Summer's Underway!

I am quickly learning that having a one year old in the summer means dirty knees, dirty feet, dirty hands, DIRTY fingernails and toenails, at least two different outfits every day and plenty of baths... and I'm just talking about me, Quinton is twice as dirty! The boy loves everything to do with the outdoors and anything to do with getting his hands dirty! This last week temperatures have been flirting with the low 80s and we have been seizing the opportunity for lots of outside play, plenty of freeze pops, and watermelon (some new sticky favorites)!

I think this picture looks like he is posing for soccer pictures, one knee down, hands on the ball! The boy is a natural athlete :)
Playing bean bags with his friend Leighton.

Quinton has also made it clear that his favorite letter in the alphabet is B! He strongly favors any word beginning with the letter B and enjoys saying "Ball" "Book" "Baby" "Bye bye" It is so fun to see all that he is learning. We love to pick dandelions (especially the fluffy white ones) and from watching me he now knows to try and blow on it and see the little seeds fly, although his blowing is more like spitting and usually half of them end up stuck to his lip, but my point being that he is learning and growing so much!

Quinton has developed a strong love for two more things (besides his wonderful parents and the great outdoors). He loves dogs and babies. The boy goes CRAZY when he sees a dog. It doesn't matter if it's big or small, ugly or cute, he just loves dogs. It's a good thing that we have some nice neighbors and friends with dogs because there is no way that we are getting a dog. But it sure is fun to watch him get so excited (I'll have to get some pictures for you all). And the second thing... babies... We were watching his cousin Hudson the other day and Quinn was so distracted by him that he could not even eat his lunch he just wanted to get down and watch him. Hopefully this is a sign of how he will be with Wee Rude #2, although his love of babies might change when the baby is around all the time. We will just have to wait and see!

All I can say for this next picture is Welcome to Summer! I think Quinton is going to have some curls!

Favorites...

Quinton has a favorite new toy and a favorite new game. His new favorite toy can only be played with on hot, sunny days, it's totally free, and at the moment it seems to entertain him for a long time.... it's simply a bowl full of ice cubes. The duration of his play seems to depend on how hot the day is and how many ice cubes he eats while playing, ice has become quite the desired treat! Lucky for him, his mom is pretty good at refilling his ice bucket!

Check out his cool new summer shoes! I don't have to worry at all if they get dirty because I can just rinse them off... perfect little boy shoes!


Now our game can be played with many objects, but chairs seem to work best in our house. The game is push the chairs all around the house until we run into a wall or a piece of furniture, then off to another chair to do the same. Every once in a while he will tip one over totally on his own and then discover a new way to push it. It's a good thing that his Papa reinforced the chairs (they were a little shaky) because I don't know how they would be holding up otherwise. It always amazes me how many toys he has and yet he would choose ice cubes, a chair or one of my bracelets to play with over most of his toys. Kids sure are funny. We sure do enjoy all the new things that he is learning!

Mr. Trouble is a good name for him!
If you click on this picture you can see the budding of his top tooth!

I Love Spring!

Quinton is getting this wedding thing down! He successfully smiled his way through yet another wedding and even allowed his dad to mess with him a little trying to get him to giggle and be goofy!

He loves his dad so much!

Our little family!

Quinton has this walking thing down with his grocery cart and multiple times daily he will walk his cart over to the front door trying to tell me to take him outside. I think he would eat, sleep, play all day outside if we let him. He is getting so good at walking... here are so videos to prove it! (the second one is not very good and makes me a little sick... sorry about my poor video skills!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4xFj6xoME0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hldIZHBqzOE

Mother's day was very nice! Lots of church but them a bbq at Grandma and Grandpa Rude's house with all his cousins and aunts and uncles. It is getting to be quite a group! Quinton enjoyed the new car swing and Grandma and Grandpa's and he always enjoys watching all the other kids run around!

Swinging with his cousin Miles!

Quinn also has a new cousin. Dan's brother Steve and wife Amber had their first child about a month ago, Hudson Drake Rude. He's a pretty handsome guy! Quinton really likes Hudson's toes! It just doesn't get cuter than this picture! (click to enlarge)

Spring has Sprung!

Quinton sure is keeping us busy! He is a standing maniac now and is getting braver as he tries to go from the couch to his toys or a chair to the table. He is so so close to walking that I'm sure it will be here before we know it! Quinton got his third tooth last week and is already putting it to good use, chomping off pieces of apples! He is definitely our child and would prefer ending a meal with some goldfish or something salty as opposed to a cookie and he loves mexican food... He must have learned that from his dad! Wee Rude #2 is growing, my pants have gotten significantly tighter in the waist much faster this time around! I don't think that we have had as much time to think about this baby as we did with Quinn because we are busy tending to the needs of a one year old, but we sure are excited to welcome another member to our family!

Just playing outside!

Precious!

He's ALWAY happy with sticks!

Dancing with Dad at one of our many weddings this summer! He still LOVES music and dances his little heart out at all the weddings!

Looking handsome in his hat!

Both Dan and I commented on how much more he fills out the stroller this summer. He looks like such a big boy. I can't even believe it! He sure does still love riding around in it. He just takes in all the sights and sounds!

We have not posted a video in a while, but here is a little taste of Quinn's walking skills. He loves to walk with his grocery cart from the Bohlens. We bring it outside a lot and use it on the sidewalk in from of our house. It allows him to walk for a longer period of time because inside our house just doesn't allow that! He sure does enjoy it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSBMkLNtd0g

New Shoes!

We purchased Quinton's first pair of walking, big boy shoes yesterday! He had been borrowing a friends shoes up until this point. Let me just tell you that I didn't know that shopping for shoes for a one year old would be so difficult and stressful! But Quinn is the proud owner of some stylish new Saucony tennis shoes!

Check out how cool they are!

He has mastered standing on his own, now we just need to work on that first step! Hopefully these cool new shoes will be the ticket to his walking success!

Just eating some rocks in his cool new shoes!

So Much To Share...

For those of you who don't already know, Quinton is going to be a big brother! We are 14 weeks along now and anxiously awaiting Wee Rude #2. Our due date is October 28th. Thus we needed to change the name of our blog to The Wee RudeS! So keep baby #2 in your prayers. This picture is how was shared the news with our families!

Quinton is growing and changing so much! Every day he discovers something new or tries something new and my goodness this boy has a great memory. He remembers exactly where all the things he is not supposed to get into are and almost like a magnet he is drawn to them! Our pantry is just some open shelves in the kitchen and he loves to play with all of my canned goods, but the other day he found an open bag of spaghetti and this was the result...
(click to enlarge)

Quinn thought it was quite facinating how easily he could break the spaghetti into pieces. Needless to say but I am still finding pieces of broken spaghetti in my kitchen. It is a hard thing to pick up! But it was a new and exciting discovery for Quinton!

Dan loves to give Quinton his bath and on this special day he decided to see which hairdo best suites Quinn... feel free to share your thoughts :)

First we have the center part!

The comb-over look...

The combed back look...

A little mo-hawk...

Or some prefer a head covering...
I think Dan and Quinn have way too much fun in the bathtub!

We are so thrilled now that the weather is so much nicer outside and we are enjoying walks with friends and exploring the great outdoors! Quinn is very into pointing at EVERYTHING these days so we often play the game "point and follow".... he points and then we go wherever he points and before we get there he is pointing in the complete opposite direction. Everything is so new and exciting!

His goofy new smile!

He loves his dad!

Hanging with mom!

Quinton's first experience in a swing!

If you can't tell by the look on his face... he loved it!

Playing with his friend Eliza!

What a stud!

Quinton's new hiding spot underneath our console table! (don't worry those outlets are not active)

Quinn in Kansas City

Papa and Nana made the trip north to Kansas City to babysit Quinn while Meg and Dan attended (and officiated) their friend's wedding. We all stayed in the same hotel, so we got to spend a lot of time together!

Quinn and Nana checking the 12th floor view (click on the photos to enlarge).



Bedtime on Thursday.


Some story books with Nana.


And some cuddle time with Papa.


Quinn still loves music, but we couldn't get him to dance. Check out his new cheesy grin (as if he could get ANY cuter).



Friday we headed to the KC zoo.






Kangaroos!


Quinn was not too crazy about the sheep.


Some Dad time before the wedding.


Dinner at Panera's - Quinn loved the food.


Then some story time with Papa.


Quinn got a new camp chair from Bass Pro Shop.


Quinn would push it around the room.


Eating goldfish. Check out the top teeth - they're ready to pop!


Fun with Nana...