The Park

We learned a valuable lesson in car real estate this weekend. As in our car is not big enough for our entire family. We had a friend's birthday party to attend at a park on the water near our house on Saturday so we thought it would be a great occasion to bring Lucky and Quentin and at least see if they can coexist in one vehicle. We made it about three blocks and that question was answered with a resounding, NO! We put Lucky in the shotgun seat and Carrie and Q in the back. We didn't think Q and Lucky would be safe together near each other. When Lucky is in the backseat he spends the majority of time trying to get to the front seat. It turns out that feeling is reciprocal and when in the front seat he really wants in the back seat. Within that three blocks Lucky shifted us into neutral three times, attempted to jump over the armrest and join Quentin in his car seat all while maintaining a constant whine of let me out of this car. It's official, if we ever hope to travel anywhere as a family we are going to need a bigger vehicle. And no, we are not getting a minivan.

After turning around and dropping the Luckster back at the homestead we eventually made it to the park, albeit an hour late, but we made it. (Add one 20 pound person to your family and you will no longer make it to any engagement on time ever again). It was Quentin's first trip to the park where he went for a ride on the swings, witnessed a professional magic show and played kickball (he was 2/3 with 2 RBI's). They had a pier for fishing so we checked that out and saw some fish and a lot of folks having minimal luck fishing, but they all appeared to enjoy the beautiful day in the sun. Quentin was great all day. He took nearly a three hour nap earlier in the day allowing for us to get some errands ran and some always needed R & R. It put him in a great mood for the afternoon where he was well received by the other party goers. He had a fellow infant at the party so we got the scoop on the next month's activities while Quentin moves from nearly 6 months into 9 months. According to these parents that's when the "attitude" begins and instead of crying because they need a diaper change, are hungry or just generally tired he will begin to cry when not getting his way. They also have a six year old, who is writing a novel by the way, and said that you can work that attitude away with some solid parenting. (We took a class so I'm sure we are totally prepared for teens, and whatever else they can throw at us)! They were parents that have not/will not buy into the Generation "me" and we think we will be similar parents.

Since feeding Quentin a once a day diet of rice cereal in the evenings he seems to be sleeping through the night with a fair amount of regularity. Do we dare say we have made it over the hump? We shall see, but he definitely enjoys eating with a spoon. Yesterday he was ready and waiting mouth a gap impatiently wondering when dad would stop the airplane game and actually get it to his waiting tongue. I also found his nose, his chest (clothes), his hair and he had a good time spitting it back out at me. When mom feeds him some how that doesn't happen. This in turn brings Lucky over because we are still using the ghetto highchair, which means we don't have one yet and are sitting him in his chair on the floor. Then the dog wants to lick him up and down, eat the food that's been spit all over the place, and stick his big old snout in my face. Let's just say it's an interesting, messy, entertaining ten minutes and a family event all at the same time. The picture today is of me feeding him. I call it, "Surprise! Dad's feeding you today." Can't you just see the excitement in his face? There is a lot of love there.

Anniversary

Yesterday was our second anniversary and I'm happy to announce we talked it over and we've decided to stay together for at least another year. (It took some convincing but she eventually bought into my argument). This year has been considerably more crazy than our first year as we of course had our little bundle of sleepless joy, Quentin. Since, it's the middle of the week and Q hasn't been feeling that well we kicked it at home. Date night is just not the same with a 5 month old playing third wheel. We made a nice dinner at home and nearly everything we touched was because of our wedding. We grilled steaks on a grill we received as a gift using utensils we also received for a gift at our wedding. We cooked some grub up in the kitchen and baked a cake all using pots and pans we were given for our wedding. We had some fine wine from 2005 all the way from Spain that we still have from our wedding! We ate on plates we received and held the Qster who wanted to be part of it all. He wouldn't have been possible without the wedding either so essentially everyone joined us in our celebration of two years of bliss. Who said marriage was hard!??!

We did get a chance to exchange some gifts and Carrie was thoughtful enough to get me the Sham-Wow. Now, I know you know what the Sham-wow is. You can use it in the kitchen. You can use it in the garage, the bathroom, on pets...it's ShamWOW! Use it to clean up spills, towel off, clean your car, it's ShamWOW! They make it in Germany and those Germans, they know how to make a good product. So industrious those Germans. So, if you have a spill give me a call and I'll come over and ShamWow it for ya. (Incidentally we've already ShamWowed some puke so there's something they don't show you on TV but it worked and we did stop and say, "ShamWOW baby)!" She also kicked in some golf lessons. What? Did she hear about my awesome trophy as the company's worst golfer last week? A guy just can't catch a break. I'm hoping they teach me how to hit the ball straight instead of just lining up sideways and playing that sweet hook shot I have for every club in my bag. You should see what happens when I hit it straight - right over the road and into the neighborhood across the street. It's quite entertaining for the rest of the foursome. Carrie scored some much needed time at the spa to unwind and catch a massage or two and whatever else you ladies do at the spa. I thought she could use a good half day away from us boys. With Lucky in the mix she's severely outnumbered. Overall, we had a very nice time.

Quentin has been really fighting us getting into bed and staying up as late as 11pm the last few nights, which has been brutal on us. He is such a night owl. Last night he put up a fuss for a while but went to bed at 9:30. He was awake since 4:20, a personal best for him, but man alive we need a breather lil' guy. At least he made it to bed and slept all the way through the night until about 6:30 this morning so we did get a little peace last night. He hates going to bed, whether it's for a nap or bed time. We've done the reserach and you are supposed to appeal to all your senses. We've covered most of the senses; music, soft blanket, dark room, rocking him but still nothing, nada, zip. Staying up is more fun. Who knows what's going to happen when he's older. We're trying not to think about it. We need our sanity! We've attached a family picture from last week when Carrie turned....never mind, it's not important. Enjoy!

The Journalist

In the movies they have a scene where there will be four or five parents standing around and each of their children will show some sign of genius and then inevitably it will be your child's turn and your beloved son or daughter will instead of painting a Picasso will eat the paint. While you can't but help enjoy the hilarious moment (and see your son or daughter for who they are) you are a bit embarrassed for your own uninspired impressionist. Our son loves the newspaper. He loves it so much he wants to eat it. If he was reading it right now Mensa would be calling but he's not, he's eating it. He enjoys the crinkle noise it makes when he grabs it too but I think that's more of a means to the ends.

On a weekday morning I am up early getting the dog his exercise and come back with the paper upon finishing our daily walk (read - Lucky dragging me around the neighborhood). I place the newspaper on top of the breakfast bar, feed the dog and by this time Carrie is finishing up feeding and dressing Quentin and I get him for a few minutes while Carrie gets his bag ready to take him to school. I am sitting at the breakfast bar holding the little genius on my lap and the whole time he is desperately wiggling out of my grasp determined to get his little paws on that newspaper. I don't know what the attraction is but he loves the St. Pete Times. I posted the picture today of him destroying the entire paper this morning in under 30 seconds and than he proceeded to eat it. By the time he was finished Monday's edition was unreadable (except for the Sports section, which was hidden deep within the paper) and half eaten. Most people would walk in and blame the poor dog, who is innocent but you can't tell the difference; drool, bite marks, destroyed paper, it looks like the dog did it. By the time he was done munching on the World Politics section his face was black around his mouth from the news print. Too funny. So, our little guy is clearly on his way to being a journalist. He already hates their work but likes it enough to take a few bites. Is that the ultimate form of flattery?

Beyond chewing on the morning news he has begun barrel rolling, which is fun to watch him roll over and over until he finds an obstacle such as the couch or coffee table. He seems to only know how to go one way but it's pretty entertaining to see him experiment with a new skill. It gets the dog's attention too. I think the dog has finally realized that he can get attention from Quentin now so Lucky has spent a lot more time nuzzling him and Quentin loves it. He'll get a big old grin on his face and start slapping the dog with both hands on his face. Um, ya, not exactly the best way to make friends but the dog doesn't seem to mind too much. It reminds me to not leave the two of them alone. The dog only responds by licking him up and down his face, which Q loves but is probably pretty gross. It really takes care of that runny nose, though! I'm just kidding. We saw Marley & Me this weekend and it was like watching our life story unfold on the big screen. First the marriage, then the big dog, then the first one....I won't spoil it. We hope they get a lot of years together. Enjoy the paper pics!