Call Child Services, Dad's parenting solo...

Well Grandma and Grandpa R. were in town this past weekend getting a little chill out of their Iowa lives (8 inches of snow yesterday) for a few days. Carrie went and picked them up at the airport on Friday afternoon and I decided I would watch Quentin and Lucky solo for the 90 minutes or so she was gone. Everything was working out pretty well. I had a happy baby and the dog was being his usual self, wishing he was getting more attention. Quentin has been spending more and more time on his tummy and I had him propped up on some pillows so he could attempt to get a toy just out of reach while I was working on a crossword puzzle on the other side of me. (Multi-tasking is the only way to accomplish anything these days). Well, Quentin is quite squirmy right now as he learns to creep, crawl and simply move around. He made a quick dart to the right and I wasn't prepared for such lightning quick movement. I wasn't sure but I thought I may have "got him" a bit. He seemed okay, no worse for the ware, so I didn't think anything of it. Well, about an hour later the Grandparents arrived and of course picked him right up and started smothering him with the kind of attention only grandparents can give when Grandpa R noticed something on his head. "Whoa, he's got a really big blue vein showing through on his head." Grandma says, "Is that really a vein?" Carrie being more cynical of my parenting skills coupled with a better understanding of what our child's head looks like, "What is that? Did you write on him with pen?" She is accusing dad of the year over here. "Umm, me? Are you asking me if I signed my kid's melon a la Cabbage Patch Kids (butt, but same difference)?" Me more sheepishly now as I ponder how I can excuse myself from writing on my child, "Hmmm, well, I sort of thought I may have got him but wasn't sure at the time." Well, I did. I scarred my kid with a line of blue ink about 3 inches long right across the back of his head. Totally busted. It's not something you can really spin like, "Honey, I was going to surprise you! Or I wasn't finished yet. It was going to be really cool but he wouldn't sit still long enough." I had to come clean. I am not fit to watch our child if one expects him to come home without some pen on him. Does this mean I won't be getting the $12/hour going rate for babysitting? Oh, right, that rate doesn't apply when it's your child. I guess I might need a refresher on my parenting class. They didn't cover rule number 127: Don't write (in ink) on your child's head without your wife's consent. We took a picture for all to see. It is today's picture of the day. Enjoy!

I can eat food!!

Quentin had his much anticipated doctor's visit yesterday where he received his second round of immunizations as well as getting measured and weighed. He weighed in at 16 pounds and 13 ounces and measured 27 1/4 inches. He has grown an even 6 inches since being born. His height puts him in the 95th percentile and his weight dropped a bit putting him in the 90th percentile. I think Carrie is holding out on him. We spoke and she said she'll take it up a notch to maintain his 90-something percentile weight for the next weigh-in coming at 6 months. He took his 3 shots and one oral shooter like a champ. I bet he cried for less than 60 seconds. Mom took it worse than he did. Our nurse wasn't nearly has fast as our last nurse with her shot technique but he survived just the same. I think it made him drowsy though, as he woke up about 5:30 am for his early feeding and then slept until 10 am, an all time record. Of course he hasn't napped all day, though.

We learned some interesting parenting tips this time around. First, he is definitely teething. He has two nice seedlings on the bottom and they are definitely coming in soon. Usually, babies get their first tooth around 6 months, so he's going to be a bit early, but it's not that unusual. He is also ready for solid food. The doctor told us to begin with rice and see how it goes. That means we need to buy a high chair. We've been putting it off because we didn't want one more piece of baby equipment floating around the house until necessary (read no basements in FL!). It's really up to Quentin when he starts getting the full baby food spread. If he takes to it we are to begin introducting new foods every few days. If he isn't in to it than we are supposed to wait him out and give it another shot every week or so. He loves watching the food at the dinner table so I think he will be all for it.

We also learned that he is out of the woods for SIDS. Once babies break the 4-month barrier they are considered safe. From now on the doc told us to only put him to bed on his stomach. (Up to this point we were only supposed to lay him on his back). He needs to learn to sit up, roll over, creep and crawl and this should speed up the process. They will skip the crawling if you don't put them on their stomachs all the time and it helps with coordination. If you hold his hands and put him on his feet he'll take baby steps without much balance but we would like to see him crawl for a bit. We tried it out today and were met with a lot of screaming. The doctor said when he gets mad is when he'll start to figure it out. If you pick him up every time he's upset, he learns to scream when he hits adversity and someone else will solve the problem. We don't care for the screaming and we would prefer a self-sufficient baby as well. He's 4 months old, it's about time he learns life isn't fair right? Here is a pic of him lounging. He did have his legs crossed at the ankles with his hands on the shoulder of the pillow straight lounging but we just missed it. He still looks pretty happy. He loves that farm animal noise maker toy. Pigs, chickens, horses and some tweeters, oink, oink, oink...

Blogging from the MLI

I thought I would get a quick post out here since I have a bit of time to kill in the Moline airport waiting for my delayed plane to arrive. The city of Cedar Rapids' motto is the city of 5 seasons. We joke that's winter, winter, winter, winter and something resembling spring for a few weeks out of the year. I'm starting to think the motto for the whole state should be Iowa, celebrating 300 days of overcast weather annually. That's probably not as good as Iowa - welcome to the corntacular state! but equally accurate. I suddenly remember what drove me to Florida - it's not the heat, it's the sun. I miss the sun almost as much as I miss Q going on these trips. I do miss the niceness of the people, though. I was walking from the ticket counter to the rental counter and there was some airport personnel working a counter and asked me how I was doing. I was stunned. It literally stopped me in my tracks. I actually wondered if he was talking to me. He was and it put a smile on my face. We chatted for a bit. You get so used to people ignoring you on the east coast that it's insanely odd for someone, a stranger, to be nice to you. It made my whole day. I walk the dog every day and wave to everyone in the neighborhood; people working in the yard, driving, other walkers, everyone. I bet 90% of the neighborhood wonders what my problem is and the other 10% feel obligated, grudgingly, to wave back to that crazy guy who is always walking with the big dog and hot wife. You can take the Spiegelhoffs out of the midwest but you can't take the midwest out of the Spiegelhoffs. We're looking forward to heading home for Easter to spend another holiday with some family. It's amazing how much more you get to see your family by expanding your own. Maybe we'll even wave at some strangers along the way.

Well, just got the update - I'm not making my connection. Sweet. I love Moline! I'm just hoping to make it home in time to see lil' Q-dog before he hits the sack. I'll end my ranting here and post a pic of Quentin looking awfully happy up at mom. (Scene of the crime from the whazzering incident...)