Our sweet angel turned 2 months old this week… This greeted me with a mixture of emotions as I anticipated Quinn’s 2-month well baby visit with Dr. Mathieu (pronounced Matthew) where she would be receiving her first round of vaccinations. Since being squeezed down the long and windy road of the birth canal, which I’m sure can’t feel the most pleasant; Quinn was going to be experiencing some real pain once again.

D-Day arrived and just prior to leaving the house for our visit, under the advice of a number of Mom’s and the doctor, I gave Quinn some Infant Tylenol to help with the pain of the shots. It was quite amusing to see this little girl, who has only experienced the taste of milk, discover this new flavor of artificial Grape Flavored Tylenol. After an initial sour look, she seemed to enjoy the taste of it…

At the doctor’s visit Quinn received her normal “check-up” where she is measured, weighed and examined… And 8 weeks Quinn weighs 11 pounds, 8 ounces and is 23 inches long. She is in the 75th percentile for height and weight and her head size is in the 50th percentile. Now length at this age doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the actual size that you’ll be at full-height, however being as I come from a lineage where the average female height is 5′ — I can’t help but get a bit excited over the fact that our little girl, at least at this age, is taller than 75% of babies her age.

…In grade school, I grew up being nearly the shortest in my classes… Whenever we were asked to line up by “height” – GUARANTEED – I’d be at the end of that line. My only saving grace was when the teacher asked us to line up by last name — then I would proudly fall smack dab in the middle (“L” for Lint) of the line…

Back to the doctor’s visit…

After the presentation of Quinn to the doctor, it was time for her exit and the entrance of the nurse who would be administering the shots… I looked at our little girl trying to NOT appear worried about what was to come in a few short minutes… Tried to act normal… fed her a bit… smiled and talked to her. Truth is, she could probably sense from a mile away that mom was a nervous wreck (over the years I’ve learned from Jake that I couldn’t hide my emotions if my life depended on it).

Finally, the nurse came in with a tray full of needles (5) and an oral vaccine (yummy). She instructed me to lay Quinn down at the edge of the examine table and hold her hands while she held her feet. Holding her hands, I stared into her eyes and began repeating to her that “mommy’s here… everything will be ok…” And as the first needle punctured her skin she began to scream and the tears began to flow. It was over before we knew it; however Quinn was still feeling the pain. Her cries were as intense as I’ve ever heard — and it broke my heart. I tried to nurse her to calm her down, but this little girl was too pissed to think about food.

The Tylenol seemed to kick in a few minutes after the shots and like a true trooper, Quinn settled down and was ready to go. She crashed in the car within minutes and slept for 3 hours straight.

The day had come and gone and she (and I) both survived… Now the countdown to the next round of shots at her 4 month check-up… 52 days, 7 hours, 23 minutes, 45 seconds… but who’s counting.

This past weekend Jake and I took Quinn on her first road trip. Destination: Burlington, Washington. For anyone not familiar with the distance between Portland and Burlington — it’s approximately 4 hours. The trip was originally going to happen on Week 4 – but under the advisement of our pediatrician, we postponed it until Quinn was between 6-8 weeks old. We were going to head out on week 6, however Mom got cold feet and decided that everything, including the freaky April snow showers should keep us in Portland for one more week.

I’d read somewhere that when traveling with a baby, bringing items from home may make your baby feel more comfortable/secure… So, as the travel day approached, I began packing the bare-essentials for Quinn – for our 2 day trip:

*50 diapers, *100 diaper wipes, *15 outfits,*1 Papasan Swing, *1 CD Player,*3 Music CD’s (including Happiest Baby On The Block Sounds),*1 Boppy Pillow, *Breast Pump, *4 Burp Cloths, *1 Thermometer, *1 Snot Sucker, *1 Tube Butt Paste, *3 Baby Blankets, *1 Sleep Wedge, *1 set Baby Nail Clippers, *2 baby carriers (baby byorn & new native), *3 Pacifiers and of course 1 baby.

Of course now I understand the real benefit for packing up nearly the entire nursery — to make MOM feel better. I was very nervous about the trip and convinced things would be very challenging… including the fact that I would probably screw up my child’s internal “schedule” she’s been setting for herself and other nutty concepts I create in my head.

However I forged on… Saturday morning we packed our Volvo wagon to the gills — and headed north. Quinn talked and fussed a bit for the first 15 minutes then she was out. She slept the entire trip. She even slept through her diaper change and feeding 2 hours into the 4 hour trip. While I was nearly speechless about how great the drive was going, Jake was very nonchalant about it… As if this was just what he expected. The true was, he had NO expectations — which allowed him to simply enjoy the drive.

…This is apparently the approach that Jake is taking with Parenthood — we had a similar experience when we introduced the “Bottle” to Quinn. I’ve talked to many Moms who have experienced much difficulty when they introduced the bottle to their baby. The babe wanted the real thing — not this plastic substitute.

…I explained to Jake one evening last week that tonight’s the night HE’S going to introduce the bottle to Quinn. So later that night I prepared the bottle of breast milk and handed the bottle over to him. Holding my breath, I nervously watched over his shoulder to see how our little girl would react to the introduction.

…She was a pro — she drank down the milk in minutes, burped for Dad and was hungry for more! I was jumping up and down in excitement while Jake looked at me like I was nuts. He said, “What’s the big deal? Why wouldn’t she take the bottle?”

I’m beginning to see the benefits of no expectations in Parenthood. While things work out in the end — the emotional ride I take myself through is exhausting. Comparing myself to Jake — he was equally happy and proud of his daughter, however he was able to save himself the mental anguish I seem to put myself through.

Looking ahead — This weekend, Jake and I are going out to dinner with my Brother and Sister in-law — without Quinn. She’ll be spending some quality time with Jake’s parents, Homni (korean for grandma – not sure of spelling) & Papa. This is our first real outing as parents without her. So, while I’ll let myself ride through the natural emotions of being away from her for the first time — I’m going to TRY to join Jake in his approach of no expectations of how Quinn will do.

…until next time…

One of the things I can hardly wait for is to see what Quinn’s eye color will eventually be. They are currently this beautiful blue/gray color (click on photos for larger image). Often times the eye color that babies are born with changes by the time they are 6 – 12 months of age. My friend Pia suggested I capture the color, in the event that they do not stay this amazing color… we’ll always be able to see what our girl was born with. She is so beautiful.

This week Quinn and I made our way to Good Sam Hospital to hang out with a bunch of new Mom’s and babies (Mommy and Me). In my true fashion, I was nervous and apprehensive about going – up until the minute we left. However, I’ve been told by a number of friends what a great time these “groups” are… so alas, I filled Quinn’s tummy, changed her diaper and we were off.

As we walked into the group, I was instantly pleased we’d decided to come. I look around and I see about 20 babies cooing, crying, mom’s breastfeeding, babies being changed, babies being stripped naked to be weighed by mom… It was really wonderful! I found an open spot on the floor, kicked off my shoes and Quinn and I settled in. Before I knew it, mom’s were discussing topics ranging from newborn sleep patterns to the amount of milk people are pumping and storing… It was wonderful. The next hour and a half was relaxing yet chaotic at the same time. 15 different discussions and crying babies all at once…

While Quinn is slowly seeing more and more of this world, whenever I (we) take her to a public setting (restaurant, grocery store, etc.) I have the looming fears of, “what if she cries?”… or “what if she gets hungry?”… Now, I know the logical answers to these questions, but the thought of having to respond to these demands in public still brings me anxiety. However, during Mommy and Me, I discovered this might just be my cure-all for this anxiety… It’s like a real-life situation that is “practice” with Quinn. Throwing a fit?? No big deal… You’re hungry?? Let’s eat… Poopy diaper?? Drop ‘em baby!!

Don’t get the wrong idea folks — next time we’re eating out and my child “relieves” herself, we’ll politely excuse ourselves and make our way to the ladies room.

Last night our sweet little Quinn slept 7 1/2 hours straight. I think she would have slept longer, but I was desperate for some relief and woke her up at 6 am to feed. These milk jugs are used to feeding between every 2 – 4 hours!

I suppose over-all Quinn is a pretty good sleeper. For the last couple of weeks she’s been getting in a pattern of going to bed between 9 – 10 pm. Waking for her first feeding between 1-2 am (up for about an hour), then back to sleep until 3-5 am, where we repeat the process. We wake up for the day around 7 am. Well, her waking up for the day is, awake for about an hour and a half, then back to sleep!

While this sleep pattern she’s fallen into could be much, much worse — I’ll take 7 1/2 hours of solid sleep any day of the week!  Recently in the news there have been some new studies about how adequate sleep is essential for good health. In fact they are now linking sleep deprivation to obesity… Many experts state that people should get 7 1/2 – 8 hours of sleep a night. While getting this amount of sleep in small chunks is OK — a block of 7 1/2 – 8 hours is optimal. All the more reason why I woke up so excited this morning!

There have been two new things Quinn has learned in the last week or so… “Cooing” and Smiling.

Milestone #1 : Smile. The more elusive (hard to photograph) and much more subjective of the two milestones… The smile. I said it was no doubt a smile while Daddy said it must have been gas. Now he didn’t actually SEE her smile — he was deducing this based on “standard” baby milestones… Babies typically smile between 6-8 weeks. However, it’s been a solid week of these “smiles” and Jake now agrees with me. This kid is smiling. I can usually get a smile after I’ve changed her diaper and we have “play-time” — One round of singing the ABC’s and there it is — a huge smile. It’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen…

Milestone #2: “Cooing”. Over the last week Quinn has really been getting good at this. It’s so adorable to see her use her voice in new ways. Again, “cooing” typically occurs after a clean diaper and singing begins. I can usually get her to “coo” while I’m singing to her… It’s really wonderful. While her play-time is getting longer each week, typically a “coo-fest” is followed by fussiness. “Cooing” is hard work for a 4 week old!

Here are photos of her cooing and the makings of a smile…

Today during a moment what I thought was Awake-Alert time for Quinn, I decided to work on “tummy-time”. So I laid out a blanket, threw down the boppy and had Quinn and I settle in for some good exercise… About 30 seconds into the “session” this is what happened…

Guess we’ll try again tomorrow…

I’m quickly approaching my 4th week of being a new mom and slowly I’m beginning to feel more comfortable in this new role. While I experienced that special “bonding” with my daughter very quickly, I’ve also had many moments of worry and concern over our little one since she’s arrived in this world… Is she sleeping too much? Is she sleeping too little? Why does she wake up when I lie her down? Can she nap in her swing (which she loves)? Why is she working so hard to poop? Is she too warm? Why is she crying? Is she in pain? Does the trip to the grocery store over-stimulate her? Shall I go on??? Are you breaking out in laughter yet?

My husband who was a wreck with worry while I was pregnant — overly cautious while driving, concerned about my health, the health of our unborn baby… Seems to have shed all that worry now that Quinn is here. He’s confident and comfortable with this little being. However he does worry about me worrying!! Are you worried yet?

For any and all questions I’ve come up with, I’ve found myself reaching out to my laptop to the bottomless pit of answers online. The web provides NO definitive answers but rather equal support and opposition for ANY topic I research, which translates to: I’m left more confused than before I started. Jake quickly got wise to me and my “research” online… When he sees me frantically reading through Baby Message Boards he says: “What are you researching now???” I look at him with an almost guilty look and say “nothing”, knowing he’s already figured me out.

The good news is, as I approach this 4th week, I can feel this “worry” begin to subside… And be replaced slowly with confidence and reassurance that I can and should trust my instincts. The truth is, in the end, I’m doing what feels right to me and what seems to work for Quinn. I’m learning not to compare Quinn to children of our friends and family. How can you compare two individuals who are as different as snowflakes? It’s nearly impossible. Rather I am appreciating how our daughter is her own unique self. As I approach my second month as a Mom, I look forward to watching Quinn grow and watch as more of her personality begins to emerge.

Now I’ve got to go check on my daughter… She’s been sleeping for nearly 2 hours, should I wake her up???

  After months of persuasion by Jake and other friends, I’ve finally broken down and become a member of the “Blogosphere”. This blog is in honor of our new daughter, Quinn… who turned 3-weeks old today at 4:09 p.m. I hope that our friends and family get some amount of enjoyment from this blog.

The past 3 weeks have gone by in the blink of an eye. Our little peanut is growing and thriving. At her 2-week doctor’s appointment, she had gained a whopping: 1 lb and 2 ounces! Her little cheeks are starting to fill out and I swear when she’s sleeping she resembles my first Cabbage Patch Doll.

A few days ago Jake and I noticed that our sleepy little infant seemed to “wake-up” to this world or as my mother-in-law likes to put it, “she’s beginning to find her voice”. Translation: more crying. Jake and I are quickly trying to figure out what tricks work for her and which ones don’t. While Dad seems to have mastered the “Happiest Baby On the Block” method of swaddling, side-lying and shushing… Mom’s got the ultimate secret weapon to soothe… The BREAST. These things plus the swing are all allies when it comes to calming our crying baby.

Other than finding her lungs, Quinn is also spending more and more time with us in an Awake-Alert state otherwise know as, “Play time”. During play-time, she just stares at me while I sing her silly made-up songs all to the tune of Itsy-Bitsy Spider. Today she actually coo’ed twice! Ahh the small milestones of being an infant…

I’m hoping that I’ll be able to update this blog on a semi-regular basis, however please be patient… It’s taken me roughly 13 hours to write this post.