by
dadDear Emilia,
Last night you had your first bath.
You were not happy.
But we had to get you cleaned up a bit!
In the end you were happy in your soft blanket.
Love, Dad
Dear Emilia,
You are almost a week old, and it seems like you are gaining new expressions every day. They say that these smiles are involuntary, but it seems clear that you know our voices when we talk to you.
You are already growing so much. We’ve spent what seems like hours just watching, as if you will sprout inches, grow more hair or get chubby cheeks spontaneously. And then, when we turn away or lay you down to sleep, you wake up slightly different.
You had your second car ride today, and your first trip to the coffee shop. You were completely content to ride along, and you slept through all of the falling snow.
Tonight was our seventh wedding anniversary, and we celebrated it by eating sushi, something your mom loves and wasn’t allowed to eat when pregnant with you.
We have much to celebrate and be thankful for, but most of all we were celebrating this anniversary in honor of you. There were lots of big smiles all around! 😀
Love, Dad
by
momDear Emilia,
You have been here almost a week now, and it is clear you are the center of our world. Your Dad and I could spend hours just watching you (and do)! I know you won’t stay this small forever, and I just wanted to tell you what I have loved about your first week of life.
Day-long snuggles
Baby squeeks
Contented sighs (both yours and ours)
Sleep smiles
Your baby smell
Watching you sleep peacefully
Laughing about you filling your diaper right after we change you
Burps that sound way too loud to come from you
Watching you look at the world with wide, curious eyes
Sharing you with people who love you almost as much as we do
Feeling so full of love that we might burst
Those are just a few of the things that I hope to remember as you grow. We look forward to all the things yet to come.
Love, Mom
Dear Emilia,
Tonight you had your first encounter with your puppy Yeti. Grandma and Grandpa K took Yeti for a little vacation so that your first few days home would be as calm as possible. We were worried that Yeti might be jealous of all the attention that you were getting, (deservedly so, since you are getting more beautiful by the day!)
As it turns out, we didn’t need to worry. Yeti was just interested in getting a smell and a lick, and you didn’t seem to be bothered by her at all!
The Look
The Approach
Yeti Turns Away
We’re looking forward to see how you and Yeti play when you get older!
Love, Dad
Dear Emilia,
We all woke up a bit earlier this morning, and while your mom was getting dressed, I got to hold you and watch you for some uninterrupted daddy-time. Your eyes were wide open at first, and you were looking around the room. The sun was streaming in through the window, and you seemed to be alternatively very interested in the light, and sort of bothered by it. I can imagine that your eyes are still adjusting to all of this light, and it’s pretty hard to see anything. At one point, though, you stared straight into my eyes for nearly a minute. I smiled and laughed since even though I know I probably just look like a big blur, you seemed to be checking me out.
We moved downstairs, and then you gave me a few little smiles. Luckily I was able to catch one on the camera.
Then, just a little bit ago, we had a home visit from an RN. She came by to weigh you on the scale, check on your skin, see how much you’re eating and growing. She said that everything was looking great!
Since she left, you’ve been hanging out in your chair, which, as it turns out, is a vibrating chair. You absolutely love it. As soon as your mom turned it on, you relaxed and went right to sleep. It may be your new favorite chair.
Love,
Dad
Dear Emilia,
It’s amazing to watch you and think about how you came from your Mom and I. Everyone likes to pick out little parts of you here and there that look like us. It’s still hard to tell what color your eyes and hair will be, but it seems like traits become more apparent by the hour. One thing that we know for sure is that your eyebrow muscles are all mine:
Dear Emilia,
I’m sorry for the display of incompetence and general lack of preparedness that I just put you through. At approximately 6:55Pm, we discovered a poopy diaper. Grandma had just left, so we will have to question her knowledge of the situation later. Anyways, this was your first big diaper change since arriving home, so I went for it.
The situation was worse than I thought when I opened up your layers of clothing (fleece suit, onsie, diaper). Yep, there was a lot more than I had prepared for (one moist baby-wipe). In my defense on the baby-wipe, we are currently using the non-pre-wet variety, as that was recommended by the hospital to prevent diaper rash.
Dear Emilia,
You had your first big car ride today! Everything was going perfectly at the hospital, so they gave us the option of taking you home. Hard to believe that you are just 36 hours old right now. (literally… right as I type this and look over at you!)
You are already more alert to the world, and we’re so happy to have you home so you can investigate the place.
Earlier today, we packed up the hospital room, and your mom got a ride in a wheel chair while I carried you in your car seat. Someone in the elevator asked about you, and I said, “Yep, this is her first elevator ride!” The woman helping us out reminded me, “Second ride”. Whoops! I forgot that we had just taken a ride.
I made a joke about how time was passing so quickly, and it seemed like only 45 seconds ago that you were taking your first elevator ride, which got a good laugh from the other elevator riders.
It’s true though. This is already happening so quickly. We’re just enjoying every minute of it.
Love, Dad
We are pleased to introduce you to our daughter, Emilia Linnea Colianni.
Emilia was born December 2nd, 2008 at 2:14am. She weighed 7lbs 3.8oz at birth and measured 20 inches long.
Mom and Dad are very tired, but extremely happy! Thank you for all of the notes, calls, and comments. We look forward to introducing her in person!
Love A.J. and Sonja
Dear Emilia,
Every other dad I know had told me how you would change my life. Some dads went through detailed arguments, point by point, on how the world would change once you came in to it. Other dads would simply say, “Your life will change, you’ll see,” without offering any explanation other than a simple nod.
After your mom worked for hours and hours to bring you into the world, I understood all of the dads immediately when I first held you in my arms. You looked into my eyes, and my world changed. In thousands of enumerable ways, my world changed, and in one big unexplainable way, my world changed.
And now, it’s our world. We can’t wait to show it to you.
Love, Dad
