2/24-3/1
quinn is a whole year old!!! We have watched him standing up and letting go of his handholds a lot this week- he is getting more and more adventurous all the time. He has mastered the plastic ring stacking game, and he is a pro at sticking out his tongue- he initiates it now, and it has helped us through many a diaper change. He find sneezes to be the most hilarious thing in the world at the moment, even fake ones!
We have been having lovely weather, and it has been such a nice break from the rainy winter. Many walks have been taken- especially since mommy can’t work this week (the lab is closed!) we went to indoor park with susan and kids one day this week, and have been playing in the backyard a little bit- quinn spent a little time checking out his trike- he really likes it, even though he can’t really ride it yet. Our walks are so much fun- he is now pointing out many things as we walk, and telling me what they are. Birds (buh!) balls (baww!) cats (tuh!) dogs (duh!) trees (tuh!) i actually wasn’t sure about trees until this week- we were looking at birds and then i said something about the trees and he pointed straight up at one and said tuh! so he definitely has that one down now.
He has been talking more and more, saying lots of little secret things we have no idea what they could mean… and also repeating things we say, like good (it sounded like a combo between dude and toot!) and shoe (sss). He has been very interested in shoes, especially mommy’s shoes, lately- he will bring one over to me and have me put it on, take it off, over and over. The best thing about my life right now is watching him just revel in the amazingness of life, and he finds it in the most unlikely places (like shoes!) which just makes me feel so good to see.
We went over to steve and dena’s for dinner and had lebanese food (quinn loved the pita bread, and tried a few other things that he seemed mostly unimpressed with. He and bodhi played with the toy elmo phone and lots of other toys all evening. Quinn was overtired by the time we got in the car to go home, and fell asleep to mommy singing this land is your land and mr tambourine man.
3/2
we took a drive out to the gorge today and went for a hike at elowah falls- the weather was gorgeous! Quinn rode on mommy’s front on the way out, and on daddy’s back all the way back. He took a nap on mom, which was nice, since we don’t do that as often as we used to. he played guitar with dad this evening- he has been really interested in trying to use a pick (no, i’m not kidding!)
3/3
stir crazy! Lots of walks!
3/4
went to omsi with susan
3/5
i went to work today while quinn stayed at dena’s for a couple hours. He and bodhi had a good time together, and he fell asleep in the car when steve drove us home.
3/6
we left for newport this evening, headed for my interview at the hatfield marine science center for a lab manager job in a shellfish genetics lab. The drive went smoothly until the very end of the 3 and a half hours, when quinn started crying and i had the directions to the hotel wrong. It was so nice to be on the coast, even that evening we first arrived. dada went and got us tv dinners at fred meyer while quinn settled into the hotel room with me. Then we went for a walk around the area. We were in the closest hotel to the marine science center, so we even skirted the grounds a little bit, which are right on yaquina bay. It really reminds me a lot of the marine station on ye olde southampton campus (a shout out to my girls here) may it rest in peace. A lot about the idea of living on the coast has had me thinking back to those college days, back when i first lived on a coast somewhere. I miss it, and look forward to doing it again!!!
3/7
interview day. Oh boy was i nervous this morning. we took quinn down to get some continental breakfast, and he had fun eating hard boiled eggs and biscuits in the high chair. He even had his first cheerios. dada and quinn dropped me off at 9 for the interview, and they had ALL DAY to themselves. We weren’t sure if they would be invited along for lunch, and it turned out they weren’t, so all told, they were without me for almost 7 hours. The interview went very well, i thought. Quinn was SOOO happy to see me when i met them in the parking lot at the hotel and took him out of his carseat (they had been all over- to beaches, to the historic bayfront where the sea lions hang out…) they had a great day, which made it so much easier for me to put my mind on my presentation and all that stuff.
We regrouped for a few minutes after that, but it was still light out and we wanted to take advantage, so we went back outside to drive to the beach. It had just started to rain when the interview ended, and now when we came outside the sun peeked out, and a double rainbow appeared in the sky. It stayed all the way until we got to ona beach. And on the beach, it was SUPER spring low tide, lower than i’ve ever seen on the oregon coast, and it was great- we could walk for a long ways and not have to stop for big rocks/cliffs in our way. We found fossil shells (pretty common for oregon coast but i’m still getting used to seeing them). Later we got clam chowder and fish and chips from a local place, and took it back to the hotel. It was really yummy and quinn seemed to really enjoy seafood.
3/8
Today in the hotel Quinn sat down and fed himself half a jar of baby food with a spoon. He has been pretty interested in the utensils lately, but this was really by far the most impressive use I have seen, and very effective. We spent part of the day on the beach- seal rock is one of our favorites. We also poked around Newport, Waldport, and drove as far south as Yachats before turning back north. We picked up classifieds wherever we saw them, and around 6 began driving home. The trip again went well until the end, and Quinn was really ready to be out of the car about a half hour before we got home. I sang every song I could think of, and eventually we made it.
3/9-3-15
this week quinn has really worked on developing his ability to use eating utensils. He has spoons and forks that i used when i was a baby, which is cool both for the nostalgia factor and that they are not plastic coated. (his wooden handmade by daddy spoon has been retired from too much biting! Sad…) i’m amazed at how much control he has with the utensils at this age.
A new development… Quinn has located his (and other peoples’) belly button(s). He started calling it “be” or “beye” and when we say it, he will now point to his own or one of our belly buttons. I think he is tickled by the way it sounds, and of course thinks it feels funny (as we all do) when he pokes his own.
3/16 sunday driving out to sauvie island
3/18 spent the day at susan’s. this evening quinn was very music oriented. He went around the room, playing every instrument he came in contact with, and fiddling with the stereo as well. He played a little piano, a little drums, and made up some other things to do by banging his blocks together, and things like that.
3/19 today i found out i didn’t get the lab manager job. Boo. We went to powells in the evening and got some new old books. In Quinn’s life, many things are being labeled Hot at the moment, since he is now fully enunciating (it’s not just tuh it is h-o-t!). He has been saying “hot” for things like, if I take off his shoes and he wants them back on- I am wondering if he is thinking “cold” when he does that? Or temperature in general, maybe.
3/22
went on an easter egg hunt this morning. Quinn picked up five eggs- they were the foil wrapped chocolate kind, unfortunately, so he didn’t get to really eat them. He did put them in his mouth, but i took them out before he got more than a little taste… i still think he really enjoyed himself. He seemed quite content with his five, it was all he could hold in his hands, and that was simply perfect, in spite of the fact that there were twenty more within arm’s reach. Hurray for being new to the world- lacking competitiveness and greed.
3/23
13 MONTHS!
easter sunday! Quinn and i babysat ronan while his family went to cirque du soleil. We had a good time (other then 20 minutes when ro wouldn’t stop crying/screaming) and the boys are so good at sharing and playing nicely. I actually read a few pages of my book, which I didn’t expect- something about their ages maybe, they seem to be more happy entertaining themselves when someone their same size is right there also entertaining himself. Or something.
One of the newer words in Quinn’s vocabulary is woof- usually it sounds like “oof” but other times it is just “fff” or still others “voof-foov-voof”. It is particularly cute, and since he started using it, that is what he says for dogs, instead of ever saying “dah” anymore.
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