We took Quinn to the mall a little after 8:30am today to let him run around. He really enjoyed running between the stores (which were all closed) and the play area. We will definitely have to take him early on a Saturday again. Normally we take him on Sundays and there are several people already there with their kids, but this Saturday morning it was just us and mall walkers. And he really enjoys following mall walkers. At least for a few minutes until something else catches his eye.

It's gotten a lot harder to read much of anything since having Quinn. I'm used to being able to have at least an hour, usually two, of uninterrupted time to do whatever I want. And that just doesn't exist now. So when I am reading, its usually in bed and I fall asleep after 2 pages.

It's taking me forever to read this book. F.O.R.E.V.E.R.

I've found myself listening to a lot more audiobooks than reading anything, simply because I can do that while driving to and from work.

Crazy stuff happens at home when I'm at work. Crazy, silly stuff...

Quinn surprised us both by really enjoying chili tonight. He likes pasta, but mostly for the noodles, so I was surprised he slurped down so much tomato sauce and beans. Even hamburger, which he normally throws off of his tray.

Messy though.

So, so messy. He even put some in his ears.

Seriously, this cat is so tolerant of the changes this last year. He's gone from stress grooming to the point of having no fur on his stomach, to running around hiding from a crying baby to finally hiding up slightly out of reach and just ignoring the little toddler running around. Plus now he's able to get his cuddles in the evening again, which go a long way to making his day, I think.

The weather is great so Chris and Quinn were able to play outside during the day. Hooray for warm weather!

This kid can be such a ham sometimes. We met Adam and Comfort this afternoon for a walk on the trail behind our house and this little guy wandered around posing for photos.

We walked to a new (to us) park to let Quinn run around and play with other kids. He's really still too small to do things on a play structure unsupervised, so we end up being the weirdos chasing him all over on a kids play structure, but he has a good time. Since he's so mobile for 14 months I want to make sure he's getting opportunities to continue to improve his coordination and dexterity. Plus new things are fun!

When I logged in this afternoon to my Displio account I noticed that several of their pre-created widgets that you can load onto the device were reordered and some had changed. So they're definitely working on correcting the broken ones. They also had responded to comments on their Kickstarter page noting that things weren't working properly.

On a whim I thought I'd try the Twitter widget again, and lo and behold it worked this time.

I'm still a little disappointed that the multiple screens aren't working yet (each side is supposed to have it's own screen), but it's obvious they're working on correcting some bugs so I'm hopeful that feature is forthcoming.

Originally when I'd backed the kickstarter last year I had thought I could leave such a device lying around on my desk and it would update with different info I'd programmed it with. Now a year into having a kid and I barely sit at my computer desk (although I'm hopeful that will change) so for now I've just been setting it around in random spots.

I really think it would be a fun device to have at work and maybe someday, if some bugs are worked out and they ever roll out the mobile apps. For now it would just be more hassle than it's worth, especially since it's wifi driven and wouldn't talk to my phone via bluetooth.

Still, it's a neat device. You can program your own widgets in javascript so I'll probably have Chris help me with some things since he's more familiar than I am with js.

Lots of fun with Scout this morning.

The Displio I backed last year on Kickstarter arrived today. So we spent the evening after Q went to bed playing with different settings. There is a serious lack of support on their website, and not everything works yet, but it's nice that the device is finally in hand after over a year of waiting.

Nothing is safe, not even the kitchen counter.

He's been pretty fascinated by the painted door. Since it's a new color it's practically a new door!

Chris spent the day finishing the door we have in the kitchen to the lower level. It's been unfinished with the cat door in it since last summer, but now that the weather is warm again he wanted to paint it.
 So white on one side and chalkboard paint on the other.
Just like the door to our basement! When Quinn is older he'll probably enjoy sitting in the kitchen drawing on the door while one of us is cooking.

For now he can just enjoy throwing toys through the cat door, like usual.

We took Quinn to the library for the first time today. They were having a used book sale so we wanted to swing by and see if there was anything cool to pick up.
We played a little in the kids area. They have a pretty nice toy room off to the side of the kids book section.
And they have a fish tank up by the help desk in the kids section. The kids section in the Wyoming city library is pretty awesome!

He's still enjoying the ballpit!

The little photos they generate in Miitomo are kind of cute.

A few patches came in the mail today so Quinn has been having a great time pulling them off the little velcro patch pouch I made the other day.

So much mess.

Quinn discovered that a step stool can make for a fun little car that zips around the house, courtesy of parent power.

My parents were in St. Joseph yesterday where my mom gave an all day seminar on genealogy. So they drove to Grand Rapids last night and met us at the mall this morning where Quinn got to run around before it was too busy.
We were done before the mall even opened and headed back to our place to hang out some more.
Quinn had a really good time. So good in fact that he absolutely would not take a nap. He wanted to stay downstairs and keep playing.
Pausing briefly to take in some milk before playing for a little.

Eventually he took a nap and we were able to eat lunch.
But then he was back up and recharged! That kid is like the energizer bunny. He had a really good time and was all tuckered out for an early bed time.

It's snowed the last two days. Not a lot, but enough that the ground is covered and things have a layer of ice on them. So I took Quinn out to enjoy one last day (I hope) before the weather starts to warm up.

Now that he can climb up on the bench (which is also a toy chest) he's enjoying watching snowfall out his window.

Step 1: Remove all items from bench.
Step 2: Climb bench.

I tried showing Quinn he could use the eraser on the chalkboard door.

He kind of used it.

Sort of.

He'll get it eventually.

Now that Quinn can climb up on furniture more easily he's reaching higher and higher for things to touch, including our thermostat.

Some day I'm going to step out of the room for a second and see he's set it to 90 degrees.

It's been a long time since I've had My Little Pony stuff around. These little guys are hilarious, though their eyes are so large compared to the 80s.

I am very amused by this and kind of want all of these things. I would totally wear these things if they were in my size.

I'm going to have to eventually buy this book. Dragons? Tacos? How is this not going to be a cute book?

 Now that everyone is feeling better, we headed over to the east side of the state to celebrate Easter. Grandma Karath had a lot of fun things for Quinn to play with.
 Including a giant bunny!
 He had a pretty good time.
Then it was off to see the other side of the family. 
Quinn really seems to enjoy this old stuffed bear my parents have at their house. He played with it quite a bit.
 He ran around like crazy the whole time while at both houses, never really slowing down.
And after a 2 hour nap on the way back home he was refreshed and happy again. He really enjoys the plastic chair grandma and grandpa Oslund got him. It's very easy to pick up and carry around.

 
It's been one of those evenings...