Less than Twelve Parsecs

We are happy to let you know that Mara is now baptized as a Romanian Orthodox Christian with the given name Mara Ileana! Mara Ileana Tener, freshly baptized as a Romanian Orthodox Christian As per Romanian tradition, we baptize babies at anywhere between 2 weeks and 6 months. We decided that three months was a good time. So far, the only instances when something out of Mara's, or my control got her upset were her vaccines. Those painful experiences happened right in my arms or Greg's, thus we could provide comfort immediately. This would be different. No pain, but possible fear of strangers and strange places, plus getting startled by some unusual things happening to her. And no mommy and daddy to give her that safety rope. First off, to better explain what would happen on that special day, we first have to explain Mara's bath time personality a little bit so that you can understand her better. Mara's Bath Time Mara is very intrigued by bath time: she first

Disclaimer: This might not make much sense if you've never seen a baby breastfeeding ;) Her arms shake slightly, her fingers crisply quivering in the morning haze. Her eyes crack open, drinking in the warm light of a sun barely peeking into the room over the richly leaved eucalyptus tree outside, her gaze dreamily seeking. She finds the fingers of her right hand, flexing and stretching wide, and rests her eyes on them for a while. It's fascinating. She's pretty sure she is causing that, but hasn't gotten too proficient at it so far. Still, much better than the last time she woke up. She locks eyes with me, it's the most beautiful, relieved look, and her seriousness breaks into a shy smile, warmer than the sunlight grazing it, mostly lingering on the right corner of her mouth and cropping out the mere hint of a little chin dimple. I smile back and lean in to pick her up. She tenses up in a long feline stretch, from her tightened fists high above her

If at some time in the future Mara starts writing numbers backwards, this will probably be the reason.

It's time for another "things we love" post, as recently joined members of our family are looking for a baby monitor recommendation. And speaking of that, love to all of you!! ;-) If you only care about the Angelcare Baby Movement&Sound Monitor  you probably want to skip the first part on how we got it, and go straight to the review of the monitor's features that we liked and finally our story that made us really love this item! Update:  There was a recall issued for this monitor that would affect slightly older babies who are already able to grab and drag the pressure pads wire; all you need to do is call them to get a kit that locks the wires. The monitor is still pretty darn great :-) How we got the Angelcare This particular item was truly a team effort. First, we were given great advice when we were eight months pregnant by our wedding god-parents. +Alpa Jain  told us to get the Angelcare baby monitor with pressure pads, because it was life s

As a new parent, I get overly excited about the smallest things Mara does. It might seem like that, yet if you think about it a little, we saw this quivering bundle enter life only two months ago with no knowledge of what was ahead. Just some tremendously useful instincts: finding food by smell and wiggling her way to it; suckling; grasping; crying out for help; being ridiculously cute so that you absolutely have to hold her and protect her and love her forever.

I guess you're never too young to be supporting a good cause, and that's exactly what Mara did yesterday morning. Or maybe she was team building. Or maybe simply fashion-sensitive. I had laid her on the floor on a mat so I could brush my teeth while she was checking out the furniture (she is still quite interested in all room decor in the mornings!). I found one of those rubber bands that we usually get when running for some cure or at some work off-site, and put it in her right hand so she can wiggle it. Then I left her with her charge figuring it would keep her busy for a bit until she dropped it. About twenty seconds later I turn and see Mara squiggling happy, wrist band now a beautiful decorative piece high up on her arm! A first in wearing mommy's things!

Napping on people is best napping! How to look smug while sporting a Moby wrap.