dispatch from the munchkin zoo.

Quinn has adopted an interesting pattern of regression.

He's very sweet with his sister. Since we brought her home, he's never shown any hostility towards her, despite the fact that he's quite jealous of the attention she's receiving. Lately, he has been trying to reclaim some of that attention by falling back to baby behavior. He climbs into her little swing, despite the fact that he's completely outgrown it. (The little motor on the swing whines in a most pathetic fashion when the thing is occupied by a 25-pound toddler.) He wants to take his meals in the high chair now, even though he graduated to his own little meal table a few months ago. When he started that particular habit again, he wouldn't eat very much unless I fed him, but now he has at least reclaimed his autonomy in that respect.

On the plus side, he's already having fun with her. She'll sit in her chair and let out her little baby bird chirps and squeals, and he'll crack up like you wouldn't believe. Once they're a little older, I predict they'll keep each other busy enough to give daddy a break every now and then.


Here's Quinn keeping himself occupied with one of my Model M keyboards. He'll sit in front of it and depress every number and letter key in turn, complete with accurate narration.

"It's a letter Q key. It's a letter W key. It's a letter E key..."

That's usually good for ten minutes of shower time for daddy.


Here's Quinn with his cornucopia of ride buddies.

Whenever I tell him to get ready for a car trip, he'll start collecting his comfort objects to come along. We usually don't leave the house without him clutching the array of objects you see in his hands: the Schmusetuch (security blanket), the giraffe, the polar bear, and the fleece blanket. He'll leave them in the car once we get to our destination, although sometimes he'll insist on taking them along into the store, which means he takes up the entire upper deck of the grocery store cart with himself and his assorted stuffed pals.

Developmental psychology is an interesting field, that's for sure. You can read all the books in the baby and toddler section at Barnes & Noble and think you're prepared, but there's nothing in the world that will prepare you for this job. You only ever have all the answers on raising kids before you start having them.