I did not take one picture this weekend.  So I don’t have any proof of how awesome our weekend was.  But it was.  So you’ll just have to take my word for it!  It was a combination of beautiful weather, great friends, cute babies and lots of laughter that made the weekend perfect.  And at the end of the day today, we were in our backyard putting together our new compost bin while Quinn ran back and forth under the clothesline yelling “tunnel” and Fenway ran around like a crazy dog chasing water from the hose and I thought- this is it.  Perfection in a nutshell.

Quinn showed off some new skills this weekend.  One of them is counting to 10, which we had NO clue he could do.  Ryan had him out at the neighborhood yard sale and he said Quinn just started counting and made it to 10.  And then cheered for himself!    He showed me later in the day and it’s so cute.  He kind of stumbles on seven- but recovers and makes it through to ten.  His other “skill” is telling us “I poo’ed” while holding the back of his pants- which is pretty funny.  Especially because he almost always attaches the word “Daddy” to the sentence, meaning that Daddy has to change his diaper.  Works for me!

All in all, Quinn would give our weekend a perfect 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10!

We just can’t get away from these blue shoes.  Tonight Quinn needed a wardrobe change after dinner due to what looked like a vicious attack on him by peaches and pizza, so we went up to his room to change.  He pulled out a t-shirt from his drawer and since we were only an hour from bathtime, I decided he could go sans pants.  He must have felt his outfit was not complete because he insisted on putting on his blue shoes, and tried to do it himself.  When that didn’t work, he came up to me his little blue eyes and said in his cutest voice, “boo shoessss???”  It’s pretty much impossible to say no to him when he is THAT cute.  So he walked around the house tonight in this stellar outfit.

A little Quinn for you on this dreary day.  This is his “I’m cute and I know it but I’m going to pretend I’m shy” look…

For Mother’s Day, Quinn gave me a lovely little potted marigold that he had grown from seed at daycare.  He painted the pot and watered the plant every day.  It had not flowered yet but was definitely alive and green when he gave it to me.  And this is what I did to it:

I killed it.    Apparently it needed water.  Every day.  The poor little plant is all shriveled and I couldn’t bring it back to life once I realized that is was dead.  I was so sad…but at least Quinn is too young to realize that I killed his plant.

We had a pretty standard Memorial Day weekend- finished some projects around the house, played outside, and had a BBQ.   Quinn was his usual bundle of energy and we had a great weekend.  We’re loving these warm days and spend as much time as we can outside but make sure to ALL take advantage of midday naptime!

One of our projects was painting a magnetic chalkboard on one of our cabinets.  Since our new fridge is not magnetic, we decided to make a new space for Quinn to play with his magnets.  He liked the magnet part of it, but really loved it when he found out he could draw on it with chalk.  He suckered everyone who came into the kitchen into drawing choo-choos with him.

Our other project was finally planting the garden we’ve been planning for months.  Quinn got me seeds for Mother’s Day and I planted cucumbers, squash, carrots, red beets and watermelons.  We’re going to plant pumpkins in another corner of our yard and then tomatoes will be planted next to our deck.  Since this is our first garden attempt, it’s all an experiment.  Ryan crafted a fence with rock reinforcements to keep out the bunnies…and Fenway.  It’s not the most beautiful of gardens, but we hope it’s fruitful.  Here’s our little piece of earth.

Once our projects were finished, we were able to spend the rest of the time playing.  Quinn’s favorite outdoor activity is playing basketball.  Here he is showing off his slam dunking skills.

My tough guys.  They’re too cool for school with their sunglasses on…

Fixing Quinn’s “booo shoes”…

Quinn then treated us to a great dance performance.  He showed us some new moves and worked up quite the sweat!  (Wonder where he gets that from?)  The video is kind of long but he danced for about 20 minutes so it was hard to cut down.

I had to laugh when I was on the phone with my friend tonight because I was telling her about our weekend and how we had just come in from checking out our neighbors’ new minivan.  It made me giggle because it was such a stereotypical weekend in the suburbs-  gardening, playing outside with the kids, BBQing, neighbor visiting, minivans.  I guess I’m officially a suburbanite!

And now after looking through all my pictures and video, I’m wishing every weekend consisted of three days!

Quinn has a new favorite fashion item- his blue generic crocs.  I bought them a few months ago and when I tried to make him wear them two weeks ago, he flat out refused and would not walk once I put them on.  OK, I thought, guess he won’t be wearing these this summer.  Boy was I wrong.  This morning I gave Quinn a choice between his brown sandals and his blue crocs and he quickly chose his crocs.  I figured the minute they were on his feet he would throw a fit but instead he started jumping around and talking about his “boo shoooes”.  I didn’t realize how much he loved them until I picked him up at daycare and his teachers told me that he had a fit when they tried to take them off for nap.  So he slept with his shoes on!  Some battles are just not worth fighting.

This is what happens when you try to take his shoes off… (actually, this mini-tantrum was brought to you by a wet shirt.)

Quinn’s other favorite thing is Fenway.  He’s always very concerned about what Fen is doing, where he is, is he outside, eating, sleeping, etc.  In the morning, we have cuddle-time for a few minutes before getting up for the day and lately Quinn has been yelling for Fifi (as he calls Fenway).  And the cutest thing is that Fenway usually comes running and joins our morning cuddle.   Fenway is becoming even more comfortable with Quinn and it won’t be long before the two of them are best friends.  This afternoon he tried to put Fenway’s leash on to take him for a walk.

I’m pretty sure if he had been successful in attaching the leash, Fenway would be the one taking Quinn for a walk!

Pop quiz.  Are these terms:

a) the start of a bad joke

b) the title of a 48 Hours Mystery show

c) the nicknames given to Quinn at daycare

If you picked c – bing, bing, bing, we have a winner!  Yup, Quinn’s nicknames at daycare are The Ringleader and The Mayor.  Why?  Well, he’s called The Ringleader because he is the one who gets all of the other kids jumping up and down at the beginning of naptime.  Which means the kids don’t nap.  And Quinn is the instigator of that.  I’m not surprised and while I’m sure it’s really annoying to have 8 one year old who aren’t napping when they are supposed to be napping, his teachers couldn’t help but smile and laugh when they told me about his new trick.

His other nickname, The Mayor, came about because he says “HIIII” to every single person he passes in the daycare halls.  He’ll walk ahead of me and all I hear is “Hi.  Hi.  Hiiii.  Hi.  Hi.” and then I see a little hand waving to all of the adults walking past.  The other day there were a cluster of teachers standing in a doorway and Quinn marched right up to them, looked up and said Hi to each one of them.  I’m a little nervous that he really does have a career in politics ahead of him.

And if those characteristics don’t scream politician, check out this cheesey smile.

Mr. Miyagi taught Quinn a move or two.  Ok, just one move.  But it’s a tough move.

Quinn was excited as usual to head outside today.  I got him a new hat to keep the sun off his neck.  Turns out this hat is large enough to protect his entire body from the sun!

But it’s all good because luckily the hat flips up cowboy style…  Quinn looks pretty darn cool with it on!  Except when I ask him to make a silly face, then he looks kind of goofy.

But in a cute way!

If this is any indication, I foresee lampshades on Quinn’s head during his college years…

His silliness ended in a giggle-fit on the floor.  And I was the one with the bowl on my head.

My mother’s day present came running across the yard to me today in the form of the cutest toddler in the world.  He gave me flowers, hugs and kisses.  And some snot.  It’s amazing how much we missed Quinn while he was at my parents’ house this weekend and we wonder how our life ever felt full before we had him.  What did we do with our free time?  Who gave us giggles and kisses?  Who did we have kitchen dance parties with?  What in the world did we do without these beautiful blue eyes?!?

I had a great mother’s day, just spending time with my family and checking things off our lengthy to do list.  Paint cabinets?  Check.  Get rid of fish and take out pond in the backyard?  Check.  Eat sushi, drink wine and eat ice cream?  Check.

I asked Quinn to make some faces for me while he was eating his snack today.

Happy face:

Sad face:

Silly face:

Poop face: (this face was not elicited by me, it just kind of happened…cause, ya know, sh!t happens)

And now after our busy weekend and sushi/ice cream finale, I’m off to bed.  Happy Mother’s Day!