A message to Grandpa Siemers

(Quinn is at daycare today, playing with Miss Beth. But before he left, he translated this message especially for Grandpa Siemers.)

Dear Grandpa,

Mommy and Daddy told me that today is your birthday. Daddy said Grandma Siemers actually told him, because he can't remember anything.

Anyway, I wanted to wish you a happy birthday. I don't know how old you are, but you don't seem very old. And Daddy says you guys like to go out and have a lot of fun.

Maybe soon you can come and visit me. I can't wait to play with you guys again.

I can do a lot more now. I'm trying to crawl, but I think my legs are too long and keep getting in the way. I'm trying real hard, though. I just can't stand sitting still. Though I do like it when my doggie, Dexie, licks me in the face when I'm sitting. I try to grab her fur, but Daddy tells me to be gentle. Dexie doesn't seem to mind. She's my buddy.

I'm getting lots more hair. Daddy says he thinks it came in overnight. Maybe there's a hair fairy? Mommy likes to put it into a mohawk, giving me the punk-rocker look my cousin Axel used to have. I don't mind as long as Mommy has fun. And I wouldn't mind looking like Axel. He's pretty cool and he lets me play with his toys.

Daddy is looking for a job. And now he's stuck home this week feeling sicky. He keeps saying something about "locusts" coming next or that "the sky is falling," but I don't understand what he means. I just try to play with him and keep him happy.

Well, Grandpa, I hope you have a great birthday. Daddy told me to tell you that if you go out for dinner, make sure to check for meat in the burger first. And don't forget the pie. Something like that.

I can't wait to see you and I love you.

Your grandson,

Quinn (as translated by Daddy)

New Teeth and New Tricks

This week the wee Cap'n is working on some new teeth and has perfected a new trick with Grandpa Smith -- waving.

The not-so-little man began waving a few weeks ago, but only to himself. Now it seems he's gotten the hang of waving "bye, bye" to us. Actually it seems he waves to everything now, the dog, the toys, strange-but-nice ladies at the supermarket. I've yet to get this on video. He's got the hang of ignoring Mommy when the camera is in hand.

On to the teeth. One top front tooth has poked it's little head through and the second is to follow shortly. Quinn has been running a fever with the little buggers, but he's still a happy guy.

Grandma & Grandpa Smith made a trip to visit everybody. Grandma, as usual, tried to feed Quinn everything! He had his first popsicle, courtesy of Grandma. He enjoyed them immensely and I think the same can be said for them.

Quinn has also started to sit up in his crib on his own. He's pretty stealthy at it, I've yet to catch him doing it, but mama always has to go and lay him down again. I hear standing is the next phase. So not looking forward to that.

While Daddy had some bad news at work, our wee little hero has a way of making him smile when he gets home.

Good thing he's got some new teeth to show off.

Mommy had some more fun with her camera, orchestrating a photo shoot while Cap'n Quinn dined on a teething biscuit. Here are some of the results, as well as a couple other pictures:

Sad Mommy

Never thought I would be sad that the good baby Quinn can put himself to sleep now. The dreaded half hour rock a bye baby routine was tiring, as our little man isn't the slightest of babies. I wished for the day I could just lay him down and walk out of his room. "night night baby" Now that the day has come, I'm torn up about it. My little man no longer wants his momma to hold him and sing to him, not even for a minute. I try, I try my hardest, but he just writhes around until mommy or daddy lays him down and says, "night night baby". What will I do when he no longer wants smooches? I think I will have to stay in bed that day. Someone told me that won't happen until he's about 18, we'll see.

Daddy went today to finally have his boo-boo looked at. The "dr", I'm quite suspect he was a doctor, gave him a big space boot to wear. Someone wasn't too happy about that, and he whined all afternoon about it.

It seems mommy and daddy both have something to whine about today.

Quinn is also getting his 2 front teeth, maybe they will be here by Christmas. They are making their way, and he's not too happy about it sometimes, but that's what drugs are for, right?

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: