Last weekend, Joe looked at Quincey's plastic tote full of toys and said, "I'm going to make Quincey a toy box today." So, he went to the store, got some wood, and a couple hours later she had her very own toy box. He added a little step to it and everything so she could get up to grab toys in the back. When she gets older we are going to paint it together.
Quincey has been make a mess of things lately. For example, she is tall enough now to reach in the garbage. And, she does just that if there's something sticking out that peaks her interest. Recently she got into a bag of old rice cereal and, I found her with it dumped on the floor playing in it.
Then, I was transplanting a bunch of plants the other day while Quincey watched with great interest. She knows that she can't touch the plants or the dirt on the pots and just stood back watching me work but never have we taught her not to get into dirt from a bag.... Then, I took the newly potted plant to the sink to water it down and I realized after a couple minutes that it was awfully quiet and then I heard some coughing. And what did I find??? Quincey eating dirt. (The pictures below truly don't do it justice. By the time I grabbed my camera, she has wiped most of it off and I had cleaned out her mouth.)
I don't let her play with my phone bu she happened to get her hands on it and somehow she took a selfie. Not a great one but I thought it was pretty cute and worth the post.
And already, another post about another month gone by! So crazy how quickly things go with a baby. Just like that Quincey turned 11 months old!
Things she loves: She loves to flip through books. She will sit forever and just flip through book after book. She also loves to have books read to her. She loves her papa. She has been a daddy's girl lately. She loves dirt piles and sticks. She loves olives and cheese sticks. She absolutely loves playing outside as well. She still goes on her daily walks and she loves them. She also gets to be in the park most days. And of course, she continues to love Baby Einstein.
Things she doesn't like: She doesn't like going to take naps. She doesn't like being fed. She will eat pretty much anything but she has to feed it to herself. She absolutely hates being fed. She doesn't like getting dressed or getting her diaper changed. And, she doesn't like being put down.
Quincey continues to light up our lives with joy. But, she has started to go through the check list of what will work to get her way. For example, she has been pretty clingy lately and when she has to be put down, she will plop to the ground and "fake cry". It's not quite what I would call a fit but is definitely an attempt to get her way. It came out of nowhere and we're doing our best to tackle it. So far, ignoring her when she does this works quite well. Eventually she will get up and mosey off to the next thing.
She gained 3 more teeth this month totally 7 now. It seemed like it happened over night. I hadn't noticed any new teeth and one night she cried for 3 hours sleep and the next day I saw that she had 3 more teeth. Wowzers!
All in all, Quincey continues to be such a good girl! She may be testing us a little bit but she is a quick learner and is usually full of smiles. She is getting so much more personality and it's so amazing to watch her become her own little person.
I still can't believe that she's ours- that this cute, snuggable, kissable, amazing little thing of love is ours!
I think I was probably around 11 years old before I ever attended a funeral. It was my grandfather. Quincey didn't even make it to 1 year old before attending her first one.
It was very sad to watch my mother suffer with dementia for the last six years. As the years went by, more and more slipped from her mind until finally, she no longer knew how to eat or drink. On February 2, 2021 at 3:20pm, her soul left her body.
Quincey,
Grandma was a big worrier. She worried about lots of things but she especially worried about your mama. You see, grandma worried that I would never find your papa and be happy. She would always tell me how badly she wanted me to find the man of my dreams - how much she wanted me to be happy and how much she wanted me to have a family I could call my own. Fortunately, before grandma got too bad, mama met your daddy. A little over 6 years ago, grandma got to meet your daddy and she just loved him! She thought he was amazing. I would go to Newcastle from Sheridan (where you are named after) to visit grandma and we would stay up for hours after grandpa had gone to bed and talk about your daddy. Grandma just thought he was amazing and neither of us could talk enough about him.
Grandma was absolutely thrilled when your dad and I decided to make a go of it. She couldn't remember names very good by then so she would call him "that good lookin' guy". She thought it was Christmas when I would bring papa to see her and she absolutely loved seeing me so happy.
You see Quincey, your dad was the answer to grandma's prayers and the end of much of her worrying for me. I had finally found your dad and was finally happy. Grandma got dementia just a little before I met your dad and I think God knew that, not only would I need your papa to help me through the hard times but, grandma needed papa to alleviate some of her worry.
When I got pregnant with you, I refused to tell anyone until I could tell grandma. I wanted her to be the first to know because, no one besides myself wanted you as much as grandma did. She was thrilled. By that point, she could not quite comprehend all the ins and outs of having a baby or connect all the dots but what she did know is that it was good news and I was happy which made her happy. That was all that mattered anymore.
Grandma was able to participate in your gender reveal party. All the family came together to figure out if you were going to be a boy or a girl and grandma just loved having all her family around. She was a big smile all day. She sat there and soaked it all in. She no longer knew what was happening but again, she knew that all her loved ones were there and they were all happy which filled her with smiles for the whole day. She even wrote on one of the little notes for you. It is not legible but she told Auntie Dessa what she wrote... It says, "Baby Beautiful. Grandma Esther." Even grandma knew how beautiful you were going to be before you were born!
That was the last time I saw grandma able to walk or talk. Those will be memories that I will cherish so closely to my heart. Your papa and you brought some of the final moments of happiness that grandma ever had.
So, you attending your first funeral. February 6, 2021 at 2pm, we went to say goodbye to grandma.
You looked absolutely beautiful for the funeral and, you did an amazing job there. You were quiet and a good girl. Of course you weren't will to sit in the chair for that long so mama's good friend took care of you so I could say goodbye to grandma. And, as soon as it was all over, you promptly fell asleep in mama's arms, just as comfortable as could be.
I wish you could have known grandma but, I think a little of her spirit lives right inside of you.
Quincey got to take her first airplane ride! She did phenomenal. She slept from take off to touch down on both flights to Wyoming. But, wasn't thrilled with sleeping on the very last flight home. Oh well!
She got her "first set of wings" from the stewardess. Her favorite, though, was walking up and down the long corridors in the airports. She has never had that much inside open space to cruise around on her new walking feet. She loved it and went up and down and up and down. She also loved all the people. She would pass one person, turn to follow them and then another person would pass in the other direction and she would turn to follow them until she just decided to do her own thing. All in all, Quincey is a great traveler!
Then, during our stay in Wyoming, we were hanging out in my dad's shop and I told Joe that he should build Quincey a toy. And... within a half an hour, Quincey had all the pieces necessary to glue together a wooden airplane. Papa is the best! But, Quincey hasn't really gotten to play with it much because her dad seems to think it's pretty cool and has since made a stand for it and put it in his office. Oh well! She liked it for the few minutes she got to play with it! :)
Quincey has gotten to travel to Wyoming 3 times in the last couple months and one thing that we noticed during her first trip is that she seemed to love the snow and definitely did not mind the cold. But, we didn't have the proper snow gear for her to truly play in it. So, we remedied that and got her the "Big 5" as Auntie Dessa's kids would call it.... Snow pants, coat, gloves, boots, and hat. We were prepared when we returned to Newcastle. Quincey had a BLAST and didn't want to come in. We were freezing but she was happy as could be. In fact, my sisters took her outside because, while I was catching up on some Z's, she was stomping with her foot at the back door and grabbing her snow boots. So, they took her out to play. Such good Aunties!
Then, papa decided that she needed a sled and was able to find one in Newcastle. Quincey was hilarious on it. She had no idea what to think of it and sat in it like a frozen statue. She didn't move. Didn't even rotate her head to look around when papa pulled her in it. She couldn't figure out what was going on and if she should like it or not so, mama got in and showed that it wasn't so bad after all. We were finally able to get a smile out of her but, I think her favorite was still just walking around in the snow, watching it fall around her, and pushing it around with her gloves.
From baby to toddler went by waaaayyy too fast. Like a blink of the eye, our little baby princess is a little toddler. And she is so darn...
