Hey Hey!

For better or worse, I've been a Cubs fan my whole life. My father passed his burden to me, and now I've passed it to my family. It's tragic really.

Another tragedy is being a Cubs fan and living in the Pacific Northwest. Our nearest Stadium is Safeco, home to the American League Seattle Mariners, who only entertain the Cubbies once in blue moon for interleague play (it just so happens they hosted the Cubs this year but that is a story for another post). Kim and I did have the opportunity to see some Cubs games while we lived in the Bay and that was a always a lot of fun but something is always missing. As a Cubs fan, I have always experienced ballgames as part of the minority. This year however, I was finally able to see the Cubs as they are meant to be seen. Amongst thousands of other Cubs fans at the Cub Mecca, Wrigley Field.

Before I get into that, let me explain how this all came to be. Luckily for me, Kimberly's brother Ryan was graduating from Purdue this year on a weekend where the Cubs were hosting the Pittsburgh Pirates. "Unfortunately" for me I was unable to get off work in time for the ceremony but I was still able to meet everyone in Chicago the next day.

Chicago is a pretty awesome place I must say. It's like New York, but feels more spacious and MUCH cleaner which is ideal for someone like me. I got to the city a few hours ahead of everyone else and had a chance to walk around the Millennium Park area which was pretty cool (not including the segway riding schools which just looked ridiculous), and wandered around the city a bit which was nice. The rest of the group (Kim, Quinn, Ryan, Bob and Darlene) finally showed up and we spent some more time wandering around the city, finishing off the night searching for some delicious Chicago style pizza. Realizing that very few restaurants were still open or that it would take forever to get a seat at the ones that were, we ended up back at our hotel an hour later getting food from the attached restaurant. We didn't get pizza but as I recall it was still pretty tasty stuff.




In front of the Chicago River



Day two started with the search for breakfast (I am now realizing we didn't have the best luck finding food in Chicago), which took a bit of searching but finally worked out. After that, we found the Subway and headed for Wrigley. SWEET!


Quinn's first subway trip.



The subway was full of Cubs fans, making it fairly obvious which way to go and which train to hop onto. We arrived at the stadium, and made our way through the crowds, wandered through the underbelly of Wrigley and made our way to our seats.











While, as a Cubs fan, I should gush about the glory that is Wrigley but it feels pretty much like most stadiums feel. Except of course for the fact that you are surrounded by your fellow Cubs fans, and it's freaking WRIGLEY! The game was a nail-biter. The Pirates jumped into the lead, and as the game progressed it wasn't looking good. It turned out that the come back Cubbies were playing that day and they tied the game in the 7th! This took us into the greatest singing of 'Take me out to the ballgame' I've ever heard at a ballgame. You haven't heard this song done properly until you've heard it at Wrigley. The Cubs followed up their 7th inning heroics by taking the lead in the 8th. An uneventful 9th led to a Cubbie victory, which led to the singing of the cheesiest and greatest song for any Cubs fan to hear. Hey Chicago whaddaya say, the Cubs are gonna win today!


Bob and Ryan sporting their sweet giveaway hats.


Quinn is clearly concerned about the outcome.


Kimberly and Ryan enjoying the game.

Our little man didn't quite make it through the whole game awake, but I think he enjoyed his first baseball game, and our first game together at Wrigley. It was a pretty wonderful experience and I'm so happy I got to share it with Kimberly and Quinn.


He could rest easy knowing the Cubs were going to win.


Did I mention it was really cold?


Happy (or sleeping) Cubs Family


It's a beautiful thing to see 'Cubs Win' on the sign out front.

That night, Bob and Darlene got tickets for Kimberly, Ryan and I to go to a show at the Second City. Our seats were literally touching the stage, and we were sitting next to some fellow Cubs fans from Oregon. It's no wonder SNL recruits heavily from this cast and I strongly recommend going to a show if you are in Chicago. The show was hilarious and it was a great end to a great day.

In conclusion, Chicago was awesome!!

Thanks Bob and Darlene for such an amazing trip. Go Cubs!!

Quinn's First Word!

So, I'm calling it. Quinn's first word is "nana".
Initial translation: banana

Newest translation: Give me some food, now please!

He's been babbling for months now, but it's been difficult for Pat and me to know if he's associating what he says with any specific thing/person. For example, one might say that Quinn's first word was "dada" but he says dada all the time to anything and everything. Pat and I don't feel like that counts (yet)! I mentioned in an earlier post that Quinn was using the "g" sound when he sees Lucy (nickname: "goose"), but that doesn't count as a word, it's just a sound. Quinn is exploring new sounds each day and is getting more consistent with equating certain sounds with things and so it'll be fun to see if he adds any new words to his repertoire in the near future.

Sour Quinn

Today Quinn kept trying to drink some of his Auntie Lolo's limeade, and so we decided to put some in his cup and let him try for himself. We started filming a little late and so he was "fake drinking" at the beginning of this, just trying to get a laugh, but at the end you'll get a hint of the kinds of faces he was giving us when experiencing the sour flavor. What a funny boy!

My Brother, The Genius

Quinn and I had the opportunity to take a trip to West Lafayette, IN in Mid-May to see Ryan graduate (sort of) from Purdue with a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering. I say "sort of" because technically Ryan isn't done yet, but he did walk with his class. He is finishing up some research and the last bits of his thesis this summer. Ryan has been working so incredibly hard over the last couple of years at Purdue, and we couldn't be more proud of him as a family.

*Please forgive my lack of modesty.

The highlight of my time in West Lafayette was spent in Ryan's lab. I know that he's been working like crazy, and seeing his accomplishments in person was so impressive. He has his own little office space where he completes a lot of his research, and then he has his own personal lab room where he's literally built from scratch this contraption that tests compressors for Rolls Royce (I think that's what it does, at least). All I know is that the thing is huge and pictures simply don't do it justice. Ryan spent over an hour explaining to us (in what he thought were layman's terms) why each piece was selected, how it works, etc... It was so over my head!


My brother designed and built that thing from scratch. Genius, I tell you!

Quinn was impressed.

Dad attempting to understand.

More explanations...


Ryan with his lab buddies/professor


Congratulations Ryan on (nearly) reaching this goal of yours. Whoever hires you is going to be lucky to have such a brilliant, innovative, and dedicated person on their team. So to all of you green energy companies who follow this blog (ha!), you'd be crazy not to get Ryan on your team.

Quinn Loves Daddy

While Quinn and I are busy having fun in Oregon this week with family and friends, Pat is at home working away. Here are a couple of my recent favorites that capture Quinn's admiration for his Daddy.

11 Months!

What?!? How did this happen? Quinn is already enjoying his last month of infanthood. It's so hard to believe that nearly a year has passed since we were first introduced to our precious baby boy.

Quinn is still the busy boy that he's always been (with the exception of in utero), but lately he's been developing more social interests as well. He can get where he wants to go, and he loves to explore. Outside is one of Quinn's favorite places to be (who can blame him)? Thankfully, the rain doesn't seem to bother him one bit, either. When I take Quinn to a park, he loves to watch the other kids and then he tries to befriend them. He loves little playmates and so one of my goals is to work at getting involved in some playgroups with kids his age. I do participate in a stroller workout group called Stroller Strides, and once the moms finish working out the kids play together. That tends to be the highlight of both Quinn and my day most days.

We have been lucky enough to spend a lot of our time this past month with family, and Pat and I are thrilled to see how Quinn is bonding with his grandparents. He loves his time with grandparents which solidifies, once again, our decision to move closer. The only problem now is we wish that they were just down the street!

Quinn is turning into quite the ham. Lately he's been cognisant of what he can do to entertain others, and then he does it over and over and over again. A couple of weeks ago Will and Lisa were visiting us and Will was letting Quinn take pictures with his camera. Every time he pressed the button (for whatever reason) we thought it was hilarious. Quinn must have taken 35 pictures and after he pressed the button he'd look at us and wait for us to giggle. It got to the point where he'd prompt us with a really fake laugh deep in his throat. He loves to see people around him happy, and he'll do what he can to make sure that he is surrounded by happiness. His contagious laughter keeps this pretty easy, seeing as all he has to do is laugh to keep his audience entertained and laughing with him.

As American Idol came to a finish, Quinn started watching with me a bit during the day. This is when I discovered his most recent (and not yet mastered skill), dancing! You know, the baby bounce that we call dancing? Once I saw him bounce a little I have tried to encourage it, but it's pretty hit and miss at this point. We do have video, but I'm pretty convinced it's one that is only entertaining to Pat and me! I'm hoping that he continues to hone this skill and develops a love for dancing. This way I can have a partner to accompany me in my foolish dancing around the house when nobody else is around to watch!

This past month Quinn has been developing a love of being read to (as long as there isn't something more entertaining around, i.e. people). When it's just the two of us, he'll bring me books to read to him, help me turn the pages, and when they come to an end he'll cry a little and encourage me to read them over again. I love to see him enjoying books, and hope that this interest doesn't fizzle away as he gets older.

Quinn is a great eater, and has recently been completely weaned from me. We were both ready, and it was a gradual enough process that I wasn't even emotionally traumatized from the experience. He'll eat just about anything that I give him, but his favorites seem to be cheese and fruit so far. He's doesn't seem to enjoy meat very often, but does love teriyaki chicken! I am grateful for his willingness to try most foods, but I'm prepared for this to become challenging at some point. For now, I'm just enjoying the ease!

Quinn is developing new sounds and he babbles away most of the day, but I have no idea what he's saying! He did point at Lucy and say "goose" (or so I thought), which is one of her many nicknames and so that was pretty fun. It's happened only once. He also points to her and says something that resembles "gud grl". I excitedly told Pat that Quinn said "good girl" but was afraid to admit it to anyone else, knowing that it was probably a stretch. However, we've been with Grandma Cathy for the past few days and she heard him say it as well so I'm putting it out there. I know it's a stretch, but it's the only word we've got so I'm going with it! Sadly for me, Quinn is not interested in the "m" sound and so I haven't been fortunate enough to hear him mutter the word "mama". I look forward to this moment so much! I think I've been so distracted waiting for him to learn the "m" sound that I've failed to recognize the other sounds that he is developing!

It goes without saying, our love for Quinn only continues to develop and grow and we marvel at each new development and milestone that he reaches. Thanks for enriching our lives beyond explanation, Quinn. We love you!!