Where did the last 8 months go?

Here is a picture that illustrates where the last 8 months went. It is really amazing.

Quinn is so observant. She realized that someone in our house needs to be able to paint, and since MJ can't live at our house then Quinn is going to step up!! Don't worry little Quinn there are still lots of walls with base white on them!!

Santa is coming! Santa is coming

So it seems we are in the enjoyable time between teeth. Quinn's appetite has returned to normal and the cold it gone. We really savour these times because we know it is just a matter of time before another little bugger shows up in her mouth.

As we gear up for little Quinn's first Christmas we are resisting the urge to get her all kinds of unnecessary items. We have to remind ourselves that she is only 9 months and we will probably need use of those funds in the years to come!

Quinn continues to work on her "Who the hell are you?" look everywhere we go. It is rather funny to us. We figure she must get that look because her parents are always so silly around her. We guess she figures there should be at least one serious person in the household.

I am sure that Santa will be very good to her. She will actually have her first chance to meet Santa very soon and we all know what kind of face she is going to give him.

Here is a picture of Quinn showing us her musical ability.

Teeth and Colds

Quinn has received her 8th tooth. It is in it's final stages of making the push through. By our calculations that is her 8th tooth before her 9th birthday. Or if we look at it a different way, it is her 8th tooth in 4 months (she got her first tooth after her 4 month birthday). Along the way we have noticed some crazy patterns that foreshadow the arrival of those little white devils. It seems that every second tooth Quinn gets a cold. She is now working on her 4th cold. We also know that her appetite drops quite a bit when they are coming. Finally we notice that sleep becomes erratic. It is quite humorous. As soon as Quinn gets the sniffles we immediately start fishing around her mouth looking for the impending tooth. Invariably we always find one.

We are always really impressed with how well Quinn deals with colds. She has her moments but is sure a trooper. She continues with the smiles and giggles in between sneezes and a running nose. As you can see in the picture below, her eyes says "I'M SICK", but her smiles says "I'M CUTE". I guess she has had enough practice that she knows the routine as well.

Last weekend we finally made the plunge to get car seats for our little monkey. It is probably overdue, we don't think the infant seat is supposed to have the kids feet dangling over the edge like that. A couple of times we might have inadvertently given her little tootsies a knock when carrying the seat. It is going to be a bit of adjustment not to have the infant seat around. We are either going to have to carry her or take the stroller. We are mostly going to go with the stroller option because she isn't as light as she used to be. It was sure nice to have her nap in the restaurant in the infant seat while we had a meal. Hopefully it is possible for kids to sleep in a high chair.

The kids at the Santa Clause Parade!

Here are the McLean girls and Quinn at the Santa Clause Parade.

This is picture of Quinn sleeping on the subway home. Santa puckered her out.

Santa Clause Parade!

This has now become an annual event for us to go down to the Toronto Santa Clause Parade. This is the 3rd year that we have gone and obviously the first year for Quinn. This yearly tradition was because of the McLean family in London. Dan and Nicole started bringing their family down and we decided we would join them. It makes for some interesting events every year. Always a lot of fun.

This year we bundled Quinn up with 2 pairs of pants, 2 shirts, a jacket and a hat. We also had a snowsuit as a back up. We left the house nice and early and got to the subway station about 2 hours or so before the parade and there already was a line up for the subway starting. We maneuvered the stroller down various hallways and areas to find the necessary ramps/elevators. Then got on the subway and we were off. It was Quinn's first subway ride and she maintained the same face that she usually gets when she is in an elevator or for that fact seeing anything new.... "What the heck have you two got me into this time". We had a strange guy sit right next to us which is pretty much the status quo when you are on the subway for longer than about 3 stops.

We got to our stop, made our way off and surprisingly it wasn't as crazy as we thought it would be. It was definitely busy but not that bad, probably because it was still 1.5 hrs from the start of the parade. We met the McLean's, headed up to street level and got our spots. Several people crossed the road and not sure if Brenda had a big sign on her but they always tried to get through where she was standing and use the stroller for support. Not sure what people are thinking when they do stupid things like that. Finally after a mild body check to some old guy we cut the passage off. Quinn was enjoying looking at all the people and we know she was really happy that her parents bundled her up.

The parade was great, lots of candy and chocolate being thrown out, we had a great spot right near the Tim Horton's. Lots of great floats. Quinn slept for a lot of the parade but we managed to keep her in the spirit as in the picture below.

The parade was way too long. It totalled almost 2.5 hours. With kids that is about 1 hour too long. The weather was great. Past years have really pushed our fortitude on making it an annual event but this year it was sunny and only a bit cold but not bad at all. Quinn slept for a lot of it and then when Santa finally made his appearance we tried to get her up but she was way too tired as you can see by the family photo below. Once Santa is past you it is time to head home. We got on the elevator, back down to the subway and back home. All in all a great day out for Quinn's first Santa Clause Parade.

Quinn's First Halloween

Quinn's Halloween pictures are posted at:

www.brelan.ca

They grow up so fast...

Quinn continues to get more and more stability as she grows and starts to really explore her world. When we looked at the picture below we couldn't believe how much she has grown. It really is quite amazing. It gives us a little glimpse of what she is going to look like as a toddler running around.

Out Little Pumpkin

With Halloween fast approaching Quinn decided to go out into the pumpkins to get her first real taste of Halloween when we visited Downey's market. It is funny that next year we will probably be running after her all over the place.

Quinn just gave birth to her 6th tooth! The last 2 teeth have the greatest comparison. The 5th tooth was by far the worst one of the bunch and conversely the 6th one was probably the easiest. Either way she had her moments but all in all took it very well.

Because we felt left out of all the teething issues that Quinn was having we both decided to feel the need to have some of our own oral issues that require dentist attention. We didn't take it as well as Quinn did!

Quinn still hasn't figured out how much fun splashing water is, or she just really doesn't care. In the bath and at swimming she seems to be just trying to figure things out instead of trying to get as many people as she can wet. I guess we should be thankful. She does have her own "Quigs Look". It isn't so much of a "I'm pissed at you" look but more of a "Who the hell are you" look. She seems to save her smiles for only special people. So you all should consider yourself extremely lucky if you have had the chance to experience it!

With Halloween coming up we have to plan our candy purchases with better forecasting. A couple years ago we were way off and the split was: 50% trick or treaters and 50% us. We will hopefully slant that way more in the favour of the kids this year!