7 Months Old!

Dear Chuy,

You've been 7 months old for a couple weeks now, but, I'm a bad bloggy mommy and haven't gotten around to documenting it until today... oh well...

It's only because we've been so busy enjoying ourselves, I haven't had much alone time with the computer, but I'm not complaining about that!

So, what have we been up to?

Well, first up, we made the executive decision that you are too big a boy for your sweet little baby swing. We donated it to your escuela so that the smaller babes in your class can swing in style. Since we were down one large baby item in the living room, we all headed over to the Babies R Us and picked out a Jumparoo!

OMG - you so totally love this crazy thing. You do this little jig everytime we put you in it. Squeals of delight, whomping with the purple hippo whomping stick, turning around and around - this was such a good decision - way more fun than your swing!


We had quite a cold snap a couple weeks ago - it was colder in Austin than it was in parts of Alaska - that's cold! (and not just "Texas cold"). I worried that your coat situation wasn't going to keep you warm enough - what about your baby legs and baby feet? Thankfully, they sell these full body snow suit situations. You seriously hate being put into this get up, but once you're in, I'm sure you are roasty toasty warm and ready for the walk to the car.


I finally wised up and realized that if I turn the flash fill light off on the camera, I can almost catch you smiling! You're such a happy giggly baby, it's a shame you do the cold blank stare face in all of your pics.

I can't believe you're almost 8 months old. I feel so lucky to have been blessed with such a happy, smart, cute, easy going, super awesome little dude.

I'm excited to see you do your new tricks like rolling over and over, scooting around (on your back, which is kinda weird... you should try it on your tummy), making kissing noises, waving bye bye (to yourself), eating new and different foods, saying Dadadadada when your happy and Mamamama when you're super pissed.

These milestones are bittersweet - you're so much more interactive, but you are no longer my little tiny baby boy - you're my big strong monster baby boy... at least you still like to hang out in my lap and suck your thumb when you're sleepy...

Love,
Mommy

Happy New Year!

Dear Chuy,

Happy New Year! Can you believe that it's 2010? I'm still getting used to the idea that we're starting a new decade... not just a new year.

2009 was one of the best years of my life, thanks in no small part to your arrival. I'm so excited to see how much you grow and develop in the coming year - you'll be crawling, walking, talking, celebrating your 1st birthday - all sorts of incredible stuff!

So, today, while you nap, I'm gonna make us a black-eye pea and sausage stew - for good luck, and Daddy and I are going to take down the Christmas tree.

Your first holiday season is complete - I think you had fun - it's too bad you won't remember any of it, but I took about a million pictures that I can bore you with when you're bigger.

Happy Happy New Year, baby boy. I hope that 2010 brings you all sorts of new adventures, lots of love, and many more good times with your Daddy and I and all your friends.

Love,
Mommy

6 months old & baby's first Christmas?

Dear Chuy,

Wow, where does the time go? One minute, you're my cute little Indian for Thanksgiving, and the next minute, bing bang boom - you're six months old, Christmas is over, and Mommy hasn't blogged about any of it. Bad Mommy.

There's a lot of ground to cover here, so, let's do it with a pictorial, shall we??

You turned 6 months old!

Things 6 month olds in our house do include: rolling from tummy to back and from back to tummy, sitting up almost completely on your own, saying 'dadadadadadadada', though, we're not sure if you know who this dadadadada character is yet...



We took a trip to meet all of your family up in Boston. This is a pic of you picking out which channel you and Daddy were gonna watch on the plane.



It was snowy in Boston. You were unimpressed.



We all made Santa beards at Mommy Club this month.
I think you liked yours the best...



Elf shoes on the other hand, were a big hit!



I put your tiny fingers to work making all of our family and friends their Christmas prezzies... finger paintings!
Sometimes you actually enjoyed the painting!



We took you to the mall to meet Santa dressed as Santa.

A note to all the mommies and daddies out there in the internets - if you ever want a taste of what it feels like to hang out with somebody famous at the mall... dress your baby like Santa during December - it was cray cray...



You and Clover had a Christmas Eve dinner date...



It is now official that you heart tacos...



Santa brought you a Plex Keytar. I'm glad he did.

Of all the instruments that exist in the universe for you to possibly be interested in when you're older, the keytar is most definitely at the top of my list for you... no pressure...



Here you are, my sweet little man, on your very first Christmas morning playing with your reissued vintage Fisher Price telephone.

I love you so very much and am so happy that we got to celebrate our first Christmas together!

Love,
Mommy

One Little Indian

Dear Chuy,

This is your Thanksgiving outfit - complete with Indian headband, although I'm not sure if we're Native American, but it seemed a better fit than making you a pilgrim for the day.

We had a terrific first Thanksgiving together - turkey in the crock pot, stuffing, pumpkin pie (which you loved right up until you bit your lip, then, not so much).

I am so thankful to have you in my life and to get to be your Mommy.

Happy Turkey Day, my little Indian!

Love,
Mommy

Turkey Day Table Fun!

This year, we've got something extra special to be thankful for... it's our little man's very first Thanksgiving!

I wanted to commemorate the occasion with something special that we could keep and use for years to come.

Thankfully, my buddy Vickie Howell has the perfect idea for a Turkey Day keepsake that was not only fun and easy, but Q and I were able to create it together - our first crafty collaboration!

Turkey Day Place Mats!

Since Quinn is an experienced painter, I thought he would like to provide the focal point to our place mats. My original thought was to get him to do hand prints and then I would make them into 'hand turkeys' - kinda like elementary school.

What I didn't know was how completely impossible it is to get a 5-month-old to hold a hand covered in paint still for even two seconds...

So, my hand turkeys quickly became more of an abstract study in orange... which turned out beautifully!

After Q was done with his portion on the place mats, I stamped 'Quinn's First Turkey Day' on them in copper sparkly fabric paint (a little note: fabric paint isn't the best option for stamping - I probably should've used stamp ink... so, they're far from perfect, but that's just how being crafty goes sometimes)...

I attached Quinn's art to some plain brown fabric, embellished with ribbon, sewed into place mats, and that's it! Easy peasy!

Check out Vickie's column, Craft Apparent, over on PBS Parents for inspiration on your own version of Turkey Day place mats!

Happy Thanksgiving!

5 Months Old!

Dear Chuy,

You are 5 months and two days old today and oh my goodness, you're rocking and rolling!

You've got not one, not two, but THREE teeth making their debut in your mouth.

What's up with three teeth already? You really do want a biscuit, don't you?

Well, we haven't gotten all the way to biscuits yet, but we have tried rice cereal and sweet potato.

You don't seem to be a fan of the rice cereal and I can't say I blame you for that - it's kinda yucky.

Sweet potato, on the other hand, seemed to be delicious! Maybe we'll mix the two together sometime just to see what happens.


In celebration of you starting solid foods, I though I should whip up some special 'big boy eats solid food' bibs for you to use when we eat from a spoon...
Pretty cute, huh?

You've also added reaching for objects to your list of 'things that I can do' this past week.

We were hanging out making chicken in a packet for dinner the other night and you helped me by tenderizing not only the onion, but the brussel sprouts and squash as well!


Your Godmother Aubrey blew into town for the weekend and we caught up with her at the Whole Foods - man, she loves her some Baby Quinn, I tell you what!


It's almost Thanksgiving and I'm so looking forward to celebrating your first one - you are what I am thankful for this year... and maybe we'll finally let you have that biscuit you've been craving...

Love,
Mommy

Baby's 1st Halloween!

Dear Chuy,


This past weekend we celebrated our first Halloween with you on the outside.


You were totally in my belly last Halloween, which made me extremely tired and hungry for candy...


This year, you're out, so, it was time for pumpkins, costumes, and pint sized Halloween parties!


First up, they had a little party for you guys at your escuela. It was super cute.


You made your costume, although, you didn't seem very fond of wearing it...




You made a little Trick or Treat canister too - I didn't even know about it - it was an awesome crafty surprise!

Ozzy was very fond of the contents of the canister - sugar cookies wrapped in plastic bag... cat favorite...



They took school pictures that day too - I thought a tuxedo t-shirt and driver's cap were in order...

Such a handsome man!



So, that night, we carved our pumpkins - I actually just drew your design on yours - after Daddy and I carved our giant pumpkins, our hands were tired and we didn't feel like carving another...



You'll just have to get bigger so you can carve your own!



In the meantime, I drew a lion pattern on your pumpkin - cause you love the lions!

The next day was Halloween and we attended a Pint Sized Halloween party thrown by our friends Jen, Chris, and Tallulah...



We were the Family Wolf...

You and Daddy had a good time wolfing it up...

All your baby buddies were there...



We took another pic of you, Clover, and Tallulah on the couch - man, you guys were all so much smaller last time we did this...

When we got home from the party, I thought you'd be stone cold tired and ready for a big nap, but you were wide awake and ready to play!



So we took a stroll around the neighborhood...

Then we lounged and watched the Halloween episode of Yo Gabba Gabba..

Halloween night, your Dad and I handed out candy to the neighborhood kids and watched a scary movie... you were finally ready for your big nap...

All in all, I think it was the best Halloween ever and I'm a little sad because we're never going to celebrate your first Halloween ever again...