What She's Doing Nowadays...

It's true that every new stage Quinn goes through, I say is the best stage. So I'm saying it again - she's 20 months old now, and this definitely is the BEST stage so far! She's just so, so... smart. You can't get anything past her anymore. She catches everything. She remembers everything. She learns at a rate that is astonishing. It's truly something amazing to watch. She's growing up right before my eyes.

What do you mean, I can't play with the plastic wear???

Quinn is counting now. And saying her ABC's. In no particular order (I had you going, thinking she was some sort of prodigy, didn't I?). It's hysterical. "One, Two, Fee, Fi..." I think, what happened to four? She gets as far as five and then I help. As soon as I say, "Six" she says "Eight!" Then she starts to say, "Q, B, T..." They're all mixed up in Quinnspeak, and it totally cracks me up! But it's incredible to me that she "gets it." Daycare is truly paying off - Tiana and Chrissy really work with the children and it is obviously sinking in. I count to 10 and say (or sing) the ABC's everyday with Quinn. More than once... it's so much fun.

Her long term memory has really kicked in. I can't do the "bait and switch" so easy anymore. She realizes the comb she was just playing with is missing. She knows when I take the fork off her plate when she isn't looking. And she lets me know how much it pisses her off :-)

That's the downside of this stage - the "Terrible Two's" started in earnest tonight at Great Beginnings. We were shopping for some Christmas items and she was getting antsy, so I let her out to sit on the kiddie rocking chairs. She loved it! She smiled and giggled and rocked away. When it was time to go, the Quinn I know disappeared and this new Devil Child threw her 1st full fledged temper tantrum. She threw herself onto the floor. She kicked. She screamed. When I finally go a hold of my little Wiggle Worm to put her back into her stroller, she suddenly turned stiff as a board and would NOT let me buckle her in. I have to say, I laughed through this whole ordeal. I was a bit frustrated and embarrassed, but hey - I'm in a toy store with a 20-month-old. I'm not THAT out of place.

She cried all the way through the line, out to the car, and then pulled the straight-back gag again when I had to strap her into her car seat. She cried all the way home. It's amazing to see such a sweet-tempered girl turn into Satan's Spawn right in front of your eyes. That was the first one - the first one of many, many, MANY meltdowns to come.

But then she does the cutest damn things, like take her socks off her feet and put them over her hands, and THEN falls asleep that way! I mean, how can you not think that isn't adorable?

Her hands must have been colder than her feet!

She's very into hats and mittens right now. She loves putting them on and walking through the house with them. She's starting to "pretend" now, too. She pretends to take drinks from empty cups, or sip soup off a spoon. It's so much fun to play with her, she just takes it all in with a big old grin on her face!

Check out my rad ski hat!

I know I'm cute, but it doesn't hurt to tell me...