Feet Are Neat

Hello!
Yesterday marked Quinn's 4 Month birthday. Man oh man... how time flies and things change when you're busy and having this much fun!  Read on for a post that is mostly a Quinn update.

Since the day he hit the 3 month mark, Quinn has been a different baby. It is like one day he "woke up" and acquired a tremendous amount of energy. It all started one day in early April on the changing table when he got a good solid grip with both hands, one on each foot. He was kicking his feet into his hands with counter pressure and looking up at me really really excited about his new discovery. A few days later, he caught his big toe in his mouth and that was REALLY NEAT too. This kiddo loves sucking fingers as well... his, mine, dad's, probably yours too if you would let him.

I know it is not best practice to compare your children, but sometimes it's hard not to do so. While the "fog" of parenthood may wipe out some of the "hard times" and make us nostalgic about the past, Jason and I both think Olivia slept a lot more than Quinn. It just seems like this boy just does not need a lot of sleep! I think he is very normal and I know he's growing great but I do wish we could get a little more shut-eye around here.

Quinn is really strong, like physically strong. I swear he does little exercises like sit ups, back extensions, curls, and so on. And he has a crazy-strong grip. Sometimes I get to nurse him when he is sleepy and calm (I love those times!) but just as often, I get to nurse a baby boy with ants in his pants. Quinn growls too. Like "grrrr.... grrrr". Not exactly cute but humorous!

Quinn has a touch of a temper. He has his normal "witching hour" which varies day to day but besides that he is a fairly easy baby, except for the 5% of the time when he turns grizzly bear on you. When this has happened while we are out in public, such as out to dinner, we have cleared out of a few places so fast they might as well have been burning down. At times like this, we affectionately refer to him as "Jack Jack" (the baby from The Incredibles which is one of my favorite kids movies).

Other nicknames for Quinn include Barnacle, Sweet Doll, Love Chunk, and (the most commonly used) Bud. Oh yeah, by the way I am a nick-namer. J and I probably didn't need to agree on what to call our children since I assign and use their nicknames almost as much as their real names!

Here's a picture of Q in the new kids recliner that we got. All he needs to do is trade in his binkie for a beer and the remote control and he will be set to enter manhood.

On the Olive front, she is doing great - we all survived a 6 week patch of teething where she was quite a bear, but at least we have 4 more teeth to show for it. Her taste buds are pretty wonky these days, and she's been a fairly picky eater.  She's been digging a lot on black olives and dried cranberries. And pizza (of course).

We had a family photo shoot yesterday which was quite a production to orchestrate (thanks Catherine!). So we will have some new pictures to share soon.

Take care, claire & family

Reality Check

Hi everyone!

I was reading back through some of my earlier posts and noticed that my tone is always pretty upbeat on this blog. I'm sure that's a good thing as I would not want to come across like a 'Debbie Downer' here (LOL) or leave a negative record of our lives for future reflection. However, I want this to be real, and as such, I must acknowledge that we do have challenging times. Let's take last week, for example...

Jason and I planned a vacation to Colorado to stay at my family's house in Cascade. We both knew going in that we would have to pack "lots of patience and a really long fuse" (Jason's words) for the trip. So we loaded up my little hybrid SUV, complete with luggage rack topper, two dogs, two kids, and two *crazy* parents, for the drive westward.

By the time we reached our destination in Colorado and prepared to set the circus down, everyone was tired. J and I both had a (pipe) dream of margaritas at a fave restaurant and then good long afternoon naps.  Nothing could be farther from the reality that was to come.

Upon arrival, Olive went directly into overdrive, exploring the house, grabbing at everything in sight, including pieces of my mom's kachina art collection, antique pottery, lamp cords, you name it. After Olive would lay claim to one of these items, prying it from her strong grip resulted in wails of disapproval and anger. Complete with two long wooden staircases, antique books and other decor, we had arrived at possibly the least kid-proof place on the planet.

To add injury to insult, Olivia also kept tripping and falling over the thresholds between some of the rooms. Since she's not yet a confident walker, minor elevation changes and slippage of her socked feet on the wood floor were problematic. After doing about 10 face plants, with wails and cries building in intensity each time, she finally got some better negotiating skills (she started doing a "crab walk" over the thresholds which was actually really cute).

Something about the mountain air must have kicked Quinn into a huge growth spurt as after we arrived in CO, and for the next several days, he would nurse about 30 minute out of every hour or two during the day. His fussiness was also in high gear for most of the first few days. Neither of the kids slept well for the first 4 nights or so. Of course that means that mom and dad aren't sleeping either. After the first 3 nights, I could honestly say that I was unable to string more than 2 hours of sleep together at one time. Not exactly a vacation!

After we got past the "hump" (literally Wednesday), everyone calmed down a lot and our (mostly) sweet children returned to us. The best part of the day was the evening when everyone got into pj's, listening to music and playing legos or other puzzles by the fireplace.

I talked with my sis about this and asked what is the secret to traveling with kiddos. She described it as a cost/benefit analysis. When they are this young, vacations are not going to be as traditionally "fun" or relaxing as you are accustomed to so just accept that fact. She recounted a story of a family trip to AZ when their youngest was 6 weeks old that turned into a fiasco where everyone probably wished they were home instead of wrangling their children 2,000 miles from the comforts of home.

I know Jason and I both want to travel with our little ones and explore things with them, however we need to be practical about what is fun for their ages and what is just plain too hard to pull off and/or not worth the time, money or effort. We are definitely up for more Colorado trips, though. And here's to hoping that we will get to enjoy those maragaritas someday after all!

I'll leave you with some pics of our brood from the trip. Wow, I can't believe how fast they are both growing.

Quinn on the yoga wall and after some tummy time on the bolster.  The big boy started rolling over on this trip!

Olive and Daddy at 11 Mile Canyon. She became a much more confident walker on this trip! Getting lots of practice on different terrain.  

Playing with legos at night.  Quinn was too young to play but they made his name out of legos!

Love, claire and family

Easter Bunnies

Hello!

We had a wonderful Easter this past weekend.  The weather on Sunday was perfect for egg hunting and outdoor activities.  It seems that stuffed animal bunny rabbits have multiplied around our house like bunnies will tend to do this time of year.  We may need to thin the herd a bit by donating some toys and other loveys to charity!

Here are a few pictures of Olive on the hunt.  She filled her bag up so full that one of the handle straps actually broke :)

She was not a big fan of the bunny ears so I had to distract her with stickers to get these pictures.

Here is one giving Quinn lots of love.

And another from last night at a fave spot, Louie's, where they have EXCELLENT macaroni and cheese.  It was so good, she decided to wear it.

News flash! Olive sprouted two front middle (top) teeth the other day!  Dad noticed it last night during bathtime. Finally some progress from all of the teething agony she has been going through!

We have a photo shoot scheduled in the coming weeks so we will be getting some good pictures of Quinn. He is almost 3 months old and doing really well.

Love always, claire

Irish Blessings

Hello!

This post is mainly an Olivia update. She's doing great but trying our nerves at times like any good toddler will do. I read a child development book that described toddlers as "changelings" and I think that is absolutely true. They are developing at lightening speed and processing so much that it must be exhausting for them - and for us sometimes too!

When Olivia does have a meltdown, I think she is almost surprised and maybe even scared by the intensity of her own feelings.  It is times like that when I remind myself to bring more love to the situation. A short memory and good redirection/distraction skills are also helpful.

Olivia loves to watch us and mimic what we do. She likes to help put things away. Yesterday I found a Netflix movie in the recycle bin! She is more aware of when her diaper needs to be changed. She often gets one and brings it to us.

She loves Quinn and, as he grows, I know they will have lots of fun together!

She is very observant and keen to understand how things work. It's a matter of time before she figures out how to open the baby gates and defeat the cabinet locks that we have installed. Morton has already figured out how to open the baby gates. I can't imagine HOW he does it.

Here she is in the booster chair for the first time. Very exciting!

Quinn actually sat in the high chair the other day. He's big enough that he can sit up. In this picture he was about 10 weeks old. He's growing fast!

My mom told me that "Clan Quinn" in Ireland was descended from the High Kings of Ireland. On that note, I will leave you with an Irish blessing:

 "May your neighbors respect you, Trouble neglect you,

Angels protect you, and Heaven accept you."

Love, Claire

Spring Forward

Hi all,

Since our family is pretty much complete, at least kid-wise, I'll start by setting the focus and intent of this blog (including who my audience is) going forward. Jason and I agree that we want to continue doing this blog as a record of memories, milestones and pictures for our family. We hope that the kids will look back and enjoy reading about their early days. And of course others who enjoy checking in on us are more than welcome!

The other day we had the transition from daylight savings time to standard time and I think the term "spring forward" fits for our household these days too. I went back to work full time last Monday after being home with Quinn for his first 8 weeks. I was ready to go back, but I'm also very ready to pick up the kids at the end of the day, especially to get some snuggle time in with Quinn. It's true that I love holding him so much; I've learned that I need to "share" him more with Jason and give him a turn too!

These days, Quinn has been awake a lot more and very alert (sleeping better at night these days too which is great!). About two weeks ago, we moved him up to his room to sleep at night. He has a wonderful, warm and cozy room and it is going well. This kid is growing fast. He's already in 9 month clothes. At his 2 month dr appointment, he was 99% in height and 83% in weight. Last night at dinner, he fussed until Jason got him out of the car seat so he could see everyone at the table. I think he just wanted to be included in the conversation.

Olivia has been talking up a storm, lots of new words and phrases including please=peez, I wuv you, breakfast=bekfast, etc. She's saying her name (o-VI-a - hasn't gotten the "liv" part just yet), brushing her (two!) teeth and serves as our resident button-pusher around the house. You name it, she can probably find a button on it that just MUST be pushed. I bought a bucket of over-sized Legos the other day and she and daddy have been building things. She loves puzzles and figuring out how things work. She also enjoys putting toys away which is a bonus for us. With Easter right around the corner, I have like 3 egg hunts lined up for her so after all of that hunting, she will be a seasoned pro!

Olive and Quinn get along really well. She thinks he is really cute and funny. He tolerates and maybe secretly enjoys her petting, poking and binki-stealing antics. 

Olivia checking out the rays at the SeaLife Aquarium in KC on Jason's birthday

This morning, Quinn's pretty smile! 

If he fusses in the morning, we put him in the bassinet in our bedroom and turn on SportsCenter. He may be a sports junkie... if it is on a different channel, he may fuss!

All in all, we are doing awesome. I feel so thankful for my sweet husband who could not be a more loving father to our children and dear friend to me. We celebrated his 38th birthday on March 3rd. That date also marks the 3 year anniversary of our engagement.

Signing off now. Love always, the cunningham family

Snow Days

Hi Everyone!
We're staying warm and dry here despite more snow here in the past 7 days than we've gotten in 2+ years in Kansas City! Luckily we didn't lose power here at the house, and no one has gone completely stir crazy just yet. The snow was very wet and perfect for packing and making forts, snow-people, etc, however it has been far too cold for us to take little ones outside to play.

To be honest, this is my least favorite time of the year... I would just as soon skip past all of this to Easter and warmer weather. So having little ones to chase and tend to keeps us (very) busy at times which is just as well since there's not a lot else to do right now.

Earlier this month, we went on vacation to Park City with my extended family. It is actually hard to call traveling with two kiddos at these ages a "vacation" but it was fun nonetheless. I couldn't ski because of my recent c-section surgery but enjoyed time with the family.

Olive has been teething en force and we can see a few teeth getting REALLY close(!!)... heck, they may all pop through at once at the rate she is going. The other day, Jason caught a video of her playing "peekaboo" with herself and the full length mirror on my closet door. It was really cute. She is talking a lot and has some new words and phrases including "Thank You", "All Done", and "Good Girl". She has been repeating our words more and more. Yesterday, Jason was reading a book to her about animals in the ocean and she said "octopus"!

Regarding Quinn, I am well aware that mom's can tend to think their boys are perfect and can do no wrong... I'm sure Quinn's future significant other may feel that way about me someday!  However I'm telling you, this kiddo REALLY IS so sweet and easy to be around. A friend of mine described him as "comfortable" and I think that fits for him. He is not colicky or fussy, in fact most times he is just the opposite of that. I'm going back to work next week and will truly miss being around him all day. In other news, he is holding his head up and starting to roll over. He's approaching 13 lbs now and growing great!

I just got a new phone that has a better camera so I will be snapping more pics of the kiddos for next time. I hope to be quick enough on the draw to snap one of Quinn's beautiful beaming smiles (he's been doing that a lot lately!).

Signing off for now. Love, claire & family

Power of Two

Hi all,
We are all doing well and I think adjusting pretty well to being "plus 2" around here. I don't think it is that much more work than having just one. The biggest shock/lifestyle adjustment came back in Nov 2011 when we became parents in the first place and our freedom went out the window.  And now with two little ones, barring some planning and effort to mobilize, you are pretty much home bound but that can be ok and even nice especially this time of year.

I'm pretty sure there's an Indigo Girls song lyric about this topic...

"The closer I'm bound in love to you 

The closer I am to free....

multiply life by the power of two" 

When my Aunt Beth came to visit us in the hospital with Quinn a few weeks ago, she told me that she was thinking back to what things were like for me 5+ years ago and she teared up thinking much has changed and how many blessings have come my way. Even through the medication haze and sleeplessness at the time, the sentiment was not lost on me. I completely agree and have pondered the question... how many times have I fallen in love since I met Jason 4 yrs ago in July?  Truly too many to count.

Here is a Valentine's Day card from our family including the birth announcement for our newest little Valentine:

Another newborn photo (doing his little hunky guy pose!). He was about 2 weeks old in these pictures:

Olivia has had some fun times since our last update. She had her first haircut back in January. I tried to run a nice fun bubble bath for her a few weeks ago but she got scared of the bubbles! We will have to work on that one. She is walking a lot, and enjoying some new found mobility. She enjoys snuggling with Quinn, stealing his binki, putting a blanket on him and removing his socks. I saw her the other day take her own sock off and then try to put it on him (he just laid there patiently however I believe this is foreshadowing for some "dress up" games in his future with his sister and cousins!).

Here is Olive in Daddy's workshop, helping him clean. And another with her doll, reading one of her favorite books:

We are anxiously awaiting news of Tori and Chris Guerrero's baby girl, Taylor!  She should be here anytime now.  Blessings going all around!

Take care. ~claire and family