One Service Down

We are happy and sad to say that today was our last visit with Quinn's nurse. This was such a wonderful resource and Karen and Joanne are so wonderful, we are going to miss them terribly. On the other hand Quinn doesn't need the service anymore so of course that is a wonderful feeling. Quinn weighs in at 14lbs 9oz. He needs to be just over 15lbs to be on the charts. So close we can almost taste it.

In other news our physical therapist is now going to come twice a month. Quinn is doing so well Bob doesn't want him to get bored. Quinn has started pulling himself up on things, but we're trying to make sure he crawls first.

Scars! What scars?

I am just so amazed by my son. I know I keep talking about how well he's doing, but here I go again. Bob mentioned that Quinn just doesn't act like a cardiac baby. He said that when he's working with other cardiac babies they get short of breath, turn color, and/or get irritable quickly. Quinn does none of these things. I wonder if he will continue to defy whats expected. Maybe he will play competitive sports. I just want him to be able to whatever he wants. And I truly believe he will. I love you little man.

We also have our first official spoken word. I say spoken because obviously he doesn't know how to use it, he can just vocalize it. So what's the word you ask. Amazingly, the one I wanted it to be. Now I know what you're thinking. I heard that word because it's what I wanted to hear. I started hearing this word a little over a week ago, but ignored it because I'm mommy and that's what I wanted to hear. I was talking to my mother several days ago and she said she'd heard it too. Well she's grandma, so again I dismissed it. My little sister was over two days ago and Quinn looked up at me and said it clear as day. Dan said he'd heard it. Still I hesitated to believe it. But today Quinn said Hi to my older sister. So, that's it. Our first word is hi.

The eye's have it.

Another first

Last Saturday night we had a firework show. They started while Quinn was asleep, but we woke him and brought him outside to see them. I felt bad for the little man, because one minute he's sound asleep, and the next he's seeing these fireworks explode less than a block away. The sound was deafening.




He handled all the excitement surprisingly well.
For anyone that works with me, Steph and Quinn are coming to have lunch this Wednesday the 27th. I will try to make a few rounds around the different facilities so some of the folks who constantly ask about him can actually meet him. And if you see this Maria, I hope you can make it to see him. But if not, I will have Steph hook up with you somehow. Her and Quinn don't come up to Newport that often, so a meeting is a must.

Hello everyone

It's been a while since I've taken a turn updating. True, my wife is the sole founder of this blog, but I still like to say hi to everyone who reads it. I get asked often how Quinn is doing from random people who know of him. Well he has put on some weight.

No not that much weight, and his eyes didn't turn brown. Quinn has his mothers awesome eye color. I was at my mothers house last week and saw some old photos of me in 1977. I was about half Quinn's age. I thought there were some noteworthy similarities. If Quinn had brown eyes and were a little fatso, that's what he'd look like. I thought that at Quinn's current age, I would be hard pressed to find behaviors that remind me of myself. But when I see him do things I know I use to do back in the day, I like to watch him. It's like seeing the world through the eyes of a child all over again.

When he's calm for example, sometimes I'll ask Steph to let him be for a while. I'll even leave the room so he thinks he's alone. I know I spent a lot of time as a child gazing off at nothing in particular, with my brain in test pattern mode. It's self soothing at it's finest. Anytime my dad caught me doing this he would ask what I'm thinking. "Nothin" was the best I could come up with until I was into my teens. A few decades later and now I ask Quinn what he's thinking. But I know. And what's more, I can tell he doesn't care for the interruption because sometimes he doesn't even break his gaze. The thing to realize is that he's not thinking, he's feeling. Whatever mood strikes him and puts him at ease. And after a bit, if no one bothers him, he dozes off in his own peaceful world.

Makes me a little sad to think of all the innocence he will lose in growing up, but seeing him mature is a fascination on it's own. Doesn't matter how old and wise you are, you can't anticipate everything. And you often wonder and search for how many of life's lessons can be learned easier than the way you learned them. You think you're paying attention to the traits you want to rub off on your kid, but their perception has you guessing a lot. They'll pick up on whatever they choose. Regardless of any uncertainties, I love being a dad.

Steph still loves to throw the hypotheticals at me about raising Quinn. It's making me a skillful debater. She never seems to run out of material.

Crazy week

Sorry for taking so long to update. This has been a really crazy week. I would just like to praise my son for being so good. Since last Thursday I have been doing about three separate things a day outside the house and dragging Quinn along with me. Tuesday we were out of the house for 12 hours. Only about 40min of that did he nap. He was so so good. He got a little squirmy toward the end but what could I expect. He just did so well. I am not going to do that to him any more if I can help it.

So, we had our six month check up on Monday. It is official, we are medication free. Although, now Quinn is taking vitamins. I feel much better about giving him those though. He is still not on the charts for weight and height but he's getting very close. Our little man weighed in at 13lb 140z on Monday and was 24 1/4" tall. The pediatrician says we have one healthy boy.

Now a days our little boy can be found sitting or standing and not much in between. When I put him on his tummy he flips right to his back. Everyone who works with him seems to agree that if Quinn crawls at all it will be for about two seconds before he starts walking. The pediatrician jokingly told me to put the baby gates up now. I guess we'll see soon enough. I know once he becomes mobile life will get a lot crazier.

Oh what a difference three months makes

I've noticed over the last week or two that Quinn really seems to have grown a lot. So, I figured I'd do the old, here he is before/here he is now thing. We have two different comparisons. First we have Quinn laying on daddy way back at the beginning of March.

Then we have pictures of them from 3 days ago.

I know it's a different angle, but I think you get the picture.
Then we have the picture of Quinn in cousin Mary's doll's stroller in April.

Look at him now.

Quinn is also unofficially medication free as of this morning. I say unofficially because I have to make sure his pediatrician agrees with me. I'll know on Monday.