And She's Only 16 Months Old!

Big, big news in Quinn's world - she finally said her first official word this morning! We were on the road, going to day care, and she looked at me, waved her little hand and said "Buh Bye!" I just about wrecked the car, I was so proud. Tears sprung to my eyes and as I was fervently praising her, she understood that talking is a good thing and continued to say "Buh Bye" over and over again. She had the biggest smile on her face, and that little hand of her was just a-waving! I called Kirch and put him on speaker-phone to see if he could hear her at all. Of course, he couldn't, and if I put the phone too close to Quinn, she'd stop and try to take the phone out of my hand. So he has yet to hear her, but I was a very, very proud mother this morning. I proceeded to call my dad and Kirch's mom to tell them the huge news - then I called Brenda. Then, when I got to work, I had to email Carrie. You'd think a baby has never uttered a word on this earth, ever. As a mother, there is no greater pride than seeing your child accomplish even the simplest tasks. She took her sweet time to talk, but now it won't ever stop. I'm sure there will be times when I wish for some peace and quiet!

We just got back from Michigan on the 4th of July. We drove out for 4 days and had just the best time. The drives to and from were tough, with accidents, detours, traffic and anything else that could possibly keep us from hitting our destinations. But the time spent in Algonac was some of the best time I've ever spent with my friends and family.

Saturday we went to Al Nugent's fish fry and I ran into Jay Tuttle. I haven't seen him in at least 9 years. It was nice to catch up with him and meet his wife. After we left there, we headed to Shane's. Eric and Jessica showed up, along with some of Shane & Brad's friends, and we proceeded to party it up pretty good. Quinn was such a good girl, I put her in her Pack & Play and she went right to sleep. Even though she is using her pacifier again (she went 2 nights in a row without it before we left for MI), she went right to sleep and stayed asleep through the Saturday night fireworks and our laughing and yelling. She woke up once and once I went in to calm her down, she went right back to sleep. We had a great time, drinking, taking pictures and catching up with Shane and his friends.

Yeah, you SHOULD be excited to be taking a picture with your granddaughter!

Sunday morning Kirch and I both felt rough! But after breakfast back at Pop & Laurie's, we pulled ourselves together and headed over to Pat's parents' house to catch up with Pat & Carrie, and Chad & Brenda. Some of Pat's family was there, and we all headed into town with our kids for the parade. We met up with Jessica, her kids, Amy, and Carol & Wally. After the parade, we headed into the Pickerel Tournament (aka "Dirt Fest") for several hours, catching up with Pop & Laurie, and Eric & Jessica. Laurie offered to take Quinn for the evening, so Kirch and I headed back to Pat's place to hang out with them for a couple of hours before we both came crashing down hard. We were exhausted!

Me, Mommy, Leah and Auntie Jessica at the Pickeral Tournament Parade

Monday we didn't do much of anything, which was soooo nice. We never left Pop's place - Eric & Jess came back out and we had dinner and opened up all of Gail's Christmas presents. Talk about Christmas in July! That night we watched "Pirates of the Caribbean," which I really enjoyed.

Tuesday during the day was another quiet one. Then at 4pm we headed to Jason Taylor's house in Marine City to catch up with him and his family. Chris Kowalski was supposed to show up, but he had to work too late. So it was just Jason, Donna, and their 2 girls and us. We really had a nice evening, eating burgers and dogs on the grill, and trading stories. When we got home, Laurie had bought Quinn and Elmo chair that vibrates and laughs. She loves it! It's sitting in her bedroom now.

It's hard to believe I can just get cuter and cuter!

That was it. Wednesday morning we went to Coney Island for a quick breakfast and then got on the road to come home. It was such a great time, now I can't wait to get home for Christmas!