Insta-blog

I have a ton of pictures on my phone of the random fun we've been having. So, in lieu of a tightly woven, articulate, themed blog post, here are a few glimpses into how we are surviving the deep freeze.

**Other survival news that has no photographic evidence. The AmericInn in S-town has open swim on Sundays (for a pretty penny). They have a BIG waterslide and a toddler wading pool (1 ft deep) with a toddler waterslide. We tested it out yesterday. AWESOME! Even pool-hating Quinn had a blast and shed no tears.

Check out the cute laundry team!

 Not sure this is what Grandpa meant with the
"Sign here" sticker on our taxes ...

When she won't smile for the camera,
ask for a silly face

Morning snuggles with her buddy

She is just so cute. It hurts. And she knows it!

Finally - Proof!

I have really cute daughters - so I don't want to complain. But seriously, they are both spitting images of their dad (who is also cute ...). But seriously, carrying them for 80+ weeks should count for something.

My mom brought down some old pictures last weekend that she had found while going through my grandma's pictures. Some of them will be filed under the "awkward teen phase / bad fashion choices" that Mike never needs to see. But some were pretty fun to look at. When Bugs saw this one, she asked "why is there a picture of Quinny in here?" I still think she looks a lot like Mike, but I'm pleased to have photographic proof that my genetics somehow contributed.

In other 18 month stats, Mike brought Q to her well check this week. She weighs 22 lbs (10th percentile) and is 32" tall (55 percentile). She is 6 oz lighter than Fiona was and 1 inch taller. Her head is also bigger. Her gross motor and verbal skills are at a 2 year old level. Which just means she's doing what she should be these days.

Sara - 17 months

Q - 18 Months

We are home on this day to celebrate presidents and I'm doing my best to not throttle a potential future president. Fiona has a cold that has rendered her incapable of conversation. Just whining. And crying. Crying because she's coughing. Coughing more because she's crying. Needless to say, the quiet of naptime, however brief, is welcome.

While Fiona and I work on coexistence, Quinn is enjoying her newly-minted one-and-a-half-year-old status. She is quite the character and we enjoy her so much! She's really growing into her own and her personality is coming out. These days, Q is:

• Climbing: She's learned to climb into (and out of) her booster chair. We jokingly told them both to go climb in their chairs one night and Q did! That shouldn't surprise us. But it did. She also enjoys climbing up on the big furniture and rocking chairs. Or people. She can balance, standing, on Mike's back, and he can slowly push himself up so he's about 18 inches off the floor - with her still standing. 
• Talking: She loves to talk. She's starting to put more words together to explain more complex thoughts. When I put Fiona down for nap today, I came out and Quinn said "Bug Bug sleep." She does a good job of telling us what she would like and when she is tired - or needs a new diaper. 
• Playing with Fiona: They are mostly doing a wonderful job playing together. They are working on sharing and compromising. We've started to let them go down to the play room on their own for short periods of time. Mike said he heard them wake up this morning and heard Quinn squawking a bit. Then he heard Fiona say, "Good morning, Quinny. Would you like your water?" To which Q answered, "Yes, please." Well played, girls!
• Bravery: She's fearless where she wants to be. But new things (and people) really stress her out.

  

  Typical Quinn face. Feeding daddy
  and watching hockey

  We go to an indoor bounce house place here in town to get rid of the wiggles. We've gone about four times now and Quinn will finally go into the houses and bounce. Not surprisingly, she's really good at it (great balance). It takes her a while to warm up. Same with water. Fiona the fish loves to do "floats" in the bathtub. The last couple baths, Quinn has started to try to do floats too. Maybe swimming lessons won't be awful forever!
• Growing up: I swear she got taller last week while I was in Texas. And she's so independent. She can brush her teeth and wash her hands almost on her own. She labels everything and lets you know if you forgot part of her outfit ("gocks, pants, shirt") or part of the routine ("teeth, hair, boots, coat, hat, mittens, M") - they get an M&M if they cooperate in the morning. 
• Imaginative play: Quinn is thoroughly enjoying playing with the dollhouse, the babies [taking care of them], and kitchen. She'll stay busy for a long time, bringing you "coffee - hot" and refills on it "more?". She also loves to build block towers and to be tickled. If you roughhouse with her, you'll hear her favorite word - "again!"

Playing with sister

I know it took the same amount of time, but it feels like Quinn got to this age WAY faster than Fiona. Probably because they are both growing up so fast in front of us (side note: I scheduled Fiona's Kindergarten screening this morning. WHAT!?!?!). I can't imagine how fast the Baby will grow up with two others also knocking out the milestones.

She Did It!

Mike is manning the ship at home while I'm in Texas for work. Don't be jealous - it's not as warm as it sounds. Until this weekend when it is supposed to be in the 70s. And I won't be here.  I will be home for Valentine's Day - hooray!

Mike took Bugs to swimming lessons on Tuesday and they finally let her go on the diving board. Mike tells me she was super pumped and headed right out on it. Until she got past the handles and it wiggled. She didn't expect it to wiggle. She kept going, just a few steps at a time. And did really well until she got the edge. Then she realized she had never jumped that far before. She froze ... until a teacher came and helped her jump.

She told me on the phone last night that she was proud and wasn't afraid anymore. We are beyond proud of her! What a brave girl! She told me that she'll show me next week when I take her to swimming. I can't wait!

Mini-Explorer

I know it’s normal and it happens – but I’m uncomfortable and terribly unprepared for Fiona’s recent foray into the exploration of her body.

Early this week, she was sitting buck naked (maybe that’s part of the problem) on the toilet, doing her business, and started crying. Because her “hepples” (nipples) were pink. So she started pinching them – like seriously hard pinching – because she wanted them to be white. So being a good mom, I took off Quinn’s shirt to show Fiona that Q’s hepples were pink too. And when that didn’t suffice, I made Mike pull up his shirt to prove that his were also pink. My shirt stayed right where it should. Because I’m five plus months pregnant … and I get a pass!

Last week, I got a call from day care with Ms. A laughing hysterically into the phone because Fiona and her bestest buddy “R” were playing babies and discussing in depth how their babies came from their “baginas.” Both R and F are scheduled to be big sisters soon and apparently R’s mommy was much more detailed in her description to R than I was to F about how that baby gets out. Thankfully(ish) R has supplemented F’s education.

Last night, the girls were in the tub, having a good old time dumping cups of water on each other. Fiona let out a HUGE toot and we all felt compelled to verify that nothing but air had come out. Quinn took a peek, I took a peek, and Fiona stuck her hand down to check (sigh …). Somehow she also got her finger UP! And then asked me “why can I poke my butt?” So I had to explain why we don’t actually stick our fingers up our butts (it seems like it should be so obvious …). It took several rounds before she stopped! We washed hands with great purpose and hopefully are done with that! Yuck!

I’m also about ten “Fiona, get your finger out of your nose” repeats away from taping mittens on her hands permanently.

It might be time to YouTube a Magic School Bus episode on bodies and turn this discovery phase over to the professionals. Or at least the ones more prepared for pinched hepples, baginas, and butt pokes! Mom is clearly not cutting it.

Wiggles

Apparently outdoor sports
have moved inside

We have the wiggles. Not The Wiggles (they are banned here). But the “this winter is long and cold and we are sick of being inside” wiggles.

I swear Mike has frost in his blood. He thrives in the cold weather. By mid-June, he’s usually wishing for winter. Luckily, I don’t mind heat … so I’m happy to take the girls to the park when it is 97 degrees and 200 percent humidity, while he sits home in the AC and sweats. He and the baby can bond this summer while the girls and I run around outside! But I digress …

Mike, the man with frost blood, has said out loud that he is sick of winter this year. That means the rest of us are hanging by a thread. Don’t get me wrong. I love winter. But I love winter because of all the cool (ha!) things you can do outside. Skating, sledding, snowmen, snow forts, snowballs, crisp walks in the chilly silence. But this winter has been too blasted cold to do any of those things on a regular basis. There are infrequent warm ups, and believe me, we are outside embracing it. But we need more frequent exposure to fresh air.

Serious duets

To combat the wiggles (and The Wiggles), we’ve turned to music. We have some rousing family dance parties using the toddler tunes station on Mike’s phone (all Wiggles songs are immediately skipped). Even the most wonderful, patient, committed parents can only listen to so many toddler tunes before they wonder what has happened to their lives (we constantly have Raffi’s stupid Willaby Wallaby song in our heads. Listen. I dare you).

So one day, we put the big person music from Mike’s phone on. We learned two things quickly. There are more inappropriate lyrics than we remembered! And … Quinn loves Red Hot Chili Peppers. Like totally rocks out to the Peppers. Fiona seems quite taken with Metallica – which shockingly [to me] had better language than my beloved Peppers. It was fun to give them a taste of our music (while carefully controlling the playlist) and take a small break from Raffi.

New exit strategy

Here’s to a new month. C’mon February. Give us some sunshine and warmer temps so we can go play with all the snow in the yard. And maybe open a window or two for minute and air out the house. The parents, the blondes, and especially the puppy would thank you!