Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Check out that hair!

Fun with mama and a pointy hair-do.

Chillin' on the Couch


Mini's new thing is just hangin' out on the couch and watching the world go on....much to the pleasure of her parent's aching arms.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Juliet and a Bottle of Wine - 11 Weeks!


11 weeks old, and on xmas no less! This shot taken on location in Sea Ranch on the beautiful Northern California coast....

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Juliet and a Bottle of Wine (and a sock monkey) - 10 Weeks!


This has been a big week for mini. She is growing a lot - a little heavier and a lot taller it seems. And she had her first night out at the Calthorpe holiday party...she was a charmer.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Mini is Officially Grabbing Things Now!


We know it's the little things. She grabbed a big sock monkey and a rattle today...all at once! Now that's what I call the makings of a mob accountant.

You wanna me a counta your money?


Looks like our daughter is going to out-earn us in her first year...this we know from a shirt that can predict your kid's profession. Cancel that college fund! No need for books - we're gonna be fixin' em anyway!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Juliet and a Bottle of Wine - 9 Weeks!


Mini is 9 weeks old and the smile sessions are getting better and better. Look, now she can even smile in a wine shot! (we won't tell you about the other 50 shots where she is not).

Do I look Tall to You?



So Juliet had her 9 week doc appt today. Besides being cute, she is also 11 pounds 7 oz (66th percentile), has a head circumference of 38 1/4 cm in the 36th percentile, and is one tall girl at 2 feet 1/4 inch (97th percentile).

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Smiling Faces



Juliet was happy today - and she had smiles to show it. Totally the opposite of Sunday, when she did not go to sleep (ever) and was quite the handful.

Juliet and a Bottle of Wine - 8 Weeks!


It's hard to believe it's been 8 weeks. And it's hard to believe that she's still so darn cute and still fits in her politico shirt....she really does not like George Bush at all.

Friday, November 30, 2007

Mama Bird is Back!


Mama Bird took to the hills like she never missed a tweet! It was a beautiful, crisp day - perfect to test the legs up Tunnel Road and carefully (safety first!) decend Claremont. Old rOOster enjoyed his short stint at being faster....not for long.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Lady in Red....(Stripes and Stuff)


Check out this little get up...and note how she is actually LOOKING, even fixating on something. Oh the little things...

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Mini and a Bottle of Wine - 7 Weeks


Ok, so this was one of our toughest photo shoots yet. Mini was finicky, probably because we had her in silly "shoe" socks and dad had just blow dried her hair all crazy. But, we take what we can...you should see the other shots.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Sleeping in the Arctic


Ok, so we keep our house cold! But it's a climate emergency! And no one can say mini is not dressed appropriately.

Track Mini Week by Week!

Hi all - check out Weekly Minis for a week by week check on Mini's progress versus the Wine Bottle.



Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Fashion Plates



Check out this get up - jeans are oh-so-mature no?

Juliet and a Bottle of Wine - 6 Weeks!


Getting bigger, a bit more fidgety, and still cute as a button.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Mini in a Big Bed



Cute poses from a newly awakened Juliet laying in luxurious comfort in the big bed.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Do These Socks Make Me Look Fat?


Gotta love the orange monkey socks....have great grip since she walks around so much.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Juliet and a Bottle of Wine - 5 Weeks Old!


So she's still cute at 5 weeks! Growing yes, but still a little peanut just like we like her.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Baby Reunion!


Actually, more like a parents reunion since the baby's never really saw each other 'till now...and they can barely even see today. But it was great fun to see everyone from our Bradley class. From left to right: Anna Sofia, Juliet, Desmond, Brendon, Izzie.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

What is this, a day spa?!


Juliet gets the serious VIP treatment here at Casa BigStefano. Here's dad giving her the oh-so-nice warm air, post-bath blow down.

Juliet and a Bottle of Wine - 4 weeks old!


28 days and counting and growing too! And check out the sweet little outfit from the grandmas!

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Playing with Grandpa


Big Joe came to visit this weekend and meet his little grand daughter.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

The Ever-Essential Daily Nap


The daily nap - oh so important for a happy family.

Friday, November 2, 2007

First Bath in the Tub


Juliet had her first bath in the tub today. As you can see, she was somewhat ambivalent about the whole matter.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

First Bath!


Juliet had her first bath on Halloween - in a bucket on the sink. She actually liked it, but we learned she is really slippery when wet...

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Juliet and a Bottle of Wine - 21 Days Old


Here she is at 3 weeks. Definitely putting on a little more weight. Still sweet and smiley, though a bit finicky for this photo shoot.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Skype!


So with grandparents, aunts, and uncles far away, we are using the amazing power of video-skype to get regular close-ups of sweet Juliet with VIP family members. Here is a pic from tonight's video with Grandma C.

Challenges of the Boob


So Juliet is certainly taking well to the breastraunt. Sometimes it seems too well - as she really really likes it there and seems to be happiest while feeding or just in the breastraunt. So we are trying to figure this all out. How much is too much? Can there be too much? Will she weigh 50 lbs in 2 weeks? Anyway, you can see how happy she is...

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Cheap Thrills Under the Hood


Juliet likes the sounds of the range hood. It makes her calm down, which is good for everyone. Here she is in close range of the hood on setting 4, normally reserved for the greasiest of meals.

Friday, October 26, 2007

We Have a Belly Button


Mini lost her cord today...or rather the dried up little stump it had become. Diapers are a lot easier now and she looks, shall we say, smoother. It came out while dad was holding her and he almost dropped her because he thought it was a spider biting her. But all are fine and the button looks real nice...pic of that forthcoming.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

First Hike



We took a hike up the Strawberry Canyon trail today...fun! Juliet did really well in Daddy's uterus.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Juliet and a Bottle of Wine - 14 Days


Can you tell the difference?

Voter Revolt


Check out this sweet little number from Sarah and Mons...with W polling in the 20s here in sunny California, this one will help make sure no one like him ever makes it in again!

Sunday, October 21, 2007

All Cylinders Firing



Ok, so today Juliet went through 3 sets of clothes, 1 disposable diaper, and 1 cloth diaper - all in about 5 minutes. Here are two shots taken about 2 seconds apart...

A Study in Faces

Juliet is quite the expressive little one. In just 1 minute. she fired through a whole series of cute faces this morning. She is staying up longer at a time now, which makes for some fun times.

Friday, October 19, 2007

First Doctor Appointment

Juliet had her first doctor's appointment today...she is 10 days old. We walked to the doctor with Juliet in daddy's uterus (aka the moby wrap). It's about 1.5 miles each way and Amy is doing really well with the walking. It's funny how people don't know what's going on with my body - they think I'm just really fat, not caring a tiny little baby.

The doctor gave Juliet a clean bill of health. She is up to 7lbs 12 oz! She started at 7-6, dropped to 7-0, and now is back up 12 oz! She's a good feeder and the breastraunt seems to be in full swing.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Juliet and a Bottle of Wine - 7 Days


We are using this bottle of vintage 1980 Rubin-DiStefano cabernet sauvignon to track Juliet's growth.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Mini Magoo has a Name!


After a bit of deliberation, our sweet Mini Magoo has a (formal) name: Juliet Denni DiStefano. Juliet is to honor Joey's half sister who was killed by a speeding car accident when she was very young and Denni is to honor Amy's dad Dennis who died just over one year ago of cancer...his spirit lives on in this beautiful little girl.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Mini Magoo is Here!




We are proud to announce our new daughter, who will soon, but does not yet, have a name. She was born at Alta Bates in Berkeley on Oct 9 (8 days early) at 3:54pm. She was 7lbs 6.3 oz and 21 inches long (she also has long feet). We are all doing really well, and after 2 nights at the hospital, we are now home and enjoying time with her (and 2 grandmas). Without getting into all the details, I’ll say it was a pretty intense day. It all started around 7am with the beginnings of the mucus plug showing its stuff. We had some breakfast, took a walk, and did a little counting of contraction times. Right off the bat they were pretty close together and almost 30 seconds long. We got home and within about an hour, at around 11, things started to pick up quite a bit. Amy was still pretty funny so we knew it wasn’t that far along, but the contractions were already intensifying. From that point on things moved pretty fast. I called the moms, who adjusted their schedules and tried to find flights out here. I called the doctor’s office and they recommended we come in to get checked. But I wanted to hang out a bit and wait for our doula to get here, who was on her way from SF on BART. In the meantime, contractions starting getting more intense and Amy started getting more serious…a sure sign that things were progressing. By 2pm she was seriously laboring and contractions were strong. She started saying she felt like having a bowel movement and I got a bit concerned…and then the Doula said I could wash my hands and see if I could feel the baby’s head. If I could, then we should go in to the hospital. Suffice it to say, I did not want to do that and we elected to get to the hospital…pronto.

Amy labored pretty heavily in the car and the doula dropped us off in front of the hospital entrance. We made it in and everyone knew where we were headed. We got into the elevator with Amy on all fours, then made it to the L&D check in. The nurse at check in did not seem to believe me when I said we needed to go to a room – that Amy was pushing. She asked me twice whether this was our “first one” with the implication that she did not really believe we were that far along. Then, after waiting what I believe to be too long considering Amy was on the floor saying she was pushing, they sent us to Triage, where it also took a little too long to get a nurse. But once they checked Amy and found that she was 9cm dilated, things started to move a little faster. We were whisked to a room (Amy knew what was happening and had already stripped all her clothes off!) and about an hour later we had a beautiful daughter! We had a tiny scare when her heart rate dropped (though I think it was because the monitor moved, but I don’t really know that), and the doctor ran in (he was gone for a long time and we actually went through a couple of rounds of pushing with just me, Amy, and our Doula in the room). He ended up doing a suction to get Amy’s final push to be the next one, and it did the trick.

Luckily we had her the day before the nurses strike. Our postpartum care was still pretty darn good even with the strike underway – things just took a little longer because the replacement nurses were not as familiar with the place. And we had to hear the picket line chants starting around 7am each day. But all in all, a good experience at the hospital. Now that we are home, we are doing well and Mini is being pretty nice to us. We basically can’t stop looking at her. The whole thing is completely amazing.