Quincy's World

Quincy had his “formal” 6-month photo taken up in Rochester last Wednesday – his actual 6-month birthday. As you may recall from an earlier post, the first photo shoot at a J.C. Penny did not go so well. We were determined to make this one work.

We drove up to the city nice and early, getting there around 9am. We went to Brueggers’s Bagel in order to feed Quincy and to get a bite to eat for ourselves. I was pleasantly surprised at how smoothly everything went. Dara had brought about 5 outfits for him just in case he developed a case of chronic vomitting – fortunately that did not happen.

We actually had to wait in the entryway of the J.C. Penny because it didn’t open until 10am, which was also the time of the appointment. There was one gentleman working, and unlike the last time, he was very competent and experienced. I was the designated holder for the poses when Quincy was sitting up. Dara was the designated smiler-getter. A lot of nice pictures were taken and we picked a variety for purchase. It was quite a contrast from his 3 month picture when he was not happy and would not smile. We will be heading back up to Rochester in early March to pick them up and then we’ll be taking orders. 🙂

Why is this post a day late? I have no idea. I think it might have something to do with the fact that I felt like I was trying to wade thru hip-high molasses. Besides, by waiting until today to write it up, I have a couple other things to add from this morning. On with the show…..

Quincy had his 6-month appointment yesterday. His actual 6-month birthday is next Wednesday, but we’ll be up in Rochester for most of the day doing errands and whatnot. We had the first appointment of the day (9am) – which is always nice at a doctor’s office. The people after us could just blame us for the wait. 🙂

Quincy’s updated stats are as follows: weight – 17 lb 9 oz, height – 27 inches. We knew he was getting pretty heavy. Dara had guessed 18 lbs, but, as you know, you lose if you go over the amount. Quincy is right where he needs to be on the growth curve. We were curious to know if he was getting enough to eat during the day. Well, we had nothing to worry about there – the doctor told us that Quincy was a “textbook baby” in that he was exactly where he needed to be at the 6-month mark – physically and socially.

Just like the last time, Quincy bounced back very quickly after having received multiple injections in his chubby thighs. He was a little more sleepy yesterday, but other than that, he was his normal self. Since Quincy is such a good eater and has had no allergic reactions, we can now jump up to the stage 2 foods and some other cereals.

I feel the need to insert a small rant here about baby food. Stage 1 food was cool. It was very easy to pick it out. You had your carrots, peas, bananas, etc. Nothing fancy – just the food and water. At what point in time did we decide that 6-month olds need to eat food that you’d find at 4-star restaurants? I went to the grocery store last night to get our food and stock up on some stage 2 for Quincy. I couldn’t believe the amount of different kinds of food and the combinations they put together. Quincy strongly dislikes fruit right now, so you would think that that would make my job easier with just having to pick out vegetables. Wrong. I was looking for single vegetables in the stage 2 because they are thicker. I wanted squash, sweet potatoes, etc. They were very hard to find. I had to push my way thru such jars as Duck with Mango Salsa and Chicken Kiev with Olives, just to find the “boring” kinds. I’m all for expanding Quincy’s palette, but, geez, can’t I just have normal food. Just because you can mix every food combination together doesn’t mean that you should. Would you eat sweet potatoes combined with beef jerky? I didn’t think so. Well, I managed to pick some jars up and explained to Dara that it was just information overload, and I couldn’t deal with all the varieties. I only hope Quincy enjoys his Tofu & Mashed Potatoes for lunch today. End rant.

Okay, I bought some new food for Quincy and a new box of cereal – oatmeal with bananas. Since he hates fruit by themselves, I figured that I could sneak it by him in the oatmeal. Turns out that I was correct – he ate a huge bowl of the cereal this morning. The consistancy is thicker with a slight sweetness as well.

Quincy has dropped his bedtime meal (8:30pm) and now heads to bed between 7pm and 7:30pm. He wakes up usually at 6am or so. Hmm, I guess that is why he naps a smidge less during the day. Last Friday night Quincy startled himself by rolling over in his crib and then could not roll himself back to his back. What would you do in that situation? That’s right – scream. So, since he can only roll in one direction, we have been putting him to sleep up closer to the side of the crib, so that he can’t roll over. That was working really well, until this morning. He somehow shimmied himself in his crib and flipped over. When Dara went in to feed him at 6am, he was sleeping on his stomach. I guess he realized that it really wasn’t that bad being on his tummy. Because of his rolling ability, we removed the bumpers to prevent any suffocation incidents.

One of best ways to get Quincy laughing is to strafe the dog. Eh, you say? Well, Quincy loves the dog. He loves to pet him and watch him walk around. After Quincy finishes a meal in his highchair, I pretend that he has to eject from it (since it is a 5-point harness). Once he is clear of his burning aircraft, we go in search of the dog. Ashby is usually blissfully sleeping in the living room – unaware of the approaching danger. I get Quincy into the appropriate airplane position and then we begin our strafing run. As Quincy goes buzzing by the dog, you can hear him laugh and giggle his head off. Ah, the simple pleasures of the 6-month old. Nice to see the dog earning his keep around here now, even if he is unaware that he is helping.

This concludes the 6-month post. I’m hoping to record some more audio soon, but he hasn’t been making many different sounds than what I have posted already.

Quincy’s toys had remained unmolested for a long time – until this morning. We had gotten lazy about putting everything away at night – mainly because Ashby had shown zero interest in Quincy’s stuff. If only we had remembered what happened when Ashby was a puppy…….{music plays and we fade to the past}……

The year was 1999 – Dara had just started her residency in Rochester and we had just gotten Ashby in July. He was a very cute puppy. We thought it would be cute for him to have a stuffed animal to play with.
As you can see, Ashby clearly has the bear’s arm in his mouth. This was not a good sign for things to come. Sad to say, but the bear did not survive the summer season on Raleigh Street. Plush things and Ashby don’t mix. Then again, paper products and Ashby don’t mix either. Anyone see where this might possibly be going? ……{fade back to now}……

We were all downstairs this morning and I noticed that Quincy’s Winnie the Pooh plush bear was not among his other toys, but, rather, was a little ways from them. I asked Dara how the bear got over there and that’s when I noticed the telltale sign of Toller slobber. Ashby also wanted to stymy us by shredding the tag so we couldn’t decipher the washing instructions. Fortunately for Pooh, the damage is minimal – I couldn’t find any missing parts. I think Ashby was giving him warning licks. So now, we will be putting all of Quincy’s toys away at night to avoid any further incidents.

So, Ryan & Debbie – fear not, Pooh will be back on his paws in no time. He just needs a good cleaning and a manicure to get back on track. I’ve included mug shots of Pooh to display his fur – it just looks like he has mousse in his fur.

Again, it has been a while since I have written anything here, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t new content on the site. I have added an ‘Audio’ section which contains 2 clips of Quincy playing and sounding off about it. I also add new stuff under the photos section from time to time, including the picture of the USS QAR. Let us not forget the weekly picture gets done every Monday as well. Okay, on with the post…..

Quincy continues to thrive on ‘solid’ food. He has eaten sweet potatoes, squash, carrots and green beans, with peas in the ondeck circle. He also chows down on a big bowl of rice cereal mixed with mom’s milk every morning. We’ll be starting him on stage 1 fruits towards the end of this month.

Quincy’s Ashby Awareness Level, the AAL, has gone up considerably. He used to not even notice when Ashby would walk by. Now, he likes to pet him and sit next to him. Ashby is the Quincy de-crankifier – works every time he is upset – just sit him down next to him and BAM the smile breaks out. So, Ashby has finally done something of worth for us. 🙂

Physically, Quincy is doing well. He likes to sit up (propped or guarded) to play with his toys. He is also showing alarming progress toward getting the crawling motion down. Right now he sort of does an inchworm kind of scoot. Fortunately, he only moves about 0.00001 inches at a time. It is only a matter of time. When he starts doing that, I just flip him over onto his back – mwah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

Socially, Quincy is very inquisitive about people. He loves to go to church and look at all the people. He is very reserved and doesn’t readily smile for people he is unfamiliar with. Plus, church usually occurs right around naptime – so not his best moment for being in the mood for small talk.

The warm weather last week afforded me the opportunity to take Quincy outside for walks on four different days. He likes feeling the fresh air in his face and he likes to watch Ashby walk on his leash. In fact, Quincy was laughing at Ashby on one walk!

I took this photo of Quincy this morning while he was playing in his Baby Einstein exersaucer. He used to not do much in it when we first got it, but now he really enjoys playing with most of the items on it. It is very convenient in the early AM when Dara and I are both trying to eat and get things done.

Offhand, I can’t think of any more pertinent information to pass along right now. Quincy’s 6 month appointment is on February 8th – so a week before his actually birthday. When we get the stats, we’ll pass them along to you.