Nothing worse then a calm yet upset parent

Quinn decided to intentionally pee in her panties tonight. She lifted her dress, sat on the potty and announced that she was going to pee in her panties...then she did. I said that was not okay and I was upset with her.

I read her her two stories and sang her the two songs, then told her that I loved her but I wasn't going to stay tonight because she intentionally peed in her panties.

She of course cried about this... But I still left. Shortly she came out of her room crying. I, waiting at the door, caught her, gave her a big hug, a drink of water, laid her back down, and repeated that I loved her but wasn't staying.

This went on about a dozen more times. I finally told her I would stay, if she could tell me why I was upset. She said sobbing, "because I peed in my panties."

I said no, it is okay to pee in your panties if it is an accident and you didn't mean to, but it is not okay to knowingly pee in them.

I stayed for 5 minutes.... She was asleep in 2.

Woot!!! Peanut butter

Wow, Sabrina just got Quinn to eat apple and peanut butter! FYI peanut butter has been a "food I don't like" for a long time.

First Night

Quinn was quite concerned about Brock when she heard him crying at 4am. She promptly came down to our room to see what the matter was. I told her that he was just hungry and needed to get some milk from Mommy.

When taking her back to her room, she claimed that she was hungry too and wanted "something".... (that elusive something.... If I haven't posted about it yet, Quinn's way of saything that she is hungry is that she "needs something")

I told her that she could have some water or some grapes (trying hard not to accidentally introduce a late night feeding for her).... but she just kept on crying.

It took the special sleep-on-the-floor-with-daddy distraction to successfully escape the late night feeding / breakdown (Yea daddy... so many birds with one stone. Dad gets sleep, Quinn goes back to sleep, Brock gets to focus on eating, Mom doesn't have to deal with Quinn, and presumably no accidental parenting :))

The Meeting

Brought Brock home. Quinn was very excited to meet him. Sabrina and Popo were at home with Quinn when we came it. Quinn immediately wanted to help cover him with a blanket.
After a little coaxing, we got her hands washed and her sitting down, all the way back on the couch so that she could hold him. It is still going to be a struggle to be gentle, especially around his face.

Then Quinn certainly got excited and wanted to climb on Mommy and Daddy and the furniture near where Brock was. Management was a little challenging, because we were tired and Pam was still very sore.

Overall, I think she handled it really well.

Big Sister

Quinn just became a big sister (we told her earlier this morning, but she won't actually meet Brock for a little while).

Xmas Aftermath

Bad thing about Christmas, is that Quinn woke up every morning since asking to open more presents.

Christmas Peacock

Quinn kept talking about a peacock for Christmas... We had no idea what she was talking about until we went to put her down for her nap. We've been promising her for weeks that on Christmas, she could add the peacock sticker to her growth chart (as it would be able 6 months since we did it on her birthday).

But every time we mentioned Christmas this week, she mentioned a peacock....

Glad that we finally figured it out.

Lessons learned from Xmas

1) Make sure that you have enough *GOOD* batteries
2) The toys that you think are the coolest (jump over the rotating bee) are not the ones that the child thinks is the coolest (pretend birthday cake)
3) Unwrap, untie, install batteries, remove packaging before wrapping.... otherwise the first ten minutes of a toy are *YOU* playing with it to get it setup
4) Some things that say appropriate for 3 year olds, are really sized for 4 years olds (or at least tall 3 year olds..... sad that that hop ball is to big :( )

Need a phone for the meeting

I had Quinn come over to help me make rugelah again. Luckily she took a 20 minute power nap in the car which took the edge off the hyper activity. The rugelah once again turned out tasty but not good to look at. But Quinn helped so much. Then she decided to get ready for a "meeting." She put on a scarf and a hat, purse over the shoulder, name tag and necklace. But what she really needed was a phone. In her mind you can't go to a meeting without a phone. Hmmm. Wonder who she takes after?

Lamenting the loss of the nap

Three days, no nap. Ugh

Omar, Leora needs to talk to you

Quinn said this during a party after overhearing leora say it to Pam

Faking a fever

I'm pretty sure she can fake a fever. School called with 102... Picked her up at noon... By 2 pm no fever.. Bouncing around the house and walked over a mile to the playground. Certainly glad I stopped working for it.

Such a shy little girl

Had a collegue from work over for dinner last night. Not only did Quinn talk faster then I've ever heard before, she requested that he brush her teeth before bed. A total stranger.

Acts of defiance

Quinn has started spitting on her teachers and friends at school. This is different then her previous biting incident. She knows it is wrong, and proudly claims she is not listening...

We are now brainstorming how to resolve this issue, without encouraging future acts. (Quinn would easily make a connection to do something bad for a little bit, stop doing something bad, get a reward-repeat)

Baking at Popo's

Quinn slept over Friday night. She helped me prepare Sunday night's Chanukah dinner. Our rugelach making was a huge success...if you discount the way they look! :-) Quinn was a delight to cook with. She helped crack the eggs and put them in the bowl (only 2 little shells escaped); she pounded and rolled the nuts to break them up; she measured (with my help!) the cinnamon & sugar and dumped them in the bowl; she sprinkled (poured) the ingredients on to the dough. Lora (from water aerobics) had given her an apron/mitt/potholder set when Quinn was born. This was the first time for her to use the items. Darn! I forgot to take pictures! Hard to do when your fingers are a mess. At any rate, we had a wonderful evening - a great way to fill the time. Too bad the "tasting" gave her something of a sugar high and she didn't get to sleep till 10:00 PM!!! Plus, the half hour in the refrigerator for the dough to set turned into overnight. Not sure if that's why the yummies tasted great but were sad to look at!

Who could blame her

Massive meltdown. Refused to use the cold, dark, messy, toliet paper less porta-potty at lights in the heights. Was much happier peeing in the grass.

Timers

Quinn was ready to leave and I wasn't.. So she "set a timer on her phone" so I would know when it was time to leave:)

Sleep over at popo's

Quinn spent the night at popo's last night as a practice run. She had a great time, we had a great date night...

When your words come back to you

"Daddy, I need to see your butt to make sure it is clean."

Uhhh no.

M and m's

"I want another choke thing," refering to M and Ms

Kitchen Tricks

Quinn successfully cracked 9 eggs into a bowl for the carrot pudding we are making for the party. More the half of them was a perfect tap-tap-tap, and break in half. The others were a little more fractured, but overall no shell in the batter... yeah!


Then in another episode, Quinn was very adamant about putting sugar in her coffee like mommy. In a flash of brilliance by daddy, we offered her a "Special Quinn sized spoon" (smidgen measuring spoon) so she could add her own sugar to her coffee.. (her coffee is a cup of milk with 2 Tablespoons of coffee)

An inherent sense of order

While sitting with Quinn the other day, she was laying her painted (with water) Disney pictures out on the table in a row. Whenever she went to lay a picture down, she looked at it and made sure that it was facing in the same direction as all the other pictures. Did somebody teach her this or is it an innate sense of order?

Content watching a child

There is something about watching a child, in rainbow striped pajamas, eating a grape "popsicle" (ice cube with toothpick) while dipping it into grape juice, on a day that it is supposed to snow in Houston.

All seems right in the world :)

3 pts, nothing but net

Score... After several days of power struggles over dinner... We finally discovered a trick that works (for now). It started out by figuring out what was wrong with dinner. Was it too round? Nope... Try another bite.... Was it too cloudy? No... Try another bite... Then Quinn offered that it was a lion... We strongly disagreed saying she couldn't possibly eat lion... Another bite... Then an elephant, giraffe, flamingo, and suddenly almost all of dinner was eaten.

Happy dance!

Discovery about 4 day weekends

Apparently we only have enough patience for 3 days.

What happens when you eat 4 kiwis in a day?

Your poop ends up polka dotted with seeds

Bad combination

Scraped and runny nose is a very bad combination. :(

What doin'?

Quinn is so vocal - it's amazing to hear her compounds sentences and her big words (I've been teaching her "ambidextrous") :-) So in contrast, it's funny to hear her ask a simple "What doin'?" when she wants to know what you're doing.

Clumsy Quinn

I'm pretty sure that Quinn is growing.... she doesn't seem to be in sync with her body, she is very clumsy these last couple of days. Actually, yesterday she was so excited to see Harrison that she took off in a sprint down the driveway to see him... she wiped out and slid in the driveway.... Her nose, forward and chin got lots of road rash.

Then today, she is tripping over herself and bumping into things all over the place.

Great kichen helper

Not only did Quinn prick the pastry crust for the quiche for dinner tonight, but she helped us peel onions for Thanksgiving prep.

AWESOME!

Negotiations

"let's go to Popo's house"
"not tonight"
"let's go to grandma's house"
"we have to go home..."
"let's go to Sue's house"

At this point I started writing this post.

Chacha

At via colore, a cha cha came on and she said "I love chacha... Hurry dad, get there[ the stage] before it's [the song] is over.

Too cute

You missed it

As we are listening to one of quinn's favorite songs (dayenu), Pam and I started talking.. Quinn proclaimed that we had missed the song because of our talking.

A new shadow

Tia Mandy is in town visiting, and Quinn is hanging all over her. She stayed with us on Wednesday, and Quinn is still going to the guest room when she first wakes up.

Family loyalty or genetics

So we went to Weiss for associates dessert night and there was dozens of desserts to sample. Quinn only wanted the cake that we brought, which happen to be chocolate and coffee cake. So do you think that is because the cake came from us or the color of the cake?

What a mighty big sentance you have

"Let's go back to the Recycling Festival to get another tattoo and then come back and have lunch, okay?"

Direct quote...

It's the same as dance class

Gunatanamera came on in the car and Quinn got super excited saying it was a cha cha. It was the same as in dance glass.

Pricesses have boobies

This post really should have happened last week.... but we went to Weiss for Dinner and Pumpkin Caroling the day before halloween. This also happened to be the day before NOD (Night of Decadance) whose theme was the "Wonderful world of NOD". The students were painting the windows with X-rated Disney characters and Quinn said "Princesses have boobies." To which our response was calmly "Yes, all women have boobies." The students who were within earshot were totally busting up laughing.

Ice cream headache

Guess who just discovered to take small bites of ice cream.

"Whaaaaat"

Quinn said "I want to get dressed so we can go to the grocery store". Totally unprompted and spontaneous.

Daddy breakthrough

Quinn actually had a preference for daddy to put her to sleep tonight.... Yea happy dance.

We discovered constallations in her stars nightlight and sang songs while lying on the floor.

Skin the Cat

Pam had told me that Quinn could Skin the Cat (put her hands on the bar; out her feet through her hands and turn upside down). Today I captured it on the movie camera. Go Quinn! She is sooo flexible!!

Halloween Party

I took Quinn to Tina's yearly Halloween party tonight while Pam & Drew were working at the Rice dance competition. Quinn is amazingly adaptable. She helped herself to chips, apples and other "healthy" food, interacted with people she didn't know (none of her friends were there), watched the trick or treaters (there were 575 by 8:00 pm!) and generally had a good time. She went as a ballerina. She even put on a hippo hat. I asked her if I should wear a hippo on my head or wear my red hat. She said, "Wear a hippo, Popo, so we can match.!" I love the way she talks. ;-)

Best feeling ever

I gotta say, dancing with Quinn and Pam in a three person waltz is a fantastic feeling!

Spending the night with PoPo

Quinn spent the night last night - only the 2nd time. We had a wonderful evening - making up a pumpkin family, trying on Halloween hats ( but Not the hippo outfit :-( ). She slept in the hippo sleeping bag on the floor in my dressing area, with Missy (big doll), Sybil baby doll), ducky and hippo lovie, and four blankets- that she kicked off about 20 times before she finally went to sleep.

5:50 am she opened the door and said, "I want to play." And so we did! She was allowed to wear a costume to gymnastics but she put the hippo outfit on Missy instead and took the doll along to watch.

What a fun and happy girl Quinn is!!

Part Pam part Drew

We removed the crib today. It was kinda of a test to see how observant Quinn was. When she first ran into the room (several times actually) she didn't notice the bed was gone (Daddy trait)... It wasn't until bedtime that she noticed (at least she has little bit of her observant mother :) )

Too Cute To Quote

I really wish I could capture all of the cute things that Quinn did today. They were just happening too fast and too often to remember any of them... All I can say was dang they were cute.

Saw the whole show

On Friday, Quinn stayed up till nearly 10pm watching Cirque Mechanic at Miller... It wasn't that she was totally engaged in the show, but that it WAS a show - she didn't want to leave.

Potty Training is like being in Love

They say that you don't really know you are in love, until after the fact... it is a retrospective emotion. Potty training is the same... I think we are potty trained.

I say this because as Quinn is playing, she will without annoucement or notice, go into the bathroom, close the door, pee in the potty, and come back and continue playing.

When asked, she will causually say, I peed in the potty.

Arts Alive with Janet

Last night, while Pam & Drew were at a meeting, I shared an Arts Alive experience with Quinn. How fun was that?! Quinn will often observe first, swiveling her head, taking in as much as she can, watching the other kids to see what they do. This lasted just a very short while because she was so drawn into the magic that Janet created for "Pajama Party". She put on her purple pretend pajamas and proceeded to dance with her teddy bear. She learned to do the "freeze" dance, to throw the pizza dough into the air before baking it, to pop like popcorn (that was easy since she jumps all the time anyway), and to draw with streamers. She even pretended to go to sleep, something she's avoided in the past. She warmed up to Janet right away and had to get her attention many times as she shared, with great enthusiasm, "I have on black", "I have on pink ballet shoes", "I have on stripes", in response to what Janet was saying. By the end of the evening Quinn was clinging to Janet's leg like a cat on catnip! It was fun being able to see the magic of Arts Alive through the eyes of a little one.

Two speeds

When Quinn entered the ballroom last night, it was her usual speed -- running... but then she actually saw Pam, and I swear her speed doubled. Full on sprint. Man she is fast.

Seems like she certainly has the "Shefman fast twitch muscles"

"They could dance together!"

Emilia, the president at Rice Ballroom Dance club, exclaimed "They could dance together!" jumping up and down with giddiness, when she learned that KT was going to be a boy.

Imitation isn't always good

Just took Quinn to the potty..., and she shook after she went.

Camel rides

"The camel is shaking my head." Quinn says during our ride at ren fest.

Waiting for a reason

This morning, Quinn took 8 plastic cups, filled up each one with different amounts of water and placed all of the cups in a circle.

She was very intent on doing this, and wouldn't be distracted from it.

After all of the cups were in the circle, she was done.

I'm not sure I'll ever know the reason for this intense amount of concentration, but it sure was interesting to watch

Ren fest

Went to the renaissance festival today. Quinn loved getting dragon tears from the fairies, after she warmed up to them of course. The first show we saw was a fire juggler, which scared her from the other shows:(... She was very entertained by the birds of prey show. Hopefully we can convince her to ride the elephants:). It is nice to see that she is appropriately cautious.

Two days 100% potty

FYI, two days and 100% potty all day.... Whoohoo

Great California trip

Just getting back from a fantastic California trip, including San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose. Saw Mandy, Lenore, and Jessica. Slept 2 hours on the return flight. Nice to be home

Good thing the phone has GPS

Nothing says missed exit like a toddler who needs "something new to play with" while you are driving around an unfamiliar city. Especially a city like San Jose with just in time signage.

Had a fantastic time at the Children's discovery museum today... Once we got there.

Rock star vacationer

Slept till 8:40 today!! Whoot whoot!!

Love vacations

Ferris wheel

Made a ferris wheel out of tinkertoys. Actually it was just a bunch of sticks coming out of a wheel, but she labeled it as a ferris wheel.

Recognizable Drawings

When I got home from work today, Quinn said that she drew a pato (spanish for duck). I looked at her paper and it was clearly the duck that she sleeps with. She continued to draw over it, but I spent the effort to scan it, highlight the original drawing in yellow and grab a picture of her bedtime buddy.

I'm amazed.

Also

I forgot to post the other day something Quinn said. She told me, "Mommy's at work. Daddy's at work also. "
Also? Where did that come from?

A day with Popo

Quinn spent the whole day with Popo. What a fine time we both had! We started out by going to Temple for Yom Kippur. Quinn was engaged the entire time: first she put all the seats in the row down, then back up again; then moved the books onto the seats instead of the chair arms. She does like to arrange things. :-)

She loved the music and recognized that there was a piano playing, even though she couldn't see it. She saw that the shofar that the Rabbi blew was very long. After she got to my house, she found a long stick on the street and pretended to blow the shofar too.

We visited Annabelle, the granddaughter of my friend Mary Beth. They played in the tent/house, climbed the steps to the bed (many times), dressed up with necklaces, rolled the ball, had a snack, danced and generally played well together. When we got back to my house it only took about 15 minutes to get her to nap in the hippo sleeping bag on the floor. I was VERY glad she was so cooperative about that!

We found a play gym with a tire swing, rock wall, rings, swings, slide and had a grand time exploring all it had to offer. When there's a yard available that may be Popo's next gift!!

Then we visited my neighbor Michele and said hi to the Mahh Jong gang. Came back to the house and she read several books to Sybil (doll). Daddy came by, we had dinner, and she went home.

I was tired but feel like it was a very fun, successful day. I know Mommy and Daddy are glad I feel that way since I know they're hoping there will be more days like this one! :-)

Very Adaptable Child

We took duckie, our most favorite sleep lovey, to school on friday. And against our advice, she took into class instead of leaving it in the car. Needless to say, we forgot it at school, and since it was Friday before Yom Kipur, it would be 4 days without it. Pam was secretly really scared that the weekend was going to be horrible, but we reminded Quinn that we forgot duckie at school and that we needed to go to sleep without him. She said okay, and fell asleep with some of our backups (a hippo and a lion)... Still a very impressive feat.... and we didn't have to track down the director of the school on a holiday weekend and beg her to let us in so we could retrieve Duckie.

She is the greatest child ever!

Mommy, you look so beautiful

Pam and I went to a formal dance gala on Saturday. While we were getting dressed, Quinn says "Mommy, you look so beautiful."

Warm fuzzy anyone?

Rugger gucky

I baby sat with Quinn tonight, We were reading from her Animal Dictionary book. She identified so many of the pictures, including bison, baboon, chimpanzee and other not so ordinary animals. When she saw the duck picture she started singing, over and over," Rugger gucky you're the one. You make bath time so much fun. Rugger gucky I love you. He he he he he."
She was soooo cute! In another book she named all the shapes including diamond and octagon - "That's a stop sing." I don't know. Is it just me or is she really smart for a 26 month old?

Pop Pop goes to gymnastics

Pop Pop came to gymnastics today to watch Quinn be always energetic ... and independent! She loves doing the obstacle course - her way. Although today she actually let Coach Carrie help her pull over the bar. :-) The other thing Quinn absolutely loves is stamps. From music class she's learned to ask for them on both feet, both hands and even her belly!

So proud

Not what you think by the title.....

Tonight we went to go see 3 one act plays at Rice. We are trying to expose Quinn to a variety of theater, so we figured that short one acts would be a good intro.
She did great... but that is not what I'm writing about.

Normally when we leave Rice for dance, we have two cars, and I usually have to get out just outside the parking garage to go get the other car. Tonight we took one car.

Quinn asked if I was leaving, and we explained that I already brought the other car home and I wouldn't have to leave tonight. Quinn said "I'm so proud of you Daddy."
Man, it was SUPER cute.

Great dinner

Quinn ate broccoli and rice for dinner... Even asked for more broccoli!

Who Knew: Being a bad influence is an inheritable trait

I've always been the person that would encourage friends to play instead of work, study, or otherwise do something less fun. Yesterday while Quinn was running around the circle at school, Sophie her 2 year old friend came out. She said, "Come run around with me". Sophie declined. "Come run around with me, It will be fun". Sophie declined again. "PPPPLLLLLEEEEEEAAAAASSSSSEEEEEEE".... it didn't work on Sophie, but man, I've had that same conversation with dozens of friends previously. (Although not to my memory since Quinn has been around)

Note to self

Don't ask a kid if they remember the taiko drum festival show from last night while you are carrying them on your shoulders. Unless of course you're in the mood to be slapped repeatedly.

Highest Levels of Blooms Taxonomy - Application

So we were reading Ella the Elegant Elephant tonight. Where if you haven't read it... Ella's hat that she is teased about basically becomes a parachute and ella saves the day.

Well, I'm fairly certain that Quinn has never actually seen a parachute in action (like as a device to gently guide someone to the ground from a high altitude), only in music class as a fun toy that you catch air in an sit under, or spin or, etc.

The book doesn't say it at all, only illustrates it... the book says "then the most amazing thing happened, they were safe."

Quinn says like a parachute.

Crazy!

Dancing

Quinn loves to dance in her pajamas (that's critical) in the middle of the grand hall at rice during dance class

Synonyms

How can someone who watches maybe an hour of tv a week, and only on the weekends and only DVDs, know nearly every synonym available for it?

Last night she was trying to pursuade us to let her watch a video, or a movie, or tv, or a show.

Her level of comprehension is insane

Big Sister news

Yesterday at the gender identification party, Quinn discovered that she was going to have a baby brother.

Komodo dragon and other zoo adventures

Great day at the zoo today! First off, it was a perfect 78 degrees and overcast with very few people.We got to touch a Komodo dragon, splash in the puddles, hear Jonathan the lion roar, see the sea lion demonstration, then later see them try to retrieve a lost umbrella. We rode the carousel extra long because we were in with a birthday crowd. Then when we got home, we had a super poop in the potty.

Skiing

In the mornings, Quinn has taken two hairbrushes and has made them skis. Quinn "skiied" on them first, then she did it with her dolls

Paci Weening continued

Well, we made it all weekend without a paci... naps have been hard, but night time has been much easier then we had expected.

Bolly show

We took Quinn to see a tribute to Bollywood production last night at Miller Outdoor theatre. Man she loves dancing.

Although this show was not as engaging as the Wiz, she still had a great hot, sticky, muggy Houston time out past her bed time.

Paying Attention while hysterical

So tonight, without prompting, Quinn remembered Mom's visit to the hospital to have the ultrasound (Aug 18th). She was replaying how she cried and said "mommy, mommy, mommy" (but in a making fun of herself way)... she remembered the "soap" (ultrasound gel) on mommy's belly.

The strange thing was, she was hysterical - upset beyond anything that we have seen before. We haven't reinforced this memory at all.... yet she still remembers lots of details from it.

We were in shock that she remembered so much

Pleasant Surprises

So today, Quinn kinda skipped her nap and was in a nasty mood all afteroon. While we were making dinner we had to block the refrigerator to keep her from eating before dinner. She said that she wanted a piece of bread.... seeing as we were having taco's for dinner - I offered her some chips. But when I opened the pantry, she saw the ceral bars and was adamant about having one.

I asked if she wanted a taco ceral bar, and she said yes. I said, okay we'll have to make one... lets find a box.... so we scour the whole house for a box (really buying Pam time to finish cooking), can come back to the kitchen with our box (a normal tupperware container). We layer in chips, then lettuce, then meat, and cheese and top it off with chips again.

By this time dinner is ready and she doesn't eat the whole "bar", but eats the meat and cheese out of it.

Very surprised that that whole thing worked out as well as it did.

Paci weening

Last night we started weening off our paci. We had lots of success and was easier the we expected. Of course there was a new Wiggles video as a reward/ incentive. The real trick is to see if the act of not sleeping with the paci, is reward in itself.

Great day at gymnastics

What a fun day in the gym. Not only did Quinn do the warm-up exercises (and Coach Carrie was quite impressed with how flexible Quinn is), she also gave the coach a hug at the end of class!! A first! She jumped, jumped, jumped on the trampoline, did all of the obstacle course several times, walked on the beam, crawled on the beam, did forward rolls, and loved, loved the rings. And go Popo - I managed to get some good video of all this! :-)

The next song is a .....

At dance last night, a waltz came on and Quinn was able to identify it as a waltz AND started counting 1,2,3 in time.

WOW!

Then of course she started reciting "Giraffes can't dance" with "the warthogs started waltzing"

Sense of Humor

So we (the parents) been spending a fair amount of playing "stupid" and misnaming things so that Quinn can correct us. Like pointing to a hippo and labeling it a duck. Well this morning when I went to get her from the crib, she said "take me out here" as she pointed to the slats in the crib. I didn't understand her at first, but then she said "nooooo, take me out here" and pointed to the regular top of the crib.

She was copying us, and playing "stupid" asking to be taken out of the slats. She even used the same intonation.

Man, kids are just amazing!

Gender identification

Ms Amy asked if Quinn was going to have a brother or sister. "Mommy is going to have a girl, and daddy is going to have a boy" she matter of factly states.

Dialog is great

While reading an animal book:
"Where's the wolf?" I asked.
Quinn points to the picture and asks "What was the show?"
"The show with the wolves?"
"Yes" says Quinn
"Beauty and the Beast"
"Beauty and the Beast? These Beasts?" asks Quinn
"No, they were wolves in the story of Beauty and the Beast"
"Oh, that's cool." says Quinn

Remember she is 25 months old!

Direct quote

"I'm not listening to daddy"

Man, talk about a foreboding statement.

Big Girl Achievements today

Took our nap in the big girl bed for the first time.
Made it all the way through our nap dry.
Pooped and peed in the potty several times today.

The Wiz lives on

It has been a full week, and she is still "Ease on down the road"... It obviously made an impression on her.

There have been better ideas

We took Quinn to see ultrasound pictures of the baby in mommy's belly today. She was pretty excited until Pam was laying down, then Quinn thought mommy was hurt and was very very upset. She kept asking if mom was ok and telling her to sit up.

Still talking about the Wiz

Quinn is still talking about the show, the lion, how dorthy, the princess, knocked down the lion, the wizard, and of course ease on down the road.

When she went to the museum today, she even exclaimed "that's where the show was" as she passed Miller

Pooped in the potty twice today

Whoo hoo

Ease on down the road

Went to the Wiz at Miller Outdoor Theatre tonight. Quinn LOVED it. Danced the entire first act. Was very upset when we left at "the end" (intermission)

Restraint

Definition of restraint. Sitting by by calmly while your child EATS multiple helpings of seaweed salad, with CHOPSTICKS.

"Good job eating dinner, Quinn", in a very calm voice.

Book blending

Quinn has most of her books memorized to the point that "papa papa" becomes "where do kisses come from" which becomes "polar bear polar bear what do you see." this all happens while she is reading a single page of a book.

Swimming

Spent nearly 2 hours in the pool. Jumped in, floated on our back, swam for toys, but our face under, climbed out the ladder, swam on daddy, coveted our face with hair, AND got out of the pool to poop... What a great afternoon with dad

Something toblook forward to

Pam and I decided that in 2014 we should be able to justify an entire new wardrobe. Looking forward to some clean clothes.

Sleeping in

We've been teaching Quinn to wait until 6:30 to get out of bed. Saying that before that it is the middle of the night. She woke up at 6:25 this morning, asking if it was the middle of the night, we said yes, but it was almost morning. After we asked if she to sleep in mom sat in the rocker with her and she was back to sleep in ten minutes. Then slept for two more hours. Waking up after 8:30 is glorious!

Popo & Quinn - busy day!

Popo & Quinn went visiting today. First we went to Quinn's daddy's nanny. Quinn took to Beverly pretty quickly and even read and sang to her. She clearly said she loves to sing! She also performed Barnyard Dance. Then we visited a friend of Popo's who has three puppies. Too cute. Quinn kept trying to give the puppies bones to chew - even though the puppies weren't interested. She read her books and sang for Mary
Beth. She also made herself at home in the nice chair as Harvey played the keyboard and the saxophone. Back at Popo's house she helped fill the bird feeders and put out corn for the squirrels. Her hand -eye coordination was amazing as she used the cardboard tools in the Big Red Toolbox book. She played with Sybil and Missy (dolls), played the kazoo and gonged the gong. Oh, and talked a lot!!! What a fun day!!

No biting

Well we made it 4 days without biting our friends. Quinn chose a new book as a reward.

Music class star

Quinn so loves music class. Nice to know that the teacher recognizes how well Quinn is doing. Miss Kay leaned over to tell me she had noticed how well Quinn sings along to the songs and moves her body in rhythm. :-)

I'm so excited!

Super cute, Quinn has started to say i'm so excited - complete with jumping, wiggling, and shaking. It is an incredible negotiation technique on her part because it is really hard to turn it down. That's why we watched a video before bed the other night. Today it was used to get to harrison's house... A much more reasonable request.... Still super cute.

Whale rider

Quinn had a great time riding daddy, the whale, back and forth across the pool

Dad's gross limit

Previously I posted about moms gross tolerance was tortilla chips in the water... Just discovered dad's today. Salted pancakes... Yuck!

Water in the ears

Quinn is able to lay all teh way back in the tub with her head resting on the bottom of the tub and the water is fully in her ears. This is a huge step.

Teachers are coming along

I think after 2 months Mrs. Ahuva is finally figuring out who Quinn is.

Panties

Started on panties today. No accidents yet.

Middle of the night

We've been telling Quinn that any time before 6:30am is the middle of the night. She has been regularly waking at 6am. Pam goes in and tells her that it is the middle of the night and she can't leave her room yet. Quinn says, "Daddy's sleeping, its the middle of the night".... SCORE!

Stargazer

It was GREAT! Tonight she pointed out 3 constellations from her stars nightlight. She found a lion, a cow, and a giraffe. Daddy, stargazer, Shefman was snoopy happy dance excited.

Take your best shot

Quinn had a lot of fun tonight. She found our 2 Tbsp meauring cup (essentially a shot glass)... and wanted milk in it. (We use it to measure milk for banana muffins). So she drank about 6 shots of milk tonight.

Milk mustache and all.

You read yours, I'll read mine

I was with Quinn all day yesterday. Spent most of the time reading books. She wouldn't let me read to her - I had to read the ones she gave me - "You read this, Popo." And she read her own -"These are MY books." She sat there, holding the book up, turning the pages, making up stuff out loud, as she read to herself. She does love her books!

Learning good habits early

I'm so impressed with Quinn's writing ability: she signed her name (scratch scratch) to every thank you card as she opened her birthday gifts. Actually I have to say I was mostly impressed that Pam sends thank you notes so efficiently. Great training for Quinn!

Hostess in the making

At Quinn's birthday party yesterday. She was the perfect hostess. She was made sure that she got cups of snacks for all of her friends. She also made sure that her friends got up and danced and played. She did a great job sharing and entertaining all of her friends.

Grandma training

One of the dad's at Quinn's party said he needed to hire popo, not for arts alive, but to train his mom on how to be a good grandmother.

Habits

I wonder how long it will take for me to stop thinking that the refrigerator is broken when the child lock is on.

Slightly different than most kids

You know you have a unique child when she eats the crust and leaves most of the sandwich

Tummy problems

Well, Quinn said her tummy hurts. Her day off from school was filled with 3 projectile vomits, 2 spitups, and 2 diarreha. Whoo-hoo.... Although she seems all better today.

A brave new girl

Quinn went down the water slide twice. The 2nd time, she splashed a lot more then she was ready for. After that she kept climbing up and climbing down again.

Reading and Comprehension

So we are at Chocolate Bar last night, for a hosted event and we are walking around seeing if Quinn wanted anything. She points to the ice cream and says the orange one. Now that in itself was not unsual - it was the way she identified it. ALL of the ice cream was a chocolate color. But she was specifically pointing to the "Orange Delight", a chocolate/orange mix. There was no orange color on the label, nor in the ice cream, nor anywhere nearby. Therefore the only logical conculsion was that she was able to read the word "orange" on the label. Wow!

Pappy needs a buckle

Quinn proclaims repeatedly until pappy fastens his seat belt. Mom says he's from a different generation.

"This is good!"

"This is good!" exclaims Quinn after having her first lollipop. (it was a chocolate dum dum that was in the party favors from Carmella's party.)

Liberating

Most adults probably have missed the incredibly liberating experience of proudly announcing that "daddy is going to go to the potty" in a house of crowded guests.

Jumping into the pool

The new routine for jumping is
1. Quinn must say "are you ready"
2. We must respond, "yes we are ready"
3. Then we count to three
4. Then we jump (hopefully with both feet)

We loved practicing this in the splash park in waynesburg, pa today. We jumped in from the side of the pool at least 15 times today.

It is too bad that it was quite chilly when we were out of the water. Her teeth were chatteing.

Co-sleeping

So I just Quinn in her lightweight pjs, which was a mistake. Because with the fan and the cool summer nights, it got quite cold. Quinn woke up in the middle of the night (we were too tired to see what time), freezing. So we put her between us to warm her up. Quinn slept great, till 8:00 actually (that is very late for her). Pam was on edge patrol, so no sleep for her. Daddy had the wall sliver, so no sleep for me. Kids take up a crazy amount of room at night!

Lightning bugs

We kept Quinn up extra late so that she could see fireflys. I caught one for her. Dad was certainly more excitedby it then Quinn was. She kept telling it to fly away.

Merry go round

Quinn was introduced to the merry go round on a playground today. She loves spinning fast!

Fathers day weekend

What a great weekend at the lake! Friday we started cleaning out some old books. Came across Bill Cosby's Fatherhood book... Absolutely hilarious. Then Saturday, against all precedence, she calls for me instead of mom. Then we Pam gets her, she actually drags me out of bed, although I really did have a preference to sleep. We spend all day on the boat and del lago water park pool. Then we had a sunset cruise. Still waiting until she can actually stay awake long enough to see stars. Did some skiing, played a board game... Then on Sunday she even slept in till 7:15. Great weekend.

More gymnastics

Gymnastics and Quinn - what a combination. She headed straight for the low bar. She put her hands on, swung her feet up to the bar and hung upside down for what seemed a very long time! She doesn't like to be helped-hands on- but if she's shown what to do she'll try it.

She waited patiently for her turn on the trampoline; jumped across it and sat down to wait again. But then she made sure she had another quick turn before it was really her turn.

I asked if she had fun and she gave me a big smile and a big hug!

4 pees and 1 poop in the pot

Just a little tallying of todays successes

How to read a book

So we've always read books to Quinn with her on our lap. I tried reading her a book while she sat on the potty... so the book was facing her, not me... She corrected me and said "read this way", turning the book around for me. When I turned it back to face her she again corrected me, and turned the book around for me.

Potty Training Milestones

Last night, Quinn totally initiated a "I have to poop" with full agreement to go to the potty. We had to convince her to keep waiting a little bit longer before getting up... but we did end up pooping in the potty.

Everybody danced a victory dance and a gleefull, "I pooped in the potty" was heard through the land.

Talking example...

Just to make note of her current vocabulary. As I was putting her to sleep last night, I was about 80% of the way through her goodnight song.... she sits up and says "nightlight off. Please turn on." I plug in the nightlight and finish the song and she is asleep.

Imitation

In the pool, I showed Quinn how to do a handstand in the pool. She said "Quinn do" and sat on the top step and put her legs straight in the air in a pike. It was very cute.

Homecoming

So after being gone for a week, quinn's hair was longer, she was talking way more, and had looked like she grown. She greeted me with a warm hug and wanted to sit in my lap. Then after about 5 minutes she was done and didn't want me around any more

Dominios

At the lake we were playing with dominos. Quinn says "dom-ee-o"

Learning to hold our breath

After biking to the J (btw Quinn loves speed bumps on the bike chariot), we practiced not drowning by trying to close our mouths when jumping in off the steps. There was a lot of coughing in this process.

Post bath/shower routines

So after Quinn gets out of the bath or shower.... she has a specific routine that needs to happen. First we have to put the towel over her head, which she then wears like a hood and cape. Then she lays on the floor in "child's pose" covered with a towel. Then she asks to be tickled, and tickled, and tickled.

Bathtime instructions

While in the tub this evening, I was trying to get Quinn to put her head under and blow bubbles. We were using a small tub to do it. I first demonstrated blowing really slowly, only putting my lips in. Which she then copied me. Then I did it really fast, putting my whole face in. Quinn instructed me that "slow daddy, not fast." So I started out slow again. She reiterated, "yes slow daddy." Then while I was still blowing, I sped up again. She again said, "no slow daddy."

I'm just loving this now that we are talking.

Go mommy go

Quinn was dancing to music this morning, so pam and I did a cha cha. Quinn said "go mommy go"

Literal translation

Quinn was trying to wear her sunglasses attached to her shirt. She put the sunglasses on her shirt. I told her only the arm goes in, so she tried to put her arm not the sunglasses arm in the neck of her shirt.

Skip to my lou

Did a great rendition of skip to my lou this morning

Counting

Quinn has her numbers down, she just doesn't know when to stop. You ask how many hands she has and she'll say "1,2,3,4,5". Ask how many dogs she has (only one), and she'll say "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10".

What to say

I'm trying to choose something to relate about how Quinn is talking, but she is talking so much now - that it is difficult to pull out any gems. She'll recount her whole day telling not only of the lions that she saw, but the babies who were watching them with her. She tell of the splash park, and the bathing suit, and how she got soaking wet. She'll choose Pad Thai for dinner and ask to eat outside. She'll even say bye, home, nite nite when the day is over.

Toddler maniupulation

So Harrison had a balloon that Quinn wanted... Harrison wasn't ready to share yet. Quinn plays with Harrison's big wheel for a couple of seconds, then tells Harrison it is his turn on his bike. Harrison, gets on his bike, and Quinn gets the balloon.

Kyle (Harrison's dad), Pam and I debated about this, but I'm pretty sure it was premeditated.

Sing daddy

While daydreaming in the car and not participating in the song, Quinn commanded "sing Daddy"

Fever with a high chance of grumpy

Nothing says grumpy like a fever. Not sure what the infection was from, but took Quinn to the doctor. They ruled out all of the usual suspects, but gave her an antibiotic shot. She is feeling much better today... still a little fever-y but feeling much better today

Chopped Liver

You certainly know your status when mom goes pee in the potty twenty feet away and still within sight, and your Daughter throws a fit that mommy has left. You say that you are going to brush your teeth in the farthest room away from where you currently are, and she says "bye daddy."

Tug

Quinn and Harrison had a great time with the jump rope. Each would pull the other across the room. It wasn't quite tug-a-war as they weren't pulling at the same time. But it was a great game for them.

An ill wind

Quinn was very gassy tonight.
"I farted!" she proclaimed from the bathtub.
"I farted!" she squealed while drying off.
"I farted!" she declared while lying down for bed.

She was so proud of herself.

Running with the big kids

Went to Discovery Green for mom's day picnic. Quinn loved the fountain and was standing in the middle with all the big kids when the tall jets were shooting. Wow she had a great time!

Goals

When your goal for the day is to exhaust your child, you have to watch out, as it may backfire on you.

Playground, zoo ( with carousel of course), lunch, nap, art car parade, popo's house, dinner, playground, bath, and bed. Whew!

I love bubbles

Walking back from the marina, we told Quinn that we would do bubbles when we got home. "I LOVE BUBBLES!!" she squeals.

Looking after mom

So Pam jumps in the lake, without testing the water. It was colder then she expected and came up screaming. Quinn started crying because she thought mom was hurt. It was very cute.

Strong Core Quinn

In gymnastics today Quinn went to the bar, grabbed on and proceeded to lift her feet up to touch her hands. Do you know how strong your core has to be to do that? She walks casually, unafraid, up the slanted wide beam. She has finally gotten the lift -both -feet jumping on the trampoline and loves to jump, jump, jump, seat drop. She also likes to put her hands on the red and blue hand markers on the floor and climb her feet up the wall so she's almost doing a handstand. She even let the new coach help her some. Usually she just likes to be shown how to do something and then she does it "self."

El parque zoológico

Quinn loves to go to "el parque zoológico". This visit we rode el Carrusel twice (elefante y madrill). We went to the petting zoo and the farm (cabra, borregos, ovejas, gansos, cerdo). We said hola to los ciervos, went to la cueva de los murcilagos, played in El parque de Agua. Other animals that Quinn likes a lot are : pelicanos, patos, flamencos, monos, leones, tigres, osos, zorro, okapi, elefantes y girafas. On the way out the zoo she like to watch the sea lion (leon maritimo) show. And never forget to see the red panda "Tobbi".

Loved loved loved the splash park

Jan from school said Quinn had a great time at the splash park. She ran and ran. Said she was taking a pix of other kids and Quinn just appeared in the shot.

Daily review

Before bed, quinn will run through her day... Telling about all of the memorable events.

Today's big event, was being scared by a dog in a car that barked when we approached. She mentioned it several times in her review.

Watching Videos

On sunday, Mom and Dad went to catch a movie and had friends Dan and Leora sit. Quinn had missed her nap and was quite exhausted. We told Dan and Leora that she could watch a movie until bedtime (Sesame Street Sleepytime) to help wind down.

She was so excited, every couple of minutes she would look at Dan and say "video" - like she was just amazed that she was actually watching.

Getting past Harrison's

We tried to go to the park and the bayou, and to various other areas.... but all Quinn wants to do is to run down the street and play with Harrison, the neighbor boy. Not a complaint, but I really wanted to go to the new park.

Right on the beat

While a playing "I just can't wait to be king" Quinn was able to drum right on beat.

Great potty day

We went to the potty 4 times today. And one was a poop! Yea! Thanks Caroline for the reminders!

Exercise and potty training

I realized today that working out and potty training are related
1) It is easier NOT to do it
2) Some times you can say "potty" or "I'm going to exercise" but you kick and scream when someone actually takes you
3) Some times you you think you are ready and get dressed or undressed to go, you sit on the seat (potty or bicycle) and nothing really happens.... Although you reward yourself for getting to the seat
4) When you do manage to go successfully, you give yourself a little cheer, and brag (or blog) about it

Shared interests

I think pam enjoys having someone with whom she can take off her shoes and walk around a fountain with. Esp in work clothes.

No potato

Instead of saying her usual "next song please" she added "no potato" because a sing called potato soup was playing.

Shopping with uncle pat

Pat, Quinn and Dad go shopping. Pat thinks he is just going for companionship. He soon realizes that he is doing all of the shopping, while Quinn fills the cart with sunscreen and dad is restocking the depleting sunscreen shelf.

More Disney

Flipping through a song book, we see a scene from sleeping beauty. Quinn says "pullup" as she is one of the princesses featured on them.

We also saw act one of beauty and the beast at miller tonight. She loves singing and dancing

Dumbfounded

Quinn stood next to her growth chart, and said "tall." this is nothing new. I put my hand on her head and tell her to step away. She turns around and says "two nine." This is exactly where my hand was. Two feet nine inches. Sabrina and I looked at each other to see if the other would claim responsibiility for the knowledge. Neither of us had told her that before. Wow.

Hugs

Yesterday, after a long day of teaching, quinn gives me a huge hug when I get home. What a great feeling!

Gross tolerances

Babies certainly help you identify your tolerances. For example, mom just learned that putting a tortilla chip in water and drinking from that same glass is past her tolerance level. Didn't phase dad at all.

Build your own taco mess?

Parental dilemia.. When do you assert your own taco building knowledge? Another great dinner out.

Dress up

What is that cute shirt? Quinn must try on the shirt that was her aunt Mandy's before anything else after school today. But that is not for playing in the sandbox... Lucky mom can convince Quinn to change.

Fear and dread

Nothing says fear and dread better then a flight scheduled for naptime getting delayed by over an hour

Disney

2 days and only did fantasyland. Rode the carousel 9 times, tea cups twice, casey jr train, canal rides, pinocchio ride, park train, rockets, dumbo, and it's a small world.

Danced at downtown Disney several times.

Met Mickey, Minney, and Goofy.

Saw the fireworks show.

Spent the days with mom and dad, tia
Mandy and Todd.

What a great trip!

Amusement park

Flew all the way to Disneyland to ride the escalators 12 times.

Plane riding

There should be good child awards for plane rides.... And well prepared daddy flying solo awards. Not sure we would have won, but we'd have got honorable mention.

Wow more sentences

Quinn says "tissue".
I hand her a napkin.
She then says "that's paper towel, I need a tissue"

Not a joke!

Crueler then Cruel continued

Drat! She fell asleep from 9am - 12:30pm. That was supposed to be my time this morning to go back to sleep! Man I wanted those extra hours.

Crueler then Cruel

Whats crueler then cruel?

When you are AWAKE at 4:45 - not I accidentally woke up and need help going back to sleep, but awake and lets go

What's crueler then that?
When the first thing that you should do is read (not in the comfy rocking chair in the dark, but on the sofa with the lights on)

What's cruler then that?
The book that is selected is a song book (with upbeat songs, not lullabyes)

Are you remembering that it is 4:45 AM!

Where did this morning person come from?

Sense of Humor

Quinn has started saying "I'm funny" when she does something silly (or that she thinks is silly). Obviously her teachers tell her this alot.

Teachers Comments

Alaina, Quinn's teacher, has said that her daughter, Brooke, who is now 6 - was very much like Quinn. Independent, vocal, sharp, smart, etc.

So Brooke has identified this herself and has said that "Quinn is not like the other children, she's like me."

Money!

At the toy store, with the toy cash register, Quinn was obsessed with the toy money. How is that possible? Her parents hardly ever have cash and we pay for EVERYTHING with credit cards. Where did this come from? I ended up buying a pack of the money so that we could continue playing at home.

Associations

We told Quinn that we were heading to the airport because Mom was going to California for a conference. She said, "airplane". Obviously already knows that airplanes are at the airport.

Taking turns

School has done great things for her social interactions. She is great at waiting her turn (after we pull her back from cutting in line). She also declares "Quinn's turn" as we approach the desired entertainment ( carousel )

Monday Night with Tsz!!

A note from Tsz Wong - Quinn's favorite Rice Lovett sophomore... "I forgot to mention yesterday but when Quinn and I went through the library, she ran into the "window". You know the entrance that faces the Pavilion? There are two doors with a panel of glass in the middle. She was ready to go outside and didn't realize that the middle panel was glass. Before I could stop her, she ran into it and then looked at me to see how she should react since she was confused ("I thought this was an opening... why can't I get through... etc"). I was cracking up really hard so she also laughed and we left the library in giggles."

Spanish techer!

Quinn can teach you Spanish any time, she can take you to El CARRUSEL and ride EL CABALLO, LA CEBRA, EL LEON y EL TIGRE. She is not only Grace friend but her Spanish teacher too. Very cute pair!

A seat??

Loosing her balance, while getting Zoe her doggie biscuit (AKA cookie), Quinn sits in Zoe's water dish. "Why is my butt wet while I site here?" she ponders. Then an abrupt stand, attempted cry, then mostly giggle. "Wait, now I am cold!" C'est la vie!

Mind of a toddler

At the concert, Quinn was in an empty row of chairs in front of us. She looked at us and Pam nodded yes, she went to the next chair and Pam nodded yes, this continued for 5-6 more chairs. The next chair Pam arbitrarily shook her head no, Quinn climbed on that one. We laughed.

Frontier fiesta

What a great afternoon at frontier fiesta. We saw two shows, had sausage and meat all day, bounced in an elmo bounce house, watched dozens of people on a mechanical bull, made sand art, watched a concert, chased bubbles, danced, and got to pet a duck, bunny, and pony. Whew!

Weekend mornings

Saturday mornings are just a grumpy passing of time until EVERYONE naps at noon.

Teasing the teacher?

One of Quinn's teachers is recovering from cancer, and has lost her hair from the Chemo. She wears a hat that Quinn loves to take off because she is "like daddy". Luckily her teacher seems to find it fun.

Totally entranced

Went to a variety show at frontier fiesta. Quinn didn't blink the whole time.

Difficult words

One of our neighbors gave Quinn a begonia flower yesterday. She was able to clearly say it the first time.

Although she still has a tough time saying Leora.

At the "Application level" of Bloom's Taxonomy

So I recently posted about making pizza and that most of that effort went to the corn meal. Well, I had cleaned up the mess with a cordless vacuum cleaner. I had warned Quinn that it was going to be noisy. This morning we had spilled a large amount of juice. And she was wildly pointing at the counter and saying "NOS", "NOS". It took me a while, but I finally realized that she was pointing to the vacuum cleaner, and saying "noise"... because we should use the vacuum cleaner to clean up the juice spill.

Her ability to apply her knowledge to situations is just astounding.

She also taught me that I need to do a better job of labeling things :)

Toys at Popo's

"Toys" said Quinn
"Does Popo have toys?" said Pam
Nods head.
"What kind of toys does Popo have?"
"Hippos" said Quinn

Bluebonnets

Drove to brenham today to take bluebonnet pix. Quinn wasn't too excited by it because their were lots of burrs in the area. Hopefully out of the 130 pictures taken, one or two will come out.

The joy of cooking pizza

From the distribution of cornmeal, to the shaping the dough, to the spreading of sauce and layering of cheese.... wait who I am kidding.... Quinn got obsessed with the distribution of cornmeal and didn't help with any of the rest of the pizza prep. Fortunately snitching cheese was a good distraction to get the cornmeal away.

Piccomolo

We introduced Quinn to Italian gelato tonight. She loved the strawberry banana. This was after her gyro meat dinner. We are the lookout for "cream" requests now.

I love gymnastics for kids! Teaches them how to fall. Case in point - at gym on Friday Quinn stepped off a steep mat sideways, landed on her head and did an awkward forward roll. She looked like she didn't know if she should cry or not. I told her to rub it off and go about her business. Which she did. Falling is part of gymnastics. Grin and bear it. :-)

New toys

This weekend we finally swapped out the infant toys for toddler toys. She LOVES the play hut with the tunnels, the music set with real drum, and a classic sit and spin. PLAY ON!

Parenting insite

Kids behavior is totally based on how you feel. If you don't feel well, then it seems like there is a lot more "no's" then normal

Target

Target is a very fun place to go! Quinn loves the toys section as much as the groceries and furniture one. The favorite toy of the last trip we have there was the VTech Winnie the Pooh Laptop, the keyboard teaches letter order and the character buttons light up. After Target we went to the neighbourhood toy store Triple A. This are two things we love to do together.

I see a bus

She said "I see a bus" - a full sentence. Very clear. Then she said "very fast" afterwards. Pam was in awe.

Random comments from teachers - Collection

These notes didn't really happen today... but have been things that her teachers have said to us. I'm just remembering to type them in now.

"We need to see how to get her on the payroll - she is more of an assisstent than a student. She makes sure everyone has their drinks and their food and is sitting down."

"She is quite a character, she will often take another kids toys and lie in their bed pretending to be them."

There have been more, I'll try to post again if I remember more.

Splish Splash

At the restaurant last night, Quinn tried so hard to reach the water in the courtyard fountain-- she actually fell in. She was quite upset that she was wet, but hopefully she can learn from it. Besides, we all had a good laugh about it.

New wisdom for parents

When at the rodeo, and there is something desirable, like pony rides... It should be last and not first. Otherwise it is very difficult to do anything else.

More cooking with Quinn

We made banana bread again last night. This time Quinn helped with everything. She mashed the bananas, and with help, dumped in all of the pre-measured ingredients, stirred, and portioned the batter into the muffin tins.

The concept of the portioning didn't really get across, as she was having fun moving the batter from the big bowl to the muffin tins and back again - but we eventually got all of the batter in (around, and near) the muffin tins. Some of the muffins were obviously a little shorter then others :)

SOUUSes

As Quinn is literally using only her arms to climb up the ladders at the playground at the Texas State Aquarium, Pam says "Yup, she is an S-O-U-U-S." Shefman - Of - Unusual -Upper -Strength. (Also a reference to the 1987 cult classic "Princess Bride" which had R-O-U-Ses (Rodents Of Unusual Size.)

Dolphins

Quinn was totally entranced by the dolphin show at the Texas aquarium at corpus christi

Bizzare dinner, but great

Tonight we had very spicy green salsa and chips, over half a lemon (Imrana would be proud) and broccoli. Actually all she wanted was the broccoli and was very upset that a large piece fell on the ground. So upset that I had to give it to her minus that part actually laying on the ground. That upset her too, that she wasn't getting the whole thing. Btw- it was only the flowers not the stems.

Quinn and Grace!

Today Quinn wanted to play with Grace so we went to her house. They play everywhere! They have a great time together. Quinn ate the left over vegetables from Grace's Mommy Crock Pot Garlic Roast:
* (3 1/2-lb.) boneless pork loin roast *1 T. vegetable oil *1 t. salt 1/2 t. pepper *1 med. onion, sliced * 3 carrots sliced, *1 potatoes sliced, *3 cloves garlic, peeled *1 C. chicken broth or water Trim excess fat from pork. Heat oil in a 10-in. skillet over medium-high heat. Cook pork in oil about 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until brown on all sides. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place onion and garlic in 3 1/2 to 6 qt. slow cooker. Place pork on top of onion, carrots, potatoes, and garlic. Pour broth over pork. Cover and cook on LOW heat setting 8-10 hours or until pork is tender.

Pump it up!

This morning Quinn and Sabrina went to Pump it up (6030 S Rice Avenue), it is an inflatably boucing place. We had a great time jumping, climbing, playing all over the place. Quinn loved a little red and yellow car, she drove it everywere. We went down the gigantic slide about 20 times...nothing for Quinn, big work out for Sabrina. We are looking foward to go back soon!!

Te amo

Wow, as I was going to work, Quinn gave me an unprompted te amo.

Future Tennis Player

This Thursday morning Quinn and Sabrina went to the park. Quinn found one new friend who sheared with her the pink racket ball set. Quinn is great in holding the racket and gets very excited when the ball hit the net. I can see the future little girl playing tennis! She loves to go to the park, make new friends, try new sports.

Ah ha! Protein is not surprising!

Pam says, "it's not surprising she is a protein baby--the only thing I craved during pregnancy was a hamburger with a fried egg on top."

Cooking with Quinn

We started included Quinn in the cooking this weekend. She stirred the eggs for our omelet on Saturday. (Although she didn't eat any of it once it was made.)

She also mashed the bananas for her banana muffins. It is a good thing that the muffins were for her... Because as she mashed , she would lick the banana off the masher. She also tried to "drink" the bananas, but that was unsuccessful.

Dinner

Well tonight at dinner, Quinn had Veracruz red snapper, Pam had the remaining rice and grilled veggies and Drew finished off the untouched child's ground beef enchiliada. :)

Comprehension and Unstanding

Okay, so Quinn's hair is long enough that we need to put it into ponytails... We have been doing this for a while, and occasionally we'd pull her hair - and she'd yell about it. We'd (unstandably) say sorry, and stop pulling. Well she was then convinced that "sorry" ment "ow" or "pain". She would say "sorry" everytime that we pulled her hair. I told her today, while Pam was doing her her, "that when we accidentally pull her hair - she should say 'ow" and we would say 'sorry'. " She incorporated it immediatly, and said "ow" for the rest of the struggle of getting her hair into a ponytail. Of couse, we still said sorry each time.

Parental achievement

Quinn ate roasted ratatouille moussaka at 7pm. SCORE!

Thy cup runneth over

Even though at almost 19 months, Quinn thinks of herself as nearly 3 years old -- it is nice to see that she is still seems small when wearing our clothes. She is obsessed with Pam's bras, especially the purple one. She parades around the bathroom in it frequently!

Yesterday, morning she was very adamant about not wearing her pants, but wearing Daddy's. It was fun to see the contrast between the sizes. She was throughly entertained by me trying to get into her jeans (making all sorts of goofy faces) while she was sitting in mine.

GIRLFRIENDS

Quinn and Grace had a great time together this morning.They played indoors and outside Grace's house.They love each other a lot.They shared snacks, water cups and toys, off course!Quinn likes to tell Grace how to draw and read books. Grace likes to push Quinn in Cole's(Grace's big brother) wagon.Quinn and Sabrina have been teaching Grace some words in Spanish like auto, carro, bicicleta, libros, luna y sol.

Stomping Ground!!

Sabrina and Quinn went to Stomping and Ground (15415 SW Freeway Sugar Land, 77478). She loved it, she climbed, jumped, slid, crawled and laughed with her friend Grace who also was there. Quinn is a professional player in the area that is suposed to be for kids 3 years old and up . She used her "excuseme" a lot when she try to pass some other kids.
Sabrina es muy feliz los martes y jueves porque pasa el dia completo con Quinn la nena mas inteligente, divertida y linda.

Hangin' with Quinn - literally!

Miss Independent loves gymnastics. She goes on Fridays with Grandma PoPo. She wants to hang from the trapeze bar by herself. And she's quite adamant that it's "self". After watching a demonstration from Coach Laura, Quinn straightened her arms, lifted her knees up and supported herself on the parallel bars! (These are parallel bars made for her size, not the ones the Olympians use! :-))

1/30/09 Apparently life is too bland

Before bed, Quinn was exploring the spice cabinent. We usually let her smell the different spices, and try them in small amounts if she is interested. She ate more then a teaspoon of seasoning blend (salt, black pepper, sugar, onion, and other spices) - straight.

1/29/09 Wow, sentences

This morning, Quinn tells Zoe, the dog "Zoe, go find the squirrel."
(Zoe has a squirrel that squeaks that she likes to play fetch with.)
This was an amazing sentence for Quinn to say, and we very clear and understandable.

1/27/09 2 and 3 word sentences

Quinn is saying sentences like "Daddy move", "Daddy sit", "Daddy food".
The last one is referring to the fact that I should be eating with her.

1/27/09 Creative Limit Testing

What a creative solution! Quinn was told "no banging the fork, only stabbing [the food]." So she stabs a pear and proceeds to bang the pear.

1/25/09: Testing Limits

Today, we actively started testing limits. Pointed to forbidden item - said "no" - then proceeded to grab it while looking directly at me while smiling.

1/09/09 Dinner Discovery

Quinn ate cauliflower and cheddar soup, spicy salsa, General Tsos, and egg and spinich cassorle this weekend. All because we started dinner at 5:15 instead of 6:30