Today was fun! I got my new Mr. Potatohead and I really like him. I had a great time playing with him and all my other toys today. I got to watch signing times and me and Mommy practiced walking one handed towards the mirror some more. I was hoping I would get to see Grandma Donna and Grandpop Bill today, but that didn't work out.

Daddy moved Cooper's crib out of my room today. Apparently I am too loud a sleeper to share a room with him!

Today was such a busy day! This morning me and Mommy went to my movement playgroup. It was only boys today and we had lots of fun! We sang "If your happy and you know it" and I clapped my hands. I stepped on all the number thingies without being told to. I climbed through the tunnel and up and down the wedges. I even used the scooter board to go across the room. Plus I put the apple on the tree, I really like the apples because they have velcro. I had a great time and the teacher was really impressed with how good I was doing.

Then this afternoon me and Mommy went to Loyola for speech. Last time we just played but this time my new teacher was much more serious. I signed "more" for her a bunch of times and made lots of good sounds. When we went to the motor room I had a great time climbing up the slide and then sliding back down. It was awesome!

When we got home we picked up Daddy and Cooper and went to Grandma Jan's. I had a great time there. We had pizza for dinner and played a bunch. Grandpa Don took me on two walks, but he was too tired to take me on another one. I don't understand why he gets so tired, I am light as a feather! :)

We went downtown today to see Pat Winders. It was kinda exciting cause they were filming a movie in Baltimore today. We saw a limo and Mommy pointed it out to me and said..."see, there is probably a famous person in there". Usually Baltimore is so boring, supposedly they were filming another Die Hard...like the world really needs another Die Hard movie!

So I like Pat, I really do. I just don't trust her. I know she wants to make me do all kinds of things I am not ready to do, so I am always really cautious around her. I did pretty good today, at least I didn't cry. I did frown a bit and was really clingy with Mommy. We walked up and down the hallway again and I showed Pat how I can walk up the steps. She was really impressed with my step walking skills! She said walking up the steps is just like walking, but much harder. Her and Mommy just don't get why I can smile and walk up the steps all day long, but I freak out if I have to walk on solid ground. I was so worn out from our therapy session that I was literally snoring before Mommy pulled out of the parking lot!

My teacher dropped off my new flashcards while we were gone. I was so excited when Mommy showed them to me. She showed me the picture of a cup and I signed "drink" for her. Then she let me choose between bubbles and book and I chose bubbles. Then I pointed to the cracker and got a cracker! My two favorite cards have pictures of Mommy and Daddy on them. Everytime I pointed to the Mommy card I got a kiss! It was great!

I had a really good day today! I got to play with all my toys and watch both Signing Time and The Wiggles. Plus, Mommy was watching Regis and Kelly this morning and they had Barney on! I was so excited to see him. Barney and his friends sang two songs and I danced through both of them and then clapped when it was over. Mommy never usually lets me watch Barney, she doesn't like him. How can you not like a purple dinosaur???

I really shined when my speech teacher came over today. I showed her how I can sign "drink" and she was really impressed. Then she was trying to teach me the parts of my face using Mr. Potatohead. She handed me the eyes, said "eyes" and I put them to my eyes then onto Mr. Potatohead's face...in the right place and everything! Then she said eyes and pointed to my eye and I pointed to my eye and made a sound that was similar to "eye". Wow, that sentence had a whole lot of "eyes" in it!! But the point is...I am starting to get it!!! Mommy says she is gonna buy me a Mr. PotatoHead this weekend so we can practice more.

I did some really good walking today! Me and Mommy practiced walking to the mirror. I was so distracted by looking at myself that I ended up walking holding only one hand a bunch of times!

I put Quinn down for his nap with only his mattress cover on his bed (you don't want to know what happened to his top sheet!). I guess he wanted to investigate what was underneath it. He somehow managed to pull the (very) tightly fitting mattress cover off and push it to the bottom of his crib. This is what I found when I went to wake him up for speech therapy.

 

Here you can really see what he did.

 

He completely wore himself out. He was sound asleep and his little face was stuck to the waterproof mattress!

 

I had a fun day today. Mommy got out my Leapfrog Leapad again cause she thinks I am finally ready for it. I really like it a lot. I am still learning how to touch the pictures to make it go though. There is a page with a baby's face and when you touch each part it tells you what it is. We did that a bunch today and Mommy kept touching my nose...silly Mommy. I got to watch Sesame Street and it was all about hair!

Lindalee came over for PT today. I was really cranky before she got here, but I cheered up when she started playing with me. We played with all kinds of stuff and she blew lots of bubbles. She tried to trick me into standing again, but I didn't fall for it. I did walk a few steps holding her hand and the popper.

When she left Grandma Donna came over! I was so happy to see her. We read Pat the Puppy together and snuggled. Then I went and played and let her cuddle Cooper for a while. She couldn't stay long, but it was sure nice to see her!

My OT came over this morning. Mommy was all excited because she wanted me to show her how I can sign "drink" so well. Guess what? I wouldn't do it! Mommy held up my cup and I just looked at it and signed "more". Mommy said "it figures", what do you suppose she meant by that? Honestly I was just a little confused because I wasn't sitting in my highchair and the OT had brought all these cool toys and I was distracted. She told Mommy she believed her, my OT has been around a long time, she knows me too well! Then at the end of the session I grabbed the toy she brought (I really liked it) and tried to hide it under the sofa. The little doors popped up and it got really stuck. I was really upset when she finally got it out and took it with her.

My teacher came over this afternoon and I was pretty sleepy cause I didn't get a nap. I was still pretty good. I worked on some puzzles and we read some books. We did a lot of practicing for all the tests I am going to be taking in November. She wants me to point to the right picture out of 4 choices. She also wants me to identify at least one body part, she said to start with my nose. Those things seem pretty hard, but I can't actually fail the test...so I am not worried. Mommy told me that if I don't know the answer always choose "C", she said that is how she got through college! Great tip Mom!

I had such a fun weekend! On Saturday I hung out with Daddy and then we went to Grandma Jan's house. I always have such a great time when we go there. I played with all my toys and got into the cabinets. It was great. I was a little jealous when Grandpa Don took Cooper for a walk, but I guess it was only fair since I had already gotten a few walks. Do you know how I let Grandpa Don know I want to take a walk? First I get him to pick me up and then I rock my body in the direction of the door, so he knows where to go. Genius, right? It works almost every time!

Today I was pretty sleepy cause I had a rough week. I still managed to get a bunch of playing time in, but I took a longer nap than usual. I built a tower with my mega blocks...wait until I show my OT I can do that! I had a great time playing with Cooper on the floor. I tried to teach him how much fun it is to lay on your belly and push up on your arms...but he just didn't get it. He is so weird sometimes!

What an exciting day! This morning me, Mommy, and Cooper all went to my movement class. It was really fun. I climbed through the tunnel, climbed up and slid down the wedges, and even walked on a balance beam (with a little help of course). I had a great time, I really love that class. Then this afternoon Grandpa Don came and picked me up! We went to speech class together and it was great. I got to meet my new speech teacher and cause it was only the first day all we did was play. Then me and Grandpa and Grandma Jan all went out to dinner and then to the bowling alley to watch the bowlers. It was the funnest time ever! I love hanging out with Grandpa Don and Grandma Jan. When I got home I played for a while and made the living room messy again. Then I went to sleep, boy was I tired!

Today was really fun! We went to my speech therapy place but I didn't get any therapy. We went to this boring lecture about how the clinic works etc. Mommy seemed to find it interesting but all I wanted to do was play! I didn't want to sit in my stroller so she sat me in the chair next to her and gave me some crackers. Yeah right, like I am going to sit there and eat crackers for a whole hour if I am not strapped in! I climbed down and started crawling around the room. I think Mommy was a little embarassed cause I was the only little kid there and there were lots of serious looking adults there. I crawled right into the middle of the room, sat in front of Ms. Mina who was the speaker, and started being Quinn! I was clapping, making funny sounds, and just being goofy. Then I crawled over to the only guy in the room and started playing with his shoes. Then I commando crawled under the big long table and came up next to this really nice lady. She picked me up and I sat in her lap for a while. Then I put my feet up on the table and everyone laughed. I was definately the center of attention even though Mommy said I wasn't supposed to be! Good thing they have a sense of humor there! After the orientation we went for a little walk and Mommy let me watch the frog fountain for a little while. I love that thing, it just cracks me up!

My speech teacher was supposed to come over today to make up for yesterday, but she couldn't. Her mother in law is in the hospital, so we understand!

Today was fun! I pulled everything off the bookshelf and emptied all of my toys onto the floor. But, boy did I have a great time doing it! Mommy and me practiced some more with walking with my popper. I think it works just as well if I do it sitting down though. Did you see my video? Mommy recorded me signing "drink". I even asked for it myself a few times. When Mommy went to put me in my highchair for a snack I looked at her and signed "drink" even before she had me strapped in! I just do it to make her happy, I am not really thirsty or anything. It really really makes Mommy happy though, she is so silly.

My speech teacher was supposed to come over today but she cancelled. She is gonna come tommorow instead. And tommorow morning we get to go to a orientation at my Speech Clinic. I hope I get to play in the motor room!

Here is a video of Quinn signing "drink"!

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I am getting really good at my new sign "drink". Now all Mommy has to do is hold up my cup and I will sign it. Pretty soon I will probably even start signing "drink" before she picks up my cup, but for now I find pointing to it still gets the message across. Of course, she won't give it to me until I make the sign. Now we are working on the sign for "cracker". And one of these days Mommy says she is going to catch me signing "drink" on video.

I had a good day today. I had a good time playing and watching the new Rachel Ray show. Sometimes I wonder what that lady is so happy about! Still, she is fun to watch. Lindalee came over today and she let me color on my mirror with markers! I think she was trying to trick me in to standing, but I am too smart for that. I did walk about 7 steps holding her hand in one hand and my popper thing in the other. She was pretty happy with that!

Did you all like looking at my pictures? As you can tell I had a great time this weekend!!! We took a long ride in the car up to New Jersey on Friday. By the time we got there both me and Cooper were really ready to get out of that stupid car! After we checked into our motel we had to get back in the car to go to dinner....we both started crying. But it was only a short drive and we went to this cool restraunt. The walls had this wallpaper that had lots of pictures of plants on it. I took my cracker and traced them, it was fun. The tablecloth was so "busy" that when Mommy put my crackers on it I couldn't even see them! When we got back to our room I played for a bit and then Grandma Jan and Grandpa Don got there! I was so excited when I found out I got to share their room with them. Mommy said I was too loud to share a room with Cooper so she sent me to their room. I tried not to wake them up too early, but I was so excited to play on the beach I couldn't help it!

So on Saturday morning we went to breakfast and then to the beach. I totally loved the beach, just like last year. I played in the sand and splashed in the water. Me and Grandpa Don took a couple of little walks down the beach. I got sand everywhere and had the time of my life! After the beach Uncle Scott and Aunt Stacey got there. They had my new cousin Zoe with them, she is even littler and boringer than Cooper! We all went for a walk on the boardwalk and that was neat. It was a lot like the state fair was, but no animals. It was Clownfest so there were clowns everywhere. They all talked to me and tried to make me smile, but I was too tired! I even fell asleep in the backseat of my stroller. So me and Grandpa Don went back to the room and took a nap. But when Grandma came in to check on us, he was sound asleep and I was standing in my crib talking. So I got to go with everyone back down to the beach! I got to play with Uncle Scott which was so much fun. But I really wore myself out and I slept in Grandma Jan's and Grandpa Don's laps all through dinner. I slept in late the next morning too.

Then on Sunday we all went to a party at Daddy's cousin Cyndi's house. It was a party for her new baby Annie. I had a great time! There were lots of little kids there and I got to play in the sandbox with two hot chicks. There was also a swing and bubbles! I was in seventh heaven, and that was even before I found the fishtank!

It was a great weekend!

Today my teacher and my OT came over together. They were both pretty impressed with me. I showed them how I can color and stack stuff. It was a good session. Then this afternoon I fed myself half of my sweet potatos with a spoon! Grandpa Don was right, I am ready! Mommy had to put the food on the spoon and hand it to me, but I got it in my mouth every time and didn't throw it until the end!

We spent the weekend at the Jersey Shore and met up with Quinn's Uncle Scott and Aunt Stacey and their new baby, Zoe. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Quinn on the beach.

 

We got Quinn a mini beach chair, he was finally big enough to sit in it this year!

 

Playing in his chair.

 

Quinn loves the beach.

 

"Hey, what's this?"

 

"Wow, my own personal ocean!"

 

Sitting in the "pool", this was a great idea Grandpa Don!!!

 

Uncle Scott buried Quinn in the sand, he loved it!!

 

Here is some video from Quinn's trip to the beach.

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Quinn with Cooper and his new cousin Zoe.

 

Quinn says "Babies are boring!"

 

He decided Cousin Cyndi's fishtank was much more interesting than the babies.

 

Quinn sticking his tounge out at the fish!

 

Guess what I did today???? I learned to sign "drink"! Yup, I was really thirsty and Mommy wouldn't give me my cup until I signed drink for her. So I did! Of course it doesn't look anything like the actual sign for "drink", but it is close enough. So if you see my kinda pointing at my mouth, give me a drink!!! And if you see me clapping my hands, it means I want more. I may not know "ASL" (American Sign Language), but I am getting pretty good at "QSL" (Quinn's Sign Language).

More good news, we do get to go to that movement class tommorow! It is in the morning so me and Mommy will go play and then we will all leave for the beach. So I won't be able to update for a while, but Mommy uploaded a bunch of cute pictures and videos of me to tide you over.

My little artist!

 

Coloring two handed!

 

 

Quinn and Cooper bonding.

 

Here are some videos I took of Quinn today.

This is just one of him playing. He does this all day long, he is so good at entertaining himself! In the middle he stops and stands in front of the TV for a while, I think he is wondering where the picture went. Then he goes over to look at Cooper in his Pack & Play, he actually climbs up and stands on the bottom bar so he can see better! Why isn't this kid walking????

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This one is of Quinn drawing with markers, he would rather color on his desk than the paper...thank goodness they are washable!!


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And finally, Quinn singing a little song while he draws!


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We had a busy day today! We got up this morning and went to a meeting just for Moms and their kids. There were lots of kids there, but I didn't get a chance to play with them really. They all stayed in the nursery but Mommy was too scared to leave me. That is okay, I had a good time hanging out with her and the other moms. Mommy said maybe next time I can hang with the kids....she needs to learn to let go. The good news is the whole reason we went to the meeting was to find a playgroup for me. We should find out about one soon hopefully. Mommy met a lady there whose daughter was also in the county program like I am. She told Mommy that her little girl was starting a special movement playgroup on Friday. So Mommy called Miss Dorothy and said..."get Quinn into that!". We can't go this week, but hopefully we can start going next week. I think Mommy is going to try and get me into a playgroup everyday of the week! She'll do anything to get me walking!

I forgot to tell you all that I am getting another tooth on the bottom in front. It is right next to my really pointy one, and yes....it is just as pointy!!! Mommy says she sees lots of dental visits in my future....yikes!!!

We had a fun day today! I got up and had breakfast. Mommy switched me back to the regular Cheerios because the new free sample cereal from Peapod was what kept making me spit up this weekend! Too bad, cause that cereal was a lot yummier than boring old Cheerios. After breakfast we played a bunch, then I took a nap. Mommy woke me up from my nap cause Lindalee was coming over. She was really hoping I would show Lindalee how I could stand, but I didn't want to. They even put the Wiggles on to distract me, but Lindalee pointed out that the Wiggles were more of an obsession than a distraction...so they turned it off. Instead we played with some bubbles. I took the wand from Lindalee and put it back in the bubbles all by myself. She was really impressed cause the wand goes in this really little slit of an opening. She was also impressed that I was able to get down from standing at the table while I was holding the bubbles with both hands. We practiced walking up the steps, which I didn't love...I would rather just crawl!!

I did some serious standing today!!! Mommy was cooking dinner and I wanted to be with her, unfortunately the gate was up...so instead I just stood at the gate. She came over and took my hand off the gate so I was only holding her hand. Just then the Simpsons came on so I was distracted by the TV. Well, I didn't realize that Mommy had let go of my hand and I stood there all alone watching TV for almost a whole minute!!! Mommy and Daddy got really excited and I realized that standing may not be all that bad. Maybe me and Mommy need to practice standing some more in front of the TV. That is, after all, how I learned to sit!!!

My teacher was supposed to come over today. We were all ready and waiting for her, but she called and cancelled at the last minute! The new weekly playgroup that she runs is cancelled for this week too :( All I can say is, that really sucks!!!

I managed to get my shirt entirely off this morning! When Daddy came in to get me I held it out to him so he could see what I did...laughing the whole time. He was pretty impressed, just like I knew he would be. Me and Daddy played this morning, but he put me down for a nap right before the football game started. So I didn't get to watch, but we won!! Go Ravens!!!

We went over to Grandma Jan's tonight. We had pizza for dinner, I went on a bunch of walks with Grandpa Don, I played with all my toys, and watched Sesame Street! It was the perfect night!!

Today was great! I got to play with Daddy all morning and then Grandma Donna and Grandpop Bill came over!! We played a little bit and then had dinner. Grandma shared her Spinach Lasangna and salad with me and I really enjoyed it! There weren't enough breadsticks so we let Grandpop Bill eat ours. Mommy made mini pinapple upside down cakes for dessert, but I really don't like cake so I wouldn't eat it. I had Teddy Grahms instead. I did end up drinking too much water so I kept spitting up. It grossed out Grandma and Grandpop but didn't bother me at all.

Before they left Grandma gave me a bath! I love baths, but I also like to watch the water run out of the tub. So I kept pulling the plug even though Grandma wasn't done bathing me...then I refused to get out. I am such a goofball sometimes!

Quinn can't wait for his bath, doesn't he look like he is about to dive in?

 

I drove Mommy crazy today! I kept trying to crawl into every little crack I could find in the living room. I went between the sofa and the bookcase twice (knocked over the candle and grabbed some cords). I went under the side table three times! One of those times I brought Mommy's slipper with me and left it there where she couldn't reach it. I was just in a mischievous mood today I guess. I also pulled out all of my toys, but I pretty much do that everyday.

We watched Brokeback Mountain tonight. I really liked all the scenes with the sheep and the horses. There were a couple of scenes I really didn't understand though!

I had a pretty fun day. Mommy woke me up in the middle of my nap cause my speech teacher was coming over. She usually comes on Wednesday's but Mommy changed it so I could go to that rockin' playgroup yesterday. Even though I was a little cranky I did a pretty good job. I let her play with my mouth a bit. When she wanted me to make the "moo" sound for the cow I put my lips together, but no sounds. She said that was a good start! Generally I was just really cute, Miss Heather just loves me!!

If you talk to my Mommy and the phone sounds a little off, that is my fault. I spit up all over it today! I was so excited that I finally got my hands on it, I kinda lost my lunch. I did manage to turn it on before Mommy got it away from me though. I was gonna call Grandpa Don and ask him to take me for a walk!

Fun, fun, fun!!! I had so much fun today at my Down Syndrome playgroup!!!! Usually I am really shy and don't want to play with the other kids, but not today. There were lots of kids there. I played with Jackson and Tatum, they are both about my age, but they walk! One of the babies older brothers was there and I had a good time playing with him too. He was five and reminded me a lot of my cousin Sam. I did stuff I usually don't do today. I wanted to walk like the other kids so I got behind a chair and pushed it so I could walk. There was also a big toy car that you can sit in, Tatum was sitting in it and I went over and started walking behind it and pushing her! She didn't like that but I thought it was fun. Jackson had this straw cup with water in it...he left it on the floor and I was thirsty. I grabbed it and took a big sip! Mommy said "Quinn you don't even know how to drink from a straw!" But obviously I do cause I had a mouth full of water. It was okay, Jackson didn't mind and Mommy was really impressed!

Then when we got home the delivery man brought us a big mirror! Daddy hung it in the living room right at my level so now I can look at myself all the time! Yay!!!

I am so happy that my old PT, Lindalee, came back today! Not only is she a lot nicer than that replacement PT, but she is smarter too. My old PT never even set goals for me, but that was the first thing Lindalee did. Some of my goals are:

1) To walk 10 feet holding only one hand.
2) To get into standing independently from the middle of the room.
3) To stand alone for 30 seconds or more.
4) To walk up the stairs holding the railing on one side and a hand on the other.

Those sound like some great goals don't they? Me and Mommy are very excited! Hopefully Lindalee can make it happen. Too bad one of my goals wasn't to climb onto the green sofa completely alone! I did that tonight, Mommy was playing on the floor with Cooper and she looked up and I was on the sofa looking out the window with Portia!

Don't forget to look at the pictures below of me and Cooper! I love my little brother sooooo much!

Mommy finally figured out how to get a picture of Quinn and Cooper together!

True brotherly love!

 

Quinn wondering if he can get away with grabbing Cooper's foot.

So happy Mommy is letting him touch his brother!