Three hours & repeat.

During the day, my life is lived in three hour increments with Quinn. He eats, he's awake & we play, & then he sleeps*. And repeat.

It can all feel a bit monotonous at times, sure.

But! We've received frequent rewards this week, small but profound reminders of why we're doing this (even when the this sometimes results in swollen & painful eyes + a stye, thanks to fatigue). My favorite part of my day are those blessed few minutes (20?) during this cycle when he's awake & happy. He's taken this happiness to a new level this week & is all smiles & laughs. He loves his dad & is finally starting to recognize (?) him more, & he's responding more & more to our own smiles & laughs. To say it's rewarding is a massively huge understatement. He may as well write me a thank you card on letterpress stationary that he made himself saying Thank you for providing me with lunch earlier, & for spending 37 minutes rocking me to sleep last night. I really appreciate it, Mama.

9 weeks! We caught him during one of these happy spells on Saturday. These are not my best photos. They're overexposed. They're not as sharp as I'd love them to be. Our sheets are wrinkled. The light into our room was too bright (I should have waited a few hours), but I had to catch this mood. And even though the photos are imperfect, my memory is. The three of us were so happy being there together. Our family, a smiling baby, on a nice & perfectly content Saturday morning.

[ See the incredible shrinking donkey here ]

*Sometimes. Often. Kind of. Well. Sometimes. We try our very best. It's maybe the most frustrating part of this three hour cycle - the nap portion.