Seattle Children's Museum

This week we went to the Seattle Children's Museum for the first time since H was born, and the kids loved it:
Q, practiced cutting while making a Children's Day heart project in the art area:
Q had a great time driving all the vehicles, especially this motorcycle:
Hazel loved this little pit in the baby area:
Oh and they have a great new store that of course Q loved:
Lucky for us I got us an educator's pass, so we'll be going again soon!

Happy 7 Months Little Miss!

Miss Hazel is 7 months old today! I have to say this may be my favorite baby age, between 6 and 8 months. They are so happy, chattery, into toys, so aware of the world, moving a little, but not too far away yet, and sooo cute! So, in honor of her 7 month birthday here are a few videos of the little lass:

Little Lambs

My little lambs,
then:
and now:

Snow Day, The NW Way

Today we had a snow day the NW way: a surprise, just an inch or two, and it melted by the end of the day.
Only trouble was I was also having a 24 hour bug, uck, so I tried my best to enjoy it, but I have to say, sending Q out in it was my best bet, which is just what I did.

Dressing

Since Q is working on all these big skills lately: drawing, using the potty etc., he's decided that he needs to dress himself too. Actually now that I think of it, these are all the things we talked about at his 3 year Dr. visit, guess he must have overheard. Anyhow, it's a real hoot, and being as he's a boy who has never cared about what he wears it's funny to see what he decides to put on:
Something tells me I've got to order up another dose of patience from the parenting catalog (oh I wish) as getting dressed with Mama's help: 5 minutes, on his own: potentially hours....

Smoooch

Uncle Dashel

We are going to be enjoying more Uncle Dashel time these days as I have vowed to use some of his free time every week to help with my sweet rascals.
Watching Quin race down a big hill in the woods:
Hazel being excited to be in Uncle Dashel's arms:
Hooray, for Uncle Dashel!

Quin's First "Guy"

Here he is:
Drawn completely on his own! He then created lots more. So now we have a notebook loaded with many eyed, armed, and legged guys. Art world, watch out, here comes Quinnie!

Solo Batho

It is a rare occurrence for Hazel to get solo bath time. Quin loves being in the bath with her and so her bath time is usually also his. Last night the little miss was needing of a little extra cleaning after Quin was just popping out of his bath for the night. So, in the nice warm bathroom Hazel got to splash away, scooch around and generally be thrilled at this whole new experience in the tub without Quin. It was so sweet I will definately make it a new habit for her, the girl deserves some solo batho time I think!

Potty Time!

I know it's as cliche as a 3 year old drawing on the wall (oops, Q did that too this week, arrggh!), but I can't help myself! I'm just so proud of my little guy figuring all this potty stuff out finally:
And tonight he was just so darn cute with all his reading material!

Like Brother Like Sister

I love reliving moments I had with Quin, by posing the same photos with Hazel. This and I just have a thing for trying the replicate images (someday I'll post pics of my gparent's wedding and those I tried to reproduce at my own wedding).
So here is Hazel being just like her big bro:
Theo and Hazel (6 months)Theo and Quin (4 months)
The really telling thing about these pictures though is how sorry the state of our dog maintenance has become, he is in dire need of a haircut, and looking a little ragged in the picture with Hazel. Poor Theo, he was a happier guy back in the days of 1 baby. Nah, who are we kidding, he was happier in the days of no babies... ;)

SpaceBoy

Papa, the creative quick thinker that he is, created this "space helmet" for Quin last week at Gigi's in an attempt to get Quin out the door to his "space ship" for the journey home. Needless to say, Q has been all about taking Papa's car for adventures ever since. And those jammies, are now his "space suit".

The Day The Monkey Got Away...

...and it wasn't my "monkey"! My friend Melissa and I were at the zoo today with our little monkey kids when we were headed down to see the mountain goats and were asked to leave the exhibit because apparently a monkey was on the loose. Which did help explain the anxious and strange zoo staff walkie talkie conversations we overheard earlier (something like, "keep the kids away from the tropical exhibit!"). But we weren't too worried about it (being the out of touch with the rest of the world I wasn't aware of the recent horrible chimp attack) and so we started heading up to check out some other animals when we found out that in fact the zoo was being evacuated. The staff didn't seem too worried about things, but were calmly directing zoo goers toward the exits and carousel. So lucky for us we got a free carousel ride! This is one of Quin's favorite things to do at the zoo, so he was thrilled.
After that, as we were heading out the north entrance to play at the packed playground and I overheard those walkie talkies again, "the animal is down". Well little Riktus was just fine after getting captured, but what excitement! And we sure had a fun time at the playground!
In fact, Hazel even had her first playground swing experience. For the first second she wasn't sure, then she was all gummy grins! And Quin was thrilled to help push.
What a fun morning, thanks so much for thinking of us on your week off Melissa. We had a blast with you and Carter!

3 and .5 stats

Quin and Hazel had back to back Dr. visits last week. With the help of Gigi, H even got to sleep through Q's visit, which was very helpful. Both kids are doing great, here are their stats:
Quin:
WT: 29.2 lbs ~ 25%
HT: 35 1/2 " ~ 50%
BMI 16.3 ~ upper 50% (body mass)
Ha, so there goes my paranoia about the little guy being too small, he's just fine. No more whole milk, and butter & cream cheese on bagels for you little man!
And he drew a bit, chatted plenty (including proudly telling her about using the potty), and displayed his peppy personality for Dr. Reese. After telling her about Q being aggressive, she joked about how there have to be boys who back in the day would have gone out to hunt the lions, Q is just one of those boys. Phew, what great perspective!

Quin at the Bike in the Tree on Vashon, thinking I might take an annual pic here (someone remind me next year...)

And the little Miss Hazel:
WT: 15 lbs. 7.5 oz ~ 50%
HT: 26" ~ 75% (though she was totally unhappy about this measurement, so I'm not sure it's totally right)
HD: 43 cm ~ 75%
So, she's great too! Though she is not that into solid food yet (though Q is just starting to love feeding her carefully), she seems to be doing just dandy on Mama milk. Hmmm...wondering if she'll be taller than her bro someday?
Yikes, this year for Hazel is going by WAY TOO FAST! By the next Dr. visit she will probably be crawling, definately sitting up, eating more, talking more, and so on. These visits with our wonderful pediatrican always help me remember that most everything is a phase, my little ones are really quite healthy, and they will soon become those big teenagers I see galomphing into the office, yikes! Perspective, for sure.

In Reverse

Hazel is making moves, but to her dismay, mostly in reverse. For a few days last week she would be on her belly, spot something in front of her and scooch toward it by pushing with her toes. But alas, those few moments are over. Now she'll be on her belly, then push up to her knees, rock a bit, reach for some irristable item then flop!, then end up pushing herself backward, and uugg! Then she'll move herself all around, under a chair, across the room and so forth. She gets pretty irritated when she ends up so far from her desired toy and let's us know with her signature squawk. And of course who is often first to her rescue? None other then her tusty big bro! And when he's not smooshing her right back into the floor, he is a very handy toy fetcher. I remember so well that what seemed like Quin's entire 7th month was spent on his hands and knees rocking back and forth trying to crawl, perhaps his little sis will follow suit?

Happy Love Day!

Quin and Hazel shared the love with their friends and family this year. So sweet!
Quin had been a very productive painter and stamper so he (and I) made enough for most of our playgroup friends and preschool and more!
Hazel graciously let her feet be stamped for a few of her own, which she shared here with Papa:
And Nami sent the kiddos their annual Valentine's too:
Hazel promptly ate hers (she loves paper these days):
And Quin carefully placed his up high on his new dresser.
We sure do love holidays around here,
and we LOVE all of you!

Mr. Geographer in the Making

Quin has been into the continents lately, identifying them in relation to who lives there (human or animal) and making his Geographer Papa proud. He cut out a bit of construction paper (cutting is a new fav skill) that looked like Antarctica and said that was where the penguins live, where there is lots of ice and snow. He has been noticing China often on maps, "That's where Uncle Justin lives!" And he made this blob out of playdough:

And called it "Africa", which is probably the continent he talks most about. Perhaps someday we'll all get to take a great adventure there!

My Boys

Happy Birthday Quin, For Real, the Whole Day

Ok, good grief if Quin ever has another over celebrated birthday like this one, will someone please come over and slap some sense into me, pleeeessee?! But since he had yet another thrilling day, I'll relive it for you, just so you can feel like you were a part of it, the Quinster turning 3 ("yeah, yeah, get over it already Erin")...

First off, some pre-breakfast coloring in a new coloring book, from our buddy Alex:Then, the birthday boy choice breakfast, ice cream and pancakes. Don't worry he only ended up eating a few bites of ice cream, guess it wasn't that appealing at 7:30 am after all:
Then, some building dino castles with blocks ensued. Followed by some jumping around on the couch in his birthday suit, which then inspired a little birthday pee on the potty, hurray!
We then made (Q while half dressed ;)) cupcakes for playgroup:
Little PEPpers met at the Spartan Gym, as we have for the past month. There the kids can play with the balls, mats, kitchen, cars, parachute etc. in a big indoor fun space.
Lucky Quin was spoiled by his twin buddies Matthew & Abby and Jacob & Daniel with some wonderful dino presents!After plenty of playtime, and some cleanup time (Q really enjoys helping put away the playgym equip) we went out in the hall lounge spot for cupcakes!
Here is Quin pretending to blow out his candles:
And the group chowed down:
There was much crazy hall running after this, a little new dino book reading, more wild running and good bye finally.
We headed back home for what I was certain would be naptime for both kiddos, but alas Hazel was the only one to pass out on the drive home (I took the loooonnnggg cut to attempt to get the bday boy down). But since he's only napping every few days now Q held tough. Papa came home early from his conference for a little extra time with the bday boy. Then Gigi joined us and we all went out to Red Robin for an early dinner.
Q opened up a few presents while we waited for our order:
Then, Quin gobbled up some dinner, sipped his milk with bleary eyes AND...
conked out!!!He hadn't napped and had a very active morning so this wasn't too surprising, but still corn dog in hand!? So, we laid him down on the restaurant bench and he had a little rest.
Todd ended up carrying around the mall for a bit before he woke, while I went over to JCPenny's to get Hazel's pics taken. Later Quin joined her and we got a few of each of them, though both together, ha! that'll be the day!
Back home we rounded out the celebratory day with Q proudly wearing his new birthday crown from Anna:
Blowing out his 3 birthday candles:
And chowing down on one last cupcake:
Phew, what a spoiled and happy little guy!

Happy Birthday Quin, The Actual Day!

Quin's Magical "3" Rock found by Nami and Danpa on Vashon,
"3" made by barnacles

Oh Mr. Quin, have the last three years ever been such an adventure with you! You are one amazing boy, full of spitfire and smiles, giggles and roars, and so much love! It blows my mind to think that we welcomed you into the world 3 whole years ago.

You were such a sweet little guy, and still are in so many ways.
You are also:
* full of imagination
* full of seemingly boundless energy
*full of creative and goofy thoughts
* so fun to play with
* a great little chatterbox
*a natural athlete
It's hard to believe you are actually an official "preschooler" now, on your way to being a "big boy" and just brimming with independence, along with all that 3 year old wisdom and curiosity. This is going to be such a big year for you, and I feel so excited to be here to share every exciting day with you.
What fun this next year is going to be!