I had a breakfast date with my most favorite almost-2-year-old today.  He ate cereal big-boy style (with milk) and we had the best time just chatting about trains, how daddy stretches before he runs, and how we use a spoon and not our hands to eat cereal and milk.

Quinn and I have a standing breakfast date for the next 7 days but our dining venue will have views of the beach.  I’ve decided not to take my laptop so I will truly be on vacation.  We’ll be back next weekend with tons of pictures.  Keep your fingers crossed that Quinn gets over his fear of sand!

Quinn’s newest skin condition is called folliculitis.  Basically it’s an inflammation of the follicles which causes small bumps on the skin.  He has it on his face and I think it was caused by a build-up of summer (sweat, sun and sunscreen).  The doctor said it’s usually called by strawberries or limes.  Quinn has had neither of those, unless you count the limes the adults put in their beer the other night after Quinn was in bed.  Which I don’t count since he was in bed, although for some reason I felt the need to disclose that fact to the doctor, and then felt really awkward that I had just told our pediatrician that I drank beer.  Anyway, he has these little bumps on his face and the doctor said they should go away in three weeks or so.  Luckily they don’t bother him.  The poor guy seems to be prone to rashes, although this one is much better than his last rash.  The good news is that he can still go in the sun, put sunscreen on and the works so it shouldn’t affect our beach trip- which we leave for on Saturday.  I can’t wait!  Did I mention that we’re going to the beach soon?!? 

When Quinn first started talking, I was Mama and Ryan was Dada.  Ryan soon became Daddy but I remained as Mama.  During very urgent situations, like when he needs a refill of milk RIGHT THIS SECOND, we become MamaDaddyMamaDaddyMamaDaddy.  Until yesterday.  All of a sudden, I became Mommy.  And at one point, I was just Mom.  As in “I’m with my friends on the playground and don’t need you at this point so BYE MOM”, which he shouted across the parking lot as I got into my car.  Luckily he went back to calling me Mommy.  I’m not quite ready for being Mom yet- because I feel like once he starts calling me Mom, he’s going to be all grown up.  So I’d like to retain my title of Mommy for a while longer.

That’s pretty much what Quinn did the entire 4th of July weekend.  He started out by attending his first baseball game- the Allentown Iron Pigs.  In the beginning his cheering was impressive and he shouted things like “Go Iron Pigs,” “Homerun” (even when there was no homerun) and “Swing batter.”  We left around the 6th inning but had a lot of fun watching the local team.  Quinn fell asleep on the way home, no doubt dreaming of baseball.

The rest of the weekend was consumed with Ryan’s new obsession- ladderball.  He now takes it everywhere.  We played at my parent’s house on Friday and then again on Saturday and Sunday at our house.  Our houseguests were forced to play several games and I’m sad to say that during both of our crucial matches, Team Pudloski succumbed to Team Franey 20-21.  We play extreme ladderball at our house, complete with a dog who tries to catch the balls mid-game and a kid who is our secret weapon of distraction.

Quinn then cooled off by playing in the fountain at my parents’ house…

Add a music festival, drinks outside, laughs with good friends, and a rockstar of a nap on Sunday afternoon to these activities, and you’ve got our holiday weekend.  Now we only need to make it through the rest of the work week and on Saturday we’re off to the beach for the week!

Quinn attended a pool party for two last week at our neighbor’s house.  Kendall is 3 months younger than Quinn and the two of them had a great time playing in the pool and then eating a snack together afterwards.

In typical male fashion, he completely finished his Pirate’s Booty, asked for more, and then ate Kendall’s!  Luckily Kendall was OK with that, as long as Quinn handed over his blueberries.

…that I will update the blog soon.  I have a post in progress but just haven’t had the time to actually finish it.  I’m lucky enough to have off on Fridays for the months of July and August but that means I have to work 9.5 hour days on Monday through Thursday.  Getting home at 6:00 as opposed to my usual 4:30 really puts a damper on my blogging abilities…as well as my abilities to do anything other than make dinner, get Quinn ready for bed, and get myself ready for the next day.  Throw in my new Whale Wars addiction (both book and TV show) and my night is over!  But I promise, a new post will be up soon- with enough pictures to get you through next week when we will be on vacation and the blog will again be stagnant.  Be back soon…

Quinn has been learning his ABCs at school.  I think the way he says “w” is pretty much the cutest thing ever!

A weekend in review:

1.  Ryan’s band played on Friday night and I went to the show with some friends.  My parents came out to watch Quinn, who had a blast with his Didi and Pop-Pop.

2.  Saturday was spent outside.  Quinn played in the pool with his grandparents and while he napped, we worked on the beds in the front yard…again.

3.  Chalk, crayons, baseball and basketball filled our day on Sunday, interrupted only by a nap and some more gardening.

Quinn’s weekend wrapped up with a bath.  We could tell it had been a good weekend by the color of the bath water when we took him out- gray.  Which means he was dirty.  And dirt = fun for a little boy.

This is what happens when I ask Quinn to smile for the camera.

He’s a cheeseball.

Today we went to Dutch Wonderland.  Oh yes, we really do have an amusement park around here called Dutch Wonderland.  It’s actually a great little park geared towards little kids.  The only thing I was a little disappointed in was the lack of hex signs and other Dutch paraphenelia.  Oh well, they did have a giant pretzel- I guess that counts for something.

This was Quinn’s first amusement park experience and we weren’t too sure how he would react to the rides.  Luckily we went with our neighbors, who have 3 boys between the ages of 22 months and 6 years, and they showed Quinn how it was done.

Here he is on his first ride- The Whip.  He looks pretty petrified in the beginning…

but by the end was having a grand old time!

This was probably the biggest ride Quinn went on- the slide.  He loved it and immediately at the end of the ride asked for more.  This picture was actually his second ride down and he and Ryan are racing our neighbors (on each side).

I love their reactions…

The other ride that tied this one for biggest was the water ride that Quinn and Ryan went on together.  You can’t really tell how high it was in the picture, but it was darn tall.  When Quinn got off the ride, his bangs were split in the middle and slicked back because they went so fast!

He also went on some regular kiddie rides, with his buddy Myles (who is 3 days younger than him).  They both had a lot of fun on the rides, it’s just impossible to catch a picture of both almost-two-year-olds smiling at the same time.

At the end of the day, we hit up the splash park.

After not napping ALL day, this is what happened when we got home.

It was cute- his first nap on the couch.  He’s becoming such a little man!!!

Happy Father’s Day to the guy who does it all- cooks, cleans, changes diapers, and absolutely adores his son.  My favorite thing to see is Ryan and Quinn laughing together; it never fails to make me smile.  And I’m loving that Quinn is at an age where he loves to do what Daddy does- mow the grass, sweep the floor, wash the car- because if Quinn turns out anything like his father, he is going to be an amazing guy!  (I think he’s well on his way.)

So Happy Father’s Day, Ryan.  Quinn thinks you’re cooler than Thomas the Train (which is a top rank in Quinn’s book!)

Oh, and did I mention that this guy not only does my laundry but he also folds it and puts it away?!  In the correct drawers.  I’ll be keeping him forever!