Little Mr. Step Taker

Our precious baby is growing up so fast! On Easter weekend he decided to show off in front of the family by taking his very first steps. It was such an exciting moment and we actually caught it on film. Over the past couple of weeks he's been continuing to develop his step taking skills. We don't have a walker around here yet, but he sure is working on it! I believe his record to date is 13 steps. Keep up the good work, Quinn!

Check Quinn out on YouTube to see his very first steps!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULgTbelZczY

Easter Weekend

Pat, Quinn, and I traveled back to Monmouth for Quinn's first Easter. Grandma Cathy has a big egg hunt at her house each year, and it was nice to finally be able to participate. It was rainy and cold, but apparently that's part of the Easter tradition in Western Oregon. We had a great time spending the weekend with family, as always!

Saturday evening family time.

Halligan Family

Auntie Lolo and Uncle Matt

Auntie Mariah and Uncle Eric

Grandmas with the babes!

Chloe was such a nice sharer.

Quinn figuring out how the Easter eggs open up!

Happy boy!

Chloe and Quinn egg hunting.

US!

Family crowded on the porch trying to avoid the rain while the "big kids" hunted.

Poor Lucy had to stay outside in the mud. There was no room in the house for muddy pups!

Quinn's first Easter!

Happy Birthday, Chloe!

One of the things that Pat and I love about living in the Northwest again is our ability to be a simple road trip away from our families. This has enabled us to see Chloe, Pat's cousin Zach's little girl, on a regular basis. She is just about three months older than Quinn and is the closest thing Quinn has to a cousin at this point!

A few weekends ago Pat, Quinn, and I took a road trip to Monmouth to celebrate Chloe's first birthday. She's such a cutie! In addition to her birthday party Quinn got to see his first chickens, sheep, and lambs at his very own personal petting zoo (Pat's cousin Bill's house). Sadly, he was not appreciative of this experience. Actually, he was quite scared. Maybe next time!

Halligan Family

Yummy cake! Chloe was so funny eating her cake. First she took a bite with her hands, and she didn't seem to like the stickiness of the cake and so she opted to just use her mouth to avoid the sticky fingers. What a smart little girl!

Hanging with Grandma Cathy chewing on Chloe's flower at the party.

You can see Quinn's shocked face at the sight of the new animals! I'm sure someday he'll enjoy them, but for now they were a little too scary.

Riddell farm

New toys from Grandma Cathy

9 Months

As I sit down to reflect on Quinn's nine month achievements and milestones, he is already over half-way through his tenth month of life! It's hard to keep track of what has been happening when because he is changing so quickly. Thank goodness I keep notes!

Stats:
Weight: 21 1/2 lbs (68th percentile)
Height: 29 1/4 in (82nd percentile)
Head Circumference: 46 cm (79th percentile)

At nine months, Quinn was still crawling all over the place and continuing to experiment with unassisted standing. My child does not like to sit still! Quinn began crawling up the stairs this month in an effort to chase our cats (his favorite animal in the house).

Quinn also began waving and clapping this month. I don't think he associates a wave with "hello" or "good-bye" so much as he likes to flap his arms around. When Quinn is particularly excited he will clap his hands. Luckily, Quinn is a pretty happy and excitable child so we've been seeing a lot of clapping and waving around here lately!

In terms of making my life easier, Quinn began feeding himself with success this past month. He can pick up a fistful of dry cereal (cheerios or puffs) and get a few pieces into his mouth at a time. He continues to practice this skill as he LOVES to eat (just like me)! With that said, I can't eat in front of Quinn without sharing with him. Our pediatrician encouraged me to share anything that I eat with Quinn as long as it's not on the list of things you can't give a baby (i.e. nut products, honey, citrus, etc...). I've been doing this and can't seem to find anything that he won't eat. So far he's been a pretty fantastic eater (well, that and I tend to eat and share delicious food... think brownies).

One quality that I am particularly fond of in Quinn is his unwillingness to give up. He can fall down countless times a day, hit his head, bruise himself, and nothing seems to stop him. So far, he never fails to get up and try again. I pray that this trait stays with him as he is faced with obstacles throughout his life.

Parenthood continues to become more and more comfortable for me, and with each passing month I find myself becoming more and more grateful for my opportunity to be at home with Quinn. Last night as Pat and I were getting ready for bed we were asking ourselves, "How did we get so lucky?" We are so in love with our little boy and are soaking up each moment of our blessed lives.

I'm Back!

Well, it's been over a year since I jumped on the blogging bandwagon. I have to admit; I love it! It's been such a great excuse for me to document my family's life and whenever I'm feeling nostalgic I can peruse through older posts and remember how much our life has changed in this past year. In addition, blogging has enabled me to reconnect with old friends as I follow their personal family blogs. I'm a sucker for anyone who's willing to share their story! Thank you to all of my fellow blogging friends who do so with such eloquence.

I've been on a bit of a hiatus this past month and am going to attempt to get "caught up"! Ironically, the more I have to blog about (i.e. the busier we are) the less I blog! We'll see how this goes. :)

P.S. I've been feeling a bit guilty about our title "A Blog About Nothing" since it really is "A Blog about Quinn: Our Everything!" For those of you who know Pat, he is a die-hard Seinfeld fan, "A Show About Nothing". So, when we were debating on a title for this blog, we wanted to be able to write about anything and everything (or nothing). Thus, "A Blog About Nothing" was born.

Enjoy!