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!