Ceci n'est pas Gwen Wren

Our friend Meredith painted a gift for Gwendolyn - a wonderful depiction of her name. I think it reflects Gwen Wren's spirit quite nicely. Take a look.

Friends Come To Visit

The day after her first party, Gwen Wren had another big social outing.

Our friends Ximena, Andres, and Tomas came to Austin for a visit.

Kim joined us for a picnic...

...by Lady Bird Lake.

And the day after that was Ximena's birthday party.

Many movers and shakers from the toddler set were there.

Rachelle's daughter Milena enjoyed meeting Gwendolyn.

After their meeting, both Wren and Milena expressed a desire for refreshments. Their modes of expression were subtly, but noticeably, different.

For the cake, Kim made a wonderfully rich and delicious chocolate torte, topped with strawberries dipped in yet more chocolate.

Milena particularly enjoyed the strawberries.

After the cake, Milena and Tomas decided it was time to go home.

An Engagement

OK, so I'm a full week behind with these posts, which is a long time for a baby. In fact, it's a quarter of Gwen Wren's life! But there's a lot going on in the real world these days, so the virtual image world sometimes has to wait.

So, what happened last weekend in Wrendolyn's real world? She was invited to a party. A very special party, with a mysterious premise: there was to be some sort of announcement.

Rachel picked out a cute outfit for The Wren.

At the party, Gwen Wren spent some quality time with the big kids.

By big kids, I mean not only Vivian, but also Marj.

And Marj's kids, Ada and Oscar.

Vivan's dad used the camera feature on his phone to capture this nice picture of us.

And the big announcement? Darien and Justin are engaged!
(A side note: I was pleased to see that for this occasion Darien chose to wear the Trogdor polo I gave him.)

First Bath

At 21 days of age, Gwen Wren had her first bath.

In the beginning, she was not a very willing participant.


By the end, though, she was calm, content, and clean.


I gotta say, I dig that hooded frog robe. (Thanks Ximena, Andres, and Tomas!)

Socializing

Gwen Wren's social life has been picking up. It's easier to meet people ex utero.

Lucy thought Gwendolyn looked like a manga character. But with smaller eyes and a smaller head-to-body ratio.

Emma wondered what it would be like if Gwen Wren's name was Polly, or Veronica, or Sakura, or Tess...

Angela came all the way from Alabama just to meet Gwendolyn! OK, she was here on business. But still, it was great timing.

Gwen Wren enjoyed bonding with Kim while we enjoyed bonding with all the delicious food that Kim brought over.

Gwendolyn found a kindred spirit in Natalia.

Rachelle's loving and experienced embrace put Gwen Wren at ease.

Catalina got a glimpse of her near future--she is expecting a baby of her own in just a few months.

Mike brought Emma and Lucy back for a second Gwen Wren session.

It's nice to have so many wonderful friends.

Stimuli

In her first two weeks post-emergence, Gwendolyn had basically 3 modes: sleeping, eating, and screaming. But she has gradually started spending more time in my personal favorite state--what the books call "quiet alert." In this state she is, well, both quiet and alert. Looking around. Taking it all in. So we started thinking that she might appreciate some more diverse stimuli, besides just having to look up at me or Rachel all the time.

We started by putting her in the pack-n-play with some blocks, but she just fell asleep.

So, I started being a little more proactive--having her follow a block (or in this case a frog) with her eyes, or ringing a bell on one side and seeing if she would turn toward it. She seemed to enjoy it. I determined:
1) she can see
2) she can hear
3) she can follow an object at a distance of at least 1 foot
4) she can also completely ignore me and look out the window.

We might have gone a little overboard when we added a crazy and colorful mobile.

After so much stimulation, a nap was in order.

She's still quite the chubster!

From an Earlier Era

I'm still playing catch-up with these posts, so some of the pictures are from an earlier era (e.g. last week). These next two were taken when Gwendolyn was 9-10 days old.

Gwendolyn was born with a hand next to her face. We actually have an ultrasound image of her with her hand next to her face in utero. She still very much likes to have her hands next to her face, covering her face, pulling on her own cheeks, poking her own eyes. She also has wicked sharp fingernails. So, she's always scratching up her face. We have tried putting on little mitts, but she gets them off in short order. I like this picture where she only has one--kind of an 80's pop-star look.

In this next photo, she appears to be striking a pose, though I think we just caught her mid-writhe. Again it reminds me of the 80's. More specifically, of the movie Pumping Iron, and its sequel, Pumping Iron II: The Women. Gwen Wren looks ready for Pumping Iron III: The Babies.

Family Outing

Last Friday we had our first family outing, aside from a couple of mandatory visits to the midwife and the pediatrician. We went to Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake) for a short walk and some stick-fetching. We all took the walk; only Tulip fetched sticks.

We got a chance to try out our nifty stroller--really just a frame for putting the car seat in, with wheels.


Wren remained peacefully nestled the whole time. She was 16 days old.

Theo and Toby looked fabulous in their colorful outfits.

Tulip was in a good mood, after about 20 short stick-retrieval swims in the lake.

Wow, we really are a family!

Family Resemblance

There has been some speculation about who Gwendolyn most resembles--her mother or her father. When Rachel's brother Sam first saw a picture of Gwen Wren, he immediately said she looks like me (her dad). When asked which part more specifically looks like me, Sam replied, "Her face." :-)

I, on the other hand, think she might look more like Rachel. Check this out--here is Gwen Wren at 10-days-old alongside a photo of newborn Rachel, ca. 1973.


And here is Gwen Wren (16-days-old) alongside present-day Rachel.


What do you think?

The Arrival of Gwendolyn Wren

It all started on June 25, 2008. No, wait, it all started 9 months earlier, in Panama. No, wait, it really started 34 years ago, when Rachel was in her mother's womb. Well, when you think about it, it's really hard to say when it all started. But Gwendolyn Wren was born on June 25, 2008, so we'll start there too.

She was born at Birthwise Birth Center in Austin, TX. In this picture, she is less than 3 hours old.

Rachel liked how the midwife used a spring scale to weight the baby--just like Rachel weighs bats in her research. Gwendolyn's birth weight was 8 lbs. 12 oz. Pretty big for a baby born 2 weeks before the due date! (And yes, they did remember to subtract the weight of the sling.)

We left the birth center a mere 6 hours after she was born. I still can't quite believe they let us just take her home, without making us pass a childcare test or anything.


Once we got her home, we took a closer look at our new daughter. She's a little chubby!


We checked to make sure she has the right number of fingers and toes.


Then we helped her into her first PJ's. Pretty much everything is a first at this point in life.


Before now, I've never really been comfortable holding babies. But this is different. It's kind of like looking into a pond--I see my own reflection, but also see mysterious depths beyond. That is, until the magic is interrupted by Gwendolyn crying out for her mother...


So, now I no longer know who is the most beautiful girl in the world. I get to live with the top two! And they are even more beautiful together.


Gwen Wren's grandmother hasn't lost her touch. She is masterful at singing and rocking the Wren to sleep. Theo has had some recent practice, though. Her other granddaughter, Madeleine (aka Maddie, aka Slappy), was born in March. Click here to see Maddie's blog.


Grandpa Toby also took a turn with the Wrenster.

As did Grandpa John. Doesn't he look proud? Gwendolyn has 25% of his genes, after all!


All in all, I must say I'm rather pleased to be a dad. OK, in the high moments, maybe more like ecstatic.