It was funny that Quinn knew exactly what he wanted. His guest list consisted of Aunt Karine, Jennabee, Aunt Tamsin, Grandpa and Grandma Campbell, and Aunt Trisha(Grandma Campbell's sister). So we invited them and their families over for dinner and a small celebration.
We asked him what he wanted for his birthday dinner. He said Aunt Karine's home made mac-n-cheese, Aunt Trisha's fruit salad, deviled eggs "the eyeball kind!"(I think he remembered the deviled egg eyeballs we took into Asha's class.), and cheese cake "with berries on top".
I should always let Scott choose boy gifts. Look at his smile! I would have never picked a bow and arrows.
This years has been a milestone for Quinn. He learned to entertain himself in ways we approve of. We are no longer worried that he might burn the house down or that he might seriously injure himself. We no longer panic when we haven't seen him for five minutes. He got potty trained. He stopped sucking his thumb. (Thanks, Scott, for your diligent effort at applying
Mavala Stop day after day.) After not being interested for what seemed to be a long time, he recently learned his ABCs and their sounds in two weeks.
Leap Frog DVD a friend loaned to us did the magic.
Quinn loves being with his brother Kai, and wants to copy everything he is doing. Lego and trains can keep him happy for a long time. He likes to watch Bob the Builder and is sure he can build a house if only we let him use Dad's tools.
When we get our Costco coupon book, Scott and I individually go through and circle things that we want to purchase. One day Scott went to Costco without me and came back with several junk food that we had never bought before. When I asked Scott why he had gotten them, he said they were circled on the coupon book. We opened the book to see wobbly circles that Quinn had added. Quinn was very proud of himself that it worked.
We asked him what his memorable moments were from the past year.
"Staying at Aunt Karine's house while Mama was in Japan and Dad was on a business trip." If he had his way, he would live there and be Aunt Karine's son.
Riding the ice explorer on the athabasca glacier in Canada. "The wheels are bigger than me!"
Hiking a total of 26.2 miles without ever being held. Here he is near the end of Opal Hills in Jasper Ntional Park. He said he couldn't possibly walk another step, lied there for a few minutes to charge, and then walked down the rest of the way.
After Kai's birth, I was told by my OBGYN that I shouldn't have any more babies. I was getting older and my scar tissue was building up from three c-sections, she said. It didn't help that I was mad at her for the complication she had caused during the c-section, but I decided to ignore her suggestion. I knew there was another baby and I wanted to have him/her. I didn't even tell Scott what she had said until much later. Two and a half years later we had Quinn. I can't imagine our family without him.
