Eskimo See, Eskimo Do

Quinn took her first step just before Halloween last year. Now she's running, climbing, and on her way to jumping off of higher platforms - yikes! She just saw her doctor for her routine wellness check, and I was surprised at some of the questions the doctor asked me.  

Is she walking backwards? Yes. I've seen it when she backs away from Sonya.

Is she picking up things with her index finger and thumb? Yes. Just the other day she presented me with a needle.

[Bad Mama! Leaving needles out for Quinn to pick up. In my defense though, the needle was out because I patched up a stuffed polar bear toy from the thrift store.]

Does she talk? Yes, if you consider babbling talking. I speak to her in two languages, so I can't tell if she's talking in Visayan or in English.

Is she paralleling your actions? Are you kidding?! I have to conceal the movements I make that I don't want her to follow, like locking the door, because she'll figure out how to get outside the house if she twists the lock the same way I just did! However, you ought to see her version of downward facing dog when I am doing yoga with her.

Then the doctor told me Don't be too alarmed if from now on she loses her voracious appetite... Expect that she will want to do things herself, like feeding, dressing, etc. 

Indeed, Quinn doesn't inhale her food like she used to anymore. The upside of that though is that she doesn't eat everything she gets her hands on anymore. So when we go to the beach I don't worry about her munching on sand.

Or rocks...

Or broken toys she picks up off the shore.

Quinn loves water. To drink and to play in.

When I was younger, and watched my Pa clean the fish he caught, I used to spread open the tails of parrot fish, admiring their intense blue-green color, wishing I was a mermaid so that I can stay under water all day, exploring corals and shells. Once I even asked my Pa if a turtle's lungs can be transplanted into humans. Don't talk such ridiculous things! Pa would reprimand.

I digress. But that's how much I loved the sea.

Back to Quinn. Does she love water because I did when I was a kid too?

5-Star showed Quinn how to throw a rock. Kid's got an arm!

Now she throws anything she can get her hands on at home. Maybe that was one thing that should have been concealed from her too...  However, if she would just parallel the more practical and useful actions she sees, my chores would be easier.

So Quinn, can you empty the water out of your boots yourself?

Look...

Now, you do it too...