theparkerfamily.org

Tag: Firsts

  • milestone: baby’s first target run

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    ECPA20091024_0369, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    few things are as important in one’s life than your first target run. come to think of it, if you are the first born daughter of the lady sparklet, i can’t think of *anything* more important than your first target run.as the texas grandparents stay has progressed, they’ve started getting out of the house more and more. they headed down around the White House today, so the lady spakler and I took the chance to pack up stroller and run a few errands.

    it’s fun walking around Mount Pleasant with a new baby. we saw some friends we hadn’t seen since the birth, a family walked by and pointed from a far (“wow, a newborn!”) … obviously, with said newborn we kept our distance (and kept sparklet out of any flu-laden enclosed spaces) but it was good to get mommy and baby a little fresh aire.

    the good news is that sparklet has been packing away the liquids. at our pediatrician appointment on Friday, she had tacked on a quarter of a pound in just three days … and the early-birth jaundice is completely gone, too.

    mommy and doctor were both elated.

    and while the picture taking has slowed down a bit (which is a good thing, so sparklet won’t go blind from all the flash bulbs) we are still capturing a few here and there as she finds a new way to look so ridiculously cute.

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    photos: week two, washington, dc

  • first walk

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    ECPA20091021_0322, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    we took our first walk around mount pleasant tonight … well, our first walk that didn’t involve coming back from the hospital or going to the pediatrician’s office.

    fwiw, the lady sparkler is laughing in the picture because she couldn’t figure out why i was (temporarily) refusing to take the picture … until she saw a nubile young twenty-something with a ridiculously obvious thong-line walk out of frame.

    you can’t say i’m not well trained.

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    photos: first walk, mount pleasant, washington, dc

  • bellybutton

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    ECPA20091023_0367, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    we have a bellybutton …! tonight during the 6pm feeding, whatever was left of sparklet’s placenta made a break for it.

    it took about 10 minutes of sparklet and i pawing around the bed, but we finally found it right where mommy would have found it later tonight while trying to fall asleep.

    at least sparklet didn’t try and stuff it down her diaper.

  • homecoming

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    ECPA20091015_0189, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    mercifully very little to report.

    sparklet’s already producing some top shelf imitations — she does a wicked good “goat” sound while she’s sleeping, a mean Gary Coleman face (“what’chu talkin’ ’bout Willis”) when woken up early, and a great “Nazgûl flying over Frodo’s head” sound when she’s hungry.

    (UPDATE: she’s added a great dolphin imitation to her repertoire, too.)

    other than that, we’re just settling into a routine. the family parker is up from virginia to provide cover until the family spindler can drive up from texas. sparklet is sleeping like a brick, and eating well considering the early date and her early birth.

    leaving the hospital, baby spindler (and the lady sparkler) both checked out great … mommy is still moving a little slowly, and because baby sparklet crashed the party earlier than planned we’ll to keep an eye out for jaundice.

    and with that, the lady sparkler and I are going to do a quick feeding, and take another of those 2 1/2 hour naps we’ve grown to love so well…

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    photos: homecoming, washington, dc

  • kate elisabeth parker

    [Kate Elisabeth Parker, Washington, DC.]

    photo of the week // week zero
    like the little overachiever that we all know she is going to turn out to be, baby sparklet was born this afternoon (4:19 pm) a solid four weeks earlier than the lady sparkler or i had been daring to expect.

    baby sparklet was only day after full term (37 weeks) but the doctors and nurses have been speechless with how big (and healthy) and healthy (and big) the baby was for being three weeks early — measuring in at 7 lbs., 6 oz. and 21 inches. our delivery nurse guestimated that sparklet would have been 9+ pounds if she hadn’t decided to come charging out of the gate early.

    anyway, mommy and sparklet are perfect, and we expect to be discharged tomorrow morning.

    i did “liveblog” the event into my iPhone as they happened, but never had the chance to set it up formally (that whole three weeks early thing) so i’ll post more of a running commentary a little bit later.

    in the meantime, thank you from both of us (or all three, actually) for being so spectacularly supportive and sending us all those thoughts, prayers and encouragements.

    i was actually reading the out at down times during the labor, and the lady sparkler (especially) was incredibly grateful.

    more later, promise 🙂

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    kate elisabeth parker, washington, dc