Quinn turned 10 months old today! Today, the day to celebrate being a mother, my first one. For the last 10 years this has been my least favorite holiday and is probably the same for most who have lost their mothers. While I feel great sadness every year remembering the beautiful, strong, smart woman my mother was and feel the hole in my heart that never fully mends, this year is a little different thanks to Quinn. I love being his mother. Having him gives me a reason to celebrate. I also celebrate because I have the greatest support system of friends you could ask for who help shape me into the mother I am and want to be. I’m so grateful to all of you who love my baby. I’m also extremely grateful for my husband. I couldn’t be the mother I am without him. He supports me in every way and is the best father to Quinn. He recently graduated with his Bachelor’s degree and I’m so proud of him. It took longer than a traditional student but working full time and going to school requires a huge commitment and he stuck it out until the end. Now we will have more time together as a family on the weekends when he won’t have schoolwork to do!
Our baby is growing way too fast. I recently put away his bassinet and bath tub. He’s been going to sleep in his crib in his room each night but still waking at some point and coming to our bed, but we’re working on it. Putting him to sleep sometimes still includes a Bedtime Battle Royale, especially now that he’s eating so much more food; I think it makes him gassy. He wants me to hold him but he squirms all over me. Once I trap him and work his legs a bit and give him some gas drops, he usually calms down enough to sleep. Even though he wakes and comes to our bed, he is no longer getting up to eat during the night so waking up just long enough to relocate him is so much nicer than a 45 min to an hour feeding/pump session! He would probably sleep all night in his crib if he didn’t think he is a free range baby who can roll endlessly in whatever direction he chooses. I’ve watched him on the baby monitor get stuck against the rails of his crib and be pissed and crying because he can’t move ððĪĶðŧ♀️.
Bedtime Battle Royale. I won but it sure doesn’t look like it ðĪĶðŧ♀️ð.
I got him some anti-slip animal stickers for the tub so he’s able to sit in the regular tub now. Well, sit may not be the correct word to describe our bath times ðð. In general, he’s all over the place nowadays and bath time is no different. He’s constantly trying to drink the water, pull to stand on the side of the tub, grab a shampoo bottle or two, etc. I also got him alphabet and number sponges to play with in the tub and each night we choose three letters for him and we go back and forth telling him words that start with each one. By the time bath time rolls around my brain is usually fried and the word lists last for about 10 exchanges, maybe. For some reason, the other night, we were on a roll with the letter P and 2 hours later Quinn was sleeping and we were still going ð. I have no idea why we both have such an extensive vocabulary of P words ðĪ·ðŧ♀️.
They make me happy, too ð.
I had to install the cabinet latches in the bathroom and kitchen last week, a task that was on my eventual to-do list but got bumped up out of necessity ð. While I was putting in my contacts one morning he opened the cabinet door. I was standing right by it and I THOUGHT the only thing in his line of sight was going to be a big cup that I use to rinse the tub so I let him continue. It didn’t take more than a second to realize that’s not what he got out. As soon as I got my contact into my eye and off my finger I saw that he had pulled out the liquid hand soap refill that didn’t have the lid screwed on securely and it had covered a nice size spot on the floor ðĪŽðĐ. I was reminded in that moment of a time about 7 years ago when I was watching my brother’s kids while he and Lori went away for the weekend for their anniversary. Kate was only 1 and into everything. I was cooking dinner and turned my back to her for literally like 30 seconds, enough time for her to find a bottle of sunscreen and proceed to squeeze it alllllllll over the floor ðĪĶðŧ♀️. Fun times ðĪŠ. Anyway, cabinet latches became priority number one that day so that I could shower without a second incident. He is not happy about the cabinet latches, especially the ones in the kitchen. He enjoyed tearing out the pots and pans and now the doors only open about 2-3 inches. I wouldn’t care so much about those except he throws the iron skillet around like Thor throws his hammer. I’m afraid he’s gonna smash his foot.
His absolute favorite thing to get into in the kitchen is the dog water dish. I swear, if he sees it on the floor, he makes a beeline straight for it! We constantly have to put it up or outside when the girls are out. He loves water—drinking it (from a straw! ððð), splashing it all over the floor, sticking his hands and face into the running faucet. However, he also loves their food bowls, too. Because Philip works at home, he’s in the basement all day and can sometimes hear what’s going on upstairs. The other day he heard Quinn crying and my laughing hysterically and he texted me, “Why are you laughing at the crying baby?” ðð I replied, “because he’s crying because I just took a piece of dog food out of his mouth,” and a minute later, “his breath smells like dog food ððð.” Ugh, he wears me out.
Quinn-1, Mom-0
Helping Mama garden. He played in the dirt for 45 minutes!
Once the bink came out, dirt went in ðĪ.
For round 2, Mom remembered to bring snacks so eating dirt wasn’t necessary ð.
I cleared a space for his garden shed that’s coming soon! I’m so excited ð
Mama’s big boy ❤️.
He is really into EVERYTHING. He discovered my bookshelves and likes to pull books out. I had a map of NYC on one of them and he was looking at it one day. The day that I found out he can now rip paper ðĪĶðŧ♀️. Yay for fine motor skills! ðĪŠ. He and Sophie conspired because he would rip a piece and she would eat it ðð. He really is building his fine motor skills and can remove all 7 pieces from a chunky puzzle. Taking things apart is a busy pastime of his. He also enjoys tug-o-war, we learned today. Philip played with him using some bandanas tied together to make a long “rope” and he laughed about it forever. Baby giggles are the best.
Even though he traps me in the bathroom by pushing the door open too far, which opens toward the toilet, and rubs his messy face on my clothes, constantly leaving me with random food splotches all the time, I’m trying to cherish every moment because before I knew it he’ll be a sassy 2 year old and then a fit throwing threenager. Time is going by so quickly and I just want to enjoy everything about his babyhood. In a way I’m grateful for this quarantine because I’ve gotten to be home with him and witnessed so much of his growth. It’s amazing ❤️.
However, I miss shopping. Like, a lot. I can shop online but it’s not the same as in person shopping. I like the thrill of the hunt. You never know what you might find (and on saleð). I’ve spent so much time at home that when I do leave I’m like “Do I even remember how to drive?” lol. I think about how much I like my Jeep every time I drive it now. I guess having a break from it made me appreciate it again. Lots of things in life are like that.
I realize that not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to enjoy this break from society. My uncle recently had a heart attack and needed surgery. His family wasn’t able to be at the hospital with him because of the virus. I can’t imagine how scared they all were to be away from each in such a stressful time! My friend’s dad had to have surgery also and she wasn’t able to be with him. In both cases things ended well, thankfully, but can you imagine if they had been different? It’s important to remember that you can spread this virus without knowing and the consequences may be fatal. Someone could die, without their family. I don’t want that on my conscience. Please stay safe for yourself and everyone around you, even people you may not know!
The girls are still the same: Soph with her never ending need for attention and Sansa, the saint.
Laying on the obstacle course that I made for Quinn to crawl over ððĪĶðŧ♀️.
Always has to know what’s going on lol
Lol I love this pic of her
He loves her. She wishes he would learn to pet without pulling hair lol.
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