A bunch of miscellaneous pictures to make up for not posting anything for so long...

We're getting ready to move to Denver in a few weeks and I have been too preoccupied/lazy to post any pictures recently. Here are a few to summarize most of May and June:

Quentin is really enjoying reading these days. Okay, so he mostly looks at his books or makes us read them to him. He is good at identifying things and can point out things like "cat," "car," "dragon," and "yak" when prompted.

He's taken up karate, too. The main issue was finding a sensei who would come to our place and spar in our pit of lego peril. Okay, so he's probably just watching Thomas here.

He found the marble in the oatmeal, so he got to drink from the fire hose! He's totally stoked and can be seen practicing daily.

Here he is crossing the bridge of ages

Back to the age of the dinosaurs. Where we got into a little spot of trouble but

Fortunately the carrier from THE FINAL COUNTDOWN materialized and rescued us.

Good thing it's almost nap time!

Quentin the Grouch

Fun with Water

If anyone knows where to get a pair of good, cheap kids rain boots, let me know! (although Quentin doesn't seem to mind getting his feet wet)

Boston

Chasing pigeons
Encounter with a frog

Strolling in Boston Common

Who is this dashing fellow?

At Barnes & Noble. Who knew spinning book racks could be so much fun?

Waiting for the train

Snoozing

The moving walkways at the airport. Possibly the most fun of the entire trip.

Happy to be home and eat sweet potato again!

Context

This picture was taken a couple of days before we left for Boston (I guess that was about a week and a half ago now). Compare it with the coats and hats in the pictures from Boston. It's been cold in Kansas too, although they've assured us a warm up soon.

Outside!

Quentin has discovered outside and it is the best thing ever! Better even than watching Thomas the Tank Engine or reading (looking at) books, both of which he is crazy about. When he is ready to go outside (which is often first thing in the morning), he will bring us his shoes or just wave and say "bye bye" and start walking toward the door, looking back for one of us to follow him. I am glad that he likes to play outside so much, but sometimes it can get a bit overwhelming!

Yesterday for my birthday we went to T-REX, the new restaurant from the people who brought us the Rainforest Cafe. It's cool to look at and worth dropping in for a look if you happen to be in the area. Quentin thought the dinousaurs were amazing! However, I wouldn't recommend trying to eat there unless you have a lot of time and are also prepared to be disappointed. We ended up waiting almost two hours and then got seated in a place where we couldn't see any dinousaurs without twisting around. So after waiting that long, we actually left and went somewhere else! (I guess it might not have been so bad on a weekday, but we got there at 3:00, so we thought it would be OK, and my birthday just happened to be on a Saturday this year.)

First Words?

Quentin still isnt' much of a talker, but there are a few "words" he has been working on lately. In addition to "mama" and "dada," which he seems to know, but frequently uses indiscriminately, he has also been heard to say "gobble gobble," "hello," "eat," and "beep beep."

General Update

Quentin took his first steps about a month ago, but he really took off this week and now is walking pretty well. He is obsessed with cars and trains and other vehicles and has made up a sign that he uses for them. He finally cut the tooth he has been working on for over a month now, bringing the total up to 6. He still isn't much of a talker. He was working on "mama" and "dada" for a while, but seems to have lost interest. We've heard what we think are words from time to time, but he hasn't repeated them, so maybe it was just coincidence. Anyway, he'll be talking soon enough. For now, he knows a couple of signs ("light," "music," sometimes "eat" and "more," but he's stubborn about using those two, and, of course, his sign for vehicles). At his last check up (on January 3) he weighed 20 lbs, 15 oz and was 29 3/4 inches tall (around the 25th and 50th percentiles, respectively).

First Birthday

It's a good thing we had an early birthday party for Quentin, because his actual birthday didn't exactly turn out as we had planned. We had hoped to drive home from Denver on the 31st and spend a fairly quiet day at home (with a few more presents and cake) on Quentin's birthday. Unfortunately, I-70 was closed (again) due to the snow storm and we couldn't make it out when we planned and instead ended up spending Quentin's first birthday in the car.


Quentin started his day with some birthday french toast and Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Very tasty

Later in the day, he got some ice cream at the Baskin Robbins in a truck stop in Colby, KS. He may not look like he enjoyed it from this picture, but he really did.

More fun at the truck stop in Colby. Fortunately, there was an empty hallway-type-area outside the upstairs gift shop that provided a good place for Quentin to move around a bit.

All in all not what we planned, but it could have been worse. Hopefully his second birthday will be a little more fun.

Hanging Out with Uncle Scott

Quentin had a really good time with his Uncle Scott. Hopefully they will get to see each other again soon.

Early Birthday Celebration

We had a small early birthday party for Quentin

The Grinch tried to steal his birthday...
...but didn't succeed.