Ball, ball, ball, ball, ball

This is what we hear all day long. Ball, ball, ball, ball. Quentin is really becoming a pitcher. There are 8 million balls floating around the house now so he can bounce them, play catch and most important throw them (with both hands to hedge our bets). We had a prior tennis career so there are tons of tennis balls in this house. We've added a galactic ball we picked up at some trendy toy store for blue blooded grandmothers, and a football and basketball he was gifted from family so he's really got the sports covered. I looked into golf clubs but they tell me it's too early. Apparently you have to learn how to walk before you hit the links. I thought, that's why they invented golf carts. Tiger started at 2 after all and is younger than me with how much money? Exactly. We aren't practicing enough!

He is also now standing solo. You hold on to his waist for balance so he doesn't smoke that genius melon he's carrying on his shoulders and what does he do in return? He keeps brushing your hands off so he can be "independent." Hmmm, must get that from Carrie. So he gets your hands off him and then raises both hands to the ceiling in a Rocky-esque pose to clear up any confusion that he is champion of the world. He then looks up at the ceiling, no doubt reveling in the fact he's so cool that he loses his balance and you, being the number one parent of the year, are there to catch the newly minted independent Q that two seconds ago was too cool to need help. The thankless job of parenting. He's already a teenager before turning a year old!

He is also terrorizing the dog with his "walker" which is a fancy name for wheels with plastic handle attached that allows him to lean a bit and cruise around the house walking. He loves it (mostly because he feels so cool doing it). He makes the vroom noise while doing it - so awesome! The dog is trying to get out of the way and play at the same time. This translates into him getting slammed into or over repeatedly. Honestly how fast can a 100 pound dog maneuver in a house with a clumsy 11 month old Q-roadster vroom, vrooming all over the place with furniture everywhere? Not to mention the floor, a virtual mine field of Q's toys and the dog's. Did we mention there were balls everywhere in case you want to fall on your duff cartoon style? It's a pretty entertaining scene. So much so we made the observation yesterday that the TV doesn't even come on any more. Well, that may be a little bit of a stretch. Let's face it football is still a priority around here. LinebaQer needs the education. He hasn't quite grasped everything surrounding the game yet but he is clearly picking up the basics. He will dominate the pee-wee league. He's only a few short years away from becoming MVP.

Tonight is the big pumpkin carving spectacular. Think Charley Brown's Great Pumpkin but with a Qster theme. The carving begins this afternoon. We should have some great pictures or not so great depending on how things turn out by tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Here is a picture we took of Q busting out his "warm" clothes. Look at me and my long sleeves. They are spectacular!

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to

Our trip to Kansas City was a great success. We had a some snafus along the way, like my better half forgetting her ID in the car, but her best half figuring that out before he left the car in the parking garage. Or maybe my better half forgetting her designer sunglasses on the plane and her dreamy husband haggling with security, the police and the Southwest personnel to track it down and let me retrieve them. Success! Disaster averted! Q, as usual was very good on his umpteenth trip. He will have qualified for a free ticket by the time the year is up. Fortunately we don't have to buy him a seat yet. He is still heading up to Minneapolis for the ladies trip in November and will also fly home for Christmas so he has another good 4 planes left to board. He is getting to that seat kicking, pulling the person's hair in front of us and taking the occasional swat at that just sticking out melon in front of us but other than that he's behaving quite well. Southwest is now flying direct from Tampa to Milwaukee and we realized this weekend that there is more leg room on their jets than traditional carriers because they do not have a first class section. They take that extra space and give each row another six inches or so of leg room. And they don't charge to check luggage! That's great for a growing Quinny. We are starting to fall for Southwest (ticker LUV and now I know why).

While in KC we threw a little impromptu birthday party for the Q-meister at the "Other Place" with mixed results (see photo). The place was infested with Iowa fans (in Kansas?) rooting their vastly overrated team on against a 4-4 Michigan State squad where they barely pulled out a win throwing a TD on the final play of the game. Clearly, national championship caliber. With all the excitement of Iowa going down early in their fieldgoalfest it was pretty loud and Q is one to want to run around these days so he was getting a little tuckered out. The important thing was that Iowa sneaked out a victory and Q got to spend some much needed time with family members he doesn't get to see too often. Everyone was very nice in showering him with clothes, a mini basketball and football (he can chuck it these days), some much needed toys and a book to help him learn his colors. We had a cake and he got a chance to make a wish and blow out his one candle. He'll get another shot at in a couple of weeks when the Sconny relatives fly into town and we will all meet up in South Florida.

Poppa Steve and Q's Nana were gracious enough to sacrifice putting off a long drive to babysit Quinny on Sunday afternoon while Carrie and I were fortunate enough to finagle some Chief's tickets from Amber and Corey, who hosted us for the weekend, early riser (read Q screaming at dawn) and all. It was a much needed 4 hour break for Carrie and I, this being only our third event Q-less. It, predictably, downpoured the entire second half but the fellas stuck it out moving from our seats in the 18th row all the way up to the fast clearing out first row. Not bad for an NFL game even though the Chiefs took a shellacking losing 37-7. Believe it or not ponchos were selling for a garage sale-esque $2. Andrew helped us out by playing hooky from his basketball event(s) so we really do understand the importance of family and how everyone takes one for the team sometimes. Brett and Audra were also able to attend and we even got to see cousin Jayne, but not her awesome man-cave. Just not enough time in the day... We wanted to thank everyone for their good cheer, sacrificing and incredible job of hosting from Amber and Corey who do know how to treat a guest. It was like staying at the Plaza Hotel.

I could go on and on but I know most of you should be working right now not reading about Q's travels. The picture was a classic. He had enough. He already opened up his gifts and had been sung to so all he needed to do was pose for some pictures and blow out the candle but he was D-O-N-E, done as the picture, ah shall we say screams? Enjoy!

Pumpkin Patch

In the spirit of celebrating fall, our mutual favorite season, we took the Qster to the pumpkin patch in Hyde Park last weekend to introduce him to pumpkins, hay and scarecrows. Carrie and I have always had our little traditions for the holidays and each year we have carved pumpkins. A pumpkin is an expensive commodity in Florida with prices starting at $10 and going up to $25 for a normal size pumpkin. At this event those were the prices. They had plenty available. We skipped the buying part in hopes we can find a better deal closer to Halloween. They don't last long in the fall heat anyway so you can only get a few short days out of them after you carve them. We took some snap shots of Q in the pumpkins and on the hay bales they had set up. Once he got acquainted with the straw he thought it was pretty neat.

We are heading to Kansas City for some fun this weekend where he will truly get introduced to fall and get a chance to see all the leaves changing. With his impending birthday coming up we are going to get a chance to see Carrie's family because they have decided to make the drive and help us celebrate. Our friends and Carrie's cousin Amber and her BF, the Coredog were gracious enough to host us at their house. We are all going to attend the Kansas City Chiefs game on Sunday if the weather behaves. Carrie's parents will get a chance to spend some time with their favorite grandson while we attend the game. It will likely be too cold for him to root for the one win Chefs. Carrie and I are excited to spend some time with good friends and hang with some adults for a change of pace and it's great to be able to see so much of our family in one place without a holiday being involved.

I have put up a picture of Q wearing his Sunday best bathing in pumpkins and sunshine.

Garage Sale

Quinny is really into playing with toys at this stage and has a blast at day care. When we drop him off in the morning he'll hit the floor and just start grabbing the toys off the shelf and you guessed it - throws them on the floor. His teachers say he empties the whole place in minutes. This brought us to the realization we have no toys at home so we went out on a little adventure to Target with Q in tow to find him some toys. We had a great plan and then we were introduced to the price tags. Ridiculous! Toys are outrageously priced so we stayed in the store for a while "testing" different toys out to find out which ones he really likes but only bought him a token toy. We needed a back up plan. Where do you get toys if you don't have hand me downs because you are on child numero uno? Answer...Garage sale. It just happens that our neighboring subdivision, which is massive was having their annual garage sale on Saturday so we gathered up the troops (Lucky), strollered up and headed out for a little adventurous Saturday.

Carrie and I got some to go coffees and it was a surprisingly cool Saturday morning with temps in the low 60s making it an excellent fall day to be outside. The whole neighborhood was a buzz with kids, dogs, and people hawking their wares. First stop I bumped into a couple from Wisconsin selling a parrot head. Sorry, Q but the first buy is for me. I obviously need a parrothead for the next Buffett show. We then traversed through the streets for the next several hours finding everything from toys to some needed Christmas lights. In the end Quinny picked up some toys that he can now play with including some trucks, which he has taking a liking to and even makes the "vroom-vroom" sound as he's sliding it around the floor.

The Qster is so much fun to just watch as he's in his own little world playing around the house cruising all over the place at a lightning quick pace making noises and being his curious self. He'll peak under the couch and then run into the dining room table right over the dog, who doesn't flinch (best dog ever) and then stumble across a ball which he'll chuck across the room and get Lucky's attention and then those two will cruise up and down the floor chasing the same ball. It's pretty entertaining to just sit back and watch.

A couple of days ago he cruised into the bedroom and I went looking for him and found him in the bath tub! I have no idea how he got in there but he did and was very happy about being in there. The kid just loves the water. There was minimal residue from the last shower and he's in there splashing in it and proceeded to bust out his water toys and play in a nearly dry tub. Here is a pic I grabbed well he was in there. He's so much fun right now. Walking is not too far away...

I can share

Quentin has always been such a happy baby during the day and now... we think we may have turned a corner in the sleep department (finally!!) as he has strung several nights in a row of getting up once or less (as in none!!). We waited before telling anyone as at this point we don't want to jinx ourselves. At this moment I am typing and knocking on wood at the same time. He literally turned 10 months old on the day and slept through the night four nights in a row. Since then he's been averaging one wake up usually late morning, 3:30-4:00 am but goes right back to sleep. I can tell you we've been taking such advantage of the long night's rest that we've barely noticed we aren't getting up. It's unbelievable getting a full night's sleep that even after a week or so of getting the shut eye you already can't believe you ever survived not having any. We are thrilled. We didn't do anything different. He simply got older. It's the strangest thing I've ever witnessed and we had given up hope altogether so this is quite a happy and celebrated occasion at our house.

Lately, the Qster has dropped the up, up, up and exchanged it for "duh, duh, duh." I'm not sure what it is but he is saying it at all times non stop and saying nothing else. It almost sounds like a Homer Simpson, "D'oh!" or a soft "Dude," which is forever stuck in my vernacular from growing up in the 80s and certainly possible he could've picked it up. My employees give me grief about the constant "dudes" in meetings as in, "Dude?! Seriously? We can't do better than that?" We'll see if it turns into a bigger word at some point.

He has gotten much better about getting up and down from a standing position and has figured out how to squat to pick something up without going all the way down so he can bounce back up to a standing position. His favorite thing to do is drop everything on the floor and I mean everything. He'll move around the living room crawling to a location and then stand up, grab everything off the couch, coffee table, end tables and throw it on the floor. Our floor is a real life mine field. With it being Florida we are bare foot at all times and stepping on some pointy object is a serious hazard nearly every time you move around. Our bedroom full of stuff on the floor. Our bathroom full of toys on the floor. It's a constant race to pick things up so we can just dump them back on the floor again. He'll take his pacifier out, throw it on the floor (also in the car) and then cry that he doesn't have it any more. You'll pick it up and he'll throw it on the floor again within 30 seconds and then cry some more. Kids! Hmmph!

He has been quite a good sharer as Q and Lucky are constantly fighting for our attention and the same toys. Quentin is into balls to throw and crawl after and of course this drives the dog crazy so there is a constant race when he chucks one. The other night Quentin was getting ready for bed and came over to give me a kiss goodnight while sitting next to me on the couch. We were pretty close and he was working his pacifier over and then out of no where, and very unexpectedly, took it out of his mouth and thrust it into mine in a split second. I had no time to react. I got the business end of the pacifier in my mouth. Kind of gross. It's been a while since I've had one, but what a sweet gesture. That's his new thing when you get too close while he's sucking on one so we are at least aware of it now. What a great sharer!

Life's little lessons

Last night Quentin was afforded a rare opportunity. He was able to witness a live lesson in loyalty. It happened in Minneapolis and I know that he will forever remember it as he grows older and begins to make life's choices and how those choices will come back and reflect upon him and the kind of person, the kind of character he will have. Brett Favre came out onto the field wearing horns last night. No, not those horns, but the horns of a Minnesota Viking and the Packers got what their GM sowed; a painful, humiliating defeat at the hands of their very own home bred super star because he doesn't understand the concept of loyalty. After Quinny and I wiped our many tears away from the anguish of those three plus hours of absolute torture where our once proud hero picked apart our defense like a powder puff football team there was a valuable lesson to be learned. Son, you don't cut your best players, you cut your worst players. Your best ones may come back and wipe the field with your short sightedness. Quentin looked up at me with a look that only a child can give you. I could see the wonder in his eyes, the disappointment in his face. He knew that Ted Thompson was of the worst kind of an executive in sports. Here is a man that puts his own ego above all else, which provided Quentin another lesson. One in vanity. Son, you're never above the team. Although, there may be an I in win, there is no I in team. The Packers, now only one game better than the Detroit Lions, and two games below their old washed up, oh wait, well their old quarterback, Q still assures me the Packers will find a way to grind it out and make the playoffs. My little man is a little smarter and has more character than the entire front office of the Packers. I guess there is a silver lining after all. And to that we thank Ted Thompson, who should be looking for a new job in about 12 weeks.

Here is a picture of Q doing a little posing while eating the alphabet and sporting a mohawk. He loves the water, whether that's his pool, the bath or the dog bowls.

Quentin has caught yet another cold and was at the doctor's office again, which afforded another opportunity to be weighed in. He came in a 23 and 1/2 pounds. That kid is a load to carry around let me tell you. It's getting a little sad that Carrie goes into the doctor's office knowing what medicine he needs. He was in there nearly a month to the day for the same thing. He keeps picking these colds up at daycare and he can't kick em' so they manifest into a sinus infection and then he needs some meds to get rid of it. He actually enjoys slurping down the medicine so at least it's not an issue to get him to take it. It doesn't really bother him though. He can't breathe out his nose, so he has trouble eating sometimes but he maintains his happy disposition, which is great.

On a not so great note...Sadly, we lost a family member today. The first one we've lost as a family living in Florida. Oscar kicked the proverbial bucket this morning. I was horrified. I came in from my morning walk with Lucky and was rushing upstairs to get something out of my office when I noticed Oscar laying down and taking a nap on the bottom of his fish tank. I used my super powers of perception and deduced that Oscar doesn't normally sleep in such a comfortable pose. I knew he had passed. I shrieked and Carrie came rushing downstairs, where she too was horrified at the site. (Ironic he died on fish fry Friday). I would like to take a moment to eulogize Mr. Oscar. "He was a good fish. Weighing in at a solid 3 pounds 4 ounces he gave years of enjoyment to old and young alike. He gave far more than he ever took from this world. He was always doing tricks for guests and our family while never complaining and constantly entertaining. He grew up a big fish in a little pond starting his life in Gainesville before quickly moving and settling in Tampa where he spent his remaining years. There will be a funeral in the backyard this evening at 6 O'clock sharp. Any donations can be made to the local aquarium. May Mr. Oscar find the big ocean in the sky and live a happy spiritual existence swimming with the fishes."

It looks like this weekend we will be making a trip to the pet store to find us some new fish for our aquarium. I think it will be a fun experience for Q getting to see all the animals. They have snakes, lizards, rodents, dogs, cats, fish, birds and any other animal you can think of there so it should be something different for him.

I still can't get over him standing all the time. I went up to get him this morning and he was standing in his crib. So weird. I've attached a picture of him standing so you can see how big he's getting.