A Little Mischief: March 2014

Dear Quinn,
Naturally, since I posted yesterday about you being the perfect toddler, you decided to make me eat my words last night.

For some reason unbeknownst to us, you came home from school yesterday acting like a complete maniac. You normally happily eat whatever we are having for dinner, but even though you were excited to identify "broccoli!" and "carrot!" in last night's meal - you refused to eat it. After a lengthy tear-filled battle in which I explained that you would not be getting a cookie, we compromised with vanilla yogurt.

Daddy told you over and over again to use your spoon, so you threw it onto the floor, dipped both hands into the yogurt and licked it off all while defiantly staring him down.

"Nooooo!" was the word of the day. You did not want to take a bath. After 15 minutes of trying and trickery, I finally had to pick you up and carry you upstairs while you kicked, screamed and tried to dive out of my arms. When I set you down you immediately flopped onto the floor for an epic tantrum the likes of which we haven't seen in months. You banged your head against the carpet, kicked your feet and screamed as loudly as you could.

I began to think that something was wrong or that you were in pain - but then I tried an experiment. I said, "bye-bye" and closed the door. You immediately stopped crying, got up and pushed it open. As soon as you saw me you dove back onto the carpet and began wailing again. It was a very impressive show.

Eventually you calmed down and let me bathe you, as long as I performed a trick with your squirty doggie bath toy throughout the entire duration. You didn't even want to brush your teeth. As I mentioned in the last post, after bath time you sit quietly in front of the mirror to get your hair brushed and dried. Yesterday, you ran around naked and screaming until I wrestled you into your jammies.

What happened, Quinn? Did Mommy jinx your good behavior?

It's ok, baby. We all have our days. We calmed down enough to read some books, but it was getting very late. You freaked out again when we turned off the light and I was forced to walk you until, exhausted, you fell asleep on my shoulder. Quinn, it was the best. I never get to rock you to sleep anymore, so I treasured the opportunity - even though you had a crazy night, even though you are starting to get very heavy. You're worth it every time. You don't have to be perfect - nobody is - but we will always, always love you no matter what.

Dear Quinn,
As I scroll through one blurry photo after another, I am realizing that it is impossible to continue documenting your life as I have in the past. If you aren't going to stop moving for one second so that I can take your picture, you certainly aren't going to stop learning and progressing long enough for me to record it here. I can no longer keep up with you, as everyday brings new words, abilities and just downright adorable things that you do.

Since I can't stop time, I thought describing a typical weekday with you would capture the essence of you at seventeen months. Here goes:

Like clockwork, you wake at 7 o'clock every morning and call out to us from your crib. I go downstairs to get your milk and I can always hear you giggling with anticipation as I go down the steps. As soon as I open your door you greet me with smiles and are often jumping up and down with excitement.

I change your diaper and dress you and then we go in to see Daddy while he gets ready for work. More often than not, Daddy takes you to school when the weather is cold. You say "bye bye!" and give me a kiss as you head out the door.

You love your school and your teachers have started telling us that you are "advanced." I know it's obnoxious, but I can't stop bragging to people about how smart you are. You know all your colors and animal sounds. Your favorite color is yellow - and you think that you are supposed to "yell" whenever something is "YELLOW!!!" Yesterday, the school said that if we wanted to move you up to the two-year-old class a little early you would fit right in. We're going to keep you where you are for now, but keep it up, Quinn!

After school, I come home and start making dinner. By the time your Daddy brings you home, I am usually in the kitchen. As soon as Daddy puts you down you run over to give me a hug. You just started doing this and it's the greatest thing in the world! Then you "help" me make dinner by exploring whatever raw vegetables I am cooking and making me hold you up so that you can see what's happening on the stove. By 6:30, we are sitting down to eat. Although you are a genius, you haven't quite mastered utensils yet. After dinner we play with you until it's time for Mommy to go upstairs and get everything ready for your bath.

You have a very strict routine for bath time and bedtime. First you put all your bath toys into the water one by one, cheering and clapping as each one goes in. Then I undress you, singing the "gimme that sock, shirt, etc." song for each article of clothing. Your favorite part of bath-time is brushing your teeth. When we are all done washing you say "bye-bye!" to the water. You often bend over and slurp up the last dregs of bathwater. This is gross, but you think it's hilarious. Only when every last drop of water is gone will you let me take you out of the tub. I bring you into our room and you sit on my lap in front of the mirror while I dry your hair and put your jammies on.

After that comes my favorite part of the day, when we sit in the glider together and read bedtime stories. We read four or five books and play little games we invented that go with each one. For example, after reading The Going to Bed Book, we go through it a second time trying to find the piggie on each page. I've never seen a kid who loves books as much as you do. You sit so nicely and quietly while we are reading. After the last book, you call out for Daddy and he brings up some warm milk and kisses you goodnight. We turn off all the lights and I rock you in the chair and sing to you while you drink your milk. More often than not, you'll put your finger to my lips to tell me it's time to stop singing, and then you point to your crib. That's it! You always go right to sleep because you are the best kid in the whole world!

We love you, Quinn!