Merry Christmas!

Here is Trip enjoying his first Christmas. Next year will definitely be more fun for him. In his mind, I'm sure today was just a regular day. We slept in, then made a breakfast of waffles (made on my new waffle iron), elk sausage, and eggs. We ate lunch with our friends the Nuttings, and then came home for the rest of the day. Kirk cooked us a delicious turkey, which we are now enjoying. Merry Christmas!

A Typical Saturday Morning

On Saturday mornings, I usually let Trip sleep on our bed for his morning nap. This makes Habe very happy. He absolutely loves sleeping at Trip's feet. Trip is starting to be interested in the dogs and they have taken to him too. It's pretty cute!

Four Months Old

Trip turned four months old on Thanksgiving day. He weighs about 13 pounds and is 25 inches long. He's in the 15th percentile for weight and the 55th percentile for height. He's generally a very happy boy and is giggling more and more each day. Today he was laughing at me. It's so fun to listen to him. He loves to play with his hands and feet and is holding on to toys and exploring them as well. We visited Kirk at work today and he gave Trip a red balloon, which he was quite happy to watch float above his car seat. He still loves looking at lights and is especially fond of the one on the ceiling in the living room, whether it is on or not. We are very blessed to have such a healthy and happy little boy.

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving this year was a wonderful adventure! I got our things packed up over the weekend and on Monday evening. Kirk took me to work on Tuesday and then spent the day getting the car packed and ready to go. As soon as I got off work and we picked up Trip, we were on the road headed to Missouri. We drove all night and into the next day, arriving in Marshfield around noon. Trip slept for most of the night, which was great. He only freaked out twice and did really well.

Just before we left, our friend Kandis dropped off this super cute bib for us. She had traced Trip's hands on it and then made them into turkeys. Isn't it great?!

We spent the rest of Wednesday enjoying time with family and meeting Cooper. We were definitely glad to get to sleep that night!

Thanksgiving morning Kirk and Gary went hunting while I watched Cooper so that Tammi could run the Turkey Trot in Springfield. In the afternoon, we went to Kirk's aunt's house for a delicious dinner. Then, Tammi, her friend Narissa, and I did something really crazy. We all put our little boys to bed and went shopping all night! We hit the outlet mall in Branson first since they opened at midnight. After a few hours of shopping we had a very early breakfast at IHOP and then went to Target. I have never seen so many people waiting to get into a store before. The line just went on and on. Obviously it was a madhouse inside as well. We finally got home around 9 and crashed for a couple of hours. It was a fun experience!

Friday was Erin's birthday, so we had a great dinner out and then headed to Bass Pro Shops. Trip LOVED it there! There were so many cool lights to look at and animals to see. He and Cooper got their picture taken with Santa.

Unfortunately, we had to leave Saturday afternoon, but not before we got some family pictures.

Four generations of Quinlivans

Trip with Daddy, Grandpa, and Great Grandpa

Us with Gary, Tammi, and Cooper

Grandpa and Granny with the boys

We made it home late Sunday morning. Trip did really well on the drive home. He got upset when we were about half and hour from home, but that was it! We are very thankful for such a great vacation! We look forward to when we can share Trip with our family in Oregon and Florida!

Fall Photos

I had been hoping to get some pictures of Trip in the fall leaves, but just hadn't made it happen yet. Gary and Tammi's house is surrounded by trees and the had lots of great leaves on the ground. Cooper got tired while we were taking pictures of the two boys, so I took advantage of Trip's good mood to get some of him.

The biggest challenge these days is to get pictures of him without his hands in his mouth or his feet in the air.

Now that he has discovered his feet, they have provided him with hours of entertainment.

Smiling at Aunt Tammi.

Hmm, let me think.

Talking to Aunt Tammi again.

Yum, hands!

Cousins!

Yesterday we were able to get some good shots of Cooper and Trip. Enjoy!

Discovering

Trip is definitely in the "Age of Discovery" as I like to call it. He is doing all the things that make babies so fun to watch.

• For the last few weeks he has been noticing his hands now and then and giving them very funny looks. He puts them together and gets them in his field of vision, then is very confused by them. It's pretty fun to watch.
• Two Sundays ago, Trip got to have his first video conference experience. First we talked to Aunt Tammi and Cousin Cooper, then to Gram. While we chatted with Tammi, Cooper was playing with his feet and Tammi asked if Trip had discovered his feet yet. We said no, but then a few minutes later, he looked down and reached for his feet! He has been enjoying them ever since.
• He is holding his head up well during tummy time. He's working really hard on rolling over too, and will do it any day now. We're excited for that milestone, but his limited mobility up until this point has been nice in some ways. We have to watch him so much more closely now.
• The best thing that Trip is learning to do is laugh. He giggles now and then, but hasn't quite gotten to doing it consistently yet. That's okay, we'll take all of if we can get!

I love pictures of babies on their tummies. Unfortunately when I took these pictures, Trip was too interested in his fingers to show how well he can hold his head up. Maybe next time. This first picture is my new favorite.

Favorite Places

One of Trip's happiest places is his changing table. He can be upset and I'll take him there to change him, and he gets happy. I'm pretty sure it's where he will laugh for the first time. I have gotten a couple of little giggles out of him while laying there.

Another favorite is his bouncy seat. Here he was about to fall asleep. A friend had just given us that doggie blanket and Trip is learning how to hold/play with it.

This exersaucer was also from our friends. Their daughters have outgrown it and I think it will now be a favorite of Trip's. It's still a little big for him, but he has fun nonetheless.

Cradled in Love

One of the most special baby gifts that we received was a beautiful cradle that my dad hand crafted for Trip. As you can see from these pictures, he put a lot of time and love into this project and it turned out great.

From plain wood...

...to a beautiful cradle for a sleepy little boy.

Thank you Dad/Grandpa for this wonderful gift! How many little boys get to sleep in a bed that their grandpa lovingly made for them? We feel very special.

Three Months!

Here is Trip in his monkey suit from his Papa. He's getting strong enough to sit in his Bumbo now, which is nice.

Three months old

The one monkey picture that turned out nicely. I love his expression.