There are now four ugly baby birds living just outside our front door. I looked last night and there were two. This morning there were three. Then this afternoon, there were four. I got closer to the nest while Mama Robin was away, and the baby birds heard me and poked up their heads and opened their mouths. Ahh, instinct. Love watching it in action.

In other nests, Quinn continues to do well. He hasn't blown up yet being back on the CPAP, though we're by no means certain it won't happen again. His O2 has been in the low 30's and even once in the 20's today, so definite improvement. And apparently they decided he does need more fluid, so he's up to 28 ml per feed. I don't quite get what sparked the change, but I swear I had nothing to do with it. They just said he needs to put on weight. I looked again at the chart, and he isn't quite off of it, just below the 10th percentile. But we're hopefully changing that. I kangarooed him for about an hour tonight and that was fun as always. I have a hard time picturing the day when I won't have to give him back. But it will come, sooner or later.

I called this morning to get an update, and spoke with his primary day nurse. She was excited at how well he is doing, that he looked good and was so alert and active. It was good to hear. Then she said the doctor on call that day wanted to talk to me about vaccinations. Dum da dum dum. When I declined them last weekend, the nurse told me it would be written in his chart so that no one would ask me again. But someone didn't want to take no for an answer. Apparently this doctor was concerned that I said no without reading the vaccine information sheets. Perhaps at least taking them home would have made it easier. Fortunately, this nurse knows me pretty well by now, and so she believed me when I told her that this was by no means a spur-of-the-moment decision, that I had spent probably as much time researching vaccines as I did writing my master's thesis, and that much of that research was in the package inserts for the individual vaccines, and in the CDC's Pink Book, which is infinitely more informative than the worthless brochures I was supposed to take home. The nurse said she wasn't surprised at all at my preparation and would pass it along. No one mentioned it when I got there tonight, but I wonder if it will come up again. What's a concerned parent to do? Play the game I guess. I'll worry about that when the time comes.

1. I'm grateful for Quinn's continued improvement.
2. I'm grateful Dorian and Faith and I could spend so much time outside on this beautiful day.
3. I'm grateful Kurt could ride his bike to work again, and also enjoy the day.
4. I'm grateful for the good friends I have and the love and support they give.
5. I'm grateful for the continued prayers and good thoughts coming from all over. You're all making a difference to one tiny baby boy.