Quentin: 40-41 weeks
With the twins here, this house is crazy!
Likes: Climbing everything! Food, snuggles, toys that make noise, stuffed animals, watching the twins
Dislikes: Being cold, being hungry, diaper changes
Sleeping: Q is finally napping! Holy cow! I'm so incredibly excited that he often takes an afternoon nap. This started about a month ago and it's added so much productivity to my day if we are home. Of course, we are out and about, naps don't always happen. Just excited about this nap thing!
Eating: All the things except ice cream! I think ice cream is too cold for him. Every time we have ice cream, he begs for some, takes a tiny bit and immediately regrets his decision. It's so cute!
Playing: These past two weeks, Quentin has figured out so many of his toys. He loves anything he can manipulate (change shapes, press buttons, make noises). His favorite is the little animal ferris wheel.
Milestones:
- Practice steps — Not yet. He just started pulling up and standing at the couch.
- Better balance — Definitely. He can stand fairly steady now.
- Imitating mom and dad — Not anything I noticed.
- Pointing for things — Nope, not yet.
- “Baby talk” — Not really
- Showing a preference for specific toys. books, lovies, etc. — Definitely!
- Sitting down from a standing position — Not really. He falls on his butt and doesn't get upset.
- Waving — Nope
- Experimenting with volume — Yep! He makes lots of noises with varying levels of volumes.
- Biting phase — Nothing over here
Out and About: So many outings!
- Seven Seas Park
- Rocket Fizz (candy store)
- Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum
- Fourth of July Fireworks at the Berkeley Marina Festival
- Great America Waterpark
- Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek
- Pacific Pinball Museum
Next up on the TBR Pile:
Quentin: 39 Weeks / 9 Months
Crazy weekend and a crazy Monday meant I just didn't get around to this post. Instead, here's a pic from this morning. Happy 9 Months Quentin!
Next up on the TBR Pile:
Quentin: 37-38 Weeks
Q woke up puking yesterday canceling all our plans to visit the Pirate Festival. He stopped puking after a few hours, but man it was rough. He ended up taking a 4 hour nap when he usual only takes an hour nap if I'm lucky. The rest of the afternoon he was cranky but his fever had broke.
Likes: Snuggles with his blanket, playing with Arthur, grabbing my ankles, opening the pantry/cabinets, fruit of any kind
Dislikes: Nap times, being told "no," not being able to eat all the little toys, being cold
Sleeping: He's doing so much better with naps lately. I can usually get him to sleep in his crib for about an hour, maybe an hour and a half, in the afternoon
Eating: All the things. His new favorite is chow mein. Love love loved it at the food trucks.
Playing: All the things. He especially loves his Vtech ferris wheel. He loves to spin it and make all the noises. And all the stuffed animals are super fun to snuggle.
Milestones:
- Waving — Nope. Not yet.
- Preference of right or left hand — Not that I have noticed
- Stranger anxiety — Sort of. He doesn't seem to be upset if I'm still in the room.
- Responding to simple commands — Nope
- Grasping small objects with thumb and index finger — Check!
- Becoming attached to a lovey — He has his rocket bees (blanket covered in rocket ships). Give him the choice of that one and his exact same material but different colored blanket and he picks the bis every time.
- Pulling up at furniture or even standing on his own — He's very slowly starting to pull up, but only when he;s sitting on me.
Out and About: We've had a few activities since the twins arrived. The day of, the littles had a playdate at a friend's house. We also hit the library, the Oakland Zoo, Half Moon Bay Beach, and lots of errands. Plus Quentin rode the Bart for the first time on a trip into San Francisco to visit the Asian Art Museum.
Next up on the TBR Pile:
Quentin Update
Someone, actually two someones have been sick all weekend. Just run of the mill colds, but it's knocked us on our butts. Quentin's update will be back next week...
Quentin: 36 Weeks
Likes: Arthur, Arthur, and Arthur
Dislikes: Napping, having getting food immediately when hungry
Sleeping: Q is officially bunking in with Arthur. Surprisingly it's going well so far. Q seems to chill and then fall asleep. Arthur is the one have problems getting to sleep.
Eating: All the things. His current favorite is the yogurt melts. He would eat an entire bag in one sitting if I let him.
Playing: He's getting into all the toys! Really loving anything that makes noise and Arthur's hot wheel cars and dinos.
Milestones:
- Cutting out the morning (or afternoon) nap — Haha!!! This kid hasn't taking two naps a day for months. It's a lucky day if he takes one nap.
- Mastering stacking and filling — Nope not yet. He's been putting things in and out of buckets but no stacking.
- Recognizing names, words, daily activities — He's starting to have word recognition.
Out and About: This past week we finally got a new car (a Honda Odyssey), so now I can go places with both boys any day. We ran a ton of errands, hit the park, went to a playdate, and celebrated a friend's birthday at a park. This week, the twins are arriving, so we will be out and about even more!
Next up on the TBR Pile:
Quentin: 35 Weeks / 8 Months
Likes: Food, playing peek-a-boo, Arthur, snuggling, his blanket, all the toys (especially the dinosaurs)
Dislikes: Napping, not being picked up immediately
Sleeping: We had a weird night this week where Q went to bed, woke up screaming about 45 minutes later, and was off an on screaming and crying for the next almost 2 hours. Thought he was teething, but Tylenol did nothing. I ended up holding him (while we was intermittently flailing) for almost the entire time until he passed out from sheer exhaustion. Woke up the next morning perfectly cheerful. No idea what was going on! Naps are still crap although he took a 3 hour nap on Saturday afternoon. Of course I was busy doing crop day and didn't get to really enjoy the nap.
Eating: All the things, except for my salisbury steak meatballs apparently. He wasn't a fan...
Playing: Loves to play with all if Arthur's toys specifically the dinosaurs. He's also into his stuffed animals and Sophie. As I write this, he's trying to chew on my headband. Everything's a toy when you're 8 months old.
Milestones:
- Lots of babbling — Check! Q's making all kinds of crazy sounds now.
- Understanding “no” — I'm going to say yes. If I say "no" he usually pauses what he is doing. He usually starts again, but he does pause.
- Discovery of his penis — Nope not yet
- Personality development — Check! He's different and similar to Arthur in so many ways.
- Becoming more mobile — Check! Not quite properly crawling, but that doesn't stop from getting places.
Out and About: We had another park day this week. Tagged it onto an epic errand day. Throughly amazed no one had a breakdown. We also visited the Chabot Space and Science Museum.
Next up on the TBR Pile:
52 Weeks of Arthur 2017: W10-18
Yet again, I completely lost track of time and weeks. Continuing this project from 2016, I'll be posting a roundup of Arthur pics every 9 weeks. See W1-9 here. Weeks 10 through 8:
Next up on the TBR pile:
Quentin: 32-34 Weeks
Likes: All the food! Seriously, anything I put in front of him, he will eat. His blankets, his rabbit, anything his brother is playing with, being outside, walks in the stroller.
Dislikes: Not being paid attention to, naps, bedtime because that means no more playing
Sleeping: Ugh! Napping is so not a thing in this household. Somedays he will take a nap and I even got him to take a few in his crib. But most days he just goes and goes and goes until bedtime. By then he's a bit of a mess.
Eating: Such a great eater. I think he consumes at least twice what Arthur does in a day. He loves sweet potatoes and broccoli. Gets super excited about yogurt melts and puffs. I can't eat anything and not give him some. He begs for food when he sees it.
Playing: So much play! He loves to explore on his own (getting close to proper crawling), but he really enjoys when people play with him, especially Arthur. Q and Arthur have been "playing" dinosaurs all week. Q loves when Arthur does the roars and he loves chewing on the dinos.
Milestones:
- 32 Weeks
- Repeating sounds — Definitely! His favorite syllable is "ma." He repeats it constantly!
- Holding two objects at once — Check!
- Starting to understand cause and effect — I'm going to say yes. He's starting to show signs so I think we are on track.
- Lifting arms up when wanting to be picked up — Check!
- Trying to standing — Check! He loves to stand on the couch looking into the kitchen. He's starting to try and pull himself up to that standing position.
- 33 Weeks
- Understanding “no” — Um... I don't think so.
- Furniture-assisted standing — Sorta check. He's not very steady yet.
- Playing with more complicated items — Check! He loves manipulating toys and other objects. He's even starting to understanding how to play with some of the more complicated toys.
- First words —Nope
- 34 Weeks
- Throwing things — Um... not really.
- Standing at furniture — Nothing except for the couch
- Fear of strangers — It's more of a contempt for strangers than a fear.
Out and About: Oh the places we go! It helps to have a big brother to follow around...
- Mel's Play Place -- A few indoor play mornings
- Diddalidoo -- A different indoor play place for Arthur's friend's birthday
- New Parks - A few different new-to-us parks visited
- Oakland Zoo -- Q loved the otters
- Children's Fairyland -- It's such a weird time capsule. Not sure if Q liked it or was just weirded out.
- Lots of walks in the neighborhood
Next up on the TBR Pile:
Quentin: 31 Weeks
Someone officially turned 7 months old this past week!
Likes: His blankie, being outside, all of big brother's dinosaurs, chewing on fingers
Dislikes: Nap time, not being paid attention to...
Sleeping: 9/10 he sleeps through the night. I'll take it!
Eating: All the things! He has really been enjoying hummus and oranges this past week.
Playing: So much playing with brother this past week. Q loves to be tickled by A. He also loves playing peek-a-boo.
Milestones:
- Testing limits — Nothing really yet...
- Developing the pincer grasp — Definitely refining this skill!
- Sitting without support — Yep! He's been sitting without support for about 3 weeks now. So big! Now he's starting to work on crawling forward.
- Clapping or waving — Nope. Still doesn't do either of these things.
- Expressing unhappiness when toys are taken away — Nothing major yet, but I know it's coming!
Out and About: On Monday, we had a park playdate for big brother. Thankfully Q got some time playing on the picnic blanket with one of his baby friends. We also had lunch with a friend from out of town. On Thursday, we traveled to North Bay to visit the Bay Area Discovery Museum. Q loved watching all the kids play with the trains. He even got some time to get down and play. He also enjoyed the rainforest exhibit.
Quentin: 29-30 Weeks / 7 Months
As it isn't the 26th yet, I haven't taken his 7 month photos. Enjoy these others from the past two weeks instead...
Likes: Sophie the Giraffe (his current favorite toy); all of Arthur's cars; grabbing my hair; all the foods!; his blankies
Dislikes: Nap time; not being paid attention to; not being able to crawl forward and grab his toys
Sleeping: Doing decently with night time sleeping. He usually sleeps 8pm to 6am with maybe one wake up. Nap times are still a joke. If we're out and doing things, he usually naps. At home, naps are practically nonexistent. Some days it would be really helpful if he napped even once.
Eating: All the things! He has loved most food that we give him. His current favorites are roasted sweet potato, strawberries, baby mum-mums, and hard boiled eggs. Since we do baby led weaning, he pretty much eats whatever we are eating for dinner. I don't give him super spicy food, but he does get a bit of flavor spice on things. On Saturday we had dinner at a friends house and discovered that Quentin loves mango chutney!
Playing: So much play in this house! He is very interactive with his toys now. He also loves "playing" with Arthur.
Milestones:
- Playing peek-a-boo — Somewhat. He laughs when I do peek-a-boo, but don't think he really understands quite yet.
- Smiling or waving at people in public — Smiling yes, waving no.
- Frustration when not able to get somewhere on his own — Oh yes! So much of this! He wants to get everywhere, but hasn't quite figured out the crawling thing yet.
- Preference of one parent — Yep. Q always wants to be with momma.
- Faster and more coordinated crawling — Not quite yet. He can roll and scoot around, but actually crawling hasn't happened yet.
- Preference for certain foods — He loves sweet potatoes, hardboiled eggs, and strawberries. He likes other foods, but if any of those are on his plate, he gobbles them up first.
- Fascinated by his reflection — Yep! Loves playing with his mirror.
- Developing a sense of empathy — Hmmm... this one is really hard to judge.
Out and About: In the past two weeks we've been to a ton of events and places.
- Happy Hollow -- Q loved the anteater and watching kiddos on the rides. He also got to get out of the stroller and ride Danny the Dragon and play with his friend E.
- MVPA Spring Social -- Lots of playing with the other babies and eating tons of food!
- Book club -- He usually goes with me to La Tartine for book club. This time he ate tons of eggs, hash browns, and toast and tried to steal Z's socks.
- Playdate at our house -- We hosted a playdate that ended up being only one other mom and her kiddos, but it was still fun. Q had a more exposure to other children.
- Lots of errands -- The usual...
- Dinner at a friend's house -- The hosts don't have kids, but the other family that came have a 6 yo, a 4 yo, and a 10 month old. Q is as big as the 10 month old! They had fun watching the big kiddos play and eating Indian food!
Next up on the TBR pile!
Arthur: 3 1/2 Years Old!
Arthur’s 3 1/2 years old!
Likes: Paw Patrol! Seriously still obsessed with this show. Loves to play with all his toy pups. Dinosaurs and dinosaur documentaries. Anything about space. His baby brother Quentin. Playdates with friends (especially C and J). iPad time. Baking with mom.
Dislikes: Being patient. Eating dinner (seriously the kid goes on food strikes somedays). Being at home multiple days in a row. Being kept indoors when it rains (not usually this rainy in the spring here). When playdates end.
Sleeping: Thankfully I've been given a decent sleeper. He goes to bed around 8pm with minimal fussing (maybe an extra potty break) and wakes up sometime around 7 or 7:30am. He hasn't napped for almost two years now. Oh well, at least he sleeps through the night...
Eating: None of the things? We are deep into toddler pickiness right now. So hard to find things he will eat without giving up and serving mac n cheese or chicken nuggets at every meal.
Playing: Arthur's really into imaginary play with his cars and dinosaurs. He's always making a dinosaur city or enacting car chases and such. He loves to show Quentin how to play with toys. Thankfully Q is finally at the age where he's starting to really play. He was always scared to go into the Bounce House and Obstacle Course at the indoor play place. He finally ventured in after Christmas and now loves them. If we go to that play, he bounces and jumps for hours. And of course he loves playdates with his friends. We try to schedule at two activities and/or playdates a week. Gotta get the wiggles out!
Milestones: Arthur's almost done potty training. He started in January and was doing well, but then had some serious regression in early March. He has masted poo in the potty, but still pees his pants some days. He's wearing his Paw Patrol underwear almost daily at this point. I think we're turning a corner.
Out and About: We get to travel to so many great places in the Bay Area. (One of the big advantages of living here, so much to see!). Arthur's favorites include any park, Mel's Play Place in Castro Valley (indoor play area), the library, Oakland Zoo, Bay Area Discovery Museum, aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences, steam trains at Tilden Park. Now that's isn't warming back up, we'll be hitting more parks, the pool, Great America with the twins (rides and waterpark), the beach (Arthur's already asking to go), and more of our usual places.
Quentin: 27-28 Weeks
Likes: All the food! Snuggles with his blankie. All the toys. Arthur. "Jumping" on mommy.
Dislikes: Being left alone. Teething. Dirty Diapers.
Sleeping: Naps are crap, but at least he sleeps at night for the most part.
Eating: His current favorite foods are broccoli, avocado, and cheese. Although he will try anything you put on his tray.
Playing: Quentin loves playing with all his toys right now. His favorites are the links (likes to fling them back and forth), Sophie for chewing on, the mirror, his Baby Faces book, and the stuffed snow leopard. He also discovered that Arthur's cars and dinosaurs are perfect for chewing on. Have to have another discussion with Arthur about keeping those away from Q.
Milestones:
- Throwing things (learning about cause and effect) — He's started throwing things, but I think it's mostly accidental right now.
- Crawling —Not quite yet. Lots of scooting in circles and a bit backwards.
- Squirming instead of wanting to be held —Nope. He loves being held by me at least.
- Answering to his name —Um... maybe? Sometimes I think he answers to his name and sometimes he seems to ignore me.
- Sitting unassisted for longer periods -- He's almost sitting independently.
- Feeding himself finger foods -- Getting so good at picking things up with the pincer grip.
- Getting teeth -- Two bottom teeth so far. Working on a top tooth.
- Working on fine motor skills -- Definitely increasing his skills right now.
- Separation anxiety -- Nothing major yet.
Out and About: Other than the doctor appointment, we ventured out for a ton of regular errands and some fun places.
- Playdate at Ms. Priscilla's house with a visit to her fun neighborhood park
- Happy Hollow for the first time in almost a year. The lower zoo is still closed due to flood damage, but we had fun at the upper zoo and the rides.
- California Academy of Sciences with J. Quentin loved the aquarium so much. I think his favorite were the jellyfish.
- Mel's Play Place Easter Egg Hunt. Q didn't participate obviously, but he had fun watching all the big kids play.
Quentin: 26 Weeks / 6 Months
We made it to 1/2 a year!!!! Q turned 6 months old yesterday and already seems more grown up.
Likes: Pulling hair, all his toys, watching Arthur, all the food, bedtime
Dislikes: Only being able to crawl backwards, naps, not being able to stand all the time
Sleeping: Usually sleeping through the night. Sometimes he wakes up once, but not every night and he's easy to get back down to sleep. Naps are still a no-go most days.
Eating: All the foods! But seriously, he's tried so many new and interesting foods in the past week. His favorites have been broccoli, bananas, baby mum-mums, and naan. He's really loving when I give him the spoon to play with. Obviously not really using it yet, but he likes to play with it.
Playing: Loving all his toys. His current favorites are the wire ball, robot teether, taggie monster, and any of Arthur's cars. He also really loves his new stuffed snow leopard (from Happy Hollow visit). Lots of snuggles with the snow leopard!
Doctor Visit Stats: Q got 3 shots today at his appointment. He cried for about 3 minutes and then was good. Glad that he is calmed down with snuggles.
- Height: 28 1/4" (97th percentile) -- We only have 3/4" left until he grows out of his infant carseat. Guess I better decide which convertible carseat to buy...
- Weight: 19 lb 3 oz (80th percentile)
Milestones: I looked up Arthur's growth updates to figure out some of these...
- Pays attention to small objects — Check!
- Transfers toys from one hand to the other — Check!
- Babbling — Not that much. He laughs a lot, but not quite as much babbling.
- Sitting by himself or with minimal support — Check!
- Rocking back and forth on all fours — Nope. He scoots around backwards but hasn't gotten up to all fours yet.
- Developing separation anxiety — Nope. He's pretty good being left alone. Some days he starts to vocalize after a minute or so if can't see me, but not really separation anxiety.
Out and About: On Monday we went to Mel's for playtime. It was raining outside so the place was packed. It was the first time that Q was actually interested in playing with anything. We sat in the baby area playing while Arthur played in the bounce house. On Thursday we visited Happy Hollow. Half of the place was closed due to flood damage from February's San Jose flood, but we still had fun looking at the goats, sheep, lemurs, chickens, and anteater and riding the rides. Q enjoyed the carousel and watching all the little kids run around and play. While there, Arthur had to have a stuffed Jaguar so we bought Q a matching Snow Leopard. He's so in love with that toy!
52 Weeks of Arthur 2017: W1-9
Somehow I completely lost track of time and weeks. So the first 9 weeks of 2017 is going to be posted late, but at least I actually did it right? Continuing this project from 2016, I'll be posting a roundup of Arthur pics every 9 weeks. Here are weeks 1 through 9:
Quentin: 25 Weeks
No big update for today. Still catching up on things after being sick all last week. But I do have some good pictures and a little update. We've continued on the baby led weaning journey. In the past week Q has had puffs, pasta, sweet potatoes, grapes, bananas, rice husks, and broccoli. Broccoli was his favorite. He's definitely my child.
Quentin: 23-24 Weeks
Likes: Snuggles, Arthur, his toys (especially taggie monster and Sophie), eating his toes, avocado!
Dislikes: Loud noises, being left alone (or at least not being able to see mom), water splashed in his face (Arthur got a little over zealous in the tub), rain
Sleeping: Hit or miss. He was sleeping from 8pm to 7am straight, but lately he's been waking up once or twice a night. Usually he just wants his paci, but sometimes he wants a bottle. Daytime naps are really miss most days. Apparently I just have a kid that doesn't nap! Occasionally he takes a decent 1:00 - 1:30 nap, but that's so so rare. Usually his nap is like 15-20 minutes two times a day.
Eating: Last night I introduced Q to his first food: avocado! I was planning on started sometime this week, but last night's dinner involved an avocado and we didn't use all of it. Perfect. We stuck him in the booster chair and I put some on his tray. He didn't get the feeding himself part, so I would let him eat the avocado bits off my finger. He was actually swallowing most of it after squishing it around his mouth. He kept coming back for more, so I kept giving it. He ended up eating about a 1/3 of an avocado. Then he tried to eat my popcorn, but we wisely moved the bowl. Tuesday we're having sweet potatoes, so we'll try those.
Playing: Q's really taken a shine to his toys lately. He loves messing with his taggie blankets and Sophie. But he's also a fan of the wire ball and links. We've also been utilizing the jumper for a few minutes here and there. Mostly when I need to cook dinner and he's very insistent on me holding him. So doesn't work! At least in the jumper he can play and see me at the same time.
Milestones: Almost sitting up by himself. He can tripod for a decent amount of time before flopping over. He also discovered his toes a while back. His new trick is trying to take off his socks and chew on his toes. He gets so excited when he actually gets them in his mouth. Q's also been "talking" a lot more. He's extremely loud some days.
Out and About: Arthur's been sick, so we haven't been out and about as much these past two weeks. We did hit up CuriOdyssey (small zoo and science center) and the nearby playground. Yesterday the boys joined me at book club and on a Target run. And... that's about it.
Quentin: 22 Weeks / 5 Months
Quentin at 5 months:
- quite the momma's boy.
- a belly laugher (so adorable)
- in love with his big brother
- can roll over and is starting to scoot around
- can almost sit up
- getting close to have a tooth
- wears 6-9 month onsies and pants; 9-12 month sleepers
- almost grown out of his infant carseat (too tall!)
- loves being outside
- reaches for my food (probably starting baby led weaning in a week or so...)
- plays with his toys; his favorites being taggie monster and sophie
- loves to snuggle with his big fuzzy blankie
- can get hangry really fast!
Quentin: 21 Weeks
No big update this week. I'm a bit burned out this week... So enjoy a few photos.
Quentin: 19-20 Weeks
Likes: All his toys, playing with big brother, snuggles. being outside
Dislikes: Naps, being left alone (even for a few moments), not eating right this second!
Sleeping: Q's been sleeping through the night most nights. He goes down around 8:30 or 9:00pm and sleeps until 6:00am. I'll take it! If he does wake up, he usually just wants his pacifier or diaper changed.
Eating: Slamming the 6 ounce bottles with ease. He's been eyeing my food lately, but we're trying to hold off until he gets a tooth or two and we can start baby led weaning.
Playing: He's starting to actually play with his toys. His favorites are the little book (picture above), the taggie blanket with monster, the robot teether, and the wire ball. I also pulled out the exersaucer, but he doesn't know what to do with it yet. Maybe next week.
Milestones: Q's a rolling over expert now! And he's been scooting around while on the floor. We're working on sitting up but he still pitches himself forward.
Schedule: Still haven't figured out daytime naps yet. Makes momma kinda crazy some days.
Out and About: We went to a few places in the past two weeks.
- Bay Area Discovery Museum -- We love that place so much! It's just a bit of a drive to get there. Can't wait to go again soon.
- Janine's Baby Shower -- We had a lovely baby sprinkle at the park on Saturday morning.
- Stamp Club -- After the sprinkle, we headed over to Campbell for stamp club. Q did so well hanging out.
- Valentine's Exchange -- Our parent group had our annual Valentine's Exchange party on Thursday. It was a crazy party full of running toddlers, but we all had fun. Afterward, we had lunch with some friends while mom made rally signs for the Planned Parenthood rally on Saturday.