This Week's Funny Pictures

 

I captured your first "fake", forced smile for the camera!

 

You make such a mess with yogurt, but you love it.

Crawling Video

Quinn, you have been crawling for a month now. When you first started, you had to work so hard to awkwardly scoot an inch. Now look at you go! You amaze me.

On The Move!

 

"Not only am I a turbo crawler now, but I love to stand up, too!"

 

"I can even take a couple of steps while holding on to things. Look at me  hold on with only one hand!"

 

Happy girl. Seven months is such a fun age!

 

Quinn's two top front teeth have broken through within the past couple of days. Here she is feeling them with her tongue. I hope she gets some relief soon. I hate to see her hurting, and of course I would love if we could all go back to better sleeping.

 

Quinn seems so proud of herself when she stands up. She has such enthusiasm for everything. She wakes up in the morning feeling excited to start her day. Her energetic attitude is contagious. I love it!

The Little Things

 

Sweet Quinn, you are constantly reminding me that the little things are what really matter in life. This a cliché, so I have avoided using it up until now; but maybe it is one for a reason. Maybe this phrase is overused because it is true and there are not adequate alternatives to describe the sentiment. Since you were born, the little things blow me away. Things like what I tried to capture in this picture above. You were practicing climbing and standing with such determination, all while holding a sock in your mouth like a fierce little puppy. Of course you took the sock out before I could grab the camera, but the image is in mind and heart forever.

 

Today I experienced another little thing that was something big. It was nothing more than a trip to The Home Depot. Although we went there to pick up something boring, it turned in to something magical. I had you in the Ergo, and as we were walking around, you kept leaning back, looking in to my eyes and giggling. I began giggling back. Then I started taking giant bouncing steps as you looked up at me. We both laughed and laughed. I suddenly realized that I was in public and looked a little nutty, but I didn't even care. A few people in the aisle were looking at me, but oh well! It did not matter, because I was in the moment with my wonderful daughter Quinn and was totally in love. We were joyful and connected. It was beautiful.

 

It is hard to explain how special it was, but I am actually crying about it as I write this. Reflecting on this experience reminds me of how the little, simple things are what really matters in life. Locking eyes and laughing with you in the middle of a hardware store, as both of our hearts swelled with warmth and love, is what is important. I am so thankful that I am your mom, Quinn. You are the most powerful teacher I have ever known. 

Lucky Number Seven!

Quinn, you turned seven months old at the beginning of November. A lot happened in the last month, so we had a lot to celebrate.

 

Your love for music grew. You love making music, listening to it, and you especially love when Mommy and Daddy sing to you. Mommy sings to you randomly during the day, but both of us sing to you as part of your bedtime ritual, when we give you a leg massage after your bath. You have both of your parents loving you and serenading you each night. It is really special for all of us.

 

You are learning how to mimic what we do. This picture is of one of the first times you waved back to us. Daddy and I were so excited when it happened. It was like we connected with you in a whole new way. You don't know what it means to wave yet, but soon you will. You can also point when we point, but I have yet to capture it on film. 

 

You are learning how to use your body in so many ways. Last month, you figured out how to crawl, how to go from being on your stomach back to sitting up, and how to pull up to standing. You are officially mobile and the baby gates are up. 

 

You enjoyed many walks in the stroller. And you have even gone on a few runs with Mommy, too!

 

You grew to love books more than ever. You love to be read to each night and before each nap. You are able to point at things that catch your eye.

 

And when you turned seven months, you did not allow me to capture one single picture with your sticker on your overalls. You ripped it off so quickly! You are so fast now.

 

On your picture day, you also learned how to sniff air in and out of your nose loudly and quickly. So I captured a bunch of pictures of you with this expression on your face. It was hilarious.

 

I did catch a sweet smile.

 

Or two.

 

 

Look at my beautiful baby girl. Sitting on Aunt Elsie's quilt in our big back yard in Georgia. Watching her dogs play. Taking the world in. So special...

 

You were fascinated with your "7 Months" sticker, even outside.

 

Here you are, chilling out after a tip-over while reaching for leaves.

 

You are so alert.

 

Here is a sniffing-mixed-with-a-smile shot. Happy Seven Months, beautiful daughter of mine. You are so loved and adored.

Our Lady Bug

 

Quinn, you were a lady bug for your first Halloween. We decided that this was a perfect costume for you since we have lovingly called you "Quinn Bug" as a nickname. You are truly the cutest little bug I know!

 

I can't get enough of your smile. It melts me each and every time.
You have such a bright spirit.

 

Crawling in your big, puffy costume was a little tricky;

but you managed to figure it out.

 

 

You wanted to chew on leaves out in the yard. You seem to be teething again, although nothing has poked through yet.

 

 

Look at your concentration.

You are learning and taking in new information all the time.
I love watching your mind work.

 

I love your big, beautiful eyes.

This is your funny "teething face." When you make this face, I know that your gums are bothering you.

We went to visit Daddy at work on Halloween. We surprised him. He loved seeing you dressed up! We walked you all over the college campus. Daddy took a couple of pictures of us together, since I am usually the camera person and we don't have enough of the two of us.

 

I was so happy to celebrate the kickoff of my first holiday season as a mom!

 

 

Daddy was so happy to see you after work. We dressed you up again and took some pictures in the yard. You manage to elicit goofy smiles from your parents on a daily basis, little Quinn. We are just so in love with you that we can't help silly grins when we see you and hold you.

 

We match! But seriously, I do think we are a great match as mother and daughter. I would not change a thing about you. I could not have dreamed up a better fit than to have you as my daughter.

 

One more of us. Look how adorable you are!

 

This is the funniest part of the day. Since your bedtime fell at the time that trick-or-treaters would come knocking (and cause our dogs to bark), we set our candy outside with a note. I would have never fathomed doing this before you were born, but having a baby and wanting that baby to sleep at night causes you to do interesting things.

 

Trick-or-treaters found my sign a little too wordy and complex. So they kept stepping over our bowl to pound on the door. Daddy panicked that you were going to wake up, so he added this sign to the door. I laughed when I saw it later that night. I told Dad that he had become the Grinch of Halloween. He said that the desperation for sleep must have influenced the tone of his creation. We had to take a picture of this, since your father is not at all grumpy on Halloween. Before having a baby, a sign like this would not have amused us like it did.