Tuesday, September 29, 2009

I guess we've been doing a lot of shopping lately....

..............Because look at how pooped Quincy was this day:
Here he is passed out in the Goodwill shopping cart. We moved his from place to place and he remained sleeping like this:
It almost was like he was dead. It reminded me of the movie 'Weekend at Bernies'. That movie always made me laugh which perhaps is why I couldn't manage to hold in my laughter when seeing him in these different positions and place still 'lifeless'.
During one of our shopping endeavours he did manage to stay away long enough to find a chair he liked:
Like his own personal thrown.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Quincy's Big Boy Updates:

Just recently we had to buy Quincy some more clothes. Although the weather has been beautiful, its that time of the year where we enjoy cool mornings and evenings with warm afternoons in between. Quincy is now wearing 3T clothes! Perhaps with the exception that his pants are more like 2T... he's got Tyler's little behind.
I have sort of been slacking on taking pictures... mostly because we've been so busy, but this day Quincy let me have at it. He was even WANTING me to take his picture, which of course is a rare occasion. After commanding me to take his picture he would stand in a spot and pose like this:
This is Quincy's face he makes when he thinks he's being funny.
And here he is being mischievous while taking brochures off the tables at the doctor's office.
Quincy's Latest:
**He is now sleeping in a "big boy bed" -- I thought it might be a difficult and slow transition for him to say his goodbyes to his crib, but it was nothing of the sort. After sleeping several nights in his twin bed, I asked him if we could give his crib to baby Pipa since he was sleeping in a big boy bed. He very matter of factly answered, "Yeah I give my crib to Pipa. I big boy"
**He is successfully brushing his teeth by himself, with very little supervision. He even understands how to brush all the different parts of his mouth. This is a huge step from eating the toothpaste.
**Nursery has become one of his favorite parts of church.
**He has learned how to put his shoes on by himself-- and is constantly reminding us he wants to "do like big boy". This can make getting ready to leave a Much longer process.
**Quincy eats, brushes his teeth, and colors right handed. He throws balls left handed (and very precisely might I add).
** Stickers are a big motivator in our home right now. Quincy is easily bribed into doing lots of things for a sticker or two. It doesn't even really matter what kind they are. Often we find stickers in our pockets, on our clothes, shoes, between the sheets and other random places.
**Quincy is FINALLY starting to venture out in his palate for different foods. His latest favorites and newest taste testing foods include: cooked broccoli, cooked carrots, vanilla yogurt, soy nuts, raspberries, blackberries, apples, oranges, tomatoes (though he's still not too hot on swallowing them yet- I blame Tyler), ice cream --he didn't used to like the coldness on his teeth, Swedish pancakes, waffles, string cheese.... and the list goes on.
** Quincy knows all of his letters in the alphabet, capital letters and almost all the lower case letters. He is even starting to learn some of the sounds to the letters. He sometimes remembers the 's', 't', and 'c' sounds. He will often fill in the blanks for books that we read when we leave out a word. It's amazing what his little sponge like brain has picked up on.
** Quincy learned his first bad phrase from Grandpa Loren, who absentmindedly said out loud "What the Hell?" After which Quincy immediately repeated "What the Hell?" I think he's since forgotten, but Grandpa was warned to be extra careful in what he lets slip out. Another potty word he repeated was stupid.
** Quincy has learned nearly all his body parts. From head, shoulders, knees, and toes to elbows, ankles, wrists and forehead. In addition to learning body parts he's picked up on some embarrassing habits. For instance, he has learned what and where "boobies" are. He knows that we all have boobies, but girls and boys boobies are different from each other. Mostly in the sense that girls' are bigger. In church one Sunday while sitting on my mom's lap during sacrament mtg. he said out loud, "Grammie have big boobies" while rubbing his hand over them. It was embarrassing and I think only the people behind us heard. We had to later explain that we don't touch other people's chests, only our own.
** Quincy apparently has learned his left and right hand. If you ask him to do something with either hand he will obediently do so with the correct hand. We still don't know how he learned this.
** Quincy has learned lots of new animals including, rhinoceroses, hippopotamus, giraffe, alligator, and many others.
** Quincy has taken to hanging from the bar on the trampoline, though he's extremely freaked out to actually venture to the top of it.
** Quincy apparently knows the Nike Swoosh. As he can recognize it anywhere.
** He is finally able to jump off of two feet at the same time.
** Quincy is also picking up on more Portuguese phrases that Tyler's been trying to teach him. Seeing as how he repeats everything, it's the ideal time to teach him.
There are probably more things that I have forgotten, but this at least sums up some of what he's been up to lately. We are so proud of him. He constantly amazes us with the things he's learning.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

There's a new Sheriff in Town


Quincy and I went with Tyler so he could have his fingerprints taken at the Sheriff's department. Although it was Quincy's nap time and he was slightly irritable... he was happy for a few minutes after receiving his Sheriff's badge and Firefighter badge. Notice where he wanted to put them.

Toys for Big Boys

About two and half weeks ago my parents went to California to visit my sister Emy and her new husband Gil. While they were down there they visited an old family friend of ours. She has some grandson's that are older than Quincy and was generous enough to send my parents home with some new toys for Quincy. These are some pictures of his remote control race car track.

"Ladies and Gentlemen-- Start your Engines!"

The Famous ramp.

The Bridge that explodes when you drive past it.

Side view of the ramp.

I think that Tyler, Scott, and Karter had more fun with it than Quincy (seeing as how it's designed for age 8+), but it didn't take Quincy long at all to figure out how to join in the race car party.

Don't mind the red Kool Aid mustache, he had just drank some red juice... and I didn't have time to wipe his mouth before I took the picture.

Friday night Football


Columbia River vs. Skyview

A few weeks ago (Sept. 11th to be exact) we went to to my old high school, Columbia River, to watch them play their all-time rival school, Skyview. We all managed to have fun watching the game, though I believe it got a little painful to watch during the third quarter. River ending up losing, but it was still fun.
Quincy had fun staying up later than his usual bedtime of 8:00PM and he loved seeing the fire trucks that attend each game.

Birthday Boy



This is entirely too late, but I wanted to post some pictures of Tyler from his Birthday. We had some yummy cheesecake, a do-your-own topping, kind of dessert. Doesn't he look so cute posing with his Birthday "cake"?
Oh and I love the two candles...... we'll just pretend there were 26 more. :o)

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Hobo Season...




No, I'm not talking about the men and women you see on almost every other street corner here in the Portland area... I'm referring to the much more deadly, Hobo Spider.

This time of the year (specifically when the weather is cooling off from high summer temperatures to mild fall ones) is when the Hobo's come out of hiding. It reminds me of a little incident that happened 5 years ago.
When I was in high school I used to cheer. It was tradition that every year the Creative Captain would hold a sleepover at her house during one of the weekends during football season. Since my parents have a large house I made the appropriate arrangements to have all 20 girls here for the night. We had lots of fun... eating a huge potluck dinner, a bonfire, games, prizes, and watching movies. Soon enough it was well after 2AM and some of us were calling it quits. I retracted to my bedroom and slept with two other friends in my queen sized bed. I was almost asleep when I heard a faint knock on my door and one of fellow cheerleaders whispered through the dark... "Kati?........" I asked her when she needed to which she nervously asked, "Um, do you guys have a pet tarantula?" I was confused and she informed me there was this HUGE spider downstairs and they were scared to kill it because it might be a pet. I was sort of tired and said, "Nope, no pet spider here... kill away."

Years later this story would have more meaning when I actually SAW the type of spider she was talking about.

Here we are again.... living in my parents basement during Hobo Season and I kid you not.... we killed 8, yes EIGHT spiders thus far. They typically come out at night and they are lightning fast, which proves difficult to successfully kill them.

For the most part they stick to the family room area and hardly ever venture into the bedrooms downstairs, until recently. I was in Quincy's room turning off some desk lamps and one ran right out of from behind a dresser. I was freaked to actually see one in one of the bedrooms, especially my little TODDLER'S bedroom! Luckily Tyler got it the first try. Then the next day I was walking into our bedroom and one shot out from under a shoe box and crawled into Quincy's shoe as I stood frozen. After repeated times of hitting at the shoe the spider came out and was killed on Tyler's account. I have never had a phobia of spiders before, but I have to admit I get a little paranoid during my nightly trips to the bathroom. Luckily, we haven't seen any lately.... but I don't doubt that they're still lurking around this house in hidden spots.
The good news is that they tend to 'vanish' in October (because mating season is over). Lucky for us that will be right when we move out! How ironic!


Information about Hobo Spider bites:
Other long-term physical effects, such as intractable burning pain, damage to blood vessel valves, and cyst formation occasionally occur in conjuntion with local lesion development. The lesion that results is sometimes oblong or multiple, resulting not from more than one spider bite, but rather from gravitational drift, which moves venom components downward, away from the bite site. The process which causes the local phenomenon of necrotic arachnidism involves circulatory disturbances which result in ischemia, or lack of adequate blood flow in the affected tissues. Following venom injection, rapid coagulation of blood occurs in the smaller blood vessels of these tissues. This produces a centralized area which does not receive enough blood, and the area literally dies as a result of oxygen starvation.


Systemic, or generalized effects are seen in about 45% of persons envenomated by hobo spiders. The most common reported symptom is severe headache, which usually does not respond to over the counter analgesics (aspirin, which can prolong bleeding time, should not be used for hobo spider bite induced headaches). In addition to this, victims may experience a dry mouth, nausea, weakness and lethargy, dizziness, visual disturbances, hallucinations, joint pain and/or other undesirable effects. As with many types of complex poisoning, most victims of systemic tegenarism do not experience all of these phenomenon, but that is dependent upon the severity of the poisoning. About 15% of envenomated subjects are poisoned severely enough to require hospitalization: In rare cases aplastic anemia (bone marrow failure) can develop several weeks after the bite, which results in a fatal outcome. Another rare but dangerous condition that has been seen following hobo spider envenomation is the development of severe intractable vomiting accompanied by secretory diarrhea.

Some cardinal rules apply to persons that have been bitten by, or think that they have been bitten by a venomous spider. Above all, if you are bitten by any spider, and actually catch the spider in the act, always capture the spider for identification by a qualified arachnologist. Never discard a spider that has definitely bitten a human. In the case of the hobo spider, not only is positive species identification important, but so is a determination of the spiders sex and age; these factors can help predict the severity of potential poisoning, and assist the attending physician in charting a course of treatment. Preserve the spider (or whatever parts of it remain) and take it to the clinic with you. If you suspect that you have been bitten by a dangerously venomous spider, see a physician. Most suspected spider bites in the United States turn out to be other conditions. The vast majority of spiders are harmless and beneficial.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Oh what a glorious morning......

Last Thursday morning Quincy and I got up with Tyler to drive him to his work. Because we only have one car we decided we would drop him off in Damascus and spend the day at Johnathon and Spencer's condo in West Linn, OR.
After dropping Tyler off at work Quincy and I made the 15 minute drive to the condo.
Everything was going along just fine, and I knew we were getting close, when all of the sudden Quincy said, "Mama, my tummy hurt." I happened to tilt the rear view mirror back just in time to witness Quincy vomit all over himself.... not just one time, but 5 or 6 times. Because I was driving and we were on a highway I couldn't stop, plus there was nothing I could do even if we were to have stopped. So I tried to comfort him by saying, we're almost there!
(Which we were, just minutes away.)


When we pulled into the parking lot I called Spencer, who was inside, and asked him to bring out some towels or wash rags to help clean up. Quincy had scarfed down a whole banana and a full sippy cup of milk before we left. Obviously they didn't sit well with him. So the contents of the puke were chunky banana pieces and runny milk. It was SSSSSOOOOO gross! I had to keep myself from vomiting on the spot as a scraped out handfuls of puke from the back of our car seat.
Needless to say it has been quite the task trying to get that smell out of our car, but I think we've done a pretty good job. I took a few pictures, but not of the real initial damage, you will thank me, just to commemorate that glorious morning.
This picture he was saying, "My binky dirty."
This is after I scraped off the big chunks of puke.
Because Spencer and Johnathon have a washer dryer we were able to bathe Quincy and wash his clothes, since they were the only pair I brought. Here he is with Uncle Spencer watching cartoons. I figured he deserved it after that rough morning.
In heaven, sucking on his binky and watching cartoons, while snuggled in a fluffy warm towel.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Chef Boyardee

I let Quincy help me in the kitchen while I made dinner one night... and as anyone who cooks in the kitchen knows... it can be a messy job. I found some of my Mom's aprons and adjusted one so Quincy coould wear one of his own:


Come to find out, Grammie had bought Quincy a little apron for Christmas that is just the right size. I don't have a picture of it yet, but will post one later.



Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Happy Birthday Tyler

To a #1 Dad... from your #1 Fans!

The big 28!


I know I tease you almost daily about being "old", but I just wanted to tell you how lucky we are to have you as a wonderful father and loving husband!

Here's to a Happy 28th Birthday and many more to come.

Another vow broken

Well, it's happened again.

I have broken another Mom Vow.
Like I said, before I became a mother, I would never:
* give my child a binky off the dirty floor/ eat anything off the floor
* let my child have a runny snotty nose
* go out of the house unless they were properly dressed, in a coordinating outfit of course
* drink pop, which in all fairness this one was mostly broken via grandparents/ aunts/ uncles
* eat food from my child's plate or anything that had been in their mouth
* have a binky past the age of 1, which for the most part we stick to this one--there have been a few emergencies and exceptions though
* cry loudly in public, specifically church
* buy my child something to shut them up while I'm in public
And the list went on................
Since becoming a REAL mom, I have realized that some of my Mom Vows were somewhat unrealistic and I have been willing to accept that, however, there have still been times where I simply have to draw the Mom Vow Line. Wednesday morning, after Dr. Jekyll/ Mr. Hyde visited the night before was another low moment in my history as a mother.
I will openly admit to breaking yet another one of my Mom Vows ......................................(as I hang my head in shame)
I was trying to get ready in the morning and Quincy was constantly in my hair. I couldn't get anything done. After much frustration I finally took him by the hand, walked with him to the family room, found the remote, and turned on the TV.
***Gasp***
Even in the moment I still couldn't believe I was committing such an ugly Mom Vow crime against myself, but I will admit it felt good. In fact, I was able to get ready in 15 minutes verses having to pry Quincy off my legs every 5 minutes.
Now, I don't hold anything against those mother's who openly admit to letting their children watch hours of TV a day. That is purely their choice as a parent. The main problem I have with kids watching TV, is WHAT they are watching.
Whatever happened to all those wholesome good cartoons like:
Those were classic children's cartoons. Since then, kid TV seems to have grown up WAAAaaaYYY too much. The girls are flirting boys, there is far more violence, the pure fact that the cartoons reflect a certain image in which boys and girls are supposed to imitate simply disgusts me. This is why I Mom Vowed not to plop my kid in front of the TV. I will also add, that I give props to PBS for still showing wholesome and educational programs. Some of the shows on these channels I will permit Quincy to watch. But at the young tender age of 2 years old is it necessary to sit him in front of the tube for an hour? I think not. I would much rather him use his imagination, read, construct, or be active.
But we're not all perfect at permitting our kids to do these things all the time, which is why for 15 minutes I willingly admit to getting some relief from those rotten, non-educational, no-good cartoon shows.