iron pigs!

today we took a day trip out to allentown to see the lehigh valley iron pigs, the aaa affiliate of our very own phillies. we went with the norcross gang, and with 4 kids under 4, it's a miracle we did not get kicked out of the place. i may have seen like 15 pitches. otherwise there was always a child to entertain, feed, etc. still fun though! it's a very nice stadium and it was packed, at least compared to what i was used to with the richmond braves!

before anyone starts complaining about the kids' outfits, note the hat.

pickle and an enormous bat. Q would not go near it, in fear it would topple over on him.

sullen Q. how dare you ask me to pose next to this towering death trap??

just hamming it up (get it? iron pigs? yeah. i went there.)

they had a playground. caroline ran right in. it took Q some time to recover from the giant bat episode, but eventually he was the playground maniac we know and love.

showing off his rock wall skills, presumably learned at school, where they have a rock wall in the gym

i think caroline was pushing past kids 2 and 3 times her size to get around the jungle gym.

about to attempt the wiffle ball challenge

best buds

pickle's turn

what a bunch of pigs!

ginny doesn't care. she has corn.

despite sampling most of the available concessions, Q was not happy if he didn't have exactly what lilly had.

caroline ate everything. here she is suckering lilly out of some chips.

awwww. they must love that caroline.

getting ready to run the bases at the end of the game

and they're off!

lilly with a sizable lead

as he approached home plate, i guess Q decided he wasn't ready for it to be over, because he veered across the infield and headed back up the first base line. the staff was there to get him going back in the right direction.

after running the bases, Q kept moping, "i didn't win the race." don't know who he was racing. but it was darn cute,

quotable quentin

Q, on not being able to poop on the potty tonight:

"there's no poop in me. we have to go get some. at the store."

improm-poo

school was closed yesterday for an inservice day so the kids were here while i attempted to "work" from home. i was in the kitchen putting lunch together and Q came running in, exclaiming, "i went poop on the potty!" ever doubtful, i went to check it out and sure enough, he had indeed pooped on the potty. it's amazing that he actually did it, but especially since it involved absolutely no prompting, pleading, begging, or nagging on my part.

oh to be two

when 6 inches of cold hose water in a dirty plastic pool was awesome. every time she goes down the slide, she does the sign for "more" and heads right back up for another turn.

interesting new excuse

Q has a funny new rebuttal...

he wore this HOTT tank-top as part of his jammies the other night (it has an excavator on it!) the next morning he refused to change into a new shirt for school, saying, "i have to wear this shirt, mommy. miss sarah loves it. it's her favorite." it was so darn cute i let him keep the tank top on!

but then today, he tried to use it on me in a store, after i declined his one-millionth request for me to get him something, saying that miss sarah loves these toys, and these bubbles, and that candy. nice try buddy!

oh the sweetness

i picked Q up from school first today. he was super anxious to go, barely even waiting for me to pack up his stuff. as he was running down the hall towards pickle's classroom, he shouted back at me, "mommy hurry. i miss my sister!"

look ma! no cavities!

quentin had his very first dentist appointment this morning.  i was thinking of a normal dental exam, with all the tools and stuff.  it was really more of a tooth-brushing by someone other than us.  he was afraid of the spinny toothbrusher, so they just used a regular old toothbrush.  but no cavities.  and even better, no tears.  i think the copious prizes he earned during the whole 20-minute ordeal helped!  and the fact that they were playing lightning mcqueen.

glimmer of memory

a few weeks ago we got a wonderful surprise in the mail… a DVD of photos from Q's oldMassachusetts daycare.  i had Q sit on my lap to watch it.  he had this weird look of partial recognition on his face, but every time i asked him if he remembered his old friends he said no.  i pointed out the pictures of him too, and he kept saying, "that not quentin!"  but then, the photos of one of his last days there came up.  the fire truck had come to visit.  all of a sudden you could see it in his face.  he totally remembered.  he said, "i was afraid of the water" when looking at a photo of the fire hose.  he pointed out his friends in the photos and then started asking when we would go play with them again.  mrow.

un-pee-lievable

i almost forgot with all the monster jam excitement yesterday... i took caroline to her gym class yesterday morning. in the middle of class she grabbed the front of her diaper. i asked her if she had to go potty and she bolted for the restroom. once inside, without any prompting from me (i was still shutting and locking the door) she had the potty seat off the hook on the wall and on to the toilet and was trying to pull down her skirt. i stripped off her diaper for her and she dribbled a little bit of pee... into the potty!!! she is so going to beat Q.

monsterly love

yesterday we took Q to monster jam (yes, again.) this one was a real show with a dozen trucks and the actual big-name drivers. it's actually part of their "season" and will be broadcast on the speed channel at some point. we bought tickets the day they went on sale back in october. to say that we were excited about this would be an understatement. with caroline safely with friends, we journeyed to "the eagles" (lincoln financial field) for the greatest night of Q's life to date. we started with the "party in the pits". the lines to meet the drivers were crazy long so we didn't do those, choosing to instead take photos on the backside of the trucks. Q had fallen asleep in the car so he was a little mellow at first but the excitement soon kicked in and he was bouncing around (could have been the giant cotton candy he consumed though.) the show itself was awesome. good racing. awesome freestyle. and we got to see our first real wrecks. considering the fact that he didn't stop talking about it all day today (and refused to change out of the grave digger shirt he wore to the show and also slept in) i'd say he had a good time. he's already asking when we can go again. (they are in baltimore on july 9th... hmmm.)

monster mutt!

the cute

froggy friends

i was emailing with a coworker earlier.  she and i started at the same time and were in the same orientation class last month.  yesterday i realized that her son is in Q's class.  this was our exchange:

 

Me: How has your first month been?  I think one of your boys is in my son's class!

 

Her: My first month was great…thanks :) Are you Quentin's mom?

 

Me: Yup :)

 

Her: My boys just started school last week.  The very first day Kareem came home, he told me that Quentin was his best friend and he loved Quentin more than he loved me!  It's funny how kids can bond so much and so fast :)  The past week he kept telling me Quentin this and Quentin that.  I doubt if he ever plays with other kids in his class :)

 

how adorable is that??  it's really funny to me because Q is a bit shy and reserved with other kids.  and he's so independent – he is totally ok with playing in the corner by himself in his own little world.  i wonder if that makes him more approachable to the new kids, because this is not the first time i have heard this same story from other parents.

i not quinny

amazingly, Q is not the only Q in his class. he also has a friend named quinn, who too has unruly blond hair, the same lands end tote bag embroidered with his name, and in the winter, the same blue down coat. their birthdays are also only 5 days apart.

so much for going for a unique initial.

but anyway, a lot of the other kids, especially when they're new, get quentin and quinny confused. it drives my Q crazy. when we were leaving today, a new friend who just moved here from new york kept calling him quinny. you could practically see the smoke coming from Q's ears, as he crossed his arms, stomped his foot down, and pouted, "i NOT quinny."

sister is a turtle!

in the car on the way to school today, we were discussing caroline's impending graduation.  quentin grew increasingly agitated as we discussed how she'll be a heron now.  he declared that he wants to be a heron too.  when i told him he couldn't be a heron he said that caroline couldn't be one either.  when we walked into the lobby at school, the office folks said hi to him but instead of saying hi back, he cried adamantly, "sister is a turtle!"