Smile for the camera?!

Celeste has become very smiley. She smiles at her parents, she smiles at strangers, she smiles at friends, she smiles at Pablo, and she smiles at Kleenex boxes and shadows on the wall.

She will not, however, smile at the camera. As soon as we pull the camera out she gets serious and interested. I can't wait to get a picture of her grinning, but for now, I give you these photos.

P.S. She's now over 10 weeks old! Peter and I were looking at her newborn photos last night and were blown away by how different she looks now. We cannot believe how much has happened in 2 months.

6 shots in one afternoon?!

Celeste is a whopping 2 months. She's now tipping the scales at 11.5 pounds (she's gained over 2 in one month and has deep fat rolls that hide grime) and she's grown 2 inches. This afternoon we helped her kick off the start of her third month with a fun-filled visit to the pediatrician which included a half-dozen immunization injections.

While we waited for our appointment an elderly couple came up and fawned over Celeste. The wife, who had a tall, white beehive of hair like an aged Marge Simpson, kept saying, "Hiya bright eyes!" Celeste would gurgle and smile at her. I told the couple that she was about to get her first round of shots. The husband told me that as a corps man (I have no idea what that is but nodded appreciatively), he could never give shots to the little ones. "I had to get my buddy to do the babies. It's just to hard, they don't see it comin'." He had warm brown eyes and told me she'd be O.K.

Celeste was unsuspecting on the exam table until a friendly cooing nurse jabbed her chunky thighs with a series of hypodermic needles. She yelped and screamed in a pitch that we'd never heard before. I was a mess. The nurses kept reassuring me that I was being a good mom and that it was worse for me than it was for Celeste. I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that I started crying.

On our way out, Peter scheduled Celeste's next appointment. I watched the older man with warm brown eyes talking to a doctor The doctor was telling him in a too-slow and too-calm voice (the kind reserved for children) that his wife needed to go to the hospital right away. He was nodding.

On the drive home we talked about how the most difficult part of parenthood so far is seeing Celeste experience pain or fear. That old couple helped me realize how if you're lucky, you live long enough to experience a whole range of feelings. I wondered why Marge Simpson's grandmother had to go to the hospital and I hope that she will be OK.

Celeste's new friends

Well, they're actually old friends. Ellen, Sipho, and Daniel came to visit over the long weekend. The last 2 months have been such a whirlwind of change and activity, it was grounding and fun to have them around.

Celeste had a lot of fun being dressed up in a fancy velveteen dress (she looked like an aristocratic baby, in need of a gold-plated rattle, getting ready to sit for a portrait--it was hilarious) by Ellen. Ellen gave Celeste the red alien onesie that you see in this photo. I remember looking at that onesie a month ago and thinking that it was so big and that Celeste would never ever fit into it.

Daniel, Ellen, and Sipho made us a delicious dinner and Sipho did the dishes! It was luxurious to see these guys. We miss them every day. We took a long hike through Henry's Wood on Bushkill Creek and geeked out imagining that we were in Middle Earth. Daniel and I walked down the hill into downtown Easton. He helped me appreciate the city....I think he and Kyle might be moving here by the end of the year. (Ha!)

Recently Celeste has taken to gazing in awe at the colorful mobile that her Aunt Siri bought for her. The second photo from the top on this page was my attempt to capture her interest in the mobile It really does not do justice to how the shapes and colors drifting in the breeze fascinate her.

So as the photos show, it's fun to come visit us in Easton. We've got a hot pot of coffee waiting for the rest of you guys for whenever you can come on out and pay us a visit.

51 days

I can't write now but wanted to add these new photos. I added a rather horrid picture of myself so that you'd all see that I do, in fact, still exist.

P.S. Celeste is now sleeping through the night--she's done it 5 days in a row and slept until 8:30 this morning!