It must have happened overnight

Rosa Jane has turned into a chunky monkey and though I've been keeping a close eye on her, I can't really figure out when it happened! On Monday we went for her two-month check up and vaccinations. Poor Little Rosa Jane broke out into a fever that afternoon and despite the doctor's warnings of the symptoms to look for, I wasn't prepared for little Rosa Jane's pitiful cries of pain. It was heartbreaking. Thankfully, we were able to control her fever with a little Tylenol and on Tuesday she woke up happy again. Rosa Jane is 22 inches long and 12 lbs 1 ounce in weight which makes her an average baby, but we know she is as unique as the day is long.

Meanwhile, over the weekend, we noticed that Hanky wasn't feeling well and I don't need to tell you I was scared to death that we were going to lose him, too. I took him to the vet on Monday and he checked out okay. He got a shot and a special diet and he's now on the road to recovery. Thank goodness.

Don gets to go to Nashville in a couple of weeks and I'm downright jealous. I don't know what it would be like to fly with Rosa Jane, but I sure would like to visit my Nashvillian friends.

She Looks Like Her

The jury is in, ladies and gentlemen. The unanimous verdict is that my sweet little Rosa Jane bears an uncanny resemblance to my gorgeous wife and looks nothing like me.

When RJ was just days old, I compared a photo of her to a picture of my older daughter Sara when she was five days old. Sara and I are unmistakeably father and daughter. And I thought Sara and Rosa Jane looked like twins. My impression was that everyone around me - family and friends alike - was in complete agreement. Now as I think back, it's possible that the agreement was merely polite.

I was further encouraged when my sister-in-law's mother-in-law took one look at my new daughter and opined, "Oh my, she definitely favors you!" You meaning me. Of course, I now remember that, after this pronouncement, all you could hear in a room full of family was the Cowboys game play-by-play.

In the ensuing weeks, as Rosa Jane has come into her own (i.e., has stopped spazzing randomly and has acquired actual expressions), the unanimous reaction of every new admirer has been "Oh, wow, she looks just like Kristen." I've dealt with all of these well-meaning but obviously misguided folks by smiling politely and saying something like "She'd be lucky if she did!" But deep down I knew that as beautiful as I find my wife, our daughter definitely favors me.

And then, tonight, as I was playing the piano for KP and RJ, my two precious acronyms, I noticed a photograph there that I don't think I've ever seen. It's a portrait of the three Brown kids, Caren, Kevin and a very young Kristen. I took a deep breath, looked closer, held the photo up, pointed to the young Kristen, and asked "Who does she look like?"



The answer, of course, is Rosa Jane. My new daughter and the youngest girl in the family portrait could be the same kid. Faces shaped the same. Same eyes. Identical smiles. Having seen this portrait, I now know what Rosa Jane will look like in a few years. Gorgeous of course, but nothing like me.

So now the question of what I may have given this little girl has become a mystery again. She may turn out to have my laugh, or my eye color. She may end up loving Robert Altman's 70's masterpieces and hating Julia Roberts. God help her, she may elect citizenship in Red Sox Nation, or decide to be a Democrat in this reddest of Red States.

I'm confident that she and I will turn out to share a great deal, and I can't wait to find out what it is. But I know now that no stranger will ever see us together and recognize us instantly as father and daughter...

Happy Thanksgiving from the Browns!

Two months is just Tutu Too Cute!

Our good friends, The Sardinas, in Beantown gave us this cutie outfit for Rosa Jane. We met Tracey & Jim and their new yellow lab pup, Sophie, in the park when Purdy was just a new puppy. Sophie and Purdy liked to play together and it gave Tracey and I good excuse to get to know each other. It was really fun to share the puppy experience with her and it was even more fun this summer when we realized we were pregnant at the same time. Their son, Evan, is just precious and I think he's the spitting image of Tracey. That's his butt and her arms in one of the photos on the August blog. Thank you for the precious outfit, Tracey & family! It made Rosa Jane's celebration at two months even cuter!

Rosa Jane takes a trip to Granddad's Office

Nothing proud about these grandparents, is there? We sure did have fun meeting all the good people that help Granddad help people feel better. Click on the flickr button to the LEFT to see more pictures. In the meantime, know all is well in the big town of Liberty and it feels good to be home. Happy Thanksgiving Eve and safe travels, everyone!

Me and My Little hic'UP girl

Sometimes something has happened for so long that we forget to document it. Rosa Jane and hicCups go together like white on rice. I could feel her in the womb having the hiccups and now that she's out, nothing has changed. She is visited by the Hiccup Fairy twice a day (first waking up hiccups 7-8am and evening 6-7 pm) for almost 30 minutes each time. Sometimes they make her smile, but other times I think she'd rather have a throw down. Either way, she's still the most beautiful, most adorable, most likely-to-succeed baby girl monkey in the jungle of life.

Taken Behind the Woodshed

Last night we were watching the evening news when the sportscaster said a certain town was taken behind the woodshed by her rival. Today as I was getting all my hair chopped off, I couldn't help but feel as if I had been taken behind the woodshed. I have been Texified by my hairdo. Click on the picture to see the after effects.

PS: donr kept baby Rosa Jane all afternoon long! What a trooper. I was gone a good 6 hours and I surely did enjoy my time away.

Dress Me Up Little

Everyday Rosa Jane grows more. I have known this for a while and especially notice it when I'm dressing her. This morning after her warm and toasty bath, I dressed her up in one of my favorite newborn gowns and took her picture. I was a little worried it wasn't going to fit her, but she cooperated just fine.

I've been trying to edit down my photo sets but it is ever so hard when she's my one and only and I love her so much. Click on her picture to see more from this set. As always, Hank follows us around everywhere and is constantly battling for my attention when I happen to turn it towards RJ. RJ and I went for a drive this afternoon in an attempt to get her to settle for a long nap (it worked, which is why I'm able to post now), but the real story is that when we returned 45 minutes later, Hank was faithfully staring out the front door waiting for us to come home. Good boy, Hanky.

Smilin' Up A Storm!

Little Miss Rosa Jane has found her smile and is on the cusp of cooing. When Don got in late last night he found us playing peek-a-boo together. She was smiling non-stop and Don wondered how he could have missed this big development. I said I think it's the miracle blanket. I love that thing and it is truly working wonders. Last night she slept from 11 until 4:50. It is so delightful to get some rest! The remainder of the day was thrown waaaaay off kilter when we had to be at my doctor's office at 7:30 a.m. It was my post partum visit and everything is going just fine. After the doctor, I followed Don to his new office. It was so fun for us to see where he works. The whole right side wall is a big ol' wipeboard and it was packed full of all kinds of high-tech marcom top secrets. My husband is brilliant and I'm so proud of him. His co-workers ooh'd and aah'd over little Rosa Jane. I really enjoyed watching all the women circle up around her as Don held her. They made as many funny faces as they could in order to catch a glimpse of her smile. The things people do... Afterwards we came home and because our schedule was already shot we didn't get much accomplished except for a long winter's nap.

Today I learned that one of don's co-workers is from Longview TX and knows the people featured in the "Hands on a Hardbody" movie. I love being back in Texas, but sometimes I feel less and less unique because it seems everyone here loves Patty Griffin and everyone here loves Hands on a Hardbody. It just means I'm gonna have to start branchin' out for something new and improved... although it really doesn't get any better than Patty Griffin. Don and I are determined to meet her some how some way and to become best friends with her. That will be the easy part. Getting her to write a song and sing it for our little Rosa Jane might be the challenge. We wouldn't want her to farm it out to the Dixie Chicks now would we?

Ah, dreams. I better git.

Wake Up Happy

RJ awoke in a good mood today after her PM nap so we got out the camera. Good thing Hank was around. Hank is always around these days. He's gotten more attention than he ever has in his whole life. I'd say he's pretty lucky and adjusting to his new role just fine. Click on the picture to see more from Rosa Jane's post nap -- cutie in pink.

No Baby Sounds Like My Baby

Well, that's what I thought until last week when we went to my doctor's office. There was a baby there that sounded *exactly* like my baby when she cries. It was very unnerving. Rosa Jane was sound asleep, yet I kept wanting to soothe her and couldn't concentrate on talking with the receptionist.

Don flew to Miami yesterday and returns tomorrow. The lucky dog gets to stay in South Beach and it sounds like he's in a pretty swanky hotel. We're getting along pretty well without him though we miss him terribly. RJ slept really well last night. I kept her up pretty late last night -- until 11 -- and then swaddled her all cozy. She awoke at 3ish and then 6ish and then 9. I was quite pleased that we actually slept in this morning. I hope we can keep it up.

Last night I weighed Rosa Jane. She tips the scales at 10 pounds.
It is amazing how much she has changed since day one.

We sing this made-up song to Rosa Jane which is called, "Honk If You Love Baby Rosa Jane" and we think she likes it. Today we let her play with her beautiful silver rattle from our jeweler friend in Beantown and I swear that girl's got rhythm. The cutie outfit came from our favorite merchants in Arlington, MA Wildchild. Simply precious. 

I'm in Love and It Sucks

I know you expect me to say I'm in love with my baby. Or perhaps even to profess my love for my darling husband. Yes, I do love them both dearly. But what's really got me going tonight is my spankin' brand new vacuum cleaner. Never in my life would I have thought I'd fall head over heels in love with a vacuum cleaner but I have and it's all I can think about. I like to think about Kurt Lightner's song about vacuum cleaners Suck.

But this is no ordinary vacuum cleaner.

First of all, it's PURPLE. I know there are purple people out there who love everything purple and they claim it makes them unique. I am not one of them. Back in Boston's Quincy Market lives a Purple Only Vendor and it would always make me laugh because it looked like Purple had vomited all over the wagon. Everything in sight was purple.

Second of all, my purple vacuum cleaner is the grandmaster of sucking. It cleans our floors so well, that I would now be perfectly happy to eat my dinner off of the carpet. No more pesky dog hair. YAY!!

Won't you come over and join us for a carpet picnic?

Time out for some worthy product endorsements

Yesterday was a pretty fun day for us. We received the Miracle Blanket in the mail. This was a product which was recommended by our good friend, Sally Gulde. We wrapped up little miss Rosa Jane last night about midnight and boy oh boy did she sleep well! She only woke us once at 4:20 for a 20 minute feeding and then she was quickly back down and out of it. What a relief!!! I was just about to lose it with her three hour spells of wakefulness in the dark hours. She was tired and would want to sleep, but she would be jolted back awake by her sudden arm movements. The swaddle keeps her warm and secure, just like she always wanted. Just like we always wanted!

From here on out, this is THE gift for all our expectant friends. Check'em out at www.miracleblanket.com

The other thing that made me really happy yesterday was this handheld vacuum called The Shark. Woo-doggies does it ever clean up doghair on the stairs. Clean stuff makes me feel good.

Rosa Jane at 7 weeks

Isn't she the most precious? She may not look like it here because she's so cutie, but RJ has a common cold which has spread to the rest of our household. It has put a tiring spell on all of us and only compounded our sadness about Purdy. It's really hard when you have such a unique dog like she was to even think of ever getting another. But at the same time, it's weird to be a one dog household. We know this would be a horrible time to be trying to housetrain a puppy. All the same, it is something we can't help but to talk about -- the addition of another dog -- but I really want to give Hank a chance to become twice the dog before adding another. He's been sweet, cuddly and lovable, although he's made no mention of the loss of his playmate.

Anyway, that's about all from the Roedner household.

REST IN PEACE Indian Princess Little Head aka PURDY

Feb. 22, 2003 - November 10, 2005.

Little puppy kisses. Vicious sounding growls, but very harmless. Today Purdy told us how her story ends. A joke I've always said about her to Hank and Don. I miss you, Purdy Girl.

Do All Dogs Go to Heaven??

It has been a very traumatic day. Replaying every little bit and interaction with my dog, Purdy. At about 10:05 this morning, Purdy had an accident in the yard while she and Hank were chasing the neighbors chocolate lab up and down the fence line. I saw the whole thing. I was trying to keep them both from being so barky. All of a sudden Purdy collapsed and started to howl. Rosa Jane was crying as I was trying to find our new vet's number. I needed to find out how to care for Purdy. How to pick her up to get her to the vet...but by the time I found the number and went back out to the yard to Purdy, she was no longer breathing. I called Don immediately and he said I should go to the vet. It was all too much... between crying baby and sad little dog and I just knew it was already too late. I was bawling.

We'd had Purdy for just 2 1/2 years. We have hundreds of happy Purdy moments in our hearts and maybe 20 some-odd crazy, nutty times when we wanted to throw her overboard. She will be missed. She's already missed. I loved our "Indian Princess Little Head." She was one of a kind. She would purr and play with insects like a cat. She was the sensitive dog in this house. The one that would cuddle up when she sensed you were upset and sad.

LOOKOUT for GERMS!

Yesterday afternoon Rosa Jane and I ventured out to the market to pick up a few things for the week's eating supplies. She was kinda fussy when we first got there so I had to find a private space to feed her. Lucky for us, it was beside the ice cream aisle so Mom could have a good long look at which one would be coming home with us. We decided on the raspberry sorbet AND some real fruit popsicles. Once we were finished, RJ dozed off and we headed for the bananas. An elder woman was there and couldn't help herself but to coo at Rosa Jane and touched RJ's face a lot. Now, I'm wearing Rosa Jane in my sling on my person... so no matter what, I'm trying to get over the issues of having my personal space invaded. Nevermind that she coos so long at Rosa Jane that she wakes up and becomes fussy britches again. Late last night and into the early morning, I'm feeding Rosa Jane and she sounds a little congested like she's having trouble breathing. No, it's not an all out cold, just a little something in there that makes her breathing passage not clear. To date we've never had to use the nasal squeegee thing-a-mabob they gave us at the hospital. So I'm thinking RJ would probably like that thing right about now. I can only wonder who gave this germ to her and how can I be a normal person without walking around with anti-bac squirting it everywhere and especially on those that approach us out of the clear blue sky. Boy, I'd hate to be one of THOSE psycho moms.

Six Weeks and Wearing Holiday Attire

Okay, so we're a little late in getting Miss Rosa Jane's First Halloween outfit on "film." We got our act together this morning and took these pictures of little RJ. You'll soon see she must take after her namesake, Heather Jane, for our little girl does not like holiday wear. See her pitch a fit in the new pictures on flickr.

She's officially six weeks old now and effectively has us wrapped around her littlest finger. When we hold her close, she grasps at us and every now and then she'll flash her amazing toothless smile and it just makes you giddy with joy. Like, "oh, boy! Did she really smile at me? I'm in love, I'm in love! Tell me, little one, what can I do to make your life all the more happy so that in return you'll keep flashing that smile at me?"

I'm sure it won't be long before we get that smile on "film" and posted here for all to see. Keep close tabs on us.

Nature's Good Timing

Just about the time that caring for a newborn really begins to wear you down, nature throws a curveball.

Newborns take and take, and give nothing back. Deep-seated instinct makes us want to protect and nuture these little bundles, but over the course of weeks and weeks that instinct gets blunted by sleep deprivation and the sacrifice of every free adult moment. Eventually you begin to hear the first, faint voice inside wondering whether it wouldn't be better to put this creature up for auction at eBay and get on with your real life.

And then she smiles.

It comes out of nowhere. She's responding to the same nonsensical words and sounds you've been making since the day she was born. The same words and sounds that garnered zero response. For weeks. And then she smiles.

It's fleeting. It comes and goes too quickly to photograph. But it's a smile. It's not a spasm, an infantile random event, or even the sweet strain of pooping. Nope, it's an honest-to-god smile.

And just like that, the voice inside is gone. Besides, you don't have time for voices anymore. You're too busy making an ass of yourself, trying to earn another one of those smiles...

Ah, the sound of music

Today I learned that it seems Rosa Jane sleeps better, longer when there is soft music playing in the background. Our good friends the Youngs sent us a Celtic Lullaby CD which arrived yesterday. We listened to it and out goes Rosa Jane, just like a light switch. Beautiful! We also have one of those Relaxation CDs that we bought from Brookstone right before labor. She seems to like that one, too. At any rate, you can bet there will be music playing from here on out. It's a great thing!

Tonight we're going out to dinner with Don's new boss, Larry. Larry used to work at Zilliant in the exact position for which Don was interviewing for just a few months ago. Funny how they both ended up at Vignette.