Daddy at The Doctor

We begin this story on Saturday night. Quinten was tucked in tightly and snoozing away. Mom and Dad were enjoying our "us" time watching some t.v. and relaxing. Its around 9pm and suddenly my husband begins having what I can only describe as a conniption fit! He was shaking his head and smaking at his ear. I sat in confusion while he jumped around like a crazy man, I kept asking what was going on and he finally shouts "something flew in my ear!!!" He bolts to the bathroom to try and get whatever flew in, out. He came out a few minutes later still shaking his head stating "its still in there, I know it is." We tried everything to get it out, Q-tips, hydrogen peroxide, water, bulb syringe... everything... and nothing! So for the next day and a half randomly through the day he would shake his head and say " its so in there, I know its in there!" Of course I'm sympathetic ( yet a little skeptical that after all we did something was still in there) we were thinking of going to the doctor when we remembered that Monday was Quintens appointment to get some shots, (we altered his schedule from the CDC schedule so we go every month). So we thought maybe the doctor can take a peak in there and tell me if there is something in there....

So now I take you to this morning, 11:00am and the nurse comes in to give Q his shots. He takes it pretty well, one of the 2 stings pretty bad but he was a tuff guy (side note he is now 27" long and 18.2 lbs). After the shots were given we talked to the nurse for a minute about work and all that madness, and I go "babe did you want to ask her?" and he says "oh YA! so a bug flew in my ear Saturday night, can you please look in there and tell me if its still in there?" she kind of chuckles and then gets out her ear thingy, places it to his ear, and then screaches "OH MY GOD there is a bug in there!" Shannon immediately panics and goes "you're freaking me out!" the nurse looks at me and asks "do you want to see it?!" of course I do!! So I peak in there anddd OH MY GOD there is a fly in there!! The nurse is so wigged out and goes "can I go get another nurse she has to see this!" we are all around the same age and so by this time its like a science project more than a medical thing. She comes in and it all starts over again with the amazement and giggling. After some talking over they decide they can try and flush it out... figures the ONE day I don't bring my camera, so you'll have to excuse the quality of these photos they were taken with Shannon's phone (little busted up). Shannon being a big boy at the Pediatrician

So as the nurse drowns his ear it begins to emerge.. and guess what it was a mosquito!!

We all laughed and joked, it was a great way to end a shot visit! And they even gave us the little booger to take as a souvenir! It was a hysterical visit to the doctor and thanks ladies you saved us like $200 bucks for a visit to the ear/nose/throat specialist! What a day!

Oh Sunshine!

It was a wonderfully beautiful weekend here on the California coast! Before we ventured into the wonderful weekend (that as usual went far too fast) we got to try out our new toy thanks to Grandma... our Jumparoo! Our little man was enthralled with the new lights, sounds, songs, and toys. I know that our place isn't very big, but with every new toy our space gets more and more cramped. It is beginning to look like Babies R Us threw up in our living room! A few photos of our good time:

Later that evening Q was getting a little tired, but it was too early for bath and bedtime so we put him back in his jumparoo to keep him preoccupied until it was bedtime.

Ya, that didn't work. This was the first time he's fallen asleep in mid-well mid-anything.

Shannon and I could hardly contain ourselves when within moments of fun playtime we looked back and he was passed out - and still holding on! Oh what a guy!

Shannon and I knew we were going to be having some visitors on Sunday so we decided to "celebrate" Valentines day on Saturday with a family trip to the beach. I have a love/dislike relationship with Valentines day. Its a strange day if you really think about it. We have to make a holiday so people remember to show love to their loved ones? Really its a holiday to make single people feel bad, and for couples to have to go spend money. But on the other hand its a day you can be sappy and romantic and get away with it because its V-day! So we took advantage of the abundant sunshine and coast line and drove up to the beach for Quintens first trip to the beach. He loved it! And so did we. We walked along the water with the sand at our feet and each other by our sides. It was wonderful, beautiful, fabulous. If it weren't for our growling tummies we probably would have stayed allllll day!

We then ventured to Grandpa's house for lunch while Grandma drove home from Las Vegas. They had a blast playing for a while.

The day was great. It was such a fun family day. Its amazing to have my own family now. And crazy all at one time. I just stand back and look in awe that all that I am blessed with. I love my boys so very very much.

Sunday was great as well. We agreed no gifts this year to save money. I stuck to it and made Shannon a cute card, he on the other hand did not, he got me a new kitchen fairy to add to my collection :) and a beautiful card. We then had visitors later that day, our friends the Chappells came for a visit. The boys did better this time. We laid them on the ground to play and Quinten almost rolled from back to belly to go get him! A lot has changed since last Valentines day when we had just recently found out we were having Quinten. **sigh** I love my life :)

5 Months Old

5 months ago today Quinten Thomas arrived in our arms. The most wonderful day that Shannon and I have shared (besides our wedding of course). I can't believe how fast these past 5 months have gone. The trials and tribulations have only made Shannon and I stronger as people, and as a couple. I never realized how close having a child would bring us. I love him more everyday and just adore watching him grow closer and closer with his son. As any human would do I look back and think "would I do anything different" from the birth to now, the answer is no. Being a parent is a huge game of trial and error, the biggest lesson is to never stop trying. They say you can't understand a parents love until you are a parent yourself, and whoever 'they' is couldn't have been more right! I now know why when I was late for my curfew and didn't answer my phone right away it sent my father into an instant state of panic. I look forward to they years to come, but they come with some anxiety as well. I only want the best for our son, and hope that he wants only the best for himself. I know that Shannon and I will make a good team and strive to be the best, most supportive and loving parents we possibly can. And with strength, endurance, selflessness and of course prayer and know we can achieve it! I know that 5 months isn't a "milestone" like 6 months or a year. But really everyday is a milestone and I just wanted share a journey thus far of parenting this wonderful little guy!

Birthday September 10th 2009

5 Months Old Today!!

February!?

Is anyone else completely mind boggled that it is already February?? I myself am in total disbelief. It seems that every time I turn around, I'm turing the calender to a new month... what is that?? Come on life slow down, just a little. Quinten will be 5 months on Tuesday, which means in one month from then he will be 6 months old, and 6 months from one year. AAAAHHH!

The Cowans have had a fun filled and busy week. Last weekend went by in a flash. We celebrated my Grandma's 80th birthday on Sunday and on Saturday I made my first cake in quite a while! I had a great time using my creativity in a different way than thinking of new goofy faces to make the baby laugh. It was also entertaining to watch daddy go completely stir crazy and mutter a half a dozen times "I don't know how you do this all day" :) he really really enjoyed spending the day with his son, and soon realized keeping him preoccupied all day isn't an easy task. The 9-4 process of making the cake...

Daddy keeping Quinten busy

Sunday was the party and what a great time it was. Weird of course because someone was obviously missing (Grampy), but I'm glad to see she is enjoying life that she still has. It was a fun bbq filled with sea food, family, cake, and presents. Mom still isn't eating dairy, ever since the last try I'm a little nervous. The only upside to it is that the pregnancy weight really fell right off, other than that it sucks! We may try some more this weekend now that he's mellowed out again and see how it goes.

Quinten has still been on a rolling over strike. Tummy time is more successful, he stays for much longer periods of time and can scoot himself in about a 90 degree circle.

I've tried placing a toy out of his reach so he'll roll to get it, haha right! He's just fine looking at it, talking to it, squawking at it, but going to get it just doesn't seem to be of interest. I'm not worried about it, I figure the longer he is not mobile the easier right? He really looks like he's going from back to belly first, I guess we just like to take a little different route than all the other kids. Just like his folks he doesn't want to be like anyone else! He has taken a liking to checkin himself out in the mirror and laughing and talking up a storm while doing it. He loves to interact with people and just loves to smile and laugh. What a fun little man he's becoming. He for sure shows signs of a little temper, soooo we'll see what is to come of that (hopefully not much!) Next up is getting a jumper, and a high chair. Within the next couple of months we'll be eating some food food which will be entertaining for sure.

Tomorrow is the SuperBowl. I can't believe how quickly the season went. Considering the first football game played while we were in the hospital with Q its easy to see why. Last game of the season tomorrow, I'm sure daddy and son will have a great time!

RainFall

Well we officially survived our very first winter storm!

Mom successfully went through the storm without turning completely nutty! Rain is just about my favorite mother nature show, but with a new little one it is a little more inconvenient than usual. Loading the car, avoiding the puddles, covering the car seat and screaming at every idiot who can't drive in the rain - don't you KNOW I have a baby in the car-! All in all it was fabulous. One whole week of wind and rain, oh I love that sound. And the best part of all is that first burst of sunshine that makes everything glow and smell oh-so-delicious! As you can imagine things have been fairly uneventful. We did have a family dinner at Shannon's brothers house for his girlfriends birthday which was fun! Her brother cooked one fancy 3 course meal. I tried dairy for the first time in 3 months. Quinten seemed to be sensitive to it around 4 weeks old, so I eliminated it from my diet (oh not fun). We're still unsure if it was that, the tomato sauce, the tangerines or what but he was a little fussier. Cut it all back out and now we're a happy camper again. We will be re-introducing it all ONE at a time here soon.

**BIG NEWS ALERT** It was mid-afternoon one stormy stormy day. Mama placed Quinten on the much dreaded tummy time...and... BAM he rolled over! Just like that! No practice, no getting stuck, nothing, just woop we rolled over. And now one week later we have not done it sense! I know we will do it again... but daddy missed it and I feel horrible! I can't wait for him to do it again (and hopefully in front of dad!)

Quinten is also officially 100% in his very own crib!! Its been a week and a half and he loves it! Our packandplay is broken down and our room is back in order. So nice to have a night stand again. I do miss having him next to me, but I'm so proud and so relieved that he is transitioned. He wakes up in just the best mood. Shannon and I will lay in bed and just listen to him talking and cooing until we race in there to be the first to peak over the crib! Bliss I tell you, just bliss!

The Cowan household is enjoying the sunshine, and looking forward to this weekend. We have a date-night and a birthday party, and mommy is going to make a cake after a very long break! Super excited!!

Mommy also discovered a new baby off switch... the fish tank! We noticed him cranking his neck on his play gym trying to look at it, so I laid him on the bank of the chase lounge and wala! Baby off switch....

A little play time with daddy always makes us smile...

And then we relax with a good book :)

Growing Growing Growing

Mr Quinten had his 4 month doctors visit today! He is doing fabulous growing like a little weed! He is now 16lbs 5 1/2 oz (75th %) and 25" long (50th %). I am just loving our pediatrician. You can tell that she is doing her job because she loves kids, not for some form of status or financial gain. Shannon and I decided that we were going to steer from the CDC schedule of vaccines and she was more than happy to comply. Mommy and son will have to make more frequent visits to the doc to keep somewhat current but I am more than willing to do that so that he isn't getting 4 shots at one time!! So today we only had to get 1 and he was a strong little trooper! He hardly fussed at all. In other baby news, he has now spent the last 4 nights in his crib!! I can't believe it. It was for sure strange not having him next to us, daddy took it harder than mommy. The first night he got up several times to check on him (while mommy only got up once or twice) :). Shannon and I have stayed strong with our goal of keeping our bed our bed. We have felt that in keeping our marriage strong that our bed needs to be our escape. And we just know that would be one habit too hard to break and before we know it there would be a 3 year old in our bed :) haha! So far so good, he adjusted very well to sleeping on his own in the crib and continues to sleep through the night! Woohoo! He is really in his observant phase which makes feeding a little more tricky and time consuming. Daddy is the biggest distraction, he (Quinten) just loves to talk to him (daddy). It is more than adorable, but like I said before a 20 minute feeding quickly becomes 45 minutes when he wants to talk to dad every 2! He is getting his motor skills down well! Loves grabbing at all his toys and is starting to try and find his feet! The doc after watching him says he is for sure in the beginning stages of teething so we'll see when that first tooth decides to pop through! Our next investment is his high chair and around about 6 months we're going to try our first real food feeding. At his weight... no need to rush :)

Sleepy time with daddy

Waking up in a wonderful mood the first morning in his big boy crib!!

Bath, bottle, and out we go!

We have now discovered out tongue! And my how we love to play with it. He gets it from daddy's side of the family :)

When You're Having a Bad Day

Yesterday was what I like to call a "rougher day" Quinten we believe is in the early stages of teething. He has mastered the skill of fist munching and has attempted several times to fit both in his mouth (unsuccessfully)! He was much more clingy and fussy which means mom doesn't get a whole lot done. Really its no big deal and I love spending the time with him I know wont last forever. With how fast time is going before we know it he'll be asking for the car keys and telling me to butt out! With all that we are hearing of the devastation in Haiti, and the story I heard this morning its got me thinking about how lucky I really am. There really never is a day that goes by that I don't think I'm the luckiest girl. I have a loving, wonderful husband, and beautiful healthy baby boy, and wonderful family that- in fact- the biggest problem is that they don't get to see us enough! But as I sat in tears this morning reading this website I was once again reminded of how truly blessed we are, and how fast everything can change! I was checking up on Facebook and an old friend had a link to a site on his update prayforkate.com really I wouldn't read it unless you want a good cry! In short its about a little 5 year old girl who is sick. I couldn't even finish reading it without picking my little guy up and smothering him with love! We all have bad days, and it is our human nature to dwell in it for a moment. But its how long we dwell in it that says a lot about who we are. Learning to pick yourself up and be thankful for what is going right is a battle we'll all fight until the end I'm sure. But knowing that, at any moment SLO county could have 'the big one' or that our health is no guarantee really makes you appreciate what you have. So next time you're having a bad day, sulk for a moment (only a moment) take a deep breath, and look around at all you have, all the blessings you've been gifted. The more you do it the easier it will become. I'm going to work on it, I'll let you know how it all goes :)

The face that makes us smile every day!