Quinn Update

Tonight is Oscar Night and the whole world is dying to know...how is Quinn Marie doing? Well, the answer is better, but still not absolutely fantastic (as in Gwyneth Paltrow tonight).

We had some tough moments this weekend, but since she had Papa, G.G. and Uncle E around to snuggle and entertain her it was all much better. (If anyone can get her to smile it's Uncle E!) We started seeing her little happy personality come out again and today has definitely been a much better day. I think it was all the cuddling from her Kansas fam that's helped turn things around. (Oh, and Millie too!)

And even though she's sick, she's still a slave to fashion. We had her in her super-cute outfit from Aunt Chelly today and when we changed her into her jammies, she carried the dress around with her everywhere. Oh how I love that girl!

Poor, Poor Baby

So we thought Quinn was on the mend...and then came this morning. She wasn't showing signs of being on the mend, in fact she was showing signs of dehydration, so a couple of convos with the doctor led to a trip to the E.R.

I'll start out by saying that our visit could have been much worse. But no parent enjoys rushing down I-235 after being told by their doc to take their 8-month-old to the emergency room for much-needed fluids. Our wait wasn't too bad and everyone on staff was very friendly (I've heard horror stories). And after some pokes and prods, they thought Quinn was doing alright -- no IV necessary. Phew! They wanted to rule out some other stuff so they did a test on our poor girl that was downright miserable, but she was a trooper through it all.

Three hours later our little one had taken down some fluids and kept them in, plus her test results were all okay so we were sent home. Double phew! That's when Quinn got to take a much-needed nap with her snuggly bunny. (And I got a much-needed shower!)

We're hoping for a better day tomorrow and appreciate you all who are thinking of our little button! She'll be back at 100% in no time!

Poor Baby

Every mom says that the bonus part of their little one being sick is that they get good snuggle time. Well I'll tell you I much rather would have been watching Quinn play than cuddling with her last night. Our little Quinn Marie has experienced her first illness and she certainly was miserable yesterday. We'll spare you the gory details and just let you know our little button has caught some nasty stomach bug going around. Besides all the yucky stuff, you could just tell Quinn wasn't her typical happy self yesterday. Luckily she's been getting lots of love from Morgan, Mom and Dad.

Today she's still not 100%, but she's definitely on the mend. We even got a big smile out of her!

Daddy-Daughter Time

Quinn got to have a lot of special bonding time with Daddy this week. First, there was Valentine's Day. Jay and Quinn exchanged cards and then Jay read lots of books to Quinn and her friend Annabel. (We were babysitting so their parents could enjoy a nice dinner.)

Then on Thursday night they got to hang out just the two of them while mom had a little shin-dig to go to. The plan was for them to go to dinner and then to a Drake basketball game. Here they are in the evening, ready for date night.

And here's the post-date picture of Dad & Quinn in their Drake gear. One slight problem though: Mom had BOTH the carseat bases, so the date involved watching basketball on TV instead of cheering on the Bulldogs in person. Shoot!

And the most fun came on Saturday when Dad & Quinn went to Pajama-Rama with Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players! I have been planning this event for six years, so it was so nice to have family to finally enjoy all the PJ fun. Here's a pic of Justin and the band:

And here's Quinn in her PJs with Dad! (Notice the Grammy-nominated Justin Roberts in the background.) Quinn got to hang with Dad (and mom a little bit) during the concert. Then at the PJs and PB&J lunch, Quinn got to "play" the harp AND meet Justin Roberts!

What a fun week for Quinn with the best dad in the world!

Frowny Face

Quinn developed a new facial expression today and it's absolutely hilarious. We think perhaps she's channeling her inner Grandpa Thumper. Or maybe she's thinking the Campbell's soup kids are ready for a new face. She is saying "mmmmm" when she makes the expression. Either way, it cracks us up.

Baby on the Go!

Today Quinn and I had an impromptu day together. We did our typical playtime activities -- books, music table, dinosaur rides, pulling on Mildred's hair and crawling the length of a football field -- but she also got to visit mom & dad's offices!

Here are some pictures from our morning playtime.

Posing on the stairs, practicing her baby modeling. (She's quite the pro.)

Check out that hair! She's getting more of it! Today's she's sporting the Alfalfa look.

Quinn and Mildred, never too far apart.

One man's trash is another man's treasure. (Please note the turtle in her mouth. This is becoming a common occurrence.)

Who do you love?

We love Quinnie! So in honor of Valentine's Day, here are some photos of us with our favorite little girl.

We're happy to have our new Valentine this year and wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day with your loved ones!

Weeeeee!

As I mentioned earlier, we were having so much fun with Quinn today. At one point, I was tipping her upside down and she liked it so much, she kept trying to tip herself back -- over and over again! It was so funny that we had to get it on video.

Hi!

Quinn learned how to wave today! Here she is showing off her new trick:

Fun with Daddy

We had a ton of fun with Quinn this evening, so the next few posts will be videos and pics of the evening. This one is Quinn and Daddy doing one of their favorite activities that always elicits squeals of delight. She is so lucky to have such a wonderful dad!

8 months old!

Our little button is EIGHT months old today! Time seriously flies when you're having fun, and we're definitely having fun with little Quinn Marie.

This month has been full of milestones. If you've been reading the blog, you know all about her activities, but let's just do a little summary of the month. First, she is becoming so incredibly vocal! Her squeals make us laugh so much, and she and I have fun with our "screaming contests." And then there are the words she's starting to form. Uh-oh, mama, dada and hi are all in her repertoire now and her new consonant of the last few days is B, so everything is baba-baba.

And with those EIGHT teeth, she's trying out all kinds of new foods. She doesn't like the fresh baby food I make special for her, but if it's out of a jar, she'll eat it. (Insert slight disappointment for mom here.) This month she's tried out mangos, pears, raspberries, carrots and spinach and enjoyed them all. We've tried some little "puffers" but so far if it isn't something pureed, she's not so sure what to think of it.

She also is MOBILE! This little gal is on the go and exploring everything. Crawling, standing and walking around the furniture all keep her (and us!) busy, busy, busy. It's so entertaining to watch her investigate the world around her. You can see her little mind working and her personality is coming out more and more each day. She's no longer the little infant we took home from the hospital! Everyday becomes more exciting and rewarding with Quinn. We truly are so blessed and love her so much!

Mama!

I mentioned earlier that Quinn is saying Mama. Sometimes it's just babble and other times it's totally directed at me, I just know it.

How to Empty a Toybox

I absolutely love to watch Quinn play. She's finally at the age where she's getting into her toys and has become a pro at emptying the toybox. Therefore I give you "Emptying a Toybox", by Quinn Marie Syverson:

Step one: Inspect toybox

Step two: Make interesting sounds while inspecting your toys

Step three: Pull out toy and shake it

Step four: throw toy on ground

Step five: repeat Steps 1 - 4 until adequate number of toys are on the ground

Need a demo? Here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDRwPWWZJis

Quinn Report: Mid-Week Edition

There's so much to report on our little Quinn since the weekend! First she has two more teeth! We noticed tooth #7 on Sunday morning and tooth #8 poked through yesterday. She's been so tough that we didn't even know she was teething! (I guess when you do four at one time it makes everything else seem like a piece of cake.) And what's she doing with those new teeth you wonder? Well, she's enjoying all kinds of fun baby foods now (pears & raspberries for breakfast!), but what Quinn really likes to eat is her crib. There are seriously tooth marks on her crib and we now find her with white paint specs on her cheeks. Who would have thought you'd have to baby-proof a baby crib? Well, I'll be working on that tomorrow.

Other news in the Quinn world is that she is becoming much more vocal. She screams and squeals all the time now, which is so entertaining. And she also has a new sound that she's added to her babbling repertoire: "Mama!" She started saying mama on Sunday, but it wasn't until today that she started saying it on command. Not a consistent thing mind you, but a "mama" is a "mama" and I think it's pretty cool. We just better start working on "dada" real quick!

And because Mom and Dad have been working so hard this week, Quinn has had some extra time with Morgan. She doesn't mind though. She loves Morgan and they even had dress-up day on Monday!

Here's our precious diva ballerina:

Their first attempt at a self-photo cracks me up!

Awe, so cute!

Superbowl!

This post features guest-blogger, Daddy!

I’m not necessarily proud of these pictures. But Quinn’s Godfather is a rabid Packers fan (is that redundant?), and we were hanging out with him during the Super Bowl.

Here Quinn is clearly delirious. She hadn’t eaten in a few hours and was out of her mind.

Now she’s regained her senses and is showing the Packers what she thinks of their cheeseheads.

And this was taken just after the Packers stopped the Steelers on 4^th down to clinch the Super Bowl. I love that girl.

Super Saturday

Saturday was full of excitement for Quinn Marie. The first part of the day she got to hang with Daddy. It was under Dad's watch that she got another lovely gash in her head thanks to the mean ol' rocking chair.* But a little bump on the head didn't stop Quinn and Daddy from cheering on Drake. They beat UNI by 3 points! Go Bulldogs!

In the evening we had a "Moms & Babies Night In" while the dads went out on the town. Quinn had fun showing off for Annabel, Jackson and Alivia. And when it came time for jammies, we found out Q and Annabel had the same ones! Here are the two friends in their cute PJs. (Quinn is the giant baby, Annabel is on the left.)

And even though it was mostly a ladies' night, Jackson still enjoyed the girl talk. Here's the big stud maxin' on relaxin'. (Only a true man can pull off pink!)

*The last two facial injury accidents were while she was with me, so I must point out I was nowhere near the scene of the crime this time around.

Friday Fun

Friday night the Morses and Grefes over for pasta and baby/pregnant-friendly fun. Funny how our days of hanging at the bar have changed to hanging in the nursery. Quinn enjoyed reading books with everyone and playing with little Alivia!

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Quinn Discovers the Wine Rack

The other day Quinn was crawling to me while I was in the office and it was so adorable I tried to capture it on film for you all. However, when I attempted to recreate the moment, Quinn discovered our wine rack. Uh-oh!

Please note while I took a camera class that helped me with focusing while in video mode, I am still trying to master focusing, videoing and watching Quinn all at the same time. Soon!

Happy Wednesday!

Hello and Happy Wednesday! Q and I got to hang together all day today! And what is she up to you ask? Well she's fighting a bit of a cold this week, but other than that things are a-okay! We've played a lot with her toys and books, and she is having so much fun "walking" around everything in the family room. Today she also tried desperately to see what Mildred's feet tasted like, but luckily we were able to avoid actual mouth to foot contact. (phew!)

Snow Day with our Little Cub

It's the Big Blizzard of 2011, so we're home with the little one today. And because it's so cold out we bundled her up in her fuzzy little outfit from GG. She looks like a little baby polar bear! If only Uncle E were here to narrate this pictures in his famous Crocodile Hunter voice! But since he's snowed-in down in Topeka, I'll just give you the update on little Q and some cute baby bear pictures.

If you're on facebook or one of Quinn's grandparents, you're aware of her first "word." Sunday night she said "uh-oh" after dropping her sippy cup for the millionth time. It was ADORABLE! Since then she's said "uh-oh" two more times and has attempted several more. We'll do our best to get a video soon!

Also, in the photos below you might notice a little bruise on Quinn's cheek. Well that's because she's crawling, walking and climbing everywhere so bumps and bruises are becoming a daily occurrence. It makes me so sad to see her all banged up, but at least she's having fun!

We hope you all are bundled up somewhere safe and warm!