Our Little Toddler

Dear Quinn,
You may have noticed that there has been a lot of pictures on this blog lately, and not a lot of words.  The truth is that I have been avoiding writing anything about you turning one because I wasn't ready to admit that you are no longer a baby.  It makes Mommy sad that you are growing up so fast, but there is no denying it - you have now officially reached toddlerhood. 

Along with this milestone has come all sorts of exciting things.  You are increasingly mobile.  You climb all the way up the stairs and have taken a bunch of steps on your own.  Your current record is five steps - way to go, Quinn! 

Your vocabulary is expanding by the day.  You constantly point to objects and say, "Dijou?" (What's that?) and then try to imitate the sounds when we tell you the word.  In addition to Mama, Dada and uh-oh, you say words like diaper, hello, thank you and turtle. 

You mimic our actions all the time. You wave bye-bye and blow kisses. You pick up our phones and hold them to your ear, often saying, "Hellooooo, Mom-Mom!"  In the mornings you sit on the floor next to me and we brush our hair together, which you think is hilarious. Speaking of hair, yours has gotten so long that I use the blow dryer to dry it after your bath.  You stand at the mirror while I chase you around with it.  You love the baby in the mirror and always look behind it trying to find her! 

Now that you are one, we have made the transition to cow's milk. You love it!  You hold the bottle to your mouth with one hand and sign the word for milk with the other.  You're so smart, Quinn!  You are also eating people food and enjoy all kinds of different tastes and textures.  You love Grammy's chicken soup and Mom-Mom's baked beans.  You aren't always so keen on my cooking, but I'm working on it. 

While we are on the subject of food, I must tell you that you have the worst table manners on the face of the earth.  Each night, the three of us eat dinner together and your Daddy and I try to hold on to our appetites while watching you shovel food into your mouth by the fistful.  We've been listening to music while we eat, but it doesn't even come close to drowning out the Mmmms! and nom-nom-nom! sounds that you make.  You let us know when you would like more by using your sign language, and you let us know when you don't like something by carefully picking up chunks of chicken or broccoli and dropping them onto the floor.

You are truly back to your old self and show no signs of having ever been sick.  The whole ordeal is still very upsetting to think about, but it makes each moment with you even more special. 

We love you so much, Quinn!

Water Babies!

Dear Quinn,
Yesterday, we took you to your first Water Babies swimming class.  I was anxious the whole way there... Would you hate it?  Would you get scared and cry?  Is this cruel?  Would your bathing suit still fit? 

Quinn - I will never doubt you again.  You loved it!  You splashed enthusiastically, clapped along with the songs, kicked your feet, and even went underwater.  You're a natural, Quinn! You're a little fishy just like your Daddy.  We had so much fun, and are proud of how brave you were.

These were taken at Pottruck Health and Fitness Center at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Ready for swimmin'!

It's your friend Anna from school!

Splash you in the face, Daddy!

Yay!

Practicing my kicks!

Impressive!

Bonus video: Quinn gets dunked

 

Way to go, Quinn!  We love you so much!

Perfect Ten

Dear Quinn,
This morning as I left the house, a man in a total panic asked me for directions to the hospital where his wife was currently in labor.  I told him which way to go - and to calm down.  It's hard to believe that exactly ten months ago your daddy and I were in the same boat.  I will never forget him chasing a cab down the street while I waddled along yelling, "wait for me!"

Welcome to the double digits, Quinn!  Now that you've been out longer than you were in, you are pretty well-adjusted to life.  You recognize people you know and greet them with your beautiful smile.  You understand us if we ask you if you would like to get a bath, go for a ride or have something to eat.  You'll do "hands up high!" when you get dressed and you understand the word, "no" although you ignore it at your own discretion. 

I have also been trying to teach you to stop taking the glasses off my face - but you think it's a game and I reinforce this behavior by laughing.  I can't help it -your little face is too cute!

You are very, very smart.  We've been trying to introduce you to new books lately, but you want the same ones read to you over and over again.  You like being able to anticipate what comes next.  I've been trying to demonstrate the "smell the flowers" page in Pat the Bunny, so whenever we come to it you automatically turn around to watch me sniff the flowers.  When it's your turn, you put your face really close to the page and lick it. 

We have so much fun playing with you!  You love to play This Little Piggy with your toes - but you know you're going to get tickled at the end, so you squeal and leap off my lap as soon as we get to the last piggy. You play peek-a-boo with us by lifting blankets over your head and pulling them off by yourself.  Your favorite game is "I'm gonna get you."  You laugh and scream as we chase you all over the apartment. 

Speaking of the apartment - you have explored just about every inch of it. You move very deftly from one piece of furniture to another, along the walls or even clinging to our legs when we move about.  Your crawl is lightning fast and I believe you are mere weeks from walking.  It is hilarious to watch you take steps with the aid of your walker - until you reach the wall and become frustrated. You've started having mini tantrums where you throw yourself on the floor and kick your legs. 

Food-wise you don't have many restrictions and are generally very cooperative.  You have only one condition- that you feed yourself.  Gone are the days of spooning pureed food into your mouth.  You prefer finger foods that you can pick up and will only take purees out of a self-serve pouch.  I still pack your lunch for daycare, but have started allowing you to sample whatever meals the school provides.  This week you tried waffles, french toast and an apple cinnamon cereal bar. 

You are the world's greatest baby.  We take you everywhere and you handle it like a champ.  At bedtime you put yourself to sleep and stay down for the duration.  That is wonderful and I shouldn't complain, but I really miss nursing you and cuddling you in the middle of the night.  You are way too busy for cuddles these days - it breaks my heart!

But then you make it all better by reaching out to me and saying, "Mama!"

Happy ten months, baby girl.  We love you so much!!!!

 

Video Roundup: Seashore Edition

Quinn sees the beach for the very first time:

Mommy and Quinn playing in the surf:

Do the Quinn!  Daddy and Quinn dancing to the music ball:

Nine Months

Dear Quinn,
My sweet baby girl.  Where does the time go?  You have been with us for nine months.  lately you are making it more difficult for me to find the time to write these posts for you.  We are all very busy these days, but you are the busiest of all.  You take your job of exploring the world very seriously.  You furrow your little brow and observe everything around you.  Nothing escapes your attention. 

You are growing up so fast. You have your own life independent from us at school.  People I've never met greet you by name in the hallways.  You have friends.  You even have a best friend, a little boy who was born three days after you.  Tales of your adventures together are mentioned often in your daily reports.  Just yesterday you were observed stealing his Cheerios.  

Both of you have moved up into the room across the hall.  You were definitely ready, but we are going to miss your teacher, whom I have really grown to trust.  We got her a gift and asked that she visit you on occasion in the Big Girl Room.

Last week you had your nine month checkup and I am proud to report that you are now 21 pounds, 6 oz and 28 inches tall.  You are in the 90th percentile for weight and the 64th for height.

You currently have five teeth, three on the bottom and two on top.  You love to dance.  You fearlessly cruise around the room by moving from one piece of furniture to another.  Your favorite book of the moment is Five Little Monkeys.  You are still the sweetest, happiest baby in the world and you make us laugh every single day.  

We love you so much, baby Quinn!

 

Daddy, pay attention to me!

I'll feed myself, Mommy!

Showing off my strength at my nine month checkup!

Tipping the scales

 

Video Roundup

Dear Quinn,
Amidst all the holiday hubbub and busy couple of weeks, you have made incredible progress.  Your babbles now regularly include consonants.  Whether or not it has any connection to him, we don't know, but either way your Daddy is thrilled that you will now say, "Dada." 

After weeks of determination and frustration, you are now officially crawling.  For the first couple of days you were putting your hands on the ground and hopping a bit, but you have since perfected your form by bending your knees.

You are everywhere and into everything! 

Your teacher tells me that you have started a trend at school of hanging out underneath your crib.  You allow other babies to follow you in, but will not tolerate them going under there first or without you.  I prefer to think of it as you demonstrating your natural leadership ability.  

Elsewhere in the mobility department, you have been using the furniture (or us, or whatever else is available) to pull yourself up to a stand.  You love to stand up and practice your balance! 

 Also, I think it is finally safe to say that you are sleeping through the night.  Thank you, Quinn!

And last but not least, two adorable things you do that I want to remember. 

1. Lately, whenever I carry you down the stairs, you hold on to me with both hands and squeal with glee.  You enjoy being startled too... I think we have a little thrill seeker on our hands. 

2. You are really into the book, Peedie by Oliver Dunrea.  Every time I read it to you, you continually turn around to smile at me and lay your head against my chest - your little version of a hug. 

And now to post a bunch of videos before they get too old:

Playing peekaboo in the Wawa parking lot:

Talking with your mouth full:

Time to lower the crib:

No more puffs:

I can't believe you will be eight months old in a few days.  We love you, sweet girl!

Memorial Day Weekend

Dear Quinn,
You are back from your first big adventure!  You spent the weekend with your Mom-Mom and Pop-Daddy while your father and I went down the shore.

They were just thrilled to have you.  By Tuesday your Mom-Mom had already called asking when she could have you back.  She said that you were very well-behaved, although your Aunt Elena ratted you out and informed me that you threw a tantrum on Saturday because you didn't want to take a nap. (The tantrums are fairly new and may be related to teething.  You work yourself into a frenzy, wailing at the highest pitch imaginable and kicking your little legs.)  But despite this, they still wanted to keep you.  Every time I called to check on you, your Pop-Daddy pretended that I had the wrong number and that he couldn't speak English. "Baby no here, sorry!"

They played with you all day and even took you out to dinner to visit Aunt Elena at work: 

Sitting in a big girl high chair at Ryan's Pub!

Being away from you for 48 hours really underscored how much progress you can make in a day's time.  By Sunday you had already learned some new tricks.  You can go from a sit to a crawling position and have started "tenting" by arching your back and lifting yourself onto your tippy toes.  In addition, your Mom-Mom taught you how to clap.  You've been clapping constantly ever since, whether it is appropriate or not.  This morning I got an ovation for drying my hair - thank you, Quinn!

Video proof: 8 seconds of clapping

Your Daddy and I missed you very much, but we knew that you were in good hands. It gave us a much-appreciated chance to have some fun together and it allowed you to spend some time with your grandparents.  We want you to be as close to them as possible. 

Thanks for watching me, Mom-Mom and Pop-Daddy!

On Monday we visited your Grammy and Pop-Pop, and they are just as excited to have you while we go to Mexico for your Aunt Lauren's wedding.  You sat on your Grammy's lap as she told you all about the plans they made for your visit.  You clapped happily when she mentioned splashing in a baby pool.   You got so many hugs and kisses - and got sent home with new toys, clothes and diapers.  (Thank you!!!) 

Your daddy and I are extremely lucky that our parents are so supportive of our little family.  You will never know how much your grandparents love you, Quinn.  We are going to do our best to make sure that you make a lifetime of memories with all of them.   

Why are you tickling my foot, Pop-Pop?

Me and My Grammy!

I'm such a lucky girl!