Blogging with Buttons

Buttons is my loyal assistant. She's enjoying her visit to California and the cold weather makes her even more snuggly than usual. Last night she sat in my lap pretty much all night, even when I was updating the blog!

Candy Cane Lane

Tonight we went to Candy Cane Lane, a neighborhood in Pacific Grove, Calif., where the residents decorate big-time for the holidays. Quinn LOVES lights, so we thought he'd like it - and we were right.

Pounding

Quinn's first Christmas in America

Quinn's first Christmas present, a toy cell phone:

Wow, lots of buttons to press:

Hanging with BaBa and Buttons:


Quinn gets the hang of opening presents:


Sharing a laugh with Auntie Bonny:


And a laugh with MaMa (this is Quinn's Christmas dinner outfit):

My best pal, Grandpa

Tom's dad is a kid at heart and is willing to get goofy with Quinn, which is definitely the key to this kid's heart. He is determined to get Quinn walking and pushes him hard, but always as part of a game. Quinn loves it.

Pounding on the table:


Playing with our new toys:


Walking (we've graduated from holding Quinn around his waist to under his arms to just holding out fingers for him to hold onto):



Here are my teeth. Can I see yours?


Look at the rain:

Look familiar, Mom?

My oldest brother Bruce used to love to empty the cabinets when he was a baby. My mom has a hilarious picture of him leaning into a cabinet with cans flying through the air behind him.

Looks like this is one family tradition that lives on:

Eating - we're getting there!

Since the day we met Quinn he has refused to eat anything that doesn't come from a bottle. At first, if he even showed him solid food he would cry. Now he looks at it and then turns his head away.

In the past month, sometimes Quinn would let me dip his bottle nipple into a milkshake or baby food and take a bit or two. Yesterday he started doing it himself! He picks up the bottle, dips the nipple into his bowl and sucks away. Last night at dinner I took away the bottle and just gave him the nipple, hoping it would approximate a spoon. This morning I went a step further and put a spoon in the bowl, but he'd have none of it.

His feeding specialist, who has been quite perplexed at his absolute refusal to eat solids, believe he suffered some sort of trauma related to food - either he was force-fed or burned by too-hot congee. I'm curious if anyone out there experienced anything similar, and what they did about it.