Life with Bugs

The almost 3-year-old cracks us up! She is just so funny. Quinn cracks us up too - with her antics. Fiona's is usually with the stuff she says. Seriously silly kid. Here are a couple of the new quotables:

• On Tuesday, we went to the park. She smacked her mouth on the swing and I think she knocked a tiny chip out of her front tooth. I did several examinations of her mouth. I noticed she was licking her tooth, so I asked her if it felt funny. She said "yes." I know I looked concerned and asked her how it felt. She answered, "It feels ... orange." Sigh .... Mike nearly split a gut laughing!
• This morning, she was sitting on the toilet (buck naked, by the way). She looked at me and said very seriously, "mama, do you know that I love myself?"
• She also tells me to "hold on a sec" and "wait a minute" all the time. Can't blame her for that one ... I'm pretty sure she hears it all the time from us.

Saturday Firsts

Camping dinner ...and dirty feet!
Also ...look closely for four teeth

I'm an inconsistent blogger. I admit it! I had a streak of four days in a row - and then a week of radio silence. Such is the life with two kids ... and many, many evening phone calls with my colleagues in the Philippines.

We had such a fun day on Saturday. A few fun firsts for the girls! In the morning, Fiona and I headed out for a "big girl date." Auntie was going to join us, but Mother Nature played a trick on her and dropped a tree across her driveway. So she stayed stuck at home instead. At least she still had power! Anyway ... Fiona and I went to a local performance of "Jack and the Beanstalk." A traveling theatre company put it on and area kids played the parts. It was just under an hour long, perfectly not scary, and full of music and dancing. She was beyond good, sat in my lap the entire time (SO MANY SNUGGLES), and clapped enthusiastically with the rest of the crowd. She has been saying "Fe Fi Fo Fum" and stomping around since the play. Short toddler aspires to be a giant!

Playing hide and seek
at the campground

When it was done, she asked me if she could be in a play. I told her that she could. She was then very concerned that "Daddy won't come watch me" ... because he stayed home with Quinn while we went. By the time we got to my car, I had convinced her that Mommy, Daddy, and Quinn would all come watch her. If that wasn't a hit, nothing is!

After a late lunch and good naps, we headed up to Baker Park where our friends B&C were camping. We helped Jack and Cooper play in some mud puddles, ate hot dogs cooked on a campfire, and enjoyed the not raining weather. Quinn was clearly born to camp. She was in her element and she didn't stop smiling the entire time we were there.

It was a great day of fresh air, culture, and new experiences for the girls. We were proud of how they embraced them. And that they are showing signs of enjoying the things that we do.

Also - to make up for the week of silence, here is a video of Fiona doing her new favorite thing ... singing "Twinkle Twinkle." She was singing this one to Q on the ride to the campground because little sis was getting impatient. I missed the beginning - she starts when she wants, not when mom is ready!

Runaway Baby

From the Facebook page of my clever husband:
Fiona hasn't shown Quinn how to fill the car with gas, so she just has to push it. Wait a minute... she is walking and pushing the car! Way to go Quinn!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the guy who often carries this family on his shoulders! Love from all your girls!!!

Q - 10 Months

Never to young to accessorize

Two months until our baby is officially a toddler! Slow down, baby Q! You are getting big so fast!

Quinn is SO fun! She has the most infectious smile - and is quick to smile and giggle. She is also LOUD! Really loud. She's decided to establish her role in the family by being the loudest member. Usually it's really happy noises (or banging things on other things). But seriously, this kid makes her presence known! In addition to volume, she is also:

• Standing: all the time. She can stand up from the floor by herself - doesn't need anything to pull up on. And she can stand without holding on to anything. She's started to look like she is thinking about taking a step. But hasn't seemed super motivated on that yet. She doesn't even really like it when we hold her hands to help her walk. But Mike thinks that is mostly because she wants to do it herself.
• Cruising: She cruises along people and furniture. A couple nights ago, she went around three sides of

  

  Love this smile

  the coffee table. And there is a lot of pivoting between things. Table to couch. Couch to table. Mom to toy. 
• Sippy cups: Quinn has figured out the sippy cup. Both straw and regular versions. She likes to drink water out of it. But more than anything, she likes to troll the house to find her sister's cup and snag it - much to Bugs' chagrin!
• Talking: She said "hi dada" and waved to Mike a couple days ago. She definitely knows some words, but we don't always catch them. It's fun to see her working on her vocabulary.
• Playing: Quinn is loving the toys and recently discovered the tunnel at the playground. I put away a bunch of baby toys yesterday and pulled out some good motor skill toys for her to work on. We have a walker and some shape blocks and stackable rings for a different challenge.
• Stairs: She climbs up stairs - all by herself. She just decided one day that she would do it - and did. It's crazy and she's FAST. 
• Toothy grin: The top two front teeth are in! So she is sporting all four front teeth now. And her bottom gums are so swollen that we suspect a bunch more are shortly behind.