Family Time

Our family was blessed with a wonderful Thanksgiving!
We celebrated first by sleeping in (until 8:30!) for the first time in many months -- much needed rest! By noon, we were seated at a cozy round table for an incredible buffet lunch at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, hosted by Great-Grandmother Slicker, with (Great) Uncle Will, Cousins Vanessa & Rebecca, Mom (Nana) and Dad (Grandaddy) Slicker, and (Uncle) Rodney. Looking around our noisy table reminded me of the many wonderful meals we shared together at Grandmother's over the years -- Grandmother herself represents, for me, the most beautiful parts of the holidays: faith, family, love. Because this togetherness always takes me back to a simpler time in my own life, sheltered by my loving & nurturing family, it is an extra pleasure (and unique sensation!) to share it with my new family -- my wonderful husband & son. I am certainly one lucky gal!
After lunch, we headed to Mom & Dad Slicker's home for a laid-back afternoon, followed by a second Thanksgiving meal, courtesy of Mom:-). As I don't often see my brother Rodney, spending time with him was a real joy (something I'd been looking forward to with much anticipation!), and "Uncle" Nick & "Aunt Sarah joined us as well (with discussion of a new house & wedding in the works!).

Thanksgiving Joy

The things that matter most in life are not things acquired along the way, but rather the moments, memories, and experiences shared with the people we love. We are incredibly grateful for our wonderful family and friends; we feel rich in the pleasures you've each brought to our lives!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I am so richly blessed, and yet need, I find, this reminder to come before my Creator with a glad and grateful heart! Our lives are filled with such a daunting array of mindless tasks and petty frustrations -- I leap from one task to the other, barely taking time to acknowledge my precious son and wonderful husband, or the dozens of others I rely upon for love and support and compassion! Were I to tally the number of thoughts devoted to the "junk" of life, verses the moments spent in gratitude and praise for God, the source of all things that are good and holy and pure in my life, I fear my list would be sadly distorted! I am thankful for Thanksgiving -- for the chance to realign myself, to rededicate my life to the pursuit of Love (...Let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God...God is love. 1 Jn 4:7-8), and to devote myself to worship and praise of the One responsible for my very breath!

Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.
Let the whole world know what he has done.
Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.
Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.
Exalt in his holy name; rejoice, you who worship the Lord.
Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him.
Remember the wonders he has performed, his miracles, and the rulings he has given you..
Psalm 105: 1-6.

Please enjoy the thoughts of a few others on the joys of Thanksgiving:

"If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily." -Gerald Good

"The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!" -Henry Ward Beecher

"Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action." - W.J. Cameron

"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice." -Meister Eckhart

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." -John Fitzgerald Kennedy

I do not think of all the misery, but of the glory that remains. Go outside into the fields, nature and the sun, go out and seek happiness in yourself and in God. Think of the beauty that again and again discharges itself within and without you and be happy. - Anne Frank

Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds. - Theodore Roosevelt

Tuesday's Terrific Moment

Quintin and I commute together several days a week from Zephyrhills to St. Petersburg and back again. We began when he was three weeks old and have made the trip, I estimate, at least 836 times; he's slept through it less than a dozen times. When we first started, Quintin screamed -- the ENTIRE time. I would stop every fifteen minutes or so, certain that the adrenaline pumping through his tiny body would cause some sort of permanent damage ;-), and it took us nearly three hours to make the trip. Eventually, I stopped pulling over constantly and learned to sing over the crying (at least for my own peace of mind). Around the time he turned one, we turned the car seat around to face forward (he'd surpassed the height and weight restrictions long before), and I hoped that the change of scenery would help -- it didn't. At about sixteen months, however, Quintin began taking a serious interest in the huge tub of toys I'd been carting around in the back seat all of this time. He now -- THANK THE LORD! -- spends most of the trip playing sweetly with his toys and looking through the numerous picture books I keep back there. He talks with me about the trucks and construction workers we pass and sings silly songs with me. I still savor each and every trip without tears -- a true miracle! I have dozens of pictures, taken at red lights, of a smiling Quintin in the back seat, documenting the incredible transformation! My new favorites of these are the above, taken on Tuesday of this week -- our precious boy "reading" to his stuffed horse :-).

Trick or Treat!

This year, Quintin dressed-up twice for Halloween! Over the summer, "Uncle" Ron and "Aunt" Shannon gave us a dragon costume their son had outgrown -- Quintin loves playing dress-up with it (he also carries it around like a stuffed animal:-)). We dressed Quintin in it Halloween morning to wear into work with Mommy -- Quintin roared at everyone all morning! I'd read the Halloween forecast the day before, and learned that the expected high was 91 degrees, a little warm for the elaborate costume. I talked with a friend from my Sunday School class about it that night & she suggested he wear her son's costume from the year before, an adorable Raggedy Andy costume she'd had made for him. Her husband brought the suit to Kevin during band practice at the church, while Quintin and I were at work, Kevin bought a small can of red hair paint and a tiny tube of red face paint -- voila, costume #2! Thank you Shannon & Rachel, for sharing the wonderful costumes!

Daddy and Quintin went to our church Halloween night to enjoy their Trunk or Treat festival. Members of the church decorated the trunks of their cars (and other vehicles) and passed out candy to almost 400 children! In addition, our children's director worked with the youth group to set up games & "Uncle" Tom & "Auntie" Coral cooked hot dogs for everyone. We are so fortunate to have such a wonderful church family!

Nana treated Mommy to dinner at Golden Corral (Nana's favorite!), where we enjoyed seeing all of the staff dressed in their costumes & had an incredible meal from the huge array of dishes offered at the buffet. Afterward, we went to Florida Hospital Zephyrhills (where Quintin was born) to walk off some of the extra calories on their hiking trail :-)

SWING!

Quintin loves playing outside, and has a new favorite home activity -- swinging! Several weeks ago, Quintin yelled, "Swing!" while we were taking the garbage around to the dumpster at Grandmother Slicker's. Sure enough, a blue swing sat next to the dumpster, complete with sturdy ropes and metal attachments. We took the swing home and cleaned it, and later put it up in a tree behind the house. Now, Quintin constantly begs to go outside and "SWING! SWING! SWING!" Despite the four acres of orange trees surrounding our house, there are surprisingly few good swing trees -- hopefully, this one grows at about the same rate as Quintin, as it's still pretty young! Because the tree is still scrawny, I put up the swing very close to the trunk along the lowest branch; it doesn't, therefore, get much action! He's perfectly content, however, to move the couple inches in each direction that the position yields, staring up at the leaves and clapping his hands! What a beautiful reminder to enjoy the little things in life :-)

For the Love of All Things Mobile!

Quintin began an early obsession with tractors -- going to Tractor Supply Company for dog food, etc., is still an exhausting experience! That fascination has expanded to anything with an engine that moves -- airplanes, trucks, cars, tractor trailers, buses, helicopters, choo-choo trains -- you name it, he adores it, and he's learned how to say all of their names! His favorite books are the couple that Nana brought him that name all of the different kinds of trucks and tractors; his favorite outfit (he outgrew it months ago, but still insists on squeezing into it!) is a pair of pajamas from Grammie and Grandpop decorated with tractors! He carries an assortment of small metal vehicles everywhere, and Mommy always keeps an emergency supply :-)

Daddy found a video online of training day for a group of firemen -- he and Quintin both watched with fascination, and Quintin has been mad about fire engines ever since! I love the way he yells, "FIRE ENGINE" whenever he hears a siren -- It sounds like "fire n-n," and never fails to make me giggle. He yells it with such excitement and enthusiasm that I get excited, too! Sirens always made me unhappy in the past (I worried about where they were headed and why); Quintin's love for them has helped me to focus on the bright side -- we talk about the fact that the fire engine (or ambulance, or police officer) is on its way to help someone and yell, "Yaaayy, Fire Engine!"

Climbing Trees

Quintin loves climbing trees -- and we have a lot of them! (Mommy and Daddy always hold on tight while he's "climbing"). He stands at the base of whichever tree he's decided looks promising, points, and says, "Up, tree! Up, tree!"

There's one at the bookstore that Quintin especially loves standing in. We go out several times a day and watch the cars passing by the front of the book shop while he stands contentedly, hugging the branch, and grinning from ear to ear :-) It's always hard to bring him back inside!

I wish I could "climb" trees with you all day, Quintin!

We Love MATER!

"Uncle" David & "Aunt" Chrissy's son Bailey generously gave Quintin all of his Disney Cars characters, and Quintin treats them like family. He knows all of their names, he takes them everywhere (even to bed!), "feeds" them whatever he's eating or drinking, and even uses them to kiss Daddy goodnight!

In the movie (Thanks, again, to Bailey, for letting us borrow it!), the tractors "Moooo," like cows. About two months ago, I pointed out some cows we were passing to Quintin -- "Look, Quintin," I said, pointing to them, "Cows!" He looked over, and I added, "Mooooo!" Quintin yelled excitedly, "TRACTOR!" -- It was obviously time to review our animal sounds! Just for the record, Quintin, tractors only "Mooo" in Disney movies :-)

Just a few weeks before that, a rusty tow truck passed us as we exited Walmart with our groceries. Quintin stood up in the grocery cart and began screaming, "Mater! Mater! Mater!" He was convinced that we were missing a live appearance by the Car's hero! He cried the entire time I unloaded the groceries into the car and packed him into the car seat. We circled the huge Walmart parking lot until I located "Mater,"

whose owners were apparently grocery shopping (thank goodness!) -- Quintin pointed and grinned and talked to "Mater," while other shoppers stared and honked and yelled (we were partially blocking the constant stream of cars up and down the aisle). As we left the parking lot, Quintin looked wildly around for the rest of the gang - "Speed?! [Lightning McQueen] Flo?! Ramon?! Doc?!" He was certain that they'd come along with Mater and must be around somewhere :-)

Ice Cream in the Morning!

The air conditioning in my car has died a slow and painful death (it breathed its last about six months ago). During the Florida summer heat, our car got a little toasty (I haven't figured out how to get the child-safety locks off of the back windows, so they only open partially, further adding to the problem). We will eventually get it working again, but even Florida cools somewhat by November, so it's no longer a top priority :-)

I began, sometimes, to get Quintin small ice cream cones from McDonald's on our Mondays' commute from St. Petersburg, home to Zephyhills (the other days of the week, we leave St. Petersburg late in the evening, so the heat wasn't as much of an issue). For purposes of full disclosure, I should note here that I took only small spoonfulls of the ice cream for myself -- it was all about the kid, I swear!

This last Tuesday morning, we passed those golden arches and Quintin began wailing, "Ice Cream! Ice Cream!" I told him that McDonald's doesn't make ice cream in the mornings because most people wait until late in the day to eat things like ice cream. He was quiet for several minutes, and then began chanting at the top of his lungs, "Ice cream in the morning! Ice cream in the morning!" He continued all the way to St. Pete! In a perfect world, Quintin, Mommy would give you ice cream all day every day!

Quintin and Elmo

Quintin LOVES Elmo! We read the Sesame Street books from "Aunt" Sarah and "Uncle" Nick every day (A birthday gift from last year, the large set of tiny board books came in a box shaped like a Sesame Street house. Quintin loved pulling the books in and out of their little home -- experimenting with the ways they fit, like an enormous puzzle -- so much that it completely disintegrated a few months back! We still read the books several times a day).

Nana turned on Sesame Street during a visit just over a month ago and watched it with him. We'd not let him watch television before then, but she reminded me what a terrific show it is -- one of the few we were allowed to watch as kids. It was definitely a nostalgic experience to hear the beloved voices of Ernie and Bert and Big Bird and Grover, along with all of my other early childhood heroes! I got a solid hour's work done at the computer, and he and Nana had a great time! He already knew the characters from the books we read, and was absolutely fascinated to see them come to life on the screen! He also has several Sesame Street themed toys, from "Aunt" Teresa (his godmother) and Nana. Now, he regularly points to the television to ask for Elmo, and does not understand why Elmo is not on it 24/7! (Sesame Street comes on at 10:00 a.m. -- If Quintin had his way, Elmo would have a much bigger contract!).

We sing during the commute to and from St. Petersburg (I work at the family book store on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays with Quintin in tow, and Mondays, we go to St. Petersburg to help Grandmother Slicker run errands, etc.) -- Quintin now sings "Elmo" to whatever tune we happen to be singing (the Itsy-Bitsy spider sounds like, "Elmo, Elmo, Elmo, Elmo, Elmo, Elmo!") The first Homage to Elmo was sung quite solemnly. He's figured out how tickled it makes Mommy, and now sings with a grin and some added gusto (A little showman!).

Publix has a huge Elmo balloon it keeps prominently displayed, and going to the grocery store with Great-Grandmother Slicker has become a bit of a nightmare -- Quintin has fallen in love, and cannot understand why Elmo can't come home with us! I'm currently searching Craigslist (online classifieds) for an Elmo doll -- Hopefully we'll find one soon, and will finally be able to go to the store in peace!

UPDATE: Last Saturday, Quintin and I were running late to work when I passed, just a few miles from home, a blur of red fur, and immediately turned the car around to investigate further. Indeed, there sat an ENORMOUS Elmo, part of a yard sale, with a $1 price tag stuck onto his nose! I am embarrassed to admit that I did not have even one dollar with me, and got ready, instead, to write out a check. The woman running the yard sale smiled and said that I could just take Elmo!-- I found, however, $0.85 to give to her by digging through the lent ball at the bottom of my purse :-). Quintin was, of course, ecstatic! He spent the ride to St. Petersburg happily chatting with Elmo, happily patting and naming each of Elmo's body parts ("Elmo's nose! Elmo's hand! Elmo's eye! Elmo's belly!"), and making Elmo "dance" to the radio. I felt like Mommy of the Year!

Finally Getting Organized (I hope!).

Our gorgeous son turns two next month -- I can't believe how quickly time flies! Creating an electronic scrapbook has been a goal of mine since viewing our friend Shannon's (created for her son Braydon) -- I always assumed it'd be time-consuming and was, frankly, reluctant to take on any new projects during that first hectic year. Do you know that I don't even have written captions yet next to the photographs in the NUMEROUS baby books we've filled since his birth?!? I am more ashamed to admit that I've already forgotten some of the timing of important milestones! Here's the crux of the thing: Taking care of my precious son leaves little time to write about it! :-) Fortunately, I've found that this medium is much simpler than I'd originally imagined, and is less time consuming, actually, than the e-mail updates I sent periodically his first year (If you were a recipient of any of these, by the way, please resend them to me, since Verizon lost our e-mails in a quirky -- and incredibly irritating -- oversight last year.

A snapshot of Quintin's development right now:

Age: 23 months (12/11/07)

Height: 36 inches

Weight: 30 lbs.

Shoe Size: 7

Developmentally, Quintin's major focus this last month or so has definitely been vocabulary --- it's amazing how quickly our son went from a vocabulary of several dozen words to one of several hundred! I know that this is normal development, but it still makes us very, very proud parents! His first words were "Momma," "Dadda," "NuNu," (nursing) and then, "Vrooom, Vrooom" (car!). He began "parroting" about a year ago (Daddy and I have really worked on making sure we're worth repeating!). Now, he's using these parroted words regularly, mostly to tell Daddy and I what's what! ;-) Quintin said his first sentence this week, "Caity is barking," -- he and Caity (the stray lab has become a beloved member of our household) are great friends (she's very, very patient with him!).

Quintin is really revving up for independence, and regularly testing boundaries (He's already got THE LOOK -- the "What are you going to do about THAT?" look!). He plays independently for longer segments, while Mommy works from home & at the book shop -- his favorite independent activities are finger painting, coloring with crayons, playing with his cars, and imaginary play with his Little People. I love to hear him chattering with his toys!

Quintin loves playing outside, bubble baths, Elmo, and anything with an engine (trucks, tractors, fire engines, and race cars are his favorites!). He hates diaper changes, having his hair washed, coming inside, and the word, "No" (who doesn't? lol).