Reunited with his bird friends.

It's 2011. Whoa. 

I started skiing in 1984, & taking piano lessons in 1988. I was baptized in 1990. I took my first trip to New York City with my parents in 1996, started high school in 1997, got my drivers license in 1998, & performed a Beethoven concerto at my Senior Recital in 2001. I graduated from BYU in 2005, & we got married & moved to New York City that spring. In 2009, we decided that we wanted to have a baby - & then learned how badly we really did when we lost our first pregnancy. In 2010, we were happy to meet Baby Quinn. We count ourselves lucky.

Life! It's funny, & fast, & scary, & amazing, & really - just a great big fat miracle. 

He played in his crib today & giggled at his bird friends for the longest time. He's genuinely happy to be reunited with them. It's amazing. They entertain him for hours minutes on end. Big smiles, kicking his arms & legs with big eyes & rounded lips, & absolutely staring at the bright knitted birds. And today - it was his first day of laughing. Mike & I sat there making stupid faces & noises for as long as we could get those giggles out of him, & then did it again & again so that we could record it. I will proudly be that mother who sends the video to two dozen of her closest friends.

But - I'm still me. I'm just a thirstier (water!! I always need water!!) version of me. Who always has to wear a bra to bed (gross). And I've just found new satisfaction from a few things, like diapers that don't leak, to successfully getting a  big burp!,  to changing a diaper faster than you can sing the ABC's, to being able to soothe my baby to sleep (or, more importantly, teach him to do it on his own). I don't really feel different. But I know that I am, & maybe there are people who don't really want to talk to me any more because I can't name a single movie that's in the theaters right now. But, I'm a mother, & Mike is a dad & we've suddenly become a Party of Three. It almost feels as if it's always been this way. 

I definitely don't remember what it feels like to sleep in.

So. Happy New Year! We finally made it back from Portland. Our delay couldn't have been worse, but our stay couldn't have been better. We made use of the extra days - Mike snowboarded at Mt. Hood. I got a facial & ran around with Tara doing things that you do in the suburbs. I baked the best brownies ever with my nephews & niece - twice (& they agreed that they were the best they'd ever had). They were so good to us, even if Harrison asked why Quinn has such a big head & why I only wear black & white (grey, too!). He also asked if we were Jewish, which made us laugh, but wasn't totally unfounded - apparently there was a conversation about our Jewish heritage (my grandpa + his family - my parents are both Mormon converts) that he picked up on at some point.  One of my favorite moments was getting all of the kids to join in on singing time with Q ('Cause you're a miracle - uh huh - a little miracle - oh yeah!), or maybe when Ellie kept saying, Quinn is cute! Or when Tara kidnapped Quinn & took him for a drive so that he'd fall asleep. I'm sad that we're not there anymore - but happy to be sleeping in my own bed (& Quinn is happy to not be in his travel crib). More on Portland + Christmas soon(ish).

Our flight home was totally uneventful & completely successful, with a baby that everyone called perfect. Our New Year's Eve was similar. Uneventful & definitely our most quiet in history. I was asleep by 9pm, Mike worked past midnight & I didn't tell him Happy New Year until I woke to feed Quinn around 3am. Oh well. I've never been a night owl. New Year's Day was nice & relaxing, with brunch with Amy & Tim (+ Eli) at Norma's. Our conversation focused on childbirth, breastfeeding, birth control & a myriad of other baby-related issues. Oh how things have changed since last year (when we were both pregnant-but-didn't-know-it)! This baby business is nothing short of all-consuming. It's nice to have friends who don't mind if 96% of your conversation revolves around bodily functions or fluids. 

Q came home from Portland a new baby. Bigger! So much bigger. His cheeks are bigger, his thighs are more squishy, his face looks more boyish. Today, I packed up the majority of his 0-3 month clothes & pulled out his 3-6 month stash. This made me happy (he's getting so big & fun - & so are his clothes!) & sad (he's getting so big!). More happy than sad though, because really - this changing over is kind of like shopping, which makes me happy. But Quinn - He doesn't just stare at his right hand anymore - he stares at both! And sucks on his fingers & often tries to put his entire fist in his mouth. He'll hold onto a toy. His head is so strong, although too long in the Bumbo makes him a little sad still. He's all smiles, & babbled his way through church today. His hair is growing back (brown?), & he has a lovely little bald spot on the back of his head, right above a 2-inch long patch of hair. It might be time for a trim. 

His eyes are still grey-leaning-green. I don't think they've made up their mind yet. 

My mom gifted him a really great collection of books for Christmas. I'm reading to him every day. Today, we read Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? & he stared at every illustration. 

He's 15 weeks.