barefootprints

We enjoyed some nice fall weather this week. It doesn't take long to make a huge leaf pile around here.
And Faith "helped."
Quinn is getting more and more talkative.
We've begun our isolation. So those of you who know us in real life, we'll see you next spring. I told Kurt I wanted to make a paper chain, but he said "Until when?" and therein lies the problem. Just how long will winter be? Who knows. We'll find things to keep us occupied, but it won't be the same, that's for sure.

Quinn had an appointment this week with an ophthalmologist. Despite being clear of ROP, he had another check up. I was really annoyed that we were doing it, given that it's late October, and we spent an hour in a standing-room-only waiting room where about one third of the people were coughing. And Quinn wasn't the only baby being checked out that day. That night, I lost sleep listening to Quinn snore through his sudden congestion. He still has it, but he doesn't have any other symptoms to go along with it. No runny nose, no coughing, no fever, just a rattle in his airway. Very annoying. But his eyes were declared fine, just like they were last time, and the doctor said bring him back when he's 3 and we'll see how he is then. Great. Now we really aren't going anywhere until spring, least of all to a doctor's office when we're healthy.

I realized that we've crossed a milestone this week. Quinn has now spent more time at home than in a hospital. How time flies. And today he rolled over, and I think it was for real this time. Previous times he did that, he was already on a slanted surface. But this time, he was up on his elbows looking around, and rolled onto his back. Yay for progress!

Quinn is doing his physical therapy exercises. He's getting much better as lifting his head and it's only been 2 weeks since his evaluation.

We spent part of yesterday at the pumpkin patch. It was a gorgeous day to spend outside.
Dorian and Faith have claimed their pumpkins.

"Look Mommy! It's a little baby pumpkin! I have a little baby pumpkin! Where's the mommy pumpkin?"
I have a picture like this from last fall, and yes, they've grown!
The drive home. The northeast is gorgeous this time of year, no question.
I love fall, but we're looking into a lot winter of isolation. It doesn't help that Dorian has learned about seasons and now asks almost daily if it's spring yet. I'll never survive if he doesn't give that up!

The fall also brings election time. I have to say I'm sick of politics and wouldn't mind if the elections were over already. Kurt says that's just because I'm sorry I'm not running for anything. Ha! After hearing my sister Erin's stories about her campaign, I don't think I'll be running for office. She's running for school board in southern California, www.kutnick4kids.com. I'm sure all candidates on all levels are ready for it to be over.

It's generally well known that when attempting to take pictures, you take several shots and hope one of them will turn out well. The probability of one good shot decreases with the number of subjects. It plummets if any of those subjects are children or animals, both because they are less likely to behave, and because they have less patience and so fewer shots are taken. So without further ado, this is my favorite shot from our family's attempt to take pictures yesterday. It's such a day-in-the-life shot.
This one's a little tamer. I just need to play with the brightness and exposure level a bit. It would have been almost perfect if we could have convinced Monty to look at the camera, rather than trying to follow whatever scent he caught, but that's who he is.
And we are a happy family.

11 lbs 9 oz, which is off the charts low for a 6 month old, but somewhere around 30th percentile for a 3 month old. I was holding out hope for 12 lbs, but this was pretty close. And he looks great in general and got a clean bill of health, whatever that means. So did the other kids. Dorian got to look at an eye chart for the first time. Thankfully, he got his dad's good eye sight. And Faith told the doctor that she eats cookies for lunch. Dream on! One more thing to check off the list for this week.

I don't know exactly what Dorian is victorious over, but he looks happy anyway. And why not? Life is good. This picture is from last week. We watched General Conference on the internet today, so no one went to church. Dorian and Faith loved watching the children's chorus sing. Dorian even sang along. Maybe something is sinking in while he wiggles his way through church.

Quinn saw the developmental pediatrician on Friday. The doctor put Quinn through his paces to see if he's on track for a normal 3 month old baby. It's hard to believe Quinn was 6 months old yesterday. How things have changed. Anyway, overall, Quinn performed well. He didn't reach for the toys, although it was obvious he was interested in them. And the doctor commented that it's obvious Quinn doesn't spend much time on his belly, because he doesn't lift his head completely off the table. But that's just a matter of building up muscle. Other than that, he's doing fantastically. He has no signs so far of cerebral palsy, and the doctor seemed surprised that he hasn't been rehospitalized for illness. Apparently that's pretty common. Let's hope it lasts.

Tomorrow I have a three-ring circus scheduled. All three kids are going to have a check up with our regular doctor. Should be fun. I'm anxious to see how much Quinn weighs. It's been more than a month since we've done that, and he's much bigger. I'm even contemplating putting away the 0-3 month sized clothes. Yay for progress!