As always, it’s been an interesting couple of weeks around here. I think there may have been a new standard set called Quinn’s Law that states, “Everything that can be dumped, will be dumped.” He’s been a mess making machine and between him and the girls, I can’t keep up. I have three forces working against me! The girls drag out just as many toys and leave them laying around the living room as Quinn does. If Sophie finds any sort of paper product or writing utensil left unguarded while we play outside, she will shred it into a million pieces. When Quinn isn’t dumping something onto the floor—toys, water as he tries to pour from cup to cup, my purse 🙄--he is taking everything in and learning so much every day. We’ve done several activities together and now he designs his own by going and getting a new tool or other materials. I love watching him play to see what he’ll come up with next. 

An activity he definitely did NOT like 🤣. It was supposed to rain later that day so I figured it was the perfect time to introduce shaving cream on the deck, when it could be washed away. He wasn’t a fan at all. 

And one he did 😃. I was pretty sure a tractor and animals would be a hit. I made the barn from a half and half container, the mud pit from a PB jar lid, and the “grass” from felt glued to a dishwasher pod container lid. He loves to pretend to mow and to scoop the popcorn and dump it into the barn. 

He definitely understands the quantity of two, that the words yellow, pink, green, and sometimes red are colors (he doesn’t always identify them correctly but if you ask him what color something is, he will first say, “yellow,” and then possibly name one of the others mentioned if you tell him he’s wrong), and the happy emotion. Thanks to Blippi, he now thinks smoke comes out of his ears when he’s mad (he said that on one of his episodes) 😆. He’ll tell me, “Mope (smoke),” and then “ears.” He also knows what scared means. Philip asked him if he wanted to play with a toy truck and said, “No.” When Philip asked Quinn why, he said “scared,” and made appropriate facial expressions. He is really beginning to master answering who, what, where, when, and why questions correctly. 

M: “Who made this mess on the floor?” 

Q: “Sophie.”

M: “I don’t think it was Sophie.”

Q: “Quinn.”

*Brings Philip small, booger-like object and puts it in his hand*

P: “Where did you get this?”

Q: “Nose.”

*I noticed his diaper had a blue line*

M: “Hey buddy, let’s go change your diaper; you peed.”

*Opens his diaper to find surprise poop. I can always smell it and I didn’t that time, hence the surprise*.

M: “Oh you pooped! When did you poop?”

Q: “Blippi.” 

M: “While watching Blippi?”

Q: “Yeah.”

M: “Come here, we’re going outside so we have to put on your shoes.”

Q: “Bees.” 

M: “Yep, that’s why we have to wear shoes, so we don’t step on bees.”

Q: “Poop.”

M: “Right, we don’t want to step in poop either.” 

Sometimes we ask him questions that could be answered several different ways, just to see what he’ll say. Like, “Who has a big mouth?” He said Sansa, which was highly disappointing 🤷🏻‍♀️😂. 

This is Quinn’s diaper change spot. He insists on “elephant!” when I tell him it’s time to change his diaper. I told him this one day and someone came and sat down. This is not Quinn. 🤦🏻‍♀️

He’s still making unreasonable demands like, “Get it,” when we pass the concrete plant and see the cement trucks, or a rabbit or bird come into our yard. My personal favorite is when he sees something in a picture, like his birthday balloons from last year, and wants it 🙄. I wish I was as powerful as he thinks I am 😉. His new tantrum schtick involves falling to the ground and turning into a limp noodle when you try to pick him up. Granted, I only try to pick him up when he requests it so that, of course, makes sense 🙄. Toddlers are so wishy-washy in their desires. He is especially tantrum prone if he becomes hangry, so I try to prevent this state at all costs. From the moment he gets out of bed I badger him about what he would like to eat. I always get all nos to anything I suggest. My most successful tactic involves pretending to eat something myself. Apparently, other people’s food always tastes better than having something of your own when you’re almost two. If I just come and sit by him and stick a fork or spoonful of something by his face, there’s a 90% chance that he’ll take a bite. He’s a pretty good eater, usually, but breakfast is a fight for some reason. He will come eat at the table with us for lunch and dinner but then decide he wants down when he thinks he’s finished. However, if you say, “Hey Quinn, you want antoher bite?” He’ll typically say, “yeah,” and come back for another. Sometimes, if you don’t ask, he’ll say, “Hey Quinn,” because he wants you to ask him 🤣. 

He has become a very lovey boy lately and will sometimes just randomly want a hug or a kiss 😍. I will never turn those down so that will be a good source of manipulation one day 🤦🏻‍♀️. He recently learned the word naked and loves to point it out whenever he can. 

If he takes off his own shorts: “Naked.”

If you ask him if he wants to take a bath: “Yeah, naked.”

When he comes up to me and rubs my legs while I’m wearing shorts: “Naked.”

He also learned what his nipple is called and says that word very well 😆. He points to his all of the time when he doesn’t have a shirt on. Which is always. 

Quinn is still sleeping in our bed and I don’t mind at all when he stays in his own spot. I came to bed one night and he was in my spot, as usual, and I had to like stick my arms out and scoop him up like a spatula and move him over. However, he’s quick, even in his sleep, and by the time I turned to lay down, he was right back where he started 🤦🏻‍♀️. It’s a race to get laid down before he invades again. We’ll work on getting him in his own bed when he’s ready. Sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night and says, “Mama?” in the sweetest voice you’ve ever heard in your life, and I could never kick him out when he needs me. 

He has been such a well-behaved boy in public lately and that makes me so proud of him. I had to take him with me to the market last week and before the market started, Friends of Wetzel County was doing a reveal of the new artwork created by local artists that was installed around the outside of Bruce Pool. I wanted to live stream this unveiling on the market FB page so he had to stand and wait while Dan spoke about each piece. This took almost 25 minutes and he just stood with the crowd and listened. I was so pleased with him. I also had my niece, Kate, with me, so that helped. Kiki then showed up and stole him away to her house, so that was really helpful! I’m so thankful for these two, who’ve helped keep him occupied and/or watched him for me during the market so far this season. I’m pretty sure he likes it, too 😉. 

Kiki and Chris 😘

We took him to the zoo on Father’s Day and the poor kid got car sick on the way up. We stopped in Moundsville to get donuts at Quality Bake Shoppe (if you haven’t had donuts from there, you’re missing out!), and Quinn ate about half of one. By the time we got to Wheeling, he puked it all up, all over himself and his car seat 🤮😩. It was awful. Luckily, it didn’t ruin the day and he was still happy to see the animals. If you ask him what he saw at the zoo, he’ll likely tell you an elephant, even though he didn’t 😆. Some of the animals were sleeping so we couldn’t see them very well. We told him they were napping, and he said, “Up!” See? There’s that power he thinks we have again 🤪. He got to feed the goats and he liked that very much 😃. I hope he outgrows the car sickness eventually. Technically, he can be turned forward facing when he’s two, which could possibly help, but it’s safest for him to be rear facing so I don’t plan to turn him around any time soon. 

He didn’t get to wear his super cute Blippi outfit for long ☹️.

They were very gentle. 

“Feeeeed me” 

We told him to stand there and hold out his arms like he was going to fly and well, that IS how he flies 🤣🤣🤣. 

We went swimming in the hot tub (with the temperature turned way down) this week and he had a blast. Any chance he gets to play with water, he’s a happy camper. He requests an open cup to drink from and if liquid containing vessel is nearby, he will undoubtedly combine the two, pouring back and forth, until there is a big mess on the counter. At least, however, he’ll tell me, “Mess,” when he spills it 🙄. 

That’s not really mustard but I think it would be fun to let him take that in public and drink from it 😂. 

While he loves the water, the girls want nothing to do with it. 

Sophie loves to sunbathe. She gets cold sitting in the AC all day. I know, I feel bad for her, too 🙄. 

I’ve tried to get them to go in Quinn’s pool but they’ll run from me and go back inside 😂. Which is a shame because they could really use a bath and doing it outside would make it so much easier 🤷🏻‍♀️. 

No, they’d rather lounge on the couch, even when someone invades their personal space. 

Sometimes she likes it though 🙂. 


😂😂😂😂

Sophie doesn’t appreciate when Quinn brings his outside toys in though and she definitely doesn’t see a resemblance 😉. The bad part about getting Quinn a ball that looks like her is I tell him, “go kick Sophie,” when one of the neighbor girls is playing with one of his other balls and he tries to take it. That’s the only time he’s allowed to kick Sophie 😂.