Cupcakes at 8 months? Why not.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!


While this post is a bit dated, I would be remiss not to post pictures of Quinn eating her first pieces of cake. For those traditionalists who think those should come with her first birthday, her father begs to differ. He's not a pediatrician, he deals with older people. My child is special of course but no where on her sheet of expected milestones did it say expose to cake. Sure she can't chew and her first two teeth came in two days after the cake eating, but it seemed like a great time for eating cake. I can't disagree, until now I had not considered there ever to be a bad time for cake. I used to get ice cream cake in my 20's and eat it for dinner for a week. Although poor food choice, it complemented my Cpt'n Crunch dinners nicely. But now I'm responsible for making her a healthy, responsible dinners and for the love of Pete, I just introduced her to stage 2 foods. I guess if I was a truly good mother I would puree the vegetables I had lovingly grown in a compost rich plot of land in my backyard. Honestly, I feel like its a winning day if she isn't covered in dog hair. Last week as she was rolling all over the den, I picked her up to move her back to the center of the room and she looked like the Wolfman's progeny. STO suggested we make a duct tape baby suit so she can aid in the clean up. I'm looking it up on Pinterest after I'm finished with this post.

Happy birthday to a man who takes care of people and answers questions for every one without hesitation. He has an encyclopedic memory. He can fix anything, even if takes a while. He is thoughtful, considerate, humble, genuinely good, and an excellent father. We're all lucky dogs because you're ours.

Daddy Am I Pretty?

When I was in college, I had a running joke with my dad. I always asked him in a ridiculous tone, "Daddy am I pretty?" His response was always an over the top "Oh yes darlin',  you're beautiful." I batted my eyes ridiculously and said thank you doing my best Southern Belle imitation. This tradition continued until the day he died. This tradition began when we overheard a sorority sister on Dad's Weekend ask her father if she was beautiful. She was quite serious and would never be mistaken for light-hearted. We looked at each other and immediately knew we needed to examine this conversation outside the confines of my sorority house. That was one of the great things about our relationship, we knew by looks what the other wanted. The long and short of our analysis was the statement was beyond ridiculous and needed to be repeated and often. I have often thought how many people overheard us and thought we were serious. Our routine was familiar and I'm sure irritating to those nearest and dearest to us.

When I see the nugget and her daddy together, I am excited at the possibilities of their inside jokes. In the above pictures I can already see her looks that are charming and have her daddy at her beck and call. I know I will feel jealousy at some point because I will just be mom. The mom who tirelessly cleans diapers, washes clothes, and worries if she is intellectually stimulated enough to become a good student of life. That's a whole other post though.... Ultimately though, I am really excited to watch their relationship grow.

However, I am glad she could not ask him if she was pretty when she was born. She looked like a helpless bird and looking back, she was not pretty but she was my everything.

90% Angel; 10% Tyrannical Howler Monkey

When the Nugget is good, she is really, really good. When she is bad, she is awful. This was in a story I remember being read to me as a child, and now I think my mother was trying to tell me something. She has said several times I am raising myself, that my child acts like I did as a baby. If I could remember the book, I would add it to the ever expanding library of children's books in our house. So far I Love You Stinky Face and I was So Mad are my favorite titles in our collection. Since I love books so much, I am forcing it on Quinn which means she will probably not like them. I have images of us going to the library and picking out books and sitting down for story hour. Isn't it nice when you can still live under the delusion your children will want to go along with all of the grand plans I have so lovingly conjured? Yeah, even I am not that naive. 

Back to the Howler Monkey, there are no parenting books I read nor know of that can adequately prepare you for the reign of terror a child can have during a temper tantrum. I am really hoping this happens to other children and not just mine. She can turn moods in the time it takes you to blink, and I am in no way exaggerating the speed with which she turns her temper on. My mother-in-law says Quinn has the quickest temper she has ever seen on a baby. I'm hoping that its just because it has been awhile since she has cared for an infant she feels this way.

On Easter weekend, Quinn showed her true colors in a spectacular meltdown at my mothers expense. Bnonna innocently bent over to pick up the Nugget and a scream that I am sure I have never heard before came out of her tiny lungs. Two hours later of letting her cry, warm baths, etc she finally settled down. That blood curdling scream wasn't heard again for 6 weeks, when she met my cousin Andrew and then again the next morning when Meme was holding her. Sister does not mess around when she wants to let lose. Luckily these meltdown were not as long in duration but still as nerve rattling. 

June was especially full of meltdowns for her, then mine. Thus the reason for my break from blogging. I'm getting back on track since Quinn seems to be settling into a more subdued version of the meltdown. Let's hope I did not just curse myself but typing that. 

Crying is allowed as long as I can take a picture

Charlie loves her when shes quiet.

Taken right before she punched the dog, not on purpose. I think.

Six Months and All Is Well...

 

SIX Months

 

12 lbs 10 ozs, 24.5 inches

3% and 5% respectively

on the Term Baby Growth Chart!! She has made it on the "normal" baby measurement system. Her head is 15%, so like the pictures show her head is huge. Maybe it is just her cheeks. Her doctor says she is doing great for a 6 month old, her physical therapist says she's on track for a 4.5 month old. I really wish they would get on the same page but since the likelihood of this happening is about the same as everyone wanting the same person for political office, I choose to believe she perfect just as she is.

 

 



Swimming with Style

Quinn's first swimsuit

Funcle and the bathing beauty (I'm sure Winston Churchill looked this good!)

Quinn Loves the Pool, then again who wouldn't if you got to ride in style like this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a great picture of how big her cheeks are!

Fancy Pictures

Febreeze Ad, Quinn Style

Angel Baby

Quinn enjoys being the center of attention

Family Photo with Winston Churchill

 



I used to think I was a good photographer, until I met Melissa Sweazy. She is amazing, she captures the images as they appear in my head but they never quite translate to the pictures. Melissa has captured our engagement, marriage, family photos, and now Quinn's newborn pictures. I love the way she is able to capture our personalities consistently. Even if this is not an authentic newborn shoot, it was done in true Quinn fashion. It was done on her own time, on her terms and it turned out better than I expected.

 

 

 

4 Months.

Her First Picture

She really enjoys looking at herself, others are fine but she prefers herself. Scary.

 

Three years ago today I moved to Memphis. Four months ago today I become a mom. In the awful year that was 2009, I would have never thought I would have been in this state of domestic bliss. In fact, I am not going to talk about it because it is even nauseating to me.

Quinn went to the doctor today for her four month check and shots and weighs in at 10.8 pounds and 22 inches long. She is almost on the term baby curve for height and 3% for weight. Despite her aversion to eating in an efficient manner, she is doing great. Her doctor said she clearly not suffering in the nutrition department, so not to worry about her eating. Easy for him to say, worrying is now my new profession and frankly its exhausting.