Casting Call

Quinn is sporting a new hot pink cast. The appointment was long - mostly because it was a lot of waiting. But we suppose that is better than being the top priority on the doctor's list. Once we saw the doctor, it went pretty quickly. He told us that she has a "buckle break" - basically she landed with outstretched arm/wrist and her wrist buckled. The break is clean and she's so little that she should heal quickly.

They put on a water-proof cast. Yep, you read that right. Her cast is waterproof. Like just stick her in the tub with no extra work. Like sign her up for swimming lessons. That is just crazy. And awesome. She has to wear the cast for three weeks - so will get it off the day before Bugs' birthday. If we had to go through this milestone as a family, it's definitely the best case scenario!!

You can see that her cast is quite decorative. We approved the autographing efforts of her friends at day care and it made their day!! And Fiona is really proud - as she was the first to sign it.

Wrist Update

AKA: Why non-expert opinions are flawed (see previous post). We decided last night that we didn't want to chance it - and weren't quite sure how to treat a sprain on a 1-year-old. So I called the nurse line today. They decided they wanted to see her (I think they always want to see them ...) so we snagged a late afternoon appointment.

The resident and doctor checked her out and were pleased with her range of motion. But the doctor was not happy with the way she was "guarding" her arm. She just wouldn't fully extend it - and he felt like if it were just a sprain, she wouldn't be doing that. He asked if we could do an x-ray, just to confirm that they weren't missing anything. I agreed with him and off Q and I headed to x-ray. When we got back, we ran into our regular pediatrician in the hallway, gave her our scoop, and I could hear her consulting with the other doctor as we went into the room (reason #2047 why I love her!!). They both came into the room shortly after that to announce that Quinn had broken BOTH bones in her wrist. SAY WHAT!?!?!

Even though it's the nurse's job to help, our regular ped helped with the temporary cast (reason #2048) too. She didn't want anyone else working on "her Quinn." I got to see the x-rays and sure enough, there is a little crack in both the radial and ulna. The great news was that there was only slight impacting and no misalignment - so everything should heal up beautifully. We'll be awaiting a call from orthopedics tomorrow for her real cast.

She was infinitely happier tonight than she has been since her fall - so I think that protecting it and compressing it to heal has made a huge difference in her world. Stay tuned for pictures of the official cast.

Q Crashes the Party

Sad baby

A first birthday party was not enough excitement around here. So on Saturday, we hosted Mike's fantasy football draft. The draft consists of 11 families of college friends - and is always an awesome time. As our lives post-college have evolved, so has the draft. First, girlfriends joined the festivities. Then wives. Now kids! Our backyard was a passel of running, yelling, happy kids. It was awesome. [and hot!!!]

Now, the new one-year-old thinks she's a big kid. She walks, you know, so that clearly means she's big. She chased the bigs all day, desperately wanting to keep up. She did a pretty good job too. Until she fell. Off the climber. And hurt herself pretty good. Unfortunately no one saw her fall. So we had no context to how she fell.  We were clear she was hurt because she didn't settle down and her cry was different than usual.

Pre-accident. Day care called her
 a modern-day Duke of Hazzard!

I finally was able to localize the issue to her left arm. We were then able to narrow it down to her shoulder,her elbow, or her wrist (clearly, we had no clue!). She had a really tough night that night and I decided I thought it was her wrist. She did better on Sunday, but was definitely favoring her arm. Tonight, Mike was able to mess around with her arm enough and get a good enough look to spot some minor swelling around her left wrist. So our non-expert diagnosis is currently a mild sprain or twisted wrist. There's no bruising, but she's definitely still not in top shape. We'll keep our eyes on it ... and maybe consult with the nurse line tomorrow.

Hopefully she can heal quickly and return to her fearless ways.

One Year Update

Love our birthday girl

One post on the big first birthday just didn't seem like enough! So here's another post about all things Quinn - at one!

We had a great birthday party on Saturday. The day was gorgeous, so Mike popped up the pool, added a slide, and is the new hero to several 3 and 4 year olds! The backyard was filled with good family and good friends! So much fun! Quinn had a good time and Fiona had a fantastic time! Bugs loves a good party! Quinn liked her cupcake, but enjoyed the melon balls even more. The "polka dot" party was deemed a rousing success. If you came and enjoyed, rumor has it - same time same place in about a month. If you couldn't make it, we'd love to see you this time around!

Yum! Cupcake

On Monday, Q had her 1 year well check. She was royally peeved about the whole process and was rather mean to the poor resident. She behaved slightly less surly for our regular pediatrician. After 3 shots and a finger poke, the entire clinic + mommy was on her list! Luckily, by the time I got home from work, she had forgiven me. She weighed 20 lbs 1 oz (53 percentile) and was 30.25" tall (84 percentile). For comparison, at Bugs' one year appt, she was 19 lbs 6 oz and 29".

She [perhaps] had a reaction to the shots and some loose stool yesterday got her kicked out of day care for today. She and I had a fun day at home together. Hopefully tomorrow, we're back to normal and the shots don't give her any more problems.

Birthday princess

Big sister - the fish. She stayed in the pool until her lips were blue.
Then I still had to forcibly remove her!

Q - 1 Year

We did it!! Baby Quinn is now officially toddler Quinn! Although who are we kidding?! She has been a toddler for almost a month now with her crazy walking skills! The Q had a good day today, complete with a birthday party at day care and a mini-party at home with us and Auntie Tracey, Nate, and Ben. We had one of her favorite dinners and headed to the park to play. Awesomeness!

At one year old, here are her latest tricks:

• Walking. Everywhere. All the time. Really - not walking. Running. New favorite pastime for both girls is to chase each other around the loop of our dining room/living room. 
• Talking. Lots of chatter and real words. Favorite words are "cup" (death to anyone who has a cup if Quinn doesn't), "shoe," and "woof." She also is learning to follow directions. You can tell her to go get her shoes in the morning, call her to come brush her teeth, and ask her to get a book.
• Breaking up with mom. We've been on a nursing break-up path for a while. I was clinging to the relationship (despite the FIVE teeth) for bedtime. But she has decided she is a big girl and is done with me. We still have about two weeks of milk in the freezer, so she drinks that mostly and we supplement with whole milk. The switch is in process.
• Trying to put things together / getting frustrated when things don't bend to her will. She's discovered the shape sorter and LOVES it. Until the circle won't fit through the triangle hole. Then it's the dumbest toy ever. She also walks around the upstairs sobbing because the picnic plates aren't fitting together. She's exploring her world and figuring it out.
• Chasing balls. Another sports fan on our hands. She loves to chase, throw, and roll her (or Yogi's) balls.
• Loving on Yogi. She adores him! She loves to feed him from her tray (sigh ...) or sit in the yard with him and find him sticks. 

She got her very own baby and stroller from
mom, dad, and Buggy