I'm a Big Boy!

Quinn and I are sitting on the couch eating rice crispies and bananas (him) and drinking coffe (me) and watching the wonderful Baby Genuis videos Wendy sent us.  I turned on my computer to check on a nearby petting zoo we could visit, when the above picture came up as my screensaver.  Quinn was very excited about the picture and I started naming everyone in it for him.  When I got to Omi and Grance as my stepmom and stepdad, Quinn just stops and thinks (you can see the wheels turning) and proclaims: "I'm a step guy!!"  Then he just laughed and laughed and thought it was hysterical.  My little boy is so clever and DEFINITELY has a sense of humor!!  Gammy was just here for 3 days visiting and he loved every second with her.  He said "I love Gammy" on the way home from the airport as well as "Gammy's at my house," and "Gammy's at the park" and kept repeating it, in a small way to keep the hope alive that she hadn't gone.  BTW--Quinn pronounces her name "Gummy."  He also said out of the blue on the way to the airport: "I like Grance."  Random, but so cute!  He is getting to be quite a big boy these days, and says that a lot too: "I'm a big boy!"  He loves the park and his favorite person is Collin Dake to whom he refers to as Conkin Dake.  I have a cute pic I'll post of his recent excursion to Conkin Park (the park where we meet him) where he really does look like a big boy. 

Last Day Being 1

Today is bittersweet for me.  It is the last day Quinn will be only 1.  Tomorrow is his big 2nd birthday, and he doesn't quite understand it yet.  I'm having a hard time processing it myself.  Once again, I find myself in a position where I have to play catch up, and I am so disappointed in how I have so terribly handled updating this blog.  I have so much I want to document about my precious little boy.  I want him to see all the little things he did and said that put a giggle in our bellies--like how he says "wickin" for blanket or "tutu" for little.  Just this morning he answered one of my questions with the appropriate "I don't know" rather than "oh no" like he usually says.  He is speaking in full, complete, understandable sentences now and even describing things like "big wall, Humpee dumpee fall down".  Ahhh... could that get any cuter?  He is even pretty good at talking on the phone.  I've also noticed recently that he is becoming aware of himself and his self image, frequently smiling coyly when he knows he's being cute.  It's like he's pleased with himself for being charming.  I could go on and on, but naturally, as I am at work right now and flooded with new cases (having just gone BACK to county court for a while to help out--ugh!) and quite frankly, just scattered thinking about all the stuff I still have to write from recent events: like our wedding!!  Quinn was the most adorable ring bearer ever.  Tomorrow we will wake him up with a lighted cupcake and sing to him and hope he doesn't cry when we do that like last year.  :)  Then we'll bring some cupcakes into his class with him and have his real party on Saturday.  Since he is so into Mickey Mouse Clubhouse right now--that is the theme of his party.  He is going to love it and will have his best buddies Cole Christiensen and Colin Dake there.  I will have to post some pix of them together too--he really loves his friends.  Which reminds me before I forget:  he is such a polite kid too, frequently saying please and "tanks" without prompting.  It warms my heart.  xo  I love you, my sweet little bunny bear.  I am so proud of the kind, funny, smart little boy you are becoming and I promise to make your 2nd year updates much, much better! 

CAPE COD 2012

As I mentioned in the previous post, we all went to Massachusetts for Quinn's first 4th of July Cape Cod experience.  He loved it.  He was a bit fussy due to the time changes, but otherwise, he just went with the flow.  We spent the first night with Gramps at the house in Needham where Rich grew up.  It was really neat for me to see too, as I had heard many stories involving that house through the years.  It would be the first and last time for us, as Nana and Gramps have decided to sell it.  We were fortunate to get video of Quinn's first little steps into it.  I also got a few shots of Quinn and Daddy sitting on the front steps playing with some little toys that Rich used to play with as a child.  Rich said it was surreal.  Then we headed for their cute little cottage in Dennis--and we were able to get video of Quinn's first steps into that house too.  Gramps very sweetly got down to Quinn's level by playing with him on the ground.  Quinn repaid that kindness by calling Gramps "Russ" the entire time.  That was really funny.  Some of the other shots are Quinn enjoying Nana's famous thin apple pancakes.  Man, did he ever love those!  We also have a shot with him on the deck entertaining a group of Rick and Eileen's friends that had come over for the day.   Very nice people!  The shot of Quinn in the helmet is when we took him on a bike for the first time down the Cape Cod Rail Trail.  He liked that a lot, too--but the day was hot so pretty soon into it he was saying "all done now".  Quinn likes to add "now" to everything: "more milk now," sit down now", etc.  Very cute how demanding he's become!  The last few shots are just cute ones with Dad and cute ones on the airplane with me.  I should note that Quinn is also an excellent traveler!  (What doesn't he do well?)  He doesn't cry during ascents or descents and pretty much just eats, reads, naps or looks out the window.  He's a regular person! 

Ocean Baby

More evidence that Quinn loves the water and is afraid of nothing!  We went to Dennis on the Cape this year for the 4th of July--Quinn's first time there!  We stayed with Nana and Gramps and Quinn went into the ocean for the first time.  He LOVED it.  He splashed around, touched crabs, and even held hermit crabs in his little hand.  He is so independent already too.  He wanted to walk in the water by himself and though he fell down a few times and got the ocean water in his mouth, he just stood back up, wiped his mouth, and laughed.  He kept saying "eagles!" for the seagulls and could easily say "ocean" and "beach".  When we got back to Denver he said "Ocean wa-wa...oh no...where go"?  He was absolutely adorable exploring the shore.

Water Baby

Quinn Collins Casey is a water baby.  No doubt about it--he loves the water.  Some of these pictures are from a few months ago when we signed him up for swim classes at the Y.   They aren't "lessons" so much as parent/baby water time, but there is an instructor who has you pass the baby back and forth to her and shows the baby how to kick.  On his very first time in the pool, Quinn was not only kicking...he was going under the water, jumping off the side into my arms, and standing alone on a little platform in the water.  On the 2nd lesson, he held on to the side of the pool alone, and, get this....pulled himself out of the water onto the ledge!!!  I was dumbfounded.  There is nothing this kid is afraid of.  That's my boy!

Easter in the Park

Quinn spent Easter in the same park where he celebrated his first birthday.  He searched for eggs and candy with his friend Cole from the YMCA.  Cole is one of Quinn's favorite friends--and the two blue-eyed blondies looked adorable with their sticky fingers and blue tongues.  Quinn wore an outfit of Rich's from the '70's and it couldn't have been cuter.  Even his Godmother Mary and Godfather Goodie came for a bit.  It was a fun morning, especially for Quinn who seemed very satisfied with his first taste of jelly beans.

Thanksgiving Past

Both Thanksgiving 2010 and 2011 were spent with Granddaddy Jake and Omi in Colorado Springs.  We were grateful to be spending that time with family, and more grateful that Dr. Tim Hart, their neighbor and friend could be there, too.  Tim is really more like family to us all at this point, and he is one of the kindest most generous people I've ever known.  In anticipation of this great American Tradition, we took Quinn to his first pumpkin patch to take in some of the local festivities.  We went to Anderson Farms in Erie, Colorado, and had a great time!  I can really see this being an annual thing.  Part of the hayride takes you through a pumpkin patch where you may choose any pumpkins you like and just pay for them later.  They have gourds, too.  Well, the second we got off the wagon Quinn walked right over to the patch and found a gourd that he proceeded to guard with his life for the remainder of the day.  He dropped it and picked it up more times than I could count--but he was not going to lose that damn gourd!  It really was quite perfect, too--as you'll see from the picture.  We had such a fun day dragging him around in the buggy and showing him little animals to pet.  He became quite proficient at both spotting and identifying pumpkins on our daily walks, pointing to various porches and proclaiming "pahnkee" every time he saw one!

Halloween Past

Quinn was only a month old when his first Halloween (2010) rolled around, so needless to say, we didn't really do anything for him.  We just stayed home and handed out candy.  Originally, before I even gave birth,  I threatened Rich with dressing him up as a girl for halloween (pink tutu and everything) because I had wanted a girl so badly, but the minute he was born I knew he was exactly what I had always dreamed of inside and he was all boy!  I wouldn't dare pretend even for a second that my precious baby boy was a girl.  So, we didn't do much that night.  Halloween 2011 was quite different though because it was his first "real" halloween in that we celebrated it properly.  We found the perfect outfit for him: Winnie the Pooh!  It was perfect because Quinn has a life-size Winnie the Pooh bear that his Dad found at Babies R Us one day that wasn't even for sale but that Rich got them to sell us anyway.  The minute he saw it he wanted it for Quinn.  To date, it is the best purchase we've ever made because Quinn ADORES it!  I have video of him practically humping it!  Many mornings, he will go right over to Winnie and give him hugs and kisses and loves.  When we went out to trick-or-treat, we only went to about 4 houses right on our street and everyone just oohed and aahed at how cute he was bobbling around.  He picked it right up though--holding on to his little pail by the handle and wobbling up to each house and waiting for a bucket of treats to be handed to him--of which he would instantly stick his hand in and take a few out, tossing them into his own bucket.  He really had a great time but Rich and I had a better one watching our little guy go.

Our Sweet Boy

This morning Quinn wanted to play with his new blocks right after he had his milk and he did such a good job figuring out what "the other way around" meant right away.  He was so proud of himself and would hi-five me when he completed a set of 3 and placed them on the counter.  Later, when I was finishing changing his diaper, his head hit my eye and I cried out in pain.  He immediately hugged me to show his empathy.  Then, he pulled his head back, looked me in the eyes, and puckered his lips to kiss me.  Then he gently patted my head in the area he thought was injured.  He is truly such a gentle, kind, and compassionate little guy.  When I read him his Clifford the big red dog book, he always puts his face to the page when Clifford is crying.  He is trying to show support for Clifford.  He does this with a lot of his books now, kissing the character or putting his face to their face on the page to show he feels badly for them.  The women at the YMCA always said he would do this to the other children too when they were hurt or sick.  I remember one of the women telling me Quinn kissed his friend Brooke and "petted" her back when she was very sick and lying down on her blanket, and that this surprised her because he was much younger than a typical child would be to show this type of empathy (he was about 14 months)  OUR BOY!  So much sweetness...

Goobie Goobie Goo!

This is the song I always sing to you and is done in the tune of the Scooby Doo song: "Goobie goobie goo, you're so cute, and your Mommy loves you.  Daddy loves you too, yes it's true, Goobie Goobie Goobie!"  You laugh and giggle when, at the end, I say Goobiegoobiegoobiegoobie over and over.  You should know that Daddy coined the phrase Goobie Goo though.  It just seemed to fit.  Man, I love my little Goobie Goo. xo

More favorite photos

I am still figuring out how to do this blog and can't seem to get it right.  Still, one thing I can do is post photos, so below are a few more shots that I love.  One is of Quinn in the Baby Bjorn before one of our beloved walks, one is of him doing "tummy time" so I'd guess was about around 4 or 5 months old, and some others are shots with his Dad.  I just love the one on the couch with Quinn in the yellow sleep sack and the sun coming through.  Even with hair or teeth yet, not to mention words, you can see how happy and contented our little bunners is.