Quinn's Busy

The other day I asked Quinn if he wanted to come look out the front window to wave bye-bye to mommy. "Quinn's busy" he announced in an official tone of voice, and he resumed playing garage. Since he'd done this once to Bec already I was able to contain my laughter and therefore respectfully respect his wishes. He definitely has a mind of his own.

And what a mind it is. "How it works?" is a daily fixture. We've taken apart his vibrating truck to see how it works. We've examined a toilet under repair, bicycle gears, garbage trucks, lumber mills, flour mills, natural gas delivery and furnaces, airborne and aquatic propellers. He even listened attentively while daddy explained how he "makes wires work" at work, which was a bit of a challenge to explain to a 2-year old.

Bec rides me about the long-play descriptions I give Quinn, but I try very hard to explain everything in terms he understands, and he eats it all up. I love that part. I try to avoid preconceptions for Quinn, but other than not being a Leafs fan, being intelligent is something I really really hope he demonstrates. It's so much easier to keep them engaged and "busy" when they're intelligent. So far, so great!

Articling

Quinn is articling already. He used the word 'the' a while back. He's effectively employing lots of stalling and imploring strategies. He's quick to point out injustices when daddy forgets a step at bedtime. It's obvious that our strong efforts to keep our promises are duly noted. Quinn is doing very well at observing playground sharing fairness. And finally, Quinn's eyes light right up when you give him some coins for his piggy bank.

Being called to the bar can't be far behind.

Chomping muffins and Mommy and Magician

If you ever want to feel good about your magician skills, I recommend you practice on two-year-olds. Bec made some muffins this morning, some big some small. Quinn likes to take a bite out of a small muffin and then call it a "chomping muffin" due to its pac-man-like appearance. Now he likes to feed Viola The Stuffed Hippopotamus, his new best friend, when he eats snack. Then Mommy The Amazing Magician pulls this amazing trick where she tugs a little on Viola's tail and lo and behold, a mini-muffin appears from it!

He never tires of it, so I also recommend that if you want to practice on Quinn, be prepared to practice a lot.

Hooray!

Quinn's started this thing at the supper table where he suddenly throw his hands in the air and says "hooray"! Sometimes it's a particularly emphatic "hoooo. RAYYYYYY" with matching hand flourish. He's definitely got some ham in him.

The Mystery of the Missing Hockey Sticks was solved by Quinn today. Two of his three mini-hockey sticks have been missing for days. I searched high and low and could not find them. My biggest concern was that they might be in the garbage. Not being able to find them, I was forced to rummage through the garbage to ensure they weren't in there. I didn't find them, and so I figured they'd turn up someday.

Quinn's mini hockey sticks are key implements in retrieving items from under the couch, which happens, oh, about 175 times a day. Today something went underneath again and he went to get his hockey stick. Suddenly he was taken with an idea and said "Quinn missing hockey sticks. Quinn use hockey stick to find other hockey sticks". He went under the dining room table and started rummaging around in the vicinity of the drawer on one end. Lo and behold, inside Bec found the hockey sticks. Quinn was quite proud of himself.

It amazes me that he can stump us at such an early age. That doesn't bode well for teenage years eh? But the important thing is that the sticks are found. Hooray for that.

Nor'easter meets Sou'wester

Quinn has now figured out how to squirt water out of his bath toys. I've required a full change after his bath the last two nights. Our little nor'easter is making me need a sou'wester.

On another note, we had an hour-long Skype video call to Nana and Grampy last weekend. It went very well. Our laptop lacks the horsepower for smooth video but it was quite serviceable nonetheless - plenty good enough for an hour-long call. The mobility of the laptop makes it much easier for them to see Quinn in his natural habitat, playing in the living room. Quinn was playing with his grandparents long-distance, making them coffee in his kitchen and holding up the cup to nana's mouth in the picture on the screen. I think all involved enjoyed it immensely.