yay, papa's home!

"Oh geez, does she really think another round of 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' deserves a smile? And by the way, what's with her singing 24-7? Does she think I don't know an out-of-tune voice when I hear it?"

"Yay, papa's home!"

a little play-by-play

Now for some playtime, Q-Bert style...

pull up on a chair

show off some new found confidence

stop and pick at the flowers

spy on the neighbors

make mama's heart melt

ignore the dogs while they carry on as close to you as they can

wait for mama to turn on some tunes

touch things not meant for little hands

put dominos in a bag

take them out again

crawl through the rain

get excited about getting wet

check out that (now empty) bag again

make lots of precious faces

climb on the rocking chair over and over again

OK, it's definitely time for a nap!

april showers

It suddenly started raining today while we were playing outside. After a long, hot, dry summer, I think the rain is welcomed by all.

PS-Don't you just love our curtains?

bubbles & belly laughter

What kid doesn't love bubbles? Thanks, Mom, for this super-cool bubble set. You get masses of bubbles, and in turn, heaps of smiles (or in Q's case, concentrated stares) with very little effort. No messing around.

Speaking of bubbles, the first time he saw older kids chasing and catching bubbles was at our library storytime. It was back when he was about eight-months-old. He laughed so hard--I mean big time belly laugh--that Sabine had to go get the other librarians to see. He's never had quite the same reaction since.

Speaking of belly laughter, that night while he was sitting on the floor of his bedroom, I was reading him one of his library books about Booboo the little yellow gosling who eats bubbles. He was rolling with laughter everytime I read the words "Booboo", "bubbles", and "burp". For two weeks each time I read the book I tried to elicit that reaction, but all I got were sweet smiles.

In the entertainment department, he keeps me on my toes.

home again, home again, jiggity jig

We're back from a nice trip to Auckland. Fortunately we have a really good traveler on our hands, and he's becoming quite seasoned.

It was very sad to say good bye to Margaret for probaby two years, but I feel lucky that I was able to spend some quality time with her before their big adventure in the United Arab Emirates. Despite the very serious & pensive look, Quincy instantly loved her.

We had fun wandering around this wildlife preserve that rescues animals from the circus, sick animals, and excess breeding stock. There was an otter that was blind in one eye, lots of monkeys and birds, hissing ducks (they were freaking us out actually), and five beautiful lions.

This was so surreal. It's hard to see the background, but picture rolling hills dotted with grazing cows behind this lone zebra.

We were the only ones there and you could get very close to the animals. Little Q had a good 'ol time as did Margaret and I.

Quincy got his fourth or fifth (I'm losing count) ear infection while we were there (he will likely need tubes/grommets), so we had a couple sleepless nights before the antibiotics kicked in. This was at 3:50am. I ended up giving up on sleep that night and just getting out some toys. Looks like it was a popular decision. (And I'm pretty sure that even if he wasn't wearing this shirt, he'd have been up all night.)

Then off to spend a few days with my in-laws, Q's Nana and Poppa. It was nice and chilled out. He got to meet his great grandmother and really liked her walker. She was nice and shared.

He loved all the beautiful (and very breakable) things in his grandparent's house. Luckily the cool (very tall) sculpture only wobbled a bit but managed to stay upright. He also loved their lawn and wondered why our grass at home looks so different (i.e. dead).

blue eyes

I just can't get enough of Q-bert's eyes and am always striving to take a photo that does them justice. This is the closest I've come so far...

Go figure, I did it with our little point and shoot while the other (much-more-expensive) camera was in the shop getting a much-needed clean.

Q & I are off on a little trip tomorrow to visit our friends who are moving overseas for a couple days and then to stay with the in laws for a couple days. I'm looking forward to a little adventure...

having mates over to play

Today we had afternoon tea for our antenatal group at our house. This time was especially cool because it's the first time he got to share his toys and really play on his own turf.

I can already tell that sharing might turn into a bit of a battle though! He was not so keen to share his favorite toy (his rattly texture ball from Maria) or his favorite spot (standing in between the chair legs).

underfoot

I used to have two little furry creatures forever at my feet, but now I am blessed with three munchkins underfoot.

This was my view tonight as I mixed the batter for banana muffins.

no fears, knowing no strangers & squandered naptime

Okay, it's official, Quincy is no longer scared of the vacuum, which means he no longer has any fears. At all. And I no longer have an excuse for dirty floors.

Now he can help me vacuum. That should make the job go much quicker.

Yesterday at storytime, two other mums made comments to the effect of, "Wow, he really isn't scared of anyone, is he?" This was after he

1. crawled about an inch away from two two-year-old best mates and just sat there staring at them wanting to play.
2. crawled across the room over to another mom and just hung out with her for awhile.
3. climbed up on Sabine (our very tolerant German librarian) while she was reading to the bubs and just stood there, one hand on her breast (much to my embarrassment) and one hand examining her paua necklace.

Two weeks ago, a shopkeeper asked to hold him and he went straight to her and gave her a nice cuddle.

So, no, he definitely knows no stranger. He gets that from his Poppa (Jeremy's dad) for sure.

Oh man, the little social butterfly is making noises, and apart from doing a a bit of laundry and getting showered, I have squandered the oh-so-precious naptime playing with photos. I was meant to be cleaning the kitchen, prepping a chicken casserole, and baking banana muffins for afternoon tea tomorrow. Maybe I can just manage to get the dishes put away...

eta: He very thoughtfully babbled away for 30 minutes allowing me to make some headway in the kitchen, before he had enough of being ignored that is.

ten (trivial) wishes

With wishes for things like healed broken hearts and my parents' immortality aside, I wish...

1. I didn't have to trim Quincy's nails.
2. All my photos were organized.
3. I could occasionally walk the dogs during Quincy's nap.
4. I hadn't lost the photos from Quincy's first three months. (Thank goodness for the ones I had uploaded to Flickr.)
5. Our floors were self-cleaning.
6. I didn't have a raging sweet tooth.
7. The laundry would put itself away.
8. The gardens looked like they did when we moved here.
9. I had a working printer.
10. I could have eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. Just once.

rainy & chilly saturday

On this very rainy & chilly Saturday, we spent a lot of time just playing in the basement. I made some progress on the photo front. And Jeremy worked. Oh and made his weekly trip to the South African shop for cheese. Speaking of cheese, while I was away, J spent a weekly average of $50 on groceries (including lunches!) and a whopping $25 on cheese!!

Tonight we set our clocks back an hour. I wish that meant an extra hour of sleep, but this year I'm not counting on it.

One parting shot... If Quincy could talk, he would surely be saying, "Mama, one of the dogs swiped all my grapes."

I'm placing my money on Berkley.

PS: Who stole my baby?