boys vs. girls

I never really put much stock in boys and girls being all that different.  I figured most of it was conditioning.  If all you bought your daughter was baby dolls and dress up clothes then of course that's what she'll play with.  Right?  Then I had a boy and a girl.  Quinn is like Godzilla and my house is Tokyo.  If it can be knocked over, thrown, pushed, hit, bitten, and generally destroyed it will be.  In fact, Quinn will dump out a tub of Lego's and gleefully spread them all over the house.  Then he'll pick them up and put them back in the tub just so he can dump them again.  He'll do this over and over - dump, spread, pick up, dump, spread, clean up- until I get fed up and wrestle the Lego's away from him.


I now know how football was developed.  It wasn't by a group of men sitting down to figure out a game.  A bunch of boys got together got a ball and started tackling.  When Quinn is trying to get Megan out of the way he'll drop his shoulder and go barrelling at her chest.  That's right my 16 month old instinctively knows how to tackle. 


Quinn will run up give you a big hug, lean back, smile then hit you.  Yup, that's my son.  Aggressor.  Here is what I imagine Quinn thinks-.  "I want that toy.  I think I'll hit you in the face to get it.  What I can't hit?  Oh, I'll bite you instead.  It's OK, I like biting better anyway.  WHAT???  I can't bite?  Now that is just completely unreasonable.  I'm going to throw myself on the floor and SCREAM like I've never screamed before.  Now repeat this 100x a day.  Reasonable yes?

Now I'm sure lots of things play a part in this - Quinn's a little brother.  Goodness knows Megan loves to push him down and grab his toy, or shove him out of the way so the boy had to learn how to stand up for himself whereas Megan didn't have any competition when she was a toddler.  He's a toddler.  Toddlers destroy.  It's not as if I haven't dealt with this before.  Megan was, and still is, aggressive. Yes she loves her babies, but she's usually wrestling with the boys at daycare.  But I swear Quinn is bringing it to a new level.  It'll be very interesting to see what skill my little lineman will develop as he grows up a bit. 

Christmas stuff

My mom and step dad came down to celebrate Christmas last weekend since mom has to work on Christmas Day. 

Quinn and Megan loved wearing Grammy's Christmas headband.  Q kept giggling whenever he had it on. 

 Not to be outdone Meg had to wear it too.  Like her outfit?  Can you tell she picked it out herself?

Grammy and Grandpa Tom got Megan a Dora sleeping bag.  And Meg decided to use it as a backpack.  Unfortunately, it's a little big and kept throwing her off balance.  On a side note, Meg loves the sleeping bag and has been sleeping on the floor in it since Sunday.

We went to a local church's tour of Bethlehem.  It was awesome.  They set up the gym as the actual village of Bethlehem.  There were people in costumes, a live nativity complete with animals, and lots of stations for the kids to do.  Here's Megan with the camel.  She kept everyone entertained because she was talking about how cute and cuddly the camel was.

 Megan after visiting the candle making station..  Notice the gold bag.  They filled the bag with gold

Augustus coins that could be used to buy different things people were selling to remind the kids of various traits of Jesus.  Shepperd's hooks, bread, grape juice, etc..  Meg was much more interested in the bag than in buying the trinkets.

Poor Quinn was strapped into the stroller for the trip.  Not very many things are ideal for a 15 month old to get out and run around.

Santa visit take 2

We had breakfast with Santa at a local church.   Here we are with a jolly elf.

This time the kids switched it up a bit.  Megan jumped right on Santa's lap and Quinn refused to go near him.  I couldn't even tempt him with a candy cane or his sippy cup. 

Voila - a picture were all of us are looking at the camera.  Enjoy these are hard to come by!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Christmas is almost upon us.  This year Megan is really into it this year.  She visited with Santa 2x and actually sat on his lap once which is a vast improvement from last year when she we had to use a wide angle lens to get her and Santa in the same shot.

 Grammy, Meg, Uncle Aaron, Nate and Quinn at Wickliffe's tree lighting ceremony.

 Quinn and Megan playing on the lawn at City Hall.

 A family photo.  Hey 3 out of the 4 of us are looking at the camera. 

 Mom's birthday wish was that Aaron, me and her get a photo with Santa.

 Quinn and me

 Grammy and Megan looking at the trains.

The first photo with the kids and Santa.  Quinn was willing to sit on Santa's lap here, but Megan refused.  Quinn refused when we had breakfast with him the next weekend, but Megan sat on his lap with no problems.  Maybe next year we'll get a shot with both kids sitting on Santa's lap? 

Halloween Extravaganza

We had a Halloween extravaganza this year.  We went to a Halloween party, trick or treated, went to Boo at the Zoo, and trunk or treated at church.  Whew... 

 Quinn was very interested in trying to carry the pumpkins around. 

 Meg decided since Quinn wouldn't trick or treat on his own she would do it for him.  I tried to get a picture of both of them, but it's seriously like trying to herd cats to get both of them to sit still long enough to get a good picture.

 Megan insisted hoarding the few pieces of candy she got at the zoo.

 Megan insisted we get our picture taken while sitting on the alligator.

 Hey.  You looking at me?

 My tired little pumpkin.

 Megan loving the manatees at the zoo.  The zookeepers gave them a pumpkin to play with and it was pretty neat to see the manatees playing with the pumpkins.

Trunk or treat!  A bunch of people decorated their cars and parked in the parking lot at church.  Kids went around and went trunk or treating getting candy.

Halloween -take 1

I took the kids to a Halloween party with my mom's club this evening.  We had a a great time - making a craft black cat, playing, eating (Quinn's favorite part), and ended with a costume parade.

 Megan as a lady bug.  A last minute change from her original choice of a bumble bee. 

Quinn the duck.  Despite having to cram him inside it I think it's adorable.

A Little Bit of This

 The kids at a church picnic.  Megan is pensive and Quinn happy and giggling.  That about sums their personalities up.

 Megan the dance class drop out.  I signed her up and she refused to participate-at all.  After a month of refusing we quit.  Oh well, at least I got my little girl in a  pink leotard and a pony tail picture.

 Quinn exploring the fall leaves.  He has become quite an interesting boy.  Happy, but man oh man does he seem to be developing a temper.  I'm secretly hoping it's a toddler thing and not a sign of Q's temperament.

Megan and her beloved swings.  The girl loves to swing.  "Watch me go higher, Mommy."