Clocking in at 5 weeks old 12 pounds

Q was 5 weeks old on Friday. After a fun weekend with Mom and Dad both being home, a little shopping and even some outdoor yard work (Q slept, but he was there) we decided to use our modern weighing machine to check out how much he weighed. Standing on the Wii balance board with him (and without) we have a new total - 12.1 pounds. All that eating has really been paying off.

In addition to the new weight, we are also enjoying his little smirks and smiles. He is starting to respond to our voices more and at times, will even get distracted with rings and rattles.

He has a busy week planned with a visit to Dad's school and then an afternoon alone with Dad while Mom takes care of some school business of her own. That is just Monday - who knows what other adventures Q may take part in.

At home with Mommy and doing yoga

Q spent his first day at home with Mom and not Dad today. Katharine kept him busy all day with laundry and going for a walk as well as the obligatory eating and sleeping that takes place.
Katharine also continued his baby yoga practice - and he is doing really great, check out the photo of his reverse boat pose.



Dad survived a day back at school - he is tired and missed spending the day with his family, but was thrilled to come home and nap with Q on the sofa.



We are watching for those psuedo smiles that are starting to appear. We have had half smiles and three-quarter smiles - Katharine thinks she gets full on smiles when he is going in for some food. I am still working with the sticking your tongue out game and have been getting him to copy me about once for every three times I try. I can only imagine what he is thinking about this short activity. This shot is the closest we have gotten to a photo of the emerging smile.

One Month Birthday

Our little Q is one month old today. It has been very exciting to see him grow and change. It is not as noticeable day-to-day, but we (read Katharine) went through a lot of clothes and have filtered out stuff that he has already outgrown. We also switched the inserts in the cloth diapers to the larger size there, causing less "over-flow" problems and less actual clothes changing. Ironically, it is a shame that we now wear less outfits every day, since he is outgrowing them so quickly.

We are still learning new tricks and loving the role of parents. Each day, Quin is able to show us that we are caring for him well enough and though the books say he is only passing gas - we still think he is starting to smile. I am continually in awe and impressed and can't believe how rewarding my one-month old little boy can be.


Special thanks to Jenny P. for the photo idea. We will try to take matching monthly photos with the small portion of Q's monkey collection.

Grandparents

Little Q loves a little grandparent love, whether it is live and in person or hearing excited comments over Skype. Of course, it is a lot easier to fall asleep on a person than on the computer.

Q with his Grandpa Roy


Q with his Grandma MJ


Q with his Pops


Q with his Mossil


Q with his Dad using Skype to visit long distance.

The Classics

Katharine commented that I have not been making as many posts recently. Not for lack of things to write about, just lack of new material. I don't know how many times I need to write about the fact that there is ongoing laundry and random, extra, changings. Last night I was diligently using "the drop cloth" to cover the front area but there is this split second opening when the drop cloth needs to be removed in order to fasten the diaper closed - Q, with all of his talent, was able to use that split second to freely spray as far and wide as he could. Not only did he need to be changed, but I did too. Not bad for 2 AM. So, even with all that I (we) have learned through trial and error with changes, there are still random crazy moments where everything needs to be washed, including Dad.

We spent some time this morning organizing clothes that Q has already grown out of. He spent some time with his mobile, which we haven't used yet. He seemed to be very involved and lay quietly watching it spin and listening to the selection of classic music. His schedule still consists of sleeping, eating, and dirtying his diaper, but he is adding very engaged moments of eye contact and special parent time.

Heel pricks and cold stethescopes...

...at the second visit to the doctor. The moment of triumph for little Q was getting onto the scale and weighing in at 9 lbs and 15 ounces. That is one ounce shy of 10 pounds. Two weeks ago, at Q's first appointment he weighed 8 lbs and 5 oz, so that is an increase of one pound 10 ounces....he is an eating champ.

I stopped the video just shy of Dr. Eady pronouncing that everything was awesome and "he is perfect." Hmm...now we already knew that, but to hear the doctor say it - :) All systems are go and unless he gets sick he doesn't go back until April 20th.

Tummy Time and Bathing

Thanks to Grand-Mossil - Q has an official "Tummy Time" Quilt, which enables him to begin his baby workout regime. He spent a few minutes yesterday thinking about picking his head up and moving his arms and legs around a little bit. Little Baby Cobra movements for anyone with a yoga vocabulary. You will notice the hat on the floor. He seems to have enough energy that hats routinely end up on the floor near him, either that or he is trying to show off his locks. We are still waiting and watching but are pretty sure he will be an active one.


The other big event yesterday was the falling off of the remains of the umbilical stump, which resulted in his first "pseudo-submersion" bath. You will notice the obvious lack of documentation of the stump. We prefer to think of that as one of the passing moments that we are better off not remembering.



He did well with only some initial screaming and was thoroughly cleaned. He did better with the warm water, but we needed at least 3 and a half hands since his little body kept slipping down his bath mat. Thus the video is post-bath and not actually of the bath.

Laundry :)

Of all the things people prepared us for before Q came along, laundry was not one of them. Granted, we knew we would be doing a lot more than normal, especially with our cloth diapers and the need to keep those clean, but the sheer amount of clothing that Q makes dirty amazes me. We seem to be doing a load of diapers once a day and then a load of clothing every 2 out of 3 days. Not too bad, but amazing, still. Here this little dude is, I can hold him in one hand, and he is using more clothing than I do. This is even after we learned we needed a drop cloth above and below him for changings, to keep from wasting extra clothes that aren't even on him yet.

Amazingly, after Katharine went through the birth, she is now enjoying watching the tv show "A Baby Story" here at the house. To me it is sort of like flashbacks, but it reminds her of how awesome the human body is and what she is capable of. It is true, that she watched the show prior to giving birth (or even being pregnant) but now there is a new light from which it is viewed.



We are loving our time together, our small family of three. Q is enjoying being the center of attention and I am getting used to the new slower, more relaxed schedule. So much so that I am writing this at 1:15 in the afternoon, having had breakfast but not yet lunch or getting dressed for the day. Ahh....pajamas.