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.)