On a lighter note....

Thank you so much everyone for your support and encouragement. It means so much to us to hear from you all.

Quinn doesn't have a lot of words yet. But he does love noises. Here's a little demo.

We could use some prayers again

OK, I guess it's about time for a medical update on Quinn. I haven't really talked about this with many people because we don't have real answers right now and we don't want to concern people, but we would appreciate some more prayers for Quinn. He is going in for his next round of stents and angioplasty on the 30th. But we are not sure if that is going to be the procedure he'll actually end up having. At Quinn's last cardiology appointment we found out that there is a POSSIBILITY that the doctors might not be able to dilate his arteries again. There is a feeling from the doctors that his arteries may not have enough elasticity left in them. If this is the case we will be facing a surgery where they cut his chest open again, cut open his pulmonary artery, and add material to the artery therefor stretching the artery physically instead of mechanically. Unfortunately, we won't know the final decision until he is actually in the operating room and the doctor is able to evaluate the arteries. I know what is meant to be will be, please just pray that whichever procedure we end up with it goes smoothly and with no complications. OK, thanks everyone.

Rock Band

Oh, we've fallen prey to rock band. Ourselves, our friends, and our family just can't get enough of it. Even Quinn loves it.



He wants to help his daddy play all the time. I think my son is going to be a rocker. The more hard core the song, the more he dances. Oh well, as long as he's a good kid I won't mind the music he plays .... I hope.

A Tio Gordon

He still likes ......

Quinn still really likes;



Apples,


Sweeping Sam,


(Even if he does think the best way to sweep is sitting down),


And books. I love the fact that he likes books sooooo much. We read everyday, and when he's upset I can tell him to bring me a book and he'll do it AND calm down as we read. It's really nice to have a tried and true method of calming your kid. Although now that I've said that I'm in trouble.

Vacation to PA

So, the weekend of June 21st we went to Pennsylvania to visit my dad's family.

There was a lot of sleeping.


He was swinging with me and just fell asleep. I couldn't believe it.



And a lot of relaxing.



And playing. Quinn saw Auntie do and though it looked like such fun.


He had to try. I think Auntie has more photos. Maybe she'll send them. We visited with lots of family and even went to the zoo. Fun was had by all. And it was really nice to see my dad's family again.

Romp 'n Stomp

Quinn has been doing romp n stomp at the YMCA for a couple of months. This was supposed to be a bye bye post. However, I took so long to post it that it's more of a welcome back since it's starting again on Tuesday. It's really silly of me, but I didn't get a lot of action photos. I did get some of the things he likes.


Quinn is really into stacking things these days.

I did help him with this one a little.

He really loves the seesaw. What he does is sit in the middle and rock back and forth so there's no need for anyone else.

He loves to climb all over this stuff. There's also a slide made out of those cushions that he loves to slide down.

I'll try to get better pictures on Tuesday.

Staying sane

I would just like to start off by saying how nice it was to see so many familiar friends in the comments section of our last post. Thank you so much for the constant support. We hope you and your families are all doing well. We really appreciate everyone that is still following us.

OK, so sometimes people ask me how we deal with all of Quinn's adventures. Most people who know Dan and I know we can be incredibly goofy. Well, I'll let you all in on a little secret. That's how we get through these "adventures" as we call them. Here are some prime examples.
We've even got Quinn making faces.

OK, I'll stop this sillyness now. Take care, there will be lots more posting to come.

Quinns latest medical stuff

To set the table for this update, it should be understood that Quinn has days when the surgical repair site in his throat will swell up and prevent him from eating. When this happens, he will take a bite of food, and his swallowing ability won't push the food all the way down to his stomach. He immediately starts wheezing, and in the following moments he will throw up what ever he just ate. The hard part for the parents is that he will still want food no matter how much he pukes, because he's still hungry. And we have to tell him no even though we know he must be starving. On a bad day, he will throw up all day and not hold down so much as a single spoonful of food. On these types of days the routine is that he will go to sleep hungry and the following morning he eats like a little horse.
Well last week, after two days, he was still tossing after every bite and every sip of water, so we took him to the emergency room. He was still playful and interactive, but he had lost over a pound and was looking thin. We were back in Providence at Hasbro children's hospital. Very familiar place to Quinn. Same smell, same IV team dilemmas, and same doctor too. Quinn's last year pic next to this one from two days ago:

Last year he new no fear. This year, he knows all the precursors to pain. He's still a hard stick with his well hidden veins. So three attempts for the first IV. Quinn underwent a procedure to dilate his throat using an inflatable device that inserts into the site where the stricture is and stretches it out. He is put all the way under for this procedure, and is probably not feeling like a million bucks when he awakes. But given a few minutes he's good for a smile. Awesome.

If you've ever wondered how some people find joy in life at every opportunity, watch a small child that isn't tired. They'll show you all there is to know. Quinn was admitted on a Wednesday night and stayed through to Friday evening. I was still working and Steph stayed at the hospital with him round the clock. So we were some tired parents.

Visits from both Quinn's grandmothers helped.

Keeping Quinn entertained while he's strapped to an IV device was another challenge. Kids hate to sit still. The hospital had these little cars to get the kids out of the room for a break.

Anytime Quinn wanted to run around, one of us had to chase behind him carrying his IV fluid and pump. Quinn never had a thought that of he ran too far and his Needle came out, he would need to be stuck again. Although, once they used his foot for an IV site, he could only sit.

A question for anyone reading this. Would you prefer to be the one holding your kid down during some terrible experience or would you rather some medical staff member handle the matter? After his throat was dilated the doctor wanted to see Quinn's digestive system function under x-ray equipment. He must be held down, and force fed this radioactive fluid so that the image of his digestive system can be displayed. This was the strongest I've felt Quinn fight me.

The whole time I'm wondering how he'll ever forgive me. He was pinned down by dad, crying his eyes out, while mom was forcing him to choke down a whole bottle of this white plastery looking crap. He managed to get one arm free during the ordeal and was able to give dad a few slaps to the face. Not much you can say to comfort him.

When the test was done, I took a good swig of the Barium fluid because I was dying to know what kind of misery we had induced on Quinn. The doctors description of the taste was that it had a new bubblegum flavor...I would say it was a mix of sugar water and chalk, and a maybe little mustard powder. Nasty.

The fluid was observed through his esophagus and his duodenum, both surgical repair sites. The flow path checked out with no signs of stricture. Within the day he was released to go back home where he has been eating and drinking like a hungry growing little boy.

Sorry the update took so long pop. He's doing great now. Hopefully I can get my small family into a house of our own soon. I'm trying to strike bargains on these outrageously priced homes. Wish me luck.

In other news my sister in Washington state has begun having contractions to give Quinn a third female cousin.....

He Hates Ice Cream

Can't you tell how much he hates ice cream.

Seriously, I can't keep the kid way from it. Especially now that it's hot out.

What a face.

Ever wonder wonder what your face looks like as you are tripping. Well ...... here you go.

He also loves to read.

He can be having the worst day, but if you ask him to bring you a book, life is wonderful again.

Quinn loves to give kisses, he was kissing stitch all night. But he kept kissing him so quickly I couldn't get a picture of it.

Getting there

I know I've mentioned in previous posts that at one point Quinn got on the baby growth chart for height and for weight. I don't think that I ever mentioned that that didn't happen simultaneously and neither height or weight stayed on for more than a month. Well, at the last Dr. appointment we had a couple of days ago we found out that he is finally on the charts for both height and weight again. Go Quinn Go.



For the past several months Quinn has been having some trouble swallowing solids. We finally figured out that the surgical site Quinn has in his throat had started to constrict. So, about a month and a half ago we had an esophageal dilation done to open his throat a bit more. Everything went very well with the dilation, his swallowing has been better, and I think it really helped him to start growing more quickly. We are going back again the end of June for a second dilation. Hopefully after this round he'll be able to keep everything down and he can grow even more.

In other news, we are heading back to Boston Children's hospital the end of July for more stents and angioplasty. He's actually done really well considering the initial estimate we got was that we would be back when he was 12-18mths. By the time we go Quinn will be 20mths, so, I'll take it.


I guess every kid knows that this is the way you're really supposed to get up a slide.


I love him in a hat. Too bad he wears them for about a half a second and then takes them off.

Sorry the camera was MIA for a while