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.

Hunting for Easter eggs!


Opening presents with Bomma.


The sandbox!



Swinging with Nana on his Quinn's new swing.


Going for a ride.


Hanging out with Anna (Lizzy's mom) and her mom at the Buttes Chaumont.


Chatting with Beatrix.


Playing on the deck.

Oof... ok... that's all I have time for right now. I have to go pick up the boy from daycare. I'll be back tomorrow for part 2!

Happy birthday Quinny!

Quinn has something to say!

Happy New Year to all!

More to come soon... I promise! But for now....




All our warm wishes for a beautiful 2010!

And away we go...

Well, it's officially autumn now. The days are getting shorter, the sun is shining lower in the sky (but still shining!) and we've had to get the sweaters down from the attic. In the fall there's always such an exciting buzz in the air... everyone's off to school, back to work and on to new projects. This year it all felt a bit strange and overwhelming launching head-on into a thousand new things without having had a proper summer rest. I have jumped into rehearsals and preparations for my company's new piece, Jos has been on tour with his wildly successful one man show, The Art of Laughter, and Quinn of course has been up to all sorts of shenanigans. When Q's nanny got sick during my first week of rehearsals I almost had a mental break-down, but luckily my amazing parents came to the rescue and took care of the little one all week. Thank goodness for grandparents!!
Mr. Q's autumn has been full of excitement. He has his first tooth, more and more hair and he's crawling like nobody's business. Quinn's favorite thing though is his new-found ability of standing up. He reaches out for anything and everything he can get his hands on in order to pull himself upright... chairs, tablecloths, house plants, the oven, me...
Here are a couple videos of Quinn's exploits as well as some new photos of Mr. Adorable...

Movin' & Shakin'

When you have a baby everybody always says, "it goes so fast"... and wow, it sure does. I can't even believe that Quinn was ever a tiny little baby-thing. I can barely remember what that was like. And it was only 8 months ago. Give me 18 years and I'll really be in trouble!
In his newest leap out of babyness, Quinn has started crawling! It's so much fun. And he seems much less frustrated now that he's mobile. He does seem to like to go mostly for power chords, house plants and dirty shoes of course... and "no" doesn't really seem to be part of his vocabulary, but we're working on that. He's also sitting up and can play and concentrate on one thing for much longer... not that that's all too long of course... but it's definitely all relative! Soon this phase will just be a blur as well. Better get it all on video!

yum yum yum!

After a month and a half of purees and mashed food we have decided to go for the real stuff. So, for the past two weeks Quinn has been eating like a big boy... stuffing his face with chunks of steamed sweet potato and wedges of kiwi. We put several things on his tray in front of him and he chooses what he wants to eat and feeds himself. He seems to love it. It's perfect for a baby like Quinn who wants to do everything himself. He's now eating three meals a day of solids. His appetite varies from meal to meal and day to day, but he does seem to enjoy eating and likes just about everything so far.

Summer travels

Since June Quinn has been quite the cosmopolitan traveler...
Naples, Brussels, the South of France, San Francisco, Amsterdam...

Here he is in the plane for the first time on the way to Naples:





Enjoying the italian lifestyle...



Swimming in the South of France while I was on tour...



Eating oysters, chilling on the beach and visiting friends and family in San Francisco...