One Week Old and One Sick Toddler

Today Ronin turned 1 week and thankfully he is back up to his birth weight which is definitely something we are very glad that we don't have to worry about. He has been a good little guy thus far but that is from the father's position... I am not the one that gets up to feed all night.. so I am sure Brenda will have a different point of view. It is quite the different experience having a little boy. The things you talk about and the way you interpret his gestures is totally different. The picture below would make us feel sorry if it was Quinn but with Ronin we think he looks like a little gangster!!

This week has been tough trying to get used to having 2 kids on the go. There were several times that we looked at each other and asked us what have we gotten ourselves into!! Never was this more apparent than last night when we were getting the garbage ready. Does this look like a 2 children family or what??? As a game you can figure out which ones are Quinn's and which are Ronin's...

Quinn has been sick this week. She wasn't herself when she went to bed on Tuesday night and when we went in to get her in the morning we found she had thrown up in the night and was sleeping in it. I was traumatized by it... Needless to say we gave her a bath. I apologized to her repeatedly for not realizing what happened. All Tuesday she just wanted to be held and didn't want to do anything. I had to go out and get some stuff done and when I came home I was once again reminded that we are a two child family. I think Brenda's face says it all. She is a champ for being able to soothe both the children. Quinn needed her mommy and Ronin doesn't really know much else.

Today Quinn had an appointment so it was the first day that we travelled out as a family. It went off pretty well and we remembered how frantic we were when we used to leave the house when Quinn was first born. Quinn and Ronin played nice in the back seat of the car but as you can see the real estate is pretty tight. We really need to pull the trigger on a SUV. It is on the list...

Ronin and Quinn

Today is Ronin's 5th day and he is somewhat regular. This is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending how you look at it. He likes to feed every 2-3 hours which means little sleep for mom. Between feeds he seems to pretty much sleep with random moments of eyes open. We have had a few wet sleepers from the misdirection of a certain bodily part along with a diaper that wasn't fully airtight... It is a new world with a boy. We will cut him a break as he is figuring things out like we are.

Quinn seems OK with Ronin. However we have definitely noticed specific changes with her. She now started the biting thing again and we have the teeth marks to prove it. She also decided she wants to go head first off the ottoman. This has resulted in a few pile drivers. To her credit, she cries a little then gets right back to giving it a try. She definitely embodies the phrase "Practice makes perfect". Two nights ago Quinn and Ronin's relationship hit a milestone as Quinn actually kissed him goodnight. It was the sweetest thing ever. She will now come over to look at him and when he cries she looks at him then at us with a face that says "Shouldn't you be doing something?" She will figure it out. We are so lucky she is independant and can occupy herself without us having to watch her. It definitely helps out. That being said, she has started crying when she is being dropped at daycare again. It is heartbreaking but we are sure she will get through it.

Today Ronin has his first doctor appointment. We will see how everything goes. Hopefully his weight is ok and everything else is on track.

Trauma for your Mama

We took Quinn today for her first observed morning at daycare. Brenda and I sat and watched everything they did. There sure are some crazy kids out there! Quinn just did her own thing and didn't pay much attention to anything else going on. She made some appearances to puppet time and story time and observed all else from a far. She also decided she was going leverage her method of climbing the stairs to everything she could touch! We hear that it is common for kids to play independently when they start daycare, but I don't think they understand what a truly "on her own" kid Quinn is. There is some silly municipal or provincial rule that says that all children at daycare must go outside.... I hear that the limit is minus 20 degrees. How crazy is that? Needless to say they get the kids out there and get them back in as quickly as possible and it is usually the adults that are freezing. At creative time they made some art to take home for Halloween. As you can see Quinn decided to combine this activity with her first meal at daycare!! (check the bottom right corner)
After those 2 hours we had to make an appearance back at the hospital to get more blood taken from Quinn! I guess the 10 viles previously weren't enough. Actually a couple samples showed some abnormalities that often can be attributed by the state of the child when the blood was taken. They asked us if we had to hold her down. I said that sometimes we have to hold her mom down to take her blood so what do you think? We can't bribe Quinn with bread and cheese! So you would think this time would be a walk in the park... oh no.. it can't be that easy. This time was actually more traumatic for little Quinn. It was probably a combination of the daycare in the morning, it was around her lunch time and she didn't sleep great last night. Needless to say I carried her out after it was done because she was so traumatized and had a hard time settling herself back down.

For us, the blood wasn't the most traumatic thing. It was getting the urine sample. You would think that this is such an easy thing. They put a bag on and you get the urine collected. Well after about 7 bags and 3 nurses trying (4 if you count Brenda), and we had less than 5ml to show for it. So, like the last time, they gave us all the gear to take home to give it a try. We waited around the hospital for almost 2 hours and Quinn peed quite a bit, too bad none of it made it into the bag. We will see how it goes for us tonight. We are armed with tape as well!

Sometimes with all this stuff the three of us are going through you just have to laugh. For example, today I had to attend a very important conference call from the hospital. So I am on the phone at the hospital, talking to one of the banks board of directors, while I am waiting for my daughter to pee in a bag. It has been an interesting ride thus far.

The icing on the cake for today was that we had to rush out of the hospital for us to make an appointment for Quinn's little brother/sister. We were a little late and could only think how Quinn is stealing this baby's thunder before they are even here!!!

The picture below is of Quinn halfway up the stairs. She always stops there to have a look back to ensure people are witnessing her triumph!

Easter

Quinn had her first Easter weekend and it was quite the experience to travel all around with her. She was good for most of the weekend, however, the extended time with her aunts and uncles in London was great but the long drive back threw her off a bit and made her not a happy camper. All in all she had a good trip but we have to work better on the planning as with that drive and her age you have to plan it to the minute!

She then spent time seeing her Aaji, Aaja, and poowa. She had a big and not so glamorous first. She threw up for the first time and it was projectile. It was rather like the exorcist and it just kept coming . We felt terrible for her as she was obviously initially scared. She calmed down pretty quick. Her poowa took some great pictures of her.

Overall Quinn scored some great chocolate (Daddy was happy) and got tonnes of attention.

Last night mom and dad put her on the sofa to see what she would do and she almost turned over by herself. She is definitely strong. She pulled her head out of my hand for almost 3 seconds.

Her sleep last night was not that great and mom suffered. She did go to the doctor today and she is up to 8lbs 7 ounces!! Our little chunker! We are glad that weight is not an issue for her.

We have a 7 pounder!!

Quinn got to the scales today...
And in the red corner... wearing the Pampers Swaddlers... weighing in at a mean 7lbs and 1 oz......... The Mighty Quinn!!
We are so proud of her breaking the 7lb mark and going above her birth weight. The doctor was really good and gave us some great ideas on getting her more time between feedings now that she is above her birth weight. He also gave us a possible solution to her snoring... wondering if it will work on mommy too?

We are now going to be focussed on getting her past 2 hours between feedings. Tonight will be our first test.

Quinn got her first taste of Costco today. She would have made Nana (Grampy Mick) proud. She was a regular rock star in there with everyone wanting to see her and get a good look. It was also mom and dad's first time taking her into a store. We probably could have used 2 carts. One for all her stuff and one for the stuff we bought!

We are a family deep on the learning curve!!

Hungry Hungry Hippo....... or Not

Quinn was up every 1.5 hours last night. She seemed to be more hungry than normal which was ok if she would actually eat more than 1/2 oz. before falling asleep again.

It was a tough night for mom as she didn't get much sleep. Her focus today will be to get in as many naps as possible.

Quinn goes to the doctor today for the big weigh in. We are hoping that she is back to her birth weight. She also has trouble at night getting herself to sleep. We have inclined the bassinet, put more blankets, put her on her side and it all doesn't seem to help. She also snores like her mom. We might ask the doctor about that one....

Dad actually got up and worked out... it was quite a monumental return to the normal routine.
Once mommy is feeling better then we can really work to get back to our new family routine.

In This Corner.... The Mighty Quinn!!!

Yesterday we made a visit to the doctors so Quinn could hit the scale.
We stripped her down... she peed... then we put her on the scale.
She is up almost 6lbs 14 oz which is only 1 oz from her birth weight. She has gained 3 oz. in 2 days! The two hour feeding are paying off.

Auntie Aisling and Uncle Jay came by to visit Quinn. She was a regular lady for them. They all played nice together. A good play day was achieved.

Last night wasn't such a great night. Quinn's schedule seemed to be way off. She was up a lot of the night. She wasn't eating much and crying quite a bit. We finally had a combination of gripe water, new nipple on the bottle, pure breast milk (from a formula mix) and a diaper change and that seemed to work. I think it was just pure luck. We seem to think it might be the fact that we give her the antibiotics in the night and it bothers her. We will try and give it to her during the day today and see what happens.

Daddy had a tough night with the little sleep and his tooth was hurting but mom really took over.

The focus again today is eating.... we are focused on getting Quinn to 7lbs by her doctor's appointment tomorrow!!

Fatten Quinn Up

Quinn's internal clock is now officially on a 2 hour schedule. Which isn't that bad during the day but causes quite the havoc during the night. Not much sleep for mom or dad but Quinn is gaining weight and up a full ounce from Wednesday.

She had an ultrasound today and was a regular lady with the technician.

We also visited the breastfeeding clinic today again and got a pretty good nurse. She offered tonnes of support and said it is just a matter of time before Quinn goes all out on the boob. Quinn really has no issues latching and sucking. It is the effort and the focus she needs to work on. We will cut her a break since she isn't even 2 weeks old.

People still assume she is a boy with her name. It doesn't help that we have all unisex sleepers and clothes that were bought before we knew she was a girl. We can't wait till we can put in the pigtails.

We now know that Quinn enjoys to pee when there is no diaper on. The last 3 diaper changes she has saved a stream of pee for when she has no diaper on and is airing out the goods. It could be worse, she could have the urge to poop at that time. All in all it is no big deal.

She is still good to only cry when she needs something, although she still gets frustrated that she can't soothe herself to sleep. We are working on that one.

Mom and Dad are alternating naps today to catch up on sleep from last night. We will see if we can get the hang of it.

Quinn on a feast

We visited the doctor today for Quinn's follow up appointment from the hospital.
We made sure to bring the diaper bag with us..... the only problem was that we left it in the car!

Quinn is down in weight, so for the next little while it will be a non stop feast for our little Quinn. It will be breast milk and formula 24 hours a day!

She is one sound sleeper. It took us forever to wake her up for her dinner. She just was not having it. I think she was just messing with us. She did eventually get up and took the whole bottle like a champ! Of course we did have to strip her down to get the blood going first!

Pat and Mike came by with a welcomed dinner feast. They brought Quinn some great gifts and Quinn was on her usual perfect guest behavior. It is like a switch she turns on when people are around.

Tonight will be the eating marathon and we will see how that all turns out. We have a feeling sleep will be optional.

Quinn shakes it up

Just when we thought we were getting the hang of this feeding thing, Quinn throws us a curve ball. She was up to almost 3oz every 3-4 hours. As of last night (late last night or early this morning, whichever you prefer) it seems she likes just over 2oz. every 2 hours or so. Mom and Dad now will make the necessary adjustments and see how it goes.

We are pretty much reserved to the idea that Quinn doesn't cry for no reason so when she cries we will change and feed her.... She is also pretty regular with the diaper changes.

We are all ready, showered (Quinn had a bath), had breakfast (Quinn had 2 bottles), and set for Quinns appointment this afternoon. Which is a change instead of a frantic grab and go.

We are just trying to keep up with our growing princess.

Little Quinn is getting settled

Last night was a pretty good night.
Quinn slept the whole night in the bassinet. It was quite the milestone.

She is now feeding every 3-4 hours regularly which is great news for mom and dad. It was a little weird not seeing her sleep as we have been used to the last couple nights and dad popped out of bed a couple times to check on her.

This morning she had quite the butt explosion and saved it all for dad. It ran down her legs and up her back. Oddly we were both pretty happy about it since it means her digestive system is running full tilt!

We got out of the house on time today for an appointment at 11:00 am, then grabbed some lunch and did some running around. All with our little Quinn in tote... a family on the go!

We will get the hang of this parenting yet! We also have Quinn to help us along the way!

First Doctor's Appointment

Well this is the week of appointments for Q-tip.
From Tuesday to Friday she has an appointment everyday.
Today was her first doctors appointment.
We got her up and dressed.

Not only that we both were showered and ready before noon!! It was quite a monumental undertaking!

However, we underestimated the degree of production needed to getting out the door ready. As a result we were 20 minutes late for the doctors appointment. We also didn't bring a diaper bag and Quinn was probably a little under dressed for the cold weather. Although, we didn't drop or forget her anywhere so a good first trip out!!

She is down to about 6lbs 10oz. which is about 3% which we are told is normal. anything over 5% is cause to monitor and over 10% is concern. She is 19 inches long.

On the way home she fell asleep in the car seat which was great news for us as she will probably be spending a fair amount of time in there because of all the driving mommy and daddy do.

She looked so peaceful we decided to leave her in there for a while to finish out her nap.