Quinn-3 Years Old

Thought I should document Quinn at three.  He is really smart. I hate to brag, but he is way ahead of alot of the kids his age. He understands pretty much anything we explain to him.  He is starting to ask a MILLION questions like "mom, what do dogs eat? Why do birds sing?' And he'll ask over and over until we have given him a satisfactory answer. We really should be quicker learners and just give him the lengthy explanation the first time.  He is very logical and reasonable. Ever since he was able to understand, we have been able to reason with him. He would begin to throw a fit and we could calm him down and talk to him till he understood what was going on.
He LOVES to read books with us. And again, while we read he has lots of commentary and questions.  He likes to talk and sing is usually only quiet when watching a show. He makes up his own songs, lyrics and melody. His songs usually have a beat, and alot of times a syncopated beat.  He's always on key and makes up great tunes. He's just really musically talented and I'm excited to see how that develops as he gets older. He will do anything to get out of going to bed. His favorites, which I always fall for, are "I'm hungry & I need a drink." He has gotten sneaky about it and after we go to bed, we can hear little feet running around on the main floor getting into food, toys, etc.
He loves to be outside, especially with his daddy.  He could be outside all day long and be happy.  He makes "cake" out of water and dirt.  He likes to cook with Thurm & me in the kitchen.  He used to be a mommy's boy, but about 6 months ago, he started to prefer his daddy. He started catching on that Thurm is the fun one and that all mommy does is cook and clean. He even prefers daddy to put him to bed now.
He does NOT like getting eye drops put in his eyes. He is finally through the terrible twos!  He has slowly been becoming a more obedient, nice boy the last six months. Getting a new brother last summer really threw his life into a twist.  But he can be very gentle and older-brotherly with Jens now. Quinn teaches Jens and saves him from getting hurt or getting into something he's not supposed to.  It's so fun to watch them interact now.
Quinn has been "running" like his daddy the last few months.  He runs down the side walk about two houses down to a yellow sign and back.  He does stretches before and after he runs.  Occasionally he'll just break into a stretch, its pretty funny.
He knows how to turn on the TV and VCR (yes we have a VCR, all my Disney movies are on VHS) and watch a show.  Usually he asks me, but sometimes he'll sneak off to watch.  He would watch TV all day long if I let him.  His favorites are Dora, Diego, Sid the Science Kid, Wonderpets, and Backyardigans.
He is really loving and loves to be held.  He gives hugs and kisses without us asking. He started sucking his finger last year when Jens was born and is still doing it.  He dresses himself most of the time and almost always has something on backwards or inside out. Its been funny seeing his outfits. He tends towards shorty-shorts that are supposed to be jammies.
He loves to make his daddy laugh. All he has to do is make silly faces and daddy will laugh.  He can make Jens laugh more than anyone else too.

Quinn's 3 year old photo shoot on his birthday.  What a silly, fun, sweet, energetic, nice, smart, loving boy.  We are so blessed to have him in our family. 

Sleeping with wild abandon : )

Irises from the back yard...I just love the color.

Quinn's 3rd Birthday!!!

My friend Debbi made this AWESOME cake for Quinn. She's a great artist. 

A couple of clowns!

Our only family picture with Jens under the age of one. He is 11 months, Quinn is 2 1/2.  

Jens thought taking a bath in the sink was so fun. 

Thurm grilling on the front steps. We are the only people in our neighborhood that hang out on our front porch-does that mean we are the ghetto ones?

Quinn & Jens LOVE the swimming pool.

An awesome flag banner that I made for Quinn's birthday party. I just used some scrapbook paper I had and sewed it together. 

Cute little lanterns made out of baby jars.

Dirty little man~

Pancake Mix Recipe

Making pancakes from scratch is a pain, but they are SOO much better than a mix. My sister in law gave me a REALLY good recipe that today I put in baggies and made into a mix that I can use later. Here is the recipe:

1 1/4 cup flour

1 TBS baking powder

1 TBS sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 TBS powdered milk

I put all of that in a baggie and then wrote on the front of it

ADD and MIX

1 egg

1 cup water

2 TBS oil. 

If you are making this not as a mix, but just to eat right away, you can use a cup of milk instead of the 2TBS powdered milk and 1 cup water.  I just like the idea of using the powdered milk because I have alot of it in food storage that I need to use.  This recipe makes enough for our family of 2 adults and 2 children. 

Jens-11 months

Jens is 11 months old in a few days!  I can't believe how fast this year has gone!  Thurm & I were talking about how sweet our baby is the other day and talking about all the cute stuff he does and how we haven't written anything in our journals since he was born. So I wanted to write a few things down about him at this age.
Jens, whom we all call Jensy or Jensipan is a JOY. You hear parents say that, but he actually is a joy. He brings me nothing but happiness. I never feel anger, frustration, exhaustion, or anything negative toward him. I only ever feel love and patience for him. I sure hope thats how it goes with any other children I have (poor Quinn never got this much love and patience).
He crawls, climbs and stands like a madman. He has had a couple moments of standing without holding onto anything, but lowers himself to the ground after a few seconds. He doesn't seem too interested in walking yet, which is fine by me.
Meal time is spent STANDING up in his high chair. He will not sit down. We repeatedly sit him down and he instantly stands up. We seat belt him in and he wriggles out and stands up.  He throws food on the floor. He wipes his tray back and forth with his hand sending food flying everywhere.  If he wants something he yells until we give it to him, usually food or drinks. This makes him sound obnoxious, but its really cute. He has being crazy lately. He will clinch his fists and shake them.  He can crawl up and down stairs. He repeats sounds like "up, up, up, ut, ut, ut, ma, ma, da, da" Blows air sounds out of his mouth. He smiles constantly and especially if you smile at him.  He is always happy. Even when he is exhausted and on the verge of sleep, he'll look up at me and smile.  He laughs at Quinn alot and when we tickle him. The other night he was nursing and he smiled up at me and it made me laugh. He felt my stomach push out as I laughed and he tried to do it himself. Which made me laugh again, which made him try to push his stomach out again. This went on and on.  He LOVES to be held and wishes he could be carried all day long. He has wispy, fine, blond hair that is so sweet and I need to capture in a photo.
Today was the first time that I've yelled a firm "NO" at him for crawling from his high chair onto the counter. His face completely crumpled and he burst into tears. It was the cutest/saddest/sweetest thing to watch.  I felt bad that it was his first time getting yelled at, but it had to happen sooner or later : )
He LOVES his blanket. He GIGGLES when you rub it on his face or put it over his head. He loves to be wrapped in it.

When did girls start wearing pink?

I read this article today about when pink came about as THE color for girls. Not until the mid 1980's. That's so weird, I just assumed pink has always been a girl color. Not so!

"In June 1918, an article from the trade publication Earnshaw's Infants' Department advised, "The generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl." Through the following decades, several department stores, including Filene's, Halle's and Marshall Field, recommended that boys be dressed in pink.

Maglaty describes the turning point as the women's liberation movement in the mid-1960s. Young women gravitated toward gender neutral clothing to rebel against the subservient role of women dictated by society. But by the mid-1980s, gendered clothing returned in a big way. Jo B. Paoletti, historian and author of the forthcoming Pink and Blue: Telling the Girls From the Boys in America, remembers this clear distinction, as it was between the births of her two children, one in 1982 and another in 1986: "All of a sudden it wasn’t just a blue overall; it was a blue overall with a teddy bear holding a football." Perhaps the biggest factor in cultivating a gender obsessed society is the rise of consumerism among young children. Now, as early as age 3, children are subject to marketing campaigns that reinforce the notion that "what makes someone female is having long hair and a dress," says Paoletti."