The Chubs

 We are affectionately nicknaming Quinn "The Chubs" lately. I weighed him at home yesterday, and at 11 weeks old, he weighs 17.6 pounds! He is actually off the growth charts; 98th percentile for his age is 16 pounds. He is developing quickly in other areas as well. He started teething at 9 weeks! Thankfully the colic seems to be calming down, so we are only dealing with one source of crying at the moment. He is starting to sleep more through the night; we get about four consecutive hours now! The most exciting new thing is the level of social engagement. He is all smiles and squeals. He seems to recognize his name and "mommy". It is such a thrill when he gives me huge grins when he sees me. He is almost always sunny in the mornings, and he loves the mirror. He is able to use his hands more intentionally now, too. He stares at the little fish on his swing and bats at it. He is also more content in his swing lately, which makes cooking easier. He still likes to sleep on me, but I don't mind. He will be wanting to be independent of me before I know it!

I didn't update after our Vegas trip in November. It went better than we could have anticipated. He slept and nursed through both flights! He hates the car, so we were really worried about how he would handle the flights. We felt so bad about taking a 7 week old baby down the Las Vegas strip, though! It just felt wrong. We console ourselves by saying that his first trip was to an academic conference that was coincidentally in Las Vegas...

After we got home from the conference we celebrated the first holiday in our new home - Thanksgiving. After all the travel, Quinn was very fussy, so we didn't want to take him on more trips for the holiday. We stayed home and had a lovely dinner with my mom, sister, and her boyfriend. I even found time to make a homemade pumpkin pie and gingerbread cookies!

The last couple of weeks have been busy with finishing my two jobs, Jonathan's work, holiday parties on campus, and taking care of the chubs. I absolutely love being home with him and am grateful that, thanks to Jonathan's job, I will be able to work only one job next semester (which is online and I can do from home). Despite being constantly covered in baby puke, pee, or poop, I couldn't be more content with my new role as mother and near-housewife. The transition has been easier with the support of a wonderful husband and mother; my mom comes over at least twice a week to hold Quinn, let me shower, do my dishes, sweep my floor...everyone needs a mom like her. Now we are looking forward to spending our first Christmas in our own home as a family.