Snuggle buddies

Quinn really loves human contact, and we love to oblige. One of his favorite activities is to lie on the floor and play "snuggle buddies" with BaBa.

Language explosion

Quinn's speech therapist long ago told us that multi-tone, multi-syllabic babble immediately proceeds a language explosion. Well, here we go. For the last three weeks or so Quinn has been picking up roughly a new word a day. He'll repeat anything we ask him to, but we only count words he says unprompted and then only if he gets the context right. He's up to 31, but he only says them individually rather than stringing them together.

For the past few days he has added only one word total. But he is babbling up a storm. All sorts of sounds, all sounds of pitches, all of it chatty and motor-mouthy.

So before the language explosion begins, I'd like to pause to memorialize my favorite Quinny words so far:

Moo-azoo (music - his very favorite thing)
Buh-weh (bread, said with a vocal upturn on the highly emphasized second syllable)
Teee (a very high-pitched 'please')
Chi-chi (cookie, usually said hopefully at the end of every meal, including breakfast)
Uhnnnnnn (run, BaBa, run!)

Paging Doctor Quinn Jianrong, stat!

Quinn shows a strong preference for toys that involve putting stuff together. This Dora the Explorer playset from Obaachan (Grandma Tokie) is the perfect blend of scientific and imaginative for him. He uses the stethescope to check baby cougar's pulse, he puts the cast on and off of baby cougar and when he's done playing he puts all the pieces inside the backpack. We love this toy!

By the way, check out the great Old Navy t-shirt. It's from "Camp Runamuck."

Imitation nation

Quinn is suddenly all about imitating MaMa and BaBa. He loves to hold the phone to his ear, use the keys to open the door, and on and on. Tonight at dinner he was pushing a lime half into his straw and we finally figured out he was making like Uncle Bruce squeezing a lime into his Corona. After rubbing the lime all over the straw opening he tipped his bottle back, took a sip and made the most hilarious grimace!

Quinn created the little scene above while "helping" me cook dinner the other night. He watches me make a salad just about every night. So this night he very carefully took all the big bowls out of his cupboard and lined them up, then took the salad servers out of the utensil drawer and tossed his imaginary salads, all in a row. He'd toss one, move on to the next, then the next, then the next, and then back again.

It's so cool to see their little minds at work!

My grandma, my servant

Quinn and Grandma Marj have quite the bond. They each think the other is pretty perfect and they can't seem to get enough of each other's company.

But if there were a competition for who gets the most out of the relationship, I give the edge to Quinn. He may be only 2, but he can get his grandma to do pretty much anything he wants her to do on Mondays, Grandma Day. During meals, he'll shove a bare foot at her for some "This Little Piggy" action, which is what's happening in the upper photo. In the photo just above, he convinced her to pull him around the house in his wagon for a full 30 minutes. That's nothing compared to the hour-plus of Peekaboo, with Grandma expected to repeatedly hide wherever Quinn directs her to hide and jump out - again and again and again - to "scare" him.

All this and unconditional love, too.

It's good to be the first grandchild!

Why it's cool having a kid (according to the dog)

Baxter, our insecure and needy pickapoo, was the family member we thought would have the hardest time with Quinn's arrival. Wrong. He thinks the kid is the coolest thing ever. And this seals it: On hot mornings, when Baxter gets tired on our walks, he gets to ride on the foot rest of Quinn's stroller. Now that's a dog's life!

Decision made

After much Internet research, many phone calls to doctor's offices and many conversations with parents, we have decided that Quinn's surgery will be done by Dr. Peter Waters at Boston Children's Hospital. When I initially e-mailed asking if he did the kind of surgery Quinn needs, he personally e-mailed me back the same day. That impressed me. I've also talked with many families whose children were treated by him and heard many positive stories.

Quinn has an MRI and initial visit with Dr. Waters in early November, with surgery in early December.

So Boston, here we come!