The Quinlan Boys: Popular Guy

Owen is one popular guy. We attended three holiday parties this weekend--only one of which we would have been invited to pre-Owen. Seriously, this dude gets some invites. The only bad part is that O's new bedtime that he set himself is 6:30 PM. His parties all interfered with bedtime, and this guy will not make up for it in the morning...he gets up at 6:45 no matter what time his little self hits the sack. Poor guy--he will probably be glad to get some sleep this week!

Friday night--ready to party with Team Bryant and Team Love--Daddy Q's primary teams at work. O and Dillon where the only babies, so they got loads of attention--D more than O--its rough getting older, huh champ?

My new nickname for O is Rascal Q. This guy is into EVERYthing. Seriously. His two favs are the measuring cups--they are steel and make really beautiful music when they are ever so gently tapped together. And, the nice, sweet song that O made up to go with his new music is delightful. I do hope you read that with sarcasm--it is the loudest one-man-kitchen parade in town. I wouldn't trade it for the world, but man, this guy can make some noise.

Saturday night, O went to the coolest Holiday party EVER!! Madeline really must have been good this year, because Frosty greeted the kiddos at the door with a lollipop. Then, they got to decorate these insanely cool gingerbread houses, and last--and most awesome--Santa showed up to give each kiddo a gift and to read them a story. Wow!!! Thanks for having us over Maddy! That was one awesome party! Jeff--if you send me the photo of them with Frosty, I would love to post it--it was cute--(Maddy is a kindergartner and has a special bond with O (see here). She wanted him in the pic with Frosty and her two other friends). Even though this was O's 3rd time with Santa, he wasn't all too excited to sit there sans mommy. So, now we have a 2nd photo of O, Santa, AND Me.

Last, but not least, we had a neighborhood playgroup potluck at the house tonight. O entertained an older crowd tonight (mostly 2 year olds). Fortunately, Mr. N showed up, so O had a close friend to make it less overwhelming. We had a great time, but as a hostess--I ended up with ZERO photos. The night ended with a hayride through the neighborhood for all of the kiddos. So fun!!!

On a side note, I was asked my Owen's Mimi to take their photos for Christmas cards. I think they turned out great--hope you all are happy with them! Mimi takes care of Owen on the days that I work, and the two girls babysit him if Daddy Q and I have a date. We are so grateful for this family!

Random walking note.

This shot below was taken on August 1st. This is one of the first times that O was able to pull himself up to standing.

Here he is on October 30th--these are the first few days that he was brave enough to take solo steps. And..he still looks like a baby to me.

Here he is in November 23rd--a full-blown walker. Three and a half months to get from pulling up to walking. I cannot beleive that. What an amazing accomplishment. Babies learn and do and master so much in such a short time. It really is astonishing. In this photo, he is still kinda babyish, but leaning closer to looking like a toddler.