Posse but that isn't entirely accurate and I don't want any of those non-pregger girls to feel obligated to run out and get knocked up so we'll call them the WWW girls. It's a long story and for most of you, you don't really want to know anyway. Enjoy!

Recap of the Iowa trip

I am preparing for my trip home to Florida and as I gaze out my hotel window I see some rain that I hope stays rain and doesn't turn into freezing rain. Not seeing Quentin on a daily basis is harder than I imagined so I don't want any further delays. This past weekend I taught Quentin how to moo. I am an excellent farm animal noise maker. I do a mean cow, horse, pig and chicken. I was asked to do a rooster this past weekend but cannot. I have been working on a turkey for years but I can't seem to perfect it. I have perfected the cow, though, and have started working on passing the talent, that is if making cow sounds can be considered a talent, to Quentin. When holding Quentin you can't do anything. He wants your full attention and the constant smiles, cooing and giggling he provides means you can't help yourself but give him your undivided attention. So as he stares into your face yearning to see what you are going to do next I start mooing. He likes it. He starts smiling and then tries to make the same kind of expression my mooing face makes with his own lips. Before long I mooooooooo and he then moooooooos back. It's a hit. He loves it and it's so funny, exciting, hilarious, interesting all in one that he can mimic you at such a young age and starts mooing after every time you do. This weekend we are going to start working on a chicken. Bawk, bawk, bawk, BAAAKAWK! If he can do that one I'll make sure I figure out how to upload the video.

The weekend was a smashing success. Quentin and Carrie traveled well together so that was great to hear. Carrie's family got to meet, hold, cuddle, take naps and get puked on with Quentin all weekend long. I don't believe anyone was blown out on but I did disappear on a 24 hour furlough with the boys on our ice fishing excursion. It was nearly 50 degrees, so it was a little scary to be on the river ice fishing but someone, who shall remain nameless to protect their identity, did manage to pull up a sizable northern somewhere in the vicinity of 36 inches. It easily took first prize. Unfortunately, I was only able to catch the elusive buzz fish well known in those Wisconsin parts. I did visit a Sawmill though and picked up some lite souvenirs sold in six pack format. My younger and only brother was gracious enough to traverse the great state of Wisconsin from east to west and then back again to spend some quality time fishing on Saturday. We caught up, I think, and both caught not a fish but something resembling the flu and a cold together. I woke up Sunday morning and the hotel thermostat was set at 55 degrees. Maybe that had something to do with it. My ritual upon checking into a hotel is immediately going up to my room, dropping off my bag and turning the thermostat as high as it will go, which is generally 85 degrees so when I return after my meetings it's Florida in there. Apparently, that's not how the Iowa folk roll, whom we were sharing a hotel room with. Gesundheit! Oh, excuse me that was me still freezing and sneezing!

While the boys were catching buzzes and colds the ladies were showering the babies, and there were several of them, with attention, food and gifts. Quentin received sets of "big boy" clothes for the upcoming spring and summer months including a Packers jogging suit and jersey. It's going to be sweet when he grows into them and starts throwing around the pig skin. He received some more books, which is great for his reading comprehension - he's been working on that in the evenings. He got some toys and some gift cards so Carrie can buy the much anticipated bedding for Quentin's crib. I think we may finally be moving him out of our room and into his. We still need to purchase a baby monitor but I think we will take care of that this weekend. He met his great grand parents this past weekend and took several naps with Grandpa Steve on the floor. Apparently we found Q's manny. He's retired, likes to nap and doesn't mind the occasional crying baby. Sounds like we found the perfect resume for our open (N)manny position. I hear that Grandpa Steve enjoys the Florida sunshine as well. I am very excited to step off the plane today and feel the 78 degree weather. 50 is nice but a far cry from 80.

When I get home tomorrow I will post the pictures from this past weekend. Carrie got together with her BFF's baby's mommas. I have seen the pictures and it won't be difficult to figure out which one is baby Quentin. He's the one without the baby-pattern baldness. It was nice for them all to get together. Stay tuned for the pics!

Quentin got his wings!

Greetings from Iowa! The family made it to balmy (and I'm not kidding) Iowa. This is a live report from the farm... When I boarded my plane in Tampa yesterday morning they had ice on the wings. Ice! In Florida they don't have de-icing equipment. Hmm, not safe to fly with heavy ice on your wings and don't have the necessary equipment to get it off. What to do, what to do. Well, we enlisted the help of God. They towed our plane to a sunny spot on the tarmac and there we sat until the sun de-iced the plane. This was not the most efficient way of doing it and it took over an hour for us to be deemed safe enough to leave. I was sitting next to the door and the flight attendant told me she had been based in Florida for 25 years and never had to de-ice a plane in that time. I feel so fortunate to be there for yet another first in aviation. Traveling is such a joy these days. I checked my first bag in years and well I am handing it to the gate agent I notice the zipper is open about 4 inches so I decide to close it ripping the zipper right off the bag. The other 5 zippers had been ripped off throughout the years of abuse. I now have a zipped up garment bag with no way to unzip (us Spiegelhoffs can get anything open with a generous helping of force so I really didn't see this as my issue) but rather how to zip it up once I unzipped it. It looks like I am going to be doing some luggage shopping in the great corn belt state of Iowa. While riding the train to the next terminal in Atlanta I saw a young woman bolt off the train to her terminal and leave her backpack behind. I figured it was better for me to pick up then have them evacuate the train when someone realized there was an unattended bag. Well, due to the de-icing I was hauling to make my connection so I brought it to my new gate only to have that lady have a total freak out. "It's a bomb! I don't want to open it. Why did you bring it to me?!" Oh my lord, she must be still in the George Bush camp of fear politics. Take it easy and call TSA. Man alive, what a drama queen! After that I was the 2nd person to board my CRJ dinky plane when they decided that plane wasn't safe to fly and we deplaned and had to wait to get another one. At the end of all the drama my luggage and I made it to Iowa. Carrie and Quentin took a direct flight and it worked out beautifully.

Well, it just about figures. Quentin was an angel on the plane. He was cooing at the guy he was sitting next to and not a cry, scream or any objectionable noise of any kind. Not even a blow out! I knew he was being crabby at home to get it out of his system. Who knew he would be such a good travel companion. Maybe he will get to come with us to Hawaii. He also took in his first high school basketball game where he witnessed the Dons taking out the Janesville Wildcats. There were two T's in the game and an adult altercation resulting in the refs asking to be escorted out by security. These catholic schools are rough these days. The entire extended Iowa family was at the game so we made quite the scene coming in. Quentin was literally crowd surfing as he was being passed around. By the time he got back someone had taken his pants off. What kind of place is this? Apparently, it was hot and decided Quentin's legs needed some air. They did keep his diaper on so there was no full frontal nudity. He didn't like it too much but eventually settled down and was relatively relaxed for the rest of the game. Afterward some friends and family came back to the Reiter's for a victory party and some catching up.

We received some nice compliments from blog readers so that was nice to hear. I enjoy writing it so I am glad to hear people have enjoyed reading it. Carrie's cousin and psuedo-child (carrie's words) is apparently the president of the Quentin blog. So, Rachel if you need any personal appearances or book signings I am available and come to Iowa about three times a month. Maybe we can do a joint presentation for one of your classes.

The big Quentin party is today. I have to get going so I can get my gear together for the ice fishing tourney starting in a few hours. I don't want to be here when the female invasion occurs. No pictures today because I am on the road and don't have access to them. We'll post a bunch from the weekend late next week when we return.

Mr. Crabby Pants goes to Iowa

Our friends and family have been so generous showering lil' Quentin with tons of clothes and toys. Here is a pic with some Boston gear he received from our beloved Jim at work who lives and works in the northeast. Quentin looks pretty happy to be wearing it. I did remind Jim that the three of us were at pivotal game 7 in the ALCS when the Rays knocked off the Red Sox to gain their first ever birth to the World Series. Of course the Quinster was cheering from the womb. Bawston is still a great town. If you haven't been there make it out there. It's a lot smaller then people think. (You can walk the whole town). There is tons of history and they do love their sports out there. With the accents it's like going to another country. Have some lahhbstah while you're there. We once had an extravanganza there. Planes and trains were missed. There was even a shopping cart incident but that's another story. (It's a good one too)!

Quentin has been preparing for his first ever air travel (outside the womb) by crying like mad for the past several days. I am theorizing that he is teething. If you look in there you can see some nice little teeth seedlings. We were at the doctor like a week ago and he said it's uncommon but teeth come as early as two months and can come as late as 12 months. He's constantly gnawing or attempting to gnaw on anything he can get near his mouth. He's also drooling more then usual and is getting near bib stage. He doesn't really have hand coordination yet so he can't hang on to something and hold it in his mouth for chewing. He supplements this lack of development with screaming. Nice trade off. I'm frantically searching the child rearing manual to find the section on when they get this coordination so we can just buy some chew toys instead of wishing for a mute button. The good news is he should have already hit his screaming quota for the week giving the people on the plane a reprieve. At least we hope so. If not? Well, let me tell you how many flights I have been on with a screaming child. Pay back is a....That's right I'm not making any apologies. It is a direct flight so that's only 3 hours and change of screaming. We could be going to Spain so count your blessings fellow air travelers. A lot of people have said give him a shot of benadryl. Well, it's a little early for that and besides he prefers whiskey.

I think I will have some good stories upon my return. I am going ice fishing (wink, wink) while the ladies smother Quentin. He's a lady killer so hopefully there will be some survivors when I get back. I here the high is supposed to hit 50. You have got to be kidding me!??! Tonight we are potentially going to hit the teens. Ridiculous. Our flora is dying! Apparently we are traveling to the north pole where global warming is still doing its job. At any rate I'll take it. Everyone wish us some safe travel and be prepared for long winded stories in the near future. I will try to inject some humor. I heard there was a drink exiting a nostril after reading about the cabinet story. Now, that is funny. By the way in case there are some cynics out there who doubt my carpentry skills I'll have you know that the cabinet is still firmly attached to the wall. And yes it is full of dishes. A second career perhaps? We'll see you Iowans soon.

What a game!

We made it through our first Super Bowl as a family. The picture of Quentin was taken shortly after the game and similar to the players he was exhausted. Quentin was a pistol all day. We're not sure what his deal was but he was pretty crabby yesterday. In typical Quentin fashion we had him all decked out in his packer uniform and by noon he had a blow out. On to outfit number two. This time we got him dressed in a long sleeve shirt and then a short sleeve shirt over it that said, "Daddy's drinking buddy" with a (baby) bottle next to the words. Pefect right? We don't even get him out of his room before he pukes all over it. That's okay, we can clean that up and keep him in that outfit. I have my super bowl shirt on we picked up at the NFL experience last weekend and I am holding Quentin. He is being fussy and I have him on my shoulder. He blows some serious chunks. Really, really chunky all over my shirt. This is the first time I'm wearing it. It was nasty. I mean really, down and dirty nasty. I can't take it. I start gagging. "I think I'm going to lose it. Care, take the kid." She's screaming at me don't puke in the living room! I don't want to clean up after you! I get myself under control and throw my shirt in the wash. Quentin 2, shirts 0. By 3pm Quentin has another blow out and plows through outfit number two. We are running out of football themed clothes here. We put a Badger onsie on him but it's short sleeved and it's a little chilly so we put on a football themed footie thingy and hope it holds up through the game because this is it. We don't have any more football outfits. He pukes on it like it's his job. If we could some how get like $5-$10 per outfit with poop on it I could've made up for the stock market tanking my 401K. Yours, his, mine and anyone else that's in range has had their outfit trashed by our little wrecking ball. Quentin 4, shirts 0. Fortunately, that was the end of the bodily fluids and he made it through the evening in outfit number 3.

It's a good thing we didn't go to the game. We debated for about a year whether or not we should attend. Even with the addition of Quentin we thought we could pull it off. We were way, way wrong. He was crying too much and people paying for those seats would've been angry making a crying baby on a plane look like two puppies cuddling. He was mad and he was determined to let everyone in ear shot know it. I think he was mostly upset about those weak commercials. If I get a second career I'm heading straight to Madison Avenue. The marketing degrees these colleges are handing out aren't worth the paper their printed on. Outside of that hilarious Dorito commercial with the kid throwing the crystal ball through the vending machine I didn't find any of it funny and a good portion of it blah. No wonder all these companies are going broke. This is the best they've got? Hopefully next year Quentin will be a little bit more into it and a little quieter. Dad wagering correctly and winning some diaper money helped to soothe Quentin and he ended up sleeping soundly through the night. At least he has that part down. I threw in a picture of the Vince Lombardi Trophy we got to check out the week before. This was the trophy on the field. If you look carefully you can see #4 in the reflection.

Super Bowl SUNDAY!

Christmas for men every where across this great nation has finally arrived! Carrie took Quentin and the dog out of the bedroom this morning around 7 am in an attempt to let me "sleep in." It was a nice moment of personal sacrifice to allow me to sleep but like a child on Christmas morning there would be no sleeping in on Super Bowl Sunday. I was too excited to get ready for the big game and couldn't fall back a sleep. I got up and took a preemptive strike at calming Lucky down for the game so I could watch it with some peace and quiet or as much peace as a two month old will allow. I took the dog for a good four mile run this morning in the hopes that he would be tuckered out and sleep through at least part of the game. If only it was that easy with Quentin.

The good news is Quentin learned how to sleep while I was on my trip last week. I haven't been able to put my finger on the catalyst that would allow such a marvel to unfold but in times like this it's better to go with the flow then ask questions. All I know is we are getting to bed at a fairly reasonable hour and are sleeping with less Quentin interruption throughout the night. I would write he got over the hump, but fear of Quentin proving me wrong tonight prevent me from making such a bold statement. All I can say is mom and dad are enjoying the increase in down time. I think I can speak for Lucky as well when I say we are becoming a slightly more restful family.

Quentin is all decked out in his Packer gear for the game. Unfortunately the Packers like the Badgers forgot how to win so they won't be attending the game this year unless they have tickets. There have been Aaron Rodgers sightings around town so at least that fat salary the Packers gave him is paying off for him on a personal level. On the field, well, not so much. We looked into getting him (Quentin not Rodgers, he makes $12M/a year and can buy his own) some Super Bowl gear but at $30 an outfit they were a bit steep, especially considering he turned two months old this past week and he is now wearing six month old clothes. It's hard to believe but he's got a huge gut on him that makes outfits that are slightly short too short, because the outfit needs to be scooted up so he can fit all of his gut in there. Anything with feet built in are pretty much too short and tight due to his extra long body. It's amazing how fast he goes through outfits. We already have a ton of clothes he's grown out of. I have a much better understanding of parents who are constantly trying to catch up to these growth spurts. I need to start buying Carters' stock for all the money we are plowing into their clothes. What a racket! Can you imagine buying a pair of jeans at the mall only to have to buy another pair 2-3 weeks down the road? I mean the kid has to be clothed right? We're just waiting until summer rolls around so he can just roam around naked. I think that's acceptable at his age and a cheaper alternative to buying new clothes every three weeks.

Just a quick update on our kitchen fiasco. It turns out that Quentin's old man is a bit handier then he appears on the outside. A quick informational visit to Lowe's and a $10 expenditure led to a finger crossing ceremony and Dad putting the cabinets back on the wall. I added an extra screw for re-enforcement. The wife has enough faith in me that she even put the dishes back in the cabinet so hopefully it holds (that would be the finger crossing ceremony). The dishes have been in their rightful place for about 12 hours and no major catastrophe has been reported. Hopefully the cabinet will hold, at least through the game. It's a whole new world not having to search the house for a coffee cup in the morning and having it actually in a cupboard where it belongs.

Go Steelers today! I picked the Steelers to win the Super Bowl in week 14 so hopefully I will be correct. Carrie is a closet Steelers fan and I stand to make a few bucks if they win. It should be a good game. Enjoy Christmas!

Here is a picture of Quentin. I don't know what's in that thumb but it sure does look like it's doing the trick.