Quintin ABCs

Anti-Confinement: Quintin (even as a very small infanat) has never been one to sit contentedly in a carseat, carrier, or even stroller. Even as a very, very new baby, he'd scream from the second we got him strapped into the carseat until the second we removed him from it. We were so excited when we saved up enough to get a fun bouncer -- we thought he'd love it, since it'd give him a chance to jump and bounce to his heart's content -- we were forgetting how he felt about ANYTHING with straps! Fortunately, we never spent the big bucks on a travel system, as we'd NOT have got much use out of it!

"Bless You" : We take special delight in hearing Quintin say a gentle "Bless you" whenever anyone sneezes or coughs; it's just one of the many ways he regular demonstrates his awareness of others' feelings & shows affection for those around him -- It's such a pleasure to watch our son grown & mature in this way! We are incredibly blessed to have Quintin in our lives.

Caity: Quintin loves our sweet yellow labrador (she showed up in our driveway in terrible shape, and has chewed her way through our hearts -- and shoes -- ever since;-) She's incredibly patient with him, letting him climb all over her & tug on various body parts without ever making a peep -- it's up to Mommy & Daddy to remind Quintin how Caity likes to be touched, since she never "speaks" up on her own behalf!

Donut: Quintin will gladly gobble them all, but especially prefers those with sprinkles!

Elephant spoon: Grammie Smith sent down zoo animal shaped utensils -- we have to constantly wash the "elephant pooooon," as he eats only VERY reluctantly with any other utensil!

First United Methodist Church: Quintin loves going to church! In particular, he asks after Martha & Josh (who, very generously, watch Quintin during Tuesday night band practices); Bradley, Eva & Ellery (who watch Quintin in the nursery during Wednesday night dinners & Sunday morning service and Sunday school); Holden, Sarah & Giddeon (his similarly-aged friends in the nursery); and all of the praise band members (he knows all of their names & delights in running around the drums, guitars, keyboard & microphones, where he's given the opportunity, many times, to demonstrate his musical talents!).

Goldfish: Quintin is crazy for goldfish crackers of every variety :-) He also loves the live thing, and if Mommy weren't so worried that it'd be a death sentence for the poor thing (I'm not sure that he'd be content just to watch our fishy friend!), he'd have a pet goldfish like his present hero, Elmo.

Holding: Quintin has always wanted to be held ALL OF THE TIME! He hated most slings & other "helper" devises (see Letter A!), so Mommy & Daddy got pretty sore backs & arms (fortunately, he started out small, and our endurance increased with his size increases;-). We're so thankful to have such a physically demonstrative little boy, especially now that he's so independent in so many other areas and, there are many days, now, when he'd rather run, run, run, than have Mommy or Daddy hold him!

Inventive play: Quintin is really getting into imaginary play, and loves caring for his cars and stuffed animals (insisting that they eat at meal times, comforting them when they fall over (or he throws them!), holding them up so that they can "see" the pictures when we read together, etc.). He has long, babbling conversations with them and has them talk to and comfort one another as well.

Jumping: Quintin was so proud when he learned to jump with both feet off of the ground that he did so continuously for days (hopping to meals, hopping to get books, hopping to bed!). He used to give Mommy & Daddy regular panic attacks by jumping off of the furniture before he could even walk properly!

Kitty: Quintin loves animals & takes particular delight in our horses, dogs, and cats. He yells, "kitty!" excitedly whenever he sees a cat, and it was one of his earliest words. He and one of our youngest cats, Tucker, play chase together regularly (they actually take turns running after one another!) . He's learned, at an early age, how cats like best to be pet (sometimes experience is a hard teacher, and he's gotten a few scratches along the way!) -- we're so proud of the gentle way he treats our pets (well, he still needs the occasional reminder).

Love: Mommy & Daddy began learning about real love the moment Quintin was conceived; each new day brings more depth. In addition to the selfless aspects of love that come, of necessity, with the advent of a child's birth, there are the deeper connections we feel with one another, and a new understanding of God's love in our lives (we can catch shallow glimpses of it in our own feelings for our small boy & this gives entirely new levels of meaning to the gospel). Thank you, Quintin, for teaching Mommy & Daddy's hearts such an amazing lesson.

Moving: There are very few pictures of Quintin smiling posted on this blog. This is because, usually, a smiling Quintin is a moving Quintin! He runs or hops everywhere! He delights in working his every muscle (and loves getting massages at the end of a day's labor). He gets blissful expressions while swinging and spinning and zipping here and there, but none of these translates very well to film (or megapixels, or whatever!) . We don't have a video camera or even a very fast camera -- we usually use our cell phones to try capturing the beautiful moments -- we must depend, then, on our memories for these images of a delighted Quintin!

No! Short, simple -- one of Quintin's favorite words.

O pinionated: The kid just turned two. He has an opinion about EVERYTHING. See letter N.

Pumpkin: He loves those plastic Halloween pumpkins used for candy; we have one in every color! I got them on Clearance because he begged for them and now they're at Great Grandmother's house (we go there each Monday), where he keeps all of his toys in them & carries them around all day.

Quintin: A unique name spelled in a unique way. The reference book that Kevin and I used to pick Quintin gave the meaning for Quinn as "wise one" in Gaelic, a character trait I wished for our son, so we chose to incorporate it into the spelling of Quintin. Kevin wanted an unusual name, as our last name is not very unusual, lol (he quickly vetoed Mommy's more traditional, family names, since he worried our son would be one of a billion sharing the same name) and picked Quintin from a list of only five or so names (of 10,000!) he found acceptable in the reference book we were using. If we have another child, we'll have to start name searching pre-pregnancy in order to find a name he'll agree to ;-) Theodore Roosevelt's youngest son was named Quentin -- he was just three when his father became president and grew up in the white house; his mother labeled him a "fine little bad boy." Quentin carved a baseball diamond on the White House lawn without permission, defaced official presidential portraits in the White House with spitballs, and threw snowballs from the White House's roof at unsuspecting Secret Service guards. I feel like our boys would have been great friends;-)

Running! Running is Quintin's favorite way to get anywhere, and he gleefully shout's, "I'm running!" while he does so :-) He encourages us to run with him, and shouts, "We're running!" while leading us in circles. He regularly asks to go outside to run around our house and yard (he literally circles our house and large fenced yard!). Running gives him great joy, and makes, therefore, everyone else in our family very happy too!

Silly:-) We love silly games and faces, silly songs (with made-up words), silly words, silly sounds! Quintin's laugh is precious & he catches on very quickly when we're being silly with him. He loves playing tickle games and chase, insisting that we yell, "Fee, Fie, Foe, Fum, I smell a Little One! Better RUN!" while we chase him (if we don't, he stops, turns around, and says it for us;-) He even tries to make us act silly if he's in trouble, making silly faces or sounds and then grinning, watching to see if we're grinning back. We love our sweet, silly boy!

Teeth. Just before Quintin turned a year old, he ran out of the bookstore's front door and, rather than stopping on the porch to watch the passing cars as he usually did, headed right off of the concrete steps leading from the porch to the front walk. Mommy was just millimeters too far from him to catch his little body before it tumbled down the steps -- what a horrific moment! He ended up chipping his front teeth, though not badly enough to really notice. Over the course of the next year, his upper tooth began looking worse, and eventually (about a year to the day), a small piece of the tooth fell out entirely! It was very, very difficult to find a dentist who would work on a child as young & restless as Quintin, and the ones that would were booked for months -- the earliest appointment Mommy could get was for March! Fortunately, Mommy was able to get him in when someone called & cancelled their appointment -- we go on Friday. Wish us luck -- Mommy is so worried they'll just remove the whole tooth! :-(

Umbrella. Quintin loves umbrellas, and especially loves holding them over Mommy's head when it's raining -- what a nice way to enjoy a sudden shower!

Vehicles: If it moves & has an engine, Quintin is interested in it with a passion that would impress even the most devoted afficionado:-). He especially loves trucks, tractors, trains, and the Disney Cars characters.

Writing: A favorite activity of Quintin's is pretending to write, saying the names of random letters while he scribbles :-) He begs Mommy & Daddy to write the names of family, friends & favorite characters while he's coloring or in the bathtub (Mommy & Daddy got him bathtub paints for his birthday!). If Mommy is writing a receipt for a customer at the book shop, Quintin insists on having his own paper and pen & "writes" as well, handing it over to the waiting customer :-)

boX: Boxes of every shape & size are ready-made toys for Quintin: he loves going for rides in the larger ones, using smaller ones as hats or hiding places for his toys, or ramps for his cars! He decorates them with scribbles & uses them until they're in little cardboard pieces all over the house!

Yelling! Quintin regularly experiments with speech volumes -- he whispers and then YELLS at the top of his lungs before lowering his voice again to a whisper. He's figured out that people turn and stare when he yells, and uses this technique sometimes in public;-) Oh well, he's got a great voice & we love hearing it (usually!).

Zeal: Quintin is excited about the world and his enthusiasm is contagious! We're so thankful for this new perspective on life -- there are so many wonderful, special things about this world to be happy about! Sometimes, Mommy & Daddy get preoccupied with the money worries & work issues & crappy state of the world that we forget about the blessings regularly raining on us -- Thank you, Quintin, for helping us to remember all of the stuff we should be grateful for!

Merry Christmas!

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:11-14

We were very blessed to celebrate a third Christmas with Quintin (during his first, he was just two weeks old, the best Christmas gift ever!). Our lives seem to grow more rich and full with each year together -- Quintin has brought an entirely new sense of giving to the season, as his own birth helped to bring Kevin & I from selfish singles (we were still adjusting to the married bit) toward a cohesive family unit. The gift of God's son to us has gained a new level of meaning -- being separated from our own son for even a week seems incomprehensible; I can't imagine sending him to another world where I knew he'd be persecuted! We are so grateful for the new depths of faith and thanksgiving that the last year brought to our family. We feel truly blessed by the new friends and supportive community we've found at the Zephyrhills First United Methodist Church, and are very thankful, as well, for those "old" friends who've been with us through thick and thin!

This year's Christmas celebration began with a Christmas Eve service at FUMC, where Kevin plays the bass & Sarah sings with the contemporary service's band, Salvation's Rock. Mommy left early & grabbed Quintin from the nursery to try for an earlier night's sleep (we knew it'd make all the difference in our Christmas day!). Quintin was pretty wound up from the late night in the church nursery, so we were still awake when Daddy got home (quite late!). Daddy showed Quintin a personalized video from Santa that he found online -- Quintin watched & must have been listening, because around 6:00 a.m., he rolled over in his bed and shouted, "Presents!" before going back to sleep! He finally woke up about 9:30 a.m., and we began opening presents. Mommy confession time: Mommy rewrapped some of the wonderful birthday presents Quintin received at his birthday party on December 13 after he went to sleep that night; they stayed hidden behind the tree until Christmas morning. Don't worry, Santa added a little to the stash! Quintin wanted only DADDY to help him open the numerous ties, staples, tape, etc. that held each toy into its box -- "Peeeeeeeeeeeease, Daddy, OPEN!" Mommy contented herself with taking lots of pictures, although, since we have only our camera phones, very few turned out -- Quintin & Daddy just move too much & too fast for the slower cameras to work very well!

Because we didn't want to rush Quintin, he was still opening presents more than an hour later (it wasn't that he had that many presents, he just wanted to play with each one for a while before moving on -- something that actually made Mommy & Daddy really happy). We finally left for Aunt Chrissy & Uncle David's with a few presents waiting still under the tree :-) The ride to their house was kind of a fiasco (we won't go into embarrassing details about the inability of some husbands to take advice about directions from their wives!) -- but, it gave us a nice long ride to enjoy with one another in great, sun-shiny Florida weather ;-) When we finally arrived, Daddy & Uncle David made an incredible breakfast for us, with help from Aunt Chrissy's mom (she made biscuits & turkey gravy that were awesome!). There was a second round of gift unwrapping as the kids exchanged gifts and then Quintin & Bailey played with all of Bailey's new Christmas toys (Bailey is always very generous about letting Quintin grab all of his most treasured toys -- what a great guy!). Aunt Chrissy & Mommy got caught up with one another, and then enjoyed the wonderful meal with everyone. It was such a relaxing time and it was a real joy to be able to spend such quality time together.

Next on our list of stops was Great-Grandmother Slicker's house:-) Quintin fell asleep during the ride over, so Mommy visited some with Uncle Will & Grandmother before Daddy & (a still very tired) Quintin joined us. Uncle Will gave Daddy a huge plate of Honey Baked Ham -- one of his favorites! We exchanged goodies & Quintin opened more gifts (Grandmother found several more Elmo toys to add to his collection -- he loves them all!). From Grandmother's, we met Granddady & Nana in Clearwater (unfortunately, we had to do so in a parking lot, since we were heading in opposite directions & nothing was opened!). There, we exchanged gifts to and from Uncle Rodney & Sophia, Uncle Mike & Aunt Tanya, and Uncle Alex & Aunt Trisha. What a treat!
Mommy was especially glad to spend some time with her parents & new family all together!

Our last stop was to Grammie Czap's house, where we got hugs & yet more gifts -- what a treasure, since we don't often see her! Quintin loves watching Grammie's huge goldfish and talking with her birds. Grammie also has two kitties, but they're too shy to visit with a two-year-old on the loose!

It was pretty late by the time we made it back to our house, and we were all pretty tired, but had just enough energy left to start a video chat with Grammie and Grandpop Smith. They'd sent a big box full of gifts for each of us -- what a treat! Because Quintin was pretty tired, the conference didn't last very long; instead, we got to open gifts two days in a row:-)

We are so fortunate to have such a loving network of family and friends -- what a blessing you all are in our lives!

Quintin's First Photo Session!

"Uncle" Tom and "Aunt" Coral, in an amazingly generous and beautifully spirited gesture, gave us a portrait package for Quintin for Christmas. The photographer was very talented, and snapped the pictures of Quintin (six in all) so quickly that he barely had time to drool (much less, fuss), between shots! He had a wonderful time, and Mommy (who was very worried about the session, since Quintin is not usually a sit-and-pose kinda guy) was incredibly pleased by the entire experience. We purchased the rights to the above three photographs, so can easily produce duplicates for those who request them. The others can be seen at http://www.myonlineportraits.com/ViewSharedAlbum.aspx?ShareID=5710fe76-d154-4fb0-b44b-8709f08b7d16. We've always believed our boy to be the most beautiful on the planet (even during his marshmallow man phase around 6mos) -- It's so nice to see, from these shots, just how right we are ;-)

Party for the Big Boy!

On Quintin's actual birthdate, we celebrated quietly by playing games with him (Daddy was home on vacation) and, later that evening, doing a video conference with Grammie & Grandpop Smith in New Jersey (they sent down a birthday box filled with treats!). We got doughnuts for his birthday breakfast (his FAVORITE!), and made a special birthday dinner with chicken nuggets, macaroni & cheese, and lima beans (all chosen with his newly-turned-picky eating habits in mind!). He had a whole birthday week, since Martha, David & Josh gave him their gift (a fun earth mover with a Little People construction worker) at Tuesday night's band practice, and his little friend Sarah Holden (they're just a few months apart in age) brought him a great race track & cars to Wednesday night's church dinner! We planned a small party for the following Sunday, December 13th.

We went with an Elmo theme, complete with an Elmo Live! from Great-Grandmother Slicker. Sesame Street is about the only television program Quintin watches (we also watch Clifford the Big Red Dog now) and he LOVES Elmo! Mommy & Daddy love that since Sesame Street is a nonprofit, the proceeds from sales of their toys & party gear go into educational programming all over the world!

Mommy and Daddy made Elmo invitations (It'll be a long time before Mommy wants to see another googley eye!), and Great-Grandmother Slicker got an Elmo & Big Bird cake (which had to be hidden until the party, since Quintin threw a huge temper tantrum when he caught sight of it at the grocery store & was told he couldn't eat it yet!). We invited our close family over at 3 p.m to celebrate his second year with us.

Although Mommy tried to get him to sleep earlier, Quintin finally went down for his nap just after 2 p.m. and, since he'd not had a great night's sleep the night before, slept through the first hour of his party (Everyone tried to stay really quiet so that he'd have a nice nap!). He crawled out of bed to find Mommy after his nap & looked so preciously confused to see the house full of guests! After a long wake-up hug, he caught sight of the Cars work bench from Aunt Chrissy & Uncle David -- he quickly wiggled down and ran over to open all of its drawers with Bailey (Aunt Chrissy had hidden a Cars themed gift in every drawer!).

While everyone else enjoyed spaghetti, courtesy of Daddy, Quintin ate mostly chips & salsa (it was his big day, so we let him determine his own menu). He and Bailey played with the balloons that Granddad Slicker had blown up just before the party and seemed so blissful that we didn't push the present thing. Once he spotted a Cars gift bag, however, the realization that the stuff lining the room was actually TOYS ready to be opened hit & we were off! He was so impressed by each gift that the unwrapping affair took about two hours (and would have taken even longer if we hadn't been encouraging him to move along so that our guests could get home!). He'd ask Mommy & Daddy to, "Open, please!" -- and wait impatiently while Daddy & Mommy worked to get through the packaging (are manufacturers really that worried about stuff coming out of its box?!). During one such interlude (Daddy was using a screwdriver to remove the remote-control bulldozer Granddad Slicker got Quintin), Quintin spotted the Sesame Street cake out on the table & immediately got up into his booster seat at the table to investigate. We all took a break to light his big number two candle and sing "Happy Birthday." He chose strawberry ice cream to go with his cake, and ate all of the cake and ice cream within minutes (he definitely got Mommy's sweet tooth!).

Later, after our guests had left, while Mommy was recording the gifts & memories from the party into his birthday book, I looked over to find Quintin back in his booster seat in front of the cake -- he was joyfully scooping handfuls of cake and icing into his mouth!

We are so grateful to our wonderful family & friends for helping to make Quintin's birthday such a joyful occasion! Everyone was so patient & willing to let Quintin guide the activities -- we escaped with only a few bumpy moments & not a single I Just Turned Two Tantrum! Everyone picked out such thoughtful gifts, each geared toward his particular passions (he got lots of Cars & Elmo themed gifts, as well as trucks & tractors, and a new train set!). We are very fortunate to have such an amazing group of people in our lives!

Happy Birthday, Quintin!

Our wonderful little boy turned two on Friday, December 11, 2009. It is so difficult to believe that the tiny bundle we brought home with such wonder & awe has already grown into such an intelligent, independent young man! He is, of course, the center of our entire universe -- We're certain he's a genius, the most beautiful child on the planet, and the most well-spoken two-year-old ever;-)!

We work constantly to balance our innate desire to make him happy with our responsibility to help him to learn healthy boundaries & self control -- I'm never very confident that we're getting the formula right! In addition to this struggle, there is the call for emotional maturity that comes with having an opinionated, determined little person constantly testing limits & pushing buttons -- during the numerous temper tantrums that come with this developmental stage, I find myself forgetting, sometimes, who the two-year-old is & who the Mommy is!

We savor the moments of bliss that come when Quintin climbs into our laps to cuddle, gives us his sweet kisses, and lisps charmingly, "love ooooo."

As he's still changing very quickly, both physically & intellectually, I thought I'd give an updated snap-shot of his development (We just went in for his 24 month wellness check):
Height: 36 1/2 inches
Weight: 30 lbs.
Shoe Size: 7
Clothes Size: 2T
Quintin's favorite activities include playing with his numerous cars (his birthday & Christmas really added to his collection!), "driving" his new pedal car (Aunt Teresa's birthday gift -- he LOVES it, and refers to as the "red car from Tsa-Tsa!"), "cooking" with Mommy (stirring odd ingredients while Mommy makes dinner, helping to prepare breakfast on the days we work from home, etc.), coloring (he also loves finger painting, but we still only do that with direct supervision!), counting (he counts EVERYTHING, mostly repeating the first few numbers (1-4) over and over again), RUNNING (he gets such a blissful expression on his face that I wish I could successfully take pictures of him in motion!), and playing outside (he and Tucker -- one of our younger cats -- play tag together; it's hilarious!). His pretend play is becoming evermore sophisticated, and he loves playing with puppets (or any sock (see picture), oven mitt, etc.!), making his Little People and cars talk and interact together, and chatting up his stuffed animals!
His vocabulary is still growing by leaps & bounds, and he's learning to sing the correct words to a number of favorite songs; he particularly likes "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and "Frosty the Snowman." He knows & says all of the basic colors. He knows and makes the animals sounds for all of the typical farm and zoo animals (his particular favorite are the elephants) -- Mommy & Daddy can't wait to take him to the zoo someday! Our favorite new words of Quintin's are the "Peeees" (Please), "Dank oooo' (Thank You), and "Elcome" (You're welcome) he uses now! It's also very sweet to hear him say, "Bess ooo" (Bless you) anytime we sneeze, or "Scoooze eee" (Excuse me) while he squeezes past us or burps (or, as he's shoving us out of the way;-) It's much harder to say no to a request when he asks sweetly, "Peeeeeaaaas?" He refers to himself as "Tin-Tin" and knows that he's two (he can hold the correct number of fingers up, but has to use his other hand to help hold down his other fingers!). Another favorite phase "Tin-Tin do himSELF!" (he also asks, "Help, peeeees," if the situation warrants).
Quintin is going through a picky-eating phase -- his favorites (about the only things he'll consume right now) are "Chalk-it" (chocolate -- don't worry, it's a rare treat!), ice cream (Mommy also calls the fruit/spinach smoothies she makes "ice cream" -- sshhhhh, don't tell!), soooouuuup (Campbell's makes a Cars soup that Mommy bought one day as a special treat -- it's since become a staple!), "O gart" (he's especially fond of "staw-berry" yogart), "pet-zels" (esp. honey wheat pretzels), donuts (he beeeeeggggsss for them, then eats only the sprinkles off of the tops, so I'm not sure these count as food!) and animal crackers (if we don't have any animal crackers, he chews his crackers into shapes and shows them to Mommy, "Oook it, Mommy, elephant!" lol).

Daddy's "Vacation"

Kevin took his first vacation from work the week of Quintin's second birthday. Following is a schedule:
Monday: Started building a vanity for our bathroom (I found a sink top on Craigslist for $20 a few months ago to replace our severely water-stained one, but it was unfortunately too large for the current base).
Tuesday : Pressure washed the back of the house, painted the horses' stalls (which are 12x12x11 ft.).
Wednesday (in a constant, very cold drizzle): Pressure washed the rest of the house & roof (he got the pressure washer, borrowed from Coral & Tom, onto the roof by tying it to himself and hefting it, hanging behind him, up the ladder).
Thursday: Pressure washed the porch, worked further on the vanity, began repainting the entire porch & steps.
Friday: Played with Quintin, helping to celebrate his second birthday! Did trim work for vanity & stained it, finished painting the porch & steps.
Saturday: Mowed two acres worth of yard, weedwacked, helped put up Christmas decorations.
Sunday: Installed vanity, with new faucet & piping, caulked edges, put up new trim, hosted a birthday party for Quintin.

He was absolutely exhausted by Sunday night. He returned to a job he despises Monday morning. My husband, my hero!