Quinn eats the same thing for breakfast practically every morning: Yobaby Yogurt mixed with Multi-Grain Cereal. It’s the only meal of the day that I can almost always count on her finishing. I add the cereal to the yogurt to; 1. provide her with her complex carbo’s for the day and 2. to thicken up this super runny yogurt. I used to be able to control the mess-factor by feeding her myself however lately she insists on holding the spoon and feeding herself, which makes me equally thrilled and terrified at the same time. Thrilled because she’s learning this very handy and basic motor skill that is required in this part of the world, however terrified because have you seen how much hair she has? One bath a day is enough, thank you very much. All that said, when she does reach for the spoon I hesitate for only a millisecond before I hand over the utensil and cheer her on. These photos were taken on a day when she actually kept the food out of her hair. Yay, happy days!

Over the past two weeks I’ve drafted 3 posts that I’ve abandoned. I’ve had a lack of motivation for some reason - not sure why. There’s been plenty going on here, days full of gardening, trips to large fountains, and just general silliness that is all bundled up in a 14 month old. SO, to get out of my rut, I bring you some photos of our weekend outing to Waterfront Park.

We’re getting a preview of summer here in Portland and we celebrated over the past weekend by taking Quinn to Tom McCall fountain. She had a total blast. As we approached the fountain, from about 30 yards away, Quinn spotted it and let out a “ooooohhhhh”. Translation: “OMG that looks awesome!” Between the fountain and all the dogs Quinn was in toddler heaven.

I have a feeling this summer is going to be loaded with these kinds of activities which YAY! As long as I can figure out how to keep her shielded from the sun. My adorable hat donning baby has become an anti-hat wearing toddler. And while I can lather her body up in sunscreen, her scalp is another issue… Maybe find some kid-friendly spray-on sunscreen for her head?

When I made the decision to stay home full time with Quinn, I imagined taking full advantage of the freedom that came with the schedule. I figured she and I would hop in the car on a whim and drive up to Skagit Valley (240 miles N. of Portland) to visit family and friends. No longer would I be limited to the Fri-Sat-Sun trip I’ve become so accustomed to over the past 13 years. However as it turns out, I’ve been swept away by very few whim’s over the past year. From the beginning, Quinn has never loved being in the car all that much. After about an hour in the car she’s ready to move onto the next thing, thank you very much. I’ve made 5 trips up to Skagit Valley over the past year; 2 - by car, 2 - by train, 1 - by plane. Each seem to have their pro’s and con’s.

The car is long and confining, but you have the freedom to stop frequently and if your child is wailing, you get to save the apologetic glances that you make when on a plane or train. You also are able to pack as much stuff as your trunk or wagon will hold (in our case), thus avoiding the irritating task of weighing out what’s more important; clothes or toys??? And once you’ve decided on toys, then deciding WHICH toys will provide the most entertainment. The truth is, she could have done without any of her toys since my parents house provided endless desirable items. With the price of gas currently, it would cost us roughly $90 round trip.

The train offers wide open spaces, bathrooms and a dining car, however it’s still a confined space and a train is QUIET. Quiet spaces + 13 month old’s = a battle waiting to happen. I am able to feed/nurse Quinn at any time plus there’s the “breeze-way” in between cars, that allows for additional privacy/tantrum throwing. A train is very long — a 4 1/2 hour car ride for us is 6 hours on the train. A ticket will run roughly $60 - $90 per person (children under 2 are free).

Air travel is of course so quick however when you add up the early arrival to airport + layover, you’re looking at 4 hours or more. In fact, on the way up, Quinn and got stuck in Seattle due to a delayed flight & mechanical issues. We finally made it to my folks house at 4:30 p.m. A whopping 6 1/2 hours later. The 6 1/2 hours was not too terrible because it was broken up into so many smaller parts. 15 minutes to the airport, 1 hour at PDX, 1 hour flight to Seattle, 2 1/2 hours at SeaTac, 30 minute flight to Bellingham, 30 minute drive to folks house. All of this seemed to work in favor of small children, at least my small child. I could let her run around (sort of) at the airport and she was able to nap in the Ergo or on my lap at some point, I was free to nurse and feed her meals whenever, bathrooms was never too far away. The return flight back to Portland was much quicker, clocking in at roughly 4 hours.

Air traveling, alone was a pain when you’ve got to lug the gigantic carseat with you. I checked a piece of luggage, carried Quinn in the Ergo, wore my carry-on (a backpack) and pulled the carseat behind me in this (which sucks). (I know, it’s got 1 1/2 stars, but it’s all they had at Baby’s R’Us and I was desparate. This bag broke somewhere on the flight up to Washington and I plan on returning because come on… it lasts LESS THAN ONE FLIGHT?!? Anyway, I think I’ll invest in this for our next air travel, which has great reviews. I saw it in action at SeaTac, with a mom traveling alone, with 3 kids, one being pulled in their carseat, and two walking beside her. She was my HERO.) The  really tricky part was when I had to throw the carseat on my back to hike up the 5 million stairs at Sea Tac, which I had to do 3 separate times. Seriously, I was balanced so precariously with all that extra weight on me that the slightest breeze would have sent me flying backwards. The other, more obvious downside to flying is that it’s the most expensive. After taxes I paid $288. Something that I like to call a “special treat”.

By the time we take our next trip, I’m crossing my fingers that Quinn will be old enough to better handle the long car ride since that’s my preferred method of travel, unless our magnolia tree starts growing plane tickets and I can hire my own personal assistant to drag that carseat to and fro.

Do any of you have travel tips when it comes to traveling with small kids? Horror stories? Helpful fellow travelers?

I’ve been working on this silly post since Friday but keep getting side-tracked. Anyway, better late than never right?

1. Naps. How much time is spent by new moms obsessing over this topic? At 13 months old Quinn is still taking two naps a day, which by the way, I’m very thankful for. Her first nap is around 9:30 and her afternoon nap is around 2:30, however after the time change a few weeks ago, things have just been off. Everything has seemed to switch to 30 minutes later  which doesn’t seem like a big deal until the clock hits 8 p.m. and she’s running around the house like an energizer bunny with ZERO eye rubs/yawns/etc. I’ve been toying with the idea of waking her up at 6:30 a.m., which in theory, should solve our problems. What do you think? Is this a no brainer? Are you a SAHM that wakes baby at a certain time to make sure the day “flows” a certain way?

2. Next Wednesday Quinn and I will be taking our first flight together and OF COURSE I’m already freaking out about this. Mostly I’m concerned about the logistics, oh and how she’ll behave on the flights of course, and nursing without exposing myself to the world because yes I use a nursing cover (but as soon as I put that thing over her head, she’s all, FUN, A GAME, let’s cover and uncover myself. Meanwhile I get all sweaty and nervous about all the business folk seeing my fleshy breasts). Anyway, mostly I’m wondering about her car seat. We’ve got a Convertible Britax that is very large and I’d like to check it at curbside, however I’m afraid it could sustain some damage en route to Bellingham. I read somewhere that some people save the original boxes their car seats came in and for flights, they re-box the seats back up to protect them, which is a brilliant idea, except that we smashed and recycled that box long ago. Any of you have some experiences you can share? Did you cart the seats through security and check them at the gate?

3. During our stay at our folks house, there’s going to be a belated birthday celebration for Quinn and two of her cousins. All three of the girls were born within about 6 weeks of each other and I can’t wait to see the three of them together.

4. Weeds. They are quickly becoming my new obsession, as in, I want them OUT. GONE from our flower beds. Every day this week during Quinn’s naps, I’ve been pulling weeds. Our large debris bin, which is this size, is now 3/4 full of weeds.  Last year before we tackled the outdoors, we laid out a “planscape” with the landscaper at Seven Dee’s Nursery., all these flowerbeds seemed like a wonderful idea, however right now, I’m sort of wishing we had our wall-to-wall grass. Well not really, but it’s just a lot of work especially since I seem to be the emerging “weeder” of the family. I’m the resident weeder while Jake is becoming our lawn expert. This week he’s been working out a big plan to lime, reseed, and fertilize (with organic fertilizer) the lawn which I’m totally happy with because I can’t seem to wrap my brain around those kinds of tasks.

5. This week I was making pizza dough (yes from scratch) and Quinn was insisting on seeing what I was DOING. She was at my legs saying, “up, up, up”. So I stood her on a chair, handed her a spoon and had her help me mix the dough. Knowing exactly what to do, she dug in, mixing the (already mixed) dough. She would stir the spoon around, and then, lick the spoon. I got this vision of her being my little helper in the kitchen and what a great benefit to this whole offspring thing. She’s clearly a long way away from any sort of actual help, however it’s never too soon to train right?

6. Over the past several months we’ve been trying to make smarter choices about the meat we consume. We’ve made the switch to purchasing naturally raised (no hormones, no antibiotics, free range, etc) meat and poultry, which if you’re willing to spend a little more, it’s an easy shift to make.  So while this was an easy shift to make for our dinners, lunches have become more difficult since Jake and I used to live off of packaged deli meats. Which are about as far from “natural” as you can get. Rather than go on a hunt for pricey “natural” deli meats, I decided to make my own lunch meat. Using Trader Joe’s Individually Frozen All Natural Chicken Breasts, I threw a few frozen breasts in a pan, seasoned them up and 30 minutes later I’ve got all natural deli meat at my fingertips for the week.  Problem solved!

7. Switching topics back to Quinn, I am amazed at how much she is talking lately. I mean, much of her talk is still baby jibber-jabber, but mixed in with the jibbery are actual words. Current words on the playlist are: Hot, Up, Whassat (what’s that), Dad-dee (doggie), Light (which sounds an awful lot like “hot”), and Dada.  She’s also getting good at pointing at what she wants, and then making the sign for “more”, which oh my goodness it is great to be able to communicate with my child. The lines of communication are sometimes not totally clear, and the game of pointing at SOMETHING and by the power of elimination, I eventually figure out what it is she wants. Which most of the time she ends up wanting something she can’t have, so why I continue to play this game with her is beyond me.

1. News flash! My daughter is no longer a baby. I mean, this is not a shocker I know, but it became official this week when I sat her in the little v’dub hair cut chair and watched her baby locks fall to the ground. She was feeling pretty jazzed about the whole experience until the stylist started chopping away. By the size of the tears and the sound of Quinn crying, you would think the poor girls hair had feelings or something.  I’m seriously amazed that the stylist was able to give such a decent cut considering Quinn was whipping her head back & forth while arching her back. The whole haircut was done in less than 10 minutes but by the end of it, my nerves were shot. I was drenched with sweat and suddenly felt exhausted. They gave us a certificate with a little lock of Q’s hair attached and off we went. Just look at her… All grow’d up.

2. We live near a high school and while the summers around the neighborhood are oh so pleasant, the September - June months have the potential to (occasionally) be a real pain in my a*s. The high schoolers are, well, high schoolers I suppose. However the kids that tend to stray away from school, during school hours, and wander the nearby streets, are typically up to no good. There are some kids who smoke pot while walking up and down our street, we’ve heard a few fights breakout, and then there was that evening we came home to a hole in our kitchen window and a rock sitting on our table. Oh and then there was the time last year when kids did this down our street, which was actually hilarious because a cop caught them. Anyway, recently there’s been a couple incidents of kids snorting drugs. And snorting is just so much more unpleasant to watch, I get all skeeved out. On Monday, I watched a transaction go down and then the kids snorted their winnings. A few moments passed and they saw me watching them. I was purposely trying to boar holes through their heads with my evil stare, but all they did was stare at me with a “I’m gonna GET YOU” look. I got so freaked out I quickly scanned the doors and windows to make sure all were locked, convinced they would be returning. They didn’t come back, however I’ve decided rather than get all vigilante on them, I’ll call the school and the cop who patrols the high school instead.

3. Jake’s been in California for work this week and the worst part about him being gone, besides missing him like crazy, is the time between 5 p.m - 7:30 p.m. At 5 o’clock(ish) he comes down to spend time with Quinn and I prepare dinner. I love hearing the sweet sounds of them playing together while I cook. It’s the most satisfying and soothing sound which makes me smile as I type this. After dinner we hang out, watch the news and have some more family time. These hours are great because I get to take a backseat while he becomes the human jungle gym. Every night this week, at around 5 o’clock, I feel like there’s a moment when Quinn and I look at each other and think… what now? We’ve sang every song, we’ve read every book, we’ve played with every toy. He’s coming home Friday morning and I cannot tell you how excited to have him home and not be a single parent.

4. That said, there is an up side to him being gone. I’ve gotten a mini-vacation from meal planning/dinner preparations. One night I ate a salad. Quinn had a mix of her standards; avocados, broccoli, whole wheat toast, pears/apples, etc. The next night I got my act together and whipped up a pot of turkey chili which is still feeding she and I. Honestly this “vacation” from cooking is sort of a forced vacation due to the fact that it’s still really difficult to cook an entire meal AND keep her entertained at the same time. However, forced or not, I’ll take it.

5. Did you know that in Multnomah County you can get excused from Jury Duty if you’re a breast feeding mother? Yup. Totally legal. I received a Jury Duty Summons a few weeks ago and I know it’s my civic duty, but I didn’t want to go. Not right now. Not while I’m still breastfeeding. Anyway, I wrote a letter asking for an excusal and it was granted. Yesterday I received a reply and the card stated: “We hope circumstances make jury service possible in the future”. Wasn’t that nice? I thought, “yes, me too!”

6. I’m convinced that Quinn has shaved a few years off of our cat’s life. Maya is 13 years old and it’s true that it took her a good 6 months to warm up to the idea of Quinn, but she finally started to come around. The last few months as Quinn has gotten more mobile, and more able to seek out the cat, Maya has been much more playful. Don’t get me wrong, Maya is thoroughly annoyed when I hold her so Quinn can give her some snuggles and eat some of her fur, however she tolerates it. And when I release Maya, she doesn’t go far.

7. Milestone Update! #1: Quinn can say water… Well she says: “waaaa-waaaa” and it’s the most adorable thing I’ve ever heard. #2: She climbed up the couch on her own yesterday. She usually stands at the couch, lifts one leg and hopes that someone is around to give her a boost. I was sort of frozen for a second when I saw her on the couch. One second she was assuming her normal position, and the next second she was proudly sitting atop it. This is frightening because yes she can get up by herself, however she is not nearly as thoughtful when she wants to get down, so she requires a full-court press type of supervision when she’s on the couch. Part of me wants her to hurry up and get a little older/bigger so she can get past this terribly dangerous stage of early-toddlerhood.

It’s 5:25 a.m, I’ve been up for an hour and I should be sleeping. Jake was out the door by 5 a.m. to head to California for a few days for work and I tried my hardest to go back to sleep, however apparently the lure of that first cup of coffee and some alone time overpowered my need for sleep.  Which by the way makes no sense because if you add up the total hours of sleep I’ve gotten over the past couple of nights, it barely adds up to 10 hours.

I’ve never been a great napper but it’s gotten much worse since Quinn was born. I can’t relax enough to drift off. I lay there thinking of all of the things I should be getting done during the precious nap hour(s) or if there’s not a list of to-do’s, then I could always be working out or have some alone time to read the internet.  Yesterday, due to my 4 hours of sleep the night before, I seriously felt drunk, yet when Quinn finally took her nap, I could not fall asleep. Jake tells me that learning to take naps takes practice. All that said, I’m not completely sold on the nap necessarily. The few times that I have fallen asleep, when I wake, I usually feel half out of it and MORE tired than before I fell asleep. Should I aim for that perfect nap time? No more than 20 minutes? Or am I not napping long enough?

What am I missing here?

Well, look at that, it’s the end of the week again and I haven’t posted. Oops. Anyhow… Let’s see what’s been going on this week.

1. I made butter this week. As I become more and more ONE with my kitchen I find myself getting a little more adventurous. I was reading somewhere how to make butter and I suppose I never realized how easy it was. You take heavy cream and either shake it in a jar for 30 minutes, or if you’re lucky (like me) you pour the cream into your Cuisinart, turn the mixer on high add a bit of salt and in 15 minutes, MAGIC. You have butter & buttermilk. The butter is delicious and without all of the additives & preservatives you normally find in the market. Bonus, you have buttermilk, which promptly was used to make buttermilk biscuits.

2. Speaking of kitchen skills, I have cooked more in this last year than I have my entire life. Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration, however I’ve definitely gained more confidence since becoming a sahm.  This week was the best week so far in the Meal Planning department. I planned 6 meals, purchased food for 6 meals and (here’s the amazing part) I cooked food for 6 meals. Last night we treated ourselves to takeout and it was wonderful.

3. This week in the mommy blogosphere I closely followed some drama around a highly controversial topic: Wet-nursing (nursing another infant other than your own). Very long story short: 1 mommy blogger was at a conference (without her baby for 24+ hrs). She had forgotten her pump & her breasts were seriously engorged. Mommy blogger tried to hand express with not much luck. The next day, at the conference another mother (mom #2) got to talking with mommy blogger and after learning of her situation, offered up her own baby. The baby was hungry, mom #1 needed relief (it would be several hours before she would be home w/her own baby), and it was done. A fellow blogger at the conference oversaw this take place and so the drama unfolded online later in the week. As I was following the mom #1’s tweets over the weekend, I honestly felt her pain as she described her engorged breasts and was frankly relieved when I saw her tweet that said, “I just nursed another woman’s baby”. If I were in the same situation as her, I may have acted in the same manner. Especially if I knew the person who’s baby I was nursing, or loaning my baby to. It’s a heavy topic to be covered in 1 paragraph, so I may revisit it later, once I’ve digested it more thoroughly, however thought I’d throw it out there as food for thought.

4. Yesterday Quinn had a playdate with a little girl that is practically her same age. At this stage, they aren’t really playing with each other as much as around each other. Actually, mostly they were vying for snacks from the opposite mother. Quinn wanted Evelyn’s snacks and vise versa, which was really cute. I also took the opportunity to work on “sharing” with Quinn. It’s safe to say she hasn’t quite grasped the concept yet. She’ll act like she’s going to hand you something and then she’s all “SYKE!” and pulls it back. This is funny when she does it with Jake or I, but other child find nothing amusing about this game. After a few times of me showing her, she actually got the hang of “sharing” with Evelyn yesterday. She’s still sort of a hoarder with toys but I’m hoping with age & practice, she’ll get better.

5. This week I booked a flight for Quinn and I up to my folks house. I was honestly too chicken to drive all the way up there with just Quinn and I — meaning, no entertainment for her other than my blabbering mouth. I’ve driving the 4+ hour drive so many times that flying up is such a treat, I think this is my second time in 12 years.

6. Yesterday I had to make a trip to a local consignment store to pick up a few shirts for Quinn as all of her shirts as of late have become belly-shirts. I’m still blown away at how quickly these little beings burn through clothes and am seriously looking forward to her growth slowing down during this second year of her life. I’ve got bags upon bags of clothes in the basement that no longer fit her, however I am very leery to give any of them up in the event that we have another girl (eventually). However yesterday when I was in the consignment shop I wondered if after hanging onto these clothes for another couple of years, would they still have any resale value? If childrens’ consignment stores are anything like Buffalo Exchange then I may as well toss the clothes in the garbage immediately after our second child (if it’s even a girl) grows out of them.

7. I cannot explain how much I want warmer weather here. LIKE RIGHT NOW. Don’t get me wrong, I love the sun shining through our windows, revealing every last dust bunny that is skattered under our furniture, but it’s SOOOO cold. I feel like this east-wind from the Gorge has not let up in 4 months. It’s almost better when it rains — because then at least you’re not tempted to frolic in the sunshine, only to come in minutes later with wind-burn to your cheeks.

More quick takes can be found here & here

I got the idea of Seven Quick Takes from this blog, which got it from this blog and I really like the concept. Typically as I gear up to post what’s new in Quinn-land or in my life in general, I find myself over-thinking subjects, which result in maybe a post once every week if you’re lucky.  SQT’s seems like a fairly informal way of updating my one reader on what’s been happening this week — following the ol’ saying, keep it simple stupid.

1. Earlier this week Jake and I took Quinn to the zoo and it was such a different experience than the last 4 times she and I gone. It was great to watch her actually SEE the animals as opposed to them being big spots on her horizon. She seemed to love the elephants, penguins, the tropical birds and the monkeys. We were watching the Mandrills and the big-daddy one with the reddest nose and the most colorful butt came over and had a staring contest with Quinn and I. I possibly had more fun with this than she did but still, she was totally mesmerized by him. Before we left we decided it would be worth the money to get a membership which I’m totally excited about. After paying for parking and two adult admissions we were already at $22.50 and to be a zoo member we forked over another $39 bucks. Seemed more than worth it.

2. Last week Quinn got her 1-year old immunizations which included the MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) shot. The doctor told me that 1 in 6 kids has a slight reaction to this shot which is typically a slight fever and feeling generally crummy. She said the symptoms would show up 7-10 days after the shot and on day 8 Quinn started sporting a fever of 101.3 and had no interest in eating. This was on Wednesday and she’s still getting a fever off and on including last night around 2 a.m.  She’s had her fair share of colds over the past year but seeing her sick with basically a low-low-grade case of the measles really sucks. Poor girl is crabby and just doesn’t know what to do with herself half the time, that is, other than be held by me.

3. It was 4:30 on Wednesday and I realized I had nothing planned for dinner. As I’ve been working on being better at meal planning, this position is my default — 4:30 or 4:45 and I stare in my cabinets and fridge hoping for some sort of inspiration. In walks Allrecipes which always come through in a  pinch. This week I typed in “ground turkey” since that’s what I had in the freezer and found a recipe for “Turkey Chili“.  I actually followed the recipe fairly loosely and went off more what I had on hand. It was easy and very very delicious.

4. Favorite find on the interwebz:  realsimple. I can’t seem to bring myself to spend $5+ bucks on the actual magazine and their website is actually a great “free” substitute. Just like the magazine it’s got great “alternative uses” for everyday objects (which I love) as well as tons of recipes, organization ideas, etc.

5. When I need to sneak in a shower during the day, often times I’ll bring Quinn in with me. I alternate between holding her and letting her sit down where she can play with some toys while I scrub up. She loves the bathtub and the shower so it seems to be a good solution when I don’t have time to squeeze in a workout AND shower while she naps. Yesterday we hopped in the shower, I cleaned myself and filled up the tub so she could continue entertaining herself while I got dressed. I was busy drying my hair when I glanced at her and thought… look at her, so relaxed in there. Then I noticed a foreign substance float up from underneath her. POO as in POOP. I had this brief moment where all of the “next steps” that needed to be done got all jumbled up  in my head and I froze. Less than 2 seconds later I sprung into action. Removed baby and immediately drained the tub. Not sure if I was lucky that the “foreign substance” was less than solid… so most was able to drain to it’s final resting place. I then picked up baby and re-washed her in the kitchen sink. Got baby dressed and then returned to the crime scene where I scoured all surfaces. An unpleasant experience however I chose to look at the bright side of things… at least there were no squirter toys in the water with her. How would I have cleaned the inside of those toys???

6. I finally got my hair cut and colored and man, why do I wait so long every single time? I went to Primp Salon on Division and after an initial annoying last minute scheduling debacle on their part, I was really pleased with the service. I saw Rhonda who was efficient (but not too efficient), friendly and very talented. She ensured that I’d be a return customer by reducing my bill by $20 due to the scheduling error — receiving an A+++ in my book.

7. I am typically referred to as the nap Nazi in this house. In my perfect world, nothing in everyday life would ever interfere with Quinn’s two daily naps. I say “perfect” because a well rested child is a much happier child as many of us know. It’s also a little known fact that whenever an event arises that required some nap time altering, I get a twinge of anxiety. The last two weeks we seemed to have had a number of events that have required some fancy foot work around nap times and on these days I’ve done my best to move Quinn’s naps around the scheduled events and things seem to work in my favor every 1 in 3 times. On the days when my “plan” was foiled I was actually pleasantly surprised that as she get’s older, she’s better able to handle things if her nap time is cut short. Don’t get me wrong, she’s definitely more predictable and more pleasant to be around if she’s gotten her snooze time in, but she just isn’t the same lose-her-sh*t baby that she used to be. Which is one of the reasons why I’m loving this not-quiet-a-toddler-yet stage.

Quinn had her 1 year well baby visit today and I think she left quite an impression on the Pediatrician. She wreaked as much havoc that could be wreaked within that little 6′ x 10′ patients room. I was overly prepared and packed plenty of toys to keep her busy - which note to self: it’s a total waste of time to pack toys as she wanted absolutely nothing to do with them if we are somewhere other than home. This is something I do when we visit someone (or somewhere) who doesn’t have toys to entertain her and now that I think about it, she never pays attention to what I pack.  Her new surroundings are five million times better than her ol’ toys in my backpack for crying out loud.

Anyway, our little baby isn’t such a baby as much these days. She’s in the 95th percentile for height & weight, measuring in at 30 3/4″ long and 24 pounds light. She’s doing everything a one year old should be doing and then some. Which includes sweeping the floors around here:

Never too early, that’s what I say.

While at the Ped’s office I asked her if Quinn’s eye color is done developing and she confirmed that, yes, the color that they are today is what they will be forever. My next question was, ok, um, what color are they? I seriously have a hard time describing what color her eyes are. Depending on the light and the color she’s wearing they span from gray, to blue, to a hint of violet. It’s not a color I’ve ever seen and honestly, I’m thrilled that they are unique. Take a look below and tell me what you think…

Dear Quinn,

If you can believe it, an entire year has passed by. A year since your dad and I made our way into Good Sam hospital in the dark night, me begging him to drive slow over the bumps because oh my gosh, you wanted out and you meant business!  So out you came and over the past twelve months you have transformed my heart into something I never knew it could become. I never knew how much I could love until I met you. It’s a bit cliche but I suppose that’s alright — because it really is true. One day when/if you have a child of your own, you’ll understand what I mean.

The first 8 weeks you were home was an adjustment to for all of us, me especially. I was probably overly concerned about doing things just right, and just so… I fretted and stressed over the same things that your dad would scoff at. However, weeks passed and we all settled in and before you knew it, the three of us were quite a team. While you and I spend most of our waking hours with each other, your Dad has his things he does with you, his bath nights with you and of course you two have your play time every evening.  And while the love you’ve got for your daddy clearly runs deep it’s safe to say that over this first year you have been a “mama’s girl” through and through. The need to have me in your presence is strong. Especially when you’re tired, sick or teething. You’re not one to sit in a room alone and play solo for any length of time. You’d much prefer that I sit with you, while you play, occasionally coming over to sit on my lap as you continue to play with your toys. You seem to be most content when Daddy and I are in the living room/playroom and you can ricochet back and forth between us.

I won’t lie, there are times when your “clinginess” feels like it’s going to wear me out. Sometimes I’ll try to tiptoe away from you while you’re playing, hoping you’re too preoccupied with your toy to notice I’ve taken 5 steps away from you, however, your little mommy-radar honing device sounds an alert and up you go in search of me. And while this all might get a wee bit exhausting at times, it also feels good. I love that I am your source of calm. I love that we have such a strong connection. So I’ve resigned to the idea that for a while longer, I will have a bathroom companion, who insists on unraveling the toilet paper and handing it to me. I know that this “clinginess” will one day fade. One day you’ll resist being held and your independence will thrive and you’ll beg me to leave you be.

I have many memories over the past 12 months where you’ve caught us off guard with some new thing you’ve learned. We look at each other and think, it’s too soon for her to be doing this. You rolled over at 3 months, not earth shattering, but it was the first big milestone and we were so excited. You also began teething at 3 months and cut your first tooth not long after that - which, BOO not as exciting because you’ve had some miserable moments thanks to those little chompers. You’re currently cutting molars on the bottom and they’re sort of kicking your butt, however you’ll soon be able to actually chew your food, verses “gum” your food which will be nice.

What else? Well, you’re wildly curious and extremely persistent. You want it all and it’s a constant game between you and I, on what non-baby item you can or cannot have. You have fallen in love with my iPhone and I would not be surprised if you end up with one for your 2nd birthday (joking, joking). You crawled at 8 months and walked at 11 months. And now, a month into walking, you’re sort of doing this speed-walking-zombie thing where your body is pitched forward, arms reached out, your knees lifting high, screeching “ooooooohhhh” as you walk. It’s quite hilarious but also slightly terrifying because it looks like you’re going to eat it at any given moment.

You have successfully learned a few signs: airplane, baby & more. You absolutely love airplanes — thanks to our house being in PDX’s flight path. Every morning we listen to plane after plane zoom overhead. You wave your little hand and say “mmmmmmmm” to mimic the sound of the plane above. You say a few words that are mostly only detectable by your dad and myself, however four things you say very well are: mama, ki-kaat (kitty cat), when asked, what does a lamb say: you reply with “bababa”, and what does a cow say? you reply with “mmmmmmmmm”. Your dad and I along with your grandparents are so impressed with this and we ask you to repeat them often, preferably on video.

Quinn, you have brightened our world more than I can describe. You can melt the stress of a day away with one of your smiles, waves, or even better - one of your kisses. Your dad and I are so proud to have you a part of our family. I can only imagine what the next year will bring for all of us. Happy Birthday sweet pea. I love you.