Journey to the Knot: 15-Month Newsletter: Quinn

Dear Quinn,
Here we are at 1 and a quarter year old! You are such a joy, so much fun, and a pleasure to be around! And, finally, FINALLY, this month, we settled in to a better routine for you. You've always been such a sweet boy, but your schedule and sleep habits haven't always been so sweet. I know I'm probably jinxing everything, but I'm merely describing what a fabulous month this has been for you - and us! We officially dropped your morning nap last month (I wrote about it in your 14-month newsletter), and things have been awesome. You nap much better in the afternoon now - a good 1.5-2.5 hour nap! And, you are ready to sleep again at night time. You seem much more well-rested, and I'm hopeful that trend will continue! You are also talking more and more each day - certainly my most favorite part of this age! I love awaiting those words - never knowing when they will stick and surface as a new word you "own." As of today, you have 18 words!! (Yes, I count them and keep track of them and add to my list every other day or so - see below!) It's so exciting to listen to your voice, your inflection, and how you try to copy us. It's so neat to hear you at this age, too, because you sound VERY much like Banner did when he was your age - your voice, your giggle. You may not look much alike, but you definitely sound like brothers.

What else have you been up to?

-You are climbing more and more. Your favorite place to be is either on the couch or anyone's bed - walking and pacing it back and forth. You point to the bed ("behhh") and say "Up!" And, once you talk us into it enough, we oblige and you are all giggles! You've also just recently figured out how to get down.

-You LOVE anything Banner is playing with. You are copying how he plays, too. When he was your age, he was not at all into toys - and you would probably be the same way if you hadn't been observing him your whole life. You love Grandma's cups, pots, pans, foil, Ziploc baggies, etc. You get into the cabinets and drawers and are quite content to make a big mess while doing so, BUT you are also usually pretty easily redirected to toys. You love playing with cars and trucks and making a driving sound while you scoot them around - a very "Banner" thing to do. You also love playing with Legos, digging in the sand, and pretty much sitting next to Banner while you both play side by side. You and Levi are also really good at this parallel play. In fact, you two love to roll a ball to each other back and forth.

-We stopped using the bath ring this month. You now just stand on the bath mat in the tub and play with toys while standing. You're much happier now after a few weeks of crying through bath.

-You're in to puzzles and shape sorters now.

-You LOVE being outdoors. "Out, out, out" you will repeat, especially if we have just put your shoes on you. You love to have shoes on - in the hopes of being able to go outside. You've gotten interested in your ride-on toys out there, and you really enjoy the park and playgrounds now.

-We've been going to Toddler and Me at Banner's school. I have SO enjoyed watching you come into your own in these special times for just you. You like the shakers, touching Ms. Lisa's guitar, and dancing at music class; you love rolling down the mats and tossing the balls with Ms. Rhonda; you love the playground and letting Ms. Mara hold you every now and then. You're not so great at sitting down and listening to the books Ms. Donna is reading, but neither are the other kids. I'm not worried yet. :) You also enjoy sitting with Banner at Torah, and it's been fun for me to sit with both of you!

-You had a cold and then another ear infection this month. We're 7 days in to a course of antibiotics, and you seem much happier now. The night before we took you to Dr. B's office was awful - you were up from 9:50pm - 2:40am just crying on and off. We knew something was up, and sure enough, you had an infection in your left ear.

-You also celebrated another Thanksgiving holiday.

-You love all things cold: the freezer, the fridge, ice, yogurt smoothies and frozen Gogurt, ice packs.

-Still only 4 teeth. Waiting and waiting for more!

-You're most comfortable in 18 month clothes and size 4 diapers still (size 6s at night!).

-We go to your 15-month check-up next week. I'll do a separate post on those stats, but for now I should note that I plan to be yelled at by Dr. B because you still have 2 bottles a day. You simply will NOT take milk in a cup... only water. I'm going to try to drop at least one bottle this week, but you have NOT been cooperative when we've tried this month. I'm being slightly flippant about it - and not really ready to take on dropping it. I'm really not in any hurry, and I don't see the necessity of dropping bottles completely. You only have a morning bottle and a "before bed" bottle - and you would probably do fine without them - but you would never drink milk, and I need you to get your calcium. So, I'm not pushing you - yet.

-Daily routine: You wake around 7:00ish - give or take 15 minutes. Then, you immediately take your Prevacid (which we are going to try dropping this week to see how you do), get a 6-7 oz bottle, breakfast around 8:15, dressed, play or go to Grandma's (depending on if Mommy's working that day or not), snack around 10:00-10:30, lunch around 12:00, nap around 12:50 or later (depending on if you have to go with me to pick Banner up from school), wake between 2:30-3:15, snack, dinner at 6:00, bath at 6:45, and then a 6-7 oz bottle, book, bed.

-Your words: ball ("bah"), yucky ("gucky"), banana ("nana"), up, night night, cracker ("cacker"), out, hi, eat, all done ("all duh"), dog ("woof woof" or "dodie"), water ("wawah"), some ("um"), help ("hep"), bed ("beh"), eye, on, and uh-oh (which you often repeat before you purposefully drop or throw something down... this is definitely your favorite word)... you also sign "more" and "all done" anytime you want something or want it to stop!

-You blow on your food when I tell you it might be hot; you love using a spoon; you could eat grapes all day long.

-You LOVE Yo Gabba Gabba, and you have a word for it, but I'm not exactly sure what you're saying. But, anytime I ask if you want to watch, you immediately head toward the TV and wait for me to put it on. It grabs your attention when you're upset and stops the tears, and I can count on it to let me take a 5-10 minute shower while you watch!

Quinn, you are such a cuddler still. I LOVE your sweet, loving personality. Your separation anxiety is still much better than months before - but you hate when Mommy and/or Daddy leave. You adore your time with us - and us with you. You crave attention and affection from Banner - even following him to time-out when he's in his room - probably there because he pushed you, but you still want to be near him.

Thank you for letting me be your mommy. Thank you for your sweet smiles, your contagious giggles, your loyal obedience, your generous hugs and kisses and snuggles, and your investigative curiosity. I'm so glad to be on this adventure with you as you learn so much these months!

I love you more and more each day!
Happy 15 Months!
Love,
Mommy