Quinn Age Two (Photography by Lindsay Hamilton Photography)
How many hours are in a day? Twenty-four hours of course! That’s common knowledge. Using the numbers, 4,7,8,8, can you get a solution of 24? This one requires some critical thinking and math skills and can be simple or complicated. Are you capable of predicting all that is involved in raising a child to reach 24 months (two years old) even after reading the books, magazines, “expert websites” and more? Absolutely not! Though the information about babies and toddlers is helpful, every child is different and unique in his or her own way. I learned this from day one with my daughter who celebrated her second birthday today, May 3rd, 2015. While I have plans for her, she has plans for me too. Thus far, she’s taken me on a journey with many curves, hills and valleys, and I have been enjoying the ride despite not always being sure of where we are headed. I am so grateful to have Quinn in my life and consider her and the love I have for her to be priceless. But if I were to use a metaphor, I’d say my love for her is 24 carats: pure gold! Here’s to making each day (24 hours) a memorable one for my daughter and for me.
All the best,
Tanya
There are so many associations with the number 100. It is the basis of percentages, the boiling point on the Celsius scale and the perfect score on an assignment. It also represents how many weeks my daughter has been on this earth. Being her mother has been a wonderful journey and experience, and I only hope that her 100 weeks has been a wonderful journey for her as well. What intrigues me is that in 100 weeks she has grown, learned and mastered a series of skills that some people may not grasp in a lifetime, and for this I am grateful. Though I do occasionally find myself reaching a “boiling point” as Quinn pushes the envelope, tests the limits to see what she is capable of doing (she loves jumping off the last step on the stair case) or can get away with by saying, sometimes yelling, “no” or throwing a tantrum now and then, which have become more frequent in the past month, I love how passionate she is and admire her ability to give 100 percent at whatever she is doing, even when she’s crying and refusing to let me do her hair or refusing to eat her vegetables. Of course, my little girl is not perfect, but she is perfect for me. Within these past 100 weeks, I have grown immensely through my experiences with Quinn and thank her for helping me keep it 100!
With just a little under two more months to go before my little girl is two, she’s been showing more and more of an interest in numbers. A few months ago, I was blown away with Quinn’s ability to recognize numbers one through ten. Lately, she has been not just reciting her numbers but using her fingers which is an indication that she is already beginning to grasp the concept of counting. Since Quinn is being educated at home, I’ve been using countless resources to help with her intellectual development. Out of the many resources, one that my daughter really loves is the items in a can that I purchased from 
I’ve always enjoyed reading as a child and remember being so excited to select books at the library, local book store or just off of my personal bookshelf at home. It is my hope that my daughter will have the same level of excitement and have a strong affinity for reading. While my daughter was still growing inside of me, I would read to her and feel her kick every so often as though she was delighted with the story and wanted me to read more. Since she was born, my husband and I to read to her least three or more times a day.
What truly amazes me is for the past few months when my little girl Quinn wakes up, she immediately looks for one of her books as though it is the morning paper and casually yet intently leafs through the pages for about ten to fifteen minutes, sometimes even longer. We all think our children are geniuses or special, and Quinn is no exception. For some reason, Quinn has always known which way to hold a book. No matter how many times my husband and I intentionally giver her a book upside down, she will turn it right side up before she starts “reading.” Occasionally, she will read aloud in her special language eagerly pointing to the pictures and identifying the objects she sees when asked. I just love that my inquisitive little girl is so interested in books and will do all that I can to increase her fondness of them.
Mommy's Baby Steps 