Happy Birthday Pooey!

A year ago at this moment Jim and I were chillin in the birthing room at Community Hospital. I think by now the first showing of a marathon "Remaking Vanilla Ice" was on and the potosin wasn't doing anything except fill my tiny bladder with pee. The show didn't get on the proverbial road until about 4:00 and Quinn didn't shoot out in blaze of glory until 6:00. There was a lot of waiting, then a flurry of excitement, then my 9 lb baby boy finally joined his impatient family. My mom was in town with her adoring husband Jan, and they were called in the middle of a sushi dinner with Madeleine to come quick and see baby Quinn. Madeleine immediately fell in love with the big lug. She was apoplectic with excitement and kissed and carressed him repeatedly. My too-little, too-late epidural took a long time to wear off, and when it finally did, everyone had (thankfully) headed home to rest and talk about baby Pooey. So, alone, I padded down to the baby center to give my big baby boy the once-over and listen to the pediatric nurses coo over him. When I got there, there were three babies. One was crying pitifully and apparently couldn't get comfy in her burrito wrap, the other was sleeping quietly and the behemoth in the middle was Quinn. He stared at me with his enormous black eyes and said, "Get me the fuck outta here, that bitch won't shut up!" Or at least, that's what it seemed like. He has very expressive eyes.

Today Quinn is still a big-eyed lug that charms everyone he sees with his witty banter. "UH" That's his catch-phrase. It is the all-meaning Om to our little Buddha. He can throw around an UH! in any context and it's either rife with angst, full of joy or sharply inquisitive. It is his everything.

The four of us will be gathering in celebration at around 5 tonight. Madeleine is convinced we are going to sculpt a dog/cat figure out of angel food cake this afternoon and she has decided to write "Woof Pooey Happy Birthday, Meow Woogie we love you." She's been practicing. She also decided Little Woogers needs some baby chicks and a pony. The grand finale will be a bath, after Pooey's been allowed to immerse himself in his cake. He loves bathers with his big sis.

Happy birthday, Quinn. To quote your sister, "I love you as much as a heart can love something."