Blog Hiatus

I doubt anyone still visits here.
But just in case....


The time has just flown!
I can't believe our little Quinn is five and a half months old. He's a little person!

I thought this blog would be a good forum for me and Tim to record our thoughts about parenthood and archive Quinn's milestones and the like...but it's just not happening.
It's all I can do to post photos of Quinn every two weeks (which I've been doing pretty religiously on this site).
My baby is not a napper and the words to describe how I feel about who he is and who Tim and I have become and what our life is like take too long to extract from my muddled Mommy Brain.

So I'm contenting myself with scrawling notes in his baby journal and calling it "good enough."

Maybe when Q is a little older and taking that fabled two-hour toddler nap I'll be able to do a little more writing. But, for now, enjoy gazing at the photos of my boy on the site linked above and I'd be glad to tell you in person or over the phone how absolutely amazing and beautiful he is and what a wild ride we're on!

love
em

Two and a half weeks

Dear Quinn,

You've only been our baby for just over two weeks.

But we're pretty sure we've always made coffee (and brushed our teeth, and written emails, and done laundry,...) one-handed.

We've always gotten up at 3am to change a soggy, soppy diaper, to nurse for 40 minutes, to swaddle you into the tiniest "baby burrito" ever imagined.

We've always laid awake at night listening to the once-frightening, now-too-funny gremlin noises emanating from your bassinet.

There was never a time when your mama didn't smooth-and-spike, smooth-and-spike your amazingly plentiful baby-bird hair while you nursed.

There was never a time when you didn't spend the early dawn hours asleep on your daddy's chest then stare, fixated, at his face as he sang you good morning songs.

We've always known your beautiful, enormous eyes, your out-of-control, flailing hands, your indignant squawks of protest, that adorable post-sneeze sigh after a good five in a row.

Because you were always going to be our baby.
Our first baby boy.
Somehow we've always known you.
And we've always loved you beyond words.
We always will.

Love,
Mama and Daddy

Already making plans for prom night...

I can see it now:

"Alright Dad, Vanessa is here so we're going to head out to Prom." says Quinn

"Can you have her come in for a quick picture?"

"Sure, but we've got to get going"

"I know, I know. It will just take a second."

Tim quietly connects a laptop to their new wall size TV.

"Dad, what are you doing?"

"I just wanted to show her some of your old pictures ..." says Tim as Em gamely steps in and deadbolts the front door.
"Here's Quinn's first bath. Isn't he cute when he's mad? And here he is in his sailor costume..." Tim continues.

"I will never forgive you, Dad. In fact, I have no father." says Quinn lovingly


Yeah - it will be so great.

Quinn Arrives

Aug 17th brought us our baby boy: Quinn Elijah Sands. He's 9 lbs 13 oz (!) about 21" tall and perfect.

So far his favorite things are eating, making goo-goo eyes, pooing, breasts and burping. Many of these things will remain popular throughout his adolescence as well.

We've been at this whole parenting thing a week, and we've managed to hold it together with a lot of help from friends - thanks for the food, company, advice and support.

Hurry up and wait...

We're pretending that we don't notice. You've all noticed, I'm sure. No baby.

He's not really in a rush to evacuate the premises. I mean, he has this pretty comfy (w)room(b) reserved until the end of the month. Why should he vacate for parts unknown?

I imagine him listening to our anguished speculation ("But when? When will he come?") with a little smirk and then propping his feet up on my ribs to get a little more comfortable, settling in for the long haul.

No amount of "encouragement" will entice him out before he's ready.
(Foreshadowing a willful personality?)

Intellectually, we know it's a little premature to get as antsy as we are.

So we're doing "normal" things. Like going to the Chinese Garden (above), taking walks, going out for ice cream or drinks, visiting with friends.

But our calendar, really, is remarkably empty. We're not making plans that take us too far from home these days, and everything we do plan is pretty low-key.
And maybe that's the problem!

"Really expensive theater tickets," my midwife prescribed. That, she said, was sure to get labor going.

And given the pleasure he takes at making us squirm, I wouldn't be surprised if that does the trick.

H-h-h-hot Wings

Anecdotally, spicy foods are said to be a safe, natural way to encourage labor to begin. Unfortunately, like most of these natural methods, it doesn't "work" unless baby is really ready to make an appearance.

Nevertheless, we hit up Fire on the Mountain last night to try to encourage The Bean to make an appearance. Because, seriously, having his birthday on 8.8.08 was just too cool not to attempt.

I ate 9 hot wings! Spicy Peanut, Bourbon Chipotle and Extra Hot. I also ate a bunch of sweet potato fries.

Sadly, we had zilch in the way of action last night. Unless you count getting out of bed a ka-zillion times for potty-runs and Tums.

Anecdotally, the Tiramisu at Screen Door is also said to help encourage labor. I've also heard that they'll give you a really big piece if they know you're trying.

I really think we should try that. I'm pretty sure it's going to work.

Then and Now

3/27/08 (19 weeks, 6 days):



8/5/08 (38 weeks, 4 days):



And to think...

I actually imagined I had a belly worth photographing!

(In the paraphrased words of Michael J. "Crocodile" Dundee: "That's not a belly...This is a belly.")