Many Reasons to Smile

Quinn, our beautiful city, and being together, are all great reasons to be happy. Before they left to go back to California, my parents took a relaxing walk with me through our pictureque neighborhood of Stockbridge. We're now short two more people over here, and we can't wait to be reunited in California in the summer. Love you!

You've Got the Look

Quinn has established a moderately regular eat - wake - sleep cycle. The transition from wake to sleep is tough for him, but the wake portion is so much fun, as evidenced by this video. He often gets the seven mile stare when its time to start thinking about sleep again.

Freaky Styley

Maya ain't the only infant with punk rock hair style. My feeling is that Quinn sports a more classic 70's look while Maya's luxuriant locks make for a fresher nouveau-punk femininity. I can totally imagine the band already, and it makes me wonder what punk rock will sound (and look) like in the 2030's. Poor Mirjam came to visit today only just a bit to early, missing this extravagant photo shoot.

Walkies and Duckies

This was Quinn's first walk in the stroller. He loved it so much he didn't even know it happened.

Qurious Quinn

Many people have called Quinn mighty, and Jenny would agree when considering his kicks and squirms. But I think one of his earliest discernible personality traits is curiosity. I think curious is a wonderful thing to be, and I hope Quinn has a lasting interest in asking questions.

Long Distance Runaround

Better get used to videophones, kid. In fact, you might as well get used to teleportation as far as I can tell, since you will be 41 when the AI singularity hits. For now though, just get used to these happy faces. They are your Aunt Jill and Uncle Peter, and they will be your babysitters a lot, so behave!

We miss you guys!!!

The Endless Slumber (not)

Well, it's 2am and it's one of "those" nights. After what seemed a couple of miracle nights, with Quinn doing 3 hour shifts in the Moses basket all night, today something changed. He's been fussy pretty much all afternoon and night, and can't seem to get enough milk. Both baby and mommy are not enjoying things right now, and a new level of frustration has been reached. His previously easily read signals have gone cryptic.

Breastfeeding has been a tumultuous and downright draining and painful experience. (Jenny could obviously paint a more expressive picture, but for obvious reasons doesn't have the time to be blogging about it.) And now, Quinn seems to have built up a lot of new strength and skills, one of which includes a mighty new level of screaming for the milk.

I just gave our little guy my patented super-tight swaddle, and it seems to help him break through into a bit of peace and sleep. It's amazing how one second he's wailing, and the very next second absolutely silent and blissfully asleep. (And in the last few days, working up a cheeky smile). Damn he knows how to work a crowd.

Spring Springed

We actually got a brief spell of adult time the other day. Edinburgh just came alive with warmth and sun and we celebrated Quinn's 1st week by taking an early morning walk along the river near our house. It was exactly a week before, at about the same time, that Jenny woke me up with news that things were starting. To think we've come all this way in one week is mind-boggling. Taking a stroll along our favorite path in the city, now three instead of two, brought new beauty to what was already so inspiring. We had it all to ourselves on what was probably the most crisp and clear morning we've had in many months.

The White and Blue Stripes

OMG! This is my personal stripey vision of heaven.

Good Vibrations

"You see son, this is a Cadd9 chord. It's a classic 80s ballad chord -- like Poison's "Every Rose has its Thorn", etc. You know what I'm talking about..."

The Simple Pleasures

I don't know who looks more content in this picture -- granma or baby.

Nappy Engineering 101

Daddy is not doing cocaine in this picture. He is reverse engineering a modern Huggies nappy. Not only do these things contain some remarkable design features and modern chemistry, they are also extensively field tested (some several billion are used each year in the USA), and I am very happy with how they are working so far. I'm not going to get into the cloth/disposable/biodegradable/etc. ethical debate right now (and probably won't ever). I just want to mention how enamored I am of super-absorbent polymers.

On a side note, I also wish I had a pee-pee tee-pee. So far I've done the quick-reflex pee-pee hand-block move several times. I've finally learned to put a little cloth over him while he's being changed. Those few moments of each day when he's not wearing a nappy are my most vulnerable.

Outside clothes

The sole purpose of this post is to put cute pictures of Quinn wearing cute clothes. We hope you think he's as adorable as we think he is.

Boppys are for babies

Quinn, meet horsey.








Say "hello" to horsey, Quinn.








Quinn, do you have something to say?








"Yeah. Get off my boppy pillow."

The Many Faces of...

Nothing Compares to You

Apparently as far as infant life goes, nothing compares to the bliss of a good feed.

In Your Arms

Quinn has grown accustomed to being held.








And wrapped.








And gazed at.

Vitamin K

Vitamin K shots are recommended by the NHS for newborns. It helps to prevent bleeding in the brain by promoting clotting. In the course of our birth journey we've come across countless instances of contrasting arguments for every decision you have to make, e.g., shot or no shot. You name it, and there's a book promoting it and another one disparaging it. One study in the 90's concluded that Vitamin K shots increased the chance of leukemia. But despite the fact that this study has been shown to have been flawed, and several subsequent studies have shown that no link exists, the debate persists on baby web sites, in books, and in mommy circles everywhere. In my mind, this is a simple example of letting fear take over the decision-making process. As a scientist, I realize that the answers science provides are, by the very definition of science, never perfect. The extreme cost of making bad parenting decisions increases the import of any doubt. I consider this a healthy dose of skepticism. It's unhealthy, however, if it is simply an uninformed version of raw fear.

Parenting questions seem to produce a lot of philosophizing. Being a pragmatist, I suppose I've developed one philosophical principle thus far: relax and consult the experts. (Do I sound like Obama?). No reason to get an MD or a qualification in homeopathy to give birth. Better to get a degree in recognizing experts -- like Dierdre, Jackie, our parents, etc. The triage nurse who took 10 minutes to get us water while Jenny managed to have 5 contractions was not an expert.

Quinn didn't agree with our decision on the Vit K shot, but I know he ain't no expert in that topic (at least not yet).

What time is it?

Quinn gets a lot of lap time around here.
He gets a lot of grandpa time too.
And a lot of nap time.

Meconium muffins

One of the hazards of cooking 3 days after giving birth is that you have a lot of distractions. This tends to interrupt your oven timing. It may also cause you to accidentally cook what we are now calling meconium muffins.

Day 2

First, reality. This is our Quinn from the viewpoint of mommy and daddy.







This is the viewpoint from dzadzu, a much more peaceful outlook.








Some day, we will talk at more length about our experiences with the National Health Service. This is Dierdre, our community midwife. She comes to our house every day after the birth for 10 days. This was her first visit after the birth. She has been our rock and an absolute treasure for us from the very beginning.

More pics

The little guy is now cozy at home with mommy and daddy.