A Look Back at Jack

A few have asked me, "Who does Emma look like? You or Jim? I can't tell." The truth is, I don't think she necessarily looks like either of us right now. She looks like her brother did when he was the same age. I offer people this opinion, and to my surprise, several have looked at me with doubting looks on their faces. "Like Jack? You think so? Hmm... I don't knoooow."

Maybe they just don't remember the infant version of Jack. And now, it doesn't help that he looks nothing like he did when he was little, little. But the minute that they put little crying Emma into my arms, I was overwhelmed with recognition. I was looking down at the same pouty bottom lip that Jack has when he cries, and the deja vu sensation took my breath away.

I have gathered evidence to support this - mostly for those naysayers out there. Check out the four pictures below, and perhaps they'll help to jog the memories.

How's that, Mom?

With the last entry, I gave my mom the heebie-jeebies. Not everyone appreciates crazy eyed babies, I suppose. Grandmas want cute baby faces for a screensaver at work. Grandmas do not want grandkids looking alien-esque via still shot. Okay yeah, I get that. So yes, I've taken the challenge - the challenge being to take a picture where my kid #2 looks somewhat photogenic. Photogenic as opposed to off-balance.

So, we grabbed the camera tonight. We got to it. We struck a pose. There was nothing to it. ( Huh? Well yeah... "Vogue" WAS playing on the radio. It's like you people are in my miiiiind.)

Did you bring the camera?

Hello everyone. I hope your holidays were as great as ours. We were busy with lots of fun family and friend visiting. I would show you, but it seemed that everytime Jim and I would leave the house, we would turn to each other and ask, "Did you bring the camera?" The answer was always, "Doh!", "Crap!", "Dangit!" etc. Needless to say we have lots of great pictures, but they are all on other people's cameras. Five years after having Jack as a tiny thing, you tend to forget all the "stuff" that you must bring during outings with a baby. Burpcloths, diapers, a change of clothes, burpcloths, the pacifier, burpcloths, blankets, and burpcloths. (Emma takes after her brother and is a BIG spitter.... hence, we bring burpcloths. Lots of them.) I need to add "camera" into my mental list of things to chuck into the diaper bag, but I haven't yet gotten around to that. Anyway, my real point is that I have a very limited selection of new snapshots to post. But I'll do my best.

This is a photo to capture evidence of a mysterious phenomenon that happens of the evening. Emma gets these weird eyes. We call them "Crazy eyes". The expression seems to be related to bathtime as it only shows up following that event. After I sweep her upstairs and bathe her, ridding her of all the spit-up she's accumulated on her body during the course of the day, she must feel a bit overwhelmed with the activity. Then I hand her over to dad, and we get a big kick out of making fun of her facial expression. You can join in the fun, if you want. This is probably the only time I wouldn't be offended if you said to me, "Hey... what's wrong with your baby?"

Crazy eyes - side view.

They say that what you read or see last seems to stay at the forefront of your mind. It's because of this that I've inserted the above photo. I couldn't leave you with the former images. They're weird. So here's a much sweeter image with which to end. Awwwww... little Emma.

By the way, if you know me fairly well, you know that much of my brainspace is occupied by the collection of dates in history that are not particulary important to me. I don't remember names well, but if you told me your birthday or the date of your last oil change, I may very well remember it. It's because of this that I say a hearty, "Happy Birthday!" today to my 4th grade boyfriend named Mike. I don't remember much about him other than... well, his birthday... and that when he played kickball he always pushed up one leg of his sweatpants. Yeah, I know... wasted brainpower. So I never did get that 30 on the ACT no matter how many times I tried. Instead, I know the exact day that my childhood siamese cats were born. An equal trade, I guess. Good grief.

Pictures and More Pictures

Sweet girl.

Emma, like any newborn, has about ten totally involuntary facial expressions per second. I've named some of these expressions. Above is "Disapproving Little Old Lady."

A Papa Joke.

How's Jack doing with this life change? Great! He's fully embraced his new role of Big Brother. A couple of nights ago, Jim, Jack, and I were all in the kitchen. Emma cried out from her bassinet in the livingroom and Jack instantly called out, "I've got it! I've got it!" He gently plugged her pacifier in her mouth and all was well in Emma's world. Jack is a pro.

Our two.

Five More Minutes, Ma...

Emma likes her daytime sleep, it's clear. The fact that she likes her sleep so much makes several tasks a bit of a challenge. Feeding the girl becomes impossible, and showing her sweet little eyes to visitors is obviously difficult if she's bound and determined to snooze. In the first few days of life outside the womb the hospital workers casually say, "Now you need to be waking her every 2-3 hours to eat." I love this piece of advice. It's so much easier said than done. The nurses offer you all the tricks they have up their sleeves when it comes to waking a dreaming infant, but inevitably, you have a baby on which the ordinary waking tricks don't work. Here's a sequence of pictures that show the clumsy and totally ineffective process of trying to rouse Miss Emma.

Emma sleeping.

And thus begin the initial attempts at waking...tickling/brushing the side of a baby's cheek proves to have no effect.

Older brother can't resist a challenge. He chimes in with vocal proddings. "Wake up, Emma!" No dice.

Oh, wait!!! She might be coming around. There's a yawn.

uhhh... no. Emma sleeping.

One Week Old

Emma is officially one week old, and we are getting acquainted with this new little personality... and boy, does she have personality!

Little Emma all the time LOVES to be held, especially by her daddy who is particularly warm and comfortable. If Daddy is not around, she settles by nuzzling a very fuzzy pastel colored blanket that used to be her brother's. I'm sure if she has anything to say about it, it will not be his anymore. Such a little sister already.

Emma sometimes enjoys eating. The "sometimes" is required because this is a puzzle that mom still hasn't quite figured out. Sometimes she eats readily and cooperatively... an angel of a child... peaceful... easy... birds chirp in the background. But it's not these times that are really noteworthy. It's the OTHER times. In order to adequately describe these "other" times, I first must ask if you've seen The Incredibles. If you have, you are familiar with the little baby of the family. Jack-Jack is his name, I think? Anyway he seems, at first, just your average, happy, ordinary, sweet baby. But then... at the climax of the movie he reveals his unique superpower-- a superpower that involves turning into the crazy monster idget child who spontaneously burst into flames, right? It's quite unnerving, really. Well... in connection to Emma's "other" feeding behaviors, I sometimes wonder if she'll burst into flames right in my lap. Pig noises, occasional screaming, and a frantically waving head are involved. Yeah, try to feed that. It's quite unnerving.

Emma never enjoys bathing or getting her diaper changed. Never.

Yes, we are enjoying her little idiosyncracies that make our new little one special. We are in love with Emma.

The standard Emma "burping face." Gotta love that.

Emma Wynne Hoodenpyle

Emma is here, everyone. Here are the fun facts about her:

Birthday: November 30th (We just squeaked in with that November birthday...)

Time of birth: 10:59 p.m. (No kidding... We really just squeaked in!)

Weight: 6 lbs. 9 oz.

Length: 19 in.

Baby girl, Momma, Daddy, and new and official "big brother" are doing just fine. Here are a few pictures that we've collected so far:

Mom and Dad waiting for Emma's big arrival at the hospital

A beautiful girl

I wonder how many times Jim and I will turn to each other and say, "We have two kids now!"