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.

So yeah, um, our daughter is walking and I think we might be in trouble. Actually, her crawling speed can lap her walk speed like 3 times, so I’m sort of liking this, wanting-to-walk-everywhere-but-does-it-carefully-and-slowly phase. When she’s not walking to “man” her station which is located, around my shins, she will just sort of walk aimlessly around the house, talking some beyond cute gibberish going from one toy to the next. Sometimes stopping to just pivot around in a circle. Jake and I sit here and silently crack up because we do NOT want to distract her and have this adorable image end.

And seriously, she is soooooo curious. She wants everything. I would really like to slap some blinders on her as I carry her from one room to the next because her eagle-eyes spot every single thing she is not able to have. And yes, when she doesn’t get something that she has staked claim on, she screams. Luckily distractions work, however, I gauge how pissed she is by how many different distractions it takes to remove said “illegal” object from her memory. Guaranteed distraction that works 100% of the time is the CAT. I will seek out poor Maya and place Quinn in front of her. Maya puts up with it for as long as she can, usually a few seconds before she bails. Long enough to reset Quinn’s attitude.  (Thank you Maya — you’re really coming around with this whole baby thing. Remember when you hid for the first week after we brought her home. Hehe)

In other news, I’m mentally making some preparations for her upcoming birthday and like I mentioned on Twitter, how can it be that she is going to be a year old people? In fact, it was a year ago today that I decided, my body could no longer take the daily grind of the office, so off I went to prepare to have my little one. Little did I know that I’d have to wait 2 weeks before I’d have a bouncing bundle of joy. Officially the LONGEST 2 WEEKS OF MY LIFE. Anyway, so birthday preparations have commenced and I’m going the small/low-key route. Well, small/low-key still means there will be 15 people here to celebrate, but that’s only immediate family. I’ve made the sad decision to keep it to family only for two reasons: 1. Our house is too small for 30 people (which would include our close friends & family), and 2. Quinn is sort of taking after her father in that she prefers smaller crowds. A bunch of people hovering around her in our too-small space would probably reduce our chances for a pleasant 1 year old. I’m bummed that our friends won’t be a part of this event, however it’s a compromise that is necessary.

Also, while I’m not really uptight about Quinn having sugar on her birthday, I would prefer that if possible, I’d like to make her birthday cake that is as baby-friendly as possible. Today I came across a recipe for a Pumpkin Apple cake that people seem to love, so I think I’m going to give it a shot. I’m still going to make a REAL cake for everyone else because, no need for us to suffer, RIGHT?! Here’s the recipe:

Pumpkin Apple Harvest Cake

INGREDIENTS

1 cup cooked or canned pumpkin puree
2 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup organic sugar
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped apple
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Whipped cream or confectioners’ sugar for topping (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Prepare an 8-inch round cake pan by greasing and flouring it.
2. Combine pumpkin, eggs, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add flour, cinnamon, baking powder, ginger, and salt, stirring to combine. Add apples and nuts, stirring again. Pour mixture into prepared pan.
3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
4. Cool the cake, still in the pan, on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert the cake onto the rack, remove pan, and cool cake completely.
5. When ready to serve, turn cake on to a pretty plate and top with whipped cream or confectioners’ sugar, if desired, or serve plain.

I’m thinking I’ll do a test-run of this bad boy to see if it really is edible. However, something tells me it will be.

So, this week Quinn began perfecting her *walk*. Below is the videographic evidence. WARNING: Cute overload.

Walking on sunshine from christine olsen on Vimeo.

Earlier this week I caught up with the new season of American Idol and couldn’t help notice a wave of memories from the last season. What, don’t you all re-live your memories through past seasons of reality tv??? Hehe.  This wave of nervousness, newness & uneasiness came over me as I sat watching Simon Cowell. Not because of Simon. I’m quite fond of him actually.  The “feelings” were due to the new life that had joined us. When Quinn was so little, she didn’t really have any sort of bedtime, as she was sleeping for most of the hours in the day. I remember during last season of AI, I would stay up to watch the show and Quinn would go from my boobs, to the swing to Jake, in a sort of rotation. I would be deliriously tired, but sort of avoided “bedtime”.

I know that new moms are nervous, but I was REALLY nervous. Like really nervous. Just ask my husband. I was a wreck. When I wasn’t nursing or holding her while she was sleeping, I was on the internet, searching for clues about why she’s doing this or that. I remember this overwhelming feeling of uneasiness, especially in the evening hours, and as bedtime approached. ESPECIALLY when bedtime approached. I was afraid of what the nighttime would bring. Would she sleep? Would I sleep?

I also remember being filled with so much empathy for this little being — probably too much empathy. When Quinn was born, I was so, so, so concerned for her needs. I was so worried about how she was feeling, how freaked out this little person must be… you know, being brought into this cold unfamiliar world and all. I felt horrible when she cried. I was very focused on the idea that this newly born person, didn’t KNOW to trust me. She didn’t know what was coming next. My undying empathy got in the way many times. Jake had a hard time understanding.

I remember at one point, when she was less than two weeks old, she was wailing about not being on the boob and Jake cheerfully said “oh, how cute”. I was seriously horrified. I said “don’t laugh at her when she’s crying”… He just looked at me and managed to muster “are you serious” before walking out of the room. I sat there thinking, ok, maybe I’m being just a bit too uptight here. But I couldn’t help it. Call it hormones, or just call it my crazy head, but I was seriously worried all the time about how this little girl was feeling.

11 months later, I feel so different. I know,  not a surprise.  She knows me.  She knows us, Jake and I. She knows what comes next during most of her day. She knows diapers, she knows dinner, she knows nighttime. She trusts us. When she’s hurt or scared, she clings to us. And it feels so good. Her trust in us. This has allowed me to relax and be the mom I want to be. The road to RELAXATION took a number of months to get to, but now that it’s here, I find myself truly enjoying parenthood.

The other night we went to dinner with some friends of ours. We chose the very kid friendly, slightly annoying, but predictable Red Robin. Jake and I have not made it a habit to dine-out with Quinn… Mostly because no matter how you slice it, taking a child to a restaurant is not easy, at least at this age. That coupled with the fact that Jake is not a huge fan of eating out, I can count on one hand the amount of times we’ve taken her out to restaurants. While it’s not a breeze, it is getting easier as she get’s older. The key is to keep her entertained until the food arrives, once the food arrives we’re usually home free.

Anyway, we went to Red Robin and they ceremoniously gave her the kids menu and crayons. I saw the crayons and my first thought was YEAH RIGHT, but then, I thought, who knows, maybe she’ll know what to do with them. So I pulled out a crayon, showed her what to do with it, and handed it to her. She fondled it for a nano-second and then it went into her mouth. I showed her again, that you can DRAW with it, but she was not interested.

Tonight at home she spotted a sharpie and Jake began to use it, drawing slowly. She then carefully took it into her right hand and put it to paper and scribbled. This is her first pen-to-paper moment.

I think it’s going to be awhile still before we begin arts & crafts around here, but it was so cute watching her little hand, holding this big pen, in a *fist* hold, and scribble on the post-it.

Behold the child that is mine…

Life @ 10 months from christine olsen on Vimeo.

Christmas has come and gone and the only trace of it in our house are the straggling decorations I’ve yet to put away. In a very uncharacteristic move of mine, I took the tree down the day after Christmas.  While I love the beauty of a Christmas tree, ours was beyond a fire hazard it was so dry. Plus it was such a temptation for Quinn. I was done pulling her away from the tree for the 453456532 time in fear that she’d actually chomp down on the little lights.

It was a year like none other for me. It was the first time in my life that I did not spent Christmas with my parents. It had long been a request of Jake’s, even before Quinn was born — that he wanted us to have our first family Christmas, together, in our house. I was both excited and a bit sad at the idea. And while I know that as a family we will spend many many more holidays seasons with my parents, this year was a passage into the next season in our life. I was happy to be able to celebrate the holidays, with just us and our new family.

Christmas morning came and we plopped Quinn down in front of her gifts and let me say, this girl knows what to do when you put paper in front of her. She happily tore the gift wrapping off and was thrilled at the prospect of all of this delicious paper. Luckily, what was inside the colorful paper was a good distraction from her unending pulp cravings. She loves her new toys and is especially thrilled with this one and this one.

While the day started out almost like any other day, it quickly got into full swing. I began preparing our first family turkey.  Thanks to Arctic Blast 2008, the city of Portland had been basically shutdown for the past 5 days. However in spite of the weather, we invited Jake’s folks over for dinner. And there was no way his parents were going to set a rubber tire on the roads, but Jake was more than happy to venture out in the all wheel drive Volvo.

It was during this time that Jake was gone, I checked on the little 13 pounder turkey and had a momentary freak-out when I saw the little “button” had popped out. WHAT DO I DO? WHAT DO I DO? After being unable to reach Jake or his parents by phone to have them answer this question, I took a couple of deep breaths and got my bearings. I placed the ever hovering baby in her highchair (who can by the way say “HOT” but does not yet really know what “HOT” means), and took the bird out of the oven. I double checked the temp with our trusty thermometer and sure enough, it was ready to devour.  Jake returned with his parents and we had a great time. I don’t think I was ever so excited to see family members. Being cooped up in the house for over 7 days straight was really wearing on me.

Our Christmas continued yesterday when we headed over to my in-laws for a celebration with Jake’s brothers family. Quinn had a blast, despite barely napping prior to the event. She is in awe of her older cousins, and loves watching them run circles around her. The day was not without it’s baby milestone either. Quinn took 5 steps on her own. And can I just say that it was very cool of her to tackle such a milestone in front of many family members. We kept trying to get her to take more steps, but she’d do the baby-lung-forward thing where she just falls into whoever is closest to her.  But still, she did walk on her own.

So today is Sunday and the Christmas celebrations are finally over and done with. Even more importantly, the snow is FINALLY melting, which I am very thrilled about. I can now continue my rigorous routine of running to Target for a never ending need of baby diapers, wipes & other miscellaneous super essential must have items.