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!

Quinlan's Play Mat

 

Quinlan has a new rain forest play mat that he is now enjoying playing with. We lay him down in the middle and he swings his arms around occasionally hitting a toy. He isn't purposely reaching at this point, but he does seem entertained to swing at random. He has also discovered the "baby in the mirror" and has been known to smile at him on occasion. He has smiled a couple of times at his parents, and it has brought both of them tremendous joy each time he does.

 

Quinlan has been also demonstrating great gains in breast feeding. He is able to eat 2-3 meals a day from the breast and is usually satisfied for 2+ hours at a time. Mom has been able to pump less and wash less bottles. He even gained 8 ounces this week during the transition, which is excellent.

Ready for a Walk

      Quinlan has a new "fussy time" that appears to be between the hours of 4 and 6. Occasionally he will get really irritable and overstimulated but yet refuse to sleep. One of the ways we have begun to combat this is with a well timed walk. Here dad is getting Q-Pup ready for an early evening stroll in the Baby Bjorn carrier. The plaid sun hat is a requirement now as it is staying sunny later in the day and Quinlan has his parents' complexion. He really appears to like the carrier as long as you are moving or swaying. Currently he has to face towards us with the head support flap up, but as soon as he has more muscle control he can turn around and face out towards the world.