Tulsa Turkey Day

We had a great Thanksgiving in Tulsa. Quinn was okay on the 8 hour car ride complete with traffic in Houston AND Dallas. I am saying okay, not great. But what do you expect--she is only 14 months old! And the most technology we had to offer her was a flashlight....no DVD player, no laptops....We couldn't find our car charger so we decided to be old fashioned and bring her books and toys! :) She of course decided to do some teething when we got to our friends' house and was a whiny, grumpy girl a good portion of the time. Her teeth seem to save sprouting for out of town visitors or when we are houseguests. So considerate of them.
Matt and I had lots of fun catching up with our college buddies. I got to see pictures of Baby Girl Askew who will be arriving soon, we did some shopping, watched some movies, ate lots of junkfood, stayed up late, and played some video games. (I am figuring you can guess which activities were done by whom...) We are thankful for our college friends and the strong friendships we still carry on with them even across a couple of states! Watch out Askews, we just might make Tulsa Thanksgiving a tradition!!!

Amy took Quinn and I mistletoe picking!

Who knew it grows wild in oak trees and is really a parasite! We do, now!! Quinn tried out some of the Askew's leaves, but she wasn't too sure about jumping in them. (click for larger image)

Momma tried it out on Quinn

Us girls made a wreath for Amy's fireplace....

Quinn enjoyed some beautiful Oklahoma autumn weather

Buddy Walk '09

A few weeks back we walked for our buddy, Justin! We were proud to walk along with him and his family in the 2009 Down Syndrome Association of Houston Buddy Walk. We walked in downtown Houston and had a big parade of Justin-fans bearing t-shirts, strollers, balloons and LOTS of kiddos! Quinn was amazed by all the balloons "balls" and people! She got a little medal at the end that she loves to wear. Most of all, though, we hope Justin and his sweet family know how much they are loved and all those wiggly kids that we tried to photograph sitting on the wall will remain Justin's buddies for years to come.
I also walked for another buddy's sweet Aunt Dori....Wish you could have been there to stroll with us, Nik!!
I love this quote from the DSAH website:
We will walk, every year, for our children with Down syndrome, for our families - for every friend that we have made at the Down Syndrome Association of Houston - for every one of their beautiful children - and for every new baby that shows up at our monthly meetings with their proud parents. We will walk and help to raise awareness so that our children with Down syndrome, are accepted as a wonderfully normal part of a very diverse community.

The handprint turkey has grown from last year!

Putting Mr. Punkin to work

I have kept Mr. Punkin under the sink...now that Quinn doesn't play with him in sink baths he has been rather bored. I've been scouring my brain for a use for him. Finally we figured out one! I don't like to use wipes to clean Quinn after she eats...creates too much trash and also gets expensive. But sometimes just a plain ole rag doesn't do the trick, like on pasta days! So I filled the empty Mr. Punkin with plain water. There was just enough risidual soap in there to make the water lightly soapy. We keep him by the table and Quinn helps pump some on a washcloth to clean her hands and face! Works perfectly. Yea for Mr. Punkin!

I'll let Quinn show you what's been going on at our house lately....

1) She has mastered unzipping. First with my wallet in Walmart. All my cards and money spread across the floor before I noticed. Now her pj's. I went to check on her in the night last night and she was sound asleep, tummy and chest bared to the world. Every time I zip em up....you guessed it!

2) This is Quinn checking her own temperature. She had her first yucky stomach bug complete with REAL throwing up, not just measly baby spit-up. Chunks and all, to be descriptive. This went on every 20 minutes for about 4 hours Sunday night, followed by the "throw downs" as some of our friends call them. They were definitely two-person diaper changes. She has been recovering but is still quite whiney and sleeping a lot. She also has a tooth coming up--left of her bottom front 2. I can feel it deep under the skin in her gum.

Playing away...

She's talking up a storm!

This cat can dance!!

Quinn's newest teeth....

The top two are finally here!

Quinn does her tricks on camera....

Quinn's Corn Pool

I made Quinn a sensory tub by filling her pool with cracked corn (corn chops).

Daddy's Little Helper

Helping Daddy install sprinklers....

Quinn Dances

On to the dishes...

Last night we baked mini apple pies. Quinn "helped" with the dishes. (Which means she splashed things around in the soapy water.) She LOVES standing on the chair to help me with anything I am doing in the kitchen. She hasn't learned that she can't eat everything we are using to cook with, though. I know, still a hard lesson for me some days. Especially when I am cooking with chocolate!

14 Months

Quinn turned 14 months last week. Wow has she changed in a month! She is talking like crazy! She says blocks, nose, eyes, ears, mouth, spider, banana, Bible and a long list of others I can't remember right now.
Her receptive language has just exploded. It amazes me what she can understand and it's a fun little game for Matt and I to see what we can get her to do with just oral directions. She hears a lot of "look at my eyes" and "hold my hand" and knows how to do both. She can get her plate and spoon or fork to "set the table" at mealtime. For some reason she boycots getting out a bib.
She can take something to Daddy if I tell her to or vice versa. She can clean up her toys with a little help. She knows when I say we're going outside and goes to the door. She also knows if someone is over and ready to leave and she will try to help them open the front door, then waves goodbye from the front porch.
She is crazy about eating with her fork. She still can't stab it into food very well, so often she hands it to me to stab and then puts it into her mouth herself.
She is also crazy for necklaces this week. Grandsue brought her several strands of mardi-gras type beads and she pretty much has one on at all times when we are in the house....and even outside, for that matter. Today she took one out to her bucket of water in the backyard and was dipping it in and then pulling it out and licking the water off. She will put her necklace on me, Daddy and Alie if we tell her to.
She knows when I am after her nose to wipe and can put up a ridiculous fight.
She can tell you the sound a horse makes.
She LOVES dancing. If we put on music she will dance. Her favorite to dance to is the Veggie Tales Praise and Worship cd. She also has a baby folk music cd we had in the car and she always clapped her hands along to the songs. This girl can keep a beat, too! One of the songs has a part in it where a little boy laughs and Quinn always lets out a huge fake laugh when she hears that.
Which reminds me...anytime she hears someone laugh she has to do it, too.
She has gotten back out a fishy toy she played with a lot as a baby and wants to drag it around the house and play with it all the time.
We have been going to the library to check out books and Quinn is a little turd there. She goes nuts the second we walk in the door. She just wants to run away from me and throws a huge tantrum, screams, writhes when I don't let her down. It's embarassing....guess we need to keep going more so she will chill out. She does love to help me check out the books and can put my card in the slot and help put the book barcodes under the laser.
She is moving into mostly 18-month clothes, although a lot of her 12-months still fit.
She is eating really well and loves tomatoes, green peppers, bananas, and chicken spaghetti!
Quinn is loving her Bible class and is really participating in the songs and hand movements. She also loves her little baby Bible which we let her read during worship services.

Can you believe this sweet face earned herself four little spankings and a "buzz" today? She just can't resist pushing the envelope whenever possible. Must take after her daddy. ;)

My Sous Chef

Yesterday afternoon I was baking some cookies and Quinn was playing with her silverware on the kitchen floor. When I turned on my hand mixer (which I have used around her tons of times...) she took notice for some reason and made a funny face, pointed and said, "that." We know that means she is asking, "What is that?" I picked her up and gave her a demonstration of the mixer. She was AMAZED! I even let her feel it vibrate while it was turned on. I tried to put her down then so I could finish the cookies, but nope, not happening! So I brought in a chair and she stood on it against the counter and watched me finish the mixing. Of course her little hands wanted to go in everything and it wasn't a good time for that to happen, so I had to work quickly, but she loved it! I had just spooned out the dough onto the cookie sheets and was all finished and ready to pop em in the oven, so I took her off the chair. She was SOOOOO mad! She threw a big, wailing fit. She tried signing more, put her arms up for me to hold her back up to the counter, even tried her most pathetic "Maaaaaaama!" Matt came home from work right at this point and I am sure he expected to see blood or guts as the cause of the intense screaming. I was laughing so hard I could hardly tell him she was mad because I had made her stop baking! Even though her first baking session was over, Daddy continued the learning by teaching her how to lick the beaters. :)

By the way, this recipe is GREAT for baking with little ones because it has no eggs in it, so no worries about salmonilla and you can chow down on the cookie dough safely! And it's yummy!

Golden Granola Cookies
1 c. softened butter
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c. water (I had to use a bit more)
2/3 c. oatmeal
1 c. granola
2 c. flour (I used half and half white and whole wheat)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Cream sugar, syrup and butter.
Add vanilla and water and mix.
Stir in dry ingredients.
Drop by tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 min at 350 degrees.
Makes 2 dozen cookies.

*they don't rise much at all, so might want to make them a little bigger than normal

All about the spiders...

Quinn is totally obsessed with the Eensy Weensie Spider song....and her library book that goes along with it. We've sang her this song occasionally her whole life, but for some reason she is in love with it this week! She can point to the spiders on each page. She puts her arms up for the "out came the sun" and even says a semblance of "spider." Last night I sewed her a little stuffed spider (cute, not realistic...I don't like spiders). We'll see if she likes it!

Can't ever get enough Daddy-Love!

Can you guess Quinn's favorite food this week?

Yea for tomatoes! We bought some from the farmer's market and I have never seen tomatoes with so many seeds in my life! After Quinn finishes eating them I clean seeds off her all day long! We are going to have tomatoes sprouting from the carpet, the couch, her chair (see above), maybe even her ears! She also loves to pick cherry tomatoes off Momma's vine in the backyard and we eat them together. She is really good at spotting the ripe ones (and sometimes the not so ripe ones....) We planted a few of the stray seeds we've found around the house and they are growing in our windowsill. Maybe they will be ready for our spring vegetable garden in a few months!!

Spoons

We recently moved all of Quinn's dishes and bibs to a cabinet at her level. This way she can help us get them out when it's time for her to eat. She has spent lots of time this week taking out the little basket of silverware, removing each piece and then putting them back in. Gives me a little more inspiration to keep my kitchen floor mopped when the utensils are rolling around on it! So fun to see her breaking ground into the toddler milestones. We are having so much fun with this girl.

Mornin' Milk

Quinn is a great little milk drinker. After I talk Matt into letting me get my laying hens, I will push for a milk cow next. Moooo!
She typically drinks an 8-oz bottle first thing in the morning. She does a sippy cup during the day for her milk but in the morning and at night we still do a bottle because she straight-out chugs it, and sippy cups make her spit up all over when she drinks out of them quickly. So we have remained faithful to Dr. Brown. ;)
We have a house rule that anyone not old enough to vote eats and drinks in the kitchen, and we were having a problem getting Quinn to drink her milk in her highchair because she couldn't recline enough to get the bottom part of the bottle up high enough to finish the milk. One day I was reading a magazine and saw an ad for the Baby Bjorn bouncer that we had for Q but put away because we thought she'd outgrown it. The ad said it can be used as a chair for children up to 2 years! So we brought it back down and she loves to recline and drink her milk. Sometimes we have to remind her SEVERAL TIMES that we drink milk sitting, but she generally gets the idea. Sometimes she will go sit in her chair if she wants some milk and start saying "mmmmm" and doing the sign for milk. :) Overall it solved the problem of us not wanting her walking all over the house drinking, and she likes it, too! She likes to put her baby doll in the bouncer, too! Soon I will have to find the doll's little bottle so Quinn can give Baby her milk!

Quinn is....

So excited about her first medal!
Stay tuned for the details, but her shirt will give you one clue~!