Loving Quinn

Quinn can climb under our bed. He also likes to climb over and through the back of the head board and play in the space behind our bed. He will often climb under his own bed and lay on the fold out rocking chair and tell us he's going night night that way. He insists that we lay on the bed while he is underneath. When it comes to running or participation, Quinn is quick to give directions. He is also wonderful lately about introducing Luke and I to anyone he meets. "I'm Quinny. That's my Mommy. That's my Daddy," he'll say and introduce us. If more family is with us, he'll include them in the introduction too. He is becoming really engaging and social in a way that is new and fresh. His tendency to hang back and observe is recessing slightly and he's more likely to make a move sooner. He's still thoughtful and deliberative in his play, especially his alone time, which has become much more self-directed and fun to watch. He plays with his toys nowadays manipulating them, creating scenarios, etc. 'Course, there's often a lion or shark involved, but I think it's cool he has consistent players in his mind. With his puppy, he is caring enough to feed the dog and make sure it has a brushed coat. Though he sometimes wants his toys to fight, we do our best to talk about being kind and being friends. The first time he sees a national geographic film he might realize what I'm saying is a crock, but for now, it's a principle I like to model. He still loves swinging at the park and he's really adept at climbing. He can even walk himself up the plastic spiral slide at the park down the street. He is all about the moon. He knows about the moon at night and is so eager to point it out to us once he has found it in the sky. Very cool.

We're going to pick him up from Le Sueur today where he had a sleepover last night. LUke and I finished Season 2 of Dexter. Quinn has now had 4 overnights since May. I've never had a good night's sleep while he's away, at least in terms of hours. It takes me a really long time to fall asleep without him. I get anxious and worrisome. I appreciate and treasure the freedom to do things with Luke or for myself while Quinn is away, but in the end, Quinn is someone who I like to start and end my days with, just like his father.

His recent chatter is delightful to the ears. He has so much to say and often times, he becomes flummoxed because too much wants to come out of his mouth-- his mind is so alive with thoughts and wisdom. I love it.

My sweet, sweet son. He is getting very good about recounting his days to me. His memory is selective, but strong, and routines are a fundamental part of how he organizes his experiences. For example, yesterday Quinn and Dad went to get coffee. They always go to the Starbucks on Grand. Then, they walk to Creative Kids Stuff and Quinn knows that a visit for coffee means that he can go to the toy store. Quinn shared with me that the horse and barn he wanted yesterday he couldn't get because we didn't "have enough money", but he did manage to come home with a bear figurine, that is being called Brother Bear. Lately, we're all about our tools again and we continue to love our rocket and Little Einsteins. They play together and occasionally fight together, though we try to nip that in the bud. Lately, he seems perfectly content to play in his room with his toys. He still watches the occasional Ferb or, of late, Kungfu Panda, but he also focuses well during independent play time. I think he's going to really do well in preschool and his mind is ready for that kind of structure and exploration. We have our parent meeting tomorrow night and I am excited to learn more, meet other parents and get this new phase of his life rolling. Quinn fell asleep last night to Becky's Christmas, though that was after several readings of Swing, the cool book that has pictures that movie when you move the page back and forth. Quinn was all about hearing it several times last night. Dad's go to book, to get him down for nap is Horton. The longer ones allow for our voices to lull him to sleep, when all is going well. We continue with our bath, waffle, stories, bed routine and it seems to be working, though the bath sometimes energizes him. He has taken to running about fully naked. Yesterday he ran into the room and immediately began jumping about, full of smiles and energy. I could still see the streaks of white on his legs where the lotion hadn't fully been able to soak in. Funny boy. Quinn and I are sleeping in the big bed lately and Luke has taken up residency in the Star Wars bed. It just makes good sense to give Quinn the room he needs to stretch out. Often times I'll wake up and see him at an off angle, taking up a good 2/3 of the bed. One evening he ended up perpendicular to me somehow. I trust that we're not going to change the co-sleeping and the nursing in one big move so I just have to roll with it and thank my lucky stars that we were able to assume the big bed and leave the twin behind. In my new state, that additionally room and comfort is much appreciated. Quinn is all about suckers. I think the first place he got a sucker was at Kid's Hair. The second place they found their way into his heart and mouth was at the Children's Museum. Their gift shop has them and they became quite the regular snack for Quinn this summer when we attended. Now I've picked up a container of organic ones at Trader Joe's and he has one once a day. It may be fulfilling multiple needs and so I am ok with their use. As life goes, they will surely be replaced with an activity or be forgotten for some other reason. For now, that and him sucking his fingers is going to be ok:) Quinn is quite the singer. He definitely has that "end of the line" singing thing going. He hears that the best and so we can sing along. At the same time, he knows what he is hearing and the choreography for that line, say, in his vacation bible school songs. Hopefully whatever new car we manage to procure will have a cd player and we can make music a bigger part of our travel time. The latest dvd player has broken and so we're without visual stimulation:) Alas, 21st century kids CAN go without some of their 21st century influences. Must start getting ready for school. Off to 3 days of disciplinary literacy. Whoo hoo.

Luke's weekend away and more

If I only had the metabolism of my 14 year old self or of Quinn. He has such great instincts about food. If it tastes good, I'll eat it. If I'm hungry, I'll eat. The only emotional eating he does is nursing and the advantages to that are too numerous to count... so, I don't think of that as the boy sitting and eating ice cream, though he does love ice cream. Today he and I played with his ice cream set. We also did puzzles. He's becoming quiet adept at them, especially the train one. And, he was terrific about helping me pick up the puzzles when we were done. He's taken to remembering to say "bless you" when someone sneezes and I'm trying to work in the word "manners" into his vocabulary. We recently purchased a Clifford Manners book so we'll see how that goes. I should be modeling making his bed, but for now, I'm doing it myself. There's something very satisfactory to the orderliness of his room. The only thing I'd say is that we need to introduce to toys to him on a better rotation basis. Given the toy and the right mood, he'll play independently and happily for stretches of time, but typically things are so neatly appointed that we "expect" him to seek out new things. For example, he has this gorgeous easel from Makoto that isn't used very much because we haven't stocked it with anything interesting- no paper or crayons or markers. Must get better about this. I do love that Quinn takes enormous pride in selecting books for reading and he has taken to requesting more books at night if he's still awake and bored but I've turned out the light. He doesn't mind the longer ones, though I sometimes think the ones with fewer words on each page are more interesting to him. Either way, he likes to hear me read and is a good listener. We've gotten so that we can do the matching quite well with his Pixar book and he can find the images we seek. He does love that book:) Last night Quinn got his first Bob the Builder movie. He's been seeing a preview for it for a while now on his Wallace DVD and we finally indulged-- for the bargain price of $4.75. Mom will be picking Quinn up around 5 tonight. I hope tonight goes well. I worry that she won't be up for the late night calming, but I'll hope for the best:) I know that I will have a good time with my Asha sleepover:) Quinn had a delightful time running and playing with Riley and Ryan today when they came to pick up Luke for their weekend away. Quinn did very well with his good-bye and the house is nice and clean to start the big weekend. Speaking of, I should do some more laundry.

Ah balance.

For a while there, we were struggling with late nights and wacky long naps and a sometimes temperamental toddler. The last twp days we've been rocking the engaged parenting and had stellar bedtimes and naps. Now, it seems I've wiped out my poor son with TOO much to do. Goodness, where is the balance, Becky? I suppose I fear that if I stay at home, we'll simply watch tv or movies and so I get out of the house so that doesn't happen. But, as last night have proof of, my son just sometimes wants some quiet play time. At dinner, where he joined us for the popcorn on his plate but not the angel hair and shrimp, he quietly took his little Star Wars play figures and arranged them and played them with one another. He didn't ask us to join him or even really bother with our response. Of course, there are daily, "chase me" and "follow me" moments in our lives, but I need to allow for or set up time for QUinn to simply BE. This morning he and I went to the Children's Museum again and wandered the Living Section, spending a good deal of time just taking in Clifford who was making the rounds. We hung out in the Habitot room and broke down building blocks. I wonder what psychology is involved with my desire to not have him knock down play bricks, when really, maybe he needs to figure out what happens when he does something. Ah, the mind games of parenting. We were scheduled to have a playdate tonight but Quinn's runny nose has cancelled the event. Tomorrow Luke leaves for his mini-college reunion and Quinn spends the night at his GRandma's house for the first time. Asha is coming over for a sleepover so it should be a very fun night. Quinn is all about suckers right now and the association between the museum and suckers is strong. It's interesting that he should like them so much, but I suppose we haven't really exposed him to much candy. Cookies and baked goods, yes, but not the menagerie of candy that is out there. Quinn and i ate a lovely breakfast/lunch at Mickey's. We split pancakes, sausage and eggs and I had to do my best to tune out the 20 somethings who were spouting political ego's too loudly for my taste. Now Quinn is taking a long nap and snoozing sweetly in our bed. My desire to sleep in my own bed has grown since we got the new lovely duvet cover and pillows. I want to sleep in the adult bed now. Unfortunately, this means that Luke has slept the last few nights in the toddler's Star Wars bed because Quinn joins me in the big bed leaving little room for Dad. Alas, how does one find the balance? Quinn is fun to watch when he pretends that his hand is a tennis racket. We run circles around the bedroom again and again. Today, Quinn insisted in lowering himself head first over the side of our bed so that he could look at the lion that was obviously beneath our bed. Quinn likes to make tunnels with his body, essentially creating a downward facing dog shape with his small body. We are taking baths every night now as part of our go to bed routine. I am encouraging Quinn to let the animals be friends with one another rather than fighting, which is kind of a standard move for Quinn this week. He did allow me to advocate for friendship though and the hippo, alligator and shark got to swim together last night, even diving into the tub together:) We need to find inside shoes for Quinn and school.

Sweet Quinn

Sometimes it's the little things. This past week- well, basically since Matt moved- we've been wrestling with late night bedtimes and struggling to have a routine for Quinn. Yesterday, we did well by Quinn and were out and about throughout the day, honoring what his body and brain needs. He rewarded us by going to bed at 9:45, which was WAY earlier than the previous evenings midnight, and this morning woke and was ready for the world. He and I spent a lovely morning at the Children's Museum where he was excited to draw on his own face and play in the exhibits. He gave Clifford a big hug and recognized the story they read as one we read at home ourselves. He ate a good sized lunch at McDonalds and then we headed home for nap. After a minor- "two minutes, Mom" to drive the car, we were up in his room reading and getting set for a nap. I went down right away and he lay quietly next to me. Now and again I would wake up and he would either be laying next to me or sitting up looking at me or once, reading a book on the floor next to the bed. At one point, he ticked himself next to me, sidling along me. When he finally crashed, I noticed a scent in the room and the poor little man had a full diaper full of poo. How quietly he endured while I napped. He didn't even wake while I wiped him and got a fresh diaper on him. Good boy.