Q - Our Little Genius

I know that we're biased for thinking that our child is brilliant...but really, we think that she is. :)  She's a very social and vocal little one which is super fun.  It's great to see her interacting with other kids and also with smaller babies.  She's been really gentle with babies (she'll rock their car seats or gently touch their leg), so we're hopeful that it continues when there's a new little one here at home!

This past weekend Quinn has started doing lots of different things.

• she'll "blow" into a kleenex
• she can put things in the garbage (sometimes right away, sometimes she dawdles)
• she started saying "no" and shaking her head (see video link below)
• she can tell you what a monkey says
• she's working on holding up one finger when you ask "how old are you?" (she can already hold up the one finger when you ask "where's number one?")
• she tries to put her boots, socks, pants, shirts on by herself...usually they all end up on her leg though, or on the wrong feet

Here's the video link for "Quinn Says No" - http://youtu.be/sS68USSq-m0

Things with the pregnancy have been going well.  We had our anatomy ultrasound a week and a half ago and from what we could tell, things looked good.  The baby seemed to be measuring well and was really active during the ultrasound.  My belly is definitely getting bigger, but I can still see my feet which is definitely a good thing.  We also are past the halfway mark (20 weeks), which kind of seems hard to believe.  I can't wait for winter to be over so that I can get back to taking Q for walks.  We also just bought a double jogging stroller that I'm super excited to use when the new baby gets here, even though I'll be walking with it until Yoda is 6 months old.  Steve got it very gently used - it looks brand new!

How far along? 20 weeks 6 days
Total weight gain/loss: 15 lbs (as of 20w0d)
Maternity clothes? Still wearing some pre-pregnancy sweaters/shirts
Stretch marks? No new ones!  Mom picked up this cream called TummyRub that I used when I was pregnant with Quinn.  I haven't found it here, so luckily there's a store in AZ where Mom was able to grab it.
Best moment this week: Yoda is kicking hard enough now that you can see it from the outside
Miss anything: Rare steak
Movement: Every night from about 10pm-midnight Yoda is a kicking machine...it makes it hard to fall asleep sometimes
Food cravings: Big glasses of milk...and I'm not usually a white milk drinker
Anything making you queasy or sick: The smell of Steve's calamari at dinner last night
Have you started to show yet: And how!
Gender: Team Green
Labor Signs: None.  Occasional Braxton-Hicks, but they're mild and very infrequent
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: This past week I was definitely moody!
Looking forward to: Getting back into the gym routine

Week 18

Sorry for the late post, but things were just busy this week!  Quinn has been talking up a storm - I just wish that I knew what she was saying when she's babbling!  Every time that she says "peash", though, she thinks that means that she'll get her way...which isn't always the case and sometimes leads to tears.  Luckily she's still distracted by other toys and shiny things. :)

One of her favourite toys at the moment is her Little People Disney Princess Castle that she got for Christmas.  She has figured out how to make the little figures dance and that if you put the figurine in the middle of the dance floor that a song usually plays.  It's really cute watching her figure out how it works!  She also likes to line things up lately...either on windowsills or on tables.

Steve taught Q how to "tickle" - our version is that we pretend to nibble at her ribs.  Steve was doing this to me while we were playing with Q on the floor and then she just started to do it!  She especially likes to tickle my legs when I'm trying to cook.

Well, here's my pregnancy journal for Week 18...I'll go by the day that the picture was taken for the questions and answers:

How far along? 18 weeks 6 days

Total weight gain/loss: about 12-13 lbs

Maternity clothes? I'm wearing mostly all maternity now, except for some items like sweaters or clothes that I bought the fall after Q was born, so that they're bigger than my normal clothes.  Luckily I still fit into my lulus (and the lulu shirts too), but I discovered the maternity yoga pants from Old Navy and I LOVE them!

Stretch marks? Nothing yet, so I'm still applying cream like a mad woman every morning.

Best moment this week: Got back into doing yoga and feel so great afterward

Miss anything: Nothing this week

Movement: Little flips, rolls, and kicks every so often.

Food cravings: Cake...and Steve went to the store and bought a Deep N Delicious cake...yum!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not this week.

Have you started to show yet: Definitely.

Gender: Dunno!

Labor Signs: Nope, thank goodness!  No Braxton-Hicks or anything yet either.

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy :)

Looking forward to: Our anatomy ultrasound when I'm 19w2d

18 weeks 6 days

Q putting on her boot...wrong foot, but right idea!

Week 17 (Almost 18)

I came across a blog while on Pinterest in which the girl had a little survey every week during her pregnancy...figured that since this blog is my pregnancy journal, that I may as well try it!  I feel badly that I didn't keep a journal with Q, but I do have most of the big milestones of pregnancy documented in my desktop calendar (another Pinterest project).  Here goes!

How far along? 17 weeks 6 days

Total weight gain/loss: about 11 lbs...which I think so far is better than with Q.

Maternity clothes? Mostly for pants, although I can still get away with wearing a couple of pairs of jeans with a belly band and elastic through the button hole.  As far as shirts go, I'm still able to fit into my regular ones (for the most part) without stretching them too much.  Belly is still a little small for maternity shirts, but it's getting there!

Stretch marks? Nothing yet.

Best moment this week: Starting to feel more movements, which is awesome! :)

Miss anything: Not really that I can think of right now.

Movement: Little flips, rolls, and kicks every so often.  Can't wait to feel more!

Food cravings: Ketchup chips this week.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not this week.

Have you started to show yet: Definitely, but some shirts can still hide it a bit.

Gender: Dunno!

Labor Signs: Nope, thank goodness!  No Braxton-Hicks or anything yet either.

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy :)

Looking forward to: Starting pre-natal yoga tomorrow

So that's what's new with Yoda...Quinn is still talking up a storm.  I think that it's hilarious when she sits down and "reads" to me.  I wish that I knew what she was thinking/saying then!

We received the rest of the Christmas gifts that my family shipped up for us, so Quinn is been having fun playing with her "new" toys.  She found out what buttons make noise on her Little People Disney Castle and is very happy to have her Sesame Street chair.  The cutest thing is that she will take one of her baby dolls, hug her, and then "rock" her in the Sesame Street chair and say "wok wok".  We really need to get that on video!

Q's Going to Be a Big Sister!!!!

Our family is growing!  We found out that we were expecting on November 18th and Baby Yoda (couldn't say Bean again!) is due on June 17th.  It was very difficult keeping the secret from our families until Christmastime, especially with my growing belly!  I started to noticeably show around 12 weeks, so I had to make sure that I stayed off camera whenever we were Skyping with our families at home.

How did we do the "big reveal" to our families?  We made Q a shirt with fabric paint that read "Big Sis 2 Be" and she wore that off of the plane.  We had planned ahead to have both sets of parents to meet us at the airport, using the ruse that we needed all hands on deck with all of our stuff.  So we put the shirt on Q when the plane landed and Steve headed down the escalator first with his phone primed to record the reactions.  I made sure to have my jacket buttoned up so that the little baby bump wouldn't give us away and then I set Q down on the floor.  She just stood there like a teeny, tiny billboard and our mothers just went crazy!  We got the whole thing on video and it's just priceless to watch.  We were so happy that the plan went off without a hitch, especially since some people had known ahead of time and didn't spill the beans.

So now, as I write this blog post, I'm 16 weeks and 3 days along and the flutters in my belly are getting stronger every day.  We are fortunate to have our midwife from Quinn's birth, Grace, as our midwife for this little one!  And we're not going to be finding out the sex...we didn't with Q either and the surprise when she was delivered was just so awesome that we want to experience that again.  So as far as room planning goes, we're planning Quinn's "big girl" room and will be moving her to what is now our guest room.  So fun!

Quinn is just growing so fast it's crazy!  When we were in NS over Christmas, she started actually saying "hi" and "bye" as opposed to just waving when you asked her to say hi/bye.  Although, she has managed to make those words both 2 syllables, so they sound more like "hi-ya" and "bye-ya".  She's also learning her manners and is saying "please" when prompted with either "say please" or "what do you say?".  Although, it sounds more like "peash" but is very cute nonetheless.  We're proud that she's getting so polite at 16 months old!

Quinn's also able to crawl up on low couches and chairs now other than just her rocking chair.  Anytime that she crawls into her rocking chair, though, she always rocks herself.  Even in chairs that don't rock (like her new Sesame Street one), she tries to rock it anyway.  Sometimes she carries her baby doll to the chair with her and rocks the baby...which is super cute!

16 weeks 5 days

Q's New Dance

Climbing Machine

I'm a big fan of Groupon and every so often the local Starr Gymnastics has a great deal on - you get 10 drop-in playtime visits for $30 (usually costs $70).  Last week, I decided to take Quinn for a fun play date.  What's neat about Starr is that you have access to the entire gym!  There are big trampolines, long trampolines, mini-trampolines, balance beams, uneven bars, a big foam block pit and tons of other fun things to play with, climb on, or climb through.  To say that Quinn had fun would be a total understatement.  She LOVED it!  I think that her favourite activity was to climb over the balance beams and try to run on the big squishy crash mats...and obviously for Mommy to chase her the whole time.  Steve's looking forward to Friday night so that he can take her.  The only crummy thing is that the playtime is usually only during the week and during the day...but luckily there is a Friday evening one.  I'll try to remind Steve to take some pictures of her!

Quinn also is able to climb up on the couch in the basement.  She climbs up and then sits there looking all proud.  Then she likes to "dolt around" (aka fling herself about on the couch with no regard to safety).  We're working on getting her to "sit on her bum" and she usually will listen to that command for a second or two, before she's dolting about again.  Silly girl!

Motormouth Quinn

I've believed that Quinn was an early talker and a late(r) walker.  As I've said in previous posts, she's getting quite the growing vocabulary.  Here are the updates:

• when you ask "What does Santa Claus say?", she replies with "ho ho"...although sometimes it sounds like "oh oh"
• we say "love you" to her in a kind of singsong voice, and she mimics the sounds of the singsong...which is very cute
• she can say both "Nanny" and "Nana"which is neat to hear her call both her grandmothers by name

Quinn had her 15 month check-up last week and is doing very well!  She measures 75 cm long and weighs 23.4 lbs...that puts her back on the 50th percentile!  Our doctor was very pleased with how Q is doing.  And she took her vaccination like a champ too!

We took Q to see Santa at the mall the other day.  She wasn't exactly sure what to make of him, but we did manage to get some pictures of her sitting on his lap.  I'm sure that her tune will change once Santa visits in a few weeks!