A tumble and a fall

Not that this is news or anything, but Daddy's a klutz.

As he and Quinn walked down the stairs Saturday morning, Daddy stepped wrong and made big ouchies on his ankle and shin. The good Cap'n Quinn bumped his head on the wall in the process, but he was more freaked out by Daddy's girlish screaming.

Thankfully Mommy came down stairs to see what was wrong. Daddy was too out of breath from panicking to explain, but it was probably pretty self-explanatory.

Our little hero came out unscathed. Daddy's been limping and complaining ever since (though nothing appears broken besides his pride).

It just goes to show that little fellas are less breakable than Daddies.

Meanwhile, Cap'n Quinn is expecting another visit next week from Grandma and Grandpa Smith, all the way from Pennsylvania. He'll have lots of new tricks to show off, like how he can almost stand up on his own.

Soon, he'll be good enough to teach Daddy how to do the same.

Here's a few pictures from the week, including Daddy's war wound:

Mr. Photogenic

Mommy got a new camera, which means a certain little someone had to pose for a lot of pictures over the past week.

No, not Daddy. Nobody wants to see his balding pate.

Cap'n Quinn has been something of a model this week as Mommy got the kinks worked out of her new gadget. And he does it well, as you can see from the gazillion photos down below.

Quinn does something else well now, too: fall asleep on his own. For this we thank our new favorite daycare provider, the wondrous Miss Beth. She has proven to Mommy and Daddy that it is not necessary to rock and bounce and sing (and bore) our wee little hero to sleep. He does it just fine on his own, and with the help of a plastic aquarium that plays lullabyes.

And the help of a few baby blankets.

OK, basically anything but us.

But that's fine, because we'd rather it be a hands-off operation. That way we can eat dessert, kick up our feet, type a blog, etc.

Quinn also got to experience his second different babysitter last night as Mommy and Daddy went out to the movies. He was fussy and sad and cried as we left, which is no fault of the babysitters (she did great). Still, Mommy and Daddy kept looking at their phones during the movie to see if there were any messages.

In the end, we got through the evening. And today, Quinn woke up to pose for more pictures:

The dude with attitude

First off, the good news.

The good Cap'n Quinn's ear tube procedure went swimmingly. In, out, a few screams, in the car and home -- all within two hours (about 10 minutes of which was the actual procedure).

Now, the not-quite-bad-but-not-quite-good news.

The little dude is coppin' an attitude.

Our little hero, it seems, has become defiant when it comes to eating veggies. After each spoonful he sputters his lips in displeasure, spreading veggie shrapnel all over himself, his high-chair, and Mommy and Daddy.

He's been a generally unpleasant little fella most evenings (and some days.) Perhaps he's just testing Mommy and Daddy's limits, forcing us to teach him the meaning of the word 'no.' Or maybe Mommy and Daddy are going through the growing pains with the little fella.

Ultimately, we're going to see that nobody wins in this battle. Because we're all on the same side.

Except, of course, for the veggies. I've tasted them. I gotta say, Daddy's on Quinn's side on that one.

Here's a couple more pictures. Quinn, as you can see, prefers feet over veggies. (Yeah, they're that bad):

Understanding the plot

I've never been confused by movies or TV shows with plot lines involving a child's kidnapping, or a terrorist threatening a child.

It's a staple of any hostage-related story line, or about two-thirds of any season of "24."

I've watched programs like that, never really sensing the emotions the stories are meant to trigger. I had never felt the sensation of a parent's instinct to protect being used like a blunt object against the head.

But I really realized only recently -- thanks in part to the cutest little fella to ever grace the planet -- just how agonizing any sort of threat can be to your child.

Tomorrow our little hero will have the tiniest of procedures done on the tiniest of ears. Having tubes put in his ears isn't neurosurgery. We understand that. But the notion of it being a minor, 30-minute surgery doesn't change the fact that it's still a surgery. I still don't want my smiling little Cap'n to go through anything adverse.

Heck, we agonize over immunization shots. Now he's going to have a doctor that slightly resembles Vincent Price cut a hole in his ear drum. Who can rest easy?

We know, however, that all will be well. And in the end, our hero will prove that he is, indeed, heroic.

That's a plot line that I'll be glad to see unfold.

Here's a few of the greatest hits from the past week:

Made a girl cry

There is really no question that Quinn is a boy. He's got all the right parts.

But he proved to Daddy last Saturday that he is, indeed, all boy.

That's the day Cap'n Quinn made a little girl cry.

It might seem onerous that the little girl happened to be the 9-month-old daughter of Daddy's boss. But this wasn't a malicious encounter.

The good cap'n and young Nora were playing together on the floor at a party. She enjoyed grabbing his pacifier, which was tethered to his shirt. He enjoyed grabbing the straps of her pretty sun dress and pulling. She could see the enjoyment in that, and out came the tears.

But while Nora cried, Quinn laughed. He thought it was pretty funny, which isn't something Daddy encourages. But mischievous boys will be mischievous boys.

He's had a tough week since then, though I'm sure it has nothing to do with any bad Karma. This culprit is another ear infection that left him with enough crust on his eyes to cover a pie. That's gross, but it really seemed like that.

Our little hero is just about a week away from having tubes in his ears, so hopefully we won't have these problems anymore.

Mommy and Daddy haven't been good at wielding the camera in the presence of His Eternal Cuteness. So instead, we offer one picture of Quinn and this picture of Quinn's big Cousin Axel, who at age 2 is already forming his own garage band. He's the lead singer.

Quinn beef on toast

There's a freedom in mobility. Even if it's limited to, say, hobbling a few inches forward. It's still better than not moving at all, right?

Perhaps that's why Daddy is so eager for young Cap'n Quinn to develop some form of forward movement. Daddy would prefer crawling before walking, but that's just because he's a purist. He also likes it when ballplayers hit without batting gloves. This is the same thing, only on all fours. And no bat.

Lately, Quinn has shown some initiative in the mobility department. Daddy likes to hold some bait out in front of him. And by bait, we mean a spoon or a toy cup, as opposed to nightcrawlers or leaches, which is what Daddy has come to otherwise know as bait.

The wee Cap'n will see this bait and make valiant efforts to reach forward. From his belly, he can get up on his knees and up on his hands -- just never at the same time. Mommy and Daddy like to set him in his new walker. Tonight, Daddy put a spoon in front of him and got our little hero to walk forward to grab it. There's a video of that below. And there's no wobbliness in the video this time, since Mommy took it and she's better than Daddy at having a steady hand.

Speaking of Mommy, she is continuing her quest to help Quinn with some culinary exploration. Today, it was toast and Cheerios, though not at the same time. He has learned how to pick up the food with his hands, and he's a champion chewer. He still needs to get the hang of comfortably swalling larger pieces of food, but he handles it pretty well for a rookie.

So raise your glasses to that.

I think we just toasted toast. How convenient.

Here's a few videos to get you through the day. Or the next 10 minutes. Whichever.

(By the way, Daddy realized after watching video No. 2 that he appears to be slightly balding on top. He asks that you not notice. Thank you in advance.)

Totally tubular

First, the bad news.

A very dry-humored doctor who could be played by Vincent Price if Vincent Price were alive and there were a need to portray this doctor in a film agreed that the wee Cap'n Quinn should have tubes put in his water-logged ears.

It'll happen in about two weeks or so, though the exact date is to be determined.

So we've got that going for us -- and the Vincent Price look-a-like, which could be worse. He could look like Bela Lugosi.

Quinn celebrated his first Fourth of July by going to bed well before any fireworks were ignited. Or at least before any government sanctioned fireworks "extravaganzas" started. Yet, as Daddy writes this blog, the weather is looking more grim, the wind is blowing, the sky is gray and hazy, and it's been raining off and on. There's a chance nobody may get a fireworks "extrava-whatever."

That still won't stop the do-it-yourselfers from scaring the kibble out of poor Dexie the Wonderdog.

Here's to a happy Independence Day to you all. And to celebrate, look at some pictures and a couple videos:

Finally upright

Mommy and Daddy have waited a while for this one. Finally, the good Cap'n Quinn can sit up all by himself.

It was such a momentous achievement that Mommy almost cried. For one, this means the beginning of the end of not having to hold him all the time. But more importantly, it means our little hero is growing up -- and fast.

Now, Quinn likes to sit on his blanket on the floor and play with the new set of stackable cups that Grandma Smith brought him. He also wants to grab Dexie's ball, though Daddy doesn't want the doggie's slobber all over his hands.

While that was the good news, we did have some bad news this week. Our wee Cap'n Quinn is likely going to need tubes put in his ears. The Good Doctor Good told us that it's not typical for a little boy Quinn's age to have tubes put in, but it sure beats hearing loss -- which could be the alternative if he continues to get ear infections.

But, as usual, our little fella soldiers on with a smile and a laugh. The world is his oyster. And now he can sit up and enjoy it.

To commemorate the moment, here's a video:

Just right

Our little cowboy has an enemy. And his name is Luke.

Luke isn't a cool character. He's not a hot shot. He's somewhere in between. And that confounds the good Cap'n Quinn, our little buckaroo.

Yes, Mommy and Daddy have yet to help Quinn tame this rival, the dastardly villain named Luke Warm.

As his eternal fussiness joined Mommy and Daddy for a little Daddy's Day brunch, his meal of choice (soy formula; shaken, not stirred) just wasn't the right temperature, even after Daddy held it under the steaming tap water in the restaurant's big boy room.

It was still too cold as the good Cap'n took Daddy to the mall to shop for new shoes. Luke Warm angered our little hero so much, the whole mall could hear his curses.

Finally, Daddy took the little man home to get out the big guns. Luke Warm didn't last 10 seconds in the microwave, and Cap'n Quinn won the day.

Sure, Quinn's particular. You could even say picky, though Daddy likes to think of him as a formula connoisseur. Would any sophisticated adult, after all, consume a white wine that hadn't been chilled?

At least our little hero was kind enough to take Daddy out for his first Daddy's Day. And Daddy sure enjoyed it, along with the gift card to buy more music to put in that little black box that plays all of his favorite soccer radio shows.

Three times already this week Quinn has taken Mommy swimming at the pool. It's more than 100 degrees outside, after all. He probably figured Mommy needed to cool off.

And yesterday, he was kind enough to escort Grandma Smith and Cousin Amanda (the birthday girl) to hike at a place called Tent Rocks. After that, he gave them a tour of Santa Fe.

So he may be picky. But at least he's thoughtful.

Here's a few pictures and videos from Quinn's busy week:

Two miles high

You might be surprised to know that our little hero reached new heights this week, as in two-miles high kind of heights, climbing a mountain high, up where eagles soar kinds of high.

Of course, it came with the assistance of the world's largest tram, which carried our little hero, Mommy, Grandma Smith and Cousin Amanda up to the top of the Sandia Mountains Tuesday.

Still, let's not pour cold water on this achievement. He was mostly fuss-free as he ascended these new heights, fighting off the continuing evil-doers that are his new teeth and an infected ear.

And yet, he was also able to muster the powers of his eternal cuteness in front of a camera when Mommy had new pictures taken (like to the one to the right) of him posing in clothes supporting some of Daddy's favorite sports teams.

It was a pleasant first Father's Day present for Daddy, who recognizes that he gets a Father's Day gift every day when he gets home and see his best buddy's excitable smile each afternoon.

The good Cap'n Quinn is finding new ways to show off his personality. The other day, Daddy give him a little raspberry on his neck, eliciting a belly laugh. Daddy then turned his head. And the next thing he knew, Quinn was trying to give him a raspberry right back.

He's a funny guy. That's something we shouldn't be surprised by.

Here's a few pictures from Quinn's photo shoot this week, and a few more just for fun:

Double whammy

Having two white ivory tusks protruding from your lower gums would seem like enough, wouldn't it? Painful, fever inducing, and all around sucky. Yessiree.

Having two white ivory tusks protruding from your lower gums AND getting an ear infection? That's downright unreasonable.

That, however, is the hand that wee Cap'n Quinn has been dealt this week, placing him a few notches above miserable on the displeasure scale.

But just like everything else our little hero has endured (let's run through it: the whole birth thing, the little snip-snip procedure, the gigantic you-know-whats next to his hoo-ha, the daycare black eye, and that should about do it), he's handling this like the heavyweight champ that he is.

On a side note, man can that little dude grow some teeth -- or "teef" as Mommy and Daddy like to say. The "toofers" (another variant on the word; look it up) are rolling right through that gum line. He's leaving marks on the spoons.

Check back next week. He'll probably be eating steak.

Until then, take a peek at this video which we call, "The next David Beckham."

The boss man

It was hot out there with our shovel and rake, sweat pouring down our brows from the afternoon sear and the hard labor.

The foreman sat there in the shade, hunkered in his seat like a wayward drunk. He didn't speak. He made just a single noise to say what he thought of our work.

He stuck out his tongue, and made a farty noise.

"How we doin' boss?"

*farty noise*

"That good eh?"

*drooly farty noise*

He drives us hard, that wee Cap'n Quinn. Our little hero sat in the shade of the garage while Mommy and Daddy began reworking the landscape in our front yard today. So far it's a mess, and will likely stay a mess until Mommy and Daddy figure out exactly what they're doing, which may take a while. You should see the back yard; one big sandbox.

"Wanna take a break boss?"

*farty noise*

Once Mommy and Daddy were done starting their mess, the three of us went down to Balloon Fiesta Park to check out a wine festival. Mommy and Daddy sampled several nice, local wines while Cap'n Quinn got checked out by the ladies.

"Oohh, that baby's so cute. You're such a handsome little man."

*farty noise*

This one we'll call, "Mommy's new contraption":

Teeth on the horizon

If you look close, and can find your way around his tongue, there appear to be some teeth peeking up from Cap'n Quinn's tiny mouth.

This, of course, is a big deal since teeth are useful in the consumption of food. That's the word, anyway. But our little hero has proven so far that he needs no assistance in the food department.
Mommy has already moved the good cap'n up to what they call "second foods," which is really no different from the peas and squash and pears and applesauce he's already been eating. It's just got chunks, and not the kind that come up when Daddy feeds him too much. They also come in new flavors, like pear and blueberry, steak and eggs, beer and brats, lutefisk and lefse. Of course, Daddy didn't read the labels, so who knows.

Sleeping, once Mommy and Daddy's eternal problem when it came to the little slugger, is no longer a problem. Bed time is at 7 p.m., and Quinn sleeps straight until 5:30 or 6ish in the a.m.. While 7 or 8 a.m. would be preferred, we'll be happy with what we're given so far.

This weekend we're going to get him landscaping the front yard. We figure he's growing so fast we ought to put him to work. Or he can just watch. It's up to him.

Here's a few pictures and a video to tide you over:

A mother's first

Mommy: It seems I had a lot of firsts to get in yesterday. My first Mother's Day, and the first time we took Cap'n Quinn to a ballgame. I'll let Daddy expound on that. I had a great first Mother's Day. We ate brunch (my favorite thing to do), I got out of work (my next favorite thing to do), and I got to spend a nice, but hot, afternoon with my two favorite people on earth. Mommy wasn't too smart and didn't put any sunscreen on her legs, so today she's walking around like someone with two broken ankles.

Hard to believe I'm someone's mother now, and I couldn't have picked a better little fella. He's the light of my life and makes me smile 100 times a day. I can't wait for the first Mother's Day where I get a macaroni necklace, or a finger-painted plate. Hopefully, next Mother's Day he'll be able to say "Mama," or some version of his choosing. Either way, he'll melt my heart.

Daddy: It was sort of hard to explain the beauty of a perfectly-turned double-play to the young Cap'n Quinn when the home team is losing 9-0 with only one out in the top of the first inning.

The more I think of it, this might have been a pretty bad first baseball experience for our little hero had the day not been so perfect. Sure, the game was a blowout -- the Albuquerque Isotopes narrowed it to within a touchdown (seven runs for those of you who don't realize there aren't actually touchdowns in baseball) by the last inning -- but we had the sunshine, we were at the ballpark, and it was just the three of us.

Look it up. That's the recipe for perfect.

Young Quinn didn't see much of the game. We spent most of the day trying to create the perfect pocket of shade for him to reside in. But he did get his first feeling of grass -- we sat in a special $5 outdoor lawn area -- and he got to hear the crack of the bat, the authentic noises of the greatest game ever created.

There will be a lot of chances to teach about the perfect double-play.

This family will be seeing a lot more baseball to come.

And we'll make sure to treat Mommy to a lot more special Mother's Days, too. Click this link to see one of her presents.

Here's a few more pictures from our brunch with Mommy, our day at the ballpark, and the last one is from today, Quinn's six-month birthday picture in the same outfit he wore home from the hospital:

Almost mobile

The wee captain may get seasick if he doesn't stop moving so much.

Yes, Quinn is beginning to get his sea legs. He rolls left and right and around and is on the verge -- and by "verge" I mean, anytime between now and the next three months, for all I know -- of getting up on his knees and crawling.

He's certainly trying. The second Mommy and Daddy lay him on his back he begins a procession of log rolls across the carpet. He no longer minds being on his belly, and actually laughs once he's there.

Mommy and Daddy didn't take many pictures of our little hero this week. But Daddy did shoot these fun movies. Here it is: