A semblance of a routine emerges

As we begin our third week home, and our fourth week with Quentin, we can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. Those first days home were challenging, to say the least. With bedtime starting around 4:00 am and continuing in a series of screaming and crying fits for an hour or more, we were all exhausted and teary. I had to keep reminding myself of the wise words of my grandma: "This, too, shall pass." But when you're in the throes of a meltdown (both baby's and your own), you can barely believe that better times will come. But, they have, and not a moment too soon :) We patted ourselves on the back all last week for accomplishing a 1:00 am bedtime. Now, mind you, this bedtime started anywhere between 11:30 and 12:30 when Quentin would start rubbing his eyes and acting tired. We would dutifully bring him upstairs to his bed, quietly rocking him into sleep, only to have our contented sighs of relief interrupted 15 to 20 minutes later with an ear-piercing wail. Then the crying and back-arching, and squirming would carry on for up to an hour before he'd go to sleep for real at around 1:00 am. We were still pretty happy, though, because 1:00 am is almost a normal bed time! Well, wouldn't you know it, things have only gotten better in the past few days. For three days straight now, we have been able to get him in bed for, on the first try, around 11:00 or 11:30! He continues to sleep anywhere from 9-11 hours once he's out for the count. We are parental gods!! Ok, not quite yet :)

The rest of the day, outside of bedtime, is amazing and fun. Quentin is very alert and curious and in constant motion. He loves to open and close his hands continuously as he feels the different textures of the world around him and listens to the interesting sounds his little fingers make as they scratch. He is very content and happy nearly all day long. He giggles and babbles to himself all the time. His cute little face scrunches up as he smiles from ear to ear each time he sees mommy or daddy. Talk about melting your heart! My favorites thing is to watch him during "tummy time." He holds his head up, extends all four limbs as far as they go and starts rocking himself front to back. He gets going pretty fast and will push his upper body up really strongly with his hands, giggling hysterically and smiling with that adorable toothy grin. It is hilarious! He gets himself going so fast, that he rocks in a circle and before you know it, he's turned completely around!!
This weekend, he really started getting serious about wanting to crawl. He can tuck his knees under himself and push up for a second before falling back down on his belly. We he's in his crib or the pack-n-play, he somehow backs himself against one side and tries to push himself forward. Today, he even managed to move on knee forward about 2 centimeters before flattening out again. I bet that in the next week or two, he'll be off and running.
Hmm... what else? Oh yes! Teeth! He has had the two bottom front teeth since we got him, but this past week, we could see the two front teeth on the top lurking just below the surface. On Friday, one of them seemed to have poked through, but by the next morning had gone back into hiding. Today, the opposite tooth seems to have just broken the surface. Pretty soon those chompers will be out! Also, we visited the pediatrician last Tuesday. Quentin made it through with rave reviews! The doctor said he was very healthy and looked great. He is currently 19 pounds, 8 ounces and 27 inches long. This puts him at the 70th percentile for weight and the 60th for height. The doc didn't say much about developmental specifics, but in general, he seemed to think Quentin was right on target for where he should be. Poor baby also had to get the next round of shots :( They gave him 3 shots in one leg and 2 in the other. He let out a deafening shriek when the nurse was jabbing him, but within 5 minutes after she was done, he had stopped crying and was fine. We had no problems at all with the immunization. He didn't seem sore and no fevers. Whew!
Another milestone we experience this past week was starting Quentin on solids (if you can call soupy rice cereal "solid"!) At first, I watered it way down because that's what the directions said to do. He hated it! I think I got 1 or 2 baby spoonfuls in his mouth, half of which came right back out as he turned his head back and forth and arched away from me. But, each day, I've had more success. I made it thicker the next day and that helped, but it still ended up all over the fingers and the cheeks and me with only about 3 baby spoons worth getting in his belly. Well it's been about 6 days now and I'm happy to say that this, too, has improved with time. He will now take about an 1/8 of a cup of cereal and most of that stays in the mouth. We still have to recycle some of the cereal that he lets ooze out of the mouth, but the second go around it usually stays in. The mess is improving, but I still find bits of cereal in his rolls and crevices and all over the cheeks throughout the day. And let me tell you, once that stuff dries (which doesn't take long), it is like industrial strength paste! Tonight at bath time, I found a glob crusted into his hair behind his left ear! Who knows which feeding that was from :) We hope to keep him on rice cereal and bottles only for another few weeks and then start introducing other "solids" beginning with the veggies. Wish us luck!!
Well, once again I've gotten carried away with the length of this post! But, this blog is as much a diary for me as it is a source of updates for family and friends so I suppose I shouldn't worry about it. I'm going to attempt posting a few pictures now-- hope it works!!