Monday, May 26, 2008

wishing i was four

If I was in Cincinnati, I'd be at the lake celebrating Memorial Day. But since I'm not, I have to be satisfied with a recap phone call from my mom and some photos from Stef.

i wish i was four

This one makes me smile. I wish I remembered what it was like to be four. Each with their precious can of soda, reserved for special occasions. Frances with her pin stripe capris and purse. Simon with his wedgie and gun. In their own world. No worries. A great glimpse into four-year-old-hood.

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Tuesday, May 20, 2008

a year of Q

'

Unfortunately I didn't start taking these monthly pictures of Q with his Q until he turned three-months-old. And I missed his seven month shot at Christmas time in the States. So it's really just nine months of Q. I so wish I had a newborn one, but it still shows just how much they change in their first year. Amazing.

I think I might carry on taking them every three months until he's two, then every six months for a couple years, and then just take them annually.

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Thursday, May 15, 2008

photoshoot gone awry

I have been taking a photo of Q and the pups on our couch downstairs every couple of months. Let's just say, it is becoming increasingly difficult. Between Berkley howling for treats and Quincy's desire to climb over the dogs and off the couch, my attempt this time resulted in a lot of funny outtakes and that's about it...

Outtakes Mosaic

I really love the one on the left and the bottom one. They crack me up!

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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

gestern, heute, morgen & ubermorgen

warning: long, boring post

{gestern}
  • quincy was teething. his top gums on both sides of his two front teeth feel swollen.
  • jeremy works especially late on tuesdays, so q and i had a long day.
  • he was at times his normal happy self but at other times he was unusually whiny and clingy. quincy not jeremy.
  • we had to cancel lunch at wholly bagel with our antenatal group because quincy has been unwell.
  • when i asked him if he wanted to read books, he went to the basket of books and pulled one out. proud mama moment.
  • he only took a couple cat naps--hopefully due to being sick and not a new routine he is forcing upon me.
  • after cleaning out my supplies over the weekend, i was itching to scrapbook, but due to the aforementioned short naps, that wasn't so easy. i had him in my scraproom with me but he was getting into everything. emptying the rubbish, throwing all my paint into the rubbish, shaking cans of poisonous adhesive, pulling things off my desk, ... i think it's safe to say one of us had a blast.
  • little hands getting into my paintreading my blog

  • while he was assisting me in my scraproom, i asked him to get his monkey and he crawled over to his basket of toys and pulled out the monkey! i thought it might be a fluke, so i asked him to get his fish. and he did! he was very proud of himself as i sat clapping like a lunatic.
  • one fish, two fish

  • i managed to get one layout finished.
  • he said "but" for button. he loves all words that begin with b.
  • his large fuzzi bunz arrived.
  • he is starting to let go and briefly pausing before squatting down to crawl.
  • after losing his appetite for a few days, he ate a huge dinner and green jello for dessert.
  • q and i laughed a lot during dessert. he is so quick to laugh when he is overtired and a silly jello slurping sound i made just put him over the edge!
  • i ate brussel sprouts for the very first time (and was fine until gagging on the last one. now i understand why they are such a hated veggie.)
  • quincy ate brussel sprouts for the first time and loved them. good boy. the boy will eat anything, provided it's lumpy. and he's not sick.
  • under much protest and diress, i made jeremy eat his brussel sprouts. although he said they were the best ones he'd ever had, that is definitely not saying much. only afterwards did i admit to gagging on mine and vowing that i'd only make them for q in the future.
{heute}

  • quincy is teething. i spotted some bite marks on his crib.
  • the sky is blue, it's warm (for autumn), it's relatively still, and i have lots of windows open.
  • quincy had a hard time settling for his morning nap and then only slept for just over an hour. in my book, a proper nap is two plus hours.
  • i've already gotten an acceptable amount of chores done for the day.
  • a b-day package for q-bert arrived this morning from my parents :)
  • i am having flashbacks to high school courtesy of said package. (i know it was addressed to quincy but there is some junk food in there that is surely meant for j and i!)
  • cheetos

  • i now feel a bit ill!
  • q made his silly face many times for my enjoyment.
  • silly face

  • he discovered that he could poke around in my nose while nursing. again quincy not jeremy.
  • we took a good long walk by the sea after lunch. and then hit the swings.
  • afternoon nap: again an unacceptable hour and a quarter.
  • q is starting to build towers, well adding one or two things to mine, and no longer living to knock them down.
  • i spotted a few short free stands.
  • we did not have brussel sprouts for dinner. instead calzones using up leftover lamb roast from sunday, courtesy of j.
  • q was extremely happy going to bed with his cuddle lion. he was patting it and giving it cuddles. he certainly missed it while it was in the laundry. (maybe an answer to the short naps?? we shall see tomorrow.)
  • jeremy installed a stair gate in our awkward (and plentiful) stairwells. we got one to try out and thankfully it worked, so i need to order three more. what a relief it will be once they are all installed.
  • after a late dinner i am hoping to get a page done before going to bed reasonably early, but it's already 9...
{morgen} i find it interesting that in german, the words for tomorrow and morning are the same.

  • quincy will surely still be teething. (how can he only have 4 teeth?!)
  • we have mainly music in the morning.
  • we need to get a few things from the grocery... milk, butter, flour, eggs, baby laundry detergent, chocolate chips. (kt, i found your heath bar recipe while cleaning my office this weekend so i am itchin' to make 'em. yum. salty sweetness.)
  • q will take proper naps. think positive.
  • more scrapping will be in the cards. again keep thinking positive.
  • work on photo organizing.
  • i need to make an appointment to get q's us citizenship while the consular officer is in town next week.
  • good (bad) tv night... survivor and trading spouses.
  • leftover spag & meatballs with green beans for dinner.

{ubermorgen} i love that in german there is a word for the-day-after-tomorrow. so handy.

  • maybe the teeth will have popped through. yeah right.
  • maybe pop-in-n-play in the morning. we'll see how we go.
  • maybe some longer free stands.
  • normal everyday q-stuff.
  • clean and do laundry.
  • see about doing a few b-day preparations for a certain someone.
  • go for a walk.
  • organize more photos.
  • fish & chips for dinner.

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Sunday, May 11, 2008

a mother's love

Not a day goes by when I don't think about my mom and how she means the world to me. Even though she is so far away, she still plays a huge role in my everyday life. She truly inspires me to be a better mom and person.

{you inspire me}

I am so happy and content in my role as mother. I am thankful to my mom for that.

Last year at this time, I was a week away from giving birth. I was filled with such anticipation.

35 weeks (1)

A year later and that anticipation has been replaced by a tremendous amount of love. A love that is unconditional, unquestioning, unwavering, tender, at times overwhelming, and oh so pure.

pure love

(note to self: Blog entry composed in my head yesterday as I rocked plagued-with-a-tummy-bug-Quincy to sleep. I could have stayed there forever and a day.)

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Saturday, May 10, 2008

boys versus girls

OK, so there might be some truth to the boy and girl stereotypes!

BoysVsGirlsFilmstrip

These pictures were taken back in March when these three were nearly ten-months-old. It cracks me up to look at them and see how still the girls were and how Q-Bert was just all over the show!

The last one is my favorite.

i'm over it

"Alright, I'm over it."

And the girls continue to sit there patiently.

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Friday, May 09, 2008

four thirty-five-year-olds & quincy

It just occurred to me that Quincy is living with four thirty-five-year-olds. That is if you go by the 1 human year = 7 dog years equation. How did the dogs get to be five anyway? It seems like yesterday they looked like this...

ItsTheLittleThings

Beagles usually have about fourteen years of sniffing, frolicking, footling, playing, chasing, eating, begging, lounging, baying, tracking, sleeping, and warming your heart. That's not nearly long enough.

At five, their black is already starting to fade to grey and they don't play quite as much as they used to. But don't get me wrong, they still have a lot of spunk left in 'em...

Dog Games Mosaic

Who do you think is the boss?

We often talk about when to get another puppy so that s/he will learn from Berkley & Kai and pick up some of their quirks. They are such cool dogs. We can't imagine being without them.

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Thursday, May 08, 2008

feeling left out

So as not to leave the pups out, my fav dog pic at the moment...

the phone's ringing (bw)

You'd think they've never heard the phone ring before.

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Wednesday, May 07, 2008

scary but true

Q's first bday invite

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Tuesday, May 06, 2008

i see you

i see you (bw)

After breakfast and before his morning nap, Quincy plays in his playpen while I clean the kitchen. I can hear him babbling away in there, but I can't look, because as soon as he spots me, playing contentedly and entertaining himself is no longer his priority!

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more stolen grapes

Only this time, it was Quincy who was pinching them. Right out of the fridge While I was making breakfast. And sharing them with Berkley. By the handful.

Grape Mosiac

Of course I had to grab the camera. But after I snapped this one, I realized we might just have a problem on our hands.

{grape thieves 5}

The little sneak had SIX grapes in his mouth, seeds and all. Do ya think this kid likes grapes?

(Kai was outside, in the dark about it all, and very annoyed when she returned after the "game" was over. She knew she had missed out on something good when she smelled a rogue grape under the fridge.)

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Monday, May 05, 2008

if you're happy and you know it

clap your hands!

if you're happy and you know it #2if you're happy and you know it #1if you're happy and you know it #4

This is hands down Q-bert's favorite song at the moment. And he claps regardless if I say "stomp your feet", "shout hooray," or "touch your nose".

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Friday, May 02, 2008

sleep, glorious sleep

sleeping through the night

I have been afraid of actually saying this out loud for fear of jinxing myself, but at just over eleven months I think I can safely say Quincy is sleeping through the night! Seven until seven. Give or take. It started with a few eight hour stretches and then bam, twelve hours. It's been a full week. And I'm still not sure I believe it. He does awake occasionally but he is settling himself without a feed.

I should add that he has always been a gem at falling asleep. No crying. It's the staying asleep that was the issue. I had been demand feeding at night (contrary to all the advice--some asked for but most unsolicited) and getting up sometimes five times. I'm a softy and it just worked for us. He is a really good natured baby who doesn't cry much, so if he needed comforting during the night... Anyway, I am very pleased that he started sleeping through the night on his own when he was ready. So demand feeding can't be all bad!

By the way, that is Quincy from Little Einsteins in the top left corner of his crib.

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