A Fairy Visit

Recovering from a flu and respiratory infection, Saraphina has requested multiple visits (via the big screen TV) to Pixie Hollow where Dinkabeau lives (Tinkerbell). This morning, as a surprise, the fairies left a present at our front gate.

A web filled with diamonds!

Here they are up close.
We suspect that the spider is out shopping for a wand and a tiara while the sun is shining.

Baby Smurf

These small footprints are not difficult to track to the drawer where I keep (used to keep) my powdered concentrated food coloring. Saraphina asked her mama to scramble her an egg for dinner. After a few seconds at the stove, Kris turned to see Saraphina fingerpainting in food coloring on the floor. She had blue feet, blue hands, blue legs, etc.

Worried that the color blue would spread throughout the house, I began cleaning before I grabbed my camera. The trail of baby footprints was followed by a trail of mama footprints when Kris chased Saraphina across the kitchen towards the footwashing sink.

By the time this event was over, we all had blue feet, blue hands, and smudges of blue on our clothing.

She's Here!

Lillian Anna Quimby

Lillian Anna Quimby made her entrance on 1:29 am on Thursday, February 25th. She weighed in at 6 lb. 10 oz.

Mom, dad, and baby are doing well and expect to go home from the hospital tomorrow.

Link to more photos!

The Doll Hug

Fifty-five years ago my mother-in-law Muriel, made two dolls and an octopus for her niece Cathy. Mom was the kind of woman who would make square dance skirts for her daughters out of her bedroom curtains if she couldn't afford fabric (yeah, square dancing was pretty cool 50 years ago.)

Anyhow a box arrived this week containing two handmade dolls and an octopus. Cathy wanted Muriel's great granddaughters to have these dolls. Once the box was opened, the hug fest began. Saraphina also sings to them. It's a really loud song that includes words like "mommy, daddy, bug" (bug is the generic name for our dogs) and "wawa," which means water in the currently decipherable Saraphina lexicon. It also includes some dance steps before the dolls fly through the air in the grand finale. After the applause they are quickly gathered up in preparation for the next song.

I'd never seen these dolls before. Mom had made clownies for her kids and a Snoopy version for my kids, all made out of Dad's socks.

Aunt Selene's Version of Clownie (Ballerina Clownie)

Most likely Dad never knew why he had so many mismatched socks. Back when Mom was making the Snoopy dolls, she would steal the stuffing out of Dad's pillow and then sew it shut. It was our secret. Since Dad never replaced anything that still had a potential use, I suspect he chalked it up to normal pillow compaction and just folded it over to sleep. But I was always curious just how many stuffed animals mom could extract before he decided it was time to head to K-mart for a new pillow.

Mom made everything on these dolls, the bodies, the faces, the hair, the dresses, and even the underwear. I can see her sewing late at night, combining bits of fabric and lace to create a doll that would last 55 five years to enchant three generations of her family.

Update on Tiny Miss Quimby
Soon to appear on the scene, Saraphina's cousin Miss Quimby is queuing up for her birth day, possibly in the next few weeks. Michelann has the nursery prepared and ready for the transfer from womb to room. Watch the blog for updates.

Learning to Speak Saraphina

In Saraphina's World everything is a drum. "See that box grandma?" It sounds like a drum when you hit it with a drum stick.

Saraphina is teaching us to talk as well as drum. She patiently points to things and tells us the words for them. She shakes her head no if I choose the wrong object, such as the stuffed dog instead of the stuffed monkey.

Here, she tries out a few dance steps in preparation for the Saraphina Show. You can see that our dog has grown accustomed to these practice sessions. Amber's job today is to guard the exit that leads to the eternal bliss of walking up and down the very dangerous stairs. Amber acts as the doorstop reminder that one must not run toward stairs.


On occasion, Amber will agree to have her photo taken with superstar Saraphina.

Grandma Nan News Alert!

Saraphina is expecting a baby cousin in early March. This is the latest photo of Tiny Miss Quimby, currently weighing in at about 12 ounces. Her parents Michelann and David Quimby will be here for Thanksgiving. I understand that Miss Quimby is already practicing her dance steps in anticipation of the Baby Quimby Show. By Thanksgiving we may be able to see some of her rhythm kicks. We'll keep you posted.

Exploring Grandma's Room

Hey Grandma we really need to clean this place up!

Saraphina has been crawling for a couple of months. She moves fast but crawling is only a means to getting to someplace where she can stand up. Standing usually involves taking some risks like holding onto wobbly objects... and then letting go with both hands. So she has been practicing falling.

When she comes upstairs to visit, she goes first to the toys, visits the fish (pronounced "ssshh"), and then heads off to search the files. I'm glad she is getting familiar with the file system. I'm hoping this means something.

Nana, I want that book!

This could be the world's cutest baby.

At 7 months, Saraphina knows her name, recognizes her grandmas, holds her hand out for Grandpa Dave to kiss, and drinks water out of a glass. She's also waves hello whenever someone enters the room.

She almost has a tooth and looks at our food hungrily when we eat. Her favorite snack right now is avocado. Banana ranks up there pretty high too. She has tried out some pureed fruits and eats creamy cereal for breakfast.

She has figured out how to make her toys make sounds, so her playroom is a filled with toy sounds and squeals of delight. It's pretty hard not to smile when she is around.

Textures, reflections, and new smells

Saraphina is beginning to make sense of the world. She recognizes people and reaches out to touch everything.

We think this is because she is brilliant. Plus she's really cute. She especially likes her own feet, which are quite fascinating and can be put her in mouth. This is awesome to anyone who has ever done yoga.


She likes to visit the baby in the mirror. The other day she discovered the baby in the colander. That was just before she tasted the colander. Most items must be tasted to be understood.

In our household, this is not surprising.

For Christmas she got a rocking horse. Our golden retriever sat down across from it and began to growl when she noticed it sitting in the dining room. To reassure her, we pressed the button that makes its muzzle move, as it whinneys and swishes its tail. Being a friendly sort, she got up to check it out further.

It seems to have passed the test.

Fathers

Behind father Shaun is a couple of photos of Shaun's grandfather, who passed away before Saraphina was born. Perhaps it's no coincidence that his image has been captured in this photo. He would have been very proud of Shaun and of Saraphina.

Vote Today

Do it for Saraphina!

Grandpa Time

Saraphina has been delighting all her grandparents this week. We've all been lucky enough to have a little time with her while Kris and Shaun try to get a little work done.

Here she is snuggling with Grandpa Dave.

Outgrowing Everything

Kris and Shaun found the perfect Halloween costume for Saraphina. But then we realized that by October, she will be too large for it so she is wearing it now in anticipation of Halloween.

You can tell she really likes it. During happy colic-free moments, she makes baby gurgling sounds and focuses on near and distant objects. Her favorite focal point is anything with lights.

She recognizes Mom and Dad and has given Grandpa Dave a couple of really big smiles.

Kris and Shaun are getting longer periods of sleep at night. That means Grandma Nan gets a little more awake time with Saraphina during the day.

Team Seraphine

Oldest cousin visits youngest cousin. What a lucky girl Saraphina is to have her two cousins closeby.

I have 12 cousins and a sister on my mom's side and every one of them is a special friend because we spent a lot of time together as kids. We played together and got into trouble together. Sixty years later, we still laugh about how clever we were.

I see some really fun family celebrations ahead.

Buddha Baby

I don't think this one needs any explanation.

Saraphina's Song

Shaun has already written a children's story for Saraphina and has composed a couple of songs. Here he is sharing his latest song with his musical inspiration.

While Shaun's dedication awesome, it's providing fodder for a lot of teasing from his friends... some of who are awesome fathers themselves.

Picture of the Week

This was the week of the bath. Saraphina handled it well, as did her parents.

A visit to the pediatrician confirmed that Saraphina is progressing nicely with a healthy weight gain of one pound. He also noted that in addition to being lovely, she was very tolerant while he examined her.

She has had many visits from friends and family, during which she coo'd adorably. Each day her awareness of her environment is growing. She likes light, especially if it blinks like the rubber ducky Grandma Rose got for her bathtub.

She giggles in her sleep and she has a big dimple in her left cheek.

She is sleeping a bit longer at night and entertains us with longer wakeful periods during the day. Right now she is pretty much the center of our Universe.

Saraphina Sleeps

Yesterday was Saraphina's 1 week birthday. She spent the week sleeping and getting to know the Oster household. Shaun has taken her out to smell the mint and given her jazz appreciation sessions.

Kris has spent the week feeding her, holding her, and sleeping whenever possible.

The dogs think she is interesting and smells nice.

She met her cousin this week and had visits with her aunts and more grandparents.

She has been trying on some of her new clothes but mostly she's happy in her onesies and sleepers. She, of course, looks beautiful in everything because she is the most beautiful baby in the world.

Settling In

Saraphina watches patiently as Mom looks for fingers in the sleeve of her going home outfit.

Everything checked out fine with both Mom and baby so they were released from the hospital yesterday afternoon.

It didn't take too long to get settled at home. Dogs Amber and Ladybug got quick introductions to Saraphina. Amber is especially interested. Dave thinks it's because she hopes that Saraphina will spill things when she eats so that Amber can lick them up.

Shaun says no good kitchen would be complete without the Amber 2000 to clean up splatters and spills.

Speaking of Amber. Shaun invited her out into the living room for a closer look. After sniffing Saraphina, she sat down to watch Saraphina's new learning toy.

We figure by the end of the day she will be able to recognize several different animals... well maybe not the actual animal, but cartoon versions anyhow.

Shaun has put a sign on the front gate requesting that you call our cell phones before ringing the bell since Amber and Ladybug love to greet visitors in their own special way... lots of barking. This way we can put the dogs in the hall before they realize you are there. Thanks!

Coming Home Today

If all goes as planned, Saraphina and parents will be home this afternoon. Then we will get our camera back and get to post more photos.

I spent yesterday driving back and forth to the hospital with supplies (really I just wanted to visit with all of them). Saraphina had bonding time with all her grandmothers and grandfathers yesterday.

The maternity ward was completely chaotic because so many babies were born yesterday. We were warned that c-sections and inductions had been planned so that babies would be born on 8-8-08. I guess it was true because the nursery was packed and the nursing staff was stretched pretty thin. I took a batch of sticky buns and some chocolate chipotle brownies which Kris and Shaun gave out to the nurses. The news spread pretty fast and some nurses came back for more.

Shaun especially is looking forward to getting home to a proper bed and better food. I think Kris is looking forward to being in her own private space again.

First Release

Prepare for many more photos. She has glowing skin, red cheeks, and dark eyes. I'd write more but I want to get back to the hospital to see baby and family.