🎵 Tis the season of whining and nagging 🎵. Just when I thought whining had to be the most obnoxious behavior ever, Quinn progressed onto the next phase of nagging. What sucks about the older phases is they last forever, I think. Or at least most of early childhood. Like, when he was one and went through the hitting phase, it only lasted a short while. It didn’t take long to teach him not to do that. Whining and nagging seem to fulfill some sort of impulsive need. Despite months and months of reminding him to use his big boy voice, telling him I can’t understand him when he talks like that, and sometimes just flat out telling him to stop whining when I’ve reached my limit for tolerance, he persists. The nagging is new and unbearable. It’s like he thinks if he keeps asking, he’s going to get a different answer. I know this is age appropriate, but damn if it doesn’t make me wanna scream sometimes!
Nothing compares to his stubbornness, though. It is, by far, the most maddening behavioral trait I have ever witnessed. I think we may have reached our breaking point last week, where the consequences given will influence future behaviors. Maybe. Hopefully. The biggest battle we have been fighting with Quinn is over clothes. It’s funny to even say that because 99% of the time, I don’t care what he wears. He wanted to wear his police vest for his school picture and I readily agreed. More often than not, he is dressed as some sort of superhero or other figure, so I had no problem with him wanting to capture this phase of his life in his official school photo. As the weather has cooled off, he is so committed to his outward appearance that he doesn’t want to alter it for the sake of warmth. He refused to wear a jacket for weeks, and at first, I was like, “Fine, be cold.” When we went to the store and he complained about being cold, I told him, “Yep, that’s why we wear jackets,” hoping a connection would be made. It didn’t happen, so I had to get creative. He kept telling me that police don’t wear jackets, so I showed him pictures of policemen wearing them. He said, “Okay, I guess I was being too strict,” 😅. We planned to enforce jacket wearing no matter what after our last walk left him shivering, but in the spirit of compromise, I bought him a black jacket and told him it was a police one 😅. I even offered to make some patches for it on my Cricut, to make it more official. He happily wears that one now.
This instance of acquiescence didn’t come that easily though. It wasn’t until after the breaking point I mentioned, which came when we ended up missing Quinn’s school Thanksgiving program on Wednesday. Armed with previous experience with his resistance to being told what to wear, I prepared him the day before and several times the morning of, that he would be expected to wear the shirt he painted at school last week. He kept telling me no, but after many arguments and deals that he could change as soon as it was over, I thought we had reached an understanding. When the countdown to start getting everyone ready began, he started changing the deal, saying he was going to wear his shirt under his Batman costume. When I shot down that idea, he countered with his police vest. No again. I give him lots of leeway about what he wears usually, but I think it’s a life lesson to know that sometimes you have to conform, and more importantly, sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do. I was ready to fight the good fight, but I started getting anxious, too, because I knew things were plummeting too quickly for it to possibly go well. He was screaming and crying, saying he wanted to wear a costume. I knew if I made him go, it was going to be a shit show, which I didn’t necessarily what to live through, but I also wanted to make him go just because he didn’t want to 😂. Throwing a fit is never a way to get out of something in this house. Unluckily for Quinn, I’m just as stubborn as he is, and like him, I could probably be a little (or a lot) less at times. So initially, I gave him the choice to either attend his program while wearing the shirt he was expected to wear, or he could stay home and not be allowed to wear his costumes the rest of the day. After lots of fussing, he said he wanted to go. However, when he walked into the kitchen, he shoved Ash down and the choice was taken away from him. I put him to bed with the expectation that he was to take a nap. He screamed like a maniac for a solid 15 minutes. Philip finally came upstairs to talk to him. He told him to stop screaming because he was trying to work, and if he had to come back up, Quinn was going to be in even more trouble. Quinn told Philip that he wanted me to come lay with him. I laughed when I heard Philip say, “Mom is so mad at you, there’s no way she’s coming to lay with you.” Philip shut the door and Quinn was quiet for a long time. I thought maybe he had fallen asleep, but then I heard him crying about an hour later. I went in to check on him and to have a talk. I wasn’t mad anymore, I don’t hold a grudge when I’m properly medicated 😂. I told him we missed his program and that his teachers had called to ask if he was coming (It’s true; they did. I felt bad lying and saying he didn’t feel well, but that was honestly kind of true. He obviously wasn’t feeling well mentally. It made me look bad though, because had he been actually sick, it would have been considerate to let them know that morning. But the shit show happened right when it was time to walk out the door, I had only just caught my breath when they started asking 😔). I said they were disappointed he didn’t go. I also told him that I took all of his costumes and he wasn’t allowed to have them back that day. I told him if he continued to be mean and sassy, he would go right back to bed. He said he understood. When he got up, he seemed to be in a slightly better mood. He noticed after a while that I missed a couple of dress up items and he came and told me he could wear them. I said that he couldn’t, and went and collected them. He followed me down to the basement, which is where I had put the others, inside of a garbage bag. He said he wanted to see where I put them, and I agreed that I wanted him to see. As I got the bag down off of the dryer, I pointed out to him that they were already bagged up and that I could easily get rid of them. It was a coincidence that I happened to put them in the same room as I had stored some things I plan to donate to the city’s Days of Giving giveaway. I was just putting them out of sight, out of mind, so that worked out 😅. He cried and said he didn’t want me to give them away, so I reminded him about how he could get them back: using his listening ears, being kind to his brother, and using nice words. The rest of that day was pleasant enough, with a reminder every once in a while that his costumes were still on the line for getting them back the next day, and he adjusted his behavior accordingly. I gave them back the next morning.
He often wears his costumes out in public—👆🏻to beg for cookies at Walmart 🙄😅. He hates talking to strangers, but his outfits attract a lot of attention.
To eat unwashed produce at Sam’s 😬. Don’t worry, they’re not priced by weight at the register 😉.
To hangout with friends at the library,
To keep the other patients safe at the dentist office.
During the heat of the moment, I was having a pity party for myself, thinking, why does my child have to be so difficult? Why can’t he just do what everyone else is doing? Other kids don’t throw fits because they don’t want to wear a specific shirt. Other kids don’t miss events over things like this. Every big blow up makes me question my parenting. What did I do wrong for us to get to this point? Should I have made him go? It was too late at that point anyway, but that didn’t matter. In hindsight, I think I made the right decision. I’ve seen how social anxiety affects him on a good day, I can’t imagine how he would’ve responded on a bad one. Actually, I probably can, and I’m glad I saved us both from all of that stress. I hate feeling like we disappointed his teachers or classmates, and while I think they may have performed songs that he had been practicing, it wasn’t like he let down his team, who had no chance of winning without him. That sort of situation will be handled differently, if the time ever comes.
I’m happy to report that a lesson may have been learned on that terrible Wednesday morning because he has been much better behaved since. Pleasant even! Philip and I both positively reinforced that change of pace by telling him how proud we were of him for his behavior of doing what was asked of him, being polite, and playing nicely with Asher.
It’s wonderful when I can be the mom I want to be; the mom who isn’t so completely overwhelmed that she can enjoy her children. I just wish it happened more one out of 75 days. Lately it feels like we have more bad days than good and Quinn and I aren’t connecting. He has regressed a bit (or maybe he was never all that progressed), and insists I come with him or help him do things that he can absolutely do by and for himself. His neediness drives me further away because it feels like just another way in which he’s being stubborn. Maybe there is an underlying fear that we need to explore, but it’s exhausting to try to keep up with the child who actually needs me to help him, while also being expected to do for the one who can help himself. Life should be getting easier at this point! I understand social situations giving him pause, but some days he hounds me about going to the bathroom alone! He insists I have to come in the room while he puts his potty seat and step stool out. It’s unnecessary and annoying.
Given the benefit of time healing most wounds, I remember very little that my mom did that hurt me. However, I think most parents try to make their own kids’ lives better than what they had growing up, and one thing my mom could’ve done better involved her reactions. I remember being afraid to tell her things because I always thought I was going to be in trouble. We had a secure attachment, and I’m not even sure what I was afraid of because I don’t ever remember being spanked. I honestly can’t think of any punishments I endured, aside from maybe being grounded from the bowling alley on a Saturday night 😅. But anytime I would be forced to tell her something I knew she wouldn’t like, I was scared. She didn’t feel like the safe space that I hope to be. Quinn and I have already discussed how he needs to always tell me the truth, even if he did something wrong. He might still be have to go in time out, but it’s important to be honest anyway. If he has a problem, I want him to know that I’m always going to help him figure out a way to fix it. A punishment may also be included, but I don’t want him to be afraid to confide in me.
We’ve also been talking about taking responsibility for our actions. That seems like a lesson that’s way over his head when it’s worded that way, but I promise it’s not, and that now is truly when it needs taught. Some people make it to adulthood without having this ability, and I certainly don’t want my children to be some of them. It’s as simple as pointing out when his actions caused the problem or consequence, not someone else’s. For example, he got hit with the grocery cart the other day because he turned to go the wrong way as I was rounding a corner. He got mad at me, but he literally walked right into it. He is severely lacking in his spacial awareness.
Quinn loves to argue about anything and everything, when his mood is right. If I say it’s cold outside, he’ll say it’s not, despite not having been outside or knowing how to read a weather app. If I tell him to stop doing something because what he’s touching will break, he says it won’t. He even argues about silly things that can easily be proven like, whether or not Sophie is outside 🙄. If I tell Sophie to move when she’s hanging out too closely while we’re eating, he’ll say she doesn’t have to. If I ask Ash to say a word, Quinn will tell me he doesn’t have to. It’s senseless and relentless and annoying AF. The easily proven ones annoy me the most, so I’ve implemented a new house rule: everyone has to admit when they’re wrong 😂. Quinn brought out an orange stuffed cat from his room the other day, and Ash wanted it. I told him he couldn’t have the toy Quinn was playing with, but that there’s another stuffed cat, and that I would go help him find it. Quinn was insistent that we didn’t have a second stuffed cat. Even when I reminded him about what it looked like and where it came from (vet kit), he kept his bet. When I located it ten seconds later, he said, “Ohhhhh!” I said, “Yep, you were wrong and I want you to tell me that.” So, he said, “I was wrong.” I was amused at myself, but that doesn’t negate the value in saying it. I find it admirable when someone can admit their mistakes. Philip and I joke about refusing to surrender and lose face, but we both know when we’re wrong. We also both know when the other knows they’re wrong, even if we won’t say it 😂. That’s a solved problem now though, thanks to the new house rule 🤪.
One thing Quinn never admits truthfully is if the toy he and Ash are fighting over was in his possession first. I’m fairly certain he believes that if he wanted it, that means he had it first. He wants anything that was someone else’s idea. If they’re fighting over Hulk and I suggest Ash go get Cap, just to quell the screaming, nine times out of ten, Quinn will say he wants Cap instead 🙄. I’ve warned him that one day Ash will be able to tell his own side of the story, and sure enough, Ash has begun blaming Quinn for things. That doesn’t mean I always believe him, but he’s not as wrong as Quinn claims. A few times Ash has cried and when I asked what happened, he answered, “Brother.” It won’t be long before Quinn will have to stop feigning ignorance and/or innocence to every offense.
I know he knows who had it first because that kid remembers everything. One night he wanted Philip to make him something for dinner, but he didn’t know what it was called, so he said, “Hey Dad, remember when we went to John and Mollie’s house and then we came home and you were eating that chicken? I want some of that.” Philip was like, “Ummm, no?” 😂. After giving it some thought, I’m pretty sure he was talking about chicken tikka masala. Quinn liked that dish a lot.
Given his inability to find anything on his own, ever, it surprises me how observant Quinn is sometimes. He is already more observant than my husband has ever been in his entire life. I was blow drying my hair one morning after my shower because we planned to play outside with Megan’s kids and I didn’t wanna go out with wet hair. I pretty much never dry my hair, so when Quinn heard the blow dryer and came in the bathroom, he was like, “What are you doing?! You’ve never done that before!” When I told Philip this he said, “I thought your hair looked pretty today but I didn’t know why” 🙄😅🤦🏻♀️. Later that day, while Quinn was at school, I got a new pair of shoes in the mail. I wore them to pick him up and he was like, “What are those shoes?!”😂. This is the second time he has noticed me wearing shoes he hasn’t seen before. Now, if only he would apply these powers of observation while searching for costumes and accessories…*sigh*
He can never seem to find this one, even though he puts it on and takes it off 5,000 times a day 🙄.
The time change has been good for our earlier bedtime, but that first day was rough. I forgot all about the time changing, so when Quinn woke me up at 5:40am New Time, I was irate. My tone was not very kind when I told him he needed to be quiet and go back to sleep because it was too early. After five minutes of being frustrated with his rolling and whisper talk (to himself), I decided to just get up. I walked into the kitchen, and the clock on the stove said 6:45. I was super confused, and checked my phone again, which said 5:45. It took me a full thirty seconds to register the situation 😆🤦🏻♀️. Once it finally dawned on me, I felt slightly remorseful for being irritated with Quinn because it wasn’t overly early for Old Time. Seven is a normal median wake up time for the two of them.
Quinn usually goes to sleep in his bed but then ends up in ours before the night is over. We were sick a couple weeks ago, so he spent a few whole nights in our bed, just because he didn’t feel well. Once he started feeling better, he didn’t want to go back to his. Typically, Ash goes to bed first and then Quinn goes shortly after. Both want me to lay with them while they fall asleep. Quinn learned that I can’t be in two places at once, so if he wants to sleep in our bed, he says he’s ready for bed whenever I take Ash in. He thinks he’s manipulating the situation, but once he falls asleep, he can easily be relocated to his mattress on the floor in our room 😅. I still shoot for getting him started in his bed, but if it doesn’t happen, I don’t stress. I just move him when I’m ready to lay down.
I’m not sure what sickness we had, aside from a long lasting cold involving lots of snot and coughs. Both boys had a cough that hung around for weeks. Ash just stopped with it early last week. He also had a fever for a day or two, I can’t even remember at this point 😅. I had tons of congestion, too. Like always, Philip was the last to get it and he got it the worst. He lost his taste and smell, so he took a covid test, which came back negative. They are both still muted. He also had a headache for about a week straight, congestion, body aches, and even a fever once. It’s possible he had the flu, but none of us got tested for anything else. We just stayed away from everyone until symptoms subsided. Quinn was the first to get it so he was the first to start feeling better, which is totally annoying because he relentlessly asked if he could play with his friends. He didn’t understand why they couldn’t come over since he wasn’t sick anymore 🤦🏻♀️. When Philip started feeling bad about a week after him, he told Quinn he was getting sick. Quinn relayed some words of wisdom that I had imparted to him before; he said, “That’s what happens when you go out in public and lick things.” 😂😂😂.
The boys’ friends, Scarlett and Savannah, made them cards when they were sick 🥹🥰. Quinn kept saying, “That’s the nicest thing they’ve ever done.” 😂.
Right when Philip and I were feeling pretty rough, our stupid washer decided to stop working. It definitely felt like we were getting kicked while we were already down 🫠. We bought it five years ago when I was pregnant with Quinn because we planned to use cloth diapers and needed one with a sanitizing cycle. The one we had before it was ancient, but it lasted a hell of a lot longer. The most recent one was a Samsung, and I won’t bother wasting money on that brand again. When our dishwasher of 3 years crapped out and I called my uncle, who worked repairing appliances for several decades, he advised me to buy either Maytag or Whirlpool because everything else is junk. We already owned the Samsung washer and dryer at that point. I tried calling Samsung about getting it repaired, but when the diagnostic test failed to show an error code, the customer service rep said it was likely a motor issue and gave me an estimated repair cost ranging from $250-$350, assuming they replaced the right part. A new washer would cost double the high end of that, and we wouldn’t have to play guessing games or deal with finding a repair person. If there’s ever a convenient time of year for appliances to break, near a major holiday is a good one because they go on sale 😑. That’s the good news. The bad is that I hadn’t done laundry in a few days before the washer broke, and then we had to wait until the following week for the delivery day from Lowe’s. We had a busy day planned, but that was the only day we could get it. Our delivery time was scheduled 8:30-12:30, and Quinn had a dentist appointment at 9:30. Philip was able to arrange his lunch break so that he could keep Ash while I took Quinn to get his teeth cleaned, so he was home for the delivery. As soon as I pulled into the dentist parking lot, the delivery guy called to say they would be at our house in twenty minutes. I texted Philip to let him know. Jess at Progressive Dental is super quick, so I thought there was a chance we could beat them to our house since we live super close. We got there just as they were loading up our old washer. It was a quick and relatively painless transaction, aside from the hundreds of dollars we had to shell out unexpectedly 🙄.
It was especially painless for me considering I did nothing but order the washer online 😅. Philip had to do some minimal prepping for them to take the old one, which just involved unhooking it and taking down our handrail on the basement stairs. However, doing anything around this house that includes using tools that you may have to lay down while completing your task is always risky with Ash around. I’m not sure how it went with either the old or new washers, but Philip was on roll with checking off some items on our household to-do list recently, and tools kept coming up missing during the installation of our oven hood 🤦🏻♀️😅. While he was working on that, I was busy cleaning out cabinets and drawers, taking everything out, wiping them down, and then deciding what got to go back in. Every five seconds something new would come up missing, only to be found in another room at the hands of Ash 🙄. We are currently missing the hammer, and it wasn’t even used in the hood installation 😑. That kid loves taking things, especially if Quinn is the possessor. He runs away laughing with things Quinn is playing with 🤭.
Quinn helped Philip reinstall the rail 🥰.
Two the drawers of I cleaned out to house our spices 😍😍😍.
It was dangerous for him to be disrupting Philip’s workflow because the original oven hood came down over ten years ago and just now got replaced 😅. It would have been easy to say, “Forget it.” The new one looks so nice, and I’m thankful for its existence because I’ll be able to breathe easier while Philip is cooking certain dishes. The original one was never vented outside and the fan didn’t work, so it was worthless anyway. When we took it down, we had planned to replace the cabinets with a wall mounted microwave/oven hood combo, but what we wanted didn’t fit the space. The old one had already come down at that point, so down it stayed. Over the past year, Philip has been using more spicy peppers to cook with and there’s a variety that he uses that just about kill me every time! My throat becomes irritated and I start coughing just from smelling them. It’s miserable. After the last time, which was like the millionth time he did it 🙄, I was like we have to get a new oven hood so this smell won’t bother me so much. Installation was relatively easy. Again, mostly because I didn’t do it 😅. I was available to assist 🤪. But nothing in this house ever goes smoothly the first time. It looks so good, and it adds some much needed light in a dark spot in the kitchen.
😍😍😍
Ash has recently learned a handful of H words, the most often used of which is ‘hungry’. He comes into the kitchen all of the time, rubbing his belly saying, “Hungry!” That’s helpful enough, but he usually knows what he wants, too, and it’s usually rice because that’s his favorite food. Even Quinn noticed how often Ash requests it and said to me one day, “Ash sure does like rice!” 😂. No matter what he eats (or drinks), he says everything is de-wish-us (delicious)! He definitely cracks us up with that one.
Quinn has taught Ash to bring toys to the kitchen table to play, a habit that started because he wanted to play away from Asher 😂. Ash can climb up onto the kitchen chairs by himself now, so there isn’t really any escaping him. He’s usually good about getting his own toys to play with though if he wants to play there while Quinn is. He often tries to drag a whole tote of toys into the kitchen by himself, but then asks for help by telling me, “Heavy!,” or “Hard!”
He’s good at seeking comfort when he has a boo boo by coming to me and saying, “Hurt.” However, he was his own inflictor one night when he kept biting his finger and telling me it hurt. I asked what hurt, and he said, “This,” as he bit down on it. I said, “Well, don’t do that” 😅🤦🏻♀️. He’s such a goober.
So Ash has hurt, heavy, hard, and hungry down, but his favorite H word is definitely still Hulk. He wants his shirt off no matter where we are. Shirts are non negotiable in public , but other people’s houses are okay I guess 🤦🏻♀️. Thus far he has stripped at Megan’s and both of our brothers’ houses 😂. They all have boys though so they know how it is. He has reprised his Hulk Smash while he’s half naked, but he doesn’t actually connect with anything. I was still worried when I showed him his cousin’s tortoise and he kept raising his arm and pretending to smash it 😳🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️.
👅 🐢
Like Quinn, Ash is committed to his alter ego. Philip asked him one night if he was a baby. He said no. He asked if he was a big boy, and Ash said no again. He said, “Well, what are you then?,” and Ash answered, “Hulk.” 😂. So there you have it, the three early childhood stages: baby, big kid, and Hulk.
Ash has gotten really good at communicating what he wants. He has a large vocabulary already but some words aren’t always distinguishable, so we ask him if he can show us. When Philip didn’t understand something he was asking for one day, Ash grabbed his hand to lead him away and said, “Show me.” He got the pronoun wrong but Philip knew what he meant.
He now understands that when something is gone, he can ask for it back. He often hands me something he’s eating but will then say, “Cracker back,” or “Apple back,” for example. He asks for toys and other things back, too. He says, “Okay,” in agreement to things. The first time he said it, I was so surprised. I had said to him, “Let’s go change your diaper, okay?,” and he replied, “Okay.” Since then he has added, “Mama,” to the end; “Okay, Mama.” He also says, “Thank you, Mama,” when I give him something. It sounds more like, “Welcome, Mama,” but I know what he means. Quinn gets mad when Ash says, “Welcome,” when he means thank you. He’ll say, “Not welcome!” 😂.
We had two great Thanksgiving dinners with each of our families, and we kicked off the holiday season by putting up our tree and attending Christmas in the Ville, and the New Martinsville Christmas parade.
I hardly took any pics during our dinners 🥴. I did capture the 4 youngest playing with the boys’ train table together at our house 😊.
Philip actually captured this photo at Nathan’s house. I spent the whole time taking pics of their puppy 😁.
Seriously, look how friggin cute she is 🥺.
Dexter is cute, too. He’s a good cuddler.
🐶 🐕.
Mille was very tolerant 🫣.
We got the boys a tree for their room and Quinn was stoked to decorate it 😂.
I had such a good day with the kids doing all of the activities. It was chilly out but the sun made it feel nice.
We met up with our friends 😊. I’m pretty sure one woman thought Ash and Carlowe were twins because she asked me how old they were. It probably threw her off when I said, “The one in the Spider-Man hoodie is 20 months, and the other is 19 months.” 😅.
We roasted marshmallows and made smores,
I couldn’t believe he let go of my hands and tried it by himself.
We got to ride a horse drawn carriage.
Carlowe was antsy to get his hands on a donut from the food truck 😅.
Cheernastics shared their space for the day and allowed everyone to take a break from the cold and get some energy out! The boys loved running and jumping on all of the equipment.
We spent the whole three hours there, and then went back downtown for the parade that evening.
Christmas in the Ville helped with our outdoor hour count. We’ve now reached 723 hours!
On those few warm days a couple weeks ago, we had a great time knocking down blocks in the driveway by running into them.
Ash stayed busy stacking his own blocks and then knocking them over. Quinn rode down the hill on the sit and scoot, knocked over the blocks, and then walked back up, expecting me to build them back up for him 🙄.
They got to play outside with Link at his house one day. Ash is doing well riding his scooter 🛴.
One of Ash’s favorite things to do is kick a ball outside. He brought Blippi out with him and gave him a turn 😅.
There was a fire in our neighborhood and Quinn was so excited to see all of the emergency vehicles that came to put it out. He kept switching back and forth between being a police officer and a firefighter. I talked to him about how sad it is when someone’s house catches on fire. I was flabbergasted by the amount of gawkers who came to drive and walk by to see what was going on 😳.
Quinn invited us to go visit Mimi one day after school. He said he wanted to go see Dutton (her dog) and told me to text her 😂. I forgot their jackets but they insisted on playing outside anyway 🤦🏻♀️.
We visited the park and got attacked by a werewolf 🫣.
Thank goodness Mimi got him some soap, now he won’t be a smelly werewolf, at least.
We got to burn off some energy on the new part of the bike trail with our friends.
They all got to play in our sandbox together one warm day, too.
Carlowe made Quinn some sand tea 😉.
I added some new fun to the outdoor sensory table but mixing up some pumpkin spice scented edible sand. Ash had to taste it. Apparently it didn’t taste very good 😅. The other side had pinto beans and lentils. Lentils are, by far, the absolute worst sensory bin filler. They get everywhere. The first day I put them out, Ash was wearing overalls but still managed to get some in his diaper, and not in a 💩 sort of way 😂.
We did an experiment with colors and shadows using cellophane. I spent entirely too much time cutting out cool leaf shapes. They were way more impressed with the rectangles.
We even got to add color to Soph 😂.
Since the weather has cooled off, we’ve had to find some indoor activities to do.
Quinn loved the police themed matching game I made for him. He’s still working on being a good loser 😑.
Ash did his own matching game 😊.
I made him lots of puzzles to piece back together—a police officer, firefighter, superheroes, etc.
He has been very into doing Color By Number sheets.
Of course he had to change his outfit to match his coloring sheet.
We’ve started switching them up by adding number and color dice. I like these kinds of activities because it teaches number recognition, helps him practice coloring in the lines, and makes him follow rules.
When the pictures have lots of spaces, he likes for me to take turns with him—another good skill.
Sometimes the best learning experiences are teaching daily living skills 🥰. He helped Dad make dinner.
Ash helped me sort the recycling ♻️.
Sophie PUPdate 🐾:
She is not digging the cold weather, especially when it rains.
Philip out that blanket on the floor for Ash to roll up in, but Sophie couldn’t help herself but to lay on it. The kids can’t seem to resist standing on anything that finds itself on the floor either 🙄.
This dog 🤦🏻♀️. I called for Ash to come get his diaper changed, but instead, I ended up with Sophie sitting in front of me 🤔. Quinn thought that was super funny 😄.
Even Baby Sophie can’t behave 🤦🏻♀️😅.
Quinn insists that Sophie is his sidekick and always wants me to take their pic together 😂. 
She does make a good fire dog 😉.
Ash wanted to give her a hug and she reciprocated with a sniff. She’s starting to trust Quinn more, but she still isn’t quite sure about Ash. That’s for good reason; you never know when he’s going to try to smash something 🤷🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️.
Some other cool photos I took:
Deer we saw on our sunset walk.
😍 🦌
My favorite grasshopper came back to visit. I left the stalk of my dead sunflowers standing so she could use it. I’ve named her Lucy, after my grandma Lucille, because she used to call me Grasshopper Legs when I was little 😂. Until I snapped this pic, I had never seen the extension of an actual grasshopper’s leg, and I can say that she overestimated how long my legs were, comparatively 😅.
Quinn asked me one day why people keep bees as pets, and somehow the conversation evolved to him saying, “Kinda like you have a pet grasshopper?” 😂. I hadn’t thought of her that way until the moment he said it. Now I’m sad that it’s winter and I’ll probably never see her again. She’s obviously an adult and they only live about 12 months, so I doubt she’ll be back come spring 😔.
I love hearing Quinn say to a grasshopper, “What are you doing, buddy?” There is a quote by Bradley Miller that says: “Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as it is to the caterpillar.”
Most people’s fears of bugs and other animals are irrational. I don’t like snakes. I know it is irrational. Aside from the few native venomous species, they can’t hurt me. Well, getting bitten would hurt but I would be fine. Even getting bitten by a venomous one probably wouldn’t result in death. Does that mean I wouldn’t kill a Copperhead? No. But would I kill a black snack? No. Do I want it around my house? Also no 😂. For the most part, bugs don’t want to be around you. They live these incredible, intricate little lives; they are fascinating. Except ticks. They can all GTFOH. Anyway, those are my thoughts on bugs, thanks for asking 😉.
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