036_33A.JPG I have been taking her out on errands since she was about one week old. Here she is in her carrier, which acts kind of like a womb with a view (sorry about that!) Grace and I both have New Native brand carriers, which we highly recommend. My t-shirt reads "Pax Christi" (Peace of Christ) and has an anti-war statement from Pope John Paul II on the back. |
031_28A.JPG Thanksgiving 2004. Her latest nickname is "Squeaker" because of the various sounds she makes. Look at those chubby cheeks! Some of the hair she was born with has come out, making it look like she has male pattern baldness. She's also got a hairy forehead. We're assuming that will clear up by the time she starts dating. |
026_23A.JPG I'm wearing my Halloween pumpkin t-shirt. I think this was taken after dinner on Thanksgiving day. We had a very low-key Thanksgiving this year, just the four of us, and roasted a chicken instead of a turkey. |
025_22A.JPG Veronica is relaxing with Mom, wearing her favorite clothes - that is, none at all. In this picture, the bloodshot area on her right eye is half-gone, but still visible. It has since disappeared completely. Her eye color is a very dark gray/brown, almost like cast iron. |
023_20A.JPG Veronica has gained a lot of weight - check out the extra chins and folds on her forearms. Our nickname for her is now "Little Chub." Those folds of fat around her neck and armpits are quite a challenge to keep clean. |
022_19A.JPG Here Veronica is imitating Mom's facial expression. She is smiling on her own these days in response to tickles, but it is very hard to capture this on film. Grace's t-shirt reads "E. Coli Happens." |
013_10A.JPG Veronica is hanging out with Dad. In the uncropped version you can still see her black umbilical cord stump. Dad has a serious case of bed-head. |
008_5A.JPG Veronica has a concerned look. She's about to start crying, probably because of the flash. It is hard to get good pictures of a young baby: she is asleep most of the time, and when she's awake, she won't look at the camera, or she is crying. I had to take a lot of bad ones to get these reasonable shots. |
007_4A.JPG Veronica is sleepy. I managed to catch her mid-yawn. You can see the bruising on her forehead and eyelids from the birth. She also has a big red spot on the back of her neck. These are called "angel kisses" or "stork bites" and are common. Veronica also had a bloodshot area on her right eye, but we were told this is also common, and it has faded. |
006_3.JPG Veronica is about two weeks old in this picture. She has a pensive look. The green striped cloth is one of our kitchen towels. She's in her blue cloth bouncy-chair. |
015_12A.JPG Veronica was born early on the morning of Friday, October 29th. We stayed at the hospital Friday night, and came home Saturday afternoon. This was taken shortly after her arrival home: she is wrapped in a receiving towel used by her brother Isaac ten years earlier. In this picture you can see small yellowish whiteheads all over her nose. These are apparently common in newborns and are called "milia." They have, fortunately, cleared up. |
013_10A.JPG I think this was taken shortly after her first complete sponge bath in the hospital nursery. Her first nickname was "Little Burrito." She's lying in the hospital bed next to Mom's lower leg and foot. Because of her interest in sucking hard on fingers, I started calling her "Sucky Burrito" and exclaiming "Our baby sucks!" (I guess you had to be there.) |
005_2A.JPG Here is Veronica, five minutes old. She's in the birthing room, on the warming table. She was extremely alert for the first few minutes. In this photo, I think she has just stopped crying after getting her vitamin K injection. The skin on her hands and feet is peeling, and she still has vernix in her hair. The yellow clip is an umbilical cord clamp, and the disc on her belly is a temperature sensor. Her arms and legs are still folded up the way they were in the womb. Five minutes later, she was wrapped up and nursing with Mom. |