Caught by the baby monitor

It was 1am and the baby is happily playing in his crib LOUDLY. So after expressing my feeling to Tony about having to be the one to get up and put him back to sleep. I walk in and see the baby is WIDE awake with eyes that said "come on break out the toys". So as I was picking him up I said "well there goes the meeting" (speaking of a business meeting that I was hoping to get sleep for) Well suddenly I hear yelling, screaming, doors slamming, things being thrown... ! Tony flipped, the baby monitor was up so loud that he heard me whisper those four words and I suppose he took it to heart! In his defense he was pretty exhausted but in my defense I was muttering under my breath in what I thought was privacy.

Right now Tony is enjoying the silent treatment. And I mean "ENJOYING". I don't think it's a great punishment for men since that's what they wanted in the first place. But it's not punishment this time. I truly am mad, and I just have nothing to say to him.

To all new mothers - be careful of the baby monitor!

Slapping me in the face?

This is the only boy that will ever get away with repeatedly slapping me in the face! Tony and I noticed that when he gets angry ie. food not being shoveled in his mouth fast enough, he begins slamming his hand down on any surface. Well Yesterday he started finding other uses for this hitting action. I was trying to settle him down by rocking him and holding him against my chest in the "sleeper hold" and he began smacking me in the face! Over and over and over! I guess he didn't want to sleep.

I've been trying to teach him on his Piano toy that if he hits it it will go "bing" He hasn't really understood so when he began smacking me in the face I started saying "bing" everything he hit me. I think he got it this time. He stopped and watched me then he slowly tested out another smack and I said "bing" again. He giggled and began focusing his smacks so that I would make the bing sound. He had a lot of fun with this.

I know I'm asking for trouble with this little game but I figure he's not a two year old that understands what "hitting" is. He's just learning that his actions and movements can produce an effect. So for now he can smack me in the face.

Screaming vrs spitting

Quinn has found his tongue. He spits, and goes pllssstttttt all day. Blowing spit bubbles and saliva everywhere. It is rather cute! '

On Christmas day he began screaming A LOT, not crying screaming, more like yelling for fun screaming. But now that he has found spit bubbles his screaming has pretty much stopped. I suppose he likes the bubbles better? All though I miss his voice yelling through out the house my heart drops when he looks into my eyes with such love and tenderness and goes "Pllssssttttttttt" :)

Pain management

This boy deals with pain like a champ! I clipped his finger while trying to cut his nails he didn't flinch. I think he might have taken in a deep breath but that was it. Suddenly I see blood coming from his little baby thumb but no tears and no crying. He was like that at the children's hospital too. They were giving him an IV and they could not find a large enough vein so they kept sticking him. The two nurses, one male and one female, kept saying I can't believe he's not crying. The male nurse kept looking up at his eyes waiting for the screaming to start but it never did.

This seems like a blessing but we are finding it really hard to tell if he's hurting. He'll get fuzzy and we have no idea if he's in pain or just plan old fuzzy. Like right now It's so hard to tell if Quinn is having pain with teething. Yes he wakes up more often, and he seems to squirm when you rub his gums. But wouldn't anyone, if some one stuck their finger in my mouth and rubbed my gums I'd do more then squirm, I'd punch! So is the teething hurting him or is it just an annoyance? How can you tell with a baby who handles pain so well!

Baby cam

I love technology! I can now "check in" to what Quinn is doing at anytime or anywhere! Right now he is getting ready to eat, he is waiting patiently while dad prepares the cereal. Looks like he's watching Noggin. It's taking dad a long time to prepare that food! I have it set up to begin recording when motion is detected. So it's kinda like a security cam also. It actually sends me an email and a snapshot when motion is detected. So when Quinn is at school and we are at work. I'll see what's going on in my home. Pretty cool huh? gotta love technology!

Well I see one down fall here, it looks like the cam froze up! Dad's been preparing cereal for a long time. I'll have to have dad fix it.

Ok all fixed, Quinn is enjoying his cereal as we speak or should I say as I type.

Happy baby finds his cranky side

We are discovering that Quinn is not himself after 5pm, which makes sense since this is his bedtime. He can't seem to handle anything new after five. No new foods, no new toys, no new faces. He just wants to be put to sleep in the same manner that he is every other night.

I said in a previous post that nothing seems to faze him. Well it's a whole different story after 5pm. It's Quekel and Quide... Get it? Jeckel and Hyde... with a Q... for Quinn.... get it?

Well I suppose every child has a time when they need the comfort, safety and routine that they can depend on everything being the same. For Quinn it's at his bedtime, any other time of the day you could send him to East Gibip with an elephant and he'd be fine as long as he got home before five, all though I think East Gibip might be too far away for that.

And the winner is ...

SWEET POTATOES

I really thought it would be bananas, we've been introducing a new food every week. He likes squash, he likes string beans, he likes the rice cereal, and he HATES banana. Tony and I weren't sure if he really doesn't like them or he was just fussy on those particular days. Tony called me today and said (" Donna says " hehe) Donna says "I think Quinn doesn't like banana that much". We had to just laugh, all though he turns up his nose and makes a crazy face he'll still eat it. Just like his momma, I'm so proud!

Side note: I like that Donna notices the small things about Quinn, shows she's paying attention

I can not explain the sheer joy that comes over his face when he realizes we are feeding him sweet potatoes. His whole world lights up. He actually says "ummmm" after every bite. I'm not kidding or stretching my imagination on his coes. He takes a bite and while I remove the spoon he purses his lips and says "ummm". I have this on tape one day I'll put it up.

On that note... I'm starting something called "the food files" or "Quinn's food files" (Any suggestions on a witty title are welcome). It's going to be video of each new food that he tries. My goal here is to get that puckered up look that I saw on America's funniest home videos. The video is of the baby making a face like and old toothless lady, scowling after trying sour kraut . Obviously I can't feed him sour kraut yet, but one day I will (hehehe rubbing my hands togther, "I'll get you my pretty").

My father used to put hot peppers under the cheese of our pizza when we'd go to the bathroom. I blame him for my current obsession with hot sauce. I seem to be taking up the same practice with Quinn. Be careful of the first bite of pizza Quinn.

Crawling 101

Quinn is trying to crawl, he doesn't know how to use his arms though. When I put him on his belly he gets up on his knees and scoots himself around with his legs while his arms lay limply on his side and his face scrapes against the carpet!

I took my moms advice and started crawling around on the floor myself to show him how its done. He thought I was GOD, he just watched me with these intense eyes as if too say "how did she do that!"

I've also noticed that when he's laying on me he has learned that if he wiggles his body he can move around which often results with him almost falling head first onto the floor. But he's getting there. If only he would see his arms as more than just bottle holders!

Baby temperaments

Tony and I watched a program once about the development of children's personalities. It showed all kinds of exercises to see if a baby would cry or be intrigued by certain things. For example one was a Jack in the box. They sat this box in front of babies and watched their response. When the jack in the box would pop up most babies stared with delight but the second and third time the anticipation of the scary little man popping out of the box was just to much and they would begin to cry, while a few of them were never fazed.

I've been experimenting on my own with such things and he doesn't seemed to be fazed with anything. Nothing scares him and he finds delight with all of it. Maybe it's because Tony and I are not the timid or shy type. He's been around two people that run around the house bouncing of the walls and often, or maybe it's the experience of daycare, or the constant run of animals in the house licking his face and barking in his ear?

We definitely don't live in a meek quite house. I can only suppose a jack in the box is nothing compared to his normal routine. I can almost see the look in his eyes as a jack in the box pops out saying "that's all ya got, gotta do better than that buddy..."

Boys vrs girls

I wonder often now a days if Quinn's boyness is shining through or if all babies including girls are as rough as he. Quinn is all boy through and through he looks and acts like a little man. Nothing scares the kid, he loves rough housing, he prefers football and star wars over blues clues and he can only stand excessive sweet talk when he's being lulled to sleep.

Is this all just the traits of a boy, or maybe his upbringing or just his temperament as a person?

Even when I was pregnant all he wanted was hamburgers. Tony would be up at 5am cooking me hamburgers to take to work for breakfast!

Sneak peak of a toddler

Quinn is beginning to turn into the first stages of a toddler. He's a mover and a shaker. Not content with sitting in one place to long. He shoves toys in his own face and screams, he quite purposely yanks our hair then laughs his little butt off, he squirms off my lap as often as he can, he loves to be hung upside down as often as possible and he is content flying through the air at record pace (of course while being held by daddy).

Tony and I joke that Quinn already looked like a toddler when he was born well now he's really fitting the bill. He has become my at home gym, I use him for weights, stretching and running. These days with him are fun he really gets into playing and I can't imagine what the true toddler days will be like!

The aim game

When Quinn eats his bottle I sometimes play with him by taking his bottle and holding it out real far and slowly bringing it to his mouth. It's so funny to watch because he gets all tense balls up his fists, opens his mouth and wiggles his head while watching the bottle come down with such intensity in his eyes. Well lately I've been purposely missing his mouth. I'll hit his upper lip or his cheek and try again. This little piglet has actually learned to grab the bottle put it in his mouth with force and proceed to hold his bottle himself! Then he seems to give me a look of "take that!"

Peek-o-boo

Quinn learned a game on his own of peek-o-boo. He was sitting on my lap facing away from me and we were reading a book in front of us. He began to slide over to the side so that his head was resting on my arm. When he looked up he was in utter shock to see my face and I laughed at him. He turned his head away then turned it back to make sure I was still there, I laughed at him again. So he made a game of it turning his head and whipping it back to me. And so on this went for about a half an hour. He had a ball, he cracked up everytime I laughed at him. I suppose this is not so big a deal but it's the first time he's really understood cause and effect. At least that I know of.

Donna says...

Donna is the woman who watches Quinn during the day. Everyone tells me that one day Quinn will start saying Donna says this and Donna says that. Imagine my surprise when I started hearing it now. Quinn can't even speak and I'm hearing "Donna says...". Tony sees Donna every morning and they get to talking about Quinns progress and strides, which is fine but it tugs on my heart strings when I keep hearing "Donna says ..." Who's the mom here, me or Donna?

I like Donna very much, she's great with Quinn and she's a wealth of information since Tony and I are first time parents. But I worry that Tony is taking more stock in Donna's opinions then mine or ours. Yes I know that is ridiculas but I can't help it, I suppose it comes with the territory of being a mother, It's inevitable, it's natural, it's territorial! I don't want to be outshined in taking care of my boy. And I don't want Tony to look at Donna as a pediatrician or alternative mother figure. This is all going overboard, I'm aware but I'm sure it would tug at Tony's heart strings if it were a "Bob" rather then a "donna" and I started saying "bob says..".

All though I respect Donna's opinions and gentle leading if I hear "Donna says..." one more time I'm going to pull a nose hair out of Tony's nose just so he can feel the sting that I feel.

Baby in a basket

I've been told that I HAVE to put Quinn in a Christmas stocking and take a picture. Apperently this is a must for an infant on the holidays. Well he doesn't fit! So I put him in a laundry basket!

This is my favorite pic of the week.

What do you think?

Well I've decided to enable commenting. It seems people are having such fun with commenting on the photo gallery that I figured I'd give this a try. Ya'll be nice (MIKE!!!) :)