Sunday, July 10, 2011

introducing elsa

At long last, here is week 26: the week the baby was born. When last I wrote, I had gotten to the part where it was Friday night, and Dan and Carmen were at the hospital. Things were progressing pretty slowly, so we were still waiting for news for quite a while on Saturday afternoon. I spent the time doing some hardcore cleaning in the bathroom, washing a week's worth of sanding dust off of every flat surface. It wasn't particularly fun, but it kept me busy, and it definitely needed to be done.

Then, Dan called just before dinnertime to say that Elsa Louise had arrived. (And we were finally able to use her name in front of Steve's parents!) Elsa was born at 4:40pm, weighed 7lbs 13oz, and was 19.5 inches long. Carmen ended up having a C-section, so we waited until the next day to go visit them at the hospital. That meant no baby picture for the picture of the day; I had to settle for a shot of the card that we had gotten for them.

176/365 arrival of the baby


Sunday was the day that we actually got to meet Elsa, but we had to wait until after dinner to go to the hospital. To keep myself busy this time, I made a sign for Elsa's grand homecoming. I knew that they would be in the hospital for a few days yet, but I also knew that I would be busy with work by then. Cutting out and gluing down little circles, letters, and a stork picture was a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than a weeknight.

When the appointed time came, we drove ourselves and the parents over to CPMC. We had to wait a little longer in the family lounge while Carmen and the baby finished a feeding, but after that, we got our first look at Elsa. We took turns holding her while she slept: Bonnie first, then Bruce, then me, then Steve, then back to Dan. Elsa made little uncomfortable faces with each of us at first, but she quickly settled back to sleep. Despite the less than optimal light in the hospital room at 8pm, I took lots of pictures. It was a difficult choice for picture of the day, so I went with the first picture I took of Elsa, when Carmen was holding her. (Or at least, the best shot of a few nearly identical ones.)

177/365 introducing elsa


The next day was Monday, and I had to go to work. It was the start of audition week for the summer show, Thoroughly Modern Millie. I figured that we wouldn't be going to the hospital that evening, which meant I needed to find something other than the baby to photograph. I hadn't taken a picture of my (relatively) new *emera circle tote yet, so I got it ready to go and took a quick shot of it in the hallway. Bruce and Bonnie painted the trim in there that day while I was at work, so it was a somewhat fitting picture in that respect too.

178/365 time to go to work


We made one last trip to the hospital on Tuesday evening to see Elsa before they all came home the next day. Again, she slept for most of the visit, but they unswaddled her for a while before we left. That woke her up enough that we saw her open her eyes a little more than we had the first day. Still, one of the sleepy pictures was my favorite.

179/365 the tiny one


On Wednesday, the morning of Elsa's homecoming, I went downstairs to tape the sign on the door and take a few pictures of the nursery as a whole. (I had only taken detail shots before that.) Since I had to be at work when Dan and Carmen brought the baby home, I figured my picture of the day would be the sign on the door. I had trouble framing the shot liked I wanted it, so I ended up using one of the nursery pictures instead. The only downside with the one below is that Elsa's name wasn't filled in on the decal banner above the crib yet. Carmen and I did that that evening after I got home from work and went downstairs.

180/365 the nursery


By Thursday, I was feeling like I needed another non-baby-related picture. Luckily, I saw these potted plants in the parking lot before I left for work that day. With the texture of the concrete wall behind them, I thought it had a (very slight) rustic Italian feel. Better than the rest of the parking lot, at least.

181/365 potted plants


And back to the baby for Friday's picture. Since I had the day off, I went with Dan and Carmen on their first car outing with Elsa since bringing her home from the hospital. They needed a couple things from Flax (the art supplies store), and I wanted to look at frames for the wedding pictures we're finally putting up in our hallway. So I got a picture of Elsa in her car seat—something I missed the day she came home from CPMC.

182/365 ready for adventure


That Thursday was the end of June, so here's another mosaic (already). It was a very colorful and baby-oriented month.


   

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