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.