Five hours

That's a long time to be outside mowing, raking and playing! But, that's what yesterday afternoon consisted of. Even Mike was home by 5:30 to help out! We got in shortly after 7. Allergies plus illness made it a long afternoon, but it was too nice of an afternoon to do inside chores. Besides, I'd 1000% percent rather do outside work than clean any part of inside. I'm really NOT a cleaner and it's a chore each day to even get the dishes done and counters washed. BUT, most days at least the kitchen is cleaned 3 times a day.



One thing that's not so exciting about the cooler weather and sweating to chores...MORE LAUNDRY! You can't go NEARLY as long in the fall and winter because, like, 4 sweatshirts and a pair of jeans is a load. OH WELL, some days it makes me wish I had a different job. Then I remembered all the BS that goes along with a job and it makes me glad I'm home...catch 22 some days!

Overall, Q's enjoying her days. She's becoming a chalkboard pro! One of our friends is an OT and apparently, these skills she's showing are a few months ahead of schedule! My favorite is how she chooses colors so carefully and really wants to make the right marks in the right spots. She's so fun to watch coloring on her chalkboard...




She hates to go very far without her new shoes, Grandma Judy! Good find (we may need to replace them before long!!) :) They're a little big, but maybe they'll fit awesome before they're worn out?!




She helped pick up the sticks prior to mowing...this branch was bigger than her, but she insisted on "hep ceen up" (help clean up).



And I never ever thought a jogging stroller would make me want to jog!! Thanks to Auntie Krissy and Uncle Bill, we are now in possession of a jogging stroller! It works AWESOME on the paths in the nature park by our house and it's a smooth ride and push and ... I love it! Q seems to love it too, as she wants to go for about 14 walks a day now...



And this is not a good shot, but guess who has a black, red and blue upper lip and nose!?



Quinn! That's right! She was helping me plant bulbs (also part of the yardwork yesterday) and she someone managed to fall on her upper lip. And she was wearing her tennis shoes, so I can't figure out exactly how it all happened. She's doing fine though. Up a few times last night for some ibu relief (as I'm sure it hurts like a mother) and cuddle time. She just has one injury after the next lately...at least she's stopped bumping her head so frequently!

6:30 and dark-ish

I don't like it, I don't like it!! MAKE THE SUN COME BACK!!!

:)

Well, at least my sunshine Quinn keeps the days going...right?

One of Q's favorite words....taken while visiting Grandma Judy and Grandpa Chuck for a few hours on Friday.

Weekend

Well, another gorgeous weekend, and I get to spend it in layers and under a blanket with boxes of kleenex.

Mike spent it coaching and (today) playing ultimate.

Quinn spent it destroying the house and thinking it's kinda funny to see mommy cuddled in a ball moving all slow to try to keep me out of trouble.

I felt fine on Friday...until our road trip to Mankato--I started a cough that was more "productive" than I care to describe here. We got home and the congestion and sinus issues started. One more day of this sinus stuff and I may have a red nose, upper lip, and be very sick of purel, handwashing, and following my tracks with sanitizer spray.

Pray for me that Mike and Quinn stay healthy!! And the kiddos and moms that visited on Friday morning for finger painting!

We had a good time eating the pudding paint, didn't color as well as I hoped it would (think I watered it down too much). And as soon as the chalk was discovered, all 3 kiddos had waa-aay more fun with that. However, I think the real highlight for all three of them was running without pants in the driveway and jumping in the rain puddles.

22 Months

Wait, what?
How old?
Wow.

We're signed up for some My Gym classes, story hour at the library, and as they're very strict about age requirements in ECFE classes, we may just do the "happy hour" class at 5 instead of any morning classes in her age group. I was debating about music classes, but figured she's going to have more fun in a more active class (My Gym).

She's a word a minute now. When I say that I mean she finds one word and repeats it over and over and over for almost a minute. cup= "pup, pup, pup, pup, pup, pup, pup, pup" killer/eggo="kitty, kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty" (when they first got here I could've SWORN she changed to calling me Katie!!). She knows a TON of words and doesn't like to perform on command.

She points out about 80% of the alphabet when asked in her alphabet book. She points out shapes in her books too...with about 90% accuracy.

Potty training...wow, I think I need some pointers here. Actually, if I really tried and did nothing but potty training for 4 or 5 days, I think she'd catch on. I don't know that I'm that motivated. She's just in love with washing her hands (and face), flushing, and toilet paper! She'll sit on the potty, but can't sit there for long. Let's just say I'm looking forward to the day of no diapers and wipes...that'll be awesome.

Elmo...good golly Elmo. Actually, Elmo got booted yesterday for playing outside in the leaves! I asked her during morning snack if she wanted to watch Elmo or play in the leaves. She said Elmo (of course), so we turned him on. Then she was like, "'side, bye bye E-mo". And turned off the TV. Other than that, Elmo is much loved on her cups and in her books.

Whining=Save Me Please! I want I want I want...that's all she knows.

Sleeping = a nightmare. She was through the night prior to our move...now with teeth and new home...sigh...someday again PLEASE soon.

Nursing= 1-3 times a day yet. I know I know, all you criticizing and thinking it's ridiculous that she's 2 and nursing. But, whatever. It INSTANTLY calms her and gets her to a place she's gradually learning how to get to without nursing. She nurses in the morning and at dinner time and if she picks up all her toys and books, before bedtime. If we're out and about, she could care less. And lately, if I have a good enough juice or water or milk at hand as she runs in circles yelling "gook, gook gook" (drink), she'll settle for her cup. SO...weening is gradual, but getting there. I haven't had the heart to tell her that potty training means nursing is over...she'll learn soon enough! I don't want to discourage her from potty training, either.

When helping pick up or giving you something you've asked for, she'll often say "welcome" as she does it. The other day I could've sworn she told her new toys "welcome" when she put them to bed...who knows!?

She loves to help clean. Often pushes the broom and wants to take the garbage out every time she passes the garbage can. She asks for a paper towel when I'm cleaning and needs a new one for each surface she wipes off (each chair, desk, shelves, etc).

Using a cup without a lid is still challenging to her, but she's getting better. She'll use a straw with ease when we're out. She still loves ice...mostly now I think because it's all that can get to those pesky molars!

She's a stair pro, loving to climb up and down. Thankfully our stairs are much less steep here than in NY. I still think we'll be installing a gate, but it's not as urgent as I originally thought it would be. Mostly, if she's climbing downstairs, it's to chase the cat that's running away from her!!

She "read" Gossie to me the other day (one of her favorite books these days), saying one or two words about each page. It was pretty exciting for me.

Everything is the color green. And she loves crayons (to eat them mostly yet...) and we just got her a chalkboard easel and chalk the other day and it's covered in colorful lines. We practiced circles and ovals yesterday (I guided her hand while she held the chalk). She loved it (or seemed to anyway...). And she only tries to eat the chalk occasionally. :)

She can also perform tasks when asked...it's amazing how high her comprehension is! She'll put her dishes in the kitchen sink, wash her hands, find her clothes and socks and shoes. And makes sure I have my purse, wallet and keys before leaving out the door to the CAR CAR CAR CAR CAR. Heck, where was she when I was going to work every day?! :) She's got a rock star memory for most things. It's fun to test her limits every day!

She's almost jumping. Can stand on one leg (for a second or two anyway). She has yet to do an tumbling or anything, but loves to run! We're working on catching...but I think we're early for that yet.

She's fascinated with light switches (two are at "Q height") and when it gets dark, she makes sure they're on!!

And as I write this I hear water in the other room and assume she's in the toilet water (only seen her in there once). Nope, I was wrong. She climbed onto the toilet, onto the counter, turned the water on, and was covered in water and soap (pumped it out!!). So, I guess she knows how to do that by herself too....sigh....

Gosh, I'm around her all the time but have yet to really see what else is new in Q's life. But, there are some new developments, I guess!

As for today, we have some pudding fingerpaint ready to go and Ted, Beth, Julia and Sondra are on their way over to make a mess painting with us! Unfortunately, the temp has dropped a little and now it started to rain. Oh well, garage or house it is to make a mess!! WOOHOO!

Additionally, we'll be making a quick trip to 'Kato-land this afternoon to empty out Grandma and Grandpa's house and garage a little bit. Wow, a busy day...should get in the shower before company gets here!!

Not Easily Fooled

Well, those of you that know Q, know that she has her "kiki" and it rarely goes more than 10 minutes out of her sight.

Kiki has been her favorite pink blankie for almost a year now (wow, that's odd to say). He's getting sad looking (yes, even though it's pink, I refer to it as male...don't ask why, I don't know).

Grandma Mary wanted to replace KiKi to have a bright new shiny blankie to continue to love as many more washings and not much will be left to love on KiKi (well, so it seems).

Q loves the new KiKi. But didn't buy for ONE SECOND that KiKi was just washed and turned brown in parts to be "like new". She spent AN HOUR looking for "old" KiKi this morning....let's see how nap time goes!!

Cousins!

So far, a good weekend!

Quinn and I headed to Wisconsin for my uncle's 80th birthday party while Mike attended the Gopher game slightly hungover. Eh, crazier things have happened. Regardless, we met my parents there and they brought our kitties back to us!! YAY!

Quinn had lots of good time with her cousins and aunties and uncles yesterday...as you'll see below.

As for today, we sat on our patio. We, who? My brother, his daughter, and my dad. Mike joined us after he did breakfast clean up (as I cooked biscuits and gravy yummy yum!). My brother has wanted to see the house, so since they were halfway, they spent the night last night.




Apparently, the face of the day was as seen below by my Dad, Mike and Quinn...OH, while assembling our new patio set! Mike picked it up yesterday...he got a great deal thanks to Sears end-of-season sale!!







See, Eggo and Killer are back! We have not yet given them the pleasure of back yard exploration.





Pile of leaves! Quinn didn't have the pleasure of having this opportunity last year, so I made sure we got her in a pile of leaves before we mulch them up.







Joel dunking on our not-so-high hoop.







And yesterday at the party at the park. 80 in mid-September...who would've guessed such awesome weather for an outside fiesta!!??





She has no fear of the 14 foot slide....although I wasn't awesomely comfortable with her climbing alone, between the 14 of us, we kept her from ever falling (and she was really only close once right before we were leaving because she was practically sleep walking: no nap and it was after 4!).













Quinn's play area at home. Recently upgraded thanks to Auntie Claire and her kiddos. We now have Fischer Price Noah's Ark, Farm, and Home with some animals and little people to boot! Thanks Auntie Claire!!

Thursday Already?

Days seem to go faster here.

We've been enjoying our last few days of awesome weather (so I'm anticipating cooler weather to come our way soon). We spend time outside, at the park, and fewer trips to hardware stores! I'm amazed at the numerous garage sales everywhere, yet I still have not found "what I'm looking for" -- whatever my "need to have" for the day may be.

Quinn seems to be enjoying and adjusting well. Her 2-year molars are popping through (some day... it's been 3 weeks and nothing seems to be happening!). Something in her routine is off, as she's insisting on being awake and screaming from about 2-3am EVERY night. It's getting old. We're both tired and cranky in the morning because of it. Hopefully that'll end soon and I can sleep through the night again!

She's starting to learn to keep her toys and books in one area. We have a play area with foam mat set up for her next to the living room and it seems to be working okay so far. I'd still like to add a table, play kitchen, and play tool area for her. If you watch my side bar, you may have noticed I've added a birthday wish list! I can't believe I'm thinking about her birthday already, but it's coming up quicker than I'll realize. Hopefully we'll have a dining room table by then and all Q's friends will be able to join us for the festivities!

I'm still trying to decide what to do with her room. I think she's going to have Sesame Street sheets...there's a cute set at Walmart. I may ask Grandpa Joe to make a sign with his cool lettering set I think he has yet to use. With that theme, though, I have yet to decide on wall color. I really like the purple that's there, but not so much with the primary color sheet set. And I hate to do a red or blue wall...so she may get a boring color after all....we have yet to decide.

Our sectional for our basement amusement room should be coming next week. So, we have to get another coat of paint on the walls (as the way they had it painted actually works with that space...but the job wasn't so great) before then.

Hmm...what else is new? Not too much. Part of me really misses Brooklyn and walking and oddly enough some neighbors. My sister Jen is in NYC this week and she reminded me that I never made it out to eat at Brick Lane again...BOO.

No new photos today, just my ramblings, sorry. Should head back outside to check on my spray painting project...and Q'll be up from her nap soon so we can head outside to pick up every leaf she sees....her new favorite past time as all the leaves are falling already!!

Where did summer go?! :)

As for next week, we plan to get apples, maybe pumpkins, and the Children's Museum with Nikki, Claire and baby Grace! We're signed up for story hour that starts in October and I'm trying to decide where to go for ECFE classes...those start soon too!

Oh, she's awake! TTFN.

Learning Curve

Wow, new computer and trying to do new fancy stuff with the blog while trying to be creative in the house...too much.

We went to Toddler Time at the Mall today. Discovered Q is a little less of a toddler than I realized...she liked running circles around the rotunda more than sitting and listening to the stories. Oh well. We met up with Nikki, Claire and Grace. It was good times to be had. Claire had noodles that were delicious and grew from a seed into a purple flower! It was good times.

We bought a couch (I think) for our basement entertainment room. We're very excited to host a party of some kind at some point...so be prepared world! :) We're still looking for an appropriate bar table for the back of the room and well...of course we're still unpacking!

The kitchen has been sitting at mostly done for a week now. For some reason both my shoulder decided to throb crazily any time I lift, push, or pull anything. So, needless to say, paiting the upper half of the kitchen and painting at all has not been so exciting for me. Especially since the weather has been wonderful, most of my arm use is helping Q up slides and trees and running and such...probably not what I should be doing, but way more fun than being inside and painting!! Even if it means some crazy kitchen cabinet arrangements for a few more days.

Q and I are heading to BRF in Wi this weekend for a family party and to pick up Eggo and Killer! That means Mike will be working on cat doors and such this week. I will be happy to have the company again, and they'll be overjoyed to have such space to explore and bugs (maybe woodpeckers) to kill!

Some photos for the day...

Most of what you see is our yard. It goes back past the rock wall a few feet. We have several large pines and it's just light years larger than our "yard" in Brooklyn!



Q thinking she's ready for the big swings at one of the many parks in Minnetonka!



And some house photos that show just how many boxes aren't even close to being unpacked yet...

New Home Part One

I never thought our tv would look small.











So, I'll break it up into a few posts...a few photos every day.

I guess. The overall process is slightly slower as we got a new laptop toy too!

Back Online

We're back in Minnesota.
Back online.

Yay!

Busy mornings and LOTS of trips to Target, Menards, Lowes, and Home Depot. Not to mention furniture stores to find new couches and dining sets!!

Will try to load photos later when Q decides to nap. She seems to be adjusting well. As more of "our stuff" gets unpacked I think she realizes we're home! The glider went together the other day and she was SO excited to have it back in her room!! It's been almost a month since she last saw it.

She calls it home, but I'm not sure if she realizes no more plane rides for awhile!!!

Hope blog-land has been good and I can't wait to catch up!

Call if you have some time and want to come visit!! :)