Sunny Swimming Sunbathing Saturday

Sweltering Saturday!



Look at those rolls...can you tell she's a good eater? So, the pool I bought last weekend finally got put to use...outside at least. We sat in it in the house the other day to make sure she wouldn't freak out if I put her in it outside. Not that she has ever had a real problem with short term surroundings...

"Hi, I'm Leap!"

"Let's sing the alphabet song!"

So, unlike the gloworm and giraffe, Leap has a very sensitive tummy and Q can make him sing over and over and over and over....and over and over and over and over ..... and over and over and over....again for as long as he stays within her reach. Sometimes to gets so excited for the ABCs by Leap that she'll toss him out of her reach and go on to another toy. I like those times...but it's also adorable to see her giggle when he starts talking and singing!

Missed 7 Month Birthday!

Among all the craziness of us sharing this summer cold, we missed Q's 7 month birthday!

I've done okay with the updates, so I won't repeat myself. We have our next doctor appointment in 2 weeks (unless this summer cold doesn't go away by next week) for her next round of immunizations. From my measurements here, she's 21# (holy moly!!) and 29". She loves anything that can go into her mouth. I have been able to get more than 2 spoonfuls of food in her mouth at every meal. When there is a new food, she will make a "bitter beer" face, but will stick through the entire bowl with toys close at hand. She's getting messier with each meal. She used to just sit there and eat, now she has her hands in her mouth as she eats, then rubs her eyes and proceeds to suck on a toy then the toy goes to her hair and to the ground. SO, I could pretty much give her a bath and mop the floor after every meal. But I don't.

In the past 3 weeks, she has gone from eating about a tablespoon of food once a day, to eating about a tablespoon twice a day, to eating about a quarter cup three times a day! Her nursing frequency is is about 5-7 times a day, and she drinks about 2 ounces of water through the day (more if we go on longer walks or spend time outside as it seems to be consta-80 degrees or warmer around here). On Monday, she was extremely crabby after breakfast and wanted more food so I nursed her again (usually she just nurses 30 minutes before solids so I can eat breakfast). So at lunch I decided to give her a little more food...she was still a little fussy, but allowed the end of the dish to be the end of the meal. At dinner, I gave her 1/4 cup and she was good with that. So, she's eating well! She hasn't had any red meat yet, but she enjoys chicken and pork mixed with veggies. She still eats her green beans the best.

She's not taking her morning nap anymore and her late afternoon nap has shortened to about 40 minutes. So, her only nap is from about 10-1...but she's still awake at 3, 4, or 5am ready to eat OR ELSE!

Her favorite songs are: the ABCs; twinkle, twinkle; any Roger Clyne song; any TMBG song (especially QU (inn--as we sing around here!)...).

She loves all books, especially the cloth ones that Mommy lets her chew on as much as she wants. Granted, one of the books is "Frosty the Snowman" but it keeps us cooler on these warm days (or so I like to think).

She wants the remote, phone, or camera in her hands and her mouth at all times if you are near it or not. If it is within her grasp, she wants it and no toys will distract her.

She loves any toy that sings to her. She has a lullaby gloworm, a prayer giraffe, and a leap ABC frog...she loves them all and they can distract her from just about anything most of the time.

"First" Jumper and Hanging out in the Bedroom

I say "first" because her first experience was at Nate and Nikki's in . . . April ? Is that when we were there? It seems like forever ago.

We're still not feeling so hot. Quinn's nose is running and I barely have time to catch my own, so it's been a snot-filled day. Her appetite has changed not at all, so she can't be feeling all that bad. Me, well, I could go for Mom's homemade chicken dumpling soup (despite the 80 degree weather) and some crackers...seeing as my sense of taste is nothing.

Oh, and she's got one sharp lower jaw! It feels like a mini-razor...maybe she's growing fangs? I tried to get a shot of it, but I can barely see it without the camera, so maybe there will be a photo some day soon.

We're hanging out in the bedroom today as I really don't have the energy to do the stairs a million times to change diapers and put Q down for naps...even though she only slept from 10:30 to 12:00 today...she's enjoying the day of hanging out in a new location.

This is the look I get when I call her name...

She responds to Q, Quinn, Quinner (Dad's nickname) & Quinkle (Mom's nickname...like Twinkle for you phonetics lovers out there!).

Q's feet are her third and fourth hands when she plays.

When you go to tickle her tummy, she'll often times wrap her legs around your arm to get you to stop. It's pretty cute...and she's got some "grip" with those legs and toes!

Something about the end of June?

Well, I'm sick or my allergies decided to hit me like a ton of bricks yesterday. Last year about this time when we were packing up the house, I was also about this sick. I'm hoping I can just "rest it away" and that things will be better tomorrow. Q isn't really cooperating with Mommy not feeling well, as I think she has a touch of whatever I have. I think it's part of the reason she wasn't liking nap time yesterday (or today). If it is what I have, I'm just as miserable lying down as I am sitting up. So, poor little girl can't tell me what's wrong and my energy is at -10 because I didn't sleep last night!

And of course Mike needs to go to work, so we have to make it through the day somehow!

It's days like these that make me wish being a Mom came with sick days!!!

We bought Q a doorway jumper yesterday...she just kinda sits in it yet, but she'll get the hang of it before long.

No nap means headache?

Well, we had a traumatic morning of toy injuries as we had a very sleepy baby who wanted to be awake instead of napping or eating. So, we had an early morning Target run (which I don't mind because it's less crowded and shelves are still stocked...except when they're all rainchecked) with hopes she would sleep in the car or stroller once we arrived at our destination. Nope and nope. So, after an hour and half at Target...it's about the time Q has had another 2 hour nap and is eating lunch. She's still not sleeping and still pretty crabby, but not screaming like the other kids, so I decide to make one quick stop at Babies-r-Us for a johnny jumper (the exersaucer isn't cutting it lately). Well, after 30 minutes there (also stopped to check out their christening gowns), still not sleeping.

As soon as her car seat clicked into place in the car she was OUT. I was so happy. Well, traffic was light, so I got home in about 30-45 minutes (never thought it would take me that long to get home from a Target that's 10 miles away). As soon as the car stopped, she woke up screaming. Well, she was probably pretty hungry and very sleepy as by noon thirty she's usually had an extra 2 hours of sleep, and 3 feedings. So, I made her yogurt apple oatmeal. Most of it ended up in her hair, on her chair, and in her lap (not sure how that happened). Granted, she's usually a little messy with meals, but this is a first when I really wanted to give her a bath instead of just washing her up. I chalk it up to the sleepies (as she's rubbed her eyes every few seconds this entire feeding) and just wipe her down as bathing a sleepy baby is no fun. So, I nurse her for about 10 minutes as she's being stubborn and not drinking out of her cup of water with her meal. I put her down and she's screaming again. I let her cry for about 10 minutes and go to check on her. She's moved herself sideways and she's too long for the crib that way so she was stuck (no limbs stuck between bars, just legs up in the air and head pressed against the headboard.

I go in there, sing her a few songs, put her mobile on again, she gives me some giggles, and I walk out to attempt nap time again. About 5 minutes later there's a very odd noise coming from her room...she's banging her nigh nigh glow worm on her mirror. I think she was trying to make it "sing" as when I pressed his tummy, she got her smile and giggle on.

Hopefully she'll sleep well now. I really need a break! I didn't realize how crucial morning naptime was for not only my sanity, but to get me ready for the day as we rushed to Target today before I even got a shower or a full cup of coffee!

Overall, I'm starting to have to be really careful about what is not only within her grasp, but within a few feet of her at ALL times, even when I'm in the same room with her. If I'm in the kitchen getting even a glass of water and she gets quiet, I know she's found something she shouldn't have. It's usually a cat or the newspaper. At least I don't think she's eaten any of the flying ants that are hatching and invading now (really, the invasion is about 5 a day that make it past the door and window spray treatment)....

So, maybe she has a headache too and it's keeping her awake? Who knows!?!?!?

All I know is that it's been about another 10 minutes since I've been in there and she's still awake (but not screaming...).

Here Kitty Kitty Kitty Kitty

Mike and I are continually amazed at how quickly Q is growing. If she would've tried to grab Eggo's tail like this last week, she would've face-planted before she knew it. Instead, she reached, missed, so sat back up to play with the toys she could reach.

It's hard to tell in this photo but Eggo's tail was wagging as he was happy because Killer was cleaning his head...and Q thought it was a game! She never caught it ... probably because I distracted them by the photo. Oh well, it's a game for another day! Over all, this is the closest all three of them have been to each other without forcing it on any of them! We're just one big happy family!

Hablas espanol?

So, since I've borrowed "who hops?" from the library, I decided I've really been slacking with my goal to make Quinn bilingual..trilingual if you include sign language. SO, I looked at some of my old spanish notes (yes...from high school!!!) and some of Mike's books and guides he bought for Spain to brush up on my skills that helped me survive my trip to Guatemala 11 years ago. As far as sign language...I still have zero physical resources to help with that goal...I know good morning and most of the alphabet...

She just woke up from her nap and I went in there only speaking spanish (as awful as the grammar was). After about 5 minutes, she just looks at me and starts giggling and gives me this look like, "what are you talking about woman???!!" It was indescribable and adorable.

I find this especially interesting since I've also been reading up on month 7 developmental skills. One of the things that "they" say she'll start to do is continue her sense of humor and we'll notice her memory skills. Humor skills meaning seeing me with my glasses on my head, or a shoe on my hand, or...speaking spanish...and seeing these things as funny. Memory skills like her looking on the floor for the toys she dropped at our last meal and putting on her bib means she'll be getting food soon.

Well, she's right on track, I guess! If only she'll learn to flip from her tummy to her back! She's also been trying really hard to sit up in her crib independently. She flipped over and scooted across her crib after her morning nap...to get her singing glow worm that she can't make sing yet, but she tries.

Coming later today...photos of her interactions with Killer and Eggo! She's always like to watch them from afar. They are "getting used" to her being around and will often even hang out in the same room with us! This morning, they were so bold as to hang out on the SAME RUG together!!

How fun for Quinn!

When Daddy Babysits

A few days ago we saw Natalie . . . or was it Claire? . . . in a dog kennel while away from her Mom.
Well, the cat kennels aren't big enough for our "little" girl and they're stored as we don't ever use them. However, we do have toy "kennels" per se.




She sat there for a good 15 minutes or so. Daddy said, she was chewing on it and was interested in it, so I put her in it to see what she would do. She just kept right on playing!

These may turn out to be some of my favorite shots as one of my favorite shots was of Liz in a mop bucket. I think that was Liz....can any Rebarchik's help me remember who that was??

As promised . . .

Quinn-o-Vision 2.9

She's such a silly girl. Full of life and possibilities...and carrots and spinach and water!
Sorry for the shaky shot . . . not as easy taking video with one hand, feeding with the other while making sure Q is still in the shot! But, something's better than nothing, right?!?

New Video

So there is new video of her eating her spinach and carrots...but I'm too sleepy to wait for it to finish downloading (Q was up at 5:45am today!), so I'll do it in the morning. Here are a few still shots to hold you over. I did the shots myself as I was feeding her as Mike played in a "hat" ultimate frisbee tournament today! Yay exercise and recreational activities! I cleaned a little and played with Q and played some video games...not to abnormal for me!

yummy

where did my toy cup go?

on the floor, where else would it go?

because all my carrots and spinach are gone...

what do we do when we're "all done, no more left"?

SIPPY CUP! (although she would've settled for the newspaper too!)
not the cup we normally use, as this is a little faster valve and she can't hold it herself...but she likes her water none-the-less!

Voting time for the new mom...is it bad to have her play with toys while she eats? She gets SOOO bored just sitting there looking at me sing to her, talk to her, whatever I'm doing while feeding her. The plastic cups or rings (also on the floor next to the cup) are the only thing that really keep her sitting in her chair decently...of course until they end up on the floor!

Funny side note, I put her in her chair for dinner and she leaned over the side as if looking for the cup she "left there" after lunch. Did she really remember? Probably not, but she knows that's where the toys go while we're eating, so why not before we eat? She would have probably had a fit if she saw me put them in the dishwasher! :-)

And no...

...there are ZERO teeth so far! The drools stage she was going through 4-6 weeks ago at her doctor appointment has pretty much stopped. He said she should have a tooth any day...and nothing yet! I can see her waking up one morning with 4 teeth!

Numbers 17,285 and 17,286 out of 40,000

According to our latest Golden Gopher Points Summary, we are in the top 43% for getting seats for football tickets in the future TCF Bank Stadium! Yay! Now, who is going to get to go with Daddy, me or Quinn?


I guess Quinn probably wins...she has more Gopher apparel than I do! And she's raising her hand..."pick me, pick me!" I can honestly say when we received this outfit from Beth and Scott a few months ago, I swore it wasn't going to fit for the summer months. But just like everything else in her life thus far...she has again proven me wrong as this outfit is on the verge of being too small already!!!!

I love how she's got her hand up in this picture as if saying, "Mom, no more pictures! Stop already!"

Other Q updates...

She loves to have a variety of toys to choose from when playing. She will usually start with a book or something that rattles. As she gets sleepier, the toys get softer and she'll end with her sucker and she'll give me sleepy eyes. SO, it's usually not too difficult to tell when she's ready for her nap!

Instead of taking 2 long naps, she now takes 3 short naps. Usually from about 9-10:30, 1:30-2:30 and 5-7. She's been making it through most of the night lately. The sun has been coming up about 5:30, so she's up and ready to start her day too! I learned the first night that she really isn't awake at this time. So, we play for about 10-15 minutes (book, diaper change) and then she gets fed and falls alseep nicely until about 7 or 7:30.

She is eating solids 2-3 times per day now. And she's eating them better and with less fuss and playing (there was awhile there where her fingers needed to go in her mouth with every bite). She is still nursing about5-7 times per day. Foods we ate this week so far: baked beans, mashed potatoes, plumcot applesauce plumcots alone are too tangy for her), oatmeal and rice cereals, green beans, carrots, peas, yogurt (small amount mixed with cereal and plumcots), peaches, pears...and this weekend she got "pear peach green bean" cereal as I did not separate the ice cube foods before packing them and they all melted together! She ate them like there was nothing wrong, though. Oh well! Future NEW foods this week: chicken, spinach, corn, and northern beans. This food thing is kinda fun! I can't wait until she is really eating everything I'm eating so I don't have to make her food, then my food, then feed the cats. Most of my day is diaper changing, making meals, walking the stairs for nap time and reading books. (thank God for automatic bill paying now!!!) It's almost to the point where I won't be able to name the foods we're eating...kind of like how it is hard for Nikki to list all the words Claire knows!

She is adjusting slowly to the sippy cup. I washed them last night in the dishwasher and she was in her walker on the other side of the room. She saw her cups and got all excited, I put them in the dishwasher and she started SCREAMING. She really wanted her cup!! I kept it in the dishwasher to wash it, but gave her a pat on the head and said, you'll be okay, it's just getting washed. And she was okay...short-lived tantrum I guess. I'll take it!

She realized last night that she can move her walker. I was doing dishes with my back to her and I hear "clink clink" of our bar glasses to discover she has pushed herself back and is hitting the bar repeatedly. Yep, time for the johnny jumper and time to move the bar!

Her spitting up habit of days passed has decreased significantly since we started solids more frequently. There are still days when it'll happen...but it's usually after a night when I've had excessive tomato, garlic, or fresh raw veggies.

Her giggle is adorable. She LOVES peek-a-boo! If someone wants her to smile at a store...and I have to do is say "peek" and she'll start to smile...the more times I say it, the more she smiles. If I actually disappear and reappear, the giggles start. It's just so much fun to get her to giggle! She also giggles for raspberries during diaper changes. And lotion on her legs. And sometimes if you tickle her toes or knees. But "peek" does is almost every time.

On another note....
This Raspberry Ginseng Mountain Dew is pretty good....no yellow #5 but blue #1 and red #40. Dyes haven't killed me yet...the color is actually off-putting, I think it could be better just clear...like crystal clear pepsi was....humph.

Library Card

So, I can't even remember the last library card I had. I believe I was 16 or 17 and it was from the West Allis library and it was yellow plastic.

Well, now, 11 years later, I'm a library card holder. And so is my daughter! It's kind of a boring white and it's not laminated so I hope it'll last. But it's still a library card. We decided we needed some new books to read. The library has a summer reading program with free gifts (no idea what they are) for every so many books your read and record (all online, how nice is that?!?!). SO, since "Brooklyn Reads to Babies" and I live in Brooklyn and I have a baby...



...here are the first few to read and record. "Who Hops" is also in Spanish! How cool is that!?!?

Cooperstown

We left town about 10am on Saturday with big hopes of visiting wineries, breweries, parks, caves and museums...plans change!

We went on two "toureries" (brewery tours). We visited Cooperstown brewery and Omeggagon (I hope that's spelled correctly) Belgian microbrewery. Both yummy, but the Belgians (besides the one with the anise flavoring) were much better. This should've been the happy birthday daddy shot as this was actually Saturday, but oh well.


We visited the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum (or Mvsevm as the sign read out front) - - and I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would. We did see some old seats from Metropolitan Stadium...and Mike took a seat.


We also saw a case with old school Brewers gear from Robin Yount...and some stuff from the Twins.


By the end, when we were looking at the inductee plaques, they scared the crap out of Quinn, so I did not see as many as I would have liked to see. We spent almost 2 1/2 hours there and got there close to closing time. Baseball fans could probably spend just as much time there, if not more! So much to see . . .

I wanted to take Q swimming Sunday morning, but she wanted to take a nap...so she napped while I swam. Jen, I have a new respect for your swimming endeavors! It's more difficult than I remembered!

We also realized it's time to retire most of her 9 month clothes . . . onesies have upgraded to 9-12 or straight up 12 month sizes. As well as many of the summer sundresses. If the clothes are "hand-me-downs" 18 month size for sure right now. The coat she's wearing here is an 18 month size. She's as big as Natalie and Natalie is one!! She has been in the 6-9 month size for a few months now, though, so it's good to know she's still growing!

After our swim, we went to the Fly Creek Cider Mill, drank some cider, drank some hard cider, ate lots of samples, and bought some too. The play area was only for children 2-8, but we wanted to play anyway!



This barely does justice to the beauty of the Albany/Cooperstown area. I realized after we were away from the motel that I didn't take any photos of the lake we were on! I'm sure the photos would've been nothing compared to the beauty of the area...regardless, I snapped some motion shots from the car...


We did some of the things on our agenda, but decided the Cooperstown area definitely deserved another visit sometime soon! Maybe camping? Who wants to go?!?!

No power . . .

Well, it's back now, but we lost power for about an hour last night. Mike and I looked at each other and said...hmm, now what? Well, before it got too dark, the power came back on! So, we cuddled into our awful habit of watching crap on TV. At least we got an hour to eat quick and read up on the weekend news...if you call what the Daily News prints as news...mostly gossip really.

Made us realize ... maybe we should become prepared in case the power were to ever go out for longer ...

Late, but we were out of town...

Happy birthday, Daddy! Love, Quinn.

Only a few photos from the weekend, but we decided that as soon as you get north of the GWB (George Washington Bridge) the state becomes a whole other place of trees, green, and clean air! And wineries and breweries and ice cream and rivers and lakes and bushes (and bugs) and HILLS and...it was a very Zen weekend.

I'll post more later, still sleepy as Q was up at 6 (but slept from 9 last night)!!

Something I'd like to remember to do always...

Happy Birthday to Great Aunt Patty and Cousin Caryn!

So, the first ones go out today and it's a double whammy!

I'm bad at remembering, so if you would like to be included on this birthday shout out list, please comment with your birthday!

Hogs

So, Grandpa Chuck bought Q an outfit for her baby shower last year...I never though she'd be in it at 6 months old!



There is also a tank top and there is a pink HD logo on the shorts that I couldn't get in any photos! She's such a little mover! We call this her "karate kick" pose. She loves to hang out with her legs to the side or up on her stroller tray, or above her head. She has been attempting to put both feet in her mouth at the same time but has not succeeded at that yet. Yes, Grandma Mary, that's the 18 month outfit of Hailey's that you sent us the other day!!


Mike always swore he saw this "elvis lip" since the day she was born. I must admit, I never really noticed it until I started snapping more photos. Almost one out of every "bunch" I take, she's got the curl!



We will be heading to the Albany area this weekend to "get away" for awhile in celebration of Mike's birthday, Father's Day, and no more studying (for about another year at least). We're looking forward to maybe finding gas for less than $4.50/gallon up north! We'll see!!

Plumcot

Yesterday I thought I was buying some good looking (inexpensive) fruit..a plum. Turns out, they are plumcots. So, Quinn and I split one for breakfast. It tastes like what I would imagine a plumcot to taste like. I must admit, I'm glad they weren't straight up plums, because they're not my favorite. However, they were on sale and we need our purple fruit in our diet for antioxidants, so I was going to suck it up and learn to like plums. Well, now I can put it off for a little longer because I have discovered plumcots.

Quinn was not as big of a fan of the plumcot as she was of apricots, but the fresh fruit always has a slightly different flavor than the canned (yes, I've been "cheating" and getting mostly canned fruits). I also mixed it with rice cereal today as she still has a little bit left. I'm sure she'll grow to love them though, especially if I mix them with oatmeal. Or green beans. KIDDING! :-)

So, if any of you are interested in increasing your purple fruit consumption, may I recommend trying a plumcot today?

I have photos of Q from yesterday that will be downloaded soon...she wore a special outfit from Grandpa Chuck yesterday!

Eating

So, I didn't really think I ate that much more when I was pregnant and when Q was nursing every 2 hours.

I went to Subway last weekend...and could BARELY make it through my 6 inch sub w/oil and vinegar (got mayo when preggo), chips, and lemonade. I could devour a footlong, chips, raspberry iced tea and apples and still be hungry in the 6th month of pregnancy.

I went to BK yesterday as I was in Bay Ridge shopping and walking (gorgeous 80 degree afternoon). Ordered the "big kids" meal...and couldn't finish the fries, burger, and only drank 3/4 of the coke. I could devour a quarter pounder with cheese, large fries, shake and apple pie with no problem in the 6th month.

Mike and I usually split meals when we're out as portion sizes are crazy most places. The one exception to this is the trip to Applebee's the other afternoon when I ate an entire portion of the Garlic Asiago Grilled Chicken entree. Well, Mike had a few bites, and Q had a few bites of potatoes, but I was really hungry too as it was after 3 and we didn't have lunch yet. Which is odd, because when I wait so long to eat, I usually eat less. Hmm....

I guess I really just ate that much more when I was pregnant and I didn't even realize it. The SCALE realized it and my OB realized it...but I was in a preggo food coma of sorts. I'm just glad the scale is also realizing I'm eating better again!!

EZ-Pass

We recently signed up to get an "EZ Pass" so we get SLIGHT toll discounts and the lines are usually ridiculously shorter. And we can use it to pay tolls everywhere but Ohio, so why not?
Right, well I'm online today to find out how much is left on it...and it automatically adds money. Sweet!

Well, I was searching around in the information...apparently you can use the EZ pass to pay in the McDonalds drive-thru! Holy Moly!

I also never thought 80 would be a bearable temperature for me walking around the city...well after 100, I guess anything feels better!

Sad to hear about all the rain, lake, and river issues in the Midwest. Hope everyone's still dry INSIDE their houses...and that you all still have houses!


Quinn Updates
*She enjoys her veggies more than her fruits. She LOVES green beans and will tolerate everything else. We've had sweet potatoes, potatoes, peas, carrots, and we're going to try red peppers tonite with some chicken.
*She's had pears, peaches, apricots, apple juice, applesauce, cranberries and...I feel like there's another one. We're also almost done with our first box of rice cereal which is ridiculously bland, so we're "okay-ed" to move to oatmeal (baby oatmeal). For lunch/afternoon snack today we had peach banana oatmeal and LOVED it. I'm not sure if it's because we spent 5 hours shopping and she was hungry, or if she really liked it...who knows! All I know is she was ready to eat, and wow, was I ready to feed her!
*She is putting more sounds together, but no distinct "ma ma" or anything like that.
*She loves to give raspberries. She does it almost non-stop when she's hungry or full. It's adorable. Mike thought she was playing with him the other night...nope, she just wanted to eat. But it's a fun game for her for a few minutes before she starts to get upset that she's not getting fed.
*She thinks it's the greatest thing in the world when I click my tongue. She stares at me and you can just see her eyes sparkle with awe. Also adorable.
*She also thinks it's the greatest thing in the world when Daddy gets home from work and she doesn't have to play with Mommy for a little while.
*She also adores watching the cats. Eggo meowed when she was almost asleep when we got back from our shopping and she started awake and looked like she was going to cry....but let out ridiculously cute giggles instead. I think she was happy to be home!
*She either loves or hates crib time, but does well playing with her hands or mirror until I realize she's awake.
*Mirrors are the greatest thing in the world too. Gotta get the spray bottle attached to my hip!
*She's graduated from her baby/toddler tub to just sitting in the bathtub. I'm blind without my contacts/glasses and realized yesterday prior to her bath that our tub was pretty dirty. I usually use the shower in the basement as I shower during her morning nap and if I shower upstairs, it's started waking her up. I can't believe Mike didn't get on me for that one--or do something about it himself! She was a little confused by the new surroundings, but did well. We also busted out some new bath toys, so it was a load of fun for her! Not to mention it was 100 degrees yesterday so she was loving the water anyway!
*She's still only rolling from her tummy to her back...in either direction (to the left of right). Gets upset when she can't get back onto her back again. But if you put her on her tummy to help her arm strength for crawling...she's cool for much longer. Hmm...
*She loves to be outside, but gets vampire-like reactions when the sun gets in her eyes...like she's melting. It's awesome.
*She's ridiculously big for a 6 month old...almost 7 months! I swear she grown an inch and gains a pound every day. I better stop pinching her to grow an inch! Wasn't that the birthday saying??

What else to say? She's napping better. I think it's because she's better about hanging out alone in her crib now. Especially on days when we're out and about. And days when I introduce new toys. She seems pretty easily overwhelmed in after-the-fact moments. Like, she'll give any stranger smiles and giggles and loves to watch everything around her...but the moment her stroller cover goes up, or we get home...she wants a nap and she wants it NOW!

She's growing up so quickly!!

Quinn-o-Vision 2.8

Wow, almost to Vision version 3.0. Time goes too fast. Even just last week it was the rare occasion for her to sit unassisted for longer than 3 seconds. Or roll over unassisted or unprompted. Too bad she can't seem to master tummy to back. She wails when she's on her tummy for too long after she's managed to roll on to her tummy. Go figure!

I can see why Q hates her crib sometimes...it's sorta like her own little prison...

..although there are nights when she will stare at her crib instead of nursing-as if longing to be there instead of still awake...those are the days she goes to bed without eating within the hour of bedtime and wakes up at 2am. You can't quite tell from this photo, but it's almost time to lower the bed down a rung as she will be pulling herself up all too soon!! Once she decides standing is fun, we will need to put it down 2 rungs as those legs of hers go on for miles for a 6 month old!

She's sporting a dress that was from my early days...or a sibling's early days. Before Mom and Dad (Grandma MR and Grandpa JR) moved about 3 years ago (?), they had us take whatever blankets and outfits we wanted from our early days. I must admit, I did not think at that
that I would have a baby anytime soon to use any of it. Much less have a 6 month old that would be wearing 12 month old outfits!! Watch out Claire Kachelmyer--I'll be bigger than you soon!! :-) LMAO.

I was reading some of Nikki's blogs from when Claire was Q's age and it's amazing the similarities and differences between the two. One that I've been thinking of the most lately is how much fun it is to watch Q decide which toy or book she wants to play with (chew on). Yesterday she would scream at every toy I would put near her. So today, I gave her her bucket and said, fine, you choose! As you can see, she LOVED it. (Please ignore the outlet without plugs in it yet on the far wall...I can already tell I'll need to cover them all in as this lil girl is a curious one!!)

You may also be able to tell that her hair is actually getting too long to put in a "cute" pony tail...and not quite long enough for a "back of the head" pony tail. She needs it cut!!

Also notice the grab bars are gone from her play mat. Well, she wasn't digging the whole hanging toy thing since they did not reach her mouth...although, this was the fun game she WAS playing when the bars were on the mat. . .


I called the game "scoot off the mat and flip the entire thing over you're head so you can play with the tag without being on your tummy". She didn't do it on command, though. Overall, she's sitting pretty well, so, she's outgrown the "lay on the back under hanging objects" stage. She, however, does not mind "play independently in the crib while on her back" time. So, maybe, one of these days, she'll stop waking up at 2, 3, or 4 am wanting attention, food, and a diaper. One of these days...

So, yes, blogging has increased today . . . because my computer adapter came in the mail! YAY! They said 5-15 days and I got in in 4...including Sunday!

Heat Wave!

Wow, it's been a long time since I could see air pollution. The last 3 days have given us just that...visible air pollution. Or, a "warm haze" as I believe the news folks call it. It was actually looking FOGGY the other day ... humid air + millions of cars = fog apparently! So, yet another record-breaking hot day here in NYC. We had a warm winter, with little snow, and now we're hot (again). It hasn't been this hot out here since Mike drove his truck out here last August with no a/c. We're supposed to COOL DOWN to 93 tomorrow and 88 or so the next day. I guess I should be lucky though, as my house isn't flooded in the midwest. Any of you out there affected by that? I know it's been raining, but never would've thought it was raining that much. Guess now is when you're seeing the affects of the winter snow melt...with the late spring rains!

ACs have been on at night and during the day in whichever room I'm in. I prefer fresh air and open windows, but I think it'll be awhile as the lows aren't even hitting below 75 overnight! Lucky enough, the basement has stayed relatively cool...today the humidity has gotten the best of the basement and I'm wishing we would've brought our dehumidifier with us instead of leaving it with the Borns! So, the basement has even hit an uncomfortable 75-80 and humid. These are the day's I'm so thankful we decided against the upper level apartments!!!

I thought Q would be all about this warmer weather...well, she likes it okay and all...but she likes her wool blanket too.

Yep, that's my blanket from when I was a lil one! I can't stand even touching it as it's itchy wool, but she can't get enough of it. If it's lying over the side of the bed, she'll scootch to get it and it'll be on her somehow when I come to wake her up. This shot is of her waking up from her hibernation yesterday afternoon (she was only awake for about 4 hours total yesterday...). She's grown used to sleeping with blankets and I couldn't give her anything more than her burp cloth in the basement for fear of overheating and she wanted none of that. Later in the afternoon, though, she fussed in her crib and fell asleep on my down blanket in the basement...warm, but not too warm that she was a ball of sweat. Overall, since she has a love of blankets, her room is the coolest room in the house.

She's been doing pretty well with her sippy cup. I asked the doctor as I was concerned with hydration, starting solids, and the summer coming up. He recommended using the bottle as little as possible, as she may grow too attached to the bottle and make the cup transition tougher. She makes a face that's hard to explain when all she gets is water, but she'll drink it none-the-less. She licks the water drops off her face in her bath, so why not drink clean water from a cup? She's such a goof.

She has many loves right now, as she's a pretty darn happy kiddo. Right now, two of her favorites for bed time and nap time are her blanket and her sucker. Well, I decided the past few days that she's too reliant on her sucker or nursing to fall asleep. Her new bed time is closer to 9pm...so she should be sleeping till at least 6 or 7am, right?? Well, I've started trialling "self soothing" during the night...mostly because I can't hear her over the a/c very well, but also because I'd kill for 6-8 straight hours of sleep (while still getting to see my husband every day--as I could easily also go to bed at 9 and be awake for my day at 4). Today, this trial brought me to a screaming, almost inconsolable kiddo at 4am. So, I tried a sucker--she wanted none of that. I tried music and the sucker...nope. So, she got fed/by that point it was at least 15 minutes of sucker time on top of however long she was crying before I went in there. She nursed for 15 minutes! I don't remember the last time she nursed that long! So, we'll keep with our trials, but my ideal goal is to have a toddler who doesn't need a sucker to go to bed and sleeps through the night. I don't really care how I get there.

Since the heat index was over a hundred at noon yesterday, we missed story time at the library. I wasn't about to take me and her out in the high heat of noon for 45 minutes of reading. So we read at home. We were looking forward to social time, but it wasn't going to happen yesterday! We have a trial Music Together class we can sign up for in the next few weeks that I think she'll love. Daddy was dancing with her in the store on Sunday when I was trying on clothes and she's apparently got some good "side to side" moves. I'm so excited to see her with other kids!

The cats, on the other hand, may be enjoying the weather. They're bummed to be getting brushed inside, but I can't sit out there during the day to do it. I'd brush them at night...but then if they run, I'm worried they'll get lost... Killer likes to find the coolest spot in the house when it's warm (and it's only warm in summer!) His favorite place in the winter or cooler times is on the edge of our bed. The door by the office in the hallway was apparently his favorite place (I had the a/c on and it was sneaking through the bottom of the door).


Eggo, enjoys lying in the sun when he's inside, but searches for the shade when he's outside. I've given up trying to figure this cat out. He searched the house all day yesterday to find the rays..this little sunlight I can't block as it's from the skylight above our upstairs staircase.


Which leads me to my final thought for now (yeah right)...who is the mole?? I still think it's one of the blond chicks or the history teacher....I'd be bad at that game.

Sitting, Sitting, Sitting... NOT SITTING, NOT SITTING!

So, we're STILL working on the whole flat bottom sitting thing. We found some toys that some of Quinn's Great Aunts from Mankato bought for her for Christmas and we started playing with them "1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10" and "blue" "yellow" "high" "up" "open" "close" "lights on....lights off" . . . at least it has volume control and an off button!!

She loves this toy and it will grow with her as there are legs to attach to make it a table. There is one at the peds office and the toddlers there seem to love it too. I'm excited to start our music classes in a few weeks! We should not have a problem with registration as we will be attending during the week and they invited me to attend a class prior to the summer session too, so we'll have to see which one we should go to in the next few weeks.

Yep, I got a nice action shot of her taking a tumble. I still laugh at her...but I feel if I rush to her every time she falls, I may develop a "love me" monster every time she falls the rest of her life. She's not completely whiny when she falls, but she's no Alex either! She will usually whine a little when she falls over...but if there's a tag within eyeshot and grasp...there's not even a tear or whimper...So I try to keep tags within her sight if I think she's going to tumble backwards.
As unsafe as it sounds, she sits best when there's a little give ... like on our bed, on her changing table, on the couch, and in her bed. When I have her sitting on these surfaces, she's not allowed to go further than 1 inch from my hands (hence no photos of these occurrences).

I also have cute shots of her with her mother goose rhymes book...and of her hair in two pigtails on top of her head like the little devil she is . . . but they are portrait shots and the computer won't let me rotate the darn pictures. I'll have to put them on snapfish. :-)

Hmmm....what else. Not much. Mike's exam is OVER! Yay! He's out on the island enjoying some drinks with some of the others who also took the exam today.

Quinn's napping was all off schedule today. She's been doing well with her routine...except the sun was out early (getting earlier for the next few weeks) AND Daddy got in the shower extra-early before his exam and I think it woke her up. She'll sleep through us talking down the halls, watching loud movies, and yelling at the cats...but turn on the shower or flush the toilet and her eyes pop open! Figure that one out. Regardless, she was in a screaming mood today too, so I was wishing I had Daddy here too so I could pawn her off for awhile. Well, I realized at 11am that she would be calm if she was outside. Unfortunately for me, outside was 95 degrees and no shade in our yard at that time. So, I walked to Bay Ridge to Subway for lunch (a good 25 minute walk...slower in the heat of noon). She slept about 10 minutes of the walk there and refused to sleep after that. So she ate some cucumber from my sandwich, and enjoyed it. She also had a couple swigs of water from her sippy cup (I'll have to get photos of her drinking from her sippy cups, ADORABLE!). I knew it was sunny and hot today, but failed to apply sunscreen, so my forearms are a nice pink tint now...at least I had her in mind and strolled her with the carseat so she could be completely covered from the sun. I took the shady route home so she got to enjoy some fresh air too, as the temperature inside the stroller was toasty too! Regardless, we got home about 1 and I gave her a short nursing session assuming she'd take her afternoon nap. Right, that nap lasted ... 5 minutes. Screaming continued....distracted her with the cats and books and teething rings, etc...but about an hour later (5-10 minute attention span per object)...screaming again. So, we went outside (a SLIVER of shade in the backyard by this point). I lasted about 15 minutes, she was happy as a clam looking at her rings. Brought her inside for another sip of water and she could barely keep her eyes open. So I put her in her crib. She cried for a few minutes...gave up...started singing...and fell asleep after about 45 minutes of alone time. She's still sleeping now! SOOOO, maybe this will be the night I get a full night's sleep? I'd like to wake her up to feed her dinner...

So much for routine!

The Three "Rebarchik" Additions

So, here are the three latest additions to our family...the trio to be baptized in just a few weeks!

Quinn @ 6 months, 2 weeks! (Mike's computer is doing crazy things to these downloaded photos...)
William @ 2 months!

Benjamin@ 2 days!

Apparently William's the only one that likes to look at the camera. But all three enjoyed wearing "newborn" sizes for about 2 days. Apparently the 3-6 month outfits Grandma bought for Benji fit him already! :-) So, we know the Rebarchik women have large babies. It makes me sweat more thinking what Quinn would do to me if I put her in that many clothes right now (seeing as the thermometer still says 90 degrees outside).

All so tiny and so precious in their own ways.

Computer Down, Computer Down!

Well, after 3 years...or has it been 4??...Eggo has officially chewed through the wires on my power cable for my laptop. He was reprimanded AGAIN to leave the stupid cords alone already! I can't get him to break this habit...he's a chewing freak! SO, there will be a slight hiatus from blogging. I will try to get on Mike's computer again tomorrow and download the cute photos I got of Q sitting independently and such. It's so much less convenient to not have it in my lap while I watch TV or listen to the radio...having a computer in a whole other room is something I haven't experienced in a long time...since the days of computer labs, I think.

Anyway, I popped in the office to write this quick while he's on his study break. His exam is tomorrow, so I will have computer access after today! (He needs the online computer system to take and grade his practice exams so I can't steal the computer away).

Hope all is well in everyone's worlds! We are enjoying our overcast 70 degree day today...as they're predicting rain and/or sun with 90 degrees + the next few days!

Hope all the new babies are doing well...and that all you expecting soon are doing well too! Has Sondra had her little one yet? How are you doing, Beth?? Hope no more allergic reactions. Any Jeopardy calls yet, Laura? I watch every day just waiting for you (even though you said you'd let us know).

Okay, well, back to thinking of birthday and Father's day presents for Mike (a busy weekend next weekend!!).

First Five Years and My Sister's Baby

As the days are getting longer and hotter, I find I'm spending more time in Q's room with the AC on reading to her, or in the basement where it's cooler reading to her. I remember hearing somewhere or reading somewhere that the Dyker Heights library has a nice reading program. So as Q sleeps this afternoon (she's actually napping, yes!!), I'm researching things for us to do in the area with the summer days to keep my mind off margaritas and sunbathing!!

I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to venture online to discover programs, but here I am researching away! Now that she's nursing less frequently and in a little more of a pattern, it's been easier taking her out and about too. And with the library being a whole mile away (less actually), it's not nearly as difficult as taking her to the island!

It so happens that Brooklyn has a First Five Years program and there's a volunteer program associated with it. So, we're going to start going to story time every Monday...and maybe hang out there more often if they're looking for volunteers! YAY FREE ENTERTAINMENT! And, it's something to keep my mind occupied! I guess I'll have to make sure it's okay for Q to hang out too, but I can't see that being a problem.

We're also waiting to hear word for Music Together Mommy and Me classes for the summer sessions. I'm not sure if they're filled up already or not...we'll see! Hopefully we'll be attending those classes once a week too. Anything that I can walk to! I can get my exercise in for the day, get some quality time with other kids for Q, and hopefully some quality adult time for me--a win-win-win!



SPOILER ALERT, SPOILER ALERT. If you have not yet talked with Claire or Tom, don't keep reading until you do!



So, my oldest sister, Claire, had her baby this afternoon. His name is Benjamin Thomas Brefka and he was 9 lbs 14 oz. When she called she said, "well, 9 14". I said "am, or that's what he weighs??" "that's his weight!" "wow, he'll be past Nick and Q before long!!".

So, I have another nephew...now the girls only outnumber by 2 on the "Rebarchik" side for cousins! Liz, Caryn, Abs, Hey and Q "vs" AJ, Nick and Benji. Hmm, I have nick names for everyone but Caryn....suggestions anyone? We'll see what future babies come from me, Jen and maybe even JJ (some day for all of us!!!)!! No, that's not a pregnancy notice for any of us. Wow, there are officially more cousins that there are original "Chik-7!" now they are "BBBR-8" and then the adults and pets. Amazing how quick a family can grow! 3 new additions in 6 months and 2 weeks. Can't wait for the 3-B's baptism in a little over a month!!

I'll post photos of all three as soon as I have some new ones from the Brefkas/my parents. I have some new cute ones of Nick from Kristin, soo...it'll be fun to see the comparisons of the 3 newest cousins.

Aaaaah AAAAhhhhHHHhhhhHH

One of these days I'll get her "jabber" on video to share with you all...sounds like "aaahhhh, AAAhhhHHHhhhh, AAAAhhhhhhhhhHHHHhhhhHHHh" (with the capital letter being the louder emphasized ones).

We had sweet peas yesterday---she wasn't the biggest fan but once she realized she was hungry and wasn't getting anything else, she ate them pretty well. At first I made them too thick...then it was too runny...so we'll try to find the middle today and see how she does. Since she ate most of them even with the crazy consistency, I rewarded her with a few bites of my banana. Then I got the "mmmmmm" sounds I love so dearly. She's still pretty much refusing to eat her rice cereal. Even sweetened with juice, bananas, or apples. I should've finished the box before introducing those yummy veggies...tomorrow we will be trying carrots or butternut squash (yet to decide).

She also decided 6am was time to be awake today...I went in there to a messy crib (just changed her sheets yesterday too!!) and a messy Quinn. I was hoping she'd go back to sleep after a new diaper.....nope. Fed her. Nope. Put a sucker in her possession and gave her her favorite bunny and mirror...about 10 minutes later. "aaaHHHHhhhhhh AaaAAAhhhHHhh". Her favorite bunny and sucker were on the floor and the blankets were on the way out and she was smacking her mirror. SHE WANTED OUT! So, trying to stay up to watch the end of the OT hockey game prolly wasn't a great idea . . . ALSO, she decided 2am was feeding time last night. Tried giving her the sucker and that was no good.

She has been sleeping random nights "through" the night. I wish they would be more often as her naps during the day have been SHORT. She sleeps about 15-30 minutes in the morning (used to be an hour AT LEAST) and if I'm lucky 1-2 hours in the afternoon after lunch (think the solids sit well with her and I try to wear her out by rolling her across the floor and "making" her do sit-ups). So, she very randomly will roll over and sitting unassisted isn't happening yet. She gets too excited for her toys to sit unassisted.

She doesn't do "ba ba" "ma ma" or "da da" so much. She just likes the "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" sound.

My neck/shoulder is FINALLY starting to feel better. I pulled something on the flight home last week and I've been looking at the world with my head tilted to the left for the last week. My regimen of 2 ibu TID and heat for an hour TID have seemed to work well. I can even play with Q for awhile and I've been catching up on my scrapbooking (baby shower, Q photos, wedding & florida trip from 2005 need to be done yet!!)

Mike's exam is Saturday so we're hoping to have some mini-family vacations to enjoy after that.

That's all I write for now!!

Our Summer Cutie

Green Beans....mmmmmmm

Wow, does she look like Abbie in this photo to anyone else???

Also, she's trying to crawl and scoot on her tummy...maybe one of these days she'll roll over without our help!