A Few More Picts from Bodhi's Birthday

Lots of Fun at Bodhi's Jungle Animal Birthday Party!

A couple weeks ago, Mommy & Quintin skipped our regular trek to work at the book shop and went, instead, to Bodhi Price's third birthday party! Bodhi's family attends First United Methodist Church of Zephyrhills with us, and Quintin plays regularly in the church nursery with Bodhi and his adorable little sister, Ellie :-). We headed over after Quintin woke up (He slept in really late, so we didn't make it to the party on time, but he was, at least, really well rested!) and entered the Price family's fabulous back yard, where a bounce house, pools, ride-on toys, a pony, and a pirate ship playground awaited! Quintin fell in love an older woman (the little girl in the pirate ship photos -- notice the look of adoration on his face, lol!) while exploring the pirate ship playground, his definite favorite! Quintin also enjoyed swimming in the pool with several other kids around his age (Mommy went in, too!). Bodhi's mommy had an awesome Giraffe cake made, and after the party, Bodhi & Quintin pigged out, lol! Mommy's favorite part of the day came after the party, when the Price family invited us to stay and play (despite the long morning they'd already had!). The mommies enjoyed plenty of girl talk while the boys played (mostly, with Bodhi's new Toy Story collection -- Thanks so much, Bodhi, for sharing your Woody & Bullseye toys with Quintin!). We had a fabulous time with you, Price family, and appreciate the great hospitality!

New Member, Kevin Smith!

We've regularly attended First United Methodist Church in Zephrhills since our arrival here in 2005. We were married in the church, and Quintin was baptized there. Kevin played on the church softball league (since team members had to attend church regularly, it was a great way to get him in the doors, lol!), and we both play now with the Contemporary Service's band, Salvation's Rock (Kevin plays the bass, Sarah sings). The church didn't, however, have any record of Kevin's membership (they found mine, but not his, lol!), so on New Member Sunday, Kevin took his vows of membership in front of the congregation for the second time. It was such a joy to listen to the minister list Kevin's many contributions to the church; what a special blessing to see him recognized officially in front of the congregation we've come to consider as family! We love FUMC and are grateful for the support & love we've so generously received through the church body.

Fun with the Harrisons!

Fun in the Pool with the Harrisons!

Wednesday, Mommy & Quintin headed over for an awesome afternoon of swimming with a family from Mommy & Daddy's EPIC class at church :-). Quintin loves Casey, Courtney, and Kayley, and had such a blast! Mommy liked having a chance for some girl time with Dawn, and had a great time swimming, too! The Harrisons' pool has a water slide that was sooooo fun! Quintin was much braver than Mommy about going up & coming down, and was irritated that Mommy didn't want him to go down by himself (He even wanted to go head-first, after watching the big kids do it -- this bravado certainly NOT a trait he inherited from Mommy, lol!). When Dawn's husband, Kenny, got home, he took Quintin out to their chicken coop and let him fill the feeder & collect the egg a hen had laid in her nest! We all showed up at Wednesday's church dinner sleepy, sunburned & very happpy :-D Thanks, Harrison family, for a fabulous afternoon!

Watching Our First Fireworks Display as a Family! Thanks, Gulfport!

Fourth of July Parade in Gulfport

More Pictures from Father's Day @ the Aquarium

Show & Tell @ Alegria Montessori

In mid-April, Quintin began attending Alegria Montessori School, two days a week, from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. He loves school, and regularly talks about his friends & teachers. Last week, it was Quintin's turn for Show & Tell. The assignment included bringing:
Favorite Book: He chose Snoozers, by Sandra Boynton. This series of bedtime poems includes precious illustrations & humorous lyrics, many of which Quintin can recite by memory :-)
Baby Picture: See first picture, above (One of Mommy's FAVORITES!)
Family Picture: The second photo, above, was taken at our church's Wednesday night dinner, just before halloween last year (Quintin's first Halloween, he was almost 11 mos. old).
One object which is important to you and be ready to share why it is important: Quintin chose his small Mac truck (from the Disney Cars movie), a "tweet" (treat) from Mommy & Daddy (We got it on sale at Big Lots - now, Quintin refers to him as his "tweet"). Mac has room for a Lightening McQueen ("Speed"), Hot Wheels sized car in his trailer, so Quintin insisted on packing him (He would have brought all of his cars if he could -- Mommy had to keep unpacking the backpack!). I'm certain he gave the class a lengthy lecture on the awesomeness of his cars, lol!

Looking over the treasures Quintin chose really emphasized to me how quickly he's growing up! The pictures, all taken within the last two years, obviously, document the incredible changes that have so rapidly transformed our completely helpless newborn into a very independent & opinionated little boy -- It's breathtaking to consider just how quickly it all happened! I've recorded, for our family, a quick update on some other changes in Quintin (Just because I keep forgetting these milestones, and we only have one so far, lol!):

Height: 38 inches
Weight: 29 lbs.
Shoe Size: 8
Clothing Size: 3T (I swear, this happened literally overnight -- he went to sleep in 2T pajamas a couple of weeks ago & when he woke up, I couldn't find anything that would fit him lol!).

Cognitive Development: Quintin learned his basic colors (red, orange, yellow, blue, green) just before his second birthday (Mommy & Daddy got him finger paints & he started referring to the colors by name right away); pink, purple, black & white followed quickly after (He had a real love affair with the color pink for a long time, including the huge temper-tantrum over the pink Converse shoes he wanted from Target -- He agreed to red after Mommy pointed out that Elmo & "Speed" are both red. Great-Grandmother, who was buying the shoes, would not get pink, lol); he's just recently learned grey, tan, burgundy. He learned his shapes from a great open-the-flaps book given by Aunt Tsa-Tsa (Teresa) & Aunt Patty for his second birthday. He can count clearly to ten (including objects, usually, with one-to-one correspondence), but 11-20 get a little fuzzy lol. He's been singing the alphabet for a long time, but just recently started identifying the letters (He can consistently identify the following capital letters: U, W, M, I, L, H, A, B, C, E, F, K, O, P, T, V, X, Z). He's been able to identify common zoo and farm animals (including hippopotamus & elephant) & do animal sounds since before his second birthday, but has become much clearer in his pronunciation, and can now sing Old MacDonald Had a Farm with the animal sounds. He speaks regularly in sentences, although there is still some deciphering required lol. He loves singing -- his favorites (and the ones he does best) are: the Alphabet Song, Old MacDonald Had a Farm, Row Row Row Your Boat, & Itsy-bitsy Spider). His all-time favorite, most requested song is The Quintin Song, which Mommy sings for him: Mommy loves Quintin, Daddy loves Quintin, Granddaddy loves Quintin, Grandpop loves Quintin, etc., etc., etc.! If I leave anyone out, he immediately corrects me & asks me to do it again, lol! He also likes for me to sing The Holden Song, The Gideon Song, The Elizabeth Song, etc., etc., in which I have to list people (including Quintin) who love that particular child. This song can go on and on and on, obviously, lol!

Social Development: Quintin regularly waves at other children and, sometimes, adults, and I've heard him introduce himself to people ("I'm Tin-Tin, What's your name? I'm two!"), though if I ask him to, he usually doesn't, lol (He does have his Little People and cars introduce themselves to one another, which is pretty cute to hear :-). He does act out aggressively sometimes (especially, when he's tired - he recently had a terrible night in the church nursery with several incident reports), but is generally pretty good at expressing himself verbally. Quintin regularly uses please, thank-you, bless you, and excuse me ("'cuse me"), and is great about asking for things rather than demanding them. He shares with us in the sweetest ways ("Mommy, You wanna have some goldfish?" "Can we get that for Holden?" "Let's get M&Ms for Sarah!" "Let's give that to my daddy!") He's very affectionate with Mommy, Daddy, Granddaddy & Nana (lots & lots of hugs & kisses!), but usually doesn't hug other adults (especially not if they ask him, lol). He's mostly over the terrible separation anxiety, and usually goes gladly into the church nursery & preschool, or with other adults he knows well.

Physical Devleopment: Quintin loves running, climbing, and jumping, and is great at all three (this has resulted in a number of panic-stricken Mommy & Daddy moments, lol!). He hasn't yet learned to hop on one foot, and his feet get tangled up pretty fast when he tries to skip ;-). He can put on his velcro shoes by himself (and gets them on the correct feet), but can't yet dress himself. He draws lines, circles and crosses, and just last night, colored in each of the tiny squares in a cross-word puzzle a different color. He can also cut with scissors (the child-proof kind!) and loves painting, either with his fingers or with a brush. Quintin loves doing puzzles and is really great about figuring out how to fit the pieces together. He's used the "potty" and has long dry periods, but is pretty obstinate about sitting on the potty with any regularity (If we suggest that he sit on the potty, he usually says, "No!" while vigorously shaking his head!) We're not forcing it, and hope that peer pressure at school -- a lot of his classmates are potty trained -- soon works where Mommy & Daddy's wishes haven't. He drinks well from a cup and carries things well, without spilling, but still makes a pretty big mess when using a fork and spoon, lol! He's great at throwing, and can aim pretty well, but isn't able, yet, to catch (he loves running after things, so he may be missing on purpose, lol). He loves helping with chores around the house, and feeds the dogs, carries small bags of garbage, and asks to carry groceries. He also "sweeps," but not very well, lol!

We are totally, completely in love with our precious son, and are so proud of his accomplishments, big and small! We love celebrating each new skill, but are the most happy when we're just snuggling & playing together! We love you, Quintin! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Fourth of July Family Fun

We had a great time in Gulfport for the town's family-friendly Fourth of July celebration, and enjoyed, very much, the chance to spend time with Granddaddy, Nana, Uncle Mike, Aunt Tanya, Makayla, Janet, and the First United Church of Gulfport!

After services at our church in Zephyrhills, we packed up & headed down to the 4th of July potluck at FUMC Gulfport, where we had the chance to catch up with the many friends we've made over the years there. In particular, we were glad to see Jenn and her daughter Aubree, just a year older than Quintin. Because of the torrential downpour, we missed most of the lunch, but fortunately, came with our own supplies of pasta salad and cake :-). We then headed over to Granddaddy & Nana's house, where we got to play & visit for a while with Uncle Mike, Aunt Tanya, Makayla & Janet. Makayla, our beautiful niece, is growing with incredible rapidity! She's almost ten months old now, and is a crawling champ! She's also starting to pull herself up, and even toddled around with some help from Mommy & Daddy :-) She & Quintin played on the piano at FUMC Gulfport, and knew just what to do on that piano, lol! It's such a joy to see my brother caring for his own child; he's such an amazing daddy! We love you all!

We enjoyed a quiet afternoon, playing inside with Nana's great supply of kiddie toys and munching on a lunch of fried chicken Granddaddy brought home, while it poured outside. Quintin loved playing with Nana & Grandaddy's new puppy, Sparky. The two had a great time together, and Sparky actually liked being carried around by Quintin, even trying to jump up into his arms once he'd put him down. It was so sweet to see Quintin caring for the "baby puppy," as he called Sparky; he was really gentle and loving :-)

Once Nana got home from work, we played a couple rounds of Last Word (the competition, guys verses girls, got pretty intense, lol!), before heading over to watch Gulfport's small parade. Fortunately, the rain stopped just long enough for us to watch most of the parade without umbrellas, and Quintin got lots of beaded necklaces, tons of candy (we gave most of it away!), and a little flag that he loved waving around :-). Since most of the usual downtown festivities had been rained out, we again headed back to Nana & Grandaddy's (they're located right in downtown Gulfport, so enjoying the activities is always very convenient!).

The rain again broke just before it was time to head down for the fireworks & we were able to lay out blankets and chairs right at the water's edge for a spectacular fireworks show! This was the first fireworks display that we saw as a family; the last time Mommy & Daddy had seen a city fireworks display was during our first date, six years ago! Watching them together was such an incredible treat -- Quintin loved them!

E.P.I.C. Game Night

In early June, we invited our E.P.I.C. class from church over for a game night, and about twenty-five people (most of our class) were able to come. Everyone was asked to bring a favorite game & dish to share and we ended up with a huge variety of food & games. The above photos were taken of the Harrison family's Wii dance game -- watching everyone get their groove on was definitely a highlight of the evening, lol! Another favorite was Catch Phrase -- we did girls vs. boys & things got pretty dang competitive ;-) It was wonderful to spend an afternoon & evening with so many of the friends we've grown to love dearly, and our kids had a blast playing together, too! (Thanks so much to all of those who chipped in to watch them during our evening of fun!) We are blessed to have such an incredible church family :-)

Father's Day Fun at the Florida Aquarium

We made our first family trip to a Florida attraction this week by heading over to the Florida Aquarium in celebration of Father's day! The weekend had a rocky start (Lucky the horse trampled a fence and escaped Saturday morning, the air conditioner broke Saturday night, and Mommy's car broke down Sunday morning), but we didn't let that stop us! We headed from church to the aquarium, where, in honor of Father's Day, all fathers got free admission and, since kids two and under are free, Mommy's was the only ticket we had to purchase :-D. Daddy chose our destination with Quintin's enjoyment in mind, and by that standard alone, the day was an awesome success! Quintin loved looking at all of the exhibits, but was particularly excited by the sharks, sea turtle, and rays. He was fascinated by the touch tanks, where he got to feel star fish & rays, and had a great time playing in the shell play area on the second floor with Daddy. When the aquarium closed at 5:00, we headed over to Miguel's Mexican restaurant for dinner with Granddaddy, Nana, Uncle Mike, Aunt Tanya, Makayla, Aunt Trisha, and Uncle Alex. Fortunately, dinner didn't start until 6:30, since Quintin fell asleep in the truck and got in an hour long nap while Mommy & Daddy circled the Tampa restaurant (fortunately, we had lots of gas, lol!). On the ride home from the wonderful family dinner, we called Grandpop & Grammie and got caught up with the New Jersey news :-). We're so thankful for the chance to celebrate the incredible dads in our lives!

Happy Father's Day!

As our country gets ready to celebrate the special fathers in our lives, I'm reminded especially of how fortunate Quintin is to have such amazing male figures in his life! In addition to having a FAB father all to himself, Quintin has two awesome Grandfathers! From day one (and before Quintin even made his official entrance into the world!), these men have been incredibly involved in his life. We are so blessed! Thank you, Daddy, Granddaddy, and Grandpop, for the millions of ways you make us all feel loved! Also, thank you to all of Quintin's "uncles," biological and otherwise, who are such great male role models in his life :-)
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