Recent Pics and Videos

Quinlan, Jess and I are all doing really well.
Q is really growing by leaps and bounds...he is eating lots more exciting new foods, like lentils with indian spices, mangoes and strawberries, digestive biscuits, pesto, salmon burgers and rice.

 Click to view a video of Quinlan's after dinner game...
Also note that we sometimes have to cut a slit in his shirt in order to squeeze his head through!

Another video of Quinlan practicing his movement on the PT bench....earlier today with Dad!

http://youtu.be/XejZcOkosvk

Playing in the Sand

      Our local park uses sand instead of grass or wood chips as its ground cover, so it is almost like playing in a big sand box or being at the beach. Quinlan loves to belly crawl along the sand or kick it with his feet when sitting. It is very cute to watch, but no matter how much we brush him off, sand seems to appear in the crib or on the changing table.
     Quinlan also loves to comb the sand with his hand and finds all kinds of treasures that he hands to mama - sticks, rocks, leaves, bandaids, plastic, etc. He is single-handedly keeping the local playground clean, and having a blast doing it!

     Quinlan also likes to play in the tube slides, but is scared to actually go down them at this time. He prefers exploring in it, and banging against its walls. We are working on climbing up it, but he doesn't seem as interested in that yet. It is super cute to see his little legs kick as he is in there, as they don't reach the ground.
     Right next to the tube slides is a set of wind chimes that Quinlan like to pull and bang to make music. He has been playing with those since he was 8 months old, and just needs a willing parent to hold him up at the right level. Once he is standing though, he will be able to do it without support.
     Quinlan has been working on pulling himself up to standing. He can do it from a sitting position on a low bench but not from sitting on the floor yet. He seems to be real close and is very pleased with himself each time he stands.

Learning New Things

      Quinlan is trying all kinds of new things. Like riding this pink plastic trunk at the park off the bike path. This picture really makes him look like a toddler. He really loves to beep the horn and is getting the hang of balancing while sitting on the trunk.
      Quinlan is also more mobile now and belly crawls all over the house. If left for a few seconds playing alone, you may find him sitting in the middle of the kitchen. Currently he only seems interested in banging the shiny silver garbage can and playing with the lower magnets on the fridge. The kitchen is the least baby proofed room, so we are keeping an eye on him and trying to move things that we had not thought of as dangerous before.

     Quinlan still enjoys the swings, but we have been trying out different parks in the area so he can at least try different swing sets. This one here is at a more mommy-friendly level and does not require a lot of bending or crouching to push.
     However, this park is made up of wood chips, and as we learned at a different park, Quinlan sometimes decides they look good to gnaw on. Some of the local parents set up some of their older plastic toys, so at least Quinlan could play on the truck. The other parts of this park we a little too old for Q, so after the sings and truck riding, we had a snack and walked home.
     This was the first day over 70 degrees, so Quinlan sported his fisherman's hat and plaid shorts. We are trying to keep him in long sleeves as much as possible to avoid sun exposure, although Ben researched and bought a bunch of baby-safe sunscreen. We want our fair little man to enjoy the outside, but not at the cost of his skin.