Quinn has this new thing that she does... ALL of the time. She "sings". She gets so into it; she puts her whole body into it. Notice in the clip, she shakes her hands back and forth. Also notice that she holds the note for so long and gives it such power that she looks like she is either going to pass out or gag! She does all of this with no coaching. Could she be a future American Idol?? Maybe if she learns to sing anything other than "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh"

yes, she pulled her hair out on one side and yes, we are sitting in the kitchen. It is her new favorite place to be. (on a side note, Quinn just heard herself "singing" and she is now performing for me!)

Little Ones

Quinn looks so much like Dan to me in this picture. Wasn't he adorable?!?!? Oh and notice the cape that his Grandmother O. made for him. What a little Super Hero!

People tell me ALL of the time how much Quinn looks like him.

What do you think??

Answered Prayers

Recently I have been a little stressed out. New insurance means the loss of Quinn's doctors and well, I am having a really hard time with it. I have learned to trust her doctors with something that I am very concerned with and have no power over; her health. I have been praying a lot recently that we will be ok and that we will get through this and find a new medical staff . I have been worrying so much more over Quinn's health, or I guess letting it worry me more since I won't have her AWESOME doctors to call on and help us out.

I have felt like no one really understands what I am going through. I am not saying that other mothers don't love their children as much as I love Quinn, but just that when having a child with special needs, it is different... Anyway, the other day at the grocery store this lady was there with her little daughter. We were standing in line and she just started to talk to me. She immediately told me about how her daughter was turning 2 and how she was premature and has had numerous health issues. She told me about how her daughter was in physical, speech and occupational therapy. (just like Quinn) I opened up a little and told her some about Quinn. She flatly said, "no one can understand what it is like to be in our situation until they are in our shoes". That is completely how I feel. Suddenly I felt like I was no longer alone. This complete stranger came up to me in line and told me exactly what I needed to hear and she seemed to be someone that "gets it". I know this might sound weird to some but I feel like she was in my line on purpose. I feel like she started to talk to me on purpose. It is odd how a complete stranger can make you feel so much better. All I needed to hear was that people have gone through what we are going through before and that they have made it out ok. I just wanted to hear that I wasn't the only one being strong only to hear the next doctor tell me that something else was wrong.

I know that we are being watched over. I know that Dan and I have been completely blessed with Quinn. Now I am just praying that we will be able to quickly find Quinn new doctors that love her as much as her old ones do.

Easter

We started off Easter morning heading over to my Dad and Annette's house. We met my brother there too. Quinn had fun playing with the dogs and getting a marshmellow treat from her Grandma!

Then we headed over to my Grandma and Grandpa T's house. We weren't there for too long but Quinn and I had fun. We weren't there for more than 5 minutes and Dan ate 4 pretzels with buckwheat in them. He is VERY allergic to them so Grandpa had to take him to the office and give him some shots. We left after about an hour.

My poor husband had a rough day, thank you Grandpa for taking care of him.Quinn searched for Easter Eggs and played with them for a while. She was not too fond of the grass on her legs though. See how she is lifting them up? Adorable.

Quinn HATED being in this chair but I couldn't resist. Ugh, so stinking cute.

It was a long weekend. It was great to be around almost everyone that we love. Dan is feeling much better now and thanks to Grandpa, we didn't have to go to the hospital. We were just happy to get home and relax.

Ondra Easter

On Saturday, we celebrated Easter with Dan's side of the family. We all had so much fun. We went over to Stephanie's house for dinner and Quinn got to play with our cousins' children.

Quinn and Julie!

Quinn and Violet

Doesn't Quinn's face look like she is saying, "Look what I have!!!"

Aden, Quinn And Violet

Aden and Quinn played SO WELL together. He is adorable

Then we went back to Quinn's MomMom and PopPop's house to spend the NIGHT along with three of her cousins. It was a packed house and we had a great time!

Isn't Zoey stinking Adorable?!?!?! She kept on saying, "I'm not Quinny, I'm Zoey!"

Breanna and Me

She was so great with Quinn. Let me tell you, Quinn had the time of her life with these kids!

Dan, Jordan and PopPop!

Visiting Friends

Quinn and I went to visit my old friend from Towson. I haven't seen Amy since her wedding when Quinn was so upset that we had to leave after just arriving. I had a great time just catching up with Amy and Quinn had fun playing with her two adorable dogs!

Assessment Day

So today Quinn was assessed by her new therapist. She is a speech pathologist and Dr in cognitive development. Quinn scored above her age in the area of social interaction. She was assessed with an age of 24 months! goooo Quinny! (note: Quinn is actually 17 months and 2 weeks)

On the other hand, Quinn was assessed with the cognitive development of a 13 month old. Ok, so this could make me really sad and worried but the Therapist said that Quinn has had one trial after another and that they can really impact a child's development. Also, she was concerned with Quinn's hydrocephalus and the effects of it on her. Plus, I already knew that she wasn't as developed as other kids her age. She doesn't understand associations or even like to "pretend play" yet. I think that this will all happen in due time.

Quinn was assessed at 15 months for her speech. (which is about right if you consider her "corrected" age for prematurity) She sure does talk a lot but not many real words. She says "Dada, NO!, uh oh, oh boy, dog, hi and yeah!" It is really cute. She thinks that any animal is a dog. she says "doh" and points to anything fuzzy in her books.

We are starting to teach Quinn sign language so that she can communicate. She has picked up a strange way of communicating with me. When she is thirsty she doesn't say "baba" or 'sip" like I try to get her to. Instead, she clucks to us. Unfortunately, I know what this means and respond which only reinforces the clucking. I do try and tell her what I am giving her but it hasn't worked as of yet. The Therapist thinks that she is at the 15 month level because of all of her ear infections. When her ears are filled with fluid, words don't sound the same and therefore, it makes it all the more difficult for her to associate them with actions or things. We are also going to take a picture of her sippy cup and print it out. We are supposed to show her this when she clucks and sign drink along with saying "sip" or "sippy". Wish us LUCK!! :)

I am really excited to work with this therapist and help my wonderful daughter grow and develop.

Easter Bunny Girl!

Is she the cutest little bunny girl in the world or WHAT?!?!?!

Talking girl

Quinn has started to really talk, a lot. Who knows what she is saying but it must be really important! Love this little girl. She amazes me every day with all of the new things that she can do.

Family Visit

Quinn and I went to PA to visit some of our family. We saw my cousins, their children, my Awesome Aunt Reenie, and my wonderful Grandparents. Here are a bunch of pictures from the visit.

I know that this is blurry but boy-oh boy Quinn LOVED playing with Brielle!

Quinny and her Great Grandpa!

Quinn and Emma had a blast playing together! Piper, Emma and Quinny just hanging outBrinn is so pretty and Quinn LOVED her necklace! Aspen and Quinn

Notice that the shirt is exactly the same.
Smart Mommies dress their cuties alike!
Haha, it was so hard to get these two to stay still!