the baby blog

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

A Year of Quinn (Part 2)

MAY

In May we visited family again in Belgium, visited friends nearby and took it easy at home.

Playing, walking, visiting in Belgium with the fam.

Visiting our friends near Paris.

JUNE

The Summer! We went for lovely sun filled walks in the countryside around my parents' place, Quinn had his first ride in the kayak, we picked cherries from our tree, and Quinn finished his year at daycare....

Walking in the Summer sun in Montmirail.

Quinn's first (sort of) ride on a horse.

Kayaking!

Our very own cherries from our very own tree. Quinn absolutely loved them. We even managed to teach him how to spit out the pit!

Stealing dad's toast. Love that blueberry jam!

Goofing around with our neighbor Garence.

The end of the year party for Quinn's daycare.

JULY

In July I was off on tour again with Aida. Jos and Quinn met up with me in Bordeaux and then we all went together to the Dordogne for a bit more work and play.

On tour in Brittany. Not bad!

Playing outside Bordeaux.

Swimming... probably Quinn's favorite part of the Summer.

AUGUST

Lots more traveling in August. Both for work and pleasure. But mostly pleasure. We managed to fit our vacation around the gigs that Jos had with his one-man show. It ended up being the perfect plan. We had an amazing three-part holiday in Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. Jos played twice in Slovenia, once on an island in Croatia, and we all got to stay on and soak up the atmosphere, and the sun. Nice work if you can get it!

Before we left on our mad gallivanting we went to Belgium again to visit the clan.

In Austria we stayed on a working farm that was also a bed&breakfast. Quinn developed a deep fascination with tractors both big and small.

Walking in the mountains outside Salzburg, Austria.

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Next stop the beautiful city of Ljubljana, Slovenia. We stayed for a week and almost wished we never had to leave.
We all completely fell in love with the city, and we're already planning our next visit.

Quinn in the park by our apartment in Ljubljana.

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And then we arrived in paradise. The island of Cres in Croatia. Wow!

We stayed at an amazing house on the island which came with a Donkey, Luca.
As soon as Quinn woke up each morning he raced outside to feed him .

Fresh, grilled sardines and fries... what could be better?!

Basking, boating, swimming... It was hard to leave... but September was calling and there were things to be done...

To be continued with Part 3 tomorrow...

Monday, January 3, 2011

A year of Quinn (Part 1)

Ok, this is embarrassing. I haven't posted anything on this blog for nearly a year now. Yikes. Since one of my New Year's resolution is to be a better communicator I figured I should finally get back here and share a bit of this past year with you all (if anyone is still out there!). So much has happened in the last twelve months. Quinn has grown up so much. He's starting to talk little by little (in three languages!) and his abilities, desires and communication are becoming clearer and more precise each day. I thought that the best way to share this never ending transformation with you would be to post pictures of this past year month by month... a sort of a year in review in the life of Quinn (and his adult sidekicks)... So here we go...

JANUARY

Quinn stayed with my parents at their beautiful house for nearly the whole month of January (yes, they are amazing!) while I was working with my company (and Jos) on creating our new show Improbable Aida at a theatre not too far away. I was able to come back to see him every other evening or so and on the weekends. While he was there he really started walking proficiently and of course he celebrated his first birthday!

Quinn walking with Bobo in the winter sun in Montmirail

Quinn's first birthday

FEBRUARY

Aida opened on the 5th of February and played for a week. We all finally went home together mid month and were able to have a little down time before the next adventure.

Quinn looking pensive on one of his last days with Nana and Bobo.

Getting Aida ready to go.

Celebrating a late birthday party at home with Lizzy and Beatrix who were both born within weeks of Quinn.

MARCH

March was a month full of travel. I had performances in Belgium and in Barcelona. I dragged Quinn and my parents along when I went to Spain and we all spent a wonderful week in the early Spring sun. After I got back from my touring we all packed up and headed to California for two weeks. We rented a gorgeous house on the coast just North of San Francisco and visited family and friends. Unfortunately Quinn came down with an evil stomach bug and was very sick for the first week of our vacation. We saw two doctors, bought all sorts of electrolyte drinks and quickly learned that we should never leave the house without a change of clothes for ALL members of the family.

Walking and playing around beautiful Barcelona.

Performing Improbable Aida at the Antic Teatre.

A picnic on the California coast with my brother James and his boyfriend Adric.

Poor, sick Quinn.

Little man, big world.

APRIL

When we came back from California we headed straight to Belgium to celebrate Easter with Jos' family. Quinn had his first Easter egg hunt which he didn't quite seem to understand yet, but enjoyed none the less. With the sunny days here at last we thought it was time to set up some fun outdoor activities for Quinn at home, so we bought sand for the sandbox that we'd had built into our snazzy new deck and my parents came and helped us set up the swing. Quinn was in heaven of course! We also put a baby seat on Jos bike and started going on rides all together on the weekends. We played outside, sat in parks with friends and generally celebrated the Spring.