When I first got pregnant with Quinn, a lot of people commented that Cora wouldn't get to be a baby for long. Up until the moment when I realized Quinn was the same age as Cora when Quinn was born, I didn't understand that.
We've been so happy that we had these two back-to-back. They are already great friends, will only be one grade apart at school (maybe two; it's still up for debate), and now, I don't even have to put the hand-me-downs away. When Cora outgrows it, Quinn pretty much is able to walk right into it (Quinn is tall and Cora is average, so Quinn isn't that far behind in height). Cora is such a protector of Quinn.
However, now that Quinn is the age that Cora was when Quinn was a newborn - I totally get why people commented that Cora would miss out on being a baby. When I look at Cora's pics, I can see it - she was a baby! When I think back to what I expected her to be able to do, I sure didn't treat her like a baby. When Cora was 16 months old, I had her going up and down the stairs on her own (I was full-term pregnant, THEN I had a little bitty baby to carry). When Cora was this age, I had her playing by herself while I did most of everything, including nurse a baby. When Cora was this age, we were definitely using time-out consistently. Poor Quinn! She'll never develop discipline. Quinn gets put in timeout only when she does something violent to Cora (pull her hair), and Cora demands justice (Quinn symbolically gets timeout).
Quinny is attached to my hip. As long as we are in our house, she wants to be everywhere I am. While I cook, she wants to be on my hip. While I do laundry, she wants to be on my hip. While I get dressed in the morning, she wants to be on my hip. I have to coax her down in order to take a shower. It's a wonder that she walks at all! She is on my hip so much that I think it is causing me to get a pinched nerve on the side where I am constantly carrying her. I'm pretty certain I can attribute that to having Quinn on my side for all of my chores... Seriously, if Quinn isn't on my hip, she is often wedged between my legs so that I am walking like an easel, pushing her along with me.
If I am not holding Quinn, this is what I usually am seeing of her:
Quinn loves to play chase - running laps around the stairwell in the middle of the house.
Quinn isn't saying much. Mama. Mine. More. Dada. Bird. Pearl. Dog. Every now and again she'll break out a babbled sentence, and we're pretty sure she is saying something she is really passionate about ("I want a nack!"), and that she is actually saying the whole sentence, but it isn't consistent. She babbles some, but not all of the time. Yesterday, Cora, Quinn, and I were sitting on the porch waiting for Prestley to come over. Cora was on the swing. Quinn was walking around. I was sitting on the top step in case Quinn decided to head for the stairs. Over and over she ran at Cora in the swing, got right to her and made an announcement (which sounded something like "Abble gabble flabble da da"), then ran back towards me laughing like she had shared the world's biggest secret.On Saturday night at the Groeber's, Quinn was able to magically find a package of cookies, no matter where we hid them (that's a bit of an exaggeration). When I finally took them inside to the counter, she stood in the floor, arms up-stretched, and screamed "COOKIE!".
This morning, I gave her the lady-bug chair to sit on while I got dressed. She immediately got right in the bug's face, and carried on a conversation for several minutes, squeezing its cheeks and kissing its nose.
She understands language (she always nods, but almost never says "yes"), follows two-step commands ("pick up the paper and throw it in the trash"), and no one seems a bit worried about her language development (i.e., Doc Davis practically laughs when I bring it up; so does Miss Aimee).
Honestly, Quinn has never been very demanding. She gets mad occasionally when Cora steals a toy or when I refuse to pick her up; otherwise, she pretty much rolls with life. She's always been like this. I suspect she has a pretty high tolerance for being hungry or thirsty, so there isn't much need to make demands (not that we are starving our child; but usually, I think about Quinn's hunger before she seems to be bothered). She sleeps pretty much on command, and isn't very sensitive to changes in her schedule (although she has a need to nap by 1PM daily). One day she wore a thin t-shirt to school, and came home with an unmentioned bite on her shoulder. I called Miss Aimee just so she'd know (I wasn't upset... but wanted to make sure this was noted in case Quinn retaliated on someone the next day); we both agreed that it was likely that no one knew because if Quinn cried, it wasn't an urgent cry. She feels pain, but isn't very dramatic. For example, the other night she fell backwards into a cabinet, and hit her bottom on the corner. It definitely hurt, and she stood up with a little fuss, rubbed her backside, and came to me for a kiss. About a minute later she stood up and rubbed her backside again, and came to me pointing for a kiss. No drama. No big tears. Just a little signal that her bottom hurt.
She's adventurous. I'm not the only one who says it. She likes animals, especially Pearl. She has no trouble climbing ladders and tackling big slides. Sometimes REALLY big slides - the kind that make me question whether I'm a good mother because she's probably too little to be up on those big slides (I have GOT to post pics from the pumpkin patch).
Quinn still has a paci when she sleeps; it's become an addiction. Now, she two-fists her pacifiers, keeping one in her mouth and the other in her hand, lest she gets tired of one and needs to switch it out. Poor Cora- I made her quit cold-turkey at 13 months. I suspect we'll send Quinn's paci off to the paci fairy when she turns 3. I'm not stressed out. This phase will be gone too-soon.
When we hand Quinn a drink in a sippy cup, she always gives it a little shake to see if there is anything in it.
When I try to lay her in her crib at night, she has started wrapping her legs and arms around me so tight that I can barely pry her off.
She gives super cute kisses, with a wide-open-mouth that leaves slobber on my face. She likes to run her fingers through my hair. She almost always has a runny nose.
She loves raisins, bananas, and GoGo packs of apple sauce.
She eats almost anything.
That's our Quinny :)
It's hard to get a pic of Quinn these days - she's always on the move. Here's her jean outfit from Mia.
Look at that mouth covered in chocolate. It was morning here - chocolate muffins.
With her brown cowboy boots.
A napping Quinny - cute little bum.
She was so proud eating this apple. I peeled the skin off of one side and let her go to town.
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