Talent show

At this point, I'm wondering if there's anything these boys can't do.

First Keaton: Crawl? Check. Climb? Check. Squawk like a bird? Youbetcha. Cute? Of course.

Now Quinn: Dance? Naturally. Sing? Like no other. Hunt for Easter eggs? Gleefully. Play trombone? Are you kidding? Better than his Dad.

In case you don't take our word for it, here's the video evidence.

Sunday Drive

Keaton has been spotted out & about lately in his sporty new red plastic car with the snazzy dad handle. He likes it, dad likes it, what's not to like about it? He's been seen getting the mail in it, spotting ducks and touring the neighborhood. We got word it needs to go back to the shop for some work, so we'll have to get it in soon.

In other news our little big man has been pulling himself up to things and standing for short periods of time. He likes his big brother's train table and I caught him standing up next to it this evening tearing it all apart to get to another piece of the track that was out of his reach. He's a wily little fella who seems to be a bit mischievous and jumps with a start if you catch him doing something he probably shouldn't be doing.



Quinn is becoming the big helper around the house, whether it's gardening, or sweeping the back porch. He may not be perfect yet, but at least he tries.

We visited a pre-school last week where we hope he can go in the fall. He watched as the kids sang songs and did their daily jobs. He joined in on the fun when it was free-play time and it was hard to tear him away. He was a little wary about going to "school" but I think he'll fit right in come September.

Bugs and Teeth

Our littlest member has been a fussbudget recently. Don't dare put him down to play or you will receive his wrath, usually just crying and crawling as fast as his arm will drag him to get to you, making you feel just guilty enough to pick him back up.

After another unsuccessful day of trying to get him to nap, a light bulb went on in my head. Hmmm, maybe he's getting teeth. Maybe is an understatement. I can say that literally overnight -- OK, could have been a few nights -- Keaton has 3 new teeth. Three! He's growing them like beans in there.



Meanwhile Quinn has a new found love for all things relating to bugs. Mostly he likes to try and find them and then stomp on them for all he's worth. Last Saturday we all spent the morning outside doing yard work, dad doing the heaving lifting of mossy brick, mom digging up weeds and tulips and Quinn digging for worms which he would study for about 5 seconds before bringing down his foot several times on it making it fertilizer. Today he was hanging out behind the blinds, Handy Manny flashlight in hand looking at a "mysterious bug" he told me later. Well he is definitely a boy!

Keaton, other than sprouting teeth, is "talking" more these days, although he is pretty quiet about it. He's formed an attachment to a bear that has been in his crib since he was newborn and hangs onto it when he's trying to get comfortable. Mom wants to replace it with a bear that will stand the test of time. But I'm getting opposition from Dad and probably would from Keaton too. So we'll see.

As a sports-loving dad, it's hard not to push your kids into being athletes.

Sure, Quinn's got a great throwing arm (righty, though I'm encouraging lefty), can hit a baseball (to all fields, no less), and is a natural soccer player (uses both feet, with power and control).

But there's more to life than athletic prowess, right?

That's why we're encouraging the boys' artistic side. As you can see above, Quinn is becoming an accomplished painter. He even describes himself as an artist. Just the other day, his smattering of paint on paper was deemed good enough to hang in a gallery (and by gallery, I mean my cubicle at the office), where it received rave reviews.

Keaton may be too young for sports (built like a linebacker; early signs of a killer pitching arm), he has his own artistic talent: stand-up comedy. He loves to sit on the floor, stare up at you with a goofy grin and make a stacatto-like sound: "ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ahhhhh."

He'll be here all week, folks. Try the veal.

A pair of lions

Keaton can't talk and barely moves. Quinn never stops talking and can't sit still.

Yet somehow, the Cap'n and Skipper have developed a mutual form of communication. Call it guttural. Call it primal. Call it a growl, because that's what it is.

These brothers are enjoying playing the role of dinosaurs, roaming treacherous landscape within Keaton's 6-foot-wide radius of movement. Or they're pirates, traversing the ocean in search of burying treasure at the bottom of the toy box.

Decide for yourself. Here's some photographic evidence.

Natural evolution

Keaton is leaving his turtle stage, where he lays on his back and occasionally rolls over. He sits up now, although with Mommy and Daddy or his baby chair as a prop. But it's still sitting up, which is more than we could claim last week.

This is where it starts to get fun, not that it wasn't fun before.

He's still a baby, and will be for a long time, but he's advancing to a stage where he feels more like a little boy. Keaton will sit in his little Bumbo chair, fully supported, and dig into a box full of baby toys. Across the house, his big brother is doing the same thing, though rooting through a bucket of Hot Wheels cars.

They're really not all that different anymore. I'm discounting, of course, Quinn's stage of evolution, which involves him saying things like, "Get out of my face, Dad!" and "I'm so, so, so, so, sorry, Dad!" and "Let me tell you a story ... "

But today, the day before Valentine's Day, Quinn really warmed Daddy's heart.

We were at Costco and Daddy was stuffing a case of beer into the bottom of the shopping cart. Quinn, looking at the case, said, "When I get big, I'm going to drink beer just like my Dad."

I know I shouldn't be proud, but let a Dad have his moments, even if they're mildly inappropriate.

My boys are getting bigger.

Hey, watch this!

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Any other holidays we missed?

Pardon us if we seem forgetful. It's been a long time since we updated this blog. So, in the spirit of giving, we've given the blog a new look and present you with a handful of holiday videos of the good Cap'n Quinn and the Skipper Keaton.