OK, so I’m not going to go all political on you (other than to throw in a quick endorsement here and there and maybe show off Quinn’s election-ready apparel) but I found this skit TOO FUNNY not to share.

Not including our ziploc bag jamboree (see previous post), we had a very lowkey weekend.  It was rainy and humid…ugh.  Humidity is my nemesis and never fails to put me in a grumpy mood.  So on Saturday we just had a lazy day- naps for us all, some cartoons, lots of playing with toys and books and dinner out with some friends.  Then today we attempted to go to Woofstock, which is basically a big festival for dogs, but it rained…again…so we had to resort to plan Z and walk around the mall.  Which is not that fun when I have Captain Budget (aka Ryan) with me.  But it was good to get out of the house and by the end of the day the sun was out so Quinn and I went for walk while Ryan cleaned our bedroom.  Ya gotta love a man who vaccuums!

The time in between the last picture in the next picture is less than 1 second.  It just shows you how quickly Quinn can turn on the charm for the camera!

Let me preface this by saying it has been a rainy weekend.  And we’ve all been bored.  So when Quinn decided to spend an hour emptying and refilling a box of ziploc bags, well, let’s just say it was the highlight of the day.  OK, I won’t go that far- sleeping in until 7:30 was the highlight of my day, this was a close second (with my orange chicken at the mall food court being a distant third)!  So, without further ado, this is what kept Quinn (and mommy) sane this afternoon.  And I’m not going to lie- this video, albeit cute, is boring.  Once I started making it, I realized that it lacked excitement but I was too invested in it to stop.  So feel free to fast forward!

Quinn spent some time this afternoon lounging on the couch and playing with the remote.  He’s already a typical guy and loves the remote.  We took the batteries out of one of them so he couldn’t mess with the tv but he’s already on to us.  Given the choice between the battery-less one and the real one, he knows which one works. He’s a smarty pants!

(If you’re wondering, the reason Quinn looks so bewildered in the last picture is because he just watched this clip from Katie Couric’s interview with Sarah Palin.  And it makes him worried for his future.)

We’re all happy tomorrow is Friday and are looking forward to a relaxing weekend.  Hopefully we can catch up on some sleep!  The cute, smiley guy below has been having some trouble sleeping through the night lately.  But he’s so darn adorable that we always forgive him in the morning!

Have a great weekend!

Happy birthday to a wonderful grandmother and a great mother!  Quinn wishes he could give you a big hug and kiss today- you’ll have to take an I.O.U.!

Our weekend was filled with lots of time spent outside.  The weather was gorgeous and Quinn is an outdoor type of guy.  Plus we had some work to do on the house so it all worked out well.

We continue to marvel at Fenway’s genius.  We tied him to the garage while we were out front and his leash got caught on part of the holly bush.  It made the bush move which in turn made Fenway think a rabbit was in there.  He went nuts and tried to dive in the bush, which made the bush move even more because of his leash, which made him go even crazier.  It was a vicious cycle for him- one that went on for about 20 minutes.   I’ll just say that he’s quite the dog- and leave it at that!

Today we went to a fair at a local park.  There was all the standard fair food along with some musicians, ponies, sheep shearing, and other old fashioned activities- which was the theme of the fair.  There was a great kids musician who had old fashioned “instruments” for all the kids to join in.  Quinn got in on the action.

And he and Ryan posed for a picture.

To top off the weekend we went to watch the Eagles-Steelers game at Ryan’s friend’s house.  Quinn donned his Patriots warm up suit to try to get into the spirit of football but he wasn’t too into the game.  The dog toys at the house were much more appealing to him.  I’m not going to lie- I completely agree with him.  Dog toys are much more interesting than football to me, too!

Overall, I’d say it was a pretty standard fall weekend- some work outside, a local fair and some football.  We’d love some more weekends just like this one!

Today I felt it was my motherly duty to teach Quinn a very important skill- how to dip food into ketchup.  It got a bit messy but he did pretty well.  And it was fun to pass on this simple little pleasure.

I know he liked it because a) he signed more when he was out of ketchup and b) how could you not like ketchup?!?

Every afternoon when we get home from work/daycare and are waiting for Ryan to get home, we head outback to feed the fish.  Actually, the fish would probably be dead if it weren’t for Quinn- the minute we walk in the kitchen he points at the fish food, shakes his arms and legs and says, “feeefeeefeeefeeefeee” which I have interpreted to mean fish.

After making sure the fish are well fed, the next activity of choice is rock throwing.  Quinn sits on the bench with a pile of large stones next to him and throws them down one at a time.  Right after each throw he is so happy with himself that he lets out a big “aaaaahhhh.”   I’m sure you’re thinking, “what idiot taught a one year old to throw rocks?”  Hello, meet the idiot, yours truly.  I did it one afternoon in a desperate attempt to get Quinn to stay outside longer on a beautiful late summer afternoon.  Apparently it was a hit.

Then we play with his trucks.

By this time, Ryan is usually home and everyone is happy!

Time to go inside for a beer!

The funniest part is that Quinn puts the can to his mouth, tips his head back and pretends to drink.  When he’s done he looks up and with a big smile says, “mmmm”.  Can’t imagine where he would have learned that?!?

And with that, I’ll leave you to ponder my dynamite child-rearing activities- rock throwing and pretend beer drinking.  Good stuff.

We had Quinn’s 1st birthday party yesterday.  It was a great day and we loved sharing the celebration with our friends and family.  The day started off a little iffy- Quinn decided instead of taking a nap he would cry the whole time he should have been sleeping.  So two hours later we decided to give up and just see what happened.  This was how he looked during lunch (before the party)- it wasn’t looking too good!

But luckily, he perked right up and was the star of the show!

I channeled my inner Martha Stewart for decorations and I must say- I’m pretty proud of myself.  The theme of the party with The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which is Quinn’s favorite book.  So I made him a caterpillar shirt:

And a caterpillar birthday banner:

And the menu was filled with a lot of the food that the caterpillar ate:

I wish I could take credit for Quinn’s awesome cake but I can’t- I bought it from a bakery.

Quinn enjoyed opening up his presents and has been loving all his new books and toys.

He played some caterpillar croquet with his cousins:

And, of course, ate some birthday cake.  Since he had his own little cake, we let him dig right in.  He was surprisingly deliberate- no smashing of the cake.  He picked off the icing first and I had to cut into the cake so he would get some of the actual cake.  The effects of his sugar high were seen well into the evening!

This is what the cake looked like when Quinn was done with it…his little hand looks so grubby!

It was such a fun day.  Thank you to everyone who came- Quinn is a lucky boy to have such wonderful friends and family who treat him like a king.  He had such a great time that he fell asleep while I was reading him some of his new books!

The birthday boy says “THANK YOU!”

Quinn was at the pediatrician today for his one year check-up.  He’s developing wonderfully- in the 84th percentile for height and 33rd percentile for weight.  Tall and skinny- he certainly can’t be my child!  At least he’ll have a time in his life when he was considered tall, because if you think about my height and Ryan’s height- let’s just say he’s not going to be in the 84th percentile for long!  So all went well, although he might give you another story considering he was given 2 shots.  He cried and then gave the nurses the evil eye.  That’s my boy!