Terrible Two's.... Both of them!!

A lot has happened since our last post. The gymnastics experiment has turned out not so well. Let us just say that we both cringe at the thought of Saturday mornings. However, we have both agreed to fight through it. These are the types of things Brenda and I band together on, among other things...

Quinn got her first ear infection a week before her second birthday. Of all the infections we have been so worried about with her for her 2 first years of life, this one was not that bad. As you can see by the picture below she was knocked out of commission.

Luckily Quinn was up and around in time for her second birthday. For her actual birthday we took her to the Rainforest Cafe with Ronin, her aaja, her aaji, and her poowa. She loved it the first time we visited there but this visit didn't start so well. Firstly, they sat us near the monkeys and gorillas. If you have ever been there you will understand that these creatures were even freaking out the big people! They moved us to a better spot and after a little while Quinn warmed up to the idea of being there. She did however have her heart set on heading out into Yorkdale mall to socialize. We came back to our house for cake and she opened some presents and actually stuck her hand in the cake that her mom made for her. She took a bite of it and then moved on to other more important things like pushing her train down the hall.

Quinn's Aaja and Aaji got Quinn one of the most awesome wagon's I have ever seen. This, along with the trampoline were presents that we knew from the beginning Quinn would love. As you can see below, she is enjoying both of them. The first one on her own, the rest is her sharing with her brother.

This week Ronin turned two months old. We thought he was getting a bit of a routine but then the last couple days he brought us crashing back to reality and we realize it was just a tease. We are lucky that Brenda took such great notes with Quinn so that we can compare what we went through the first time around. Needless to say he is turning into quite the little cutie as you can see below. He is really starting to smile and interact with the world around him. Quinn's thing was smiling. Ronin likes to smile but he has perfected the pissed off face. Below isn't the pissed off face because we like this face better.

On the 15th was Quinn's formal 2nd birthday party. Once again she was really spoiled not only by the presents that all the people that love her gave her but by her mom who really knows how to throw a kick ass 2nd Birthday party!!! We went with food that Quinn loves. As a result there was pasta and sauce as far as the eye can see. She got so many great presents and really loved them all. Here are a few pics of the spread and the festivities.

This past March Break, Quinn and Ronin spent a couple days in Peterborough with their Nead mosi and all their cousins. Quinn even had her first sleep in a toddler bed. As you can see from the picture below all the kids had a blast.

Ronin and Quinn

Today is Ronin's 5th day and he is somewhat regular. This is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending how you look at it. He likes to feed every 2-3 hours which means little sleep for mom. Between feeds he seems to pretty much sleep with random moments of eyes open. We have had a few wet sleepers from the misdirection of a certain bodily part along with a diaper that wasn't fully airtight... It is a new world with a boy. We will cut him a break as he is figuring things out like we are.

Quinn seems OK with Ronin. However we have definitely noticed specific changes with her. She now started the biting thing again and we have the teeth marks to prove it. She also decided she wants to go head first off the ottoman. This has resulted in a few pile drivers. To her credit, she cries a little then gets right back to giving it a try. She definitely embodies the phrase "Practice makes perfect". Two nights ago Quinn and Ronin's relationship hit a milestone as Quinn actually kissed him goodnight. It was the sweetest thing ever. She will now come over to look at him and when he cries she looks at him then at us with a face that says "Shouldn't you be doing something?" She will figure it out. We are so lucky she is independant and can occupy herself without us having to watch her. It definitely helps out. That being said, she has started crying when she is being dropped at daycare again. It is heartbreaking but we are sure she will get through it.

Today Ronin has his first doctor appointment. We will see how everything goes. Hopefully his weight is ok and everything else is on track.

The magic 3 month mark

Mom and dad figured it out.... There is no magic 3 month mark. In fact most people mislead us. When Quinn was 1-2 months old they all said just wait till she gets 3 months and then she will start sleeping well. As soon as Quinn starting getting close to the 3 month mark then the stories switched. It was all about that 4 month mark. We have decided to stop chasing that carrot!! We have even heard rumours of the 6 month mark. We now took matters into our own hands. It is amazing what a heartfelt conversation with a 3 month old can do. We spent a couple days of recurring conversations with Quinn about the value of sleep and it really worked like a charm. She now falls asleep on her own and is getting to be pretty regulated in the nights. We figure if they all can mislead us...... Okay maybe we decided to take a different route. We implemented a specific bedtime routine that really worked well.

Our family is now starting to actually resemble real life. We go out for dinner. We plan ahead for stuff and we can have tonnes of interactive time with Quinn.

Mom got some pictures done for Father's Day with Quinn and Dad. An example of one of the pictures is below.

We have decided that Quinn might have bipolar tendencies. She can go from the loudest cry (for her) to the biggest laugh and giggle. We love it when it swings in our favour and most of the times that is the way it goes. However, there are times it goes horribly wrong.

Mom has had a chance to get out and enjoy the great weather with Quinn but it seems her concern over the sun for Quinn should have been placed on her as well. She got a couple of real bad burns being out in the sun. Then again it doesn't take much. Quinn and Dad will always have to look out for the lighty.

Catching some rays....

We have started to get Quinn down to a specific schedule around bedtime. We work in a bath, feed, tummy time, and a story all in an intricate process to get her into bed and asleep. We have seem some positive results so we are enthusiastic that we are on the right track.

Mom and Quinn attended the Global BBQ and a good time was had by all. The weather was good and the sun was warm. Dad wasn't there but knew that the sun was hot from mom's forehead. Quinn also got a little colour. Dad easily figured out what sunglasses mom was wearing from the tan lines on her face. Poor mom, she doesn't tan well at all. It would seem that dad was able to give the tan gene to Quinn.

We finally got a camcorder. It is amazing the things we can record now. We have some prime moments captured already and realistically we couldn't have waited another week to get it. Quinn is doing new stuff every day.

Enjoy the Summer Weather!!

This weekend we all visited London and Anna Mosi made a great Summer BBQ pool party for all of us. It was a great time. We really got a chance to enjoy the weather. Quinn got her first taste of pool life. We had to get her in a swimsuit that would be suitable for her. As you can see above it was a day fit for a superhero! She was a little put off by the pool at first but we quickly figured it was the sun in her eyes she didn't like but loved the water. In fact she loved it so much she feel asleep in the POOL!!

Sue Mosi babysat Quinn so mom and dad could go out for dinner. The dinner wasn't the greatest and the service absolutely sucked. It was a French restaurant and it seems they took the tradition of French restaurants too much to heart. For those of you that don't know, French restaurants are notorious for great food and terrible service. They got the terrible service right on but they have a long way to go for the great food. A quick dinner with friends turned into a 3 hour marathon. When we got back to pick up Quinn at about 9:30pm she was fast asleep in her stroller in the Rand living room since 8:30pm. She transferred to the car seat with a little bit of a stir but that was the last we heard of her until 5:30am the next day!! We didn't want to disturb her when we got home so just put the car seat in the crib. For all you non-parents that might sound crazy, but for all you parents, you will totally understand! So based on some quick math, that is 9 hours of straight sleep!! We aren't keeping our hopes too high and are just putting the cause of such great sleep to a long day in the sun....

Weekend on the Go

This weekend the family spent more time out on the go instead of at home. Saturday had Quinn spend some time with Aaji and Aaja while mom and dad worked out, then we all went out to lunch, then ran some errands, did some shopping and then grabbed some dinner. On Sunday, Quinn had more time with Aaji and Aaja as mom and dad worked out again, out to the mall, go for lunch, then out for dinner. We all were really on the go, as mom and dad often do. Quinn is now starting to get the idea. As you can see by the pictures below Quinn is making herself quite comfortable at home. Lounging on the sofa with the remote then styling with mom's sunglasses. You can also see that her shirt don't lie...... Thanks to the Global girls for such an appropriate outfit.... CUTIE INDEED!!!!

Family Day Out

Today the whole family spent the day out and we didn't even need car keys. We walked up to the shopping area. Looked in a bunch of stores, bought some stuff, Quinn slept, got some groceries and then grabbed a bite. It was great for us to all have a day out of the house that was so enjoyable and Quinn was a perfect little 7 week old. She slept for most of the excursion but was awake in the restaurant and acted like a little lady. She had her food then sat in her car seat and then peacefully dozed off. These are the days mom and dad were hoping for when Quinn came into this world. Hopefully there will be more in the future, but we aren't putting too much pressure on her as she is just turning 8 weeks this week.

It is amazing what a different little girl Quinn is when she has her fair share of nap time. It is definitely a Jekyll and Hyde contrast. It is OK, we love her either way, but love seeing more Jekyll and less Hyde.....

Here is a Pic of Quinn in her swing as the KING OF THE JUNGLE!!

On our toes

Quinn continues to keep us on our toes as she changes and gets older. We just can't seem to figure her out totally. Mom and Dad spend countless hours philosophizing on what we should do/try. We mix it up, we keep it consistent. Trying to get that formula just right.

It is so hard not to give Quinn everything at a moments notice. We both strongly feel that we would have no problem being rigid with her if she wasn't so DAMN CUTE!!!

We sometimes find ourselves trying to rationalize with Quinn to "Help us Help you". Needless to say that doesn't have a very high success rate.....

Give Quinn some credit

Quinn had a decent night as well are still trying to figure her out. She is just 4 weeks old and we are really lucky at what a good baby she is. We should give her more credit. She eats and sleeps and only cries when something is wrong. She is interactive and funny to watch. Consider this blog as PROPS TO QUINN.....

We continue to experiment with her feedings to see how we can sculpt it into more of a parent friendly schedule...

We are also experimenting with her daily routine, naps and sleeping position to see if we can find the magic combination.

The adventure continues....

Quinn Quinn Quinn

Quinn is starting to get quite the personality on her. We are both sure that there are times Quinn is definitely mad at her mom and dad for the things we put her through like baths and sprays.

She seems to be sleeping a little better as she gets settled into her new life. We are also getting settled in her new life as we start to get something of a schedule. Unfortunately the schedule is Quinn's and not ours.

Easter

Quinn had her first Easter weekend and it was quite the experience to travel all around with her. She was good for most of the weekend, however, the extended time with her aunts and uncles in London was great but the long drive back threw her off a bit and made her not a happy camper. All in all she had a good trip but we have to work better on the planning as with that drive and her age you have to plan it to the minute!

She then spent time seeing her Aaji, Aaja, and poowa. She had a big and not so glamorous first. She threw up for the first time and it was projectile. It was rather like the exorcist and it just kept coming . We felt terrible for her as she was obviously initially scared. She calmed down pretty quick. Her poowa took some great pictures of her.

Overall Quinn scored some great chocolate (Daddy was happy) and got tonnes of attention.

Last night mom and dad put her on the sofa to see what she would do and she almost turned over by herself. She is definitely strong. She pulled her head out of my hand for almost 3 seconds.

Her sleep last night was not that great and mom suffered. She did go to the doctor today and she is up to 8lbs 7 ounces!! Our little chunker! We are glad that weight is not an issue for her.

Mr. Mom

Dad took over the night duties to give mom a rest and all went OK. Quinn was up about every 3 hours, had a diaper change and some food then back to bed. Mom really enjoyed the extra sleep and was recharged today.

Mom will try and get more sleep today with some naps and then hand the duties over to dad for the night.

Quinn now seems to think that 6am is her wake up time to face the day. We think a lot differently. We try to convince her that it is still night but then the sun comes up and ruins everything.