Quincy is not sitting independently (he is quite stable when sitting on a lap but I think he wonders what it will do for him when there isn’t a dining table in front of him…) but the last couple of days he has started to prop himself on one forearm (his left of course) and is sort of on his side to get some height to play with things with his right hand. I THINK this may be his way to lead into sitting. He is getting pretty good at holding a crawl position for a while and of course rocking. He has also figured out how to maneuver himself quite quickly to where he wants to go. Too bad he is mostly interested in the VCR on the low shelf below the TV! Also any electrical cords he can see… And of ESPECIAL interest is anything his brother is playing with! Puzzle pieces, little boats, little people, paper, books, you name it. Aidan has decided he should tell Quincy NO very loudly or else just hit him. Hmm. Think I may need to read one of those sibling books… Quincy is chowing down his food quite well especially anything with the fruit purees in it. He has the fasted hands on the block – I have to move all items on dining table much further out of reach than you imagine he can get to – because he can. You turn your head to talk to someone and your plate is hanging halfway off the table. Paper napkins head right into the mouth. And oh! That shiny silverware! Speaking of silverware, Aidan loves a utensil we have named “spork” – it is mostly spoon shaped but with tines cut out of one end. Very good toddler item. I plan to find some to take home. I had seen them before as a fast food plastic utensil but we have them here in our house in stainless. Quincy’s poops are turning more into big boy poops – thanks to the solids I’m sure. And he tends to go 3 days or so between. I still remember once a week Aidan!

Did I mention that tooth #3 – front upper on left side – first appeared on July 1? It is fully through and getting a bit more prominent every day. Teeth #4 & 5 were visible today the 5th (top right 2). I used to give Aidan liberal doses of Tylenol whenever I suspected toothache, but I tried giving Quincy Tylenol once for a fever – he hated it and promptly threw up everything he had eaten so I haven’t tried again. Perhaps his waking every 2 hours at night is related to teething… I can hope!

Quincy has also been clapping for a few days. Very cute and he can do it hard enough to make a sound. He is obviously understanding certain words by his reactions. He is still smiling at his brother although that reaction is harder for us to understand as Aidan gets more and more rough with him. How many times can you say “please don’t sit on him” “please don’t bang that on his head” ?! No wonder Quincy is anxious to crawl!

I have Aidan in swim lessons at theYMCA every weekday this week and next (school break here). He was the only kid in his class this time and will be joined by one other next week. The teacher has been great but Aidan was getting more and more fearful and quite resistant to blowing bubbles in the water. I decided to take him in Thursday before class while Phyllis played with Quincy on the sidelines. For some reason the toddler pool wasn’t warm enough so we were moved to the Leisure Pool. It has stairs down instead of a ladder – a big hit with Aidan. Also flat surround where he could jump in – the Toddler Pool sides slope slightly to discourage jumping I would guess. So I would reward him with a jump in after blowing on the water. Then after his lesson – which went fairly well for a change – we hit the hot tub. There he was voluntarily blowing bubbles. Friday I also went in with him before class. Phyllis did water aerobics while we distracted her (we were in same pool) and Quincy was shunted off to the Creche (not popular – a manager ended up walking him around the pool area showing him the sights which he liked – they said to bring him back though!). When Aidan’s class came along he was an entirely different kid than the one who had been showing up earlier in the week. He even let the teacher pull him around while he just held on to a couple of “noodles” – on Wednesday he had to keep one hand gripped tightly on Spencer at all times even though he was in a pool he could stand up in – the Leisure Pool is 3 or 4 feet deep so no standing. Then in hot tub afterwards I couldn’t stop him blowing bubbles! Thursday and Friday he got to shower with Nanma afterwards – a hit.

Thursday night Phyllis took care of the boys while we headed to a 4th July Winter Escape thing organized by KPMG. A bit weird – at a place that was Western in theme down to a bucking bronco ride. We understood starting time to be 6.30 to 7 but at our arrival at 7.15 we thought we had the wrong night. Dinner wasn’t until 8.30 and it was cook your own steak! No bar-b-que sauce either. We bowed out 9.30 or so when the broncho riding had begun – I think Pete wanted to make sure he didn’t have to take a turn! Fortunately also Thursday Pete’s project took a turn for the better.

We have purchased our tickets to head to South Island. We all head down on 27th to Christchurch and mosey on over to Queenstown – hoping to take in a few glaciers and lots of scenery on the way. While in Queenstown area we hope to get on a Lake and Fjord or 2. Pete will head home the following Sunday while the rest of us continue with a bit more (and leisurely) sightseeing. We will hook up with Pete again in Christchurch the following weekend and then head home. Planning has occupied quite a bit of our free time of late. Aidan really fights going to sleep and was up (and crying) til about 11 last night when I finally let him sleep on floor in my room as I was going to bed and didn’t want him waking Quincy. He is still worrying about Wolves coming in although he intellectually does understand (now) that there are no wolves in this country (although you have to wonder what he thinks a country is…). He really wants someone to sleep with him. Well, I need to do some more trip planning now. Bye!