Tuesday Family Fun Day!

     On Tuesday, while grandpa Cole was visiting, we decided to institute Tuesday Family Fun Day. Since mom has Tuesdays off and it is a less busy day of the week, we plan to set out for a family adventure each week on this day. Our first adventure was to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA. This worked out really well, as there was an Ansel Adams exhibit and grandpa Cole is a huge fan. We set out mid morning, arriving at 1030 AM and toured the museum for a couple of hours prior to breaking for lunch. Quinlan stayed in the baby carrier sleeping most of the time, and mom was able to breast feed him as needed in a comfortable sitting area.
     We went to Salem Beerworks for lunch, where Quinlan was a little more restless, but we were still able to enjoy a meal together before spending another hour back at the museum enjoying the collection of Marine Figureheads.

     All in all, it was a great day and a fun adventure illustrating that Quinlan can be good outside of the home. Hmmm, this means many more adventures to come! Next Tuesday, Cape Cod. But what should we do after that??


PS> Check out the head control!

Baby Babble

     Quinlan is now trying to converse with mom and dad. He has a few key words: Eirghit, A-Goo, and something that sounds like a squeal. None of these appear to have any meaning yet, but if you repeat what he says he smiles proudly at you. He seems to want to talk more when he is physically close to you, although he did start making noises in the swing and on the changing table today.
     He also continues to smile more and play with his hands. Quinlan is now able to lift his head up to look at you when on your chest and when on the ground. Looks like the Tummy Time is paying off!
     More pictures and posts are on their way, Quinlan's parents have just been a little preoccupied with all these new interactions, not to mention the role reversal of mom heading to work 20 hours/week and dad staying home. We will post more soon.

Weight Update - He is 13 lbs now!

Smiles abound!

Quinlan and Dad have been spending the days together while Momma J has been hard at work. Mr. G has done his best to capture these fun moments with the Qpup! Enjoy!

Here are some other photos....

Tracking Q's Growth: Now Triple His Birth Weight!

     We have been weighing Quinlan weekly and he has gained another 12 ounces this week, getting up to almost 3x his birth weight at 12.5 pounds! Yay, Quinlan! Mom has been tracking his percentile on the following website, and it appears as if Q is 17th for weight now: Baby Infant Growth Chart Calculator - Weight Age Percentile Graph.
     He continues to make faces at his parents and the baby in the mirror as he is demonstrating here. He is also sporting a lobster bib that one of the therapists at mom's work left for her. It has quickly become one of dad's favorites!
     Quinlan also continues to use his hands and to work on his head control. Below you can see him lifting his head up to make faces at daddy, a very fun game. We, and the women from early intervention, have noticed that Quinlan tends to favor his right side while turning his head so now we need to be good about placing ourselves and toys to his left. Dad has already placed a bunch of black and white drawings above his changing table, so hopefully that will also help.

    Mom returned to work at MGH on Monday and is working to establish a new routine so she can spend quality time with Q Pup in the morning before having to bike in at noon. This is a change for dad as well, as he and Quinlan have 6-7 hours together before mom gets back. Monday worked out well and we were even able to attend a Buddhist discussion meeting together as a family in mom's district. Hopefully this is a sign of an overall smooth transition. Work seems to be glad to have mom back as there is a huge waitlist for pulmonary patients, and the new plan is for mom to be fully treating that population. 

Night Boxing

     Quinlan is now preparing for a career in the ring. He actively swats at toys hanging above him in his play mat or in the baby rocker chair during the day. He has also decided to practice this new skill at night, waking mommy & daddy up with bops to the nose and face. He is really working on his wind up and has quite a right hook at present. Hopefully he will comfortable enough with this new skill soon that he can stop the night time practice.
     Speaking of new skills, for the first time Quinlan has grasped something and brought it to his mouth. First it was dad's finger in the afternoon than mom's later that same night. Perhaps the rattle or Sophie is next. (Do not worry about the recall, our Sophie was purchased for us after March 2012.)
     We are excited to see what new skill Q decides to practice at night. It is amazing at how much he is developing day to day now!

Recent Quinlan Pics!

A Day in the Park

Yesterday (Sunday, June 10) we went on our longest adventure yet--to Acton to visit friends Allison, her 2 year old son Emmet and Allison's twin, Laurel. Q pup rocked the 45min drive out and back (the key is to pump him full of milk before departures). We enjoyed a lunch, Quinlan's dad played with many of Emmet's toys, we traded boy's hand me downs (since we got a lot of clothing for 2 year old's). We also went on a really long walk, played bocce in the park and Quinlan laid in the shade and felt grass for the very first time--he loved it! On the walk back to Allison's, Q became mighty hungry, so we stopped at a scenic old cemetary. Mom and Q cozied under a pine tree, while we shared funny stories and Emmet explored the rolling green hills nearby.

We made it back by 6 feeling much more empowered and slightly sweaty and hungry. We were gone for over 6 hours, Quinlan breastfed twice in new surroundings and was changed many times out in the field.

We are all excited for more adventures in the near future!

Morning Fun

     Quinlan is most awake between 7 and 9 in the AM. This is when we practice Tummy Time, play on the Rainforest Play mat, and make funny faces. This morning, after sleeping in a bit with dad, was no different. It has been difficult to capture his smile as he is usually moving his head around at the same time. Plus, he appears to know when mommy is trying to take a picture of his smile and instead puts on his stern face.

Playing on the Play mat.

Blurry morning smile.

Getting Their Beauty Sleep

Playing with Hands/ MD Update

      Quinlan is discovering all kinds of things, including his hands. He was waving them around last night and staring at them in fascination: "do these belong to me?" He has also recently entered a more fussy time and had a mini-meltdown yesterday at 8 PM when dad was feeding him. Instead of giving him another 3 ounces, which would be a lot as he had just breast feed prior to receiving the first 3, we decided to try breast feeding again. We placed Quinlan next to mom in the bed, allowed him to latch on and suckle at will. He didn't even really suck, just fluttered, until he calmed down and then went right to sleep. He then slept for 4.5 hours, woke up breast fed for 20 minutes, and went back to sleep for 3.5 hours This is after 2 nights of horrible sleep. A growth spurt, perhaps?

     We had our meeting with the maternal fetal medicine specialist yesterday. Quinlan was so well behaved as we visited the NICU and mom's work. He even sat through the 45 minute meeting with Dr. Greene the high risk OB in a wet diaper, which we discovered later. We found out that there is no known reason for Quinlan's early entrance into the world, and that the risk of a sibling also coming between 32 and 37 weeks only increases from 6% to 14%. Also, the literature does not support bed rest or progesterone injections to help carry the baby to term, and mom could still stay with the midwife practice if and when we decided to give Q a sibling. Right now, he is more than enough!