The Last Temptation...I mean 4 months... of Kaya!

Wow. It's been a while! It would have been longer had Geoff not asked if we could update this soon so we could keep people updated who don't want to use or don't have access to Flickr or Facebook. I like the idea, really, keeping our blog updated, though sometimes I get this feeling that I'm writing to no one... and everyone at the same time. It's an interesting age that we live in, where so much is "publicized" without the personal connection...and sometimes, therefore, without much purpose. I mean, there is purpose to what we do, and to sharing that with others...but to a certain extent, it feels to me like bragging, like telling people stuff that they didn't ask to hear about. That's what it is, I suppose...it feels sometimes like we're advertising our lives, with Facebook, with Flickr, with blogs...maybe I'm airing too much of my personal hang-ups here, exposing myself as one who really likes and needs, in some ways, to be inquired about by her friends and family. On the other hand, I love to write, and it's fun to just let my thoughts flow. I've been doing that with Kaya lately, too. I'll get to that later, though. Let me post a few pictures to go along with these thoughts...

Kaya is now 15 weeks and 3 days old. And now, at the time that I finally getting around to posting this, is 4 months and one week old. Once I finally finish "back-updating", I'll post something about who she is now...but until then, let me start from the beginning:

Kaya Lynn Staton was born on January 22, 2009 at 3:35am in Portland at Providence Hospital. Here's what she looked like soon after she came out...GOOD thing we were both so tired and in love with her, because we certainly didn't keep her because of how she looked right after making her big exit! I wish Geoff had taken a picture of her hard core conehead...you can kind of see it under the hat here, but he was shocked at its shape!


She looks a bit beat up from the long hour and a half journey down the tube! I had my doubts as to whether she'd make it into this world...but that's what they say happens for many women right before the baby arrives!

For the first few days in the hospital, I wouldn't say she cried ALL the time, but when she did, she really let it out...the nurses said we "have a definite communicator" who "doesn't like to wait long for what she wants." Uh-oh, I thought. She takes after me like that...

We quickly started calling her Snake-Face-Bug-Eyes because her hiss was so airy and her face so puffy when she'd cry, especially!


I guess it's only fair to her to publish a picture in which she looks like the pleasant baby that she really was (and still is):

She QUICKLY grew out of that hissy crying "phace", though, and soon I began to think that she was taking more after Geoff in HIS patience level as opposed to mine (phew!). Especially now that she's 4 months, I feel fortunate that she can teach ME lessons in patience! It's been so wonderful to watch her grow over the weeks and months. Everyone says that "it will go by so fast", and I found that I would feel sad when people told me that. And I would also think about it when they'd tell me that, and realize that the past 4 months have actually seemed to go by perfectly...not too fast, not too slowly--I've come to the realization that time seems to go quickly because of our memories: it's so easy for us to think back on how it was, that it "seems" like just yesterday. But now that I've had this realization, and perhaps because of all the reminders from people to enjoy the current stage, I find that I am loving being home with her every day, being the person who doesn't see the changes quite as easily because I see her so often.

Anyway, my stress comes more in wanting to stay on top of documenting and updating photos, baby books, and blogs so that we have a fun way to look back and reflect, remembering those little moments that would otherwise be forgotten (which is actually more of the reason I'm doing this, is for all of us, so we can look back and read and share it with her...will Blogger be around that long?!). Geoff just made a good point, that we could save these pages, print them out, and turn them into yet another fun documentation to look back on later. That being said, however, I am going to just post some key photos from the last 4 months, because it will be fun to look at the changes from month to month...(and it takes a good while to post pictures and write about all the details here!).

About 1 month old:
...and with her Gramms (Geoff's mom, Bev)...Pictured with her Nana (Tamara's Mom, Karen)...

About 2 months: Pictured here with Great-Granny, Geoff's Granny who just celebrated her 93rd (!!) birthday! Fun to think of the massive age span between them! Pictured here with Great Uncle and Aunt Connie and Larry, Geoff's aunt and uncle who live in Washington.
About 3 months: In our bed. At that point, we had just moved the futon from her room (where she and I had been sleeping together for at least the beginning if not the whole night) into the newly finished attic. Often, after a long night's sleep, she'd wake up early in the AM (5 or 6 ish) and I'd nurse her in our bed and we'd both fall back to sleep until mid morning.

Here, pictured with "Crackers", Geoff's Dad. Bev came up with the name as a joke when she was talking about Kaya calling her, Grams. I love it, and it's slowly sticking! Ralph is showing Kaya a picture of Grampy with Geoff when he was a baby.


Resting with Daddy after a long day at work...!



About 4 months:
On the fluffly lawn in the middle of Harvard University, enjoying a beautiful day!

One of few family portraits, on the Harvard Commons, in Cambridge, and the hill in Andover, MA near our friend Alison's parents.