Quinn and Reece had their first appointments with their new doctor today for their 1-year and 3-year checkups. They are both tall and skinny, as usual, but Reece’s head is so big it didn’t even fall on the normal curve. It was a good inch above the 99th percentile. Perhaps that is why it is taking him awhile to walk: he is top heavy. More on that later.
Quinn for the first time was aware enough to be afraid of his shots. For some reason, three nurses were needed to hold him down and inject him in each arm at the same time. The poor guy looked so fearful as they prepared to stick him. It melted my heart. When they made their move, his full lip trembled, but he didn’t even cry. Reece was another story, wailing after his three shots in his chubby legs as Quinn looked on interestedly. They are both healthy and got stickers and books for their bravery.
We had an unfortunate incident with an automatic door on the way out. Without going into detail because it makes me feel horrible, Reece’s giant head had an untimely meeting with the door.
Back to those first steps. Reece has taken them! Very tentatively and rarely, but he has taken three steps at a time. He rises into a wobbily, wide stance and awkwardly steps forward. Without fail he topples over (that huge noggin!) and opts for the more reliable form of locomotion of crawling. We tried to capture it on video, but ended up with several awkward kisses instead from various species.
We will try to capture the feat again soon. Any day now he will be a walking machine. Tim and I are very afraid. Two of them.
Sunday lived up to it’s name today in South Central Wisconsin. We grilled teriyaki tofu medallions, squash and pineapple and ate outside. We played too. Ruby hung out on her stake.
Quinn was playing ball which turned into throw his bat in the air.
As Quinn goes so goes Reece. He didn’t have a bat, but he had a ball.
We finished it off with long walk in the wagon. When we got home the boys were tired, and went down to sleep. Things are changing however. They aren’t sleeping as well. Reece wakes up around 11:00 and wants to be held.
He goes back to bed and usually stays asleep until morning. His brother is another story.
Quinn sleeps well until 2:00. Then he is in our room. Some nights we notice him climbing in our bed and carry him back to his. Other nights we wake up and he is sleeping between us. His new thing is laying above our heads. This wakes us up quickly because he kicks one of us in the head. It’s back to his bed. Over and over again. He is very pleasant during all this, so it isn’t bad. We haven’t had a good night’s sleep in awhile. I don’t think the boys have either. Long nights make longer and louder days.
Jenny was showing me some crazy pictures of Michael Jackson in US Weekly this morning. They depict him in the expensive women’s clothing he liked to wear. Quinn saw this shot and said, “That’s scary Momma.”
Agreed. I’m working with Quinn to focus on his music.
I had the day off today and we made the most of it using city services. We went to the Sun Prairie Family Aquatic Center for some swimming. It is really hot, so the water felt great. The biggest reason for going was getting Quinn used to the water.
The facility is huge and has a zero-entry pool, which is basically a sandless-beach. There’s a waterslide (I was the oldest person to use it) and lots of water features. Reece had a ball and after awhile Quinn came in. He got drenched, but wouldn’t go under. A few more trips and I think we’ll have the problem solved.
When we were putting on sunscreen we started calling Reece “The Ghost.” He is very pale. It is a good thing, but he looks funny compared to Jenny and Quinn.
Reece and I have comparable skin tones. We’ll be a huge hit when we visit Ireland or some Scandinavian countries.Thankfully, no one else has Quinn’s smile.
Tonight while Jenny was teaching, the boys and I made our first trip to the library. We went to storytime and played in the kid’s section. We also got library cards.
Reece and Quinn each took home two books and we read all of them before bed. The kids’ section is like a toystore, so we’ll be spending lots of time there.
Before we left I was watching the news and ABC went out with the Thriller video. Quinn was very interested in the monsters dancing. When I was little I was terrified of the video and I remember my Uncle Phillip doing all he could to terrify me. I asked Quinn if he was scared and he told me he was not. We were upstairs a few minutes later and I was putting a shirt on him. The shirt had a moose on it. Quinn told me he was scared of the moose.
Our weekend began with dueling “nights out.” Jenny had her friend Becky (Quinn called her Binkie) in town, so the boys and I went out too. The girls hit dinner and dancing and the boys hit Chuck E. Cheese. Three dollars in quarters and one medium pizza made it a memorable night. We rode tractors.
We played lots of game and even rode a horse.
Quinn won 24 tickets. These days that is worth one Laffy Taffy. Inflation skips over nothing.
We had a nice Father’s Day with breakfast in bed and brunch at one of our favorite restaurants. A very good day. I’m very proud of our family.
It is getting hot in Wisconsin. The AC doesn’t cool the boys room as well as other rooms, so we bought some fans. To Jenny and I a fan is no big deal. When something like this is viewed through the eyes of a child you can’t help but smile. Quinn loves it.
He likes how it moves back and forth. I taught him the word “oscillate” but he doesn’t use it very often. No one does.
Reece is a big fan as well. He sleeps as close to the fan as he can.
Reece and Quinn are fan fans. Quinn moves it around all day. But Reece, he respects it.
He kneels in front of it enjoying the breeze. His toupee almost blew off.
If you are a betting man when it came time to put money on which child would excel at swimming lessons you would put it on the one who has passed two levels. You’d be crazy to bet on the child who has never been in a pool.
If you bet experience you’d be out some money. The underdog, Reece, was the champ tonight.
He bobbed, kicked and tried to blow bubbles. Quinn watched from the side of the pool. When we took him in water he screamed like he’s never screamed before. The supervisor came over and threw Quinn, also a bad result. We have our suspicions as to why Quinn hates the water and we’re working to make sure he is in better shape Monday. One thing he is good at is the shower afterward. He really enjoyed the dryer.
We did enjoy the fact we could choose lessons at night and both attend. That made life easier.
I spent part of the weekend in Oregon for graduation, so Jenny and the boys went to the Seekers. Donna celebrated her birthday and a tractor parked right in front of the house.
Jenny snapped this shot from afar. I like it as much as Quinn likes tractors. Quinn also likes frogs and he saw a real one in the garden.
Quinn, Reece and Ruby all liked looking at it. We’re proud to report the frog wasn’t touched.
Reece is acting like the cats lately. He likes to get into any receptacle we leave on the floor, ie. boxes, baskets, suitcases. Quinn tries to copy him and manages to squeeze his much-larger behind into pretty tight quarters. Quinn wedged his entire lower half into a tupperware basket yesterday and demanded his dad carry him around so he could “fly.”
This morning, Reece was pushing around the basket designated for dog toys. (He pushes around anything remotely mobile pretending it is a car.) Then he proceeded to climb into the basket and sat there contentedly until his bully big brother dumped him out. Reece was persistent though and got right back in.
Reece has another thing in common with the cats: unwanted attention from Ruby. When sitting, Reece is right at Ruby’s height of 12 inches. She constantly licks his face and is especially enthusiastic with her slobber when Reece has remnants of oatmeal, macaroni and cheese, or some other delicacy smeared about.
He HATES this. Poor thing. At least he and the cats can commiserate as they fight over empty paper bags.
Quinn and Reece gained a cousin this week, but it was bittersweet. Brienna Marie Marr was stillborn on Tuesday. My sister Laurie and her husband Pat are crushed, as are we. Brienna had Trisomy 18 a genetic disorder. They were prepared for this, but I don’t think anything can prepare you for this. Jenny and I arrived in Canton today and will attend her funeral tomorrow.
I do not know how Laurie and Pat are getting through this, but they are. It is so incredibly sad. We think they are so strong and cannot stop thinking about them.
Quinn and Reece will never meet their cousin Brienna, but we’ll make sure they know all about her.
Weight: 32 lbs. Height: 3 feet, 3 inches.
Quinn has all his teeth, speaks hundreds of words, uses those words in complete sentences, can occasionally pee in the potty, walk, run and jump.
Reece's Stats (7/1/09)
Weight: 23 lbs, Height: 31 inches.
Walks 2.5 steps, climbs, crawls,smiles constantly, and laughs. Reece has twelve teeth.
