Developments

Quintin:

• started facing forward in the car. YIPPEEE!
  
• cut his 7th tooth this last week.
• commando crawled about 20 feet.
  
• started crawling on his hands and knees for short stints....MIRACLE! (he was crawling some but his head was also down to support - so he had 5 points on the floor...looks kinda silly)
  
• can move from laying to sitting and pull himself to standing with his elbows on the table.
• can walk holding one hand now, instead of two. (you need one free hand to carry a toy along with you, of course!)
• can stand on his own for half a minute.
• had his first bad fall--head slam onto the floor.
• met his 3rd Urologist. Children's Hospital was pretty cool!
• his tongue sticks out most of the time, now. (watch out if you try to kiss him)
  
• had a long visit with Aunt Becky and cousins yesterday - and LOVED it!
• can't figure out when and how long he wants to sleep. I think we're transitioning to one nap a day.
  

Wow, what a week.
Somehow I got a hair of some sort stuck into my heel on Tuesday. It developed into a subcutaneous infection by Wednesday. I tried to drain it but it continued painfully growing. It's really difficult to get through the toughest skin on the body! I was worried about it since we don't have insurance. My parents loaned us some money so I decided to go to the walk-in clinic on Thursday. I dropped Q off with Becky at TaeKwonDo (how much more exciting can it get for a 1 year old?) and went in. I think it was the same doctor as the last time I went. He was so nice. Did you know there are thousands of pounds of pressure per square inch on your heel while you're standing/walking? No wonder I couldn't walk. His procedure hardly hurt. He left me with a hole in my foot to go find some support so I could start walking again. (limping around on the ball of my foot was causing cramps all the way up my leg!) I just laid there and cried...I wasn't crazy, there really was a problem that needed dealing with, and he helped me. It feels so releasing to cry. I've been trying to for several months now to let off some of the stress, but couldn't until this week. I don't understand why things have to get so bad in order for me to let go. Only now I feel like I could cry anytime and it feels raw...don't know if I like that either.

Aside from when Andrew died, this last month has been the hardest month to live through of my life. I'm so grateful for Q, if it weren't for him I wouldn't have made it through. Same for Ian. Even if we would give up on things for ourselves, Q is worth anything in the world.

Our counseling appointment this week was incredible. I think something clicked and I just might see hope that we'll be okay down the road. Our counselor is incredible and somehow finds a way to see the good in the bad. Her perspective each week is invaluable. I find it curious that she answers a question each week that I actually asked the week before, maybe she doesn't notice. Or maybe she needed time to answer? Regardless, it's wonderful to get answers. She's teaching us how to spin in a positive direction instead of negative. This is starting to feel like a group project at school...you learn in class, go home and practice, then come back and get corrected and/or validated for your efforts. I'm really grateful.

I've started branching out of my chocolate chip cookie rut and making new types. It's a bit of an adventure. Ginger crinkles last month, chocolate cream cheese sandwich cookies this month. I pressed some with a cool snowman press we've had but never used. I tried lemon frosting on most of them and Nutella when I ran out. I think the Nutella was better. The cream cheese cookies were quite blah so I don't think we'll make those again.

I didn't expect to be so truly alone out here on Camano. I miss Davis and all its conveniences. Close stores, close neighbors to socialize with, warmth, sidewalks to stroll on, convenient things to do...I'm truly grateful we have such a nice place to stay for now, but it's still tough. When I was a kid I planned on living out in the boonies like this, but I don't think now is the time, yet.

Our neighbor Alice is teaching me what the local birds are.
We have Towhee,
Mourning dove,
Junco,
Nuthatch,

Chickadee,
Wren (I think, although mine are more grey) ,
Downy woodpeckerand
Northern Flicker woodpeckers and
two types of squirrels; pesky grey invader squirrels and
shy brown native squirrels. The Northern Flicker woodpecker is the largest, then the doves and Towhee.I enjoy being able to identify them as they use the bird feeder outside the window. Q and the cats enjoy the show as well. When we go outside we can hear the eagles chatting away in the trees and soaring in the wind above the house. Wonderful.