8/24
grammy, grampy, quinn and i went to seal rock state park beach in the morning. the weather was beautiful. lots of pelicans were perched on the rocks, and quinn is learning the word “seagull”. we went at the right time, because then it rained in the afternoon. we went to the apple peddler to celebrate quinn’s half birthday with apple dumplings and ice cream. quinn thoroughly enjoyed eating the ice cubes from his water glass, and stacking up the empty creamers from g and g’s coffee and tea. he was a little wound up when we got home, and played with grampy for a while, getting “stuck” between g’s feet, and bounced around on his leg. he would break away giggling, then say “funny” and then go closer again to play some more. the funniest part is that he waits until he is all finished laughing and is serious, before stating “funny.” it had us in stitches! we ate salmon chowder for dinner, with fresh corn from the farmers market in it. quinn has expressed his genetic predisposition (from me) for putting his empty food bowl on his head and declaring “hat!”
8/25
mama had to go to work today, but quinn had a great day with g and g, whose names are also: “bumpy, bampy, dampy, dunty” (grampy) and “om” (grammy). quinn helped g and g go to the store, and also went to the beach, where he put his sand bucket on his head, also as a hat. om said he just looked around when they arrived at the beach, taking it all in, then smiled and announced: “happy.” at bathtime, i got him to walk to the bathroom on his own by miming bubble-blowing, which he copied me doing as he willingly came to have a bath. the way he blows is so cute- for bubbles, or for when his food is hot- it is just such a sweet thing.
8/26
this morning quinn woke up with me (he has been sleeping much better the last few days!) before i left for work, we played a jumping game in the dining room. one of us would jump (he without his feet leaving the ground so far, but very vigorously crouching down and popping back up) and he would say “jump!”and laugh and giggle… then calm down and say “funny.” he gets downright serious when he tells me “funny.” gets me laughing again every time! before i left, i changed his diaper and when i laid him on the bed he yawned and i said “yawn” and he said it back to me several more times. he went to ona beach with g and g today (g carried him while q played with his beard) and learned to say “ona”. he also said “buckle” while studying grampy’s belt buckle, and “welcome” closely associated with “thank you” which has been very popular. i sang him “twinkle twinkle” later in the evening and he started singing “thank you thank you” after i was done (and after he applauded for me- aww.) it is so much fun to hear his voice become more sing-songy all the time. he seems to really have noticed how to give his voice different tones and inflections and it is really fun to listen to him experimenting with that.
8/27
quinn took grammy and grampy to the oregon coast aquarium today! he said some new words- “sea lion” and “jelly fish”. by all reports, he was fascinated by the fish- exclaiming “fishy! fishy!” while he watched them swimming. he napped on grampy in the sling and during the ride home, but only for a half hour, so he took another nap when i got home from work and did not fall asleep until around 10 while i walked him around the neighborhood, chatting with susan on the phone.
8/28
tonight’s new word: “dinner.” today g and g and q went to the library to return quinn’s library books. they were going to go to story hour but the storyteller was on vacation, so g and g read stories instead. they played outside a lot. grammy made chicken divan for dinner and quinn preferentially ate the pieces of broccoli- and i think he said “broccoli” too but his mouth was full so i wasn’t sure.
8/29
friday today and a three day weekend ahead! quinn said “watch” and “diaper” for g and g today. he ate grammy’s scrambled eggs with cheese. after work, we brought a picnic to ona beach. quinn announced “ona!” all the way there in the car. it does my heart good to know he’ll grow up knowing his beaches on a first name basis. we ate sandwiches and chips, but q was too excited to really eat. as we walked back from the water’s edge to our picnic blanket, he held grammy’s and my hands, and did “jump” between us. “jump” and “round and round” are big favorites right now. it started to rain lightly so we packed up, and quinn announced “raining!” as we walked back to the car. later in the evening he said “building” while we made mega block towers, and he also said “milk” for the first time!
8/30
farmers market and a garage sale this morning. quinn is getting really good at naming parts of faces- “eye!” is still his favorite. he also says (and points to): “nose”, “mouth” (moup!) “chin” “cheeks” and “ears” (eew). he has fun with the dollhouse, and really likes saying “chair” and putting “people” in “chairs” he also puts them in bed, and tonight i heard him say “sleeping” for the first time. i also noticed him walking backwards around the living room a little bit. we ate dinner out, and he devoured french fries and fresh fruit and scrambled eggs and ice cubes and had a marvelous time.
8/31
new today: “ shark, broom, gentle, bring, piano, star.” he said “star” while looking at his scrapbook with me (his 1st year book is almost done! 2 pages to go!) he looked at the pictures for quite a while, commenting on who was in them, and what they were doing, and other objects he saw (guitar! hat! etc.) later in the day i also showed him pictures of talan again, and he was upset i didn’t let him hold them, saying “my baby.” (awwwwwwwwwwww…) at the beach today (nye) he had a good time walking between g and g. at the end of the day he went to the door declaring “outside! ride!” and making his car sound (from “let’s go riding in the car” by woody guthrie). but we went out in the yard and planted our peach/plum/avocado/olive pits that we’ve been collecting (it amazes me how innate it is to push a seed down into the dirt and give it water!) and then took a walk with the sling to fall asleep.
9/1
labor day. this morning we went to breakfast at cafe stephanie in nye beach, which was super yummy. quinn had yogurt and fresh fruit, but was more interested in the two little stainless steel pitchers that held the cream for the coffee. we walked down to the beach after our meal and did lots of the “jump” game and generally revolved around quinn’s exuberant joy of just being. he is so into what he does… when at the beach, he does it to the fullest- then when he’s ready to go, it’s “bye bye water, see you” and off we go to get really into the next part of our day. he is teaching me a lot about enthusiasm and joy and how to “be here now.” he also has given me a new appreciation for simple things like “thank you.” just the amazing expressiveness of his “teants youuu” including whole body movement doing the sign for thank you (almost blowing a kiss) makes it so meaningful to receive one from him, and makes me want to (i know, this is so cliche) be a better person and work on my own manners.
it is hard to have the 3 day weekend be over. new words: “yup.” while playing with dollhouse: “blanket”, “table” and “night night.” in the car: “seat” and “snap,” for which he has made up his own sign- two fists together, like when you snap his seat belt. “snap” sounds like “nyap.” while reading “the pigeon loves things that go”: “airplane” (he opens to that page to bring it over to be read, saying “eewplen!”) today he also said “bus” “train” and “hot dog” from the pigeon book. food related recent words: “spoon” (poon) “peach” “eggs” (eddies), and “avocado” (ado). he brought a peach to grammy today and said “om-dammy eat peach?” his words for g and g evolve daily. “wash” (pointing to the dishwasher). in the garage: “screwdriver” (sounds like cereal) and “pliars”.
after beach time, we went for a hike at the mike miller educational trail in south beach- it goes through some old growth sitka spruce forest. we saw a salamander (“sal-mon”) some snakes, a moth (“fa-fly”) and lots of trees (“tee!” with accompanying sign and accompanying exuberance over the size of the trees.)
quinn had a nap during the hike, and another one in the late afternoon, and it took him a full hour to fall asleep at bedtime, including many renditions of “twinkle twinkle” from mama (his requests: “how i”) followed by applause from him, intermittent nursing and standing straight up in bed, then laying across mama, eye-nose-moup practice, etc. he even giggled in his sleep before i finally escaped back out here to the kitchen to write all of this down…
9/2
back to work and daycare today, but quinn came home at lunchtime with g and g. the morning drop-off was chaotic, 5 kids showed up at once and quinn seemed a bit overwhelmed when i left and apparently still seemed out of it mid-morning when i called to let them know he is done having a bottle/sippy of milk during the day (so they didn’t think i just forgot it). new word of the day- “sunny.” he is a big fan of peekaboo right now, and says “pee-boo!” very well now too.
9/3
another morning at becky’s and afternoon with g and g. he is saying his name more and more, and often it follows the word “happy”. he will look around (e.g. when he gets home from daycare, or gets to the beach, or starts nursing after a long day) and pronounce himself “happy kin”. it is interesting to me that some words seem tied together. he often says “uh-oh, bee-bee (baby)” together. “jump…funny” is another example. but i would definitely put “happy kin” at the top of my life of favorites!
9/4
words words words… picture, dinner, kiss, fingers, glasses, big, helmet… g and g left when i got home from work (they watched quinn all day because becky is not feeling well after her knee surgery. they went to library story hour and the beach). quinn gave g and g hugs and told them “bye bye” and gave them kisses, announcing “tiss!” after each one.
9/5
when Quinn is talking on any of his several phones (old ones of mine, or his blocks or other toys which he “converts” via imagination) he often speaks to a certain “bunny.” this is intriguing to me, and i would love to know what he is picturing during this kind of play. we ate crab cioppino for dinner, made with some canned crab caught by daddy and sent especially for quinn. it was yummy! at bedtime, we took a walk with the sling, and quinn kept looking up and pointing out the moon to me (sometimes he says “moon,” other times “myune” hehe) he also clearly saw a few especially bright stars, and pointed those out to me too (“sar”). then he’d say “bye bye moon” and snuggle back into the sling.
9/6
at the farmers market we met trina and noah (quinn now says “noah”) and for a while we sat chatting, snacking on strawberries and apricots and bunnies, but after a while q decided to wander a bit. he kept being drawn to the musicians (violin and guitar) who play every week. i caught up with him when he’d stop to dance. he was doing a great slow dance to a mournful/gypsy-sounding tune, doing slow dips with his knees, and matching arm movements. i love the way he dances! at home he kept bringing me the guitar and he’d dance when i’d play a song (leavin on a jet plane, in honor of g and g on an “earplen” and of course, twinkle twinkle). later in the backyard quinn did some drumming with sticks on an overturned bucket (“dommo,” i finally deciphered to mean drummer, and now he also says “drumming.”) we did some weeding and he helped me “dump it” when the weed bucket needed “dumping” on the compost pile. and the musical finale of the day was a trip to cafe mundo to hear the all star high school jazz band. kym is involved in the “jazz at newport” festival, and these kids were staying at her house so she advertised their gig to us- i would have loved for quinn to hear more music but couldn’t justify paying a lot in case he was not into it/disruptive/etc. so this was perfect- he danced on my lap. these kids were impressive. tenor sax, trumpet, piano, upright bass (he was the best), and drums. very talented musicians, i was glad we went!
in the words department, quinn now says “hello” (hew wow) to himself in the mirror. words that he has been saying for a while are becoming more and more clear: open, help, pillow, etc.
9/7
this morning we went to ona beach, braving the fog and being rewarded, when the fog lifted, by having the whole beach to ourselves! (yay for after labor day!) we laughed and stuck sticks upright in the sand, fed each other bunnies, saw 3 real bunnies, and had a great time. Q almost fell asleep on the ride home, then looked like he would fall asleep in his yogurt/broccoli/beans at lunch.
walrus, flipper, careful, soft.
9/8
words: walking, shadow, camel, welcome, jacket, taste
9/9
words: broken, chicken, bowl, puzzle, yogurt (yo-burp)
9/10
no nap at daycare today so napped from 5:30-7 then got up for long enough to eat yo-burp and cheerios for dinner, only to fall asleep again shortly thereafter in the sling. we arrived at the beach just in time for sunset, but Q didn’t get to see it because he was already snoozing!
9/11
words: honey, swimming, tomato (mato), sling (sing)
9/12
words: heavy, whoa, wow (these have come up before today but i’ve forgotten to write them down), mop, sweeping, loud, bed, glasses.
i bit down on a grain of sand while we were lying on the bed and i told quinn it jangled me. he laughed hysterically and repeated “jangle!” over and over, then succumbed to hiccups so we started saying “hiccup!” instead. later in the garage, he studied my roller blades for a while. after a lot of careful thought, he pronounced them “shoes!” just before bed, he got startled by kitty jumping down from her food dish, and cried. we talked it through, and then was fine, saying, “kitty… jump!”
9/13
“min! min!” quinn’s request for a vitamin. (they are gummi bear vitamins, hence his enthusiasm.) we spent the first half of the day with trina and noah, playing on the beach, playing with playdough (a new word) and making (and eating) pizza for lunch. the boys ate their fill of huckleberries and raspberries, got good and sandy, and were videotaped performing their first rock concert (noah swaying, quinn spinning in circles, both holding guitars.) quinn says “noah” very well now, and trina sounds a lot like dena. he told us “noah shoes” when trina was helping noah put on his shoes. other new words include markers, floor, one, want and no! no is new today; want is an older one but very popular today.
9/14
words: arm, bagel, sandwich, dough (watching me knead bread dough.)
while the freezer was open, quinn pointed to the bags of frozen milk and told me “baby,” because he knows the milk in there is for baby ariana, and when i said “ariana” he told me “ana!” he seems perfectly happy to donate some of his milk, as long as it’s to a “bee-bee!”
the sudden appearance of “no” in the vocabulary is of course interesting. with it seems to have come a certain amount of attitude- i have a hard time not laughing when he says it, due to the tone of voice and pouty face. it is ever so brief, then he is back to smiling and going along with whatever suggestion i made that he declined…
9/15
practicing a lot of names- first at daycare he pointed at robert- “wobewt!” he now says garbage (garbo) and yucky (yutty) which i believe he picked up at daycare because i hardly ever refer to things as yucky. food on the floor? not yucky, still yummy. messy/dirty face? not yucky, just messy. we got a little messy faced eating blackberries off the bushes in our yard at dusk just before bedtime! we got about a quart, but quinn ate a good few handfuls of that.
9/16
more blackberries (ba-ba) tonight, though not many ripened today in all the fog. then we went to bilingual story hour at the library and learned our colors en espanol! quinn is very good at purple and yellow (in english), and tonight was working on “geen” and “boo” as well. he helped me crack eggs for dinner like a pro!
9/17
quinn told me “fire” when i turned on the gas heater tonight (it’s fall… :() then informed me: “hot!” he did lots of splashing, and saying “splash” in the bathtub tonight as he poured cups full of water on his face. (he says “cup” too.) other words of late- “dip”, as in dip cheddar bunny crackers in toby’s tofu pate, “fix it”, “giraffe,” “monkey,” and “horse-neigh! neigh!” have i already mentioned “fingers” “toes” etc from the toes ears and nose book?
9/18
annie’s mac and cheese for dinner because it was quick, and left us enough time on this rare still evening to walk to the beach for sunset! “set” is the new word today. quinn fell asleep on the walk home in the sling. i’m glad he still likes to do that! i have heard of lots of toddlers who give up babywearing once they can toddle but this toddler seems to really take a lot of comfort from snuggling up to mama.
9/19
nuts friend lauren taryn aidan bus round light on off go
9/20
met up with trina and noah at the farmers market- “noah! noah!” quinn exclaimed as we left the house. after we were full of produce we all came back to our house to play and eat lunch. the boys seem to have a great time- lots of parallel play but also lots of things were done together- we couldn’t tear the two of them away from the piano to eat lunch. quinn brought me a set of knitting needles i’d accidentally left out, and handed them to me saying “sharp” as in, mama put these away, they’re not safe, silly! he said bamboo (boo, a good start) today. also when noah left he asked a few times, “noah go? noah go?” as in, where did noah go? “home” is another word of the day.
9/21
today i told quinn “i love you” and he replied “yub-oo!” mama melted into a puddle on the floor. lots of chores today- bread baking, canning tomato sauce, strawberry jam and peach jam, making yoburp, etc. first thing this morning quinn was asking the whereabouts of people and animals: “becky go? noah go? kitty go?” we got to spend a half hour on the beach before dinner time- yay!
yoburp!
9/22
Q now says “necklace” without prompting (i have been wearing my abalone shell alternately with my koru spiral birth necklace). he also calls the abalone “shell”. he came home with an itsy bitsy spider craft project from day care so we sang it, and he knows the motions for “down came the rain”. we went out back to pick blackberries and i showed him lots of spiders living back there (‘tis the season, it seems.) so he now says “spider” and “web.”
9/23 19 MONTHS
can’t remember if i’ve “logged” the words stuck, and arm yet. but he was saying both today. he also said “helper” which i call him, quite often, and requested to eat his “sammip” (sandwich) when he got home from daycare. i am shocked that my baby is 19 months old! next is 20- that’s so big! we went down to the beach this evening and both hit the sack at 8.
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